Food & Drink

There are many recipes for rack of lamb that include marinating, making mustard crusts, or spearing the meat to insert garlic and herbs—and if you do not have good lamb, I would suggest following one of them. My preference, however, is to buy great meat and allow it to be the star. Rack of lamb is simply the ribs— chops that are not cut apart but roasted together and then separated before serving. Roasting in a rack tends to make for juicier and more tender chops than broiling or pan-sautéing them individually. In the case of lamb, “less is more.”  Large racks mean that the lamb is larger and older and closer to the strong-tasting mutton than the mild-flavored baby lamb.

Each rack is made up of eight lamb chops and serves three people. (Serve two chops per person, and when you pass the plate around for seconds, many people will take a third). Ask the butcher for racks that weigh less than a pound and a half each. Have them “Frenched” so that the meat at the tips is cut away to expose the bones and the backbone is cracked between the ribs to make it easy to carve before serving.  Lean two Frenched racks standing up against each other, with the bones’ tips on top and interlaced.  Rack of lamb should be cooked rare or, at most, medium- rare.