Grilled Lamb Chops

There are various cuts of lamb from which we get chops – shoulder, leg, loin and rib. The rib is one of the more popular chops because it cooks up quickly and easily. Rib chops can be small enough to serve as party food and be large enough to serve 2 or 3 as an entrée.

While it is easy to find imported lamb all year round in the supermarkets here (in Barbados), it is not always so for the local, tasty, Black-Belly Sheep. Most of the times local lamb is bought fresh at the market and occasionally you see the lamb at the supermarkets. It is not that the supermarkets do not regularly stock the local lamb, it is that customers grab the local lamb up as soon as they are placed on the cold shelves. Last week I was lucky enough to be in a supermarket to get some rib chops.

With meat this fresh, salt and pepper is enough seasoning but since I was going to make it for Sunday lunch, I wanted to make a marinade. While I grilled my chops in a grill pan on the stovetop, you can cook your chops in any pan you have, you might not get the same degree of colour using a non-stick pan.

Cook the meat to your desired degree of doneness. For this cut of lamb chops, I like it a little pink, cook it longer for well done but note that the meat would be a little chewy. Serve the chops as is or make a fresh green sauce like chimichurri or salsa verde to accompany the lamb. Mint sauce is traditionally served with lamb but if you are going the mint route, then I would suggest and Indian-style mint chutney.

The marinade will yield more than you need, bottle the rest to use just as you would green seasoning.

INGREDIENTS

For marinade:

• ½ cup chopped onions
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
• ¼ cup chopped celery
• Chopped hot pepper to taste
• Salt to taste
• ¼ cup vegetable oil

8 – 10 rib chops

DIRECTIONS

1. Add all the ingredients for the marinade except the salt and oil to a blender or food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add salt to taste and pulse to mix. While the blender/processor is going, drizzle in the oil.
2. Season the chops with ¼ cup of the marinade and refrigerate for an hour or ½ hour at room temperature. Store the remaining marinade.
3. Heat the pan on medium until very hot and cook chops in batches, depending on the size of your pan. For medium, cook for 3 minutes on each side, for medium well, cook for 4 minutes on each side, for well-done, cook for 5 – 6 minutes on each side. The times will vary depending on the size of your chops.
4. Let the chops rest for 7 minutes before serving.