Food & Wine — Shiraz
Pan Roasted Lamb Chops
Right. I’m now ready to share my favourite lamb chop recipe. This is a bit of an amalgam of dishes I’ve made over the years, sometimes with added root vegetables, sometimes with pork, and with various herbs and flavours.
Seems to have its roots in the Mediterranean, but what could be more local? This one is flexible, quick, simple and delicious. Starts on the stove and ends in the oven. Made perfect with the addition of some crispy fried potatoes, a tomato and onion salad and a nice glass of Yarrh Shiraz or Sangiovese.
- 4-6 chump or loin chops
- Salt
- Olive oil
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 3-4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- Fresh or dried oregano, chopped, or a few rosemary springs
- 1 lemon, juiced
Preheat the oven to 200°C, then rub the chops with salt (rest for an hour or so if you have time). Heat a small amount of olive oil in an oven ready pan (eg small paella pan or similar) and brown the chops to your liking over medium-high heat. Turn the chops, sprinkle with pepper, chopped garlic, chopped herbs and the all important lemon juice, then put them in the oven for 5-10 minutes, depending on their thickness and your liking. Rest for 5-10 minutes then eat with gusto!
NM
Braised Lamb Shoulder with Prune and Cauliflower
I like this recipe as it reminds me that prunes don’t only go with pork, and that there’s more to cauliflower than just cheese. Excellent with 2011 Shiraz.
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3 tblsp olive oil |
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1.2-1.4 kg lamb shoulder bone in, trimmed of excess fat |
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1 garlic clove, sliced |
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2cm piece ginger sliced |
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2 tblsp cider vinegar |
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1 tblsp honey |
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100ml whiskey |
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Pinch of nutmeg |
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100g pitted prunes 250ml chicken stock |
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1 cauliflower |
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zest of 1 lemon |
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1 tblsp chopped parsley |
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1 tblsp chopped mint |
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Thyme sprigs to serve |
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Heat oven to 150°C
Heat 1 tblsp oil in large casserole and brown lamb on all sides, remove lamb
Add garlic and ginger and saute for 2-3 mins
Add vinegar and allow to bubble up, scraping pan w wooden spoon
Add honey and whiskey and allow to reduce by half
Return lamb to dish along w nutmeg, prunes and stock
Cover and cook in oven for 1.5-2 hrs or until lamb is tender and falling off bone
Cut half the cauliflower into florets, toss in 1 tblsp oil and season
Put in baking tray and roast for 20 mins or until golden, reserve.
Remove lamb from oven and cool in cooking liquid until room temperature
Grate remaining raw cauliflower to the texture of coucous, stir in zest, parsley, mint and 1 tblsp oil, taste and season with salt.
Shred lamb and arrange on a platter, sprinkle with roast cauliflower and raw cauliflower mix
Drizzle with lamb cooking liquid including prunes and top with thyme sprigs
FW
Keywords
Food and Wine
Recipe
From the Archives
2013