Since my eye caught a glimpse of the Quince on the cover of Gourmet’s playful penultimate issue featuring the alphabet, I’ve wanted to try out the Lebanese Lamb Chops with Lemony Lettuce. I had to switch up a few ingredients, but this dish was a lovely early summer meal. It’s light, extremely flavorful and while I wouldn’t think that I’d like lemons in my salad, they were delicious and perfectly balanced the spice of the Lamb Chops.

Spicy Lamb Chops with Lemony Lettuce

The Gourmet recipe calls for a tablespoon of baharat, an Eastern Mediterranean spice mixture of cloves, cumin, Maras or Aleppo pepper, and a cinnamon stick. I didn’t quite have these ingredients, so I wont call this Lebanese, but it was still spicy and delicious. I made use of some Aji Panca from Peru that I had, although the recipe would also certainly work without it.

Ingredients

• 2 large lemons
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 tsp whole cloves
• 1 tsp whole cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp whole peppercorns
• 1/2 tsp aji panca
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 rib lamb chops
• 2 heads Bibb lettuce, torn into large pieces
• 1 1/2 cups mint leaves

Procedure:

1) Grate zest from one lemon. Trim ends of both lemons so that you can stand the lemon on each side. Cut away peel and pith. Use lemon membrane as a guide, and cut out segments of the lemon using a sharp knife. Cut each segment into four smaller pieces. Place lemons in a bowl and toss with sugar and two tablespoons of the oil. Allow to stand, while you prepare the other ingredients.

2) Heat up a small dry pan over medium heat. Add cloves, cumin seeds, mustard seeds and peppercorns and gently toast for a minute. In a spice grinder, blend together the spices, plus the aji panca. Blend together the minced garlic, spice blend, grated zest, salt and remaining tablespoon of oil. Press blend onto dried lamb chops.

3) Toss lettuce and mint with lemon mixture. Taste for seasoning and adjust as desired.

4) Fire up your grill over medium-high heat. Grill chops, for about six minutes a side. Use a meat thermometer to determine when the meat has reached your desired level of doneness. Remove from grill, cover and allow to rest for at least five minutes. You can alternately prepare these by cooking them over a medium-high heat in a cast iron skillet.

5) Serve lamb chops with salad and couscous.

Spring in the Pioneers, when green meets snow-capped peaks

photo by Justin Stevenson

I get overly excited about the arrival of grilling season. Come a sunny day in March, I’m out with a down jacket, hat and my chimney starter. But Memorial Day Weekend provides a real excuse to clean your grates, invite over friends and fire up the grill. For entertaining, I recommend something simple, like lamburgers. They are far more flavorful and juicy than a traditional hamburger and take no time to put together.

I actually made these the day after Cinco de Mayo and had some leftover salsa verde. I mixed a little salsa verde into my burger mix, along with some queso fresco before I grilled. I added more salsa verde to the buns, along with some avocado to give these lamburgers a little twist. They were yummy.

Ingredients

• 4 tomatillos
• 1 onion, split in half
• 6 cloves of garlic
• 1 jalapeño pepper
• 1 lime
• 1 Tbsp salt
• 1 package Lava Lake ground lamb
• 1/4 cup queso fresco
• ground pepper
• avocado
• buns

Procedure

1) Heat a dry cast iron skillet over high heat. Once it’s hot, add unhusked tomatillos, onion, garlic and jalapeño. Allow to char, turning with tongs occasionally.

2) Remove charred ingredients from skillet and remove husks from tomatillos and garlic. Stem and seed (if desired) jalapeño. Place tomatillo, onion, garlic and jalapeño to a blender. Add lime juice and salt and blend until smooth. If mixture needs additional liquid, add some water until it reaches desired consistency.

3) In a bowl, mix together lamb, queso fresco and pepper. Stir in three tablespoons of the salsa verde. Mix everything together and then form four patties.

4) Heat up your grill over medium-high heat. Grill burgers under they reach desired level of doneness. Toast buns on grill.

5) Smear some salsa verde on each bun. Add sliced avocado to the burger and serve up.

Happy Grilling!

With the arrival of passable roads, I’ve been on a few field tours this month. Witnessing the arrival of spring has been marvelous, as each day the grass seems to become a bit greener. Here are some shots:

Remnants of a homestead in Lower Biskay.

Upper Fish Creek.

Rainbow at Copper Creek.

Sand Hill Cranes at the Main Ranch.

Sand Hill Crane Sillouette.

Balsamroot blooming looking back towards Lava Lake.

Puppies!

Early morning light at the main ranch.

Rain/clouds/sun.

Optaciano in the field.

Memorial Day is just around the corner and it should be a great weekend to throw some lamb on the grill.

In celebration of the holiday, our delicious lamb loin chops are 25% off for a limited time only!

This is the filet mignon of lamb. Our 100% Grass-Fed lamb chops are perfect for grilling or broiling –

They’re cut to 1 ½” thickness, so it’s easy to cook them to any desired degree of doneness.

photo by the American Lamb Board

Order by Sunday for delivery in time for Memorial Day Weekend!