Monday, April 9, 2007

Never Again. Probably.

I was SO excited to make my first rack of lamb for Easter dinner. I even discussed my plan of attack with a culinary instructor (I took a pasta-making class on Saturday) who had some great suggestions. I was ready, I thought. But each step of my plan introduced a completely unexpected hurdle:

1. Trimming the lamb of fat made it start to separate from the "rack." This scared me. The rack is kind of important here, right?

2. How do you sear a piece of meat that doesn't come in good contact with the pan - there's a rack in the way!?

3. The most frustrating part: once I decided the lamb was done roasting and resting, I went to cut the rack into rib sections. There was a bony part that ran all the way across the rack that was nearly impossible to cut through. I managed to cut through a few, carefully avoiding my fingers, and undoubtedly dulling my newly sharpened knife. Very frustrating.

4. I created a tasty crusty coating for my lamb (carmelized shallots, bread crumbs, and thyme a la Sara Molten) that was scarcely present on the cut lamb since there's hardly any meat on the little things!

The meat was flavorful and tender, but this, I've decided, is a meal best left to great restaurants.

My pea polenta, on the other hand, came out quite good, as did the roasted acorn squash. Maybe *leg* of lamb next year?

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