I'm a little nervous about cooking lamb chops for the first time- any pointers?

I have fresh rosemary from my herb garden. I do a lot of cooking, this is just one meat i've never tried at home. I've only even had it twice in restaurants. I live in the south where lamb is just not a common meat. Below, is my inspiration recipe, though I'm terrible about following them step by step. I usually just cook by ear.

8 (4-ounce) lamb chops

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil



2 teaspoons minced garlic



1 tablespoon finely chopped rosemary leaves



1 lemon, halved



1 teaspoon kosher salt



1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper





Preheat a hot grill and the oven to 400 degrees F.





Rub the chops with oil, garlic, rosemary, lemon, salt, and pepper. Place on the grill and cook for 4 minutes on each side. Put on a baking sheet and finish in the oven, about 5 minutes, or until desired doneness.
I'm a little nervous about cooking lamb chops for the first time- any pointers?
The recipe sounds nice, but you don't need to do anything to the chops for them to taste great.



I like to leave chops plain and put them under a hot grill - You need to use a high heat to make sure that the fat browns well - that is where most of the flavour is. I would give them about 5 minutes on each side, and see how brown they are - they may need a little longer depending on your grill.



You don't need to put them in the oven unless you want the meat well done. You can serve good quality lamb rare, although I prefer mine medium.



Mint is another very good accompaniment for lamb, which you could use in a similar way to the rosemary in your recipe, or add it to whatever you're serving with the chops.
Reply:When we make lamb chops, we simply drizzle them with olive oil and sprinkle garlic, salt and rosemary over top and bake in a 350 degree oven until done to your liking... It is actually more simple than most expect.
Reply:Your recipe sounds good. I have never done lamb chops on the bbq; I just fry them the same way that I do pork chops. Not much to it...just fry til they're done to your preference and serve them with a little mint jelly.



gere
Reply:recipe sounds great, but when i make lamb chops i bake them slowly and rub a little basil pesto on them first. you can brown on the grill but then i would put in covered baking dish and bake at about 275 degrees, checking often to make sure you have enough liquid on them. they come out very tender and you can even add you potatoes and make rosemary potatoes with it. just toss the potatoes in olive oil, cover with chopped rosemary and put in pan when chops are about 1/2 way done. YUM! good luck
Reply:Taht sounds good but I just broil them. secret is to not over cook them. I just salt and pepper them that way I get the flovor of the lamb and not the herbs. Make sure that the animal has been finished out with good food the fat should be white and not yellow. This will ensure the mild flavor of the lamb and not the strong flavor of mutton. BIG DIFFERENCE
Reply:The secret to good lamb chops is to cook them over a very hot heat source for a short time. Be careful tho when you are using olive oil because it will smoke and flame easily compared to other oils. It's like gasoline when it hits red hot coals however used sparingly it will "sear" the meat and seal in the wonderful juices.



Try not to over cook them. I like them done rare to med rare at most. Yum.

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