Recipe: Herb Crusted Lamb with Lemon Roast Asparagus

My darling friend Kate invited me to go see the Floating Kabarette at Galapagos Art Space on Saturday, and when she mentioned that three other girls would be joining us I hopped on the opportunity to cook up a fancy dinner. There was, however, a plot twist: One of the girls is allergic to gluten. 

DUN DUN DUN.

Seeing as I had previously cooked boeuf bourgignon at Kate's, I decided I wouldn't do a stew option for fear of being predictable. I considered doing duck, but I promised Kate's boyfriend Sean I would cook duck for him, so that was a goner. Then I realized it's been a while since I've been able to bake anything in a proper oven, so I decided to do lamb with a side of roasted asparagus. 

Sorry, I'm a twit and didn't take any photos after all the foods were cooked and before I served everything up. 

[Herb Crusted Lamb with Lemon Roast Asparagus]

- serves 5 people -

Lamb:

• 1 rack of lamb (8-10 ribs, generally aim for 2 to 3 ribs per person)

• 2 sprigs of fresh thyme

• 1 sprig of fresh rosemary

• 3 cloves of garlic

• Salt and pepper

• 1 Large Ziploc bag (or a big bowl with saran wrap)

• Olive oil

Asparagus:

• 25 spears of thick asparagus

• Olive oil

• 1/2 lemon

• Salt and pepper

----

Start first by prepping your lamb: trimming excess fats and removing membranes and frenching them if they have yet to be frenched. If you are unsure what "frenching" lamb means, please read this blog entry on how to french a rack of lamb before you grossly misinterpret and attempt to make out with raw meat.

I bought my rack already frenched, and since I was catering to some dainty ladies I did the considerate thing and trimmed the bulk of the fat resting on the top of the lamb. You know how those ladies turn up their noses when it comes to grease and lard. Poor things have no idea what they're missing.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank Elise Bauer (though she probably will never read this) for being a guide and an inspiration ever since I first cooked her adaptation of Julia Child's boeuf bourgignon when I was 18. If anyone ever wants to read a proper recipe blog then I highly suggest you check out Simply Recipes. 

God knows this isn't one. Whelp.

Grab the tips of your fresh thyme and gently rake your fingers down against the grain, and that should pull the leaves off of the stem. You'll want to break apart some of the larger clumps of thyme, and then savor the amazing smells that are now emanating from your fingertips. Now repeat the same deal with the rosemary and resist throwing everything into a hot bath with oils.

Oh, that sounds heavenly.

Once all the leaves are off the stems, mix the thyme and the rosemary together, and give everything a rough chop through. Then take your garlic cloves and mince them, and mix it together with the thyme and rosemary, then do another final rough chop so all the nice flavors have a chance to mingle.

Look at how they mingle. It's absolutely fantastic. 

Once you've gotten everything to about the same size, mix it through. Lightly salt and pepper both sides of the lamb rack, rub in well, then sprinkle the rosemary-thyme-garlic mixture over and rub it in well into the top and sides of the lamb.

I also took the extra measure of slicing through the membranes on the back of the rack between the ribs and rubbing in the herb mixture. Anything to ensure that the flavors will at least permeate through. 

Once you are done with this whole procedure, throw the lamb into a ziploc bag - or alternative, you can put it in a shallow bowl or plate and cover with saran wrap - and drizzle over with olive oil. Give the rack a last rub over - or just shake it up a bit if you opted for a ziploc bag - seal tight, and pop it into the fridge to marinate from 20 minutes to an hour.

While this is happening, you can get started to have some fun with the asparagus!

Rinse the asparagus to clean off any last bits of dirt, and remove the tough ends. The easiest way to do this is simply by grabbing the root end of the asparagus (not the pretty crown part) and loosely holding onto the rest of the stem and bending it. Whatever part bends is basically where you want to break and discard, otherwise you'll end up with tough, stringy bits that have very little flavor. Take a fruit peeler and shave off the skin at the newly delegated ends, then set aside.

I was also making risotto for this meal, but since I only took but one photo, I will not linger too long upon it. But I also chopped up some of the newly delegated end bits and threw it in to cook with the arborio rice.

Towards the end I also threw in sliced baby bella mushrooms to stew with the (gluten-free!) chicken stock, and the risotto ended up permeated with the pungent, earthy flavors of infant fungus. Yum.

Layer out the asparagus on a baking sheet atop tin foil, and give it a nice one-go drizzle of olive oil. Then roll the spears around so they are all well coated and sprinkle with black pepper. "When does the lemon juice come in?" you might wonder. Well, that comes in at the very end after it's all roasted and ready to be served. 

Trust me.

Take the lamb out of the fridge with enough time to get the meat to room temperature, depending on how long you left it in the fridge. Mine was only in there for about 20 minutes so it took around half an hour to get to room temperature. While you're waiting for that, preheat the oven to 400F and set the lamb out on a baking sheet with tin foil.

This next step is optional, but it's better for presentation later on, plus it's a fun arts and crafts sort of project to pass the time while your oven heats up.

Take little strips of tin foil and wrap them neatly around the ribs so they don't charr and darken too much during the baking process.

Pierce the fatty parts of the lamb all over with a small sharp knife, and place the lamb in the oven and bake for 7 minutes at 400 degrees. Once the 7 minutes is up, turn the oven down to 300, and slide the asparagus on in there as well. Bake for another 8 - 15 minutes depending on how well-done your guests like their lamb. 

I like mine rare and absolutely bloody, so I took mine out after 8 minutes, but I let the other rack sit for another 10 and then shut the oven off and let the residual heat dwindle while I finished up the risotto.

The asparagus will be just browned enough by the time the lamb is about done, and the skin will crinkle up a little bit. Always check doneness by piercing with a fork. If fork easily penetrates through asparagus then it can be removed from the oven. Now is when you squeeze half a lemon quickly and sparsely across the asparagus for just a hit of zest.

Once you deem things done, remove the lamb from the oven, and tent tin foil over the top while it cools down enough to be served. I presented my plate that night with a scoop of risotto as the base, and I rested two ribs of lamb and 5 spears of asparagus each against the mound.

No, I don't have a finished product photo because I was too anxious to serve, and yes, I am extremely sorry.

A food review will be coming up next, and in the upcoming weeks, I plan on cooking duck.

Until next time.