One of my all-time favourite comfort food is a good steak of lamb chops with crispy roast potatoes topped with the rosemary aroma in my kitchen. Grilling lamb chops on my fire stove has somehow been a stopper to cook this as the cleaning of the greasy stovetop, the greasy kitchen floor, and the grilled meat aroma that fills the house 3 hours after the meal sounds like too much of work for this little piece of pleasure. That until I tried an alternative cooking method and baked lamb chops with roast potatoes in my oven. If you are like me who leads a busy lifestyle, you might want to try this baked lamp chops and let me know how it turns out.
When you baked the lamb chops, it is true that the meat is less crispy on the outside but the end result of the baked lamb chops is so full of flavour, tender and juicy.
Many recipes out there suggest marinating the meat for at least 30 minutes to 4 hours in advance, searing the meat on the fire before popping in into the oven. There are also studies out there that suggest marinating or seasoning the meat in advance for an extended period of time does not help really enhance the flavour. In fact, according to that study, salting raw meat draws out its moisture and dehydrates the meat, and thus making it tough when you cook. The same study advise to oil the meat only before cooking it and seasoning once it is cooked. Marinate on the meat does not penetrate the cells in red meat and cannot be fully absorbed.
I’ve always love my food to retain its authentic flavours, thus my all-time go-to seasonings are really just the basic extra virgin olive oil, salt and black pepper. However in this recipe, I tested it out with garlic, another of my favourite ingredients. I rubbed it on the lamb chops before it’s been baked. Well, while I love this garlicky flavour, I also love the version without garlic, it’s really hard for me to say which tastes better. I’ll let you be the judge.
As for the rosemary herb, a friend taught me to grill steaks with rosemary stalks layered over the meat. So I’ve been placing rosemary herb leaves over the ingredients and simply love the rosemary herby aroma while waiting for my dinner to be cooked.
I’d also suggest cutting the potatoes into bite sized chunks as bigger chunks will take a much longer time to cook. I want to make sure the potatoes and the baked lamb chops are ready at the same time–an ‘efficient’ way of preparing dinner. And stand the potatoes on its base (see picture below), so each piece gets a crispy crust around the edges. Leave ample space around the potatoes also ensures it does not turn soft and soggy, which usually happens because crowding vegetables when baking creates a steaming effect.
In fact one can be adventurous and feel free to try out any seasonings but the basic extra virgin olive oil, salt and black pepper will never go wrong. Here’s how my ingredients look like:
If you love baked lamb chops with roast potatoes and are a meat lover, you might want to check out my recipe on homemade char siew.
Baked lamb chops with roast potatoes
Ingredients
- 3 pcs lamb chops with bone-in
- 3 pcs small sized potatoes, washed, peeled and cut into bite sized chunks
- 2 stalks rosemary herb
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp crushed black pepper for seasoning
- 2 tsp Himalayan salt for seasoning
- 1 clove small garlic clove finely minced
Instructions
- Rub the minced garlic, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper all over the lamb chops. This recipe does not require to marinate the meat way in advance.
- Cut the potatoes into small bite sizes. Season with extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper.
- Set the oven to 200 degree celsius 15 minutes in advance.
- Place lamb chops and potatoes on the baking tray. Leave ample space around each piece of meat and potato. Layer on the rosemary herb leaves onto the ingredients.
- Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes. Make sure to check and flip the lamb chops and potatoes halfway through the bake.
- If you have some mint jelly, you can serve it as a condiment. Otherwise, the lamb chops taste yummy as it is. Serve and enjoy!
Sardines pasta with a little spicy kick
Char siu aka Char Siew aka Chinese BBQ Pork
4 May 2021 at 1:13 pmLooks great your recipe!