If you only make one recipe in this book, make this one. This is without a doubt one of our best recipes, and one that will make the purchase of this book worth every last penny. It was our mission to create a rack of lamb recipe that would make every other recipe out there seem completely irrelevant. Yes, that’s how confident we are about this one. We prepared the lamb by brushing it with a glaze of mustard that has just a slight hint of honey. Then we crusted it with the perfect mix of butter and almonds seasoned with garlic, anchovies, parsley, rosemary, and mint. If your family and friends don’t tell you that this is literally the best rack of lamb they’ve ever had, well my dears, we want to hear about it.
Prep time: 35 minutes
Cook time: 40 minutes
Serves 6
Ingredients:
2 Frenched 8-bone racks of lamb
avocado oil, or choice of fat for high-heat cooking
⅓ cup dijon mustard
1 tablespoon honey
10 tablespoons butter, room temperature
8 cloves garlic, minced
8 anchovy fillets, oil packed, rinsed, dried and minced
heaping ⅔ cup almonds, finely chopped
⅓ cup chopped parsley
¼ cup minced rosemary
¼ cup minced mint
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
Instructions:
Note: A simple green arugula salad garnished with pomegranate seeds makes for a beautiful presentation.
To prepare the lamb, rinse under cold water and pat completely dry with paper towels. Trim the excess fat from the lamb and then score the remaining fat in a crosshatch pattern without cutting into the meat. Season the racks on all sides with salt and pepper.
Set a roasting rack in a roasting pan lined with aluminum foil and set aside. Heat your choice of fat in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. When the fat is very hot, lay one rack of lamb in the pan, fat side down. Move the rack as it sears to brown as much of the fat as possible, about 5-8 minutes. Transfer to a work surface and sear the second rack of lamb, using fresh oil if needed.
Position the oven rack in the bottom third of the oven and preheat it to 375℉.
Combine the mustard and honey in a small bowl, set aside. In a medium bowl, combine the butter, garlic, anchovy, nuts, parsley, rosemary, and mint.
Brush the honey-mustard mixture over the fat and meat on all sides. Do not bother coating the underside of the lamb racks. Divide the herb and butter mixture in half and crust the first rack, spreading the mixture evenly over the mustard on all sides, pressing gently to adhere. Continue with the second rack. The lamb can be prepared up to this point, each rack wrapped in aluminum foil, and refrigerated for up to 6 hours. Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before roasting.
Place the lamb in the oven, with the bones pointing up, with one rack leaning on the other. Roast for 30 minutes, or until the internal temperature at the center of each rack registers at 130℉. Let the lamb rest in the roasting pan for about 5-10 minutes for medium-rare.
Carve each rack into 8 individual chops and arrange on a platter. Spoon on any herb-crust remaining in the roasting pan and serve 3 lamb chops per person.