Every once in a while I get a craving for lamb chops. It's not a common craving, but when it comes, I have to have it...and  lot of it! I'll eat a dozen little lamb chops in one sitting.

We didn't grow up eating lamb. I don't know if it was our mutual dislike for mint jelly, or that it was just too pricey for a family of 6. We raised our own steer and swine, so there was always a freezer packed with meats to dine on and seafood always took presidence if you were going to spend the extra penny. It wasn't until I was in high school that I was introduced to things like lamb, rabbit, duck and exotic meats such as bison. It was probably a very smart move on my parents part as they might have gone broke had I developed my taste buds that early.

Here is an easy and quick recipe that originated in my early catering days with Pintore. We served baby lamb chops as an appetizer with a tepanade-like relish on top. This is obviously my take on a dish that I had eaten often, but never had a recipe for:

Ingredients:
10 Lamb Chops
2-3 Tablespoons of Roughly Chopped Garlic
4 Sprigs of Fresh Rosemary
Kosher or Sea Salt
Fresh Cracked Black Pepper
Olive Oil
1/2 Cup (ish) of Sun-dried Tomatoes (Packed in Olive Oil)
1/2 Cup (ish) of Kalamata Olives (Preferably Pitted)

Heat 1 1/2 to 2 Tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Add 2 Tablespoons of Garlic and 3 Sprigs of Fresh Rosemary. Sautee until the rosemary is fragrant and the garlic is slightly cooked. Do not burn your garlic. If you do, start over. You'll never get that taste out! Remove your rosemary just before browning your meat.

In the meantime, sprinkle your salt and cracked pepper generously on either side of the chops. Add your lamb chops one at a time to the skillet, making sure not to over-crowd your pan. You want a nice sear, not a steamed piece of meat. Continue cooking about 3-4 minutes until slightly browned and flip. Do the same on the opposite side. This should bring your chops to about medium rare. Cook longer if you prefer your meat a little more well done, or pop the skillet into a hot oven to continue cooking while you prepare the rest of the batch.

For the topping, mince your sundried tomatoes (with a little of the oil from the jar), leftover garlic, rosemary leaves and kalamata olives and mix together. You can also pulse these ingredients in a food processor. Occassionally I will also add in some feta or chevre...or even combine the ingredients with a little bit of lemon rind and butter. This tastes wonderful when you smear the butter over the lamb chops and it melts.

Spoon your topping over your lamb chops and voila! You're done!

I served mine with parmesan cous cous and a light spinach salad.