Grilled Lamb Shoulder Chop with Fresh Mint Jelly

Growing up, one of my favorite “special occasion” meals was grilled lamb chops, and of course the always present, bright green, jar of mint jelly. What a great combination! Now, this just wasn’t my Mom’s secret combo, every restaurant we ever dined at, that served lamb chops would always serve the same green (artificially colored of course) jelly, just like at home. So, you can image my surprise and confusion, when arriving in San Francisco to start my culinary career, discovering that there was no green mint jelly.

I remember talking about a lamb special that was going on the menu of a Café I was working, and the Chef and a few of us cooks were throwing around ideas for a sauce. I said something like, “what about a classic green mint jelly?” Wow, they all looked at me like we were at a heavy metal music convention and I just suggested throwing on some Bee Gees. Apparently green jelly was something only housewives still served with lamb and we were way too culinarily advanced to consider such a clichéd pairing. How embarrassing! I learned that day that it’s not enough that certain foods taste good together, but you also have to consider the fashion of the times.

By the way, if you still use the green jelly right out of the jar – stand proud! There’s nothing wrong with you. But, in certain circles (like the entire state of California) you just can’t pull out a jar of mint jelly, so today’s clip is a fine solution to avoid any embarrassment with the food snobs among us (they're everywhere). You’ll see me do a new take on the classic mint jelly, and turn an old cliché into a great, and flavorful, and socially acceptable sauce. Also, I’m grilling lamb shoulder chops, which are a nice, and much cheaper, alternative to the more popular lamb loin chops.



Ingredients:
2 lamb shoulder chops (8 oz each)
3 sprigs rosemary
4 cloves garlic
2 tbl pomegranate juice
olive oil
salt and pepper

For the Sauce:
1/2 cup orange marmalade
1 tbl white wine vinegar
1 tbl water
1/2 bunch fresh mint
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes