Charcoal-Grilled Rack of Spring Lamb

Pair with Geyserville

"In my early days as Ridge’s winemaker and board member, I suggested to the founders that we should start a tradition of taking ourselves to the admired Chez Panisse restaurant in Berkeley for an annual directors’ dinner. Chez Panisse founder Alice Waters later published some of these Ridge dinners in a book of her favorite menus. In celebration of Ridge’s 60th Anniversary, we are revisiting dishes from these storied Chez Panisse dinners for this year’s Holiday Pairing Feast." -Paul Draper, Chairman of the Board

Print Recipe

Yield: 6-8

Ingredients:

Lamb

4 French-cut racks of lamb
1 cup olive oil
3 thyme sprigs
3 marjoram sprigs
3 oregano sprigs
2 shallots, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 anchovy filets
2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard

Sauce

The reserved juices from the resting lamb
½ cup lamb demi-glace
¼ cup zinfandel
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 mint leaves, finely sliced into strips

Directions:

Lamb:

Remove thyme, marjoram, and oregano leaves from their stems and place herbs in a blender along with the shallots, garlic, anchovy filets, mustard, and olive oil. Pulse until a smooth marinade forms. Rub the lamb racks liberally with the marinade and let marinate, refrigerated, for 4-12 hours.

To cook, prepare a charcoal grill, allowing it to burn down to an even medium-hot fire. Place the racks of lamb, flesh side down, over the hot spots, making sure that the bones are facing away from the hottest part of the grill. If the bones become too hot and brittle, you can wrap them with foil to protect them.

Grill the lamb racks for approximately 5 minutes on one side, then flip them over and cook for an additional 3-5 minutes for a medium-rare to medium temperature. Remove from the grill and let rest for 10 minutes. Carve the racks into chops by cutting between each rib bone.

Sauce:

To make the sauce, add the juices from the resting lamb to a saucepan with ½ cup lamb demi-glace and ¼ cup zinfandel, and heat until briskly boiling. Remove from the heat and whisk in 4 tablespoons of butter at room temperature. Add the mint and stir.

To Serve:

Spoon sauce on warm serving plates. Put two chops on top of the sauce on each plate, and garnish with mint leaves.

Share your #RidgeHolidayFeast pictures with us!