Lamb Loin Chops with Fresh Herbs & Cognac Butter Sauce

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These are like little lamb T-bone steaks. They’re on the more expensive side, but I snatch them up when I find them on sale. Our butcher has been breaking down a lot of lamb lately, so I got these for a steal.

Like the lamb rib chops I made recently, these cook quickly, which means they’re a great thing to whip up for a more-elegant-than-usual weeknight dinner.

Cook them fast over high heat. (A quick sear on each side will do.) An easy pan sauce with butter, cognac, and a handful of fresh, chopped herbs rounds out this really simple�but memorable�dish.

Fresh, chopped oregano, tarragon, and parsley

What is a lamb loin chop?

Like I said, these little guys look like miniature T-bone steaks, with a bone running across the top and down the center. They’re thick, tender, and have a slightly stronger flavor than lamb rib chops. You might find them labeled Lamb Kidney Chops.

They’re small, so you want to count on two per person if you’re serving them for dinner.

 

A note on timing

I cooked my lamb loin chops for maybe 3-4 minutes per side, which gave me a medium rare-ish chop. Your final cooking time will depend on how you like your meat done, as well as the thickness of your chops.

Lamb Loin Chops with Fresh Herbs & Cognac Butter Sauce

3-4 Lamb loin chops
kosher salt
1 Tbls. olive oil
2 tsp. fresh oregano, chopped
2 tsp. fresh tarragon, chopped
2 tsp. fresh parsley, chopped
2 Tbls. butter
1/4 cup cognac
freshly cracked black pepper

Serves 2 for dinner or 3-4 as an appetizer.

Grab your lamb loin chops.

Season generously with kosher salt.

Put the olive oil in a non-stick pan. Heat it for a minute or two over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot (it will shimmer a little), drop the lamb loin chops into the pan.

They should start to sizzle right away. Cook them like this, undisturbed, for 3-4 minutes. If the pan starts to smoke, drop the heat a little.

After 3-4 minutes, they should have a nice brown crust on the bottom. Flip them over. Cook them for another 3-4 minutes on this side.

After they’ve cooked for 3-4 minutes on this side, drop the heat to medium. Add the cold butter to the pan.

Pour in the cognac. (Be careful…there will be a big poof of steam and the cognac will immediately start to boil dramatically.)

Drop in the chopped herbs. Grind on a little fresh black pepper.

Stir to combine everything. As you stir, the butter will finish melting. Flip the chops over once or twice to coat them in the pan sauce.

Cook for a minute or two like this.

When the meat is done to your liking, transfer the chops to a serving platter and drizzle with pan sauce. Serve immediately.

Enjoy!

 

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Jessie Cross is a cookbook author and creator of The Hungry Mouse, a monster online food blog w/500+ recipes. When she's not shopping for cheese or baking pies, Jessie works as an advertising copywriter in Boston. She lives in Salem, Massachusetts with her husband and two small, fluffy wolves.

47 COMMENTS

  1. Couple of questions.......the lamb chops seemed awfully fatty to me was there a reason you did not trim them? Also do you wash and pat dry first? Sometimes my chops have little bits of bone on them from the cutting process, so I usually give mine a quick rinse.(or a swipe with a paper towel) Was there a reason you added the butter before the cognac? I thought maybe to deglaze the pan and burn off the alcohol you would add it before the butter. I know you take the pan off the heat and add the cold butter but was just wondering why it has to be cold. Wouldn't it have been better to remove the chops from the pan(to let them rest) then put them back in to coat after the sauce was made? Just want to learn more...I do find your pictures very appetizing and informative. Thanks
    • Hey Kat! OK, let's see. The chops were fatty. I didn't trim them because I like the flavor of the lamb fat in the sauce and don't mind the extra fat. You could certainly take some--or most--of it off, though, if you like. In terms of rinsing the meat, I tend to do it on a case-by-case basis, depending on how the meat looks and feels. I didn't rinse these because they didn't have a stitch of loose matter on them that I could see. If I had seen bits of bone, I definitely would have zipped them under cold water first, then patted them dry. Butter first vs. cognac. Honestly, they go in basically at the same time, so I tossed the butter in first. You could add the cognac first. OH, I just read something interesting about burning off alcohol...it doesn't completely burn off during cooking. I'll see if I can dig it up and post back here about that. In terms of taking the chops out or leaving them in when you make the sauce...I left them in simply for convenience. You can take them out, if you like, but I'm not sure it makes a huge difference...and it saves you a dish, keeping this as simple as possible. I always figure that the meat rests long enough in the few minutes it takes you to plate it and get it on the table. Cheers (and keep the questions coming!) :D +Jessie
  2. I found this site today when I googled Lamb Loin Chops, and tonight's dinner will be your Lamb recipe and your Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus. I've already bookmarked the site to refer to with my other favorite cooking blogs. Thanks! Great job. Very professional and yet, still warm and inviting.
  3. This recipe saved me right in the Whole Foods after I'd bought lamb loin chops on sale and had no idea what to do with them. I looked this up on my phone, took the chops home, and am eating it now. Delicious! Thanks.
  4. I hadn't made lamb before and I thought this sounded swell. I had some pretty thick pieces, so balanced them on their edges for a little bit before starting the sauce. I, uh forgot to the cognac, so I went with some red wine we had. It was delicious!
  5. Great recipe! I just made it for dinner for my San Francisco foodie relative, served with roasted young potatos. It was quite a success. The only suggestion was to put less tarragon in proportion to other herbs, it came a bit strong. I would also cut on frying time if the chops are less than 1.5 inch thick.
  6. So good! My first time making loin chops. I marinated the chops a few hours in lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, dried thyme, and salt. I added the marinade to the pan with the cognac. The lemon was a nice foil for the butter. My only fresh herb was rosemary, which I pulverized into a paste. My sauce turned out darker, probably cooked for longer. I smeared the top of each chop with some of the darkened herb paste. Plate- and pan- licking good!
  7. i really enjoyed this lamb, i thought the cognac may have given the meat a sweet flavour. The kids actually enjoyed it. it's a real accomplishment. :)
  8. This looks so good! Thinking of making it for dinner tonight for husband's birthday. Can't do alcohol. Substitutions or alternative sauces? Thanks!
  9. Cognac is double the price of Brandy. One recipe I saw said either or. Tell me I’ll be OK if I use Brandy. I’m planning on making it for Easter Sunday.
    • Hi! Thanks for reading! OK, so I think you could use either, whatever your preference for taste. That said, my rule of thumb is to always cook with booze that I would drink. Otherwise, you’re really just concentrating a flavor you don’t like. Make sense? LMK what you use and how it turns out! Happy Easter! Jessie
  10. Thanks so much for getting back to me so quickly. I don’t drink either of them. But I was intrigued by the idea of cooking with either of them with butter and herbs. I will definitely let you know how it was. Happy Easter. I checked the box below that said I’d like to be alerted when a response comes to a question. But this didn’t happen with your response to me.
  11. The brandy worked just fine. They were very thick and took a while to reach correct temp. Thanks. Next time I’ll get thinner chops.
  12. […] Chuletas de cordero con hierbas frescas y salsa de mantequilla de coñac del ratón hambriento […]

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