Done and ready to rest

Easter ushers in the spring season.  For many households it’s time once again for traditional dishes to celebrate the occasion.

Lamb is a very popular in Easter recipies dish and our GrateTV version of Rack of Lamb is a rich and delicious dish made for live fire!

The Rack Of Lamb Video:

Methods of scruffing, and charring are well illustrated and explained in Adam Perry Langs newest book “Charred and Scruffed”.  Rack of Lamb is perfect for this method and this process is a riff on a recipe found in Charred and Scruffed.  The idea is to score, or “scruff” up the meat a little to give flavor a better chance to find a place to hang on.  The book also discusses “Board Dressings” a technique that proved very successful.

• Top Notch ingredients
• Good quality lamb is key.  Inferior product will give a very “gamey” taste.  Rack of lamb is available already frenched.  If a frenched product is not available in your area, the process is simple.
• A clean medium heat grill
• A good cutting board

Gather your ingredients

Gather your ingredients.  The paste and board sauce are the fundamental flavor makers in the recipe.  The paste is a chile powder, cumin and mustard based paste, which complements the lamb perfectly.  The board dressing is Mediterranean style lemon and olive oil vinaigrette.

Apply the paste

Lay the rack on a board and score it randomly with a knife

Rub some canola or olive oil on the meat

Make the paste and rub it into the meat, making sure you get it into all of the nooks and crannies you created by “scruffing.”

Let the meat absorb the flavor for a few minutes

Medium high grill

Grill on a clean grate over a medium heat fire using the reverse sear process.

Lamb on the grill

This looks delicious already!

Cooked to 120 degrees

Reverse sear is grilling to within a couple of degrees of your desired “done” temperature, resting until the internal temperature of the meat begins to drop off, then searing over hot heat to your desired “done” temperature producing a nice charred crust on the meat.  For information on the process go here: http://www.ironpigbbq.com/Reverse-Sear.html.

It’s time for these racks to rest,  then sear!

Resting with Board Dressing

Lay the rack on a board and pour the Board Dressing over the meat.  The juices from the meat will mix with the sauce and create a delicious coating on the lamb

Cut the rack between the bones, roll the lamb around on the board, dredging the meat in the sauce to pick up the flavors and plate.

Serve immediately!!

• Choose the best lamb available
• “Scruff up the meat”
• Make a flavorful paste and rub it well into the meat
• Grill over a medium high heat to within 3 or 4 degrees of your desire done temp.
• Sear over intense heat
• Rest and cut making sure you slather the meat around in the sauce
• Enjoy!

Easter Recipe Fun Facts

• When taking a bite into a chocolate bunny, 76 percent of Americans prefer to bite off the ears first.
• More than 16 billion jelly beans are made for Easter. If you lined them all side-by-side, they would circle the Earth nearly three times. That’s also enough to completely fill a nine-story office building.
• Ninety million chocolate Easter bunnies are made for Easter each year. Adults prefer milk chocolate (65%) over dark chocolate (27%).
• Children’s favorite jelly bean flavors are cherry (20%), strawberry (12%), grape (10%), lime (7%), and blueberry (6%).
• This Easter, more than 700 million Marshmallow Peeps, chicks, bunnies and eggs will be consumed, making them the most popular non-chocolate Easter candy. The company manufactures 4.2 million Marshmallow yummies a day. The most popular color is yellow, followed by pink, lavender, blue and white.
• Americans spend an average of $1.9 billion on Easter candy every year.
• The 10 most popular things people give up for lent include alcohol, chocolate and sweets, cursing, Facebook, television, junk food, pop music, smoking, texting and gossiping.

Fun Facts about Lamb and Sheep

The Basics of All Natural Lamb Meat http://www.ranchlineallnatural.com/lamb-facts

Lamb is a succulent meat that needs minimal preparation to enjoy its delicate flavor.  Cooking options include grilling, broiling and roasting.

Vitamins Abound

On average, a three ounce serving of lamb has only 175 calories and meets the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) definition for lean. According to FDA guidelines, lean meat has less than 10 grams of fat, less than 4.5 grams of saturated fat, and less than 95 milligrams of cholesterol per 100 grams or 3.5 ounces.

Lamb meat is a great fit for healthy diets because lamb naturally contains many essential nutrients. On average, lamb is an excellent source of protein, vitamin B12, niacin, zinc, and selenium, and a good source of iron and riboflavin. All of this within an average of 175 calories per 3 ounce serving makes lamb naturally nutrient-rich. Vitamin B, which is only found naturally in animal foods, is important for the normal functioning of body cells and the nervous system. Niacin (another B-Vitamin) promotes healthy skin and nerves and aids digestion.

Lamb vs. Mutton

• Do you know the difference between lamb and mutton?
• Most people consider these meats the same, but there are some distinct differences.
• Meat from a sheep that is between four months and one year is considered lamb. Mutton is the meat from a sheep over a year old. Generally, mutton has a deeper flavor and is used for stew. If you have a recipe that calls for mutton, substitute lamb and shorten the cooking time for desirable results.

Storage Tips

• Lamb should be stored in the refrigerator or freezer immediately after purchasing. Refrigerate fresh lamb at 40 degrees or below.
• Ground lamb or stew meat should be used within 2 days. Lamb chops and roasts should be used within 3-5 days. If you plan to freeze lamb for long periods of time, be sure to wrap the original packaging with airtight freezer wrap or place in an airtight freezer bag to prevent freezer burn. To maintain optimum quality, frozen lamb should be used within 3-4 months.

Three safe ways to thaw frozen lamb:

• In the refrigerator – once frozen rack of lamb has thawed in the refrigerator, lamb roasts and chops should be used within 3-5 days and ground lamb or stew meat should be used within 1-2 days. If you do not use the lamb within this time period, you may refreeze lamb without cooking it first.
• In cold water – leave frozen lamb in its packaging, making sure it is air tight. If not, transfer it to a leak-proof bag. Keep the lamb submerged in cold water, changing the water every 30 minutes to continue thawing. Cook lamb immediately after thawing. It should not be re-frozen unless cooked first.
• In the microwave – As with the cold water method, when frozen lamb is thawed in the microwave, it must be cooked immediately. It should not be re-frozen unless cooked first.