I've got two of them thawing in the kitchen. I'm thinking about
braising them in hard apple cider with herbs and lots of black pepper.

What would you do with them?
--

modom

http://www.koyote.com/users/modom/home.html

On Sun, 10 Dec 2006 13:00:38 -0600, "modom (palindrome guy)"
moc.etoyok@modom wrote:

I've got two of them thawing in the kitchen. I'm thinking about
braising them in hard apple cider with herbs and lots of black pepper.

What would you do with them?


They are wonderful broiled or grilled. In fact, I have never braised
them and I'm curious as to how they will turn out.

I like lamb with balsamic vinegar, garlic and rosemary.

Boron

On Sun, 10 Dec 2006 12:40:08 -0800, Abe wrote:

I've got two of them thawing in the kitchen. I'm thinking about
braising them in hard apple cider with herbs and lots of black pepper.

What would you do with them?

They are wonderful broiled or grilled. In fact, I have never braised
them and I'm curious as to how they will turn out.

I like lamb with balsamic vinegar, garlic and rosemary.
Lamb steaks either need to be cooked very quickly on high heat to med.
rare or braised/stewed for a long time under low heat. Anything
in-between results in rubber.

I love lamb shoulder arm chops.

I make a mirpoix (equal parts diced onion, celery, and carrot) and
saute this in a little vegetable oil until softened. I use my big cast
iron frying pan. Shove the mirpoix to one side, then add the chops.
Fry on both sides to brown them slightly. Season with salt and pepper.
Spoon some of the mirpoix over the chops. Cover the frying pan with
tinfoil and stick it in a 325F oven for an hour.

The mirpoix will reduce down to almost a mush, and make a heavenly
savoury accompaniment to the chops.

Serve with potatoes.

Jo Anne

Jo Anne Slaven wrote:

I love lamb shoulder arm chops.

I make a mirpoix (equal parts diced onion, celery, and carrot) and
saute this in a little vegetable oil until softened. I use my big cast
iron frying pan. Shove the mirpoix to one side, then add the chops.
Fry on both sides to brown them slightly. Season with salt and pepper.
Spoon some of the mirpoix over the chops. Cover the frying pan with
tinfoil and stick it in a 325F oven for an hour.

The mirpoix will reduce down to almost a mush, and make a heavenly
savoury accompaniment to the chops.

Sounds good. Lamb shoulder arm is an excellent cut of lamb.
Cheaper than some other cuts also. I find the shoulder to
have a very lamb-y flavor, and also a sort of coarse grain
that helps it absorb flavors from other ingredients. (The
latter part may just be my imagination, but that is how it seems.)

Steve

modom (palindrome guy) wrote:
I've got two of them thawing in the kitchen. I'm thinking about
braising them in hard apple cider with herbs and lots of black pepper.

What would you do with them?

Sprinkle with dried crushed rosemary and salt & pepper. Bush with oil and
vinegar, then grill them or pan fry them. YUM!

Jill

On Sun, 10 Dec 2006 14:37:49 -0500, Boron Elgar
wrote:

On Sun, 10 Dec 2006 13:00:38 -0600, "modom (palindrome guy)"
moc.etoyok@modom wrote:

I've got two of them thawing in the kitchen. I'm thinking about
braising them in hard apple cider with herbs and lots of black pepper.

What would you do with them?

They are wonderful broiled or grilled. In fact, I have never braised
them and I'm curious as to how they will turn out.

I like lamb with balsamic vinegar, garlic and rosemary.

Boron

The lamb was quite good. I used black pepper corns; a chopped leek;
1/2 an onion, chopped; button mushrooms, quartered; two bottles of
cider; bay leaves; ginger, peeled and chunked; and some dried parsley.
I set it all with the lamb shoulder chops/steaks in a baking pan and
covered it with foil. I oven braised the meat for a little over two
hours at 250F (it was still a bit frozen when I started, so a longer
cooking time seemed warranted).

The juices were a little too sweet when I pulled it all out of the
cooker, so I added some Dijon mustard and a splash of wine vinegar.
Then I reduced the juice with some fresh thyme sprigs in it and the
meat removed to a plate. The results were fork-tender and rich with a
mild, but noticeable lamb flavor. D said it tasted like French food,
which I take as a compliment. It would have been better without the
leek, though. The combination of a leek's sweetness and the cider's
sugars was more than I wanted.
--

modom

http://www.koyote.com/users/modom/home.html

On Sun, 10 Dec 2006 18:46:14 -0600, "jmcquown"
wrote:

modom (palindrome guy) wrote:
I've got two of them thawing in the kitchen. I'm thinking about
braising them in hard apple cider with herbs and lots of black pepper.

What would you do with them?

Sprinkle with dried crushed rosemary and salt & pepper. Bush with oil and
vinegar, then grill them or pan fry them. YUM!

Jill

I think these chops needed braising. They were from the shoulder and
would have been tough cooked on a grill. I did consider using the
Penzey's rogan josh blend I have, but I didn't want to try to cube
frozen meat. I wonder if it would have been good to braise them whole
in a rogan josh sauce? I might try that next time.
--

modom

http://www.koyote.com/users/modom/home.html

On Sun, 10 Dec 2006 19:12:14 -0600, "modom (palindrome guy)"
moc.etoyok@modom wrote:



The juices were a little too sweet when I pulled it all out of the
cooker, so I added some Dijon mustard and a splash of wine vinegar.
Then I reduced the juice with some fresh thyme sprigs in it and the
meat removed to a plate. The results were fork-tender and rich with a
mild, but noticeable lamb flavor. D said it tasted like French food,
which I take as a compliment. It would have been better without the
leek, though. The combination of a leek's sweetness and the cider's
sugars was more than I wanted.

I was wondering about the cider with the lamb. It is not a
combination one usually sees...I tend to see that more with chicken or
pork, as apples tend to be a natural complement to pork especially. I
think that led to your sweetness....
I personally would have used another liquid rather than cider...

Christine

On Sun, 10 Dec 2006 19:12:14 -0600, "modom (palindrome guy)"
moc.etoyok@modom wrote:

On Sun, 10 Dec 2006 14:37:49 -0500, Boron Elgar
wrote:

On Sun, 10 Dec 2006 13:00:38 -0600, "modom (palindrome guy)"
moc.etoyok@modom wrote:

I've got two of them thawing in the kitchen. I'm thinking about
braising them in hard apple cider with herbs and lots of black pepper.

What would you do with them?

They are wonderful broiled or grilled. In fact, I have never braised
them and I'm curious as to how they will turn out.

I like lamb with balsamic vinegar, garlic and rosemary.

Boron

The lamb was quite good. I used black pepper corns; a chopped leek;
1/2 an onion, chopped; button mushrooms, quartered; two bottles of
cider; bay leaves; ginger, peeled and chunked; and some dried parsley.
I set it all with the lamb shoulder chops/steaks in a baking pan and
covered it with foil. I oven braised the meat for a little over two
hours at 250F (it was still a bit frozen when I started, so a longer
cooking time seemed warranted).

The juices were a little too sweet when I pulled it all out of the
cooker, so I added some Dijon mustard and a splash of wine vinegar.
Then I reduced the juice with some fresh thyme sprigs in it and the
meat removed to a plate. The results were fork-tender and rich with a
mild, but noticeable lamb flavor. D said it tasted like French food,
which I take as a compliment. It would have been better without the
leek, though. The combination of a leek's sweetness and the cider's
sugars was more than I wanted.


Thanks for the update. It really sounds lovely.

Of course, the very mention of the shoulder chops got me to stop and
the market and pick some up for dinner tonight. We had them broiled,
with asparagus and brown rice on the side.

Boron

On Sun, 10 Dec 2006 18:18:45 -0700, Christine Dabney
wrote:

On Sun, 10 Dec 2006 19:12:14 -0600, "modom (palindrome guy)"
moc.etoyok@modom wrote:



The juices were a little too sweet when I pulled it all out of the
cooker, so I added some Dijon mustard and a splash of wine vinegar.
Then I reduced the juice with some fresh thyme sprigs in it and the
meat removed to a plate. The results were fork-tender and rich with a
mild, but noticeable lamb flavor. D said it tasted like French food,
which I take as a compliment. It would have been better without the
leek, though. The combination of a leek's sweetness and the cider's
sugars was more than I wanted.

I was wondering about the cider with the lamb. It is not a
combination one usually sees...I tend to see that more with chicken or
pork, as apples tend to be a natural complement to pork especially. I
think that led to your sweetness....
I personally would have used another liquid rather than cider...

I was thinking of Brittany, I suppose. http://tinyurl.com/yzm4wb

And of the last time I did it with cider. It was fine then -- no
leeks.
--

modom

http://www.koyote.com/users/modom/home.html

On Sun, 10 Dec 2006 19:34:44 -0600, "modom (palindrome guy)"
moc.etoyok@modom wrote:

I was thinking of Brittany, I suppose. http://tinyurl.com/yzm4wb

Yeah, but still..think of the natural affinities some meats have with
various products...

Not that it didn't turn out well....I am glad it did for you..

Christine

On Sun, 10 Dec 2006 20:29:55 -0500, Boron Elgar
wrote:

Thanks for the update. It really sounds lovely.

Of course, the very mention of the shoulder chops got me to stop and
the market and pick some up for dinner tonight. We had them broiled,
with asparagus and brown rice on the side.

So the lamb wasn't tough, I take it. Shows what I know.
--

modom

http://www.koyote.com/users/modom/home.html

On Sun, 10 Dec 2006 19:50:20 -0600, "modom (palindrome guy)"
moc.etoyok@modom wrote:

On Sun, 10 Dec 2006 20:29:55 -0500, Boron Elgar
wrote:

Thanks for the update. It really sounds lovely.

Of course, the very mention of the shoulder chops got me to stop and
the market and pick some up for dinner tonight. We had them broiled,
with asparagus and brown rice on the side.

So the lamb wasn't tough, I take it. Shows what I know.


Not at all. A shoulder chop is not going to be as meltingly tender as
a rack chop, but it should be great for broiling or grilling. I prefer
them to loin chops. A rack of lamb is my favorite, but shoulder chops
are dee-lish.

Boron