THE BEST: Gourmet's Garlic-Rosemary-Marinated Lamb Chops

On the plus side of driving all the way to the Bronx to see a bunch of fake pumpkins (see above) was that my fellow and I made a pit-stop at Arthur Avenue for a modest haul of Italian grocerries. For those of you who do not know, Arthur Avenue is a mini-Little Italy in the Bronx, and it's authentic as hell. We left with a chunk of gorgeous Parmesean, a half pound of Bresaola, a box full of fresh ricotta raviolis, a half pound of spinach linguine, three lamb loin chops, two broccoli rabe sausage links, two cannoli in the stomach and another three in a box to go. Although we resisted the call of an early dinner at Rigoletta on Friday, every last bit of that supply of goodies was gone by Sunday night. Gluttons, we are.

We hadn't arrive at Arthur Avenue with any particular recipes in mind, so we did a little digging through our cookbooks when we got home. Gourmet's Gourmet Today cookbook billed this recipe as a "tasty weeknight lamp chop," but after sampling the results, I beg to differ. This marinade coupled with a nice, tender lamb loin chop is nothing short of revolutionary. It was divine, outstanding, delicious, and I regretted that we hadn't bought at least another pair of lamb chops, which would have been totally disgusting, but wonderful.

Make this recipe with the tenderest darn lamb loin chops you can find. Trust me on this one.

Garlic-Rosemary-Marinated Lamb Chops
from the late-great Gourmet
2 garlic cloves
1 t. salt
2 t. finely grated lemon zest
1 T. chopped, fresh rosemary
2 T. olive oil
1/2 t. freshly ground pepper
3 to 4 (1/14-inch thick lamb loin chops (about 1 lb. total)*

1. Mince garlic and mash to a paste with salt, using the side of a heavy knife. Stir together garlic paste, zest, rosemary olive oil and pepper in a bowl. Rub paste onto both side of chops and marinate at room temperature for 20 minutes.

2. Heat grill pan over high heat until hot. Brush with oil and grill chops, turning once, about 10 minutes for medium-rare. Let stand, uncovered, for 5 minutes before serving.

* Note: Gourmet Today says eight 1 1/4-inch thick lamb chops, which would certainly be MUCH more than a pound, I am sure. I am going to assume there was a typo in the cookbook: Our three chops (a little thicker than 1 1/4-inch, but all the better for it) were just under a pound.

** Double Note: The photo above is not a shot of this recipe, it is merely a delicious-looking shot of a lamb chop. I would normally have taken a photo (but I was too covered in lamb juice gnawing at hte bone to snap photos) or pulled photo from Epicurious.com (but somehow, the usually-wise editors of the site have failed to include ONE OF THEIR BEST RECIPES EVER). Hence, the decoy; my sincere apologies.