Sunday night I usually try to make something special. It’s the end of another busy week and a nice time to reflect on what we’ve done and what adventures are in store for us next. Usually that dinner turns out to be a roast chicken but this week we had a delicious looking rack of lamb defrosted from our Five Marys Farm box so that will take center stage tonight.
Tonight was especially fun because my favorite sous chef Scarlet was assisting. She has been helping me in the kitchen for years and recently has taken to cooking many things from scratch all on her own! She is currently a vegetarian (a decision she made after we were considering raising some of our own meat). She still would like to learn as much as she can about cooking and wanted to assist with the lamb.
We rinsed this beautiful cut and seasoned it with salt and pepper before tempering it for one hour.
While it came to room temperature we gathered fresh rosemary, parsley and mint from the green house. We toasted and pulsed some sourdough bread in the blender along with the herbs.
While a cast iron pan was heating up we brushed 1T Dijon mustard onto the lamb and coated it with the breading. We browned the lamb in a little olive oil for 2 minutes per side starting with the breaded side down.
Then placed it breaded side up in a roasting pan and put it in the oven at 375.
This particular cut was quite thick and had a large fat pad so took longer than the usual 20-25 minutes but the results were well worth the wait. All in all it was closer to 40 mins. My husband cut up the lamb chops and we served them with butternut squash ravioli and a green salad.
For dessert Chef Scarlet made a special post Halloween treat! She chopped up some Halloween candy and melted it over a double boiler. She formed it into balls and rolled them into some melted chocolate to make a little truffle. She topped each one with a chocolate chip and set the in the freezer.
Then plated them with a chocolate drizzle, yum! Dan and I had ours with a little bourbon. That’s my kind of Halloween candy!! So proud of her skills and creativity!
Rack of Lamb with Herb and Mustard Crust
1 Rack of Lamb
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 cup fresh bread crumbs
1/8 c chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 T chopped fresh mint
1/2 T chopped fresh rosemary
1 T Dijon mustard
1 T olive oil
Season the racks of lamb with salt and pepper. Let stand at room temperature for 1 hour. In a bowl, stir together the bread crumbs, parsley, mint, rosemary, salt and pepper.
Preheat an oven to 375°F.
Brush the meaty side of each lamb rack with 1 Tbs. mustard. Pack the bread crumb mixture onto the meaty side.
In a large fry pan over medium-high heat, warm the olive oil until just smoking. Add the lamb rack, bread-crumb side down, and brown on both sides, about 2 minutes per side. Place the rack, bread-crumb side up, on a rack in a roasting pan. Transfer to the oven and roast until the crust is nicely browned and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the meat, away from the bone, registers 130°F for medium-rare, 20 to 25 minutes, or until done to your liking.
Transfer the lamb to a carving board, cover loosely with aluminum foil and let rest for 15 minutes. Carve the racks into chops and serve.
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