One of my new year resolutions kinda got away from me this year. You know the ones you make, glass of champagne in hand and promptly forget as your head hits the pillow in the wee hours of January 1st? It all came flooding back as I was clearing out my bookshelves ready for a delivery of new furniture, whatever happened to using every one of my many cookbooks by the close of 2010?! With gusto, I grabbed a big old pile, my magnetic shopping list and a pen before boiling the kettle and settling down to plan us some delicious meals. I mean, I've got a month and a half. That's plenty of time, isn't it?!
I started yesterday evening after a particularly difficult market with Pet Lamb. I got home, aching from the cold and desperately battling with my desire to phone in the usual from my local tandoori. After what seemed like hours tearing between the cookbook and take away menu I finally forced myself to lay the menu to rest and flick the oven on.
Anyone that follows me on twitter probably remembers me spouting my distaste for The Delicious Miss Dahl and don't get me wrong, I'm still not a fan of her work but when I found Miss Dahl's Voluptuous Delights in a cheap book store for £1.99 I couldn't help myself.
This recipe is from the Spring section of the book but the horrid biting wind wasn't going to stop me from crusting up a rack of lamb! This meal was amazing, I urge anyone with an oven to whip this one up. Not only is it insanely easy to make but the taste is just out of this world! So here it is, Sophie Dahl's crusted rack of lamb with rosemary sweet potatoes.
Ingredients:
2 three racks of lamb
Olive oil
1 egg white
2tbsp ground almonds
1 garlic clove, chopped
1/2tsp ground cumin
A handful of chopped fresh mint, parsley & coriannder.
50g feta, crumbled (my addition but boy does it work)
2 medium sweet potatoes cut into fat chunks
Small handful of chopped fresh rosemary
Method:
First of all brown the lamb in a searing hot pan with a drizzle of olive oil. You only want to seal the juices into the meat so just brown the sides for literally a few moments.
Preheat the oven to 170C fan. In a mixing bowl whisk the egg white, ground almonds, herbs, cumin, garlic and feta together and pat onto the lamb making sure it is properly covered.
You want to put the potatoes in the oven around 20 minutes before the lamb, in a roasting tin covered in 2 tbsp of olive oil and the rosemary. When they have done their time , add the lamb to the oven in a seperate tray and cook for a further 20 minutes. This will give you medium rare meat so adjust the timing to your liking.
