Leprechaun Rack of Lamb

We had a rack of lamb in the freezer awaiting a special occasion.  Christmas is with Connie's family.  New Year's is a seafood fest.  Our anniversary is a couple of days after our big holiday party and we'll be eating leftovers.  Time to create a special occasion!  So, we invited Mom over for dinner.


Please allow me to introduce you to my mom.  She's 86 years young and is an absolute hoot.  Like me, she loves food and dislikes very few things. 

She's a fantastic traveler.  So, when I finished my MBA and she retired, we took a two week trip to Ireland to celebrate.  We made reservations at B and B's along the way and rented a car.  Other than that, we stopped and explored whatever we wanted.  One morning we saw a wonderful ruin of a church along the road.  Time to stop and explore.  Now, what you need to know is that I'm allergic to wool.  Ireland is known for wool.  My guess was that I'd need an acrylic blanket or I'd be sleeping in my clothes every night.  Our suitcases were laid on the back seat, the blanket covering them.  Out of the car we hopped.  I'm face-to-face with a drunk Irishman - at 9 in the morning.  He says hello and I say hello.  Mom is across the car and her face is showing she's petrified.  He glances in the back seat and says, "The boss asleep back there?"  "He certainly is," I say.  He reaches for the door handle.  I shake my finger in his face and hiss, "DON'T you DARE wake him up!!"  "Yes, m'am," he says and off he goes.  Mom doesn't know whether to laugh or cry.  On to the church to explore.  We've laughed about that so many times!

Fine.  This is about lamb so let's get back to the lamb.  Viking Lamb.  Terry Knudsen is the owner.  He sells his lamb at the Binford Farmer's Market.  We love it.  For those of you who've only had lamb that's a bit gamey, please try some locally grown.  It's different from beef or pork.  The flavor is delicate, yet bold.  It's happy with so many wonderful flavors.  This was another recipe from Entertaining with Booze.  Yes, I'm up to 12 recipes from this cookbook.  And, I've got several dozen more to go!

What did we think?  VERY good.  This got four stars out of five.  I can't think of a thing I'd change.

Leprechaun Roast Rack of Lamb

Ingredients:

1 c chopped chives
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 c Irish whiskey
1/4 c EVOO
1/4 c brown sugar, packed
2 T lemon juice
1 t salt
1 t freshly ground pepper
3 racks of lamb, frenched

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 375.  In a bowl of a food processor, mix the chives, whiskey, olive oil, brown sugar, lemon juice, salt and pepper.  Process until the mixture is smooth. 

Slather the lamb with the rub. Bake for 25 minutes or until the desired temperature is reached. 125 degrees F is medium rare. Remember that meat continues to bake after removing it from the heat - about 10 degrees more. Tent the lamb with foil and allow it to rest for 10 minutes before slicing and serving it.