New Belgium Sunshine Wheat Lamb Chops

Holy Mother of All Hops!  What could be better than being a Foodbuzz Featured Publisher and given the opportunity to create something great with any New Belgium Brewing Company Beer?!!!  I was ecstatic when I was notified that I would receive a stipend from New Belgium Brewing to create a recipe or pairing using their beer.  Fat Tire has been at the top of my list of faves for awhile, but after this challenge I have found another to give Fat Tire a run - Sunshine Wheat.

 I definitely envision myself sitting outside this summer cooling off with several of these!

Since it was Easter, I knew I wanted to come up with something to use on my lamb chops.  Now I have used beer marinades before on other cuts of meat, but I have never used a marinade on lamb.  I'll admit that my first attempt had me wincing and I was ready to pitch it but continued to tinker with it and will post that one later.

I love rosemary, mint and garlic with lamb but needed to expand my safe repertoire.  I am known for pantry surfing and coming up with pretty great dishes on a whim so I surfed and conquered!  After opening one Sunshine Wheat to take a few sippy sips and explore all the wonderful flavors, I ended up having to open another due to more than sampling!

 After making the  marinade I let the chops bathe in the goodness overnight and grilled for Easter dinner. Let me just say that those were the best lamb chops I have concocted, even those who don't usually like lamb were licking their chops!

New Belgium Sunshine Wheat Marinade
1- 12 oz. Bottle Of New Belgium Sunshine Wheat Beer
1/4 cup Olive Oil
1/4 cup Liquid Aminos *see note below
4 large Shallots diced
6 cloves Garlic minced
6 Tangelos juiced (can use any citrus orange in color)
2 tablespoons Smoked Paprika
1 - 3/4 oz. package of fresh Mint torn
1/2 cup Oregano (fresh) roughly chopped
1 cup Parsley (fresh) roughly chopped
1 large Jazz apple diced
1-2 tablespoons Aged Balsamic Vinegar * I used an 8 yr. aged Balsamic
1-2 tablespoons of Peppercorns (I use a mixed Peppercorn)


Stir all ingredients in large bowl.
Transfer to a food processor or blender and mix well.
Put lamb chops in a single layer baking dish and pour marinade over chops, turning lamb over to coat both sides. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Pull lamb out of refrigerator and let sit until close to room temperature.
Pour marinade from lamb into a saucepan and boil approximately 2 minutes.
Grill  chops 8-12 minutes  making sure to baste both sides with the marinade.  Grill until desired internal temp/doneness is reached.  My grill has a separate side for searing that I used to sear chops first 1-2 minutes on each side before transferring to grill side.

*Liquid Aminos  is a great alternative to soy sauce (tastes just like soy) and the perfect way to make a healthy substitute.  Non-GMO Soybeans are used and is Gluten-Free.  Can be found in most grocery stores in the health/organic/natural  food aisle. My grocery carries the Bragg brand.