Rack of Lamb

As a Christmas gift I received an assortment of Jamison Lamb. 8 shanks and 2 racks. What would you do with the racks ? I'm thinking of a lamb dinner for Easter. Perhaps a stuffed artichoke as an appetizer, ricotta gnocchi in a lemon sauce as secondi, garlicky asparagus with the lamb. All depends on what will look good at the market this week.

[Jenise]

What a great gift--I've ordered Jamison lamb in the distant past, and it was a whole step above the best lamb I'd ever purchased before. Really special. I'd treat it fairly simply to showcase it's excellence: like, smear the top with a dijon style mustard, then cracked black pepper then some panko crumbs with or without a little herb, like dill or herbs de provence. Into a hot oven for 15-20 minutes, allow to rest, and you're there.

I use a similiar process as Jenise but I like to brown both sides of the rack before the mustard, s&p, and herbs and roast in a 425f oven for 10 to 12 minutes. My favorite sauce for a rack of lamb is carmelized shallots, beef stock, and port. I mince the shallots fine, carmelize the shallots in some butter and then add equal amounts of stock and port, then reduce that by 2/3s. I also like adding a sprig or two of rosemary.


-mike

I like rack done simply so as to not disguise the lamb flavor. Just S&P and a touch of EVOO. If you want a complementary flavor, try making an herbed, red wine demiglace.

I'm also not a fan of asparagus with lamb. Favas are showing up in my market now. If you have them, that would be a better spring match. You can finish the favas with mint and a drizzle of EVOO and it will be great with the lamb.

I like to use a dry rub that has a lot of rosemary and garlic in it. The rub I use (Mansmith's Grilling Spice) can usually use extra black pepper. Sometimes I also add some chopped fresh rosemary and some minced garlic, just in case. After the rub has soaked in for a couple of hours, I brown it, then roast it. It always seems to take longer than "they" say to get the lamb done. 20 minutes per pound, poke it and maybe another 5 minutes or maybe not, depending on whether the poke was gooshy or not. I usually just let the lamb and rub do the flavor.
As to the other menu choices, they sound just fine to me. I LIKE garlicky asparagus!

John

Thanks. I do want to keep it simple to let the meat shine. All great ideas - glad I have 2 racks !
Would LOVE to have favas but until they are ready in my garden, not a prayer to find them in a local market.

Agree with the simple treatment. For cooking method recommend spit roasting. It is the only way we've had success with racks of lamb. We have a couple in the freezer right now, but have been hesitant to set up the Faberware grill and spit, as it is a bitch to clean.

I have an Auto Roast feature on my oven that I was planning to use. You put the meat in the cold oven and it heats quickly to a very high temp [ exactly what temp is never mentioned in the accompanying info ?] to sear the exterior and then it cools down to the desired set temp. I have been surprised at how well this feature has worked for other meats. The oven also has a rotisserie and I will try it with the other rack. Thanks for the reminder.

Agree with the simple treatment. For cooking method recommend spit roasting. It is the only way we've had success with racks of lamb. We have a couple in the freezer right now, but have been hesitant to set up the Faberware grill and spit, as it is a bitch to clean.

You still have a Farberware grill? Amazing! I have not heard of that unit for years now. I had one years ago, it made the best roasts I have every had on a spit. Yes indeed, it was a bitch to clean and exactly why I got rid of it. Storage got to be a problem, so I put it out in the garage, and soon forgot about it. Do you use the grill part of it? I rarely used that part of it.

And another simple thing to do with lamb, we marinade the rack for several hours in red wine, EVOO, garlic, chopped shallots, a little lemon juice and S & P, then gas grill it to medium rare.
Result, juicy and very tasty.