Lamb loin chops, polenta, and broiled tomatoes.
A loin lamb chop is a lamb
porterhouse.
So here's the tenderloin.
And here's the actual larger part of the loin.
It's bone-in.
So in your pantry,
you probably all have garlic and onion, right?
Granulated.
That's there.
Oregano, right? Everybody's got that.
Fenugreek of some sort, may be new to you.
I have leaf and fenugreek seeds that I grind, okay?
You can use cumin if you don't have fenugreek.
Kind of similar earthy taste.
For the pepper, I use a mild earthy chili.
I have Aleppo and Urfa,
but you can use any chili powder you like.
Pimenton is smoked sweet paprika.
Or you can buy a blend, right?
You could just use salt and pepper and it'd be delicious.
But I like spice.
I like a lot of flavor, so does my husband,
so I tend to spice heavily in these instances.
So on both sides I'm gonna take my blend,
with salt and pepper mixed in of course.
Into the hot pan we go.
Large nonstick pan.
And you want to allow two chops per person.
And we're going to serve this with polenta.
The polenta water and/or stock is up to a boil.
Oh, the whisk is by the pot.
500 grams of polenta.
This is polenta mixed with buckwheat, by the way.
And you can cook it in two quarts of water or stock
or a combination of the two.
I use stock.
Once this comes up to a boil,
turn it to the absolute lowest the stove goes
and let this cook for 40 minutes until smooth.
I'm spraying the other side with olive oil
and I spray the pan with olive oil.
Look at what's happening already. Look at the color.
Look at the gorgeous color on this.
We're also gonna take time
to brown the fat on the side.
So when you're done cooking both sides, do this.
See what I'm doing?
Stand the lamb up against a side
and let the fat render.
The polenta's about done.
The lamb is still very tender.
See how punchy it is?
That means it's gonna be medium rare when we serve.
Medium rare to medium.
So all I did was turn the pan back on.
It was five minutes on the first side,
two minutes on the opposite.
Now we're going to take the drippings in the pan.
I had a teaspoon left of the lamb spice.
I'm going to throw that into the pan and toast it.
I'm gonna add a little bit of white wine.
And bring up the drippings.
A slow turn of the pan.
I'm gonna make just a little pan au jus.
A little pan sauce, right?
I'm gonna add a splash of chicken broth,
or stock or bone broth.
And over the lamb itself, I'm gonna crush half a lemon.
And then we're going to, as my mom would say,
gloss the sauce with a couple tablespoons of butter.
And I'm just gonna drop it in little pieces.
So while the sauce is working,
we're going to take four large tomatoes.
I cut the tops off, that's all I did.
Salt, pepper, and granulated garlic.
That's it.
I have a little bit of fresh thyme.
You could use dried.
You can use any herb you like.
You could top it with fresh basil,
but I would do that after it comes out of the oven.
If you're using fresh thyme, it roasts up beautifully,
so I'm gonna rub a little fresh thyme into each tomato.
Drizzle it with some good olive oil and broil it.
The broiler's on high.
And all we're doing is cooking the tops of these tomatoes
as our side dish.
This is about 35 minutes in.
So now we're going to add one cup of easy-melting cheese.
I have Fontina Val D'Aosta that I hand-sliced.
And always, always, with risotto or polenta,
a few tablespoons of butter at the end.
Our broiled tomatoes.
All of their natural juice all over the top.
Our polenta, and see how pourable?
I reheated our lamb loin chops.
And I'm putting them in a bed of upland cress.
You know, spicy greens, watercress.
Baby arugula, whatever you like.
There!
Oh!
Ho-ho!
(chimes ring)