Monday 28 April 2014

Honey and balsamic vinegar glazed rack of lamb

I sincerely believed we would spend our Easter Sunday in Italy, at my in-laws' house, and Monday was marked as a day of departure in my diary. However, my absent-minded professor got it all wrong and bought the return tickets for Sunday. So, instead of having an Easter lunch with my in-laws we had to be content with an overpriced EasyJet fodder. While Eddie was happy to munch through the kiddie lunch box with Dairylea dunkers and Hula Hoops, I had a horrible hot sandwich, microwaved to death and impossible to peel off from the cardboard it came in. At least they had Twinings tea, though at £2.50 a cup it is a total racket, of course.
Once we arrived home, all the shops were closed, it being an Easter Sunday, and we didn't even have a bottle of milk (I should have gotten a long life carton but I thought we were arriving on Monday, when I would have been able to grab some milk and bread in the corner shop).
We had our "Easter" dinner a few days later, with a rack of lamb, roast potatoes and wild mushrooms.



Honey and balsamic vinegar glazed rack of lamb
Ingredients:
rack of lamb (575g)
2tbsp olive oil + more
2tbsp honey
2tbsp Maille honey and balsamic vinegar mustard
2tbsp Maille balsamic vinegar
sea salt, dried mixed herbs
a few sprigs of fresh rosemary
about 500g potatoes
1 big garlic, sliced in two
100g wild mushrooms
1tbsp butter
1tsp lemon juice
mixed herbs


2Whisk together olive oil, honey, balsamic vinegar and mustard and dried mixed herbs. Sprinkle the rack of lamb with the sea salt, and pour over the marinade. Rub it well over the lamb, and let it sit in the marinade for a couple of hours.
Preheat the oven to 200C. Place the rack of lamb on a tray, sprinkle it with fresh rosemary. Half way through cooking turn the lamb over, and baste with the marinade.





Cook the way you like it, rare or well done. Personally I don't like pink meat, I find it really off-putting. Just before Easter I was invited to a posh dinner at Oxford. The food presentation was impeccable, a shame the duck was so pink, it was quacking. Everyone around me seemed to enjoy it, though my husband told me afterwards that the duck was awful. Anyway, back to our muttons, or lamb.
Once cooked, cut the lamb between the bones and serve as lamb chops.
Serve with the roast potatoes and garlic as well as the quince jelly. Cut the garlic head in half, sprinkle with the olive oil and salt, and cook with the parboiled potatoes.
Wild mushrooms need just a quick fry in the olive oil, with a tablespoon of Maille.



In this recipe I used a couple of Maille products, which I have talked about in a post Venison stew with juniper berries and Maille mustard. Maille Aged Balsamic vinegar is an excellent product, very flavourful and deep, with the caramel undertones. It is great in salad dressings, or as an ingredient in cooking.
The second Maille product which I used for the marinade was a Maille Mustard with Honey and Balsamic Vinegar. It has just the right balance of sweetness and acidity, and as such it perfect for marinades.
This is my 2nd entry to Maille culinary challenge (just in case you missed my first post, the foodie bloggers were invited to pick two Maille products and then create recipes, using these products).


10 comments:

  1. really looks beautiful, I love lamb and this looks exceptionally wonderful!

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  2. This looks amazing, you are an exceptional chef. I love lamb but have never had it with mushrooms - would love to make this :)

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    1. You are too kind! I buy the wild mushrooms from Tesco, they change them all the time, with the season, so I never know which type of mushrooms will be delivered with my groceries.

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  3. We hardly ever have lamb, if we do, it's normally a curry so definitely not pink, but this looks delicious!

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    1. Thank you! I love lamb pasanda, one of my favourite Indian meals.

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  4. this looks so delicious, sadly I can very rarely afford lamb :(

    Natalie Gillham

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    1. I agree, lamb could be very pricey, especially the rack of lamb, but I managed to buy this rack at half price in Tesco.

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  5. ooh that looks amazing.... lamb is my favorite xx

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