Lollipop Lamb Chops for a Party

June 12, 2013  •  Meat & Poultry

lamb chops grilledLollipop lamb chops – the frenched rack cut into individual chops – are perfect for a large summer party. They can be grilled ahead of time and reheated in the oven, or simply served cold. Best of all, you can grill up a large portion of the chops and because of the cleaned bones, they are easy to pick up and eat without any utensils. Believe it or not, I grilled 25 racks, which is 200 chops, last week for a party I catered. It was surprisingly easy and the guests raved about the chops.smoke in yardYou’ll want to marinate the chops the night before you are going to cook them. But that marinade can cause the grill to smoke quite a bit as you can see in my backyard shot last week. For serving at a party, I simply grill them for 2 minutes on high heat on the grill. Start the timer as you put the first chop on the grill on the top left and work you way down the grill in columns so you keep them in order. As soon as the 2 minute buzzer goes off start turning them in the order you put them on the grill, but be sure to start the timer again as soon as you start turning them. When the buzzer goes off again, start pulling them off the grill (in the order you put them on) into a clean pan (not the one with the marinating chops in it).smoke on grillAbout the only way to ruin your chops is to immediately throw the next round on (assuming you have more chops to cook). There is oil in the marinade and the first round of chops will have rendered fat out while cooking. All of this contributes to flare ups – usually pretty big ones – on the grill if you just keep loading in chops. Instead, between rounds of chops, close the lid of your grill and let the high heat burn off the fat and drippings. You’ll know it’s time to load up the next round as soon as those drippings are gone and smoke is no longer wafting up from the grill. My marinade came from one of the old Colorado Junior League cookbooks, but you can really use any marinade recipe you like with this technique. Happy summer grilling!

Lollipop Lamb Chops for a Party
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Adapted from Colorado Collage, Junior League of Denver
Author:
Recipe type: Entree
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
  • 1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
  • 1 lemon, juiced
  • 1-2 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary
  • 1-2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme
  • 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 frenched racks of lamb, cut between ribs into chops
Instructions
  1. Combine all ingredients except lamb in a food processor or blender and combine well. Lay chops in a baking dish and cover with marinade, turning to ensure even coating. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
  2. Heat grill to high and grill chops for 2 minutes per side, transferring to a clean baking dish as they are cooked. Cover and refrigerate the partially cooked chops until ready to serve.
  3. To serve, reheat in a 300 degree oven just until warmed through, about 15 minutes. This final cooking in the oven will also finish cooking the chops from rare to medium rare.
Notes
To prepare a large volume of chops for a party, just increase the marinade in proportion to the chops, so one portion of marinade for each two racks of lamb. Each rack of lamb yields 8 lollipop lamb chops.

 

Comments

3 Comments  •  Comments Feed

  1. Alicia says:

    Hi, I have a question. If I grill the racks of lamb ahead. How long and at what temp do I reheat them for in the oven? And when do I cut them up? After grilling? After reheating?

    Thank you,
    Alicia

  2. Raelene Curwood says:

    I have the same question as the one above ie

    If I grill the racks of lamb ahead. How long and at what temp do I reheat them for in the oven? And when do I cut them up? After grilling? After reheating?

  3. Michele says:

    I’d do as the recipe recommends: cut chops, grill only to rare, then reheat in 300 degree oven for about 15 mins before serving.

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