Grilled Lamb Chops with Charred Red Onion Chutney from Fine Cooking Magazine, June/July 2010

I recently found out that the show Flash Forward was cancelled and so I'll never get to find out what caused the black-outs, whether Lloyd and Olivia actually get together, where Janis was taken while in the wheelchair during her second flash forward or who Charlie says that they found (I can only assume it's her father since we don't know if he lived through the explosion). I don't watch a lot of television outside of Wow Wow Wubsy, Max & Ruby and other shows on Nick Jr., and I stay away from all reality television so I have no idea and don't care about who the next American Idol is, who's Lost or not, or who's Dancing with the Stars. I adore watching Castle (I'm a long-time Nathan Fillion fan, going back to the Firefly days), and enjoy catching V, House and Flash Forward when I can (Iron Chef America is in there too, but it's not a drama....well, not really).  Even when I do watch any of those shows, it's late at night, via DVR, after our young lady's been put to bed, the kitchen's been cleaned up, I've blogged if I cooked a magazine recipe and I'm ready for a break from reality.

The only reason I bring this up is that tonight is Thursday night and even though the season would be over anyhow, it's Flash Forward night, which it will never be anymore. I just wanted to say that I'm sad about that and wish that ABC hadn't cancelled it.

Anyhow there's no real good way to segue from a television show to Grilled Lamb Chops with Charred Red Onion Chutney. Trust me, I've been sitting here for a while trying to come up with one. If it was a lamb that had hopped across the road in the flash forwards it would be easier, but it was a kangaroo and we didn't have kangaroo for dinner; we had lamb.

If you've read any of my steak blogs, you know that I am a purist and believe that it you have a good cut of meat you do NOT need any sauces, marinades or glazes on it. It stands alone with salt and pepper seasoning. I feel the same way about lamb. I love the taste of lamb and don't like anything to cover or alter it. Salt and pepper is all that's needed.

So, when I saw the lamb recipe in Fine Cooking, I was thrilled because the chutney was an easy thing to make and serve next to the lamb, giving the condiment the opportunity to work with the lamb but not to over power it.  And trust me, with powerful flavors like toasted cumin seeds and grilled onions, it's not a wimpy chutney at all.

While I was working on getting the other parts of the chutney together, I handed my husband the plate of onions and asked him to grill them for me. I guess grilling slices of onion takes a bit of practice because I got back a lot less onion than I gave him. You know when someone's frustrated though so I didn't say a word.

I toasted my cumin seeds and red pepper flakes, but it took longer than a minute for me to get any real smell from them, I'm thinking because they were actually fried in oil instead of just being toasted on a hot pan. Even so, the rest of the chutney went as planned and tasted very good. I just have to admit that I didn't eat it WITH the lamb. I ate it along side the lamb.

This chutney is very, very good, but would go better with a bland meat like chicken or pork roast; than with such a savory meat like lamb, in my opinion.