Seasonal Ontario Food

My sweetie-pie came up with these when, believe it or not, he was too lazy to sit and watch a panful of lamb chops cook. Imagine my annoyance when they turned out to have been even better than if he had hovered over them. These chops, by the way, are some of our delicious lamb from Meeting Place Organic Farm.

2 servings
30 minutes - 5 minutes prep time

4 medium lamb chops
1 teaspoon coarse sea-salt
1 teaspoon black peppercorns

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Your lamb chops should be removed from the fridge enough before you cook them, that they warm up to a coolish room temperature - they should not be deeply chilled. Crush the salt and pepper together, and season the chops on both sides. Place the chops in a cast iron skillet, on their edges with the fatty sides down. Use them to prop each other up. Cover loosely with foil.* Roast for 12 to 15 minutes, then put the prepared pan of gnocchi and asparagus into the oven, assuming you are making them as well. At any rate, remove the foil from the chops at this time.

Continue roasting for another 5 to 7 minutes; i.e remove the chops from the oven when you turn over the asparagus. Let sit in the pan for another 5 or 6 minutes to rest while the asparagus and gnocchi finish.

I suppose I should mention that I didn't use seasonal Ontario salt for this; I used a French sea-salt, which I must confess I love for use with meats, or anything where the salt maintains a certain prominence.


*You don't have to cover with foil: it's better for the chops not to cover them, but to let them brown. However, it is better for the state of your oven to cover them. Your call.