pistachio crusted rack of lamb

never cook lamb before. always had the impression that it was terribly hard! unlike a beef steak which you can just throw in the pan, lamb is like “who can cook lamb?” – unknown, undoable..

in fact, when eating out, I hardly ever order beef, since I can make a rather good steak myself with no effort & at fraction of the cost (just like I will only order squid-ink pasta since it is about the only pasta I don’t make myself); so its lamb or fish everytime (dining out) except at some famous grills, Japanese or fine dining restaurants..

I have a friend though always posting lamb pictures & obsessed with meat thermometers (which I now have 2 thanks to this friend for one, and still have not used any!) Well, I only started cooking much since March2012, so thermometers will have a future with me, I think..

so I gotten myself this packet of lamb, which contained 2 frenched lamb racks, and on the first occasion when enough guinea pigs volunteered to dine at my place, I gave it a go and cooked my first ever lamb rack.  I always like Foodwishes.com Chef John’s cooking videos, and this pistachio crusted rack of lamb recipe is no exception. It is really very easy to make, much easier than the 2-hr slow-cooked Spanish beef ribs which requires preparations & cooking for the vegetable ratatouille for sauce & garnishing.

So I seasoned & browned the lamb rack, prepared the pistachio & the mix (add breadcrumbs, olive oil, melted butter) for the crust, rubbed dijon mustard on the lamb rack so that the pistachio crust sticked, and when my friends were here, while we were devouring the other dishes, I just put the lamb rack into a 210degC oven for 23minutes; and voila, I had a very impressive-looking & tasty pistachio crusted lamb which everyone really enjoyed! actually it was medium & I would have preferred medium rare, will try 21-22minutes next time.

pistachio crusted rack of lamb

pistachio crusted 1/2rack of lamb updated on 22.1.2015

Looks like I won’t be eating lamb anytime soon when dining out.

c.h.e.f andy

Ingredients:

• 1 frenched lamb rack (standard 8 ribs, about 600g, good for 4)
• 1 cup of pistachios
• 2 tbsp breadcrumbs
• 1 tbsp melted butter
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• sea salt & coarse black pepper to taste
• 2 tbsp dijon mustard

Directions:

1. Prepare the lamb rack – cut/trim away the fat (to reduce the strong gamey taste/smell), cut about 2cm every 2 ribs w/o cutting into the loin (this for easy serving of the lamb rack afterwards), season with sea salt & coarse black pepper & pan seared including the ends over a very hot pan. put aside on an aluminium lined baking tray & reserve.
2. Prepare the pistachio crust mix – cut about 1 cup of toasted pistachios into small bits. in a large bowl add 2 tablespoons breadcrumbs, 1 tablespoon olive oil & 1 tablespoon melted butter, & mix.
3. Cook the lamb – coat the lamb loin with 2 tablespoon of dijon mustard. This will enable the pistachio crust to stick. now coat the pistachio mix on the lamb to form a crust. Preheat oven to 210degC and place the lamb in the oven for 22minutes (or longer if you like it more done). serve

I had this really nice lunch at La Cicala with my son Wen Yu when he was back from UK for vacation in summer 2012. They have a S$25++pax lunch set that offers choice of 2 tapas+1main course+1 dessert – really great value.  I had the Basque seafood stew as 1 tapas & the Spanish beef rib as the main, and enjoyed the lunch & companion of my son thoroughly. 🙂

I then googled and found this Spanish beef ribs recipe among others. I use Spanish chorizo that gives it a very nice flavour that for me enhances the beefy taste but also added Chinese sausage which for me added to the sweetness (some may not like this addition). The carrots, celery & yellow onions provide a very sweet vegetable broth as a counterpoint for the beefy dish, & the red peppers & tumeric (saffron is too expensive & troublesome to get for me) add to the vibrancy of the colours.

I bought chuck ribs from Giant usually during sales at S$1.49 per 100g (on one occasion just S$0.99 per 100g). A 1.2kg packet with 6 ribs costs around S$20 and serves 6 – in my case as I do many course and tapas items, it can serve 8).

Spanish slow-braised beef ribs (dish was inspired by La Cicala)

My son, though he likes my beef ribs, still prefers the La Cicala version which has beef broth instead of vegetable broth as the sauce base. I am happy with this vegetable broth version to balance the strong beefiness.

Spanish slow-braised beef ribs (dish was inspired by La Cicala)

Spanish slow-braised beef ribs (dish was inspired by La Cicala)

I had this for the 6.10.2012 dinner which by design coincided with Jeanette’s birthday celebration & the photo above was taken by Jeanette who loved the dish. I did this again for the “Best Of” dinner and all my friends (even Cheng Poon who generally avoided beef) loved it!

c.h.e.f andy

Ingredients:

• 1.2kg chuck ribs
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 carrot, peeled & diced
• 1 celery, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Spaish chorizo + 1 Chinese sausage, cut into 1 cm pieces
• 1 red pepper, cut into 2cm pieces
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp flour
• 1 cup white wine
• 3 cups chicken stock
• sea salt & coarse black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Season chuck ribs with sea salt & coarse black pepper.
2. Place in a baking tray & put in the oven preheated to 210degC (I use the grill function) 12 minutes on each side to brown.
3. fry onion, carrot & celery in olive oil over high heat in a large wok until the vegetables softened.
4. Add minced garlic & Spanish chorizo & Chinese sausage and cooked until they are nicely browned, around 5 minutes. Add the red peppers & flour and cooked for a few minutes.
5. Add the white wine & reduced the liquid by 1/2. Add the chuck ribs. Turn to low heat and braised the ribs for 2hrs until the ribs are tender & falling off the bones. Season with sea salt to taste, portion the ribs & serve.