Rack of Lamb Provencal

There are few days I enjoyed more in class than the day my Chef announced we were making rack of lamb. Naturally I was REALLY excited. Finally all of those crazy expensive lab fees for class were paying off! In most of my classes (with the exception of baking) the Chefs never really give you amounts they give you ingredients and basically guide you so that you should know about how much of each ingredient you may need. It sounds tricky and it is! Many times I have watched students get yelled at for adding too much of something or not enough of something else. So I really paid attention as I was making the crust for this so I would know exactly what I would need to replicate the dish for my jealous husband.Thankfully I got it right on the money and my hubby was SO pleased. I prepared this dish after he reached his first weight loss goal of 25 lbs. He liked it so much he asked for it again when he hit 30 lbs lost! What an amazing dish. If you’ve got a special meal planned- make this. It’s delicious and honestly pretty easy. You don’t have to tell your guests or loved ones that though, that can be our secret. 😉

Rack of Lamb Provencal
Source: Chef Pierre P.

1 Frenched Rack of Lamb (you can easily double this recipe for 2 racks)
Kosher Salt
Fresh Ground Pepper
1/4 teaspoon Garlic Powder
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

Crust:
3 tablespoons butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Preheat oven to 375

1. Season rack of lamb with salt, pepper (to your liking) and garlic powder.
2. In a large pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Sear rack on all sides, 1 to 2 minutes per side. The curved side will not sear completely this is O.K. Remember to do both small sides, standing the rack upright to do so. Remove from pan once all sides are finished.
3. Remove excess oil from pan. Reduce heat to medium low. Add butter to start crust mixture. Gently saute garlic (being careful not to burn it) for 1 minute. Add bread crumbs and parsley. Stir to combine. Set aside to cool for 3-5 minutes.
4. Using a small brush, brush Dijon mustard over the top of the rack of lamb. (the largest part where the fat covers the meat).
5. Transfer lamb to baking dish. Pat crumbs over Dijon mustard to form a crust. The crust will be a little thick. Some of it will fall off during the course of cooking, moving and carving so it will be fine.
6. Roast uncovered for 15 minutes- check internal temperature. See notes below for further instructions. Once lamb is out of the oven, cover with foil and allow to rest 5 minutes before carving. To carve: Stand upright with bones facing upwards, cut down between bones, cutting each chop off the rack.

We pulled ours out at 15 minutes to check the temperature. Because our oven is a little wonky and can sometimes fluctuate we put it back in for 5 more minutes making the total cooking time 20 minutes. This gave us a beautiful rareish medium rare. In the words of Nigella Lawson, “Nothing a good vet couldn’t bring back”. 😉 Your oven may be different. Be sure to take the meat out of the oven 5 to 10 degrees before your preferred internal temp as the lamb will need to rest before carving and will carry over cook while resting.

Bloody rare: 115 to 125 degrees F
Rare: 125 to 130 degrees F
Medium rare: 130 to 140 degrees F
Medium: 140 to 150 degrees F

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