Noisettes D'Agneau

This is restaurant-caliber lamb from a New Orleans masterchef tradition, and every component is built from scratch. Rack of lamb gets boned (the bones saved for stock), marinated for several hours in white wine, olive oil, rosemary, garlic, onion, carrot, and parsley, then cut into medallions and cooked to medium-rare in the reduced marinade.

Three things happen simultaneously: the lamb marinates, a stock simmers from the reserved bones with shallots, celery, tomatoes, and veal stock, and garlic cloves get blanched and butter-sautéed for the garnish. The stock gets strained into the pan with the cooked medallions and reduced until thick, creating a glossy, intensely flavored sauce.

The sautéed garlic deserves special mention. Twenty cloves get split, the bitter green germ removed from each center, blanched in salted water for 3 minutes, then browned in butter. The result is sweet, nutty, and mild, nothing like raw garlic. Scattered over the lamb medallions, they add a golden, caramelized bite to every plate.

Chef Tips

• Remove the green germ from each garlic clove before blanching. It’s the source of bitterness and harsh garlic flavor
• Cook the lamb medallions to medium-rare, about 10 minutes. Lamb dries out quickly past medium
• Reduce the marinade before adding the medallions. Cooking meat in unreduced liquid poaches instead of sears
• Strain the stock into the pan and reduce until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon

Variations

• Use lamb loin chops if you don’t want to bone a whole rack
• Add a splash of brandy to the sauce during the final reduction for extra depth
• Serve over a bed of creamy polenta or white bean puree instead of plating solo