Stuart Borken is a doctor by training, but a cook by passion, and has shared some wonderful recipes with us over the years . This is his take on scottadito, or grilled lamb chops, which he serves with a refreshingly minty yogurt sauce.
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 rack of lamb, very small chops, cut the chops into single-bone servings. French the ribs.
- Rosemary needles, minced
- Crushed garlic to taste
- Olive oil
- 1/3 Cup (about 80 ml) chopped mint
- 2 Tablespoons chopped basil
- 1 Cup (250 ml) plain yogurt
- 1/4 Teaspoon Ground Cardamom
- 1 Tablespoon Honey
- Salt and pepper to taste
Preparation:
For Scottadito you slice lamb chops with the long rib bones, like from a rack of lamb, and just slightly pound the eye of the rib so it's a little thinner than it is naturally. You, of course, leave the meat attached to the bone.Season the meat with salt, pepper, rosemary, and crushed garlic. Rub it with olive oil, then quickly flame grill it over a VERY hot grill, taking the chops off when the meat is still rare but charred on the outside.
Plate the chops onto a plate you have dressed with the yogurt sauce. They should be so hot when they are served that you would scorch your fingers if you grabbed a bone, therefore the name is translated as, "burn your fingers or digits."
The sauce is made with the yogurt, mint, basil, cardamom, salt and pepper to taste and honey. Just mix together.
To serve, place a dollup of sauce in the center of each plate, and arrange the chops around it in a pinwheel pattern, with the meaty ends over the sauce and the ribs sticking out over the rim of the plate.
When you pick up a chop and bite into it, the sauce side of the chop lays on your tongue. These are wonderful.
Enjoy! Dr. Stu
