Cowichan Valley Lamb

Locally raised grass fed free range lamb.

I know the people who raise the lamb so I was quite comfortable buying a whole lamb.

What better to try first than a rack of lamb.

First it needed to be frenched.

Which is easy to do.

Made a cut across the bones.

Then holding the knife against the bones,

cut and peeled back the flap of meat covering the bones.

Next I removed the meat between each bone.

Nice and clean.

Removed the “fell” or “silverskin” the paper like covering.

Rubbed with fresh garlic, fresh rosemary, salt and lots of coarsely ground black peppercorns.

Drizzled with olive oil.

I did this in the morning before leaving for work.

So the lamb had about 12 hours to marinate.

Grilled over high heat.

Note: Covered the bones with a sheet of foil so that they wouldn’t burn.

We like our rack of lamb rare so

the rack was removed from the grill when the internal temperature reached 115°F.

Lamb was tented with foil and left to rest while vegetables finished cooking.

Served with a potato gratin and vegetables braised in lamb stock.

To make the sauce, the vegetables were removed from the pan.

The stock was quickly reduced over high heat and then a little butter was added to make an emulsified sauce.

Dinner is Served!!!!

Note: I used the bits and pieces of meat to make a stock. The meat cut up and then browned in a little bit of butter and oil. Seasoned with salt and pepper, a garlic clove and a sprig of rosemary. Covered in chicken broth and simmered for a couple of hours.

The stock was used to cook the vegetables and make a sauce for the lamb.