Rack Of Lamb

The lamb that we buy today hardly requires a typical English mint sauce (the puckery flavor was originally designed to cut through the stronger taste of mutton), but the combination is by now a traditional and still-welcome one. Buttered carrots and a watercress salad would complement the lamb nicely. Uncork a full-bodied Cabernet Sauvignon or red Bordeaux.

Lovely dinner fare from L'Auberge Chez François in Great Falls, Virginia. Serve with roasted new potatoes and asparagus.

Offer this elegant dish with a sauté of vegetables.

Have the butcher "french" the lamb racks, which entails trimming the fat from the lamb and between the bones.

Ask your butcher to remove the backbones from the racks to make carving easier. If the lamb has not been trimmed, cut off the outer layer of fat and about two inches of the fat between the bones (the bones will be exposed); this technique is called "Frenching." Begin preparing the lamb a day before serving to allow time for marinating.

This hearty and satisfying main course, from Kokkari in San Francisco, was inspired by the flavors of Greece.

Because the lamb in this recipe is marinated in a barbecue-style sauce and then grilled, the hotel nicknamed the dish "paniolo", which means "cowboy" in hawaiian.

"Recently I had dinner at the Bacchus restaurant in Vancouver's Wedgewood Hotel," says Gail Sussman of Los Angeles, CA. "It seems safe to say that the Greek god himself would have appreciated the delicious rack of lamb. I'd be so grateful if you could obtain the chef's recipe."

This hearty dish comes from Havesathe de Havixhorst in the Drenthe Province in De Wijk, the Netherlands.

An elegant main course from Xaviar’s restaurant in Garrison. Ask the butcher to bone the lamb for you.

These chops become extra special with a highly seasoned crumb coating usually pressed onto rack of lamb.

Active time: 1 hr Start to finish: 1 day