I love a good slow roasted lamb, or melt-in-your-mouth lamb curry; however lamb doesn’t need to be that time consuming or laborious. The beauty of this dish lies in it’s simplicity – there’s only three things on the plate, each one absolutely delicious in it’s own right, and utterly complementary with the other ingredients.
Top tip: Great on it’s own, or use a little red wine to de-glaze the pan and use the juices as a sauce.
Serves 3
INGREDIENTS:
Rack of lamb – 6 cutlets
Thyme – 4 sprigs
Garlic – 4 cloves
Salted Butter – 30g
For the Pomme Fondant:
Large Floury Potatoes – 3
Chicken Stock – 300mls
Salted Butter – 30g
Garlic – 4 cloves
1. Wash and peel the potatoes, then using a small circular cutter (I used a cookie cutter!) approx 3cm in diameter carefully slice out cylinders from the potatoes. Each one should be equal, and about 4-5cm in length.
2. Heat the butter in a frying pan till just melted. Remove from the heat and roll each potato cylinder in the butter until coated. Stand each potato on it’s end in an oven-proof dish and pour in the chicken stock, so the liquid surrounds the cylinders but doesn’t cover them.
3. Peel 4 garlic cloves and crush using the side of a knife. Add to the chicken stock.
4. Place in a pre-heated oven at 250 degrees C for 45 minutes, turning over once, until golden brown.
A perfect pomme fondant is crispy on the outside and melts like butter on the inside.
5. 10 minutes before the pomme fondants are ready prepare your lamb. If you bought a rack of lamb ensure the exposed bones are thoroughly cleaned, by scraping excess gristle off each one with a sharp knife. Remove any excess fat. Cut the rack inbetween the bones into individual cutlets.
6. In a non-stick frying pan melt the butter, and add crushed garlic and thyme. Add the cutlets and fry on each side for 2-3 minutes. Transfer to a oven-proof pan and place in the oven for 2-3 minutes. The timing depends on how you prefer the lamb to be cooked.
7. After removing the cutlets you can de-glaze the frying pan by pouring in a splash of red wine. Stir well, to infuse the wine with the lamb juices. Drain off the garlic and thyme, and pour the juices into a gravy boat.
8. Remove the lamb and potatoes from the oven and serve immediately.
