Day 39: About Beef

[AlexColvin]

I'm not going to talk about beef;  I'm going to talk about lamb. Delicious lamb chops, actually.  I'm going to talk about them because someone here expressed concern about my eating beef and I thought to meself, "Self, you've got these old shoulder chops in the freezer that have been there since Lincoln was in law school, so why not try them, instead?" 

So I did because,  magically, nothing in my freezer ever gets freezer burn.  I found meself a great recipe and modified it slightly to create Colvin's Glorious Slow-Roasted Lamb Arm Chops, and they're amazing. 

Because here's your choice as a newbie smoke quitter: you can stick a cigarette in your mouth and light it and get stinky ash everywhere which you will have to clean up later, feel dizzy and horrendously guilty on your first few puffs, hate yourself for breaking your quit, etc. OR, you can spend time making something delicious which will take you away,  like a Calgone bath, from the idea of smoking. 

Cigarette ash vs. delicious lamb. Really? Is this a hard choice? And they really are fork-tender. Yumm.

Here's the recipe.   Get busy. Busy hands don't have time for cigarettes.  

Colvin’s Glorious Slow-Roasted Arm Lamb Chops

 Ingredients:

2-4 Thick shoulder lamb chops

1-2 TLB olive oil

Salt and ground black pepper to taste

1 small yellow onion, sliced

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 TLB chopped fresh Rosemary

1 cup beef broth

2 TLB cornstarch

½ cup water

1 TLB Worcestershire sauce

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 300°
2. Dust chops with salt and pepper, then in olive oil in a hot pan, sear chops on each side (about 2 minutes per side), set aside.
3. Add chopped onion and garlic to pan drippings and saute about 5 minutes.
4. Transfer chops to baking dish, cover with onion/ garlic mixture, sprinkle with chopped Rosemary.
5. Add beef broth (chops should be about ½ submerged) (you can make broth with bullion cubes and water, BTW). 
6. Cover dish with aluminum foil and roast for 2-3 hours. (Check at the 2-hour mark. If they’re fork tender, they’re ready. No one likes an over-cooked chop.)
7. Remove chops to serving plate/platter. 

8. Optional gravy: Put pan drippings in small saucepan. In a separate small bowl, whisk together cornstarch and water and Worcestershire sauce and add to saucepan and heat until thickened.  Spoon over chops, but do not smother.
9. OMG! These are amazing! 

So, you'll kill some time, your crave will vanish, and you'll have something delicious, nutritious, and healthy  to eat! Brilliant!

Peace and gratitude,

AC