Rack of lamb with garlic mashed potatoes

Rack of lamb is quite a simple Sunday lunch food to cook, and a nice cut of meat. The longer you have the marinade on, the better the result will be. I would try to have the meat marinating for at least four hours, but overnight would be ideal. In terms of the cooking time, I like mine medium (pink), and the cooking times on here provide exactly that.

Serves 2
Lamb rack

25g butter for searing
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Marinade
2 cloves of garlic
leaves from 3 rosemary sprigs
leaves from 4 thyme sprigs
6 black peppercorns
2 tsp sea salt
2 tbsp olive oil
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Garlic mashed potatoes
5 large potatoes (about 800g)
50g butter
1/2 – 1 tsp salt
100ml milk
50ml – 100ml double cream
5 cloves garlic
2 sprigs rosemary
1 tsp sea salt (or standard table salt)

1. Mix all the marinade ingredients together. I tend to crush them together with a pestle and mortar.

2. Clean the rack bones with a sharp knife, to remove the sinew. It won’t however be a problem if you don’t, this is only done for aesthetic reasons, and won’t affect on the cooking of the meat.

3. Rub the marinade mixture all over the meat, cover with cling film and place in the fridge for four hours, or overnight.

4. Peel and quarter the potatoes, place in a pot with four out of the five garlic cloves, rosemary and salt. Cover with water, bring to boil and cook until the potatoes are soft. Once cooked, pour the water off, and remove the garlic cloves and rosemary sprigs / leaves. Mash the potatoes, and add the butter, milk, cream and salt. Finally, peel and crush the remaining garlic clove into the mash.

5. Heat oven to 200°C (fan) / 430°F. Melt the butter in a frying pan suitable for oven. Place the rack in the pan fat side down, and brown for a few minutes. Then sear both ends of the rack. Sear the remaining side, leaving the rack on the frying pan fat side up. For aesthetic reasons, you can cover the bones with foil, so that they won’t colour too much in the oven.

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6. Place the frying pan and the lamb rack in the preheated oven. For medium (pink) meat, cook for 20 minutes.

7. After the cooking time has passed, remove from oven. Cover the meat with foil, and rest for 10 minutes.

 

Rack of lamb with roasted baby potatoes and pumpkin

For Sunday dinner this week I made rack of lamb, and as it’s Halloween I accompanied it with roasted baby potatoes and pumpkin. One rack of 8 bones should be enough for two people.

Lamb marinade
2 cloves of garlic
leaves from 3 rosemary sprigs
leaves from 4 thyme sprigs
6 black peppercorns
couple of pinches of sea salt
splash of olive oil, until desired consistency is achieved

Clean the bones with a sharp knife. Blend all ingredients together, and rub all over the rack of lamb. Ideal marinade time is at least four hours, or overnight.

Roast baby potatoes and pumpkin
500g baby potatoes
small pumpkin
leaves from couple of rosemary sprigs
leaves from few thyme sprigs
olive oil
pinch of sea salt
pinch of freshly ground black pepper
black olives, quantity to taste

Preheat the oven to 220°C (fan). Boil the potatoes for 10 minutes. Strain, and mix all ingredients together. Roast for 40 minutes.

Pan seared, oven roasted rack of lamb

Heat oil in an oven proof frying pan. Brown the rack on all sides, including the ends. Cover the bones with foil, and roast in preheated oven 200°C(fan) / 430°F  fat side up for 15 minutes for rare result. Rest for 5-10 minutes before cutting.