Herb encrusted rack of lamb with a beurre rouge, potatoes dauphinoise with gruyere and spring asparagus with roasted garlic. This a deceptively easy menu to prepare and great for a dinner party. This recipe is for four people, but you can certainly double it. Serve with an exceptional Frey organic, biodynamic wine.
Ingredients Herb encrusted rack of lamb with a beurre rouge
2 Idaho potatoes
8 oz Gruyere cheese
8 oz heavy cream or half and half
1 whole nutmeg for grating
8 oz spring asparagus (the skinny ones)
1 head of garlic
1 tsp of olive oil plus 1 TB
1 stick of cold butter
2 cups of good Cabernet
2 racks of lamb (we found perfectly trimmed, frenched ones at Publix)
2 slices of bread
4 TB fresh parsley
2 TB Dijon mustard
sea salt, white pepper
Method Herb encrusted rack of lamb with a beurre rouge, potatoes dauphinoise with gruyere and spring asparagus with roasted garlic.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Peel potatoes. Cut into long halves or quarters to fit into the tube of the food processor. Put your slicing attachment on the processor and slice the potatoes, or cut them by hand into 1/8 inch slices. Grate cheese. Spray an 8 x 8 inch square pan with cooking spray. Put a layer of potatoes in the pan, season with salt and pepper, grate a little nutmeg over the top (not too much) and add a layer of cheese. Repeat until all the potatoes and cheese are used up. Pour the cream or half and half over. Move the pan around to make sure the cream is distributed evenly. Bake uncovered for 45 minutes to an hour or until golden and a knife pierces the potatoes easily.
Cut about 1/4″ off the top of the head of garlic. Place in a small piece of aluminum foil. Add the olive oil over the garlic. Wrap in the foil and place in the oven next to the potatoes. Roast in about the same time frame as potatoes, and remove when the cloves are soft.
Cut the woody stems off the asparagus. (You can hold a piece of asparagus in your hand and snap off the end. It will snap in the right spot.) Set aside.
In a sauce pan, add the Cabernet and heat over medium high heat until reduced to one cup. Cut the butter into tablespoons and begin whisking it into the sauce until all the butter is gone. (do not let it boil after you begin adding butter). Season to taste with salt and pepper.
About halfway through the cooking time for potatoes, take out the racks of lamb and allow them to come to room temperature. Put two slices of bread (not super thick) in the food processor with regular blade attachment. Chop parsley roughly and add to the processor. Buzz until you have a nice bread crumb, herb mixture. When you remove the potatoes and garlic from the oven, increase the heat to 450 F. Season the lamb racks with salt and pepper, spray a sheet pan with cooking spray and place the lamb racks with the wide meat side facing up into the oven for ten minutes. Remove from oven and brush the wide side with Dijon. Cover the Dijon with the bread crumb/herb mixture and place back in the oven for another ten minutes. During that last ten minutes, saute the asparagus over medium heat in a frying pan with remaining TB of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Squeeze the roasted garlic right out of the husk and into the pan. Stir to combine the garlic. Asparagus is done when the stalks start to wilt.
Herb encrusted rack of lamb with a beurre rouge assembly. Remove the lamb racks and let cool for about five minutes. Cut through the rack separating each rib and serve fanned out on the plate with a square of potatoes and the asparagus. Spoon the beurre rouge over the lamb or serve it on the side.
