Truth be told, we don’t eat much red meat. However, Lamb Steaks with Herbs and Caramelized Garlic make a great indulgence, especially with the Puglian wrinkle of using olive oil scented with rosemary, sage and thyme instead of a butter sauce.
The French approach to a simple pan sauce is to sear a chunk of protein in a heavy-bottomed sauté pan, then to deglaze the pan with a glug of wine or stock to dissolve the crispy bits, and finally, off the heat, to swirl a glob of butter into what remains, which creates a butter emulsion flavored with all those tasty pan juices. These days that’s a rare event Chez Adams-Rivard, if only because it’s impossible to make without imagining the calories buzzing up faster than kilowatts on the basement meter of a Christmas lighting fanatic.
In this recipe Jody caramelizes garlic and herbs in a generous half-cup of olive oil, then gets them out the pan while she sears the lamb. She sets the lamb aside. After deglazing with a bit of lemon juice, she returns the herbs and garlic to the pan and pours everything (well, NOT the bay leaves) over the meat. The scent of lemon, herbs and olive oil is a Proustian ticket to the sun-drenched Adriatic coast of your choice–and you’ll definitely want some bread to mop everything up.
We used American lamb steaks; each was around 6 ounces, but sometimes they’re even larger. As Jody suggests below, you can stretch the recipe by serving smaller portions to more people or by using New Zealand lamb steaks, which are about half the size. Enjoy. Ken
Lamb Steaks with Herbs and
Caramelized Garlic
Serves 4
Ingredients:
- 4 sprigs each, thyme, sage, rosemary and 4 bay leaves
- 4 ½-inch thick slices lamb leg, 5 to 6 ounces each
- Coarse sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil–not super fancy
- 8 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
- Zest and juice of 1 lemon
- 2 tablespoons water
Have a splash screen read. The oil will spit.
Directions:
- Strip the leaves off the stems of the thyme, sage and rosemary.
- Pat the lamb dry with paper towels. Season the lamb generously with salt and pepper.
- Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Just before it starts to smoke, add the garlic and cook 1 minute on each side or until golden brown. Add the herbs and cook 1 minute, tossing occasionally or until the leaves are crisp, but not burned. This will happen very quickly. Remove the herbs and garlic from the pan. Discard the bay leaves.
- Add the lamb and sear on each side 1½ to 2 minutes for medium rare, longer if you like it cooked more. Transfer to a plate. They need to rest 5 minutes before cutting because they were cooked on such a high heat.
- Turn off the heat. Add the zest and juice to the pan with 2 tablespoons water. The lemon juice will sizzle. Use a rubber spatula to deglaze the pan. Return the herbs (you threw away the bay leaves, right?) and garlic and toss. Pour over the lamb. Encourage your guests to eat the herbs.
Oops! A bay leaf sneaked aboard, under the piece of bread. (The other leaf is sage.)
Jody Notes:
“Where do you get your inspiration?” On rare occasions I can say something romantic like, “oh… that recipe came to me in a dream.” But mostly ideas come to me from the ingredients I find in a market sitting next to each other; from reading; and from travel.
In this case, I boldly stole it from the chef of the Pezze di Greco restaurant, Anticalama, in Puglia. I was invited back to the kitchen to see him flash fry tiny lamb chops in oil in which he had just fried a fistful of herbs. He artfully stacked the chops, secured them with a skewer and then poured the aromatic oil over the whole thing. They were fantastic. The only thing I added was the lemon.
As I poured the required amount of oil into the pan, Ken said, “That’s a lot of oil,” but I didn’t let him deter me. I plowed ahead with ½ cup and it was the perfect amount. Any less and the herbs wouldn’t have crisped. It’s 2 tablespoons per person if you are serving this recipe to 4 people and I know you eat that much olive oil with bread if it’s put in front of you. Anyway, olive oil is good for you.
PS. You could cut each lamb steak into 2 pieces and serve this amount of meat to 6 to 8 people with lots of vegetables and grains and everyone would be happy and satisfied. Alternatively, you could use New Zealand lamb steaks which are often half to a third of the size of their American counterparts.
Here’s a closer look. Click on anything:
The Garum Factory 
I don’t eat a lot of meat either (my partner is a vegan) but those images are making me salivate! This recipe will have to be filed away for the next dinner with the family. Thanks.
But once in awhile… Thanks for stopping by. Ken
Love the humor in your recipes
Humor??!! Thank you. Ken
Looks so juicy and tender. Beautiful colour inside means perfectly done :)
That was a concern! We were terrified of over- or under-cooking them! Glad you appreciated it. Ken
this dish looks so beautiful and perfectly cooked ^^
Medium-rare, on the rare side. We could probably have gone even a bit more toward the rare side, but we didn’t want anyone to think we were running a surgery blog. Ken
Simple and delicious. This will be Sunday’s dinner!
We expect great things, Rebecca! Ken
Reblogged this on ÆWORK.
Thank you! I don’t think the link is working :( but we appreciate the thought. Ken
Indulgence, indeed. I can’t wait to try this for a special meal (as in, we don’t eat much red meat either, but this lamb dish is on the short list of meat extravagances!) That first photo makes me want some NOW, for lunch.
Thank you, Sally. It was a terrible trial to have to cook and eat these. Actually the real trial was to cut one open and have to keep photographing it without eating it. Ken
Look delicious. I have some lamb shoulder chops (I think they were noted as blade steaks). Could I use those for this recipe or is it best to stick with the more tender leg?
Sure–why not? They tend to have more fat than lamb steaks, so keep an eye on the amount of fat in the pan in case you need to remove some before deglazing. Ken
I’m fairly certain that a tiny-little New Zealand lamb steak prepared this beautifully would not be enough for me….just saying’
Me neither, but it’s always an option. Ken
Yum!
Yes! Ken
Can I come to dinner?
Absolutely–you just have to bring one of those amazing desserts you guys are always making. Anything with blackberries or caramel. ;-) Ken
I need to move next door to you. Soon! I’ll bring the wine!
Will trade food for graphics design (and wine)! Ken
Where do you live? By the way, I remembered your comment about movies from the 60’s. I watched The Go-Between the other evening. It’s from 1971(there is a new channel on Direct tv, cinemoi (sorry about the spelling), Alan Bates and Julie Christie at their most alluring. This was such a fascinating movie, cinematography is breathtaking. I should read the book because there was so much going on just at the surface level.
Brookline, adjacent to Boston. I saw the Go-Between when it came out. The Golden Age. Ken
I’m impressed. I lived in Rhode Island as a kid, right by the Narraganset Bridge.
Ann
Lamb I very seldom eat. Yet, what with that amazing lead-in photo, I would happily polish a plateful of this off – with less haste to savour all of those flavours.
Deep breaths, chew forty times, then swallow. Ken
Made this for the in-laws last night. It was fantastic and so easy, but the success of it all stirred up too much courage— I ended up sparking a heated and unsavory political debate! Let’s blame the wine instead. Delicious, thanks!
In the name of tact (despite my curiosity) I won’t ask you to repeat the controversial remark, but I do like the rationale–“Hey, I can do a helluva job on lamb steaks! Here’s what I think about the election!” By the way, excellent Gravatar photo! Looks like a pro shot. Ken
I’m trying this tonight with a pork tenderloin. Won’t be as good a lamb, but it’s what I got in the fridge!!
Should absolutely work if you take care not to overcook it. Keep us posted. Ken
As a New Englander from New Hampshire, I have always enjoyed your recipes as they can be recreated with ingredients that are available in our area. I cook lamb a lot but have not seen boneless lamb steaks…I’ll talk to my butcher. Love the photos, especially the last. I can see moping up the juices with the piece of bread.
Hi, Karen–Given the amount of lamb raised in your part of the world I’d think lamb steaks would be pretty available, even if, like for us, only for the occasional treat. I checked out your blog – nice life in New Hampshire! Thanks for stopping by. Ken
I was looking for something that was fairly simple to cook for a late dinner last night, and I am so glad I saw this post. IEvery blog makes me drool, but this recipe took it to the next level. I cooked it for myself last night, and one more time tonight for a friend. She said that if she wasn’t already married, I would have just cooked my way into her heart. Thanks for the great posts!
Ha! Glad you–and your friend–liked it. It’s one of our favorite ways of dealing with lamb in the summer. Have a great summer! Ken