Grilled Lamb Porterhouse with Fig-Cascabel Sauce

Ingredients:

Porterhouse:

8 lamb porterhouse chops, 4-5 oz. each
2 Tbsp. pure olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
fig-Cascabel Sauce, recipe follows
flat-leaf parsley leaves, for garnish

Fig-Cascabel Sauce:

1 cup chopped dried figs
1-1/2 cups red wine vinegar
1/2 cup port wine
1 cup sugar
1 cup orange juice
1/4 cup cascabel chile puree
4 cups chicken stock
touch of honey

Instructions:

To prepare the chops:

Heat the grill to high or heat a grill pan over high heat. Brush the lamb chops on both sides with some of the oil and season with salt and pepper. Place the chops on the grill or grill pan and cook until golden brown and slightly charred, about 3-4 minutes. Turn the chops over and continue grilling to medium doneness, about 2-3 minutes longer.

Ladle some of the sauce into the center of each dinner plate and place 2 chops per order in the center of the sauce and drizzle the edges of the meat with some more of the sauce. Garnish with parsley leaves.

To prepare the fig sauce:

Place the figs in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Let them sit until they soften, approximately 30 minutes. Place the softened figs in a food processor with 1/2 cup of the soaking liquid and process until smooth.

Combine the vinegar and port wine in a medium nonreactive saucepan and reduce by half over high heat. Add the sugar, orange juice, and fig puree and reduce by half again, stirring occasionally.

Combine the chile puree and chicken stock in another saucepan and reduce by half over high heat. Add the reduced vinegar-fig mixture to the chicken stock mixture along with a touch of honey and reduce by half again, stirring occasionally. Strain the mixture into a clean medium saucepan and reduce to a sauce consistency.

Recipe by Bobby Flay.