This recipe was delicious, but we are ashamed to say that it wasn’t frugal. There’s really no frugal way to do rack of lamb – no matter which way you buy it or where you buy it, it’s expensive! We found some freshly packaged rack of lamb, which was nice because we could buy exactly how much we wanted. Normally, in those frozen pre-packaged deals, you always have to spend 20 bucks or more.
This recipe comes from the Jefferson Hotel, and we highly recommend it. Below the lamb are some grits, and those are cooked with mascarpone cheese instead of butter/cream. Delicious!
1 rack of lamb (8 chops)
1/8 cup bourbon
1/8 cup dijon mustard
1/2 cup bread crumbs
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup dried bing cherries
10 tablespoons port
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
freshly chopped mint
Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees.
Sprinkle salt and pepper on the lamb. Whisk together the bourbon and the mustard in a small bowl. Brush the mixture on the lamb. Place the breadcrumbs on a plate, and transfer the lamb to the plate. The bourbon mixture will act as an adhesive to the breadcrumbs, and by moving them around, you should be able to coat the lamb with the bread crumbs.
Heat the butter in a skillet, and after it’s hot, add the lamb to brown the outside. Transfer to a baking dish and place in the oven for approximately 15-20 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the meat reaches 120 degrees for rare.
While the lamb is cooking combine all of the rest of the ingredients (except for the mint) in a small sauce pot. Stir this together well. Cook covered over low heat for 20-25 minutes.
When the lamb is done, take it out of the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes while the cherries finish. As it’s resting, chiffonade the mint leaves. Fold them into the cherry chutney at the last minute. We cut the lamb into individual chops, which we think makes a prettier plate. We’ve also seen rack of lamb at restaurants without being cut apart, which is just as delicious.
Serve the lamb over grits (or anything else, for that matter!) and spoon the chutney over the lamb. ENJOY!
