Wicked Tasty Harvest: Staying Silent on the Lamb

In our latest Chestnut Farm CSA cooler, we found a bunch of new goodies, including our first delivery of bacon (hurray!) and something we weren’t expecting: lamb.

Nate loves lamb, but I feel squeamish about eating baby animals and generally try to abstain. He humors me by only eating lamb when we are dining away from home and, for this reason, we signed up for the non-lamb CSA package. But Nate’s eyes lit up when he opened the cooler and saw the chops, and I just didn’t have the heart to ‘fess up to Kim and Rich and swap it for our usual chicken, beef or pork.

So, Nate cooked lamb for the first time ever last Friday. The shoulder chops were a fatty cut on a ringbone similar to that seen in a ham steak.

Nouveau “French Friday” Lamb Chops
Adapted from a recipe in The Barbecue Bible by Steve Raichlen

Rosemary sprigs/branches
Lamb chops
Olive oil
Herbs de Provence
Kosher salt
Pepper

Soak a handful of rosemary sprigs for at least 30 minutes.
At least 30 minutes in advance of cooking, drizzle both sides of the lamb chops with olive oil and then sprinkle liberally with the Herbs de Provence, Kosher salt and pepper. (Refrigerate the rubbed chops, but bring the meat to room temperature before grilling.)
Prepare a charcoal grill for direct-heat grilling.
Put the soaked sprigs directly onto the coals. (The smoke will smell heavenly.)
Grill chops for 5 minutes a side over high heat for medium-rare.
Remove the meat, tent it with foil and let it rest for 5 minutes.
Serve!

I regret to say that I enjoyed the lamb immensely. Nate grilled the chops a perfect medium-rare, and they reminded me of the steaks frites we love to make for our monthly "French Friday" date. We served the lamb with rosemary-garlic roasted baby potatoes, a salad of greens and heirloom tomatoes, and a glass of Plungerhead Old Vine Zinfandel Lodi.