I rarely buy lamb loin chops in the States because they are very expensive, anywhere between $14 and$20/lb. Recently I found good shoulder chops at Union Market, priced at $7/lb. They are cut thick, which I like, and are fattier than I would like (grain fed lambs, if you ask me), but my love of lamb is such that they come home with me in a nice paper bag.Grilled lamb chops:
As many chops as you and yours would like to eat
A cup of herbs: I used summer savoury in quantity, and added common thyme
A lemons' juice per 4 chops
Salt and pepper
A sprinkle of brown sugar, about 1 teaspoon
An hour before cooking squeeze the lemon juice over the meat and add salt, sugar and pepper. Turn the broiler on full and wait till it is blazing hot.
In a cast iron pan or heavy duty baking tray, lay the chops on top of your herb collection. Put under the broiler until they start to colour black at the edges and flip. It will take about 20 minutes, depending on the heat and thickness of the meat.
An alternate way is to sear them in a smoking skillet (and it must be smoking: heat it for many minutes before adding the chops) for a minute on each side and then to pop them in the oven at 450'-500'F for about 10 minutes.
Then let them rest, covered loosely in tented foil. It must be loose to allow steam to escape or they will sweat in a little lamb sauna. Allow ten minutes of resting and then serve. They will be that much more tender for the wait.
I cut up some baguette and fried the slices in the lamb juices while the meat was resting.
We only live once.
