Mint jelly was and is traditionally served with roast leg of lamb....personally I think it's to disguise the Muttoney taste from lamb that is not as young as it should be.
No need to use mint at all...I love lamb with just slivers of garlic inserted into little holes you poke in to the meat and rubbed with oregano rosemary and olive oil....
And I love LOVE a butterflied leg of lamb with garlic, oregano olive oil and lemon, cooked medium rare on the grill!!
No need for mint at all.
Linda C

There are many other herbs that are good paired with lamb - rosemary, marjoram, thyme, etc. and as Linda said, garlic is wonderful with lamb.

You can also marinate cubes of lean lamb and grill them or make a lamb stew. Here's one I like.

MOROCCAN LAMB CASSEROLE

1 1/2 - 2 lbs. lean boneless lamb
3 Tbs. olive oil
1 large onion, halved and slivered
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbs. flour
1 and 1/2 cups lamb or beef broth
1/2 tsp. ground cardamom
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
2/3 cup golden raisins
1 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
3 small yellow squash, unpeeled and cubed
1/4 cup lemon juice

Cut meat into 2 inch strips. Saute in oil until brown in large skillet; transfer to a 10-cup baking dish. Saute the onion and garlic in the remaining fat until soft.

Stir in the remaining ingredients except for the squash & lemon juice. Cook, stirring constantly, 2 minutes. Pour the sauce over the meat in the baking dish.

Bake, covered at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Add the cubed squash and lemon juice; bake uncovered for an additional 30-45 minutes, stirring once or twice until squash is done. Serve with rice. Makes 6 servings

Notes: Although not authentic, I like to add 2 Tbs. of dry sherry to the sauce ingredients. My daughter substitutes 1/3 cup halved dried apricots for 1/3 cup of the raisins. Recipe can be halved just use a smaller baking dish.

Ditto what Linda said. I would go even a bit further. Not only is mint jelly unnecessary, I would say it is to be avoided.

Garlic, rosemary and olive oil are good with lamb. And take Linda's advice about doneness. Don't go past medium rare.

Jim

I just saw that show with 5 (ha) ingrediants - she did little lamb....chops? They had those long stick bones that make them look like suckers. But again, she made a sauce with mint.
If I get brave I will try the garlic, rosemary thyme combo

Don't be skimpy on the garlic and rosemary, either!

for a 3 to 4 pound boneless leg...easily 5 cloves of garlic...

Easily.

And cut them into slivers so the garlic gets distributed.

Jim

I just scanned through the thread and see that you didn't specify a cut of lamb. Inserting slivers of garlic applies to roasts, not so much to chops. And Linda already had said "slivers" of garlic, not cloves of garlic. I inadvertently stepped on her toes. Sorry, Linda.

For chops, the garlic would be applied some other way, depending on the method of cooking. In some cases it would be chopped and combined with olive oil or marinade. Do whatever is necessary to get that garlic flavor and aroma into the meat.

Jim

For something a little differnt, I have roasted a rack of lamb by coating it with dijon or honey mustard, then coating with herbed bread crumbs (oregano and rosemary). Makes a nice crust. I have also done with with the shoulder chops.

Herbs which go in/with lamb:

Basil, Bay, Caraway, Cinnamon, Coriander, Cumin, Dill, Garlic, Ginger, Lemon balm, Horseradish, Hyssop, Marjoram, Mint, Onion, Oregano, Parsley, Rosemary, Saffron, Sage, Savory, Tarragon, Thyme.

There are many more, and it's a matter of personal preference. I quite like a roast leg of lamb which is cooked with lavender instead of rosemary. Just lay the sprigs on and around the roast.

Also look around for Moroccan dishes, or other Middle Eastern or Mediterranean dishes, including Greek.

Just a few non-mint ways of serving lamb for you:

Anise Hyssop Sauce
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup coarsely chopped anise hyssop leaves and florets

Combine sugar, vinegar and water in a saucepan. Bring to the boil and add the chopped herb and boil very briefly. Remove from heat and allow to steep for 30 minutes. Pour through a strainer, pressing against the pulp with a wooden spoon. Serve with roast lamb or veal.

Lemongrass Lamb Chop on Sauteed Choy Sum
For each lamb chop:
1 teaspoon lemongrass, finely chopped
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
salt to taste

Mix ingredients to create dry rub for each lamb chop. Marinate lamb chop overnight. Pan fry to desired taste.

Souvlakia
2 onions
3 green capsicums
2-3kg leg of lamb, boned and cubed
1 teaspoon dried oregano, crumbled
1/2 cup olive oil
3 bay leaves
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
3 garlic cloves, minced
juice of 2 lemons
1 cup dry white wine
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
6 tomatoes, quartered

Cut onions into quarters and separate layers. Cut capsicums into quarters, and cut each quarter in half. Combine all ingredients, except tomatoes, in a shallow roasting pan, mixing well so that meat is completely coated. Marinate in refrigerator for several hours. Take out of refrigerator and let sit out about 20 minutes to come to room temperature. Before cooking, add tomatoes to marinade and mix well to coat with juices. Place meat cubes on skewers, alternating with capsicum pepper slices, onion slices, and tomato wedges. Lay skewers in pan with marinade, turning several times. Put skewered lamb on a rack over pan containing marinade and place under preheated griller. Turn several times during cooking and baste with marinade from pan. Cooking time depends on your taste. For medium rare allow about 15-18 minutes. Alternatively you can barbecue lamb using marinade as the basting sauce. Serve skewers on plates with rice pilaf.

Swedish Roast Lamb
1.5-2kg leg of lamb
salt and pepper
1 cup strong coffee
1/4 cup cream
1 teaspoon sugar
water
1 1/2 tablespoons redcurrant jelly

Rub salt and pepper into the flat surface of the lamb. Roast at 180°C for 50 minutes per kilo plus an extra 25 minutes. After an hour, pour in the coffee, which has been mixed with the cream and sugar. Baste the lamb occasionally during remaining cooking time. Transfer lamb to a platter and keep hot. Skim fat from the pan juices, add enough water to make a gravy from the remaining drippings. When the gravy has boiled and reduced until thickened, add the redcurrant jelly.

Horseradish Leg of Lamb
1 leg of lamb, boned, butterflied
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons horseradish
2 tablespoons dried Italian seasoning, crushed
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper

Preheat oven to 150°C. Pierce lamb generously with fork. In a non-metal baking dish, combine vinegar, horseradish, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Coat all sides of lamb in marinade, then place roast flat; spoon any remaining marinade into center of meat. Roll up meat from short side to make a 25cm long roll, 12cm wide. Tie meat several times along length of roll with string. Place rolled lamb into a baking pan. Bake for about 1 1/2 hours, or until done as desired, brushing with pan juices every 30 minutes. Remove from oven; let cool 10 minutes in pan. Remove string; place roll on serving platter. Cut into 1cm slices to serve.

Grilled Lamb Cutlets with Herbs
1 clove garlic
salt and pepper to taste
2 small shallots, finely chopped
1 teaspoon finely chopped rosemary
4 sprigs dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground sumac
juice of 1 lemon
60ml extra-virgin olive oil
8 double lamb cutlets

Crush the garlic with the salt, then combine with the pepper, shallot, herbs, sumac and lemon juice in a bowl. Whisk in the oil to make a thick, pungent dressing. Heat a griddle or barbecue to its highest setting. Brush the cutlets very lightly with a little of the dressing, then cook for 2 minutes on each side for medium-rare. Towards the end of the cooking time brush on a little more of the dressing. Serve the cutlets hot from the grill with the remaining dressing on the side.

Sweet Spicy Moroccan Lamb
4 lamb steaks, diced
1 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 medium onion, diced
1 cup vegetable stock
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 eggplant, cut into 1cm cubes
1 carrot, sliced
5 dried apricots, diced
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon paprika

In a flame-proof casserole dish, heat the oil, then add the lamb and brown. Add the allspice, ground ginger, cinnamon and paprika, combining well to ensure the meat is coated in the spices. Add onion, garlic, vegetable stock, eggplant and carrot, then cover and cook for 20 minutes or until tender. Add lemon juice and apricots, stir through and serve.

Lamb Chops with Herbs
4 lean lamb chops
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons minced fresh chives
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, chopped

Trim fat from lamb chops; sprinkle with pepper. Combine chives, parsley and rosemary; press herb mixture on each side of chops. Coat a non-stick frypan with cooking spray, place over medium heat until hot. Add lamb chops, and cook for 10 minutes on each side or until desired doneness.

Rosemary, Lemon and Mustard Lamb Cutlets
1/4 cup white wine
1 tablespoon wholegrain mustard
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
2 tablespoons lemon juice
12 lamb cutlets, French trimmed
600g orange sweet potato, peeled, cut into 2cm pieces
olive oil spray
2 teaspoons olive oil
100g baby spinach leaves
1 small red onion, thinly sliced

Whisk together the wine, mustard, rosemary and 1 tablespoon lemon juice in a glass or ceramic bowl. Add the lamb and turn to coat. Cover and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to marinate. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 200°C. Line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper. Place the sweet potato, in a single layer, on the lined tray. Lightly spray with olive oil spray. Season with pepper. Roast, turning once, for 30 minutes or until sweet potato is tender and golden. Preheat a barbecue grill or chargrill on high. Lightly spray both sides of the lamb with oil spray. Cook on grill for 2 minutes each side for medium or until cooked to your liking. Transfer to a plate and cover with foil. Set aside for 5 minutes to rest. Combine the oil and remaining lemon juice in a jug. Combine the sweet potato, spinach and onion in a bowl. Drizzle over dressing. Toss to combine. Divide the lamb and salad among serving plates. Serve immediately.

Cajun spice! Lamb chops are very fine with cajun spice then grilled on a very hot flame.

Lamb with rosemary is one of my favorites when I go for Mongolian BBQ.... which is not often enough.

Plain lamb chops are good. A bit of salt and black pepper then fried, broiled, or grilled.

Legs and shanks have a stronger flavor. Steak sauce helps.

: )
lyra

Legs and shanks being stronger - thats a good tip. I won't be doing a roast. If anything I will be doing the little chops as 1) I'm not that big a meat eater and 2) I'm single so a couple of little chops is perfect.
I have also thought of dipping my toe in with ground lamb, maybe mixed with another ground meat (pork? chicken? ?) and just doing a burger (my imagination cup runneth over:) to try to mimic the gyro taste.
I don't even know if the standard gyro mix in the US has lamb but I know I like them!

Mary - for an intro to lamb chops, the following recipe is absolutely WONDERFUL. Both my boys (9 & 12) love it and it is the first way they tried lamb :-) You can mix the spice mix up and just use whatever you need (for 2 - 3 little loin chops) and save the rest for the next time you get a craving.

Alexa

Spice Rubbed Lamb Chops
From Food Network Kitchens

Recipe Summary
Difficulty: Easy
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
User Rating: No Rating

2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus extra for seasoning
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus extra for seasoning
1 teaspoon freshly ground cloves
1 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
8 loin lamb chops

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Mix the 2 teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon together. Brush each lamb chop lightly with the olive oil and season with the spice mixture. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the chops in the skillet, without crowding until brown and crisp on both sides, about 3 or 4 minutes for both sides. Finish chops in the oven for 1 minute for medium rare, or to desired doneness.

I haven't tried this yet, but in the River Cottage Meat Book the author does the usual thing about inserting garlic slivers in slits in the leg of lamb, but he wraps the garlic in an anchovy fillet first. Sounds interesting.

And once more, here's my favorite way to make lamb (frequent readers, please forgive the repetition):

Gigot de sept heures (Seven hour leg of lamb)

1 leg of lamb, about 6#
4 garlic cloves, sliced, plus 20 whole garlic cloves
1/4 cup olive oil
salt & pepper
2 small onions, thinly sliced
4 carrots, peeled
1 bouquet garni
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup flour, 1 cup water

Preheat oven to 300˚ F. (If necessary, trim most of the external fat off the lamb. Some legs of lamb will come with a heavy fatty connective tissue, called the fell, covering a lot of its surface. Remove as much of it as practicalleaving it on will make the dish gamier because a lot of the gamy flavor is in the fat and connective tissues.) Make many small stab incisions in lamb and place slivers of garlic in each incision. Rub lamb well with olive oil, season with salt & pepper. Place it in Dutch oven and add onions, carrots, bouquet garni, garlic, wine. Put lid on Dutch oven. Combine flour and water, make a 'caulk' and use it to seal the lid to the dutch oven. (Note: Thats not necessary if you have a casserole or Dutch oven with a fairly snug-fitting lid.) Place it in the 300˚oven and cook for 7 hours. Yes, 7 hours. NO PEEKING--leave it alone. A half hour before its done, fix some noodles or rice or couscous to soak up the juices.

Remove the Dutch oven and break the seal. You don't eat the cooked flour paste.
That's it. About a half hour to an hour of prep, then you leave it the heck alone for 7 hours. It's nearly foolproof. Serve it with whatever else you want, and a medium bodied red wine goes quite well with this (say, a nice Zinfandel) but a dry white (such as the remainder of the bottle you opened to get the cup of wine in the recipe) is fine as well if that's your preference.

By the way, the garlic cooks down so it's not overpowering; do use at least as much as the recipe calls for.

In an average year, I buy more ground lamb than ground beef but I would not mix it with another meat. Imagine if you'd never eaten ground beef and the first burger you ever tried was made from 1/2 ground beef and 1/2 ground turkey. You wouldn't get a very good idea of what ground beef's taste is.

Here's a lamb burger recipe that we enjoy.

CURRIED LAMBBURGERS

Combine:
1/4 cup plain yogurt
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. curry powder
2 Tbs. minced onion
1 garlic clove, finely minced
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
2 slices fresh bread, crumbled
2 Tbs. chopped fresh parsley

Add 1 pound lean ground lamb and mix thoroughly. Shape into 6 thin oval shaped patties and grill until done but not dry. Serve in pita bread pockets topped with chopped tomatoes and feta cheese. Note: Fresh chopped cilantro may be substituted for the parsley for a different flavor. Also good topped with cucumber-yogurt sauce, which is on one of the two in the photo.

You needn't be cautious about venturing into the World Of Lamb.

It is one of the most delicious meats and the cooking techniques won't be unfamiliar to you. Cooking times may differ as lamb cuts are naturally smaller, but you can roast, stew, braise, stir-fry, and otherwise apply heat to lamb, pretty much the same way as you would to the equivalent size and cut of beef, and still be ''in the ballpark''.

Cooks tend to lavish more creative fuss on lamb than on beef. The average sirloin can only hope to receive the same care, herbs & spices as lamb often gets. Why does lamb get all the c h & s while beef gets naked heat?

You might find it fun, and interesting, to try lamb and just lamb. Get familiar with the basic flavor of the meat, before getting creative with all the cloves, garlic, mint, etc.

For example, get a chunky lamb chop, about 1 1/2'' thick. Trim off the fat cap and any dangly or gristly scraps. Coat the trimmed chop with oil, salt copiously, and let sit at room temp for at least 1/2 hour. Meanwhile, render the fat and scraps in your pan. Feed the resulting brown crispy bits to any dog, man, or other begging mammal in your house. Pour off and save most of the rendered fat. Unplug the smoke detector. Crank the heat to high and get the remaining fat smoking and popping. Sear all sides of the chop hard, to crusty brown. Reduce heat and continue cooking until a probe to the center reads 120-125F. Remove from pan, cover, rest. Take a few slices, admire and taste the deep red, nicely rare meat. Return the chop to heat and cook until medium-rare. Slice, admire, taste. Repeat at medium-done and, if you're inclined, well-done. There, that's how delicious the straight, unmolested lamb tastes. Next time, you can pile on the chutney and currants.

Personally I am more caveman than creative with lamb. Legs with bones get rubbed down with chopped rosemary, crushed garlic, salt and olive oil, seared hard in the pan, then roasted to 125F at the bone. If the leg's been deboned (pity) the cavity gets rubbed too, and a few more rosemary sprigs and some butter tucked inside. Rosemary is a classic lamb herb, and anyway there is a bunch of it growing outside the kitchen door. Chops get the treatment described above, but the rendered bits are saved and added back to the fond, then red wine, shallots, and reduce it all until saucy. Another sauce I like on lamb is garlic aioli, and another is freshly made pesto. I don't really like mint jelly on lamb.

That said, some of the recipes here sound delicious, so I will be trying them out. The lamburger and the moroccan lamb, yumm. And we have lots of lavender here too . . .