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Recipe File: Rosemary Lamb Chops
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Cooking For Engineers



Joined: 10 May 2005
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PostPosted: Sat Apr 15, 2006 7:26 pm    Post subject: Recipe File: Rosemary Lamb Chops Reply with quote


Article Digest:
This recipe for pan seared lamb chops gets its flavor and aroma from the use of orange juice, pineapple juice, and rosemary in its marinade.

The lamb chops used in this recipe can be either shoulder chops or loin chops. The pictures show two shoulder chops being prepared.

The ingredients for the marinade are the same as for the sauce so gather together: 1 cup orange juice mixed with 1 cup pineapple juice, 4 stems of fresh rosemary, 2 cloves chopped garlic, 1 medium onion (finely chopped), 1/2 teaspoon table salt, 1 teaspoon ground black pepper, and 1 teaspoon dried thyme.
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Mix everything except the rosemary together. Reserve about 3/4 cup of the resulting mixture for creating the sauce later.
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Pour the unreserved mixture into a large resealable plastic bag and position two to four lamb chops into the marinade. Sandwich the fresh rosemary between the chops and reseal the bag (working as much air out as possible). Place the bag on a plate into the refrigerator to marinade for at least one hour and no more than four. The pineapple juice contains enzymes that will tenderize the lamb by breaking down the protein structures. Marinating too long may result in an undesirable mushy texture.
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After marinating, remove the lamb from the bag and pat dry with a kitchen towel or paper towels. You can leave any herbs or onions left sticking to the surface of the chop for caramelization and inclusion in the sauce.
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Heat a large pan with one to two tablespoons of high quality extra virgin olive oil (the type that doesn't smoke at low temperatures). The amount of oil will be dictated by the dimensions of your pan. You want just enough oil to evenly coat the pan when the oil is hot. Once the oil is up to temperature (the oil flows freely, the surface of the oil shimmers, and the edges begin to emit slight wisps of smoke), place the lamb chops into the pan without crowding. Leave the chops alone for four minutes.
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Because we didn't remove the onions on the surface of the lamb chops, the onions become caramelized and provide a distinct oniony sweet fragrance to this dish. Unfortunately, they also prevent the lamb from developing a beautiful sear. I usually, scrape off the excess onions from the second side before flipping the chop over so a sear is formed on that side. The onions that have been scraped off will caramelize while the chop is searing. So, scrape off the top side of the chops and flip them over when the first four minutes have elapsed.
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After another four minutes, measure the internal temperature of each chop. Remove them if they have hit 140°F (60°C). If your chops are thicker, then simply pour the reserved marinade mixture into the pan and allow the chops to simmer over medium to medium-low heat until they reach 140°F. (Check the temperature every minute to two minutes.) After the chops have been removed, bring the heat up to medium-high and deglazed the pan with the reserved marinade. Just use a wooden spoon to scrape up any little bits on the pan. They should come off in the boiling liquid.

Reduce the sauce until it it thickened. A good way to identify how thick a sauce has become is to run a spoon or spatula through the sauce and see how long the resulting trail is filled back in with the sauce. The sauce is ready when a trail remains for several seconds.
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Serve with sauce spooned on top of the lamb chop.

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Rosemary Lamb Chops (serves two to four)
Marinade
1 cup (235 mL) orange juicemixreserve 3/4 cup marinade
marinade in refrigerator 1-4 hours
1 cup (235 mL) pineapple juice
2 cloves garlicmince
1 medium (110 g) onionchop
1/2 tsp. (3 g) table salt
1 tsp. (2.1 g) ground black pepper
1 tsp. (1 g) dried thyme
2 to 4 lamb chops
4 stems fresh rosemary

Rosemary Lamb Chops
3/4 cup reserved marinadesimmer
remove chops at 140°F (60°C)
deglaze pan and reduce
2 to 4 marinated lamp chopspat drysear 4 min. per side
1 Tbs. (15 mL) extra virgin olive oilheat

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BlueShift
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 26, 2006 4:09 am    Post subject: What's that yummy smell, Shari? Reply with quote

Mmmm, perfect timing, just as i was wondering what I was having for dinner tonight.
I'll be picking up some chops on the way home now! I can almost smell them cooking now...
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Yang-May Ooi
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 26, 2006 10:25 am    Post subject: £35,000 prize for showing engineers in a great light Reply with quote

Hi Michael

The name of your blog/ site intrigued me so I came by to have a look. Just the other day I saw that a prize is being offered by Civil Engineering institutions in the UK for writers to show engineers in a great light - I thought you might like to take a look at it at http://forums.booktrade.info/showthread.php?t=550.

By the way, I am not at all connected with the above prize - I am a Malaysian-born writer based in London. I've published two "lawyer in periol" thrillers THE FLAME TREE and MINDGAME and I have just launched my "fusion" lit blog at http://www.yangmayooi.blogspot.com where I share my Eastern and Western perspective on writing and the arts. I was tickled by the engineers offering that prize as there are lots of thrillers about lawyers but not so many on accountants or engineers etc!

I know this comment isn't directly relevant to your recipe post - so apologies about that - but I thought it might be the quickest way to make contact and share this info with you and your readers.

PS. I have put a recipe on my blog from my Grandma for soy sauce chicken you might like to have a look at.

All the best
Yang-May Ooi
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blork
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PostPosted: Tue May 09, 2006 2:25 am    Post subject: olive oil clarification Reply with quote

Great recipe. But I question your comment on the olive oil. ALL olive oil smokes at a fairly low temperature -- the quality of the oil has no bearing on the smoke point. In fact, the "higher quality" olive oils are usually kept for non-cooking uses, such as in salads or drizzled directly onto already-cooked pizzas or appetizers. Selecting a "top-shelf" olive oil for cooking is pointless, as the heating destroys the subtle differences that put it on that top shelf in the first place.

I would suggest using any decent olive oil for this recipe and save the expensive extra-virgin stuff for raw uses. Although the smoke point is "relatively low" it is still high enough for searing meat. Alternatively, use grapeseed oil, which has a high smoke point, a clean taste, and the same omega-3 and other health qualities as olive oil.

Keep up the good work!
blork
www.blork.typepad.com
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DrObviousSo



Joined: 10 Aug 2006
Posts: 2

PostPosted: Thu Aug 10, 2006 1:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yup, I have to agree on the olive oil thing. I keep a large Costco jug of 3rd press for cooking, and a small bottle of 1st press for dipping bread in.
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Michael Chu



Joined: 10 May 2005
Posts: 1654
Location: Austin, TX (USA)

PostPosted: Thu Aug 10, 2006 4:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It is true that many olive oils have a lower smoke point (compared to other oils), but to say that ALL (extra virgin) olive oils have low smoke point is a little misleading. For example, Bertolli's Extra Virgin Olive Oil has a smoke point above 400°F. For me, unless I'm doing a stir fry in a wok (in which case I wouldn't be using an extra virgin oil), I'm not working in that temperature range. Pan frying with extra virgin is possible and, even with the heat, does impart a pleasant flavor to the food in the process.
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CollegeStudent
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 02, 2007 3:33 am    Post subject: Question Reply with quote

What do you suggest serving with the lamb chops?
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GaryProtein



Joined: 26 Oct 2005
Posts: 535

PostPosted: Tue Jan 02, 2007 3:12 pm    Post subject: Re: Question Reply with quote

CollegeStudent wrote:
What do you suggest serving with the lamb chops?


Garlic mashed potatoes, Swiss chard, and baby carrots.
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Artur D.U2TY5
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 25, 2007 3:51 am    Post subject: Rosemary Lamb Chops Reply with quote

Thanks for the recipe, it was just like the picture, my son told me they are the best lamb chops he ever ate bones and all; me too . adcd3000@hotmail.com
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Garland
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 21, 2007 9:17 pm    Post subject: Lamb Chop recipe Reply with quote

Your recipe did list the temperature to heat the pan for the first part of the cooking. Later the recipe states to "allow the chops to simmer over medium to medium-low heat" and then later to "bring the heat up to medium-high and deglaze the pan..." So, is the initail heat supposed to be at least medium-high?
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GaryProtein



Joined: 26 Oct 2005
Posts: 535

PostPosted: Fri Feb 23, 2007 2:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I just have to add this. I love rosemary. I like to coat fresh rosemary sprigs (10-12" long) with a brushing of Grapeseed oil (little to no taste of its own and high smokepoint) and then bake it for about 30-40 minutes on a cookie sheet or other shallow pan at 350F while everything else is cooking. When it comes out, it is completely dessicated, crisp and I pull the leaves leaves off the sprigs and eat them all by themselves. It is like eating tiny shoestring potato chips, but with flavor. It may sound wierd, but if you like rosemary, I promise you'll like this. You can also pull off the leaves and sprinkle on top of your food.
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Michael Chu



Joined: 10 May 2005
Posts: 1654
Location: Austin, TX (USA)

PostPosted: Thu Mar 01, 2007 10:10 pm    Post subject: Re: Lamb Chop recipe Reply with quote

Garland wrote:
Your recipe did list the temperature to heat the pan for the first part of the cooking. Later the recipe states to "allow the chops to simmer over medium to medium-low heat" and then later to "bring the heat up to medium-high and deglaze the pan..." So, is the initail heat supposed to be at least medium-high?

That's more or less up to the pan and stove you have (in fact, all the "temperature" recommendations are subject to your stove and pan). In this case we just want to bring the oil up to temperature - somewhere around 300-325°F or a bit more. I use medium heat for this on my gas range and saute pan.
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Anya
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PostPosted: Tue Mar 20, 2007 9:32 pm    Post subject: Nice!! Reply with quote

I can't begin to tell you how happy I am that I came across your site. I have never seen anything like it. Very easy to follow instructions and I absolutely love the pictures!!

Great recipe - chops turned out amazing!
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AnOldEngineer
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 28, 2008 4:52 pm    Post subject: Rosemary Lamb Chops - reference to Grapeseed oil. Reply with quote

As I have never heard of Grapeseed oil but have Rapeseed oil I wonder if it was a typo?. Also, in England (UK) and France "Cold Pressed Rapeseed Oil" has been introduced - this is no good for deep frying but excellent for all other cooking methods and it is claimed at being very healthy - low in saturated fat (half that of olive oil) and high in balanced levels of Omega 3, 6 + 9 oils and vitamin E. It is simply made by cold pressing the rapeseed. Nothing else is added. If you use it to make roast potatoes they turn out golden and are dry and crisp - not soggy. Well worth tying. Strangely, the oil is much more expensive than the ordinary rapeseed oil.
As a first time visitor I am still dazed and in awe of this wonderful site. Thanks.
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Michael Chu



Joined: 10 May 2005
Posts: 1654
Location: Austin, TX (USA)

PostPosted: Mon Jan 28, 2008 6:32 pm    Post subject: Re: Rosemary Lamb Chops - reference to Grapeseed oil. Reply with quote

AnOldEngineer wrote:
As I have never heard of Grapeseed oil but have Rapeseed oil I wonder if it was a typo?

Probably not a typo - grapeseed oil is from the seeds of grapes, often after they have been used for another purpose such as winemaking. Rapeseed oil comes from the seeds of a leafy green plant usually grown as feed, for oil production, or use in chinese cooking. Canola oil is the most common type of rapeseed oil in the U.S.
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