Lamb chops are something that have always daunted me. I save lamb for restaurants where a more experienced chef can masterfully prepare them for me without the stress and over thinking that would be occurring in my kitchen. The pros can handle red meat better than I can. What I’m scared of the most is overcooking a good piece of meat. Why spend the money and then “accidentally” cook a juicy steak or lamb chop to well-done. (No offense to those who like their meat well-done.)
My husband has been asking me to make him rack of lamb for five years. Five years! I’ve tried to maneuver my way around the issue and make him roasted leg of lamb or lamb shank. But something about the rack of lamb scared me. Every year on his birthday, he requests rack of lamb and every year I get myself out of it. Since this year we have celebrated five birthdays together, I just made the dive and we both went to the butcher and got the rack of lamb. I needed the support, that’s why we both went.
Once we got home, I contemplated what I should do with the lamb, the over thinking had begun. After all, I’ve eaten lamb many many times at restaurants, so I calmed myself down and went with my instincts. Herbs became the main attraction followed by lemon and nuts. I raided my pantry and came up with a herb, walnut, lemon, capers crusted lamb. I let it marinate so the flavors would penetrate the meat.
I roasted it and it came out perfectly, medium rare bordering medium. (I do love steaks at medium-rare, but for me, lamb needs to be cooked a tad bit more.) While it was roasting I also prepared a shallot and dijon sauce, which was lovely with the lamb. When we sliced through the rack, I finally got over my fear and could do it again and again. The end result makes you want to step back in the kitchen and expand your culinary horizons. For now I’ve tackled rack of lamb, let’s see what comes up next.
Rack of Lamb with a Walnut and Herb Crust
Serves 2 with leftovers
Ingredients
1 french rack of lamb, 8 chops in total
1 cup chopped fresh herbs (mint, parsley, thyme, chives) + extra for garnish
5 cloves of garlic
juice and zest of 2 lemons + plus extra for garnish
2 tablespoons capers, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup toasted walnuts
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and black pepper, to taste
for the sauce:
olive oil
2 shallots or 1 large shallot finely chopped
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 cups chicken or beef stock
1 heaping tablespoon crème fraîche
fresh chopped parsley
salt and black pepper, to taste
Method
To make the crust: in a food processor, combine the herbs with the olive oil, lemon juice and zest, capers, walnuts, flour, salt and pepper. Pulse lightly until everything is crumbly yet a little sticky.
Salt and pepper the rack of lamb and then cover both sides with the crust and marinate in the refrigerator for 4-6 hours.
Before baking preheat the oven to 425 degrees and bake the lamb in an oven-safe pan or dish for 25 minutes. If you like your meat cooked well-done, add another 7-10 minutes.
While the lamb is roasting, prepare the sauce. In a saute pan, add about a tablespoon of olive oil to the pan on medium heat and once it comes to temperature, add in the shallots and cook until translucent and on the verge of turning light brown. At this point, add in the Dijon mustard, chicken or beef stock, salt, black pepper and allow it to reduce. Once reduced to your liking, add in the crème fraîche and parsley. Once the lamb is cooked, let it rest outside the oven covered in aluminum foil for 15 minutes. Serve the lamb with the sauce and garnish with some fresh lemon and chopped herbs.
I also added some asparagus in the pan with the lamb, towards the end of cooking. I served the lamb with a sunchoke mash as well.
for the love of yum 