Cookie there really isn't a substitution for lamb chops. But there are other cuts of lamb that are very good. I'm not sure what you have to pay for Lamb, but our local lamb is very expensive here. A rack of lamb, or a loin, which is what I would cut the chops from, sells here between $16.99 and $20.00 a pound. Leg of lamb is expensive too. Even lamb shanks usually costs me between $6 and $8.00 each. Depending on size.

Shoulder is less expensive. I use shoulder when I make Greek Lamb.

Another problem you might have to consider is that some people are very fussy about their lamb. They might eat lamb chops but not like other cuts.

There is a current thread on Cooking Lamb that might give you some ideas.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cook Along #44 - Lamb

Cookie....I'll post an answer on the cookalong thread that Ann linked...I have an idea!
Linda c

Lamb chops are expensive, but we love them! I posted a grilled lamb chop recipe on the Cook Along that we like.

I usually don't care for lamb but for health reasons I am trying to introduce myself to it. I did love the lamb chops though. I guess I will buy them, wince while paying and enjoy. Thanks. How I missed the lamb thread is beyond me, thanks for the link.

Well, when my Canadian friends went to dinner with us and ordered lamb chops, I was shocked! I never had tasted it. Then I find it is a favorite of northerners.

I'm from Colorado--beef not lamb. So never, ever experienced it and don't want to. It's a strange issue ...no exposure vs. lots of exposure.

If you like it and your friends do, and it's healthy, go for it!

This question came to mind. From the trips the friends took your eldest on - has it been mentioned that they like lamb? I love lamb. But not everyone is inclined to even try it. Just a thought....

Teresa

If you are wanting to make a special dinner go for lamb shanks. Slow braised with red wine and herbs, it makes a wonderful gravy, full of flavors and you won't need a bank loan. Served with polenta or orzo/rosemarina, it is a dish you can make ahead and warm in time.

One problem with lamb--chops or roast--most people overcook it. Nothing worse! Lamb should be served pink.

Are you SURE they like lamb? Even the kids? Would be awful to have them wince at your efforts....and cost.....

Most people who don't like lamb are midwesterners....and from a little further west. They have never had it, it's not something "momma" cooked nor most of their friends mothers cooked. People from areas of the country where there are lots of people of English and Mediterranean heritage grew up with lamb as just another meat, like chicken, beef, pork and lamb.
The first time I heard of someone who said they didn't like lamb, I was astounded! To me, rather like saying you eat pork but not beef.
I think there's a very good chance that a fellow Canadian would like lamb just fine.

As mentioned above, a lot of people don't like lamb. I love it. DH won't touch it. I guess I never noticed the price per pound because I just grab one or two little chops for me. Will have to check next time I pick some up.

Lindac's post made me smile because she hit the nail on the head for my family. Both DH and I grew up in Ohio. Neither momma made lamb and, as a result, he and I didn't discover the joy of rack of lamb until much later in life. I remember suggesting to my mom that she try lamb and she said "yuk"; however, this was a lady who would cook and eat pig's feet, brains, and head cheese -- go figure!!

Andrea

In the US, there were cattle ranchers & there were shepherds. The ranchers disliked the shepherds because sheep eat the grass to a nub ruining the pasture, according to the cattle ranchers. Remember, the pastures were wide open - no fences. Diffferences sometimes resulted in cattle ranchers (being the largest & more powerful group) killing herds of sheep, once in awhile including the shepherd.

People took sides on the issue. Those attitudes continued long after the wild west days. My Dad, for instance, even though he wasn't a rancher of any sort took the side of the cattle ranchers. Hence, our family didn't eat lamb...EVER. That's the way it was with every family I knew growing up...cattle good, sheep bad.

We lived in Ely, Nevada for a few years. There were a few roving shepherds in the area that would bring their wagons outside town once a year. They held a large festival of sorts. They were known as "gypsies" & us kids were adamantly told to "stay away from them". Those particular shepherds were Basques. They invited the entire town during their once a year encampment outside town to a lamb pit BBQ. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Dad, not so much & he, of course, wouldn't eat the lamb (although he ate the other foods offered).

I spent a decade plus in Colorado. Same thing. Cattle ranchers against shepherds. The cattle ranchers won. In Colorado, people eat beef. Rarely, if ever, lamb.

The whole thing was more political than anything else. It had nothing to do with whether lamb tasted good. Many of those old engrained ideas still exist in the US west. Nobody in my family eats lamb. Nobody in DH's family eats lamb. Reason - the old cattle battles. DH is a native of Colorado. I'm a California native. Hatfields & McCoys. Old grudges die hard, I guess.

/tricia

Traditionally, the Pennsylvania Dutch do not eat lamb. At all. I think this is a taste preference they brought with them 250 years ago. So where I live you almost always have to get it from a supermarket. Butchers don't have it. I grew up eating it (the Irish like lamb stew) and I love it. It's hard for me to understand why some people don't like it.

Lamb shoulder is best for stews, and it's really hard to find. My supermarket has shoulder chops, but they told me they come in already cut, so I can't get it cut thick for stews. I use the thin chops but would much rather have good-sized chunks.

My Ohio-born mother would not eat lamb, and even in Australia where at the time lamb was the cheapest meat when we emigrated here, she would not eat it. She wouldn't even eat meat that had been in the same refrigerator as lamb because she claimed she could taste the lamb on it. So I never ate lamb until I was staying over at a friend's farm when I was about 14. On another farm I even helped catch the sheep my friend's dad shot and watched while he butchered it (and didn't get grossed out :-) ).
We love lamb in all its forms, I even like hogget and mutton properly prepared.

Sort of like my mother....ate raw clams and oysters out of the bay....but wouldn't eat mussels....told me the Italians eat them, I wouldn't. Took me a lot of years to find out how good mussels really were!
When he married my daughter, my half Italian son in law, raised by an Italian mother didn't eat sourkraut. When offered some to top a bratwurst he refused. I finally found out he had never tried it, the word sourkraut sounded so bad. Now he loves him some kraut on his brat.
Food prejudices are strange things....

Wow, so many stories, very interesting to hear. I definitely cleared it with them as it is pretty expensive. When I made the chops my son said it was the best thing he ever ate, too bad he only got one. I think I will splurge on them every couple of months for the family too. I will try a roast again with more herbs and a longer marinating time. I had a hard time trying lamb for the first time, in all honesty

How did you prepare them, Cookie? I love lamb chops too but rarely eat them, for your reasons.

I throw them on the grill. When they are almost done, I brush some "goop" on them - a mixture of melted butter, garlic and soy sauce, sprinkle a little seasoning salt on them. Meat must be nice and pink. The goop causes a flame up that lightly chars the fat.
Goodness, you guys are making me starve for lamb!

I have to admit that I butchered them up. I started with the rack with some herbs - garlic, thyme, oregano, and salt. I gave a quick sear and then placed them in the oven, let them sit, cut them up (which is where the butchering came in). I just couldn't get a clean cut, I guess there is cartilage or something at the bottom of the chop, so yeah, I would love some tips on how to cut them nicely too. I think I will grill them next time.

Cookie, buy chops not a rack. The rack is chops all attached to the chine bone....takes a saw to neatly get them apart. I think chops will be cheaper per pound than a rack. Then I just grill them like a mini steak. I may rub them with garlic...or perhaps not!...Just a little salt.
I just may have to thaw a couple of chops for my dinner!

There is a thread about "Victorian Kitchen" and there is a thread about Lamb, "Cook Along Lamb".

Here is a recipe from my book about a great "foodie", Thomas Jefferson, "Dining at Monticello". Not exactly Victorian, but around that era:

-------------------------------
Serves 4 to 6

8 mutton or lamb rib chops (at least 3/4 to 1 inch thick)

salt

whole black pepper in a pepper mill

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup Mushroom Catsup (page 131)

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into bits

1/2 cup freshly grated horseradish

1. Prepare a grill with hardwood coals. When the coals have burned to a medium-hot fire, rub the grill rack with a cloth dipped in lard or bacon drippings and position it about 4 to 6 inches above the coals.

2. Season the chops with salt and several grindings of pepper and grill them, turning once, until cooked to the doneness of choice, about 3 to 4 minutes per side for medium rare. Remove them to a warm platter and set aside to keep warm.

3. Bring the water to a simmer in a small saucepan. Add the Mushroom Catsup, additional salt if needed, and simmer for about 1 minute more. Remove from the heat, whisk in the butter, and pour it over the chops. Sprinkle a little horseradish over them, and spoon the remaining horseradish around the edges of the platter.

Note: Readers who are not concerned for authenticity or who are unable to grill-broil may use the oven broiler, though it wont have the distinctive flavor of wood-coal grilling. Position a rack about 6 inches below the broiler and preheat it for 20 minutes. Rub the broiling pan rack with lard or drippings and lay the chops on it. Lightly brush them with melted butter (necessary for oven broiling) and season with salt and pepper. Broil, turning once, until done to taste, about 3 to 4 minutes per side for medium rare.
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By the way that's a very nice book with pages and pages of recipes and pictures.

dcarch

My mom cooked lamb often, when the price was right, when we were growing up. Many of my parent's contemporaries wouldn't touch it, as they grew up during the depression, when they were more likely to get old mutton than spring lamb. Now, I have in-laws (well, sort of "shirt-tail" relatives), originally from the Philipines who won't do lamb. Some of them won't eat beef much either - theirs is strictly a chicken/pork culture.

The availability of local lamb varies here, but right now we can get it. Costco always has quality Australian or NZ lamb. We grill loin chops outside, weather permitting, or braise leg, shoulder, or shanks using the "Gigot a sept heures" recipe that has been posted on this forum often. Many thanks to whoever that OP is.

Rack of Lamb is on sale this week for $19.99 lb.
A lamb leg (which doesn't look appealing at all) is $9.99

So at these prices, I'll enjoy your meals here, on the computer!

Posted by jasdip"Rack of Lamb is on sale this week for $19.99 lb. --------"

Take away the fat and the bones, and shrinkage after cooking, it's about $60.00 a lb of meat.

dcarch

Butterfly that leg of lamb and cook it like a steak....delicious!

DH won't eat lamb. I love it. Mom used to serve leg of lamb for Easter (with Dad's required mint jelly), and we really learned to love it when we lived in Australia. Like colleen, it was the cheapest meat at the time, and oh! a grilled lamb chop with the sweet fat cooked crispy! YUM! Now, as expensive as it is, and as much as I weigh, I'm afraid to sear and eat the fat. probably just as well.

And I love lamb in middle-eastern dishes. I miss Shwarma!

James Michener's novel Centennial devotes many pages to the beef vs. lamb feuding.

We like the flavor of lamb but not the price so most often buy ground lamb or lamb cubes.

I've never been the cheapest meat, I charge what I'm worth :-)

Okay, then I don't want chops but a rack of lamb cut up so you have the long bone on the end. I am so bad with my cuts of meat. When you serve a rack how do you present the meat on the plate? See, I thought you present them individually (the rack) so it was pretty difficult to separate them. Feeling meat inadequacies here:(.

You want frenched rack with the chine bone cut through.If you are roasting a whole rack...or 2 racks, you cut off individual rib or 2 rib servings and place them on the plate.
Or you can have the butcher cut the section into 2 rib portions and grill them separtely.

Here is a link that might be useful: lamb

Tricia, you are spot on about cattlemen vs. shepherds.

There's a great memoir of the Old West, by a cowpuncher named Teddy Blue, entitled 'We Pointed them North'. (Larry McMurtry seemed to have been influenced by some passages in his book 'Lonesome Dove'). Teddy is reminiscing about the old days, and he refers disgustedly to one of his siblings: "He turned out the worst of all of us--a sheepherder and a Democrat."