Michael had us over for dinner last night, with a cadre of other very lovely people, and he made some seriously fancy stuff. We always joke that we feed Michael in quantity while he feeds us in quality- because we have him over more often, but we never pull out all the stops that he does. So dinner at his place is always a multi-course treat. There were several stars of the evening, but the Lamb Chops with Cherry Balsamic Sauce and Mint were so fabulous that I had to share the experience and the recipe.

Let me begin by showing you the raw lamb he started with- such a delicious bounty for only 8 people! 




He used a recipe from epicurious.com for  which you can find here, so afterwards it looked like this:



Now, that is the photo from epicurious, not one I took, but honestly, it looked exactly like that. Except, Michael's were a but better because we got two DOUBLE chops each, not just two singles so there was extra lamby goodness for us. I felt the dish was a great way to creatively use all of the great cherries we've been getting this season. The combination of cherries, shallots, mint, and seared lamb chops was unusual but fantastic.

Plus, the recipe wasn't too tricky. The hardest part was determining when the chops were done to perfection. As long as all the chopping and prep is done beforehand, though, the sauce comes together quite quickly! So if you've got some cherries and love lamb... give it a go. Your guests will be impressed!