Cheaper Pieces of Meat

To save money at the Balk household, I often attempt to cook less desirable pieces of meat. For example, pork steaks are far less expensive than pork tenderloin or pork chops. In addition, brisket, rump roast, and round roast are often cooked low and slow until they fall apart. The other night, I cooked lamb shoulder blade chops. They have them at Whole Foods a lot and are a fraction of the price of lamb chops and/or rack of lamb. They are very tasty and fatty, which is a plus for me. Paleo people love animal fat (some more than others, I should say). To impart extra flavor and to tenderize, I marinated the chops in a herb, garlic, and olive oil mixture.

Recipe for Marinated Lamb Shoulder Blade Chops (serves 4)

4 chops (usually around 8 ounces or so)
Handful of parsley, oregano, mint and cilantro (finely minced)
2 cloves of finely minced garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tbls of dijon mustard

Before leaving for work in the morning, get a tupperware, large baggie or big bowl,  and mix mustard, olive oil, s/p, herbs and garlic. It should sort of be like a vinaigrette. Salt and pepper each chop before putting them into the mixture. Massage the meat with the mixture (yes, it is important to impart as much flavor as possible into these guys). Leave all day.

When home, set up grill with a medium amount of charcoal. As always, place charcoal on one side so there is a hot and a cool side. When the fire is ready to go and the coals are ashy, put the chops on. You will want to check them frequently as the fat will burn. I would say that 3-4 minutes per side is all that is needed. Touch them for desired doneness.

A really neat trick is to use your face when assessing desired doneness. For medium rare, the meat should feel like your chin pad and for medium, the meat should feel like the end of your nose. Rare should feel like your cheek (I won't even list well-done because nothing should be well-done not even chicken). Let the meat rest after pulling it off for at least 5-7 minutes.

Marinated chops cooking on first side

Second side cooking. There should be a nice char on each side.

I served the lamb with lemon wedges and roasted brussel sprouts. Enjoy!