Blackberry mint julep and blackened mini lamp chop
Blackberry mint julep
Blackened mini lamp chop
Blackberry mint julep and blackened mini lamp chop
FACT: Spearmint, peppermint and cinnamon are among the most popular flavors of chewing gum today according to the International Chewing Gum Association.
When you really think about it, you have to look long and hard to find a truly bad flavor of gum (whether it be the chewing or bubble variety). What does this tell us, other than I need to get up and grab a stick or two?
It tells us that out of all the deliciously delightful flavors that we can be gnawing on to freshen our breath and/or satisfy our cravings for oral fixation, we come back to minty fresh time and time again. Two of the top three gum flavors are mint and there is simply no way of denying the facts. Not to mention that during his playing career, Michael Jordan would regularly chew Doublemint gum during basketball games to help him concentrate. Not single mint, but Doublemint!
Double your pleasure — enough said!
I personally love mint. For culinary purposes, fresh mint is usually preferred over dried mint.
Mint has a fresh, aromatic, sweet flavor with a cool aftertaste. Mint leaves are commonly used in teas, beverages, jellies, syrups, candies and ice creams.
In Middle Eastern cuisine, mint is used on lamb dishes, while in British cuisine and American cuisine, mint sauce and mint jelly are used.
Mint can be used in many fun and delicious ways and in this week’s recipes we will be using it in both our cocktail and our sauce that is paired with blackened miniature lamb chops.
For the cocktail, we will be riffing on the very popular mint julep. A mint julep is traditionally made with four ingredients: fresh mint leaves, bourbon, sugar, and water. To celebrate the summer season, we will be adding blackberries to our version of the julep.
Blackberries can be a bit tart, so we will be cooking them a bit first with some sugar and mint leaves to pull the sweetness from them to combat the bite of the bourbon. For the mint julep I prefer a higher end bourbon such as Woodford Reserve, which is the bourbon of choice for mint juleps at the Kentucky Derby.
As for the blackened lamb chops, I couldn’t think of a better bite to pair with mint and blackberry. This particular recipe for lamb chops goes back to my professional kitchen days and still is one of my most requested recipes.
The chops are also very easy to eat as an hors d’oeuvre as you can hold the bone and carnivorously chew the meat from the bone. One note on single bone (or miniature) lamb chops – a lot of people will call them “lamb lollipops” but I don’t. While they are lamb and may look like a lollipop, they are most definitely NOT lollipops! To prove my point I will turn to our lollipop correspondent from Just Cook It Radio (Merriam-Webster.com):
lol·li·pop noun ‘lä-li-?päp
1: a piece of hard candy on the end of a stick
2: British : a round stop sign on a pole used to stop traffic (as at a school crossing)
As you can see, a miniature lamb chop does not fit into definition 1 or definition 2. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I rest my case.
The sauce that accompanies the mini-lamb chops is a jalapeño mint gastrique. A gastrique is caramelized sugar, deglazed with vinegar, and used as a sauce or flavoring for a sauce. A similar sauce found in Italian cuisine is called an agrodolce (sweet and sour).
A gastrique has a similar consistency to maple syrup and therefore is a fantastic dipping sauce. It will lightly glaze the mini-chops as they are dipped into it. The addition of the jalapeño will give it a bit of a spicy kick but keep in mind it is optional. If you are not a fan of spicy flavors, then by all means feel free to simply exclude it from the recipe. Infusing the gastrique with mint just makes it pair with the lamb better and gives it that fresh minty flavor that we all know and love.
Even if you are not normally a fan of lamb, give this recipe a try as it has been known to convert many a non-believer in the deliciousness of lamb chops! The cocktail is fresh and sweet and a wonderful accompaniment to the mini-chops and sweet, sour, mint, and gently spicy sauce. I know I used the term “gently spicy” but I wanted to finally have it used to truthfully describe something other than me and my “gently spicy” personality!
Please enjoy the recipes and remember that when in doubt — Just Cook It!
Mario J. Porreca of Belle Vernon is a food personality, author and the host of Just Cook It on WMBS Radio 590 AM. He can be reached via his website at: www.JustCookItRadio.com.