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Rosemary/Garlic/Lemon-Crusted Rack of Lamb

For the main course of our Christmas Eve dinner, I roasted rosemary/garlic/lemon-crusted racks of lamb. I found very nice, trimmed, Frenched racks of lamb at our local supermarket — Swedish lamb — very fresh and lovely. I bought the equivalent of 2 full racks (each rack I bought were split into two, made smaller than I’m used to in the US). The marinade itself is very simple yet extremely flavorful. Personally, I think the most important thing when roasting a rack of lamb is using a good thermometer, so that you could cook it to your desired temperature. This dish was a smashing success, and felt very suitable for our main course for Christmas Eve (and would be great for dinner parties in general).

ROSEMARY/GARLIC/LEMON-CRUSTED RACK OF LAMB

2 full racks of lamb, trimmed and Frenched

Marinade

8 sprigs rosemary
2 handfuls of parsley
12 garlic cloves
zest and juice of 2 lemons
1/2 cup olive oil

Season the racks with salt and pepper.

In a food processor, make the marinade: blend the rosemary, parsley, garlic cloves, zest and juice of lemons, as well as olive oil. I only have a small food processor in our Stockholm apartment, so I made the marinade in 2 batches.

Coat the racks with 1/2 of the marinade; set aside the other 1/2 marinade to use later. Cover the racks and refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight.

Take out the lamb 1 hour before cooking to bring back to room temperature. Scrape off the marinade from the chops as much as you can (but don’t throw the marinade away — you could use it to re-coat the lamb when you roast.)

Preheat the oven to 400F (about 200C).

In a medium skillet/pan, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil until shimmering. Add the lamb to the skillet, fat side down, and cook over moderately high heat until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Turn the lamb fat side up and cook for 2 minutes longer.

Transfer the lamb racks onto a roasting pan. Let cool a little bit, and coat the lamb racks with the remaining 1/2 of the marinade. Place in the oven and roast the racks for about 20 minutes, until the thermometer inserted in the center of the meat registers 125° for medium-rare. Transfer the lamb to a carving board and let rest for 10 minutes, then cut into chops.

I served the lamb with a mustard/mint/lemon aioli, which I blended together in our small but very useful mini-food processor.

Tags: Christmas, dinner party menues, lamb, party ideas

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Categories Lamb, Mains

Deviled Eggs with Caviar

27 Nov

As hors d’oeuvres for our “Swedish-inpspired” non-traditional Thanksgiving, I made deviled eggs with caviar. Recently, deviled eggs seem to have made a comeback as a trendy bar food around New York. One of our favorite Brooklyn bars called Henry Public has deviled eggs on its menu, which we love to order when we enjoy a late-afternoon cocktail at the bar. Deviled eggs make good hors d’oeuvres because they are easy to make, an appropriate size for finger-food, and look pretty. I decided my “Swedish”-inspired deviled eggs would be topped with caviar (2 types) and chives.

The best egg boiling instruction I received came from an episode of Ina Garten’s cooking show. She instructs that you put the eggs in the pot from the start — add cold water just enough to cover the eggs, and bring to a boil. Once the water comes to a boil, take the pot off the heat and leave the eggs in the hot water for 15 minutes. This method of egg boiling keeps the egg yolks from turning a gray color around the edges. I boiled the eggs the night before, so that they were ready to peel when I got home from work.

Peel the eggs carefully, and cut the eggs in half vertically (long-side). Gently take out the egg yolks and put them in a bowl. Finely mince half a small red onion and some chives, and add them to the yolks. Add a table spoon of Dijon mustard, and about a tablespoon of good olive oil, until the consistency of the yolk mixture is creamy. Season with salt. It’s imprtant to taste and adjust the seasoning/flavor as you see fit.