Spice Crusted Lamb Chops →

Here’s a mouthwatering recipe for spice-crusted lamb chops using south Asian spices. Making a paste of ground spices mixed with olive oil produces the flavorful crust on the chops either grilled or pan-fried on a hot skillet. The flavors and textures of the couscous, pine nuts, and pomegranate arils combine to pair beautifully with the deliciously rich, spicy lamb. If you prefer to cook a lamb roast, rub the roast with the spice paste before sliding it into the oven. Your friends and family with thank you! Enjoy!

Spice Crusted Lamb Chops
Serves 2

Ingredients:

• ¾ tablespoon cumin seeds

• ¾ tablespoon coriander seeds

• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds

• ½ teaspoon ground sweet paprika

• ½ teaspoon ground turmeric

• pinch of cayenne

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 6-8 lamb rib chops

• Salt & freshly ground black pepper

Preparation:

1. Cut the lamb into ½ inch thick chops/

2. Grind the spices and mix with the olive oil to make a paste. Spread the paste over the chops and cover and set aside to marinate in the fridge for a few hours.

3. Heat a heavy skillet or grill-pan until very hot. Sear the chops for two minutes per side. Remove and tent for a few minutes. (You can also do this on your grill.)

4. Serve with a salad and starch of your choice. This dish pairs perfectly with Pearl Couscous with Pine Nuts and Pomegranates.

5. The yogurt dipping sauce is optional. (See below.)

Wine pairing: Pinot noir, Bordeaux blends, and Italian Chiantis all pair well with lamb chops as do Riojas. You can also try Merlot, Syrah, or Rhone Valley red blends. If you prefer white wines, try a fruity Gewürztraminer, Riesling, or Viognier to go with the spicy chops.

Yogurt Sauce

• 2 large garlic cloves

• 1 teaspoon minced jalapeño chili

• 1 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger

• 1 cup chopped fresh trimmed cilantro

• ½ cups chopped fresh trimmed mint (or Lemon Balm)

• 1 teaspoon lemon zest

• 1 cup plain or nonfat yogurt

Grilled Lamb with Mint and Parsley Sauce →

This fresh herb sauce is inspired by the iconic Chimichurri sauce from Argentina used on grilled meats. Authentic Chimichurri is a coarse mix of oil, garlic, chile pepper, parsley, and oregano based condiment that should be hand-chopped and spooned over grilled meats. I wanted to combine the classic combination of mint and parsley with grilled lamb and was intrigued by a recipe from Mark Bittman at New York Times Cooking where he marinated lamb shoulder in a mint-parsley chimichurri style sauce before broiling it; reserving part of the sauce for spooning over. After researching several chimichurri recipes and adjusting the Bittman recipe to my taste, I decided on grilling lamb chops, making a smoother mixture than traditional chimichurri, and marinating the already tender meat for flavor for only an hour or two. Rather than wiping off all the marinade, I left a thin layer of marinade sauce on the meat when I put it on the hot grill. Wiping off part of the marinade and starting with a hot grill ensured a proper sear on the meat. The result is flavorful, succulent, juicy lamb with a richness tempered by the herbal marinade-sauce. In the spirit of the summer season, rather than serving the meat with potatoes and peas, I made a total break from my British ancestry and decided to make a fresh Corn Tomato and Snow Peas Salad to which I added some cooked orzo and feta cheese. It works well if you want a refreshingly different lamb dinner. The sauce would also work well on roast lamb, but that’s for another season.

Serves 4
Ingredients:

• 1 cup chopped parsley

• 3/4 cup chopped mint

• ¼ cup fresh tarragon (or 2 tablespoons dried)

• ¾ cup olive oil

• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

• 2 tablespoons minced garlic

• 2 teaspoons red chile flakes

• ½ teaspoon salt

• ¼ teaspoon black pepper

• 2 pounds of lamb chops 1 ½ inch thick or one-inch thick lamb shoulder chops.

Preparation:

1. Combine all the ingredients except the lamb in a food processor and process until smooth and divide, reserving half the mixture to spoon on the grilled meat at the table.

2. Brush the sauce over the lamb and refrigerate. For the chops you’re marinating for flavor not to tenderize the already tender meat; at least an hour. For the shoulder, marinate longer to add flavor and help tenderize the meat; 3-4 hours or overnight. Remove the meat from the fridge at least 30 minutes to bring it to room temperature before cooking.

3. Preheat your grill to hot.

4. Remove the meat from the marinade and wipe some of the excess marinade from the meat. This will help prevent flare-ups and give you a better sear on the meat.

5. Sear the meat on the hot grill uncovered for two minutes per side. Lower the heat to medium and close the grill and cook for another 3 minutes per side for the chops; 2 minutes per side for the shoulder; or until the internal temperature reaches 120-125F for medium-rare.

6. Serve the lamb with the reserved sauce to spoon on at the table.

Serve with a green salad or the Corn Tomato and Snow Peas Salad

Wine pair: a balanced red wine with some tannins and acid to balance the richness of the lamb. Cotes du Rhone, Rioja, Shiraz, Carménère, Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon are all good choices.

https://cafedelites.com/authentic-chimichurri-uruguay-argentina/
Adapted from: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1015754-lamb-with-mint-chimichurri by Mark Bittman

Easy Rack of Lamb →

One of the great classic recipes, Rack of Lamb is an elegant, flavorful, easy dish to prepare for anyone who loves melt-in-your-mouth tender lamb. Garlic and rosemary are natural complements to lamb as are thyme and parsley. Whichever combination of herbs you choose to use, try to keep the mixture of fresh herbs to around 1- 1 1/2 tablespoons so you don’t overpower the flavor of the lamb. It’s a shame to overcook (and waste) an expensive cut of meat, so monitor the temperature closely after cooking the lamb for 15 minutes. Some chefs brush on a thin layer of Dijon mustard before coating the meat with the bread crumb-herb mixture. This is optional to help the crumb-mixture to stick to the meat, but if you’re careful you can skip the Dijon step. If you or your guests are squeamish about fat, you can cut off the small piece of fat below the tender eye of meat on each chop and make lamb “lollipops”. Either way, they are a treat.

Serves 2-3
Ingredients:

• 1 frenched rack of lamb (7-8 bones)

• 3-4 cloves of garlic minced

• 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary minced (or 1 teaspoon of dried rosemary)

• 1 anchovy fillet minced (or ½ teaspoon anchovy paste)

• ½ cup Panko bread crumbs

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• ¼ teaspoon black pepper (to taste)

• ½ teaspoon salt

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

1. Sprinkle the lamb with salt and pepper. (Optional: using a sharp knife, you can make a cross-hatch pattern on the fat-cap side of the rack and rub the salt and pepper into the slits in the fat.)

2. Add the minced garlic, rosemary, anchovy, and ½ tablespoon olive oil to a mini-food processor and process until finely mixed. Alternatively, you can use a mortar and pestle or back of a spoon to mash the ingredients into a paste.

3. Add the Panko and remaining ½ tablespoon of oil to the processor with the garlic-herb mixture and pulse a few times until well mixed.

4. Rinse and dry the lamb and (optionally) wrap the ends of the bones in foil to prevent the tips from charring.

5. Rub the seasoned bread crumbs all over the lamb, leaving a thicker layer of the mixture on the fat side of the rack facing up. Cover and refrigerate for a few hours. This will allow the herb mixture to flavor the lamb and will yield a beautiful golden crust when finished in the oven.

6. Uncover and carefully place the lamb (fat side with the bread crumbs facing up) on a sheet pan or shallow roasting pan lined with aluminum foil (for easy clean-up). Bring the lamb to room temperature for at least a half-hour or more.

7. Place the pan with the lamb in the upper third of the oven and cook for 15-20 minutes. Check the temperature of the lamb by inserting an instant-read thermometer into the meaty side of the rack. Continue cooking monitoring closely until you reach the desired doneness. For rare lamb you want 125 degrees; 130 for medium-rare. Once out of the oven and tented the meat will continue to cook for another 5 degrees so remove the lamb from the oven when your thermometer reads 5 degrees less than you want for the finished meat. Once the meat is at or almost at temperature, if the crust isn’t quite brown enough, you can place the meat under the broiler for 1-2 minutes monitoring closely until the crust is golden brown.

8. Cut the rack into individual chops by carefully slicing between the bones. Sprinkle any of the flavorful crust that falls off back onto the individual chops.

   *Note: Pair this dish with a medium full-bodied dry red wine with some acidity like Garnacha (Grenache), Syrah, Tempranillo, Pinot Noir, or Merlot to balance the richness of the lamb.

Grilled Lamb Chops with Shishitos →

Grilled lamb is one of my favorite meals and luscious, tender, juicy grilled lamb chops flavored with rosemary, fennel and garlic are the best! Lamb is so rich, I decided to pair grilled chops with sweet, slightly earthy Shishito peppers and a green salad for an easy to prepare a satisfying meal. Slender, finger-long green Shishito peppers from East Asia (Japan/ Korea) are thin-skinned and sweeter than your common green pepper; they become mildly hot once they turn red. You can also serve lightly charred shishitos alone as a delicious light snack or appetizer. If you enjoy the many varieties of peppers from hot to sweet, shishito peppers are a must-try.

Ingredients:

• 1 or 2 lamb chops per person; 1 1/2-2 inches thick

• Montreal Steak Seasoning

• 2-3 Shishito peppers per person

• Assorted salad greens of your choice with a light balsamic vinaigrette

• flaky salt or Kosher salt

Preparation:

For the Chops:

1. Dry the surface of each lamb chop with a paper towel and sprinkle liberally with Montreal Steak Seasoning (recipe on this website); refrigerate uncovered for 1- 4 hours, preferably overnight. (Note: like steak, allowing the surface moisture on the lamb chops to evaporate in the fridge produces a more flavorful crust when the chop or steak is pan fried or grilled.) Remove the chops from the fridge and bring to room temperature at least 30-45 minutes before grilling.

2. Preheat your grill and grill the chops over medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes per side: 3 minutes per side will give you medium-rare (pink) to rare chops; 4 minutes per side will produce medium to medium-rare chops. You can also use an instant-read meat thermometer: 120-125 degrees equals medium-rare which is generally considered the ideal doneness for lamb; well-done, over-cooked lamb loses its flavor and is tough.

3. Once the chops have reached the desired doneness, remove them from the grill and tent them loosely for about 5 minutes to allow the juices in the meat that have migrated to the surface during the grilling to sink back into the chop. Tenting will give you a juicier piece of meat.

For the Shishitos:

1. While the lamb chops are in the fridge, pierce each pepper with a pin or toothpick to allow moisture to escape during the cooking; brush the peppers lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with Kosher salt. Set aside. (see *Note below)

2. Once you have tented the grilled lamb chop, place the shishitos on the hot grill, turning frequently until they just begin to char. Remove from the heat and sprinkle with more salt if desired. Enjoy!

Serve with a green salad of your choice.

*Note: for best results, grill or fry the shishitos over high-heat. If you can’t find Shishito peppers, you can substitute Padrón peppers.

Wine pairing: a full-bodied Zinfandel, Rioja, Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon, or Nero d’Avola red wine will complement the richness of the lamb.

Lamb Stew with Root Vegetables →

This is a wonderful French style lamb stew that uses the anise flavors of tarragon and fennel to highlight the rich delicacy of the lamb. The added root vegetables make this a meal in a bowl. Omit any of the root vegetables you may not care for. Add more of what you love and always remember the crusty bread!

serves: 8

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

• Salt and freshly ground pepper

• 4 pounds boneless lamb shoulder or top round, cut into 2-inch cubes

• 1/2 cup olive oil

• 2 cups dry red wine

• 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar

• 4 cups chicken stock

• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon (or 2+ tsp. dried)

• 1 pound baby carrots, peeled (about 2 cups)

• 1 pound baby parsnips, peeled (or regular parsnips cut into 1 ½ inch pieces

• 1 pound small fingerling potatoes (about 2 cups)

• 1 cup frozen green peas

• 1 teaspoon salt; 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, or to taste

• 1 cup of cored, chopped fennel bulb, fronds saved

• 1 large shallot, minced

• 2 tablespoons minced parsley

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Put the flour in a large bowl and season generously with salt and pepper. Add the lamb cubes in 4 batches, tossing to coat thoroughly.

2. In a large enameled cast-iron casserole, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil until shimmering. Add one-fourth of the lamb cubes and cook over moderately high heat until browned, about 6 minutes; transfer to a plate. Brown the remaining floured lamb in 3 batches, adding 2 tablespoons of oil to the pot per batch. Reduce the heat if the casserole bottom darkens too much.

3. Add the chopped fennel to the pot and saute for a couple of minutes

4. Return all of the lamb to the casserole. Add the wine and vinegar and bring to a boil scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Add the stock and tarragon and return to a boil. Season with salt and pepper. Cover the casserole and braise the stew in the oven for about 1 hour, or until the meat is nearly tender.

5. Add the carrots, parsnips, potatoes, turnips, fennel and shallot to the lamb stew. Season with salt and pepper and bring to a boil, stirring to distribute the vegetables. Cover the casserole, return it to the oven and cook until the meat and vegetables are tender, about 1 hour longer.

6. Remove from oven. Add the peas, season with more salt and pepper if needed.

7. If you want a thicker stew, mix a tablespoon of flour into a tablespoon of melted butter until you have a paste. Heat the stew until bubbling; add the paste a little at a time stirring constantly until you have the consistency you want. Cook over low heat for a few minutes.

8. Stir in the parsley and fennel fronds and serve the stew in deep bowls accompanied by a crusty bread to sop up the juices.

A medium-bodied red wine like a Cotes du Rhone, Tempranillo, Garnacha, or lighter Pinot Noir will compliment the flavors in this stew.

Adapted from: https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/lamb-stew-with-root-vegetables

Lamb Ragout with Peas and Lemon →

This is a surprisingly easy recipe that came from the classic New York Times Cookbook by way of my mother-in-law, Jean Andrews who was a great fan of Craig Claiborne the food editor at the Times for many years. Rich, tender, slow-cooked lamb, with a hint of lemon, sweet peas, and the earthiness of a sprinkle of parsley. I love rosemary and thyme with lamb, so I added a bit of the fragrant herbs to add an extra note to the dish.

Serves 3-4

Ingredients

Photo: c. foodblogchef 2022

• 2 pounds lamb cut into 1 1/2” cubes

• ¼ cup flour

• ¼ cup olive oil

• ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste

• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper, or to taste

• 1 ½ cups chicken or beef broth

• 1/3 cup dry sherry

• 1 clove garlic, crushed

• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

• 1-2 teaspoons fresh thyme

• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary or 1 teaspoon ground dried rosemary (optional)

Directions

Photo: c. foodblogchef 2022

1. Pre-heat oven to 350.

2. Dredge the lamb in flour with salt and pepper.

3. Heat oil in a dutch oven until the oil is shimmering.

4. Brown lamb the lamb in batches; avoid over-crowding the pan while browning the lamb.

5. Stir in remaining ingredients (if using, include the rosemary; omit the lemon juice and parsley) and heat.

6. Cover and bake for 1 ½ hours until tender.

7. Stir in lemon juice and parsley.

Serve over egg noodles or white rice, with a side of colorful vegetables like diced carrots and peas, and/or a green salad.

Source: New York Times Cookbook: Craig Claiborne, Harper & Row, 1961.

A medium-bodied red wine like a Côtes du Rhône or a Spanish Garnacha or Tempranillo pair well with lamb.