Published May 1, 1999.
Can you forgo an initial browning on top of the stove without sacrificing a great crust? And how do you make a flavorful pan sauce without trimmings?
The word "mouthwatering" may have been invented for rack of lamb. Cooked properly, it is ultratender and luscious tasting, more refined in flavor than any other cut of lamb. With prices for it surpassing $20 a pound, however, the decision to roast a rack of lamb is not one to be made lightly. If you're going to do it, you want to make sure you do it right.
We set out to develop a foolproof recipe for roasted rack of lamb. We wanted the meat on the inside to be perfectly pink and juicy, encased in an intensely brown, crisp, and brittle shell. A caramelized exterior would boost flavor, and crispness would provide a nice contrast in texture to the interior.
A rack comes with a couple of layers of fat, separated, unfortunately, by a thin strip of meat. So to get rid of the fat, we had to lose a precious bit of meat. And we learned that we did indeed have to sear the lamb in a skillet before roasting to ensure a good crust--and that the resulting pan drippings could be used to make a simple yet flavorful pan sauce.
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