French Rack of Lamb Recipe – Postcards from Paris

When the tender buds start to peak out from their long sleep covered with a blanket of frozen earth and twittering birds return to flowering trees, I always hope that it’s not a tease and that winter winds will not bring us one last dusting of freezing white. This year has been a strange one for Chicago…we have had relief from the normal frigid and snowy winter, but at what price?  We have had little snow and barely any winter weather in the Midwest.  I’m hoping that we will not pay for this in August!  Even though Paris has been colder than Chicago (can you believe that?) both cities are now enjoying spring, the magical time of renewal.

In my family, lamb was the chosen food of spring…we used to call it our Spring Lamb.  Other folks might be having ham or roast beef, but we would celebrate the season with lamb.

So, as I take you through this journey with me, I have to meld my two inspirations of the moment….Paris and my Irish heritage.  I think that they come together quite well in this recipe.  The French would call this Carre d’Agneau, but I call it provencial rack of lamb.  It’s an easy, tasty preparation that will leave you lots of time to be with your family and friends for a special Sunday supper.  Pair it with a my Fresh Watercress Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette, Easy Asparagus, and maybe even my French Chocolate Pot de Creme for dessert and you will sit down to a fine spring meal.

Thank you for taking the time to visit and thank you for cherishing your family and friends this Sunday!

French Rack of Lamb Recipe

Yield: 4 servings

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

An easy, savory main course, with fresh herbs and Dijon mustard, perfect for a celebration or holiday!

Ingredients:

2 Racks of lamb approximately 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 pounds each (ask your butcher to trim the excess fat and to "French" them for you, and they will remove a bit of meat to show the bones for a better presentation, as shown in photo)
1/2 cup French Old Style Whole Grain Dijon mustard (I used the brand Maille for this recipe)
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 Tablespoon fresh thyme (leaves removed from stem)
2 Tablespoon fresh rosemary (removed from stem and snipped into pieces)
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

A few sprigs of fresh herbs for garnish

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees (make sure that your oven rack is in the center of the oven).
Mix the mustard and olive oil together to form a paste.
Salt and pepper the lamb.
Spread the mustard paste on the top of the lamb racks, and sprinkle with herbs.
Roast in oven for approximately 25 - 30 minutes or until meat thermometer reads 130. Take racks out and let rest for 5 minutes. The racks will rise in internal temperature to 140 which will be medium-rare.
Slice and place on platter, add garnish and sprinkle with a few more fresh herbs.
Serve immediately.

Make it special, make it Sunday.

I left the room for a minute after we were finished shooting the pics for the blog and this is what I came back to!   I think that this says just how good this recipe is….

Enjoy!

Posted in Main Dishes, Recipes

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