Grilled Lamb Shoulder Chops

from The San Francisco Chronicle

adapted by Jan Chernoff

preparation time: 10 minutes prep + 3 hours marinate + 6 minutes cooking

serves 4

4 lamb shoulder chops

2 tablespoons coriander seeds

1 tablespoon cumin seeds

1 tablespoon chili powder (Kashmiri if available)

2 cups heavy whipping cream

1 teaspoon Kosher salt

1 teaspoon ground pepper

Toast the cumin and coriander seeds. Then whip the heavy cream just past the point where you are achieving soft peaks. Grind the spices to a fine powder and gently mix in the whipping cream. Add the chili powder, salt and pepper. Then add the lamb and for best results allow at least 3 hours for marinating. Can be marinated overnight.

Prepare a grill. I used charcoal, but propane certainly would work. The fire should be fairly hot but you should have a section to move the meat to if there are flames. Add additional salt and pepper to lamb, as desired. Wipe most of the whipped cream off the lamb and put the chops directly over the flames. After two minutes rotate the chop about 45 degrees.  After two more minutes flip the chop, grill two minutes. Rotate 45 degrees and grill another two minutes. Cook the lamb to the desired doneness.

This original recipe calls for lamb T-bone steaks, which are not easy to find. I used lamb shoulder chops and managed to cut them basically in half before marinating (or ask the butcher to cut in half). Each portion should have a bone.