Easy lamb entree reflects Oregon flavors

Lamb. It’s one of those meals rarely served at home. One of the reasons is that cooking lamb can be intimidating for those who haven’t done it.

First of all, you have to know that your guests enjoy eating lamb, which has a gamey flavor that can range from mild to pungent, depending on the age of the lamb as well as what it was fed.

And then cooking it is a whole different matter. Legs of lamb and racks of lamb can be showstoppers on the dinner table, but the level of intimidation for home cooks for these cuts is enough to make most seek another option.

But one of the nice things about lamb is that rosemary is a great garden herb to season it with. And rosemary is one of those herbs that gardeners frequently plant since it’s so hardy and easy to grow. I have planted rosemary in every home that we’ve lived in, and I’m constantly trying to find ways of using it in my cooking.

As the weather chills and fall/winter settles in, lamb is one of those hearty, satisfying entrees that’s packed with flavor. So I set out to create a low-intimidation lamb recipe using rosemary that can be easily tackled by most home cooks as well as include uniquely Oregon flavors.

For this recipe, I use lamb chops, which are easily found at local grocery stores such as WinCo, Safeway and Fred Meyer, and are easy to cook. I combine them with an herb rub of sage, rosemary and juniper berries to complement the flavor of the lamb, and then include a glaze using Marionberry jam and a crust of hazelnuts and bread crumbs to give it a signature Oregon flavor. I pick juniper berries whenever I visit Bend and dry them and put them in a little jar for use in the kitchen, but you can also find them in finer grocery stores like Market of Choice, Zupan’s, New Seasons and Whole Foods.

Roasted Lamb Chops Glazed with Marionberry Pinot Noir and Crusted with Hazelnut Breading

Serves 6

Ingredients
1 tablespoon sage
1 tablespoon fresh or dried rosemary
3 dried juniper berries
¼ teaspoon Kosher salt
⅛ teaspoon black peppercorns
12 lamb chops (2 per person)
⅓ cup Marionberry jam
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
½ cup Oregon pinot noir
1 cup raw hazelnuts
5 slices white bread

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine sage, rosemary, juniper berries, salt and black peppercorns in a spice mill or mini food processor and process until finely ground. (If you don’t have a spice mill, use ground black pepper, and pound the juniper berries in a mortar and pestle until they’re ground up, then mix all of the above spices together.) Sprinkle each side of the lamb chops with some of the spice mixture, and reserve ½ teaspoon for the breading. In a small saucepan, make jam glaze by combining jam, mustard and wine over medium heat, and whisk until jam melts and mustard is thoroughly combined. Lower heat and whisk periodically and cook until liquid is reduced to the consistency of syrup. Turn off heat and hold.

Process hazelnuts in a food processor until ground to the size of black peppercorns. Add 5 slices roughly chopped white bread with the crust removed, and process until bread is fine crumbs. Empty contents into bowl. Lay lamb chops on a non-stick baking sheet. Starting with 1 lamb chop at a time, brush the sides without the bone with the jam glaze, and then gently pack a thin layer of the nut and breading mixture on the sides. Once you’re done with all the chops, place in the oven and roast for about 15 minutes or until the temperature of the lamb reaches 135 degrees if you like your lamb rare. For medium-rare, lengthen roasting time another 5 minutes. Let rest a few minutes, and serve with remaining glaze.

Vic Panichkul is Publications Manager at the Oregon Association of Nurseries and Managing Editor and Art Director for Digger Magazine. Contact him at 503-582-2009 or VPanichkul@OAN.org