Smokey, On-The-Bone Centerpieces   

Prep Time: 10 Minutes 

Marinating Time: Overnight 

Cook Time: 20 minutes  

Serves: 8  

The recipe here is a large serving, but feel free to scale it to your group size. The big portions and bold flavors are sure to bring people together around the dinner table!  

The smokey strength of the grill melds with the smoothness of the yogurt-based marinade, laced through with roughly-chopped garlic, while the lemon, capers, and fresh herbs bring a lightness to it all. A showstopper, for your best dinnerware and best people as the holiday season approaches.  

Don’t be intimidated by the long time-frame; the overnight marinade does all of the heavy lifting for you. A few minutes of prep the night before, a night of the ingredients getting to know themselves, and then a short, high-heat grilling before serving.  

Pair with a grilled zucchini salad or a quick marinated tomato salad — something light and clean to work with the smokey depth of the meat.  

Ingredients 

• 8 lamb chops (this is roughly 3 pounds, thicker cuts may require cooking a little longer. Discuss this with your butcher) 
• ½ cup olive oil, and an extra glug for the capers 
• 1 lemon - use both the juice and the zest 
• 2 tablespoons of natural yogurt 

• 1 teaspoon of dried thyme 
• ½ teaspoon of dried chili flakes 
• 8 roughly chopped garlic cloves 
• 1 teaspoon of salt, plus some extra to serve with  
• ½ teaspoon of black pepper 

• ½ cup of capers 
• One small bunch of fresh parsley (other fresh herbs can be used if needed), roughly cut.  

Method  

Everything starts the night before. Mix together the olive oil (reserving some to fry the capers in tomorrow), roughly-chopped garlic, lemon juice and zest, salt, pepper, chili flakes, and thyme until everything is thoroughly mixed. In a large serving dish or baking tray, pour this mixture over the lamb chops, making sure that all of the meat is covered. Don’t be afraid to be hands-on. Cover and leave in the fridge overnight (or for at least eight hours).  

Bring the lamb out of the oven an hour before you are going to cook it, to allow it to get to room temperature. Then, 20 minutes before service, bring your grill up to a medium-high temperature (this can also work in a frying or griddle pan). Once your grill has come to temperature, cook the lamb chops until there is a good char on both sides. Depending on how thick the cut is, this will take between 3-5 minutes.  

Now, let them sit and rest for 5 minutes so that the juices can spread evenly within the meat. Ask somebody to bring out and fill the good glassware.  

To finish, while they are resting, nicely arranged on a worthy serving dish (we recommend Mistletoe Oval Tray), quickly fry up the capers in some olive oil and scatter over the lamb cutlets, letting the oil wash over them. Scatter with your fresh herbs and some sea salt flakes. 

Enjoy!