Looking for a holiday meal that’s special but easy? Try bourbon-glazed lamb chops

Chef Toya Boudy’s new cookbook, “Cooking for the Culture,” is as much about the ingredients and process of making a satisfying life as it is about the ingredients and process of making a delicious dish, one that can be served for the holidays.

For the book’s cover, Boudy could have chosen a photo of tempting barbecue shrimp, an abundant ladle of seafood gumbo or the rich, bourbon-glazed lamb chops in the recipe featured below. Instead, she featured her tattooed, flexed biceps and her artfully styled fingernails gripping a slice of watermelon.

Why? “I’m taking everything back,” she said in a telephone interview from her home in New Orleans. The image is a statement about the racism that tried to turn watermelon and other foods associated with Black culture into stereotypes.

“Watermelon nourished and hydrated us while we were working. I gripped that watermelon for all Black and Brown culture.

“I want everyone to take the narrative and switch it,” she said. “It’s what we do. ... We’ve flipped so many negative things and made it positive. ... Everything that makes people feel uncomfortable. I want to say: Relax your shoulders and rest your mouth. Just let us be.”

Boudy’s life is an example of flipping the script, so along with recipes for buttermilk turkey wings, fried catfish and white chocolate bread pudding, each chapter contains forthright essays about her rebelliousness, poor grades and teen pregnancy. She also writes about the path she is now on with her husband of 10 years, Christopher Boudy Sr., and her four children, including her eldest daughter, who is now in graduate school.

“I hope by the end of this book, you are sparked to spread your wings, find your ‘why,’ heal and feed people along the way,” she writes.

Bourbon-glazed Lamb Chops With Marinated White Beans

Adapted from “Cooking for the Culture” by Toya Boudy (Countryman Press, 2023).

35 minutes, 4-6 servings

Storage: Refrigerate the beans and chops separately for up to 4 days.

NOTES: Herbes de Provence is a blend of herbs, typically savory, marjoram, rosemary, thyme and oregano. If you don’t have the blend, you can create a mixture from dried herbs you like.

If using homemade beans, measure out 3 cups with a few tablespoons of their cooking liquid.

You can make this dish with either loin or rib chops. Both are tender, but some loin chops are sold without the bone. For this dish, it’s best not to use shoulder chops, which are tougher and require a longer cooking time

INGREDIENTS

For the lamb:

• Twelve (3-ounce) 3/4- to 1-inch-thick lamb rib chops (see NOTES, above)
• Flaky sea salt or truffle salt
• Freshly cracked black pepper
• For the beans
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
• Two (15-ounce) cans cannellini beans, undrained (see NOTES)
• 1 teaspoon prosecco wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon herbes de Provence (see NOTES)
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika, plus more for serving
• 1 teaspoon fine salt, plus more as needed
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper, plus more as needed

For the glaze

• 4 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons unsalted butter, divided, plus more as needed
• 1/4 cup lightly packed dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup bourbon
• 2 teaspoons minced or finely grated garlic

DIRECTIONS

1. Season the lamb: Remove the chops from the refrigerator, pat them dry, lightly sprinkle them with salt and pepper, and allow them to sit at room temperature while you start the beans.
2. Make the beans: In a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, add the oil and garlic and cook, stirring often, until fragrant and slightly softened, about 3 minutes. Add the beans with their liquid, vinegar, herbes de Provence, smoked paprika, salt and pepper, and stir to combine. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally and adjusting the heat as needed, until the beans are shiny and coated and the liquid has mostly evaporated, about 10 minutes. Taste, and season with additional salt and/or pepper, as needed. Remove from the heat and cover to keep warm.
3. Cook the lamb: While the beans are simmering, in a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt 2 teaspoons of the butter. Working in batches, sear the chops for 3 minutes on each side or until cooked to your liking. (If your chops are thinner than 3/4 to 1 inch, you’ll want to sear them for just 1 minute or so per side. Do not cook longer because you will return the chops to the hot pan.) Transfer the chops to a platter and loosely cover to keep warm. Repeat with the remaining chops, adding more butter if the pan seems too dry.
4. Make the glaze: With the skillet still over medium-high heat, add 4 tablespoons of butter, the brown sugar, bourbon and garlic, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the butter is melted and the mixture is well combined, about 2 minutes.
5. Return the chops to the skillet and turn a few times to make sure all the sides are evenly coated with the glaze, cooking them 1 to 2 minutes more. (For medium-rare, an instant-read thermometer should read 130 degrees when inserted into the thickest part of the chop away from the bone.)
6. Add a scoop of beans to a warm plate and arrange 2 to 3 chops on top. Sprinkle with smoked paprika, if desired, and serve right away.