Crusted Rack of Lamb

This was my first attempt at lamb. I am really happy to say that it worked out well. I got the rack at Costco, and it was already frenched and the chine and feather bones were removed, which was great. If you don't know what I'm talking about, I'll explain it at the bottom of the post. The rack I used was 8 bones. The lamb turned out to be so tender, and the crust was crisp. If you don't know if you like lamb, this is a good recipe to try. It's simple, you probably have all of the ingredients already, and the crust adds a nice flavor. I had some of the crust mixture left over, so if your rack is a little bigger than mine, you should have enough.

Come on, I had to make a rack joke somewhere.

Ingredients:

• about 4 cups milk (enough to halfway cover the rack)
• 1 rack of lamb (mine was 8 bones)

To Sear -

• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper (I used my pepper grinder)
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard

For the Crust -

• 1/2 c Italian-seasoned bread crumbs
• 2 tbsp minced garlic
• 1 tbsp dried chopped rosemary
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Directions:

1.  Cut off the fat cap on top of the rack. Be gentle, you don't want to cut the meat away
2. Soak the rack in milk for half an hour on each side. This takes away the gamey flavor of lamb and helps it tenderize.
3. Rinse the lamb quickly with water (just a once-over)
4.  Prepare the crust by mixing the bread crumbs, garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Add the olive oil to moisten and mix well. Set the mixture aside.
5. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and garlic powder.
6. In a large skillet (preferably and ovenproof one) heat the olive oil over high heat.
7. Sear the lamb on all sides until you get a nice brown color.
8. Remove from heat, and brush the Dijon onto all sides of the lamb.
9. With your hands or a spoon, coat all sides of the rack with the crust mixture.
10. Cover the ends of the bones with foil to avoid charring. Put the rack, bone side down, back into the skillet if it's ovenproof, or into a different dish.
11. Cook at 400 for 15 minutes, and then at 450 for 15 more. This will give you a medium-rare lamb.

Frenching lamb: Exposing the ends of the bones, so you can grab onto the chops like lollipops.
Chine and feather bones: on the meaty side of the rack, the chine connects all of the chops together and the feather bones go up into the chops. You'll be able to see them if they haven't been removed yet. The chine is really hard to cut (you have to use a handsaw) so I would suggest not buying a rack with that bone still in.

**The ones at Costco already had all of this stuff done if you can buy your lamb there.**