lamb chops with red pepper sauce on cauliflower-broccoli mash

Because the lamb cooks quickly, make the Cauliflower-Broccoli Mash and the Red Pepper Sauce first, setting them aside until needed. The mash reheats easily over a low flame and the pepper sauce is fine at room temperature. Red Pepper Sauce recipe courtesy Susan Herrmann Loomis’ FRENCH GRILL, Countryman Press, 2018. For fine French recipes in English or to schedule cooking classes, visit Susan on her website: onruetatin.com. Lamb grilling directions courtesy David W. Morgan.

Ingredients

Cauliflower Broccoli Mash:

1/2 teaspoon each: kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
4 cups each cauliflower-broccoli florets and stems, a bit more than a pound
1 small onion, peeled and cut into quarters
1 small fennel bulb, trimmed, and diced–optional
3 cloves garlic, minced
Pinch crushed red pepper
2 tablespoons salted butter or olive oil or more as desired
1 ounce Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated (1/4 cup)

Red Pepper Sauce:

8 fat cloves garlic
4 grilled red bell peppers, skin and seeds removed (Steam for twenty minutes in a closed paper bag after grilling, and then remove skin, slice, and take out seeds.)
Fine Sea Salt
Piment d’Espelette* or a blend of hot and sweet paprika

Lamb Chops:

8 lamb loin chops, 4 ounces each, 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 " thick
Olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher Salt
3/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Instructions

Make the Cauliflower-Broccoli Mash:

In a 6-8 quart covered pot, heat 3-4 quarts of water seasoned with 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper over high flame. When boiling, add all of the vegetables, reduce heat to simmer, and cook until everything is very tender– 15-20 minutes. Drain well and while in colander, push out excess water with a wooden spoon or with another, smaller colander. Spoon vegetables into food processor, add red pepper, 1 tablespoon butter or oil and cheese. Process pulsing until quite smooth, adding more butter if needed. (Or mash by hand with a potato masher.) Taste and adjust seasonings. Return to pot and cover to keep warm or set aside and reheat as needed over very low flame, stirring often.

Make the Red Pepper Sauce:

Bring 3 cups of water (750 mto boil in the bottom half of a steamer. Place the garlic in the steamer, cover, and steam until the garlic is completely soft, which will take 15-20 minutes. Remove from the heat. When the cloves are cool enough to handle, remove the skin.
Purée the peppers and the garlic in a food processor, then transfer the purée to a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan and bring it to a simmer over low heat. Cook just until all of the pepper liquid has evaporated and the sauce has thickened, 8 – 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and season to taste with salt and piment d’Espelette. (Start with ¼ teaspoon each and add more as needed.) Set aside until needed. The sauce will keep for several days in the refrigerator and for up to three months in the freezer.

Grill the Lamb Chops and Serve on the Cauliflower-Broccoli Mash Topped with Red Pepper Sauce:

GRILLING: Prepare the grill for direct cooking over medium heat (350 degrees F – 450 degrees F). Brush the lamb chops with olive oil and season them well with salt and pepper on all four sides. Let them rest at room temperature for 15 minutes.
Place the chops on the grill bone-side down and close the lid. Grill for 2 minutes on each of the 4 sides (1.5 - 3 minutes each), closing the lid after each turn. Cook the chops as done as you like, about 8 minutes total for medium rare to about 15 minutes total for well-done, using an instant read thermometer to check temperatures. Remove from the grill and let rest 2 minutes. The chops are rare at 120°F, medium rare at 125°F, medium at 130°F, and well done at 145°F and higher. (Lamb chops at medium rare are tasty and are my recommendation; overdone chops are tough and dry. FDA recommendation, however, is 145°F plus a 3-min. rest)
SERVING: Spoon ¾ cup or so of the Cauliflower-Broccoli Mash into a shallow serving bowl and spread it out a bit; gently place two chops side by side in the middle of the mash. Ladle ¼ cup of the Red Pepper Sauce on top or to taste. Serve with Lemon Green Beans if you like. (Recipe on blog.)

Notes

* Piment d’Espelette is a dried and ground mildly hot Basque red pepper available in specialty stores or online