The Cutting Board: Go out on a limb and cook some lamb chops

One of the coolest things about farmers markets, besides the freshness of the veggies and the neat people, is there's always something featured that tends to be glossed over in the grocery aisle.

Go into any major supermarket across Bloomington-Normal and you'll see what I call the "big-3 proteins": beef, pork and chicken. After a while, I want something different.

So thank goodness for Chris and Erin Crider.

The couple grow sheep at their 6-acre property just north of Farmer City and have been selling at farmers markets for three years now.

Every Saturday morning, you can find Erin on Center Street at the Downtown Bloomington Farmers Market. She sells a variety of lamb cuts, including shoulder steaks, lamb belly and, one of my favorites, lamb chops.

Some don't like the taste or the idea of eating lamb. That's fine. But for the brave adventurous, this one's for you.

So, yeah, sharpen your knives, because we're on another meat mission at The Cutting Board: pan-seared lamb chops.

I have cooked a lot of lamb throughout the years, developing a taste for it when I lived in Chicago. There are all kinds of fun ways to prepare lamb — roasts, kofta gyros, steaks and burgers, to name a few.

Keeping with tradition, we're looking at one of the simplest ways to prepare a great cut of meat — it's quick enough for a weeknight and makes for a flavorful, succulent meal.

This method calls for basting the meat with its own juices, a process where the rendered fat is scooping into a spoon and delicately poured over the meat as it's cooking in the pan.

Before the Criders started selling lamb at markets across Central Illinois, they were selling to friends, family and people on social media.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, they really started selling a lot, Erin said.

(Side note: The way Erin and Chris Crider met has to be told before Hallmark picks up the rights to their story. The two of them were in 4-H showing livestock at the McLean County Fair, hogs for her and sheep for him. "Chris and I actually met when we were 15," Erin Crider said. "I was walking through the sheep barn. And we just kept in contact for years and years and years until we finally just started dating in our 20s." Now they have two kids, and they raise and sell sheep. Adorable.)

Their sheep are grass fed and corn finished, Erin said, and are taken in for processing when they are a few months old.

"We try to aim for like 120 pounds" before processing, she said.

While we were talking last Saturday, Sally Parry came by to pick up some chops and maple-bacon-cheddar lamb brats. Parry, a retired professor from Illinois State University, said those brats smell like breakfast when cooked. I bet they do.

The chops go on the grill, she said. Season it with "salt, pepper, sometimes a little garlic powder," Parry said. "The lamb is so good, you don't want to overwhelm it with 'stuff.'"

This gives us a good chance to talk about seasoning: I want to remind everyone that salt is your friend. For larger roasts, I use a teaspoon of kosher salt per pound of meat. Since these chops are smaller, I just sprinkled them with a good pinch on all sides. I don't measure the salt for chops or steaks.

To do this, I take my jar of Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt (available at Bloomington Spice Works, 311 N. Main St.) and grab a three-finger pinch with my thumb, index and middle fingers. I sprinkle this from about a foot above the meat until all sides are seasoned, and then let the meat sit in the refrigerator, uncovered, for at least an hour.

I highly recommend practicing this technique of seasoning. It doesn't make the meat taste salty, but it does affect the water content of the cells in the meat and helps the protein structures retain moisture when cooked.

Now, let's talk herbs. (Don't worry, Sally, I'm not adding a bunch of "stuff.")

Pan-searing allows us to render the fat from the chops and, along with some added butter, baste the fat over the meat. The herbs are going to flavor that butter mixture, creating a depth to this dish.

I used three good sprigs of thyme, a large sprig of rosemary and three smashed garlic cloves.

Now, take the lamb out of the fridge and allow it to come to room temperature. Season it with black pepper to taste.

Get a heavy-bottomed pan over medium-high heat and let that come to temperature. The pan should easily fit all the chops. The last thing we want to do is overcrowd the pan.

Use the water-bead method, known as the Leidenfrost effect, to test if the pan is to temperature. Place a few drops of water in the pan. If they dance across the surface smoothly, it's ready. If it doesn't immediately bead, the pan isn't ready yet.

These chops had a nice fat gap on one of the long sides and a bone on the other, and I wanted to crisp that up fat cap, so I put the chops in the pan standing up on their sides. They'll be ready to turn onto the flat side when they separate from the pan easily and don't stick, about four minutes.

Flip onto one side and repeat the searing process, about another four or five minutes.

Once they come off the pan easily and have a nice, dark sear, flip them onto the last side and turn the heat down to medium-low.

Add the herbs and garlic to the pan and 3 tablespoons of butter. Shake the pan every 30 seconds or so until the butter is melted, the herbs are fragrant and the lamb doesn't stick to the pan.

Now comes the fun part: Using caution, grab a deep metal spoon, tilt the pan toward you so that the butter pools, and start basting.

It should go like this: 30 seconds let cook, 15 seconds baste. The butter will start to brown and develop a nutty flavor. When the lamb has reached 145 degrees internal, remove it from the heat.

Let the lamb rest for at least five and no more than 15 minutes.

Serve with potatoes in any form.

From start to finish, this takes about 90 minutes. It is rich and comes together simply, but has a complex, beefy flavor. It's decadent and, yes, succulent.

If you're a farmer or a producer and would like to talk with me for this column, call me at 309-820-3275 or email . And be sure to check back next time to find out what we're chopping up on The Cutting Board.

Contact D. Jack Alkire at (309)820-3275.

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