How to French a Rack of Lamb

Lamb is one of those love it or hate it types of meats.  Some people can't stand the gamey-ness of it (my husband and I would be some of those people) - but then there's people who love it!  Having the lamb at the restaurant I work at is a whole different story.  It doesn't taste gamey at all.  So maybe all these years I was avoiding lamb because I just wasn't buying the right kind!

I decided to give it another go, despite my husband's weird looks.

Frenching is just basically removing any excess fat from the rib bone, leaving a beautiful chop leftover.  It just makes the rack look more appealing!  A lot of times, you'll find that when you buy a rack of lamb, the butcher has already frenched it for you.  However, I think if you ever run into the problem of needing to french something on your own, this is a valuable skill to have! 

It's a bit of work, but once you get the hang of it, it's like riding a bicycle!

1. Assuming you just have one half of the rib cage and not the whole thing, start by pulling at the natural seams on the surface of the rack to remove the natural layer of fat from the meat.

2. Make an even cut through the fat, perpendicular to the ribs and about 1 inch from the rib eye.  Flip over and do the same thing on the other side.

 

3. Score the center of each rib bone from the perpendicular line.  Place your thumb in between each rib bone and press down.  The majority/all of the fat/meat should come cleanly off the rib bone.  Repeat for each bone until all are clean.  Make sure to get them as clean as possible, because leaving any meat or fat on the bones will discolor them during the cooking process, giving you a less pretty product.

 

 

4. Trim away any excess fat covering, leaving a thin layer to protect the meat while cooking.  You can also trim the fat completely if you want a leaner piece of meat.  Sear and roast as is or cut into chops to grill - the choice is yours! 

We ended up going to a friends house and grilling them with some Moroccan spices (allspice, ginger, cinnamon, cumin, coriander, nutmeg).  They were oh, so tasty!  Have a great rest of your weekend guys!