Mint-Crusted Rack of Lamb Recipe - Easter Special! Mint Crust Rack of Lamb with Honey Vinaigrette

hello this is chef john from food wishes comm with meat crusted rack of lamb that's right it's almost Easter and lamb is very traditional and so is serving it with mint so here we're going to eliminate the need for that green jelly we're gonna put the mint flavoring right into the crust we're also gonna pair it with a little bit of a sweet vinaigrette this is really delicious and super easy so here we go first thing we're gonna pick about a cup of mint leaves all right like a cup packed I didn't measure it because it's mint we're gonna bring some water to a boil we're gonna throw the mint leaves in the boiling water so basically what we're doing here is locking in that green color men can get a little funky if you chop it crush it puree it in its raw state alright you can turn very dark and you're gonna literally just give this a few seconds alright so basically I gave it one stir this is all in real time by the way and then I scooped it out into ice water to stop the cooking process alright as soon as that min is cold which is again only going to take a couple seconds because that's ice water you're gonna squeeze it out wring it out as best you can I get all the water out of that throw it in a blender or a small food processor I'm going to throw mine in the petite Robo ku that was for my French chef friends if I had any all right along with the blanched mint we're gonna add some garlic some olive oil not extra-virgin just regular olive oil some bread crumbs some cayenne some salt and some black pepper all right so pretty straightforward what we're going to do is we're going to put the lid on this and you know what's coming next we're going to pulse on and off until it's all completely processed and basically you have a fine somewhat green crumb it smells amazing by the way so after about 20 30 seconds of pulsing on and off mine was done and looked like that looks pretty good alright so to finish this we're gonna add a little bit of freshly grated Parmesan Reggiano of course and you could put that with the bread crumbs in the food processor or blender I just think it gets a little gummy so I like to mix it in at the end alright so set that aside that's ready next up we need a little bit of a mustard sauce to glue this cross to the lamb I'm using an herb Dijon that's why mine is green it has some parsley in tarragon in there if you can find a green herb or a tarragon mustard use it but regular Dijon will work no problem and to that I'm going to add a little spoon of honey and that is it very simple so I'm going to stir that in I'm going to set that aside and that is ready as advertised we're using rack of lamb and this is what they look like alright this one's been pretty much fully trimmed they're all a fairly standard size usually have eight bones all right they're usually frenched which is not as fun as it sounds it just means the meat and fat is taken out between the bones all right and that silver skin I don't worry about if you want to spend time and trim it go ahead I really never had a problem not trimming it never had a complaint never had any silver skin stuck in my teeth but I do do one little trick here I take the knife and I make a little slice in between each bone only about a half inch to an inch I don't want it to touch the loin I'm just going down to where the bone meets the loin and stopping right there and I think that makes it cook a little more evenly I think a little more that fat renders out from around the bone so that's prepped we're gonna season that generously with salt and pepper and then in a skillet over high heat with just a few drips of vegetable oil I'm going to brown the surfaces of that rack of lamb this is technically an optional step but I think it does add a little bit of flavor Brown to me verses on brown meat is always going to be a little more flavorful so I do it alright so that's brown we're going to transfer that onto our baking sheet that's been lined with foil we're going to take our mustard and honey mixture and spread that over the surface and yes I'm going to put a little bit on the ends and then I'm going to take my hand and kind of lay it against the front and I'm going to pour on the crumbs by the way the crumb measurements I give you are going to be enough for two racks of lamb and we're being very generous here I'm really piling it on and pressing it in and here's a little trick when I'm done I'm going to sort of lift this up and place it on top of those excess crumbs so they kind of bake on to that bottom give it a little extra crust if you have an extra second you can take a paper towel and wipe any excess crumbs off but that's not a big deal you shouldn't have a problem that's going to go in a preheated 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes or until done okay but more about that later while that's roasting I'm gonna make a simple honey vinaigrette I'm going to put some honey in a jar and I'm using a mason jar cuz it's really easy this way no whisking no drizzling all right just vigorous shaking I'm going to put in some rice vinegar I'm going to put in just a little tiny dollop of mustard that's going to help emulsify this and then whatever level that has come up to I'm going to put an equal amount of extra virgin olive oil we're gonna season that with salt and pepper I'm going to put on the lid I'm going to screw it tight and I'm going to shake that vigorously until it's emulsified and that's going to provide a beautiful little sweet balance to that tangy minty crust so that's done we're going to set that aside by now your lamb should be getting close so here we are after 20 minutes I'm going for an internal temperature of about 125 to 130 I like my rack of lamb between medium-rare and medium so I went 125 of course you're gonna let this rest how long 10 minutes all right so mine's rested I'm going to grab my sharp knife I like to give a half a rack per person so I cut that in half I cut that half in half and I'm gonna give two of those beautiful sections per order all right so for me that's a perfect medium medium-rare is fine like I said rare not so much rare lamb fat is not a pleasant experience in my opinion all right once your lamb is sliced and placed on your plate we're gonna drizzle over that gorgeous and slightly sweet honey vinaigrette look at that maybe a little fresh mint to garnish and that's it mint crusted rack of lamb with a honey vinaigrette I really need to taste this the meat was perfect juicy tender alright the crust very minty but not too strong a nice Tang from the mustard which balances perfectly with that slightly sweet vinaigrette just a wonderful lamb dish and like I said would make a very beautiful special occasion Easter dinner so I hope you give that a try head over to food wishes calm for all the ingredient amounts and more info as usual and as always enjoy you

Channel: Food Wishes

Views: 356,537

Rating: 4.9186602 out of 5

Keywords: Mint, Crusted, Rack, Lamb, Recipe, Easter, Special, Crust, Honey, Vinaigrette, Holiday, chef, john, entree, dinner, Food, Cooking, Kitchen, Allrecipes, recipe, recipes, Mint Crusted Rack of Lamb, how to, how to make, how to cook, learn, food, mint, vinaigrette, main, dish, easy, simple, delicious

Id: R5JPircwHRQ

Length: 6min 20sec (380 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 03 2012