Recipes

Roasted Colorado Rack of Lamb, Wild Rice, Pomegranate Glaze

2 ea. Cap-Off Colorado Lamb Rack 3/4 cup Wild rice 1 ea. Bay leaf 2 1/4 cup chicken stock or water 1 cup diced butternut squash 1/4 inch 2 Tbs. Toasted cracked Hazelnuts 1 basket Pearl onions peeled 2 ea. Pomegranate 1 1/2 squeezed, 1/2 seeds cleaned and set aside

1/4 pound of butter 3 Tbs. Olive Oil 1 ea. Peeled Carrot 1 ea. Celery rib 1 ea. Onion peeled and quartered 2 Tbs. Sugar 1 tsp Red wine vinegar Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350F degrees

Remove lamb racks from the refrigerator one hour before cooking and cover on a plate at room temperature.

Place 1 Tbs. of olive oil in a large sauce pan over medium heat, add in rough chopped carrot, celery, onion and bay leaf cook for three to five minutes. Add in the chicken stock or water and wild rice and bring to a boil add salt to taste then reduce heat to a simmer, cook for approximately one hour. Toast Hazelnuts in the oven at 350F degrees until they are golden brown and smell great about five to six minutes, remove from oven and cool. When they are cooled crack them roughly in half.

Meanwhile place the pomegranate juice, sugar and vinegar in saucepan and reduce by half over medium heat, remove from heat when glaze coats the back of the spoon. Peel and seed the butternut squash, dice into half inch cubes. Heat a large sauté pan over high heat, add two tablespoons of olive oil and the diced squash, season with salt and pepper lightly and cook until the squash browns (but is not too soft) approx. three to four minutes. Remove the squash and transfer to a plate to cool. Remove cover of lamb racks, season both sides with Kosher salt and coarse ground pepper.

Heat a large sauté pan over high heat add one tablespoon of olive oil and then gently place the room temperature Lamb Racks into the pan fat side down first, then turn the racks to get even browning on all sides of the meat, about seven minutes. Place the pan in the pre-heated oven and continue to roast, turning them every five minutes for a total of twenty minutes remove from oven and rest the Lamb Racks on a cutting board for six-eight minutes.

To assemble the dish, drain the fat from lamb pan, add the pearl onions and cook until they are golden brown and soften, add the cooked squash, cooked, drained wild rice (vegetables removed) the hazelnuts and butter and heat the mixture through and add a touch of rice cooking liquid if you need to keep it from drying out. Brush the rested lamb with the glaze over the front of the rack and slice one rack into four single bone chops and two double bone chops repeat with the next rack.

To plate place the rice mixture in the middle of the plate sprinkle the reserved seeds over the rice and place one double chop and two single chops with each serving, drizzle any remaining glaze around the plates and over the lamb.