Roasted Merino Lamb Rack with Potatoes

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Lamb is one of my favorite foods to eat, but it’s intimidating for me to even think about cooking at home. I’ve heard people complain that it smells and heard horror stories of too rare or burnt messes.

That’s why I was glad to receive some lamb in the mail from Marx Foods to pair with a tried-and-true simple recipe from someone I know.  I went all in and tried the scariest seeming cut: frenched racks.

This recipe, from one of my favorite chefs José Andrés, comes from his cookbook Made in Spain: Spanish Dishes for the American Kitchen which is paired with his PBS television show. It only has a handful of ingredients and is very straight forward so that the lamb itself can shine. Finishing with pyramid salt added a nice crunch, especially when paired with a smear of pesto.

The lamb itself was seared to a juicy, caramelized crunch and cooked to an internal temperature of 130°F. The meat, after resting a few minutes, was silky, moist, and lean. There was no off-putting smell prior, during, or after cooking — in fact, it tasted fresher than I ever knew meat could smell.

For those that haven’t tasted much lamb before, it tastes similar to beef, but lighter, cleaner, and less fatty, almost like venison. As the meat cools you can actually taste the flavor of the lamb more.

About  the  Lamb

Now, this lamb is not the same as average supermarket lamb. Alpine Origin Merino roams free on mountain pastures in New Zealand, grazing on grasses & alpine herbs. Because of this, the meat has a lighter, less gamy flavor and is more evenly marbled.


Product provided for review.  All notes & opinions are my own.

Thank you Marx Foods for the opportunity to taste this amazing lamb and to try my hand at making it myself! Stay tuned for a recipe involving Lamb Loin Fillets.

Twice Baked Potatoes #SecretRecipeClub

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Have you ever heard of The Secret Recipe Club? I found out about it through a few blogs that I follow and thought it was a very neat idea. The way I explain it to people is that it’s like Secret Santa. You get assigned a blog “buddy” and visit their blog to pick a recipe you want to re-create. Once you find a recipe from their blog, you make it, photograph it, and post it. Everyone reveals their assigned blog at the same time and date. It’s fun to go around to different blogs and see who had who. It’s also a great way for smaller blogs to reach out to a different or larger audience.

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For my first SRC match-up I was paired with Sarah from Curious Cuisiniere. I was torn between a few different recipes that I wanted to make, but her Twice Cooked Broccoli Cheddar Potatoes called out to me. Baked potatoes are something that I rarely eat now that I’m an adult because I don’t want to heat up a whole oven for 2 potatoes. I had all the ingredients for this recipe in the house after I made some substitutions, including some potatoes that had been lingering in my crisper for far too long.  I swapped the broccoli out for some green bell pepper and added some wasabi mayo, barbeque sauce, and breadcrumbs into the mix.

This recipe is easily adaptable and surprisingly filling. I ate 2 halves for dinner and was pretty satisfied. I re-heated one for leftovers and it was revitalized quite well after a minute in the microwave.

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Secret Recipe Club