What to do with a Frenched lamb rack

Chef Sam Parish shows us what we can do with a Frenched lamb rack

Hi, my name's Sam and today I'm going to show you what you can do with the crème de la crème of lamb cuts, the Frenched lamb rack. Today I'm using delicious grass-fed New Zealand lamb hand-picked by Maimoa.

The rack of lamb is cut from below the spine and contains the backbone, also known as the chine bones. Underneath we have the beautiful eye muscle that you love sinking your teeth into, but it's the rib bone holding it together that gives it that extra flavour when cooked.

Maimoa lamb racks come Frenched, but depending on the amount of bone you like to see, you can extend the Frenching down for a cleaner look. For this rack, we're gonna extend the Frenching all the way down to the eye muscle. So, we'll start by working out how much of the bone we want to see, and then the same on the other side.

Keep all the trimmings for stock sauces, for using in roasts, for extra fat.

Once it’s cleaned up really nicely, when it cooks it'll present perfectly.

To cut your rack into cutlets put your knife hard up against the rib bone and then slice all the way through the chine bone.

The eye fillet can be removed from the rack for a beautiful whole piece of meat. I’ve removed some of the silver skin but I’m probably going to leave a little bit on there for extra flavour.

Whether it be a French baby rack or an 8-rib rack, go hot and fast fat side down, finish gently in the oven and then leave to rest.

For rare lamb, you want the internal temperature to be 58 degrees Celsius. For medium, 65 degrees Celsius and for well-done lamb, 70 degrees Celsius. For some extra flavour, you can spoon foaming butter to gloss the meat and enrich the crust.

Rest the lamb in a nest of fragrant herbs to lock in the juices and extend the tenderness and flavour. This method gives you the perfect Maillard reaction in the crust, but also tender blush, pink juicy meat in the centre.

The eye fillet can be removed from the rack, poached and served as a medallion or used as a centrepiece for a pastry like a lamb Wellington.

The eye muscle can be frozen as a piece and shaved with a mandolin or sharp knife to be added to hot soups and broths. This allows the meat to sit between raw and cooked and is a beautiful way to show off its tenderness and flavour.

With a whole heap of options that push past the basic rack roast, you can see why the Frenched lamb rack is such a sought-after cut of meat in today's dining scene.