Try this for your next fancy spring dinner, or maybe even part of your Easter holiday.

Grilled lollipop lamb chops using the reverse sear method opened up a whole new way for me to approach meat. It was spectacular.

What is a lollipop lamb chop?

There are three types of  lamb chops. The lollipop chop cut off of what we know as the rack of lamb has the long thin bone, is the most tender, and most expensive chop. You want to cook this right! You can find an affordable rack of lamb at Costco.

The average price is around $18 and will feed two or make four lollipop lamb chops with double bones. I know that’s expensive, but this same dish out in a restaurant will cost an average of $30 per person, and I promise you, if you follow this recipe, it will rival any fine dining.

What is a reverse sear?

A reverse sear means you cook the meat first up to a certain internal temperature low and slow or on indirect heat, and sear the outside on high heat at the end. I had no idea it would make such a difference, but it does. The chops were tender and juicy, and perfectly seared. I’ll never go back to my old way of doing things.

How do you prepare the lollipop lamb chops for the grill?

The first thing you need to do before you cut the chops on the rack is trim all the fat and remove the silver skin, that very thin transparent sheath. Then salt the lamb and if you choose, marinate. 

Should I marinate my lollipop lamb chops?

• If you have the time to marinate, use some chopped garlic and olive oil, perhaps some herbs like rosemary and thyme.
• Salt your chops first to increase their flavor.
• Marinate up to three hours. I’ve made successful chops marinating for only twenty minutes using this method.
• Cook to medium rare to medium. Anything past medium and the lamb tastes gamey.

What is mint pistou?

Mint pistou is made with only garlic, mint, parsley,  and olive oil. Pistou is different from pesto which contains nuts, as I did here with a pistachio mint pesto. Either of these would be great with this lollipop lamb chops but I prefer the pistou for simplicity.

Recipe for Mint Pistachio Pesto here. Notice the nuts. Leave those out and you have pistou. 

How do you reverse sear grilled lollypop lamb chops?

• Once you are ready to grill, heat only one half of the side of the grill.
• You will be placing your chops on medium indirect heat, the side with no fire. Leave your lamb chops there until the internal temperature reaches 115 Degrees F.
• Turn that other side of the grill up to high and move the chops over to the direct heat.
• Grill about one minute per side.

What temperature should we eat lamb at?

We want a pink inside with a well done, seared outside, either medium rare or medium.  

• Lamb is done medium rare when the internal temperature reaches 135 degrees F. and is my preference.
• Lamb is medium when the internal temperature reaches 140 degrees F. 

Allow to rest for ten minutes. Top with Mint pistou. 

This is a delicious, easy recipe, one I know you will make over and over, once you get the love for the reverse sear as I have. 

You may also love this post: Seven Scrumptious Lamb Recipes You Need to Make Now

What sides go well with lamb chops?

• Shaved Brussels Sprouts Salad with Cider Vinaigrette
• Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette  
• Lemon Dijon Roasted Potatoes
• Dijon Garlic Roasted Potatoes
• Smashed Buttery Fingerling  Potatoes

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Grilled Lollipop Recipes, Reverse Sear, Mint Pistou

How to do a reverse sear for a medium rare grilled lollipop lamb chops.

Course Entree

Cuisine American

Keyword lamb, lamb chops, lollipop lamb chops, mint, pistou

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Marinating Time 1 hour hour

Servings 2 people

Ingredients

Lollipop Lamb Chops

• 1 rack of lamb about 8 bones
• 1 teaspoon sea salt

Marinade (optional)

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons rosemary chopped
• 2 cloves garlic chopped

Mint Pistou

• handful fresh mint
• handful fresh parsley
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 lemon juice and zest
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions

Prepare Lamb Chops

• Trim the fat off of the lamb. Lamb rack is covered in thick fat and silver skin. It will take about 15 minutes to carefully trim. I leave the meat around the bones on.
• Cut rack into 4 lollypop chops (two bones each).
• If you decide to marinate, mix marinade ingredients together and set lamb in dish with marinade. I only marinated for twenty minutes and chops were very tender. Marinate up to three hours.

Reverse Sear Grill Lamb Chops

• Take lamb chops out of refrigerator 30 minutes in advance to take the chill off of them.
• Light one half of gas grill on medium heat. Place lamb on indirect heat until the internal temperature is 115 F. degrees.
• Turn the other side of grill up to high. It's time to sear. Place chops on the hot side of grill for one to two minutes per side until the internal temperature is at 135 degrees for Medium Rare. Or if you prefer, 145 degrees for medium.
• Allow to rest for at least five minutes before eating.

Mint Pistou

• Mix all ingredients except salt and pepper in blender.
• Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with lamb.

The post Grilled Lollipop Lamb Chops, Reverse Sear, Mint Pistou appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

You may be asking the same thing I was asking when you saw this recipe for grilled lamb loin chops with mint chimichurri. Allow me to answer a few general questions you might have.

Lamb Loves Mint

I love that my deck is full of fresh herbs, and I always have one pot devoted to mint. It’s great for drinks, lemon water, pesto, pistou, garnish and more.

What are Lamb Loin Chops?

These chops come from the loin, which is located between the ribs and the leg of the lamb. They are thicker than rib chops and have more meat.

Kitchen Items in this Recipe

• Herb Chopper
• Tongs for Grilling
• Pan for Grilling Vegetables (game changer for grilling asparagus)

What is difference between Lamb Chops and Lamb Loin Chops?

• Lamb Loin Chops are thicker and more meaty.
• Lamb Loin Chops are a more affordable cut.
• Lamb Chops cut from the rack of lamb are more tender, a little more flavorful, but do come with a hefty price.

First of all, just looking, you can see the difference. The lamb chops you are probably most familiar with come from the rack of lamb, and the chops are recognizable by a long thin rib bone. They are considered more flavorful, more tender, and while true, this should not rule out the lamb loin chop (similar to the T-bone steak), which is more meaty and equally delicious.

More Recipes You Might Like

• Lollipop Lamb Chops
• Greek Feta Lamb Meatballs with Mint Pesto
• Skirt Steak with Chimichurri
• Za’atar Rack of Lamb
• Mint Pistachio Pesto
• Blackberry Mint Julep
• Hunger Games Lamb Stew
• Lamb Party Bites

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Grilled Lamb Loin Chops with Mint Chimichurri

Grilled Lamb Loin Chops Reverse Sear, delicious South American Condiment, Mint Chimichurri

Course Entree

Cuisine American

Keyword chimichurri, lamb, lamb loin chops

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Marinate Time 2 hours hours

Servings 4

Ingredients

Skirt Steak

• 6 lamb loin chops
• 1/4 cup chimichurri for marinade

Chimichurri

• 1 cup fresh Italian parsley finely chopped
• 1 cup fresh mint
• 1 lemon zested and juiced
• 1/4 orange zested and juiced
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 3/4 cups extra virgin olive oil
• 1 pinch red chile flakes
• sea salt
• black pepper

Instructions

Chimichurri

• Finely chop parsley, mint and garlic.
• Zest lemon and orange onto the herbs.
• Juice lemon and orange.
• Add all ingredients to olive oil.
• Season with salt and pepper
• Make chimichurri advance to use some of it for marinade.. Use a few tablespoons of this to marinate the skirt steak.

Grill Lamb Loin Chops

• Take 1/4 of the chimichurri and marainate lamb loin chops for 2 hours up to overnight.
• Take lamb chops out of refrigerator 30 minutes in advance to take the chill off of them.
• Light one half of gas grill on medium heat. Place lamb on indirect heat until the internal temperature is 115 F. degrees.
• Turn the other side of grill up to high. It's time to sear. Place chops on the hot side of grill for one to two minutes per side until the internal temperature is at 135 degrees for Medium Rare. Or if you prefer, 145 degrees for medium.
• Top with chimichurri.
• Allow to rest for at least five minutes before eating.
• Season again with salt and pepper as needed.

The post Grilled Lamb Loin Chops with Mint Chimichurri appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

Ricotta Peas Pesto Appetizer is easy to put together and such a pretty presentation. I was inspired to make this when served a very similar starter while vacationing in Florida. All six of us loved it. Ricotta blanketed with pea pesto made with fresh mint (or tarragon), lemon zest, and olive oil makes the best appetizer.

We love to invite people over for dinner, but if I think it’s going to be too much of an ordeal, I’ll hesitate. This summer we’ve had company for several dinners and this starter is one of the ways I keep it simple, while throwing a few steaks on the grill.

Charcuterie plates can be a little heavy or too expensive to put together. I usually get one or two nice cheeses (sometimes from the small discard pile at Whole Foods), spice up my own olives with orange peel, olive oil and chili flakes, and whip up this ricotta appetizer. I did

All you need is a small food processor, or a pestle and mortar and you can make ricotta peas pesto appetizer in five minutes.

Ricotta Peas Pesto Appetizer Ingredients

• Ricotta Cheese
• Frozen Peas
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Fresh Mint or Tarragon
• Lemon Juice
• Lemon Zest
• Salt, Pepper

Are Peas Low Carb?

Yes, they are 8 net carbs per 1/2 cup, making appetizer low-carb friendly, as the whole recipe calls for 1/2 cup.

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Ricotta Peas Pesto Appetizer

Ricotta cheese blanketed with a pea pesto made with mint, lemon.

Course Appetizer

Cuisine American

Keyword appetizer, mint, peas, ricotta cheese

Servings 12 servings

Equipment

• Food processor or super blender

Ingredients

Pea Pesto Over Ricotta

• 1/2 cup frozen peas defrosted
• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 lemon zest and juice
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• dash black pepper
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 1 tablespoon fresh mint see notes

Instructions

• Peas Pesto
• Chop your herbs to be added at the end. Set aside.
• Put peas, olive oil, lemon juice and lemon in food processor blender, and blend until mixture forms a mash (not a puree).
• Add in herbs, salt and pepper.
• Serve over ricotta cheese.

Notes

You can use tarragon instead of mint, but use sparingly. You could also use parsley, basil or lemon thyme. Taste as you add.

The post Ricotta Peas Pesto Appetizer appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

For the next few hours, the vision of a watermelon gazpacho danced in my head. I could see pretty colors, and taste refreshing combinations of tomato, melon and cucumber. The weather was a crisp 99 degrees F. and as I was putting my farmer’s market bounty away, I realized I a cut up watermelon staring at me, a half cucumber and of  some summer tomatoes.

As if genies gathered in my kitchen, a watermelon gazpacho was poured into a bowl, and I was happy.

This is gazpacho blended a bit more smoothly, although I still prefer it chunkier.

The first thing I did was research watermelon gazpacho. I have a good tomato gazpacho here, but adding watermelon is another story.

When I returned home, I had that watermelon gazpacho on my mind. What are the chances of me just happening to have al the ingredients on hand? Don’t you love when things like that happen?

Easy Recipe for Watermelon Gazpacho Depends on the Freshest Ingredients

This recipe for watermelon gazpacho is straight away simple, as long as you have the freshest, sweetest ingredients. This is a soup that requires farmer’s market tomatoes and sweet, ripe watermelon. Go gently on the cucumber, which has a penchant to dominate a dish.

When you add in your peppers, go with what makes you happy. I’m not a fan of raw, green bell pepper, as red bell pepper is sweeter. I also used a serrano.

I was gentle with the vinegar, but keep in mind that the vinegar taste will subside.

Sit back and relax, cool off with this delicious soup.

This is not the first time Spinach Tiger did something unique with watermelon. Check out these recipes.

Grilled Watermelon with Scallops

Grilled Blackberry Watermelon with Lavender Sea Salt

Please let me know how you make watermelon a little bit differently. I’d love to hear about it.

More Watermelon Recipes from Spinach Tiger

More Fruit Recipes from Spinach Tiger

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Recipe for Watermelon Gazpacho

Refreshing Summer Soup, using summer's freshest ingredients.

Course Soup

Cuisine American

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 minute minute

Total Time 16 minutes minutes

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 2 cups watermelon
• 1 large fresh tomato
• 1 serrano pepper diced
• 1/2 red bell pepper diced
• 4 slices cucumber
• juice of 1/2 lime
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar or to taste
• vegetables reserved for garnish
• Fresh herbs such as mint for garnish
• salt
• pepper

Instructions

• Reserve some of the chopped watermelon, tomato, pepper for garnish.
• Put ingredients into a blender. Pulse to get the texture you like. I left my texture on the chunky side.

The post Recipe for Watermelon Gazpacho appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

Most people, including me, are very tenuous about making leg of lamb.  While lamb chops seem easy, most people don’t know how to cook a roast lamb and it seems daunting.

There are many questions,  because a leg of lamb is not something we make every day. It’s expensive, so we want to make sure we get it right.

What is a leg of lamb?

It’s the upper part of the back haunch of the animal and is naturally tender.

What do I do with the netting? How do I tie the leg of lamb?

I purchased boneless leg of lamb, which came in a netting. Sometimes that netting is oven safe, but I still choose to remove it,  so I could rub it with my herb mixture. I retied with butcher’s twine.

The fell was already removed, as well as the shank.  The fell is a word you may not be familiar with. It’s the papery, thin, membrane that covers the leg of lamb. Most of the time it’s removed before you purchase it.

Do I roast or braise the leg of lamb?

The general opinion on lamb is to roast, not braise and ruin it. However, I recently braised lamb shanks in red wine, and then there’s my most popular post, the Hunger games lamb stew with dried plums.

In these cases, braising made sense, but for an elegant sliced leg of lamb, roasting is the way to go.

How to Cook Roast Lamb: How do I Marinate?

I decided to opt out of marinating, which is not necessary, as leg of lamb is tender and juicy, with lots of fat. If you do marinate, don’t over do it as just a few hours is all you need.

How to Cook Roast Lamb: How do I season lamb?

Lamb simply loves rosemary, thyme and garlic. It also loves dijon mustard. You can make rub from herbs and garlic or add in a little dijon mustard and olive oil. Just make sure you use plenty, finely chopped (fresh herbs are best), and cover the whole thing. Before applying this rub, you will want to stab the lamb all over at 1/2 inch inserts, which will allow all the flavors to penetrate.

Do I go low and slow or use a high temperature?

I ended up going with a 400 degree F. oven and roasting at about 20 minutes a pound for a medium rare.

What sauce or gravy do I serve with Leg of Lamb?

I sliced it and served it with my secret weapon that turns everyone into a lamb lover, mint pistachio pesto.

The funny thing about this is I am not a mint fan in general. However, when you take fresh mint, parsley, garlic, lemon zest,  and pistachios and smoosh them with olive oil, you have something irresistible.

This is my basil pistachio pesto. I simply left out the cheese (not right for lamb) and replaced basil with mint. You can decide how chunky you want the pesto. I left it fairly chunky, but on a different day I may choose to do it smoother.

I served this to a friend during lunch. She loved it and went back for more. It was tender, and flavorful (not gamey), and she thought the mint pistachio pesto was spot on.

I could think of serving the pesto on several of my other lamb dishes, such as the parmesan crusted lamb chops and my rack of lamb. 

If you do cook roast lamb, serve it with this roasted dijon potatoes or these lemon dijon roasted purple potatoes. Or if you’re low-carbing it, please make this mashed cauliflower, which will marry so well with all those textures and flavors.

What do you do with the leg of lamb leftovers?

If you have left over lamb, you might want to make a shredded lamb shepherd’s pie. I will come back with a recipe for that.

Some years ago I made a lamb feta party bites.  You could do that with leftovers but do top it with mint pistachio pesto. That would be outstanding!

More Lamb Recipes from Spinach Tiger

• Rack of Lamb
• Braised Lamb Shanks
• Parmesan Lamb Chops
• Lollypop Lamb Chops
• Lamb Bites
• Lamb Skewers
• Lamb Shanks with Juniper Berries

More Pesto Recipes from Spinach Tiger

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How to Cook Roast Lamb with a Mint Pistachio Pesto

Delicious and Easy Roasted Leg of Lamb with Mint PIstachio Pesto for an elegant dinner.

Course Entree

Cuisine American

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 40 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

Boneless Leg of Lamb

• 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary you may use more if fresh
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
• lemon zest from half lemon
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• freshly grounded black pepper

Mint Pistachio Pesto

• 1/3 cup roasted salted shelled pistachios
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• lemon zest from half lemon
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 cup big handful flat Italian parsley
• 1 cup big handful fresh mint (see notes)
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Have ready a roasting pan with a rack.
• If you purchase a leg of lamb wrapped in a net, it is already likely properly trimmed. Sometimes the net is oven safe. I always remove and retie.
• If the leg of lamb still has the fell, a papery membrane, it must be trimmed off.
• Retie lamb with butcher’s twine.
• Using a pairing knife, make sharp inserts about 1/2 long, all over the lamb. I will usually do this through the netting, but it doesn’t matter.
• Make lamb rub. Chop garlic, rosemary together. Mix with dijon mustard, lemon zest, olive oil.
• Season lamb with salt and pepper all over.
• Put the rub all over the lamb.
• Put lamb onto rack on roasting pan. I
• If you don’t have a rack, just place on shallow baking pan, such as a large cast iron pan.
• Roast till internal temperature reaches 130 degrees F. for medium rare in center. The pieces on the outside will be medium.
• It will be approximately 20 minutes per pound.
• Check the lamb at 60 minutes. If its getting too brown, loosely place a piece of foil over lamb.
• Make Mint PIstachio Pesto
• Chop garlic.
• Put all ingredients for pesto into blender or food processor, until you get the texture you want.
• If you want it chunky, a food processor works better. If you want it smoother, use a Vitamix type blender and add a tablespoon of softened butter at the end.

Notes

If you don’t have a lot of fresh mint from a garden, buy one package and offset with more parsley if need be.

The post How to Cook Roast Lamb and Mint Pistachio Pesto appeared first on Spinach Tiger.

The blackberry mint julep is the southern drink that can be enjoyed with fresh ingredients for several months. I do confess to using frozen blackberries, as our season is right around the corner, but I did pick that mint out of a pot on my deck.

A word on fresh mint. It takes over the garden. It’s just that hearty, so do contain it to a pot, if you know what’s good for you. We learned that the hard way. But, do plant some because mint can be added to all kinds of dishes and other cocktails.

The mint julep is a classic with a remarkable history. Over 120,000 mint juleps are served at Churchill Downs during Kentucky Derby and probably many more than that at the home parties. This one drink gets so much attention concentrated on a short few hours. They won’t be served with blackberries and will be more traditional, but we like to play around.

I have a thing for all kinds of berries and I like them in savory foods as well as cocktails. There was the blueberry old fashioned and the strawberry martini. I’ve made many different cocktails with either blue or blackberries, but never get to posting them, probably because drinking them gets in the way.

If you’re a purist and want an authentic non-fruited version, this writer nails it and includes some interesting mint julep history.

I encourage you to play around with your recipes and make a drink that fits your mood at the moment. My mood today includes blackberries, but do use a good bourbon. There are so many to choose from.

We like Woodford Reserve, Angel’s Envy and Four Roses, but our favorite is Blanton’s which I used for this  Manhattan. Blanton’s is expensive, and probably best reserved for the non-fruited drinks.

We were recently in New Orleans at Bourbon House and I snapped a picture of the some of the 150 bourbons on hand.  It would be fun to live close by and stop in for a quick nightly bourbon tasting. I’d love to hear about your favorite bourbon.

Choose blackberry simple syrup or make the blackberry mint julep with fresh or frozen berries.

You could choose to make a blackberry simple syrup (or purchase one). I don’t think that’s necessary though, because we used frozen (defrosted) blackberries, and found them to make a perfect drink.

Often the mint julep is served with crushed ice and in a silver cup. No silver cup, but ice is easy to crush.

To make blackberry simple syrup, use 1 cup blackberries, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup water and boil down until you have a syrup. Take through a sieve. Cool and refrigerate to very cold before making the drink.

I’ve made this drink three times to get it right and it was the squeeze of lemon that perfected it.

I’d love to hear from you in the comments. Do you love mint juleps and have you ever tried a blackberry mint julep and do you have a favorite bourbon?

Let’s connect on instagram, where I often preview posts before they make it here.

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Blackberry Mint Julep Recipe

Blackberry mint julep recipe, a summer twist on a traditional mint julep combining fresh blackberries mint and julep for a twist on this classic.

Course Cocktail

Cuisine American

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes minutes

Total Time 10 minutes minutes

Servings 2

Author Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 4 ounces bourbon
• ice
• 1/3 cup frozen blackberries or fresh
• 6-10 sprigs fresh mint plus more for garnish
• juice from squeeze of lemon
• 4 sugar cubes

Instructions

• Defrost blackberries
• Put mint, lemon, blackberries in shaker.
• Muddle until blackberries are completely smashed.
• Add bourbon, ice and shake.
• Pour into two glasses filled with ice, making sure to use a sieve to prevent blackberry seeds.
• You might want to use crushed ice. I used giant ice cubes.
• Garnish with mint and a blackberry.

A Few of My Favorite Blackberry Recipes from Spinach Tiger 

Blackberry Tart

Blackberry Cupcakes

Blackberry Salad

The post Blackberry Mint Julep Recipe appeared first on Spinach Tiger.