A Pagan’s Feast

As one of Farmgirl’s many fans and an avid carnivore I’ve been following the lambing season with great interest. In fact, I recently ordered half a lamb. I’ve no idea where I’m going to store it, but finding lamb — much less good lamb — here in Knoxville is a real hit-or-miss proposition. So I contacted a local farmer and ordered one.

But in the meantime Easter was coming on and I’ve been fixing lamb for Easter dinner for years. Usually I get a leg and roast it, but I was in a local supermarket about three weeks ago and it had racks upon racks of racks and I bought one.

Lamb is associated with a number

Vegetables are interesting but lack a sense of purpose when unaccompanied by a good cut of meat. ~ Fran Lebowitz

of religious holidays besides Easter. Not surprisingly, Jews, with their strictures on eating pork and lack of suitable pasturage for raising beef, featured lamb in feasts. Lamb figures prominently in Passover (although sometimes only symbolically), but is also a common fixture at feasts such as Rosh Hashanah and Chanukkah.

Lamb is also common in Muslim feasts such as Eid ul-Adha (which celebrates God deciding not to make Abraham sacrifice his son — that Yahweh, such a kidder) and Mawlid al- Nabi, Muhammad’s birthday.

I’m neither Jewish, Muslim, nor Christian. I just like having an excuse to buy an expensive piece of lamb and I chose Easter because it’s easier to keep track of. However, in preparing the lamb I did take a page from the Torah and used horseradish, which often serves as a bitter herb at Passover. And just to be on the safe side of the bitterness quotient, I had broccoli rabe sautéed with garlic and anchovies. This is my favorite way of fixing rabe. I also had potatoes roasted in duck fat and tossed with parmegiano.

Rack of Lamb with Horseradish

1 ea rack of lamb
2 cloves garlic, lg — minced
1 tbsp prepared horseradish
1 sprig rosemary — minced
1/4 c bread crumbs
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper

Heat oven to 450F.

Season lamb with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat and brown lamb on all sides. Remove lamb, reduce heat to medium, and add garlic and rosemary. Cook until garlic just begins to brown. Add bread crumbs and stir to absorb all the oil. Mix in horseradish then coat top (meat side) of lamb with mixture.

Reduce oven to 400F. Place lamb in a baking pan and cook until an instant-read thermometer reads 120F (about 20 minutes) for medium rare. Remove from oven, place on a cutting board, and tent with foil for 10 minutes. Cut rack in half and serve. Serves 2.

Technorati: Food | recipe | meat | lamb | rack of lamb | easter

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