Lamb Steak with Charred Shallots and Minty Green Garlic Yogurt Sauce

There’s something deeply satisfying about gathering around a fire, the scents of wood smoke and charring meat rising up into the evening sky. In Catching Fire, anthropologist Richard Wrangham talks about how cooking made us human. When our ancestors adapted to fire, humanity began. We became social and collaborative around a fire, and once we began eating cooked foods, our brains grew. The acquisition of fire led, inevitably, hundreds of thousands of years later, to a chair pulled up alongside a Weber grill, and a chilled glass of rose clutched in a hand capable of infinite acts of both transcendent art and wicked destruction, all the potential and reality that is contained in civilization as we know it. Cooking is a uniquely human act, not to be dismissed lightly, hardly something we should try to get through as quickly as possible. We’re talking about the very catalyst for all that is best and worst about who we are. And spring nights like we’ve been enjoying lately are the perfect time for contemplating such deep thoughts, poking the coals with a stick and waiting for the meat to be done.

This steak is a deceptively simple affair–the smoky, complex lamb steak seasoned with no more than salt and pepper, paired with bright, green charred shallots and a tangy, minty yogurt sauce that counters the richness of the meat. One steak will serve at least four people.

Serves: 4

Total TIme: 20 minutes

Steak:

• 1 lamb steak, about 2 pounds
• salt & pepper to taste
• 2 green shallots, washed and trimmed
• olive oil

Yogurt Sauce:

• 1/2 c plain yogurt
• 1/4 c finely minced mint leaves
• 1 bulb green garlic, finely minced
• salt & pepper to taste

Instructions:

❶ Heat a charcoal or gas grill to medium hot. As the grill heats, rub the steak generously with salt and pepper. Cut shallots lengthwise into quarters and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

❷ When grill is ready, grill steak and shallots over indirect heat until steak is desired temperature (we like medium rare) and shallots are charred and wilted. Remove steak to a plate and tent with foil while you prepare yogurt sauce.

❸ In a small bowl, combine yogurt, mint, and green garlic and season to taste with salt and pepper.

❹ Slice steak across the grain and serve with charred shallots and yogurt sauce.