Red Wine Marinated Lamb Chops

Variety is the spice of life. In addition to cooking chicken, fish and other lean proteins, it's nice to treat myself to a nice piece of meat every now and then. Lamb has a lovely flavor and takes to different spices well. A good marinade helps eliminate a little bit of the game-y taste, in addition to infusing it with good flavor, though it certainly helps to cook it properly.


One of my favorite ways to prepare a good lamb chop is by marinating it in red wine. The sweetness compliments the meat very nicely, and if you pan sear the chop, it caramelizes beautifully. For complexity and depth I add some minced garlic, and some dried rosemary since I always have some in my kitchen, though if you have fresh rosemary you can certainly use that too.

Place the chops either in a bowl and seal it, or use a large zip lock bag. Give them a good sprinkling of salt and pepper, top with the minced garlic.


Pour the red wine over them. Use just enough to cover them. I like to use a good dry red wine, like Shiraz or Cabernet though a dry Spanish wine like Rioja would be excellent, or a Bordeaux. You won't use the entire bottle for your chops, so it helps to buy something that you would like to drink afterwards. Remember that using good quality ingredients makes for better food. I never cook with a wine I don't like, because its taste will permeate throughout the dish.


Let the chops marinate for a least an hour or two in the refrigerator. The longer they soak, the stronger it will taste. I pan seared mine today because I didn't want to fuss with a grill, though they are excellent on the grill. Remove them from the marinade and let the liquid drain off a bit, preheat a nonstick skillet with two tablespoons of olive oil until the pan is piping hot. Cook them for 4 or 5 minutes if you like them slightly pink in the middle, a little longer for a more well done chop. Don't overcook them, the meat will dry out and become rubbery. Also try to avoid flipping them over more than once, it will keep them cooking evenly, and ensure they get nice and brown.


I was feeling rather indulgent today, so I served them with my grilled potato salad with bacon and a mustard vinaigrette. Yum. The recipe for the potato salad is below.


Warm Potato Salad with Bacon & Mustard Vinaigrette
The idea for this salad came to me after watching a marathon of grilling shows, Bobby Flay's in particular. He grilled his potatoes after partially boiling them, a step I skipped. I simply boiled them, the way you would for a regular potato salad. You can find the original recipe here.

This side is really easy to put together. Boil baby red potatoes whole in a big pot of water for about 18 minutes. You want to cook them until they are fork-tender, but not mushy.


Slice them into wedges:


Add bacon lardons to your potatoes. Lardons are pieces of bacon that have been cut into rectangular pieces. Cook them until they are golden brown and reserve some of the pan drippings for the dressing.

While the lardons cook, you can start to assemble the vinaigrette. The dressing consists of a tablespoon or two of mustard, some olive oil, chopped parsley and basil, salt and pepper, and red wine vinegar.


Whisk it all together, add your potatoes and bacon, stir and you're done! This salad is perfect alongside something off the grill or a nicely cooked piece of meat. The acid in the dressing counteracts the fat in the lardons leaving a smoky, savory but balanced flavor.