Where to begin? I love Josh from Slim Palate. Ever since I met him a few years ago I have just continually been inspired by his tenacity and drive. I have yet to meet another 17 year old high school student that lost 100 lbs and published a best selling cookbook while still getting his homework done. Impressive, right? Josh has stopped by before and shared a PHENOMENAL pancake recipe you should try. This week he is here to share more of his beautiful photography as well as this delicious lamb chops recipe. Enjoy.
Lavender Lamb Chops with Grilled Blood Oranges
I'm happy to be guest posting here for my good friend George. Both of us go back to a few years back to when he posted about my story when I first emailed him a bit back. Ever since we've been great friends. With that said I'm here to share an absolutely delicious and easy to make recipe for lamb chops that looks like you've slaved for hours when really it only takes about 20 minutes of cooking and rest time.
I know George is all about bacon and to be honest I am too, but let's not forget about the humble lamb. Right now Lamb is one of the most under eaten meats in the US. I've ran across too many people that have expressed how much they dislike it but the truth of the matter is that a lot of people just don't know how to cook it properly. If more people were eating lamb that was prepared properly I can guarantee that the amount of people eating it would sky rocket. For those of you who don't eat it often, you're probably missing out and this is the lamb chop recipe you want to try to get started with.
Now despite the fact that pork is a tried and true favorite of mine, I still really love lamb maybe even as a runner up. I was perusing whole foods a few days ago for some inspiration and grabbed an assortment of different things including some lovely blood oranges. I had never experimented with blood oranges before but it actually turns out that they taste a bit different to a regular orange. The only difference between the two is that the blood orange is a little more mild in an orange-like flavor and has more of a raspberry-esque flavor. It's quite magical.
Grilling citrus might be a new concept to you but I assure you that it is a step that is easy and well worth it. When you do this the blood oranges become caramelized on the outside which makes it a bit sweeter as well as a slightly smokey flavor. This is all done while the loin chops are resting and once the oranges are properly grilled you can serve the loin chops each with an orange half to squeeze the intoxicating juices over.
Lavender Lamb Loin Chops with Grilled Blood Oranges
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds lamb loin chops 6-8 of them at least 1 inch thick
- 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh lavender chopped
- 3/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 cloves garlic peeled and minced
- 3 blood oranges
- 3 2- inch pieces of one of the blood oranges peel
- lard or ghee to grease
- extra virgin olive oil for drizzling
Instructions
- Rinse and pat dry the lamb loin chops. In a bowl or plastic bag toss the loin chops with the rosemary, lavender, sea salt, black pepper, minced garlic, and the pieces of orange peel to thoroughly coat. Let sit in the fridge for at least a couple hours or overnight. You can skip this step if you don't want to wait for the dry marinade, they will still be very flavorful.
- Preheat your grill to high heat. Slice all of your blood oranges in half and discard the orange peel from the lamb loin chops. Allow the lamb loin chops to come to room temp while the grill preheats.
- Once the grill is hot grease the grates with whatever you like, I usually use lard or ghee. Immediately place the loin chops on the grill and allow to grill for 3 minutes then turn them about 45 degrees (we aren't flipping them yet we are just getting the hash grill marks on the meat.) and allow to grill another 2 minutes. Flip the loin chops and squeeze one of blood orange halves over the meat and grill for 3 minutes. Turn them 45 degrees again for the grill marks and squeeze another blood orange half over them, grill for 2 more minutes. This cooking time is for medium rare but you can cook them longer if you want them cooked more.
- Immediately remove them from the grill and allow them to rest for 10 minutes. While they're resting keep your grill on high heat and clean off any bits off of the grates and make sure you're grill is still good and hot. If needed grease the grates again and add all of the remaining blood orange halves (there should be 4) onto the grill. Let grill for 3 minutes and then carefully wiggle them and take them off the grill without ripping off any flesh of the orange, turn them 90 degrees and grill for another 3 minutes.
- Take them off the grill and serve the lamb loin chops with a drizzle of olive oil and a grilled orange half.
Weekly Meal Plan – 4/10/15 – Grilling Tips
Did you use the lavender flowers or leaves?
The buds
Oh for sure, that would be delicious
Josh, Love your story, and this recipe looks amazing. I think I’ll make it next weekend using the lollipop chops, and maybe some grilled asparagus on the side since it is starting to come in season. Only one small criticism: There is no need to rinse meat before cooking, just dry it off with paper towels. “Washing Meat and Poultry Washing raw poultry, beef, pork, lamb, or veal before cooking it is not recommended. Bacteria in raw meat and poultry juices can be spread to other foods, utensils, and surfaces.” (http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/food-safety-education/get-answers/food-safety-fact-sheets/safe-food-handling/washing-food-does-it-promote-food-safety/washing-food)
Hey Rob,
Thanks for the kind words! I know that you don’t have to wash all your meats but I usually wash bone in meats to rinse off any bone fragments and bone dust that is on the meat from when they were cut. That way went you bite into the meat you decrease your changes of biting into an unsavory texture of gritty bone dust.
Good call I never thought of that