RACK OF LAMB & WHISKY POMEGRANATE  MARINADE

Pomegranate juice is the base here

for an amazing marinade.  It’s

perfect match for a rack of lamb. 

Even though a rack is a

really tender cut, the lamb is

best marinated overnight to absorb

the flavours.  Plus it melts in your

mouth when prepared this way.

This recipe was invented when I

was looking to make a red wine

marinade and didn’t have any

red wine.  I had some

Pom 100% pomegranate juice and

a good blended scotch.  That’s right, you don’t have to blow the budget on a single malt. Try Famous Grouse or one of the Grants blends. So I took a glass of the pomegranate juice and added two ounces of scotch, tasted it, and realized, “ wow!  This tastes a lot like a port.”  It was a great discovery.  So here is the recipe.

INGREDIENTS:
 

• 1/2 cup scotch whisky

• 2 cups unsweetened pomegranate juice

• 4 cloves garlic crushed

• 2 Tbsp Dijon mustard

• 3 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil

• 3 or four sprigs of fresh rosemary or 1/2 tbsp dried rosemary

• 3 or four sprigs fresh thyme leaves or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

• Salt and pepper to taste

• 1 frenched rack of lamb

Place everything but the lamb, salt, and pepper into a shallow dish just large enough to hold the rack of lamb.  Use a fork or whisk to mix up the ingredients.
Add the lamb and spoon the liquid on top to cover it. Cover the dish with plastic wrap, or just put it in a plastic bag and place in the refrigerator overnight.

In the morning flip the rack over and return to the refrigerator until an hour and a half before you are planning to eat.  It should rest at room temperature for about an hour before you cook it. 

 

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees

 

Remove the rack from the marinade and let the liquid drip off onto a plate.
Salt and pepper both sides of the rack to taste.
The cooking trick here is to sear the lamb on the stove-top and then finish cooking in the oven.  It seals the juices into the meat and gives it a beautiful crust. 

Just add a tablespoon of olive oil to a skillet heated to about medium high and wait until the oil is hot enough to produce a good sear on the meat. Add the rack fat side down for about five minutes, you want to get a nice brown happening.  Turn the rack over and sear for another two minutes.
 

Add one cup of the marinade juice, cover with a lid and place in the hot oven.
Remove lid from pan after first ten minutes and let stay for another five after that. 

Yes it cooks that quickly and will continue cooking after you take it out from the oven.
Remove from oven and let rest tented on a plate for ten minutes.
 

Now it is time to make the beautiful reduction for the dish.
Remove the thyme and rosemary sprigs from the marinade.
Add the remaining marinade to the same skillet you used to cook the rack.  Reduce over med high heat stirring frequently until it becomes a syrupy consistency and then remove from heat.  Add back in any juices that have run off from the lamb meat.
Carve the rack into chops and arrange them atop a mash of potatoes, butter, and garlic.  Nape with the reduction and call your mate to the table.
 

This is fantastic served with buttered steamed asparagus and chopped walnuts.  Don’t forget a good red wine must be served with this dish.  A reasonably priced Spanish or French red is a natural match.