Anatomy of a Dinner Party: The Main Course

To my way of thinking there is no better dish to have in your arsenal than roasted rack of lamb. Its the complete foolproof ease with which it can be prepared and the instant cache it adds to the occasion you serve it make the extra expense completely worth it. One rack makes an elegant dinner for two, two racks a dinner party for four and half a dozen racks makes a buffet entre or even a great “appetizer” for those appetizer events that are really dinner parties in disguise. (Academy awards party anyone?) I usually get my racks at Costco as they are reasonably priced and always good. When its just me and my man I will often just skip this step but for some reason guests always seem impressed when I do it. If you do, don’t get intimidated! I only do a very rough job of it as the hot oven will correct any aesthetic issues you might be afraid of. Do make sure that between the ribs has been cracked so you can slice easily after cooking. Think ‘2 people per rack’ when planning unless the rest of the meal is real large and even then you will want a few leftover chops for yourself the next day.

Here’s the rub:

2 TBS Vegetable Oil
4 teasp whole grain mustard
1 teasp dried rosemary, crushed
1/2 teasp kosher salt
1/2 teasp black pepper

Coat rack with oil rub and then coat the rack with cracker or bread crumbs. Put racks into a pan and cover the bones with some tin foil. You can see in my picture below what happens if a bone is not covered! Sizzle!

Thanks to my devotion to Barbara Kafka I roast in a 500 degree oven. If the rack is at room temperature and the oven is blazing at 500 degress you will roast exactly for 20 minutes. Pull from oven and let sit 5 minutes minimum. Cut and serve. If you don’t trust me on that, use a thermometer and roast until it read 138 degrees for a nice medium rare chop. The chops will continue cooking after you take them out and will reabsorb the juices. This is a critical step that also gives you more time to put on the final touches for other dishes or reheat your oven dishes before serving.