I decided to make lamb chops one night for dinner, and when I got home with them I realized I’d bought arm chops, which are much tougher than loin chops. A loin chop, you can just throw on the grill – but arm chops need to be simmered in liquid for an extended period of time to become delectably tender. After perusing a number of recipes online – and deciding that I didn’t want lamb STEW, with tomatoes or whatever mixed in – I went with this combo. And it was a huge hit at dinner that night!
4 lamb arm chops (8 oz or so apiece), well seasoned
olive oil
1 c white wine
2 cloves minced garlic
fresh rosemary – 3 or 4 sprigs
fresh thyme – 3 or 4 sprigs
Note: I tried making this dish in my new extra-large sautee pan and found that 3 chops didn’t really fill it. As a result, the 1 cup of wine burned off before the lamb was nice and succulent. So I added another big splash of wine and about 3/4c of chicken broth (made from Better than Bouillon soup base). This not only provided more time for the meat to get really tender, but also for the gelatin in the bones to leech out and make a deliciously rich gravy. Nom nom nom …..
Heat the oil in a large skillet and brown the lamb chops thoroughly on both sides. Add the wine to the pan to deglaze the bits. Add the aromatics, bring to a boil and simmer for a few minutes, then put the chops back in the pan. (If it doesn’t look like there will be enough liquid, don’t worry – it increases as they cook). Again, this didn’t happen so much in my new, bigger pan with only 3 chops in it.
Cover and simmer for a couple hours. They’ll be edible after an hour, but more tender and succulent after 2 hours or more.