Lovely Lamb Chops

Lamb chops raw and ready to roll

Lamb has a unique flavour that does not appeal to everyone. I believe that the general wariness around this meat is a holdover from the days of yore when mutton was more readily available than lamb, and the flavour of the older animal could be distinctly distasteful.

I happen to love lamb. Like beef, it can be prepared in a number of ways using varying cooking techniques. I had a lovely package of fresh chops available to me last night. After seasoning them with kosher salt, cracked black pepper and fresh rosemary, I seared them briefly on the stovetop and then placed them in a hot oven (375 degrees F) to finish cooking.

The length of time that you need to cook lamb chops depends on their thickness, and your comfort with rare meat. As a general rule of thumb, when grilling shoulder, loin or rib chops that are 1 inch thick, you will need to cook them for 5 minutes on each side to achieve medium rare meat, 8 minutes per side for medium, and 10 minutes per side for well-done meat.

A traditional herbal pairing for lamb is rosemary, and a traditional lamb-accompanying condiment is mint sauce or jelly. My sister S. has been experimenting with preserves over the past couple of years. Last night I opened a jar of her mint/rosemary jelly. Delicious!



Lamb condiment