Lamb Chop

This is a great date meal for your Lamb Chop, Sweet Pea, or Honey Pie. No need to worry about dessert—you’re it!

I recently ate at a wonderful little bistro in Montreal called Chez L’Epicier, or “house of the grocer.” The menus are written on what look like grocery sacks. Well, supper here was so good, I went out and got a sack of my own groceries to make a 30-Minute Meal knock-off of their gourmet lamb shank served with “raw spaghetti,” which turned out to be pasta with raw sauce. Hey, Montreal is a favorite getaway of mine, but I can make this meal any night I like and my market’s a lot closer!

Lamb chops are always perfect for 30MM because they are quick cooking. If you are the type who only indulges in leg of lamb once a year at holidays, pick up some chops and try this one at home tonight.

When I was in Pakistan last, there was a very successful grill house in Karachi serving a thousand people per night. Bar-B-Q Tonight, as it was called, offered all manner of meats grilled in a style that is a mixture of Afghan and Pakistani culinary traditions. I have adapted one of their goat meat recipes to lamb. You may use the smaller rib chops or the larger, steak-like shoulder chops. They will have bone, of course, so 2 pounds will serve 2–3 people. You can cook these on an outdoor grill instead of broiling. This recipe may also be used for beef steaks. I love this with Tomato Pullao and Pan-Grilled Zucchini. I make the rice first and let it sit wrapped up in a towel while I grill the kebabs and the zucchini.

So simple, yet so flavorful. These lamb chops roast to medium-rare in 8 to 10 minutes in the convection oven. Lamb chops are difficult to probe with a thermometer because they are so small. You can cut one to determine doneness.

This is a lovely, careful way to prepare thick lamb chops—quite different from the usual fast grilling approach—and it makes them extraordinarily flavorful and tender. The chops brown gradually in a heavy skillet over relatively low heat, steadily building the flavors of caramelization, and then cook covered with a small amount of liquid and seasoning elements. This short period of moist cooking doesn’t draw the meat juices into the liquid (as it would in long stewing or braising) but instead brings the seasoning flavors more intensely into the meat itself. Here, lemon, olives, and oregano give the chops the tangy taste of Abruzzo. For a great winter meal, accompany them with something cozy, like polenta, mashed potatoes, or smothered cabbage or cauliflower. In summer, a tossed green salad is all you need. Either rib chops or loin chops are suited for this recipe, though my choice is the loin chop, which offers portions of both the loin and the tenderloin muscles (like a T-bone steak). You could use lamb shoulder chops, too, but they’d need nearly twice as much time to cook covered. They wouldn’t be as amazingly tender as loin or rib chops, but they would be delicious (and cost a lot less). With any kind of chop, a heavy cast-iron pan is perfect here, because of its steady heat-retaining qualities, but it must be well seasoned, so the meaty caramelization is not lost on the pan bottom.

Serve the lamb with your favorite tzatziki (cucumber and yogurt sauce) and horta (sautéed greens tossed with red wine vinegar and honey).

Chef Cathal Armstrong of Restaurant Eve in Alexandria, Virginia, shared this recipe as part of a St. Patrick's Day feast he created exclusively for Epicurious. Armstrong suggests serving a Rhône-style wine such as Syrah or Grenache with this full-flavored dish.

These are just the thing if company's coming on a school night. On the side, add rice, couscous, or orzo tossed with herbs. Try some store-bought sorbet for dessert. Using multicolored grape tomatoes gives the lamb chops extra zip.

Here, the sunny warmth of mint escapes the sweet-jelly cliché to find new expression in the thick Argentinean herb sauce called chimichurri. Its bright acidity cuts the lush richness of lamb shoulder chops.

Look for sweet and flavorful pomegranate molasses at specialty foods stores and Middle Eastern markets.

No, its not the title of a lost Dr. Seuss opus, but a perfectly grown-up dish in which the richness of grilled spice-rubbed lamb chops is cut by lemon (both zest and flesh). Chances are you'll want to eat it anywhere.