For several months I have been eyeing packages of lamb breast at my local grocer. Needing something spectacular for a Sunday dinner I decided it was time to pull the trigger. We take our Sunday dinners pretty seriously, so it had to be something exceptional and I think it was.
Marinade & Mop
2 cups of apple juice
1 cup of apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup honey
3 cloves of garlic,
1 sprig of rosemary
Mix the apple juice, vinegar and honey in a large bowl. Chopped the garlic and add to the bowl. Pull the leaves needles off the rosemary, chop and add to the marinade.
Place the ribs in a large ziplock bag or large dish, meat side down, and add half of the marinade. Save the remainder to mop the ribs during cooking. Allow the ribs to marinate for 2-3 hours. After marinating remove the ribs, pat dry and give them a dusting of AlbuKirky Red Chile BBQ Rub.
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| Mopping the Ribs |
Finishing Glaze
1/2 cup of apple jelly
1 jalapeño, grated
2-3 sprigs of mint, finely chopped.
Heat the apple jelly in a small bowl in the microwave. Use a micro plane to grate the jalapeño into the jelly, stop grating when you get to the seeds. Grating the jalapeño creates a pulp that infuses the jelly with heat and it sticks to the ribs better. Finely chop the mint and add the glaze.
After the ribs have cooked for 3 hours, brush the ribs with the finishing glaze. Let the ribs cook for another 15 minutes and then glaze the ribs again. Pull the ribs off the smoker and allow them to rest for a few minutes before cutting.
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| Lamb Ribs with Finishing Sauce |
OK, cutting these ribs was a little difficult. The package said lamb breast and I thought it was the same as ribs but its not. The bones are much closer together and there is a bone at the top that runs perpendicular to the other bones. I managed to cut them apart and they weren’t the prettiest or ribs but they were still delicious. Before serving I gave them another drizzle of the finishing glaze.
After all that work it was time to finally eat these bad boys. There was a lot of flavors going on here, there was a tanginess from the marinade, the apple wood smoke and the sweet and spicy finishing glaze. All of it was a perfect compliment to the rich flavor of the lamb. Like I said they weren’t the prettiest but they were some of the tastiest, an taste is all that matters.
