I know this title sounds dumb, but if you've ever listened to Simon & Garfunkel's third album entitled Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme, this might make sense to you in a figurative way, and the finished dish certainly smelled and tasted great for my seven-year-old grandson, who ate his first lamb chop today.I bought these chops at the Idaho Falls Farmer's Market from the Lau Family Farm. I think that their ranch is near Soda Springs. I have a five or six different cuts of lamb I bought from them last year, but they are in my freezer. I was nervous about these lamb chops and only these lamb chops, because they were so large, but they were the best I've ever prepared.
As large as they were, I was afraid it was mutton, but they were just large chops.
And I always like the way I do them as opposed to something you get in a restaurant, and I never order lamb, unless I'm in an expensive place, preferably a Middle Eastern place.
My chops are better than any expensive American restaurant where I've ordered them. The meat also tasted better than the place that Ann and I found in Athens, and it was very good.
Before lunch, he walked into the kitchen, and while standing in front of the stove, he asked what smelled so good. I was nervous he wouldn't like them.
Now I have seasonings that I purchased in Greece and at Middle Eastern shops in the United States that specialize in different preparations for lamb. I like the way these cultures prepare and cook their meat.
One Jewish chef in Park City told me his secret. Buy the best lamb. He told me only to buy New Zealand lamb, and I have a couple of times. It is incredible, but it's also almost impossible to find in the West, especially during the summer months. Secondly, the chef told me to use a good rub for the meat, whatever I did, I was to and avoid any kind of marinade. He warned me that it was the quick fix that not only spoils the dish, but a sensitive palate can taste the difference. One thing for sure, if you do this process the right way, you don't need any condiment.
The rub I used is one I've like to use with very good cuts of beef. The spices are very good.
I did a splash of Worcestershire Sauce on both sides after rubbing the meat. Then I sprinkled a couple of dashes, probably more like four or five, of garlic salt. Next came about some sprinkles of basil. And last but not least, the Simon & Garfunkel spices--rosemary and thyme--
finished things. Oh, and I peppered them carefully. Jack doesn't like pepper like I do.
I fried them, although I would have preferred to do everything on our outside grill, but this way I also used slices of sweet onions.
It turned out to be fantastic.
I only cook lamb when my Annie is out of town, because even the smell of it cooking in a pan makes her gag. Any kind of wild game or lamb is not an option for her. When we were in Northern Germany in 1997, I was at a Markt, which basically is a Saturday Farmer's Market, and they served a noodle dish. I was excited to get these Southern German noodles in Muenster.
When I asked what the meat was with the dish, they told me it was deer meat, and they let me taste it.
Germans and Austrians say their chocolate is so good because of the wild flowers that grow in the Alps, and it must be so when it comes to venison too, because that meat was phenomenal. I bought a plate for me and my Annie. When she asked me what it was, I said it was beef or pork. I figured she wouldn't know the difference, and besides, it tasted so good.
But I didn't realize that her sensitivity was similar to mine. She was sick for several hours, and it made me feel really badly about it. Like I said, I should have known better, because I can't eat anything that is an internal organ of pork, beef or poultry, although I can do Leberwurst. It does the same thing for me. Ann was with me in Marburg when a family served beef tongue and tried to say it was something else. I was very sick, just like I get when I eat in a real Chinese place where stomach lining or heart or who knows what also appears in dishes that taste so good initially.
I always know what is in the dish within about two hours. I get very sick.
The lunch today was fun, and it is exciting and refreshing to see my grandson eat one lamb chop and ask for a bit more, and these chops were bigger than my fist.
I will be a frequent buyer of meats from Lau Family Farms, and Jack will support me too. Since grandma doesn't like the smell of it cooking, it will be something my grandson and I can enjoy when she is occasionally gone out of town. The outside grill is also an option.
Jack loved everything, except for the broccoli.
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