Lamb Chop

Many people think the term porterhouse refers to the size of the steak, but that is not the case. Porterhouse is an on-the-bone cut with a portion of the flavorful strip on one side of the bone and the tender filet on the other. With its lacquering of barbecue sauce and side of a corn–collard green tart, this dish is an ode to the South. The Carolinas are fanatical about mustard-based barbecue sauces. Mustard lends a tangy heat that is offset by dark, sweet molasses, and both are mellowed by mild honey and light rice wine vinegar. This barbecue sauce is as at home with lamb as it is with the smoked pork of the Carolinas. The tart’s savory filling is basically a corn pudding run through with strips of collard greens.

Za’atar is a mild spice mixture available in Middle Eastern markets and some supermarkets. Fragrant and green, it is usually prepared using dried thyme, oregano, marjoram, toasted sesame seeds, and salt. Some varieties may add savory, cumin, coriander, or fennel seeds.

Most members of my family have never been fond of lamb. Dede always called it “sheepy-sheepy” and Mama thinks they look too gentle and sweet to eat. I was inducted into the lamb fan club when testing recipes for Nathalie Dupree. Lamb chops are earthy, rich, and faintly sweet. However, the fat can be overwhelming and strong, especially when chilled or at room temperature. Remove as much fat as possible before cooking, and serve the chops immediately so they don’t have a chance to cool.

Lamb rib chops have a dandy handle (the rib bone), and are excellent served as lamb “lollipops” for delicious, but rather extravagant, hors d’oeuvres. As the ribs get closer to the neck and shoulder, the nugget of meat becomes smaller, perfect for hors d’oeuvres. The larger ones are best as a main course served with a knife and a fork. Loin lamb chops are cut from the loin and look more like miniature T-bone steaks, with a bit of the loin and tenderloin on either side, and take a little longer to cook, but may be substituted in this recipe.

It may seem crazy even to think of making a cassoulet for oneself, although this one may be large enough to share with a friend. But if you have all the different elements, it’s not much more than an assembly job. You just have to think ahead. So, when you have that Small Roast Pork Tenderloin (page 42), set aside three or four little chunks of the flavorful cooked meat (they can be frozen and labeled “for future cassoulet”). Then plan on having Braised Shoulder Lamb Chops (page 48), which is always more than I can eat in one sitting, and use that extra braised chop (it can also be frozen), along with a lot of the good juices, to be the mainstay of your cassoulet. One can usually get a good pork sausage these days; even if you have to mail-order it, it’s a staple item worth keeping in the freezer. So there you are: start your beans the night before, and put this heavenly bean dish together on a wintry day off, letting it fill your kitchen with its tantalizing aromas. You won’t regret it. When I suggested to Julia Child that she include a recipe for this great dish in Mastering the Art of French Cooking, there really weren’t any good fresh garlic sausages available to buy, so Julia agreed that she had better work out a formula for making them at home. Several days later, I went up to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where the Childs lived, to work on the book with her, and I found that one wall of the kitchen was covered in notes on the work she had done to develop a formula for the authentic garlic sausage for cassoulet. Her research had taken her back to early French charcuterie books, and she’d made notes on each of her testings, ending up with her own carefully worked-out recipe. I gasped at her meticulous research, and then asked tentatively if maybe this might not be beyond the reach of the American home cook, but she reassured me. “No, not at all,” she said. “It’s really as easy as making hamburgers.”

Scott Peacock, the gifted young chef from Alabama who worked with and cared for the legendary Virginia cook Edna Lewis during her final years, once told me that one of the great lessons he learned from Edna was “the way she slowly coaxed the essence of flavor” from ingredients, be they meat, poultry, vegetables, or a combination. This slow braising of shoulder lamb chops is a good example of the technique that Scott worked out by observing her. Very little liquid is used, and by smothering the meat in a covering of parchment, then foil, and a tight-fitting lid, you make sure the juices that are “leached out” don’t evaporate but fall back into the pan, penetrating the meat and vegetables. As a result, you get an intensity of flavor that is breathtaking. I have adapted their recipe here to make two servings, not only because such chops are invariably vacuum-wrapped two to a package, but because the dish is so good that I always want to use it for a second round. Every time I make it, I want to give thanks to Edna and Scott, who seemed destined to cook together to bring new life to Southern cooking.

I love lamb chops, and I can’t resist when I find a pair of loin chops at least 1 inch thick sitting side by side in a shrink-wrapped package at the meat counter. Expensive? Yes, and I don’t really need two of them. But I give in and set aside the uneaten portion of the second one to tuck into a small casserole of French lentils. It makes an appealing second dinner.

You may have one whole cooked chop that you couldn’t eat, or you may have only a few bites. It doesn’t matter—the meat is really just a garnish to the lentils.

Easter is a real family holiday for Italians, and lamb was our usual fare for Easter supper—usually a leg or a crown roast. When it’s not Easter supper, though, I usually go for the smaller portions and simplicity of separate chops, as in this recipe. Rosemary and garlic are the perfect companions to lamb, and the paste below is a wonderful way to season the meat with a minimum of effort. This combo also works superbly with any cut of lamb; just double the quantities for a full rack, or triple them for a leg.

This is a great date meal for your Lamb Chop, Sweet Pea, or Honey Pie. No need to worry about dessert—you’re it!

When I was in Pakistan last, there was a very successful grill house in Karachi serving a thousand people per night. Bar-B-Q Tonight, as it was called, offered all manner of meats grilled in a style that is a mixture of Afghan and Pakistani culinary traditions. I have adapted one of their goat meat recipes to lamb. You may use the smaller rib chops or the larger, steak-like shoulder chops. They will have bone, of course, so 2 pounds will serve 2–3 people. You can cook these on an outdoor grill instead of broiling. This recipe may also be used for beef steaks. I love this with Tomato Pullao and Pan-Grilled Zucchini. I make the rice first and let it sit wrapped up in a towel while I grill the kebabs and the zucchini.

This is a lovely, careful way to prepare thick lamb chops—quite different from the usual fast grilling approach—and it makes them extraordinarily flavorful and tender. The chops brown gradually in a heavy skillet over relatively low heat, steadily building the flavors of caramelization, and then cook covered with a small amount of liquid and seasoning elements. This short period of moist cooking doesn’t draw the meat juices into the liquid (as it would in long stewing or braising) but instead brings the seasoning flavors more intensely into the meat itself. Here, lemon, olives, and oregano give the chops the tangy taste of Abruzzo. For a great winter meal, accompany them with something cozy, like polenta, mashed potatoes, or smothered cabbage or cauliflower. In summer, a tossed green salad is all you need. Either rib chops or loin chops are suited for this recipe, though my choice is the loin chop, which offers portions of both the loin and the tenderloin muscles (like a T-bone steak). You could use lamb shoulder chops, too, but they’d need nearly twice as much time to cook covered. They wouldn’t be as amazingly tender as loin or rib chops, but they would be delicious (and cost a lot less). With any kind of chop, a heavy cast-iron pan is perfect here, because of its steady heat-retaining qualities, but it must be well seasoned, so the meaty caramelization is not lost on the pan bottom.

Chef Cathal Armstrong of Restaurant Eve in Alexandria, Virginia, shared this recipe as part of a St. Patrick's Day feast he created exclusively for Epicurious. Armstrong suggests serving a Rhône-style wine such as Syrah or Grenache with this full-flavored dish.

Here, the sunny warmth of mint escapes the sweet-jelly cliché to find new expression in the thick Argentinean herb sauce called chimichurri. Its bright acidity cuts the lush richness of lamb shoulder chops.

No, its not the title of a lost Dr. Seuss opus, but a perfectly grown-up dish in which the richness of grilled spice-rubbed lamb chops is cut by lemon (both zest and flesh). Chances are you'll want to eat it anywhere.

The yogurt in this lightly spiced marinade results in extremely tender lamb, chicken, or shrimp.

Rubbed all over with a mixture of garlic, fresh rosemary, salt, and pepper, then grilled, these chops are so good that you might imagine they need no further embellishment—until you try them with a dab of the pungent porcini mustard. For tips on how to cut a rack of lamb into chops.

Il Vino d'Enrico Bernardo, a wine-centric Paris restaurant, features a delicious dish of lamb chops, carrots, and chickpeas with North African spices and black truffles. Skipping the truffles makes it more everyday, but it's still wonderful.

This quickly braised lamb brings a bit of French country straight into your kitchen.

Yogurt dressing best complements the flavor of these veggies.