Now that I’m back from Japan, I want to get back to blogging about cooking. I’m waiting for inspiration to strike so I can change the name of this blog to something more clever. Until then, here’s a recipe I came up with over the weekend. It’s nothing fancy, so I’m sure it’s been done many times before. I was walking past the meat section at Von’s when I noticed a small, frenched rack of lamb in the case. It was wrapped by the store instead of the usual prepackaged crap. It was a little more than I wanted, but I decided to grab it since it would make a nice dinner for one. However, I had no idea what I wanted to do with it, so I put off buying ingredients to go with it. Unfortunately, I never got back to the store. When Saturday night rolled around, I still had a rack of lamb with just my usual pantry plus some fresh herbs. I looked through Culinary Artistry to get some flavor ideas, and decided a mustard sauce should pair well with the lamb. Plus, I had fresh herbs I could toss in, as well as some garlic and shallots. I used the same technique from my earlier steak post, that is searing the meat on the stove, roasting the meat in the oven, and making a sauce while the meat rests. Making the sauce consists of sauteing some aromatics, deglazing the pan with a liquid, reducing the liquid, then adding a liaison (thickener) to get the right consistency. I scaled the so it serves 2. Also, it may be worth trying to deglaze the pan with a little white wine for some bite, then adding broth to get the amount of sauce you want.

Roasted Rack of Lamb with a Mustard-Rosemary Pan Sauce

The mise

• An oven, preheated to 350 F
• An ovenproof frying or saute pan, preferably stainless steel
• A plate for resting the lamb
• Aluminum foil
• Tongs
• A whisk
• 1 rack of lamb, frenched
• 1 tablespoon of peanut oil
• Kosher or sea salt
• Freshly ground pepper
• 1 tablespoon shallot, minced
• 1 teaspoon garlic (a large clove), minced
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon grainy brown mustard
• 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves, chopped

Directions

1. Prepare your mise. Turn the oven on, take out the pan, pull the lamb out of the fridge, chop the veggies, and organize the measurement utensils you need.
2. Preheat the pan over medium high heat for about 3 minutes.
3. While the pan is heating, pat the rack of lamb with a paper towel, then season it with salt and pepper.
4. Add the peanut oil to the pan and wait until it’s hot and shimmers.
5. Put the lamb in the pan. Sear it for about 1 minute and 30 seconds on all sides.
6. Put the entire pan in the oven until it reaches the desired doneness. How long you ask? That depends. My rack took 9 minutes in my oven for medium rare to medium. Yours may take 7, or it may 12. The best way is to check it after 6 by feeling the meat. It should be a little spongy but with some give, like the tip of your nose or the part of your palm right next to your thumb.
7. Take the pan out of the oven, and transfer the rack to a plate. Cover it with some aluminum foil. Also, cover the handle of the hot pan with a dish cloth so you don’t burn yourself. Or don’t cover the handle and burn yourself. You’ll only do it once. Trust me.
8. Place the pan you just used to cook the lamb on a burner over medium heat. Add the garlic and shallots. Stir them around until they’re fragrant, about 1 to 2 minutes.
9. Add the chicken broth to deglaze the pan. Use the tongs to scrape all the bits off the bottom of the pan. Crank the heat to high and bring the liquid to a boil. Boil off, or reduce, the liquid until you have about half left, or 1/4 cup.
10. Add the rosemary, then turn off the heat. Whisk in the mustard until its incorporated. Whisk in 1 tablespoon of butter at a time, then taste the sauce and adjust for salt.
11. Cut up the rack of lamb and put it on serving plates. Spoon the sauce over lamb, and you’re ready to eat.