Sauce For Lamb

A mint and lamb dish made for warm weather

Americans don’t tend to think of mint as a savory seasoning.

In the rest of the world, however, it frequently appears on the dinner table. One reason is that its sweet-peppery freshness and deliciously pungent aroma does such a nice job of cutting through heavy and fatty foods, such as roasted meats. That’s why you’ll often see mint paired with roasted lamb.

But summer is here and nobody wants to crank up the oven to roast anything. So I came up with this simple, weeknight-friendly recipe for lamb chops that get topped with a tzatziki-like yogurt sauce flavored with fresh mint, lemon juice, garlic and shallot.

These chops could easily be tossed on the grill. If so, aim for about 3 minutes per side.

Start to finish: 25 minutes. Servings: 4.

1 cup plain Greek-style yogurt

2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 shallot, minced

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Salt and ground black pepper

1 tablespoon ground cumin

12 lamb rib chops

2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided

Heat the oven to 200 F. In a medium bowl, combine the yogurt, mint, garlic, shallot and lemon juice. Mix well, then taste and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

In a small bowl, combine 2 teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoon ground black pepper and the cumin. Rub the mixture over both sides of each lamb chop.

In a large skillet over medium-high, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil. Add half of the chops and cook for 3 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer the chops to an oven-safe plate and place in the oven to keep warm. Repeat with the remaining tablespoon of oil and chops. Serve the chops topped with the mint-yogurt sauce.

Grilled Lamb Skewers with Yogurt Mint Dipping Sauce | Mark's Daily ...

Grilled Lamb Skewers with Yogurt Mint Dipping Sauce

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When most people think about firing up the grill or stoking a campfire to cook an outdoor meal, lamb isn’t the first meat that comes to mind. Isn’t lamb the type of meat that should be served on a fancy platter with mint jelly on the side, not seared over a campfire and eaten with your hands?

Personally, we’ve never liked mint jelly or those silly, frilly white paper caps that chefs stick on lamb legs. We like our lamb seared over an open flame in tender bite-sized morsels that have been richly seasoned and tenderized in a marinade. We slide the meat right off the skewer and pop it in our mouth – it may not be fancy, but it sure is good.

Lamb is an ideal meat to skewer and cook over an open flame because it doesn’t take long to cook. If you’re wondering whether or not it’s done, err on the side of taking it off too soon; you want lamb to be fairly rare, otherwise it will be tough and chewy. If you cut the lamb into 1-inch squares it only needs 6-8 minutes of cooking time. Thread some skewers (or a stick that you’ve whittled) with veggies like onions, peppers or zucchini and they’ll be done at the same time and can be served on the side.

A good marinade is the key to tender lamb and it also adds extra flavor. The lamb soaks up our blend of allspice, cumin, onions, parsley and garlic like a sponge, making each piece of meat a succulent treat.

Ideally, let the meat marinate between 6-8 hours. If you’re heading out into the wild for a camping trip, store the meat in a sealed plastic bag with the marinade (in a cooler or near an ice pack) and the meat will be perfectly seasoned by the time you get your fire going that night or the next day.

Theses kabobs are spiced but not spicy – if you want some heat, add diced hot pepper or red pepper flakes to the marinade. Either way, a cool minty dipping sauce made from whole fat Greek yogurt and fresh mint is a refreshing summer dip to serve on the side.

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