Rack of lamb with aubergine and potato gratin, roast courgettes and an oven dried tomato and basil sauce (ii)

Finally. Finally got it right.

You may remember this from a previous post. All the flavours of moussaka, just done slightly differently.

I had cooked it for a party on Wednesday night (left), but when it came to plating it up the lamb just took over the plate. It was just too big. Today (well last night now, the second party of the evening, above) I trimmed them a little more than the butcher at Home Farm does. Simple things.

Brushed with dijon mustard and sprinkled with breadcrumbs whizzed with cumin, fresh coriander & chives they're roasted for c. 30 - 35 minutes. 58 oC on the probe. Roasted courgettes (right) served seperately.

Then there was just a little assitte for dessert........

Related posts:

Aubergine and potato gratin
Oven dried tomatoes
Top 5 steps for the best dauphinoise
Potato trivet
Other lamb dishes

2

Rack of lamb with aubergine and potato gratin and roast courgettes

Looking for lamb dishes to move on from the saddle of lamb with pearl barley risotto, I kept coming accross recipes for moussaka. Moussaka we like, but how could you do it differently......


Roast aubergines layered up in the middle of pototo gratin. A thin layer of potato, a layer of aubuergine, another layer of potato, then repeat and top with a little grated cheese and bake - an hour - an hour & a half.







The other flavour you associate with moussaka is tomato and basil. The tomatoes came in the form of oven dried tomatoes and a little chopped basil stirred into the sauce just before serving.



For the lamb I really wanted to go for racks for a change. I always see them as I pick everything else up in the farm shop and roasted lamb cutlets where can you go wrong - everyone loves them.

The butcher at Home Farm saws through the chine bone but leaves it on. This is good as I can use it to make a stock for the sauce.











I just run along the bone to remove it.

Then, for deliveries, as this one was, it is sealed on the outside and placed on a potato trivet and rosemary which infuses the lamb as it roasts, and it just needs 25 - 30 minutes in the oven. After resting for 10 - 15 minutes you flash it back in the oven to give it another burst of heat (or under the grill) and cut between each bone giving 3 per portion.

Related posts:

Oven dried tomatoes
Top 5 steps for the best dauphinoise
Potato trivet
Other lamb dishes


Spring dinner party menu

3

Nicoise vegetable tart

An old family ratatouille recipe bound with liason (1 pint cream & 3 - 4 eggs - or scaled down for small amounts) and a sprinkling of fresh thyme.

Underneath - since you ask - are oven dried tomatoes - see link below. And it's olive oil and balsamic.

Edit

How do you stop your pastry from shrinking when you blind bake the case?

I cut the pastry much larger that I need so there's a large overhang as shown here. You put your weight inside (baking beans or flour), then take it out when it's half done, brush the inside with beaten egg to cover any holes (see link below) and make the base firmer, then finish baking.

When it is cooked, take it out of the oven and trim the edges to the top of the case. You have to be careful when doing this or the side can crack - use a small sharp (not serrated) knife, almost flat against the rim of the pastry case tin. I start at the heel of the knife, and run it through to the tip turning the tart tin as I go - one long knife stroke. Do it while the pastry is still hot (use a t-towel) so it's pliable.

Related posts

1001 Kitchen tips #39 - Oven dried tomatoes

Sunday lunch in the Cotswolds

Golden wedding buffet lunch

The best balsamic

1001 kitchen tips #4 - no holes in your pastry case

1001 Kitchen tips #23 - the alternative to baking beans

6

1001 Kitchen tips # 39 - Oven dried tomatoes

Peel your tomatoes (plum are best for this - but whatever type you use they should be ripe and tasty!). Then you set up a production line:

1. Trim the tops and bottoms
2. Remove the seeds - run the knife around the inside/ seeds and remove them. This way the flesh should remain whole
3. Lay the tomato flesh out flat on oven trays
4. Sprinkle with maldon or Halen Mon salt, pepper and olive oil. Not too much salt - because as they dry, they reduce in size, so the salt will be more intense.
5. You can dry overnight in the oven at 50 oC, in a drying oven of an aga, or (if you're in a hurry) in a normal oven at 150 oC for an hour - an hour and a half, turning the tray round half way through so they don't burn. Keep the door slightly ajar, so steam is allowed to escape.

Done like this above they are great in terrines.

You can also just slice them quite thickly and dry them in the same way - great for salads, pasta, fish pie, and so many other uses.

The middles and ends, shown above can be cooked down to become tomato sauce (the universal kitchen sauce) or ketchup. Or use them raw to make gaspacho.

2