Roasted Rack of Lamb w/Balsamic Demi-Glace

Sometimes making a really elegant dinner entrée is really pretty simple and easy. I first had this at a local restaurant and then perfected my imitation of it over time in my kitchen at home. This delicious rack of lamb recipe doesn’t take a lot of work and will really impress your guests. It also doesn’t hurt that it pairs really nicely with some great red wines! My favorite for this recipe is a nice Chateauneuf-du-Pape, but it would also go well with other Rhone reds, a Bordeaux, or a well balanced Cabernet Sauvignon or Bordeaux style blend from California or Washington. Here’s what you will need:

· 4 racks of lamb Frenched (all fat cleaned off bones and fat trimmed from the meat itself). Your butcher will do this for you.
· 3 tbs. olive oil
· Sea or Kosher salt
· Fresh ground pepper
· 3 oz of demi-glace base (I’m a fan of Demi-Glace Gold but any good French style demi-glace base will do, or if you want to really work hard and be authentic you can make your own).
· 2 tbs. balsamic vinegar
· 1 tbs. honey
· 1 tsp. sugar
· 4 oz. of Chevre cheese crumbled

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large shallow saucepan add 3 oz of demi-glace base and 2 cups of water and stir together over medium heat until the demi-glace completely blends into the water. Once blended, add balsamic vinegar, honey, and sugar to your base and cook over medium heat for about 15 to 20 minutes until the sauce thickens. This step can be done up to a day ahead and you can cover and refrigerate it and reheat when necessary.

Put a light coating of kosher salt and fresh ground pepper on all the racks of lamb. Spread oil evenly throughout a large stove-top safe roasting pan and brown the lamb over medium high heat on two burners of your stovetop until its browned all around – about 3 to 4 minutes per side (if you don’t have a good roasting pan for browning, you can brown the lamb in a large skillet and transfer to a roasting pan). Once the lamb is browned, transfer the lamb in the roasting pan to the oven and cook for 10 to 12 minutes. Check with a meat thermometer that your internal temperature is between 120 and 125 degrees for medium rare. Transfer the meat to a platter and tent with foil and let it rest for 10 minutes. Slice the racks and top with Chevre crumbles and demi-glace and serve. Serves 8.