Balsamic Maple Glazed Lamb Chops
An exquisite dinner option featuring succulent lamb chops glazed in a flavorful balsamic maple sauce, accompanied by tender sweet potatoes, caramelized shallots, and a hint of rosemary.
An exquisite dinner option featuring succulent lamb chops glazed in a flavorful balsamic maple sauce, accompanied by tender sweet potatoes, caramelized shallots, and a hint of rosemary.
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- 3 pounds sweet potato 3 large
- 8 shallots peeled and halved
- 1 tablespoon rosemary fresh or
- 1/2 teaspoon rosemary dried
- 1 teaspoon salt divided
- 2 cups balsamic vinegar
- 1 inch orange peel
- 16 lamb chops 2 1/2 to 3 oz. each
- Carbohydrate 46.4622410155184 g
- Cholesterol 313.11 mg
- Fat 35.2836574999198 g
- Fiber 5.49400468158082 g
- Protein 25.7152470311626 g
- Saturated Fat 17.467429468745 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (382g)
- Sodium 205.0196171648 mg
- Sugar 40.9682363339376 g
- Trans Fat 3.79689903124638 g
- Calories 613 calories
Step-by-step
- Brush a large sheet of heavy-duty foil with oil.
- Arrange sweet potato slices, overlapping slighty, over center of foil.
- Sprinkle sweet potatoes with shallots, rosemary, 1/2 tsp salt and pepper.
- Fold over foil and seal and place package in or on barbecue.
- Cook for about 35 minutes, turning package once or twice.
- (Package can also be baked in a 400F/200C oven for about 35 minutes, or until tender.)
- Meanwhile in a saucepan, combine vinegar, maple syrup, mustard, orange peel and remaining 1/2 tsp. salt.
- Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered, for 10 to 15 minutes, or until mixture is syrupy.
- You should have about 1 cup glaze.
- Discard orange peel.
- Reserve 1/4 cup glaze for garnish.
- Pour 1/2 cup glaze over chops and rub in.
- Grill Lamb for 2 minutes.
- Brush with 1/4 cup glaze, turn and cook for 2 minutes longer for medium rare.
- Drizzle plates with reserved glaze.
- serve chops on a bed of sweet potatoes.
Sealing thick root vegetables inside a heavy-duty foil pouch creates a pressurized steam environment that cooks dense starches much faster than roasting them uncovered at 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Without this vapor barrier, sweet potato slices would dry out and scorch on the outer edges before the internal starches fully gelatinize. Heavy-duty aluminum foil is structurally mandatory for this method because standard household foil frequently ruptures under expanding steam pressure, venting moisture prematurely and ruining the tenderizing process. Piercing the foil packet or opening it too early causes a sudden drop in ambient cooking temperature, which extends the total processing time well past the benchmark thirty-five-minute mark.
Reducing two full cups of balsamic vinegar down to a singular syrupy cup requires vigilant heat management to prevent scorching the natural sugars present in both the vinegar and the added maple syrup. Simpering this acidic liquid uncovered allows volatile acetic compounds to escape slowly, concentrating the residual solids until the mixture coats the back of a spoon cleanly. Substituting standard table salt for kosher salt during the glaze reduction alters the sodium concentration significantly, requiring a 1.25 ratio adjustment to maintain proper flavor balance. Dijon mustard acts as an essential emulsifying agent within this reduction, preventing the maple syrup and vinegar phases from separating under high heat.
Applying direct high heat to lamb chops coated in sugar-heavy reductions demands precise timing to avoid carbonization. Brushing half a cup of the balsamic glaze directly onto the meat before grilling initiates immediate caramelization upon contact with hot grill grates. Limiting the cooking duration to exactly two minutes per side ensures the interior maintains a medium-rare pink profile while the exterior develops a sticky, charred lacquer. Leaving the chops on the heat source for even sixty seconds longer converts the lean muscle fibers into a tough, overcooked texture.
Serving the finished chops over the steamed sweet potato base requires reserving a clean portion of the glaze to prevent cross-contamination from raw meat juices. This reserved quarter-cup of liquid adds sharp acidity at the final plating stage, cutting through the rich fat content characteristic of small-cut lamb. Storing leftover portions in an airtight glass container within the refrigerator preserves structural integrity for up to seventy-two hours without degrading the glaze consistency.
