grilled rack of lamb recpe
Elizabeth Karmel

Taming the Flame: 20 Meals from the Grill by Elizabeth Karmel

In this weekly column, grilling expert Elizabeth Karmel shares menus for full meals cooked on the grill. In this column, she offers up recipes for Luxurious Green Salad, Sparkling Roasted New Potatoes and Fresh Herb- and Panko Crusted Rack or Lamb.

About Elizabeth Karmel's Menu

I love lamb. My mother and grandmother always cooked a fresh leg of lamb for Easter, and the meal marked the end of winter and foreshadowed the excitement of summer for me. It meant backyard barbecues, going to the beach and long nights sitting outside listening to the crickets.

As I got older and started cooking myself, I gravitated to a frenched rack of lamb. Racks of lamb are easy to find, take a lot less time to cook than a leg and are quite reasonably priced for such an elegant and succulent cut. (If you belong to a Costco, try their rack of lamb. It is always pristine and a bargain to boot.)

The term "frenched" refers to the way the bones are cleaned by removing the scraps of meat and fat that connect the individual rib bones. It is easy to do yourself and quite satisfying once you get the hang of it (kind of like re-grouting your tub!) But it is just as easy to buy the rack of lamb already trimmed and frenched.

Lamb is often served with mint jelly, but it is a food pairing that no longer makes sense to me, except for the tradition of it: Mint jelly or mint sauces were served with older lamb or mutton to help disguise the gamey flavor. Lamb no longer has a flavor you need to cover up and I much prefer the combination of winey Dijon mustard, fresh herbs and breadcrumbs.

Tips on Making the Grilled Rack of Lamb

In my Fresh Herb and Panko-Crusted Rack of Lamb, I use panko crumbs (a very light Japanese breadcrumb) because I like the crispy-crunchy crust that they give the lamb. If you cook the whole rack, as indicated in the recipe, it will take about 45 minutes. If you prefer, you can cut a rack into single or double chops, coat them with the mustard-herb mixture and dredge them in the panko before grilling them -- just watch the grilling time as they will take much less time to cook than a whole rack.

Time to Try Grilled Potatoes

New potatoes are just the thing for lamb and my Sparkling Roasted New Potatoes are the best way to cook fresh, new potatoes. They are simply tossed in olive oil and coarse salt and slow-roasted over indirect heat until the skins puff up, the salt crusts over and sparkles like diamonds, and the inside is silky sweet. They are so good on their own that I don't recommend adding any butter, oil, sour cream or cheese. They are perfect in their simplicity.

The Simple Secrets of the Luxurious Green Salad

Speaking of simplicity, my favorite salad in the world is the French salade vert. The closest that I have ever gotten to making a perfect green salad at home is my Luxurious Green Salad. The trick is dressing Boston lettuce leaves or another very tender lettuce with just a touch of the best-quality olive oil you have and a sprinkling of sea salt, preferably fleur de sel. This way, you are highlighting the freshness and flavor of the lettuce and not overwhelming it with too much acid from vinegar or lemon juice. If you are like me, combining these three ingredients will have you eating salads everyday.

Timing Tips for this Grilled Menu

As noted, a whole rack of lamb will take about 45 minutes to cook; the potatoes will take between 30 and 40 minutes depending on the size of the potatoes. When I make this dinner, I place the rack in the center of my cooking grate over indirect heat, come back inside, prep the potatoes and take them immediately outside and place them on the warming rack of my grill so they can grill-roast at the same time as the lamb cooks. That way, the potatoes are still hot and puffy when the lamb has rested and is ready to carve. And I like very rare lamb so I always take it off on the early side and let it rest a good 15 minutes for maximum juice re-absorption. I toss the salad together just before we eat so it doesn't get soggy.

More from KitchenDaily:
Get Elizabeth Karmel's Beer Can Chicken with Grilled Asparagus and Sweet Potatoes Menu and her recipes for Deviled Eggs, Burgers and Dessert Pizza
See tips on How to Buy Lamb