Mint Butter Lamb Chops

When you’re making a very special dinner to serve to friends, such as my Jerusalem Cookbook Dinner Party, sometimes you really just need at least one dish that’s simple, easy, and crowd pleasing, and my Mint Butter Lamb Chops are all those things and more. Since lamb chops are on the expensive side of things, serving them on a night when there are lots of other dishes is a good way to get away with serving them in appetizer portions and still have guests feel like they got their fill. When I was creating the dish I wanted flavors that were interesting enough to stand up to the brilliant flavors and colors of the rest of the dishes; that is such an amazing quality of the Jerusalem recipes, but I also wanted to nod to things just a little more traditional like the pairing of lamb and mint. Because of the fresh mint in the Baba Ganoush via Jerusalem, I already had it on hand and it’s traditional ties to lamb made it an obvious choice. It was important to me that the mint felt savory, not sweet. Also, around this time I had mint and pea ravioli with spicy lamb sausage at Babbo and had been thinking about mint as a more savory pairing flavor generally. Things came together for me this the creation of these Mint Butter Lamb chops. I’ve made these chops several times now for private parties, and while I love the marinade and it’s effects, I promise that good things will come even if you skip that step and go straight for the mint butter. And if you skip the marinade, these Mint Butter Lamb Chops are truly a quick and easy dish that has a lot of impact for just a little time.

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Mint Butter Lamb Chops

Mint Butter Lamb Chops are great as an appetizer or entree and a very special and modern twist on the tradition of pairing lamb with mint.

Prep Time2 hours hrs

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Total Time2 hours hrs 20 minutes mins

Servings: 4

Author: Barrett Brienhagen

Ingredients

• 2 racks 16 chops frenched lamb chops
• 3 tablespoons fresh mint; minced
• 3 cloves garlic; minced
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons butter; room temperature
• 1 tablespoon sea salt
• ⅓ cup tamarind concentrate
• 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar

Instructions

• Mix the tamarind concentrate and the vinegar.
• Brush over the lamb or place everything in a large Ziploc bag.
• Marinate lamb chops 2 hours or overnight.
• In a small bowl, mix mint, garlic, cinnamon, butter and salt to make mint butter.
• Bring lamb to room temperature about an hour before you plan to cook it.
• Heat a frying pan to medium high.
• Add ¼ of the mint butter to the pan.
• Sear each side 3-5 min depending on how you like it cooked. I like them pretty rare, for what it’s worth.
• Remove to a serving platter and add another ¼ of the butter to the pan and repeat with the remaining chops.
• While they’re still hot, brush the chops with the remaining butter. Serve hot (lamb fat is not tasty when cool).

Notes

*found in Indian spice shops- great to have around for meats, etc. because of its sweet tangy flavor
These are great for appetizers (serves 6-8) or for entrees (serves 4).