Saturday, December 6, 2008

Nice Rack of Lamb - A Classic Roast Rack of Lamb with Dijon Gratin

I know times are tough, but if you can somehow scrape together enough money for a couple racks of lamb, you'll have yourselves a very merry holiday roast. Rack of lamb isn't cheap, but when compared with other special occasion items like prime rib, tenderloin, duck, goose, etc., it's about the same price, and you have almost no waste.

If you can swing buying local lamb, more power to you, but for most of us, trimmed rack of lamb will be coming from Australia or New Zealand. The good news is the meat is usually excellent quality, and very consistently sized.

This means you can achieve a nice medium-rare doneness relying mainly on time, and not feel. There is something terrifying to the average home cook when forced to poke meat to t
ell if it's done or not.

The recipe here is a classic fancy hotel presentation; the rack is roasted, topped with Dijon mustard and breadcrumb crust. Since the lamb is "Frenched," which means the fat between the rib bones is trimmed out, this is a very easy to crave roast, as you just cut between the bones and serve. Enjoy!

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Click here for ingredients and recipe transcript.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

looks deelish!

Anonymous said...

Chef, how would Panko fit with this recipe? I've never tried it, but always wanted to.

And THANK YOU so much for your terrific vlog!!

Unknown said...

Thanks for teaching us how to make this dish I've only heard of. I would have been too scared to try something as fancy as this without having seen it prepared. But I'd have to cook it more, because I'm one of those dreaded "never eat pink meat" folks LOL

Chef John said...

thanks, panko works great.

Anonymous said...

Nice rack...

Sorry, couldn't help it :-)

Anonymous said...

"Nice rack!" Is that you Bill W, NH ?

Anonymous said...

Hi Chef John,

What if the fat is left untrimmed? What is the effect on the final result?

Chef John said...

more fat. no seriously you want to trim it so it cooks faster, and the gratin is on the meat, not a big layer of fat.

Anonymous said...

Chef John,
I planned to cook four racks of lamb each weighing 1.25 lbs. Do I need to change the cooking temperature or cooking time for the oven when cooking multiple racks at the same time?

Chef John said...

Temp no, but the time will probably go up a few minutes. I can't say exactly. Be sure to check with a thermometer! And don't forget they will go up about 5 degrees after you take them out.

Anonymous said...

Chef John, I appreciated your video. It was very clear and concise. It is giving me the courage to try this for New Year's Eve. How do we receive other videos you have published?

Thank you.

Chef John said...

Thanks! Not sure what you mean by, "how do we receive other videos you have published" There are over 200 video recipes on the blog. Feel free to watch them just like you watched the lamb video.

Yngvar said...

OK, John...we have tried both your "racks" of lamb and each one has been a great success with friends, family, notoriety and royaly! So what do we do? We take a bow and brag about you and your website, of cource. But truely, the Pistachio rack is "to die for" in our opinion, and does take the proverbial cake. Thank you, thank you. Merry Xmas. Any ideas as to the perfect accoutrement for these delicioso recipies?

Chef John said...

I like it with any of the bean side dishes, or roast potatoes are also nice. Enjoy!

Aryanna said...

Hi chef John, whats the max internal temperature would you go for so the lamb is a little less pink... I dont want the meat to get dry but at the same time I like it a little more cooked

Chef John said...

like 138-40

Dora said...

Where can I find your recipe for classic rack of lamb?
Thanks., Dora