Rosemary Garlic Crusted Rack of Lamb
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A delicious entree which will have you stop ordering lamb in restaurants. Serves 2, so you may want to double this recipe.
Ingredients
1 Rack of lamb -- preferably Australian or New Zealand, about 1.5-2 pounds
1 large (or 2 small) garlic cloves, minced
1 TBS Dijon mustard
1 TBS chopped fresh rosemary
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs (you can use regular bread crumbs if you want)
2 TBS olive oil
Salt & Pepper
Preparation
Preheat oven to 425 degrees when ready to cook
If rack has a lot of fat, trim off most of it, but keep at least a light layer.
With a sharp knife, make criss-cross slits all over the rack. (This is where the crust will go).
Generously salt and pepper the rack of lamb all over.
Mix all the ingredients (except the salt and pepper which you have already used) in a bowl. You are looking for a somewhat thick paste, so feel free to adjust the amount of breadcrumbs (to be thicker) or oil (to be thinner) until you get there.
Slather the paste all over the rack of lamb, massaging into the cross-hatch slits you made. You want the vast majority of the lamb covered in this paste.
[At this point you can lightly cover the lamb and refrigerate it until later (or the next day). You will want the lamb to be room temperature-ish before cooking, so if you refrigerated it, take it out at least 30 minutes before you want to cook (during which time you need to preheat the oven to 425).]
Roast at 425 for about 18-20 minutes for rare (oven thermometer reads 125), or longer, to your preferred level of doneness.
Rare: 125°F (52°C)
Medium-Rare: 130-135°F (54-57°C)
Medium: 135-140°F (57-60°C)
Medium-Well: 140-145°F (60-63°C)
Don't bother making this if you like it gray and very well-done. Please.
Let rest at least 5-10 minutes so all the juices are saved.
Cut into 2-piece ribs or however you want. Use a very sharp or serrated knife to gently cut through the crust. A not-so-sharp knife will rip the coating off, in my experience.