Get ready to feel fancy! I don’t know about you, but I didn’t really grow up eating lamb. In fact, the first time I ever tried cooking it I had no idea what to do with it. I overcooked some lamb chops and they tasted totally gamey. To be honest, for a long time I blamed the lamb, but recently I decided to do a retake on lamb and quit denying myself this incredibly nutritious and supposedly delicious “fancy” dish.

This method/recipe for cooking lamb worked like a charm! The inside was oh so moist and tender and the exterior had this salty crisp to it. I honestly wouldn’t change a thing, I’ll be cooking lamb this way for many times to come (probably on special occasions because it’s so stinkin’ expensive!). Here we go y’all…

Ingredients:

1 small frenched rack of lamb

Marinade:

3 sprigs of fresh rosemary

1 tablespoon of garlic

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 tbsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

3 tbsp olive or avocado oil

Water

Rub:

2 tbsp butter +1 tbsp oil

2 tbsp Dijon mustard

1/2 tbsp minced garlic

2 tbsp oil

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/2 tsp fresh chopped rosemary

Sauce:

1 tbsp dijon

2 tbsp mayonnaise

2 tbsp oil

salt and pepper to taste

*optional more fresh rosemary finely chopped

Method:

Combine the marinade ingredients into a ziptop bag or container, then add your lamb rack. Allow to marinate for 1-3 hours (the longer the better). Remove from marinade when ready to cook, setting it on paper towels to dry off. Press the paper towels onto it to remove as much of the external liquid as possible. Meanwhile, turn a pan up to medium high, about “6” on your stove top controls. Melt the butter+oil into the pan and when it is good and hot, brown the lamb on both sides (about 3 minutes per side). Preheat the oven to 400º with a sheet pan in there sprayed with a little non-stick spray or rubbed in oil so it can get hot while the lamb sears. Once seared, take the pan out of the over, transfer the rack of lamb to the sheet pan and rub (with a spoon) the “rub” ingredients on and return pan to oven. Cook rack for 25 minutes. Resting is VERY important here as the lamb continues to cook to perfection. Lay out aluminum foil and when the lamb comes out, transfer the rack to the foil, wrap, and let sit for 15 minutes. Trust me, it will still be plenty hot. Slice into chops, mix up the sauce ingredients and dive in!!

My husband has already determined that we are doing this recipe for Christmas day on a leg of lamb. For him to deem this Christmas dinner worthy was a pretty little ata-boy for me! He kept saying “this is SO good! This is sooo good!” The kids kept asking for more and ate their veggies to earn it! Now tell me, when the people you love LOVE your food, does it get any better than that? Love really is expressed in the kitchen 🙂

I hope you all enjoy this recipe and branch out there unlike me for years. This recipe has me thinking, what is my next food fear to conquer? Like and share using the buttons below! Here are some pics for reference in cooking….