Linda West Eckhardt's Rack of Lamb with a Mint Persillade Recipe |
Healthy Sheep (photo by Gracey Stinson, courtesy of morgueFile.com)
Sustainable, small-scale sheep farms are growing in number in the U.S., serving a niche market that values quality cuts. The new breed of sheep farmers let their animals roam freely, grazing on a natural diet of grass and other plants. Sustainably raised lambs don’t just deliver great flavor, they are free of the antibiotics made necessary by overcrowded conditions and cheap, but unsuitable feed. Grass-fed lamb is also more nutrient dense, with more essential fatty acids like Omega-3s.
When you’re deciding on a meal to impress a special guest, rack of lamb is a nice choice because it is not typically enjoyed outside of high-end restaurants. Our friend Linda West Eckhardt, co-author of The Silver Cloud Diet E-Book with Dr. John Salerno, has discovered, finding good lamb at an affordable price is getting easier. She recently provided us with a terrific recipe and tells us:
I’ve made an amazing discovery at Trader Joe’s. In the frozen case they sell rack of lamb for ten dollars and change. This will feed from two to four people and comes with a lovely spice and herb coating. All you have to do is thaw it, place it on a olive oiled baking sheet and place it in a preheated 400 degree oven for about 15 minutes and voila. A stupendous dinner.But you know me. Gotta go the extra mile. So I created a Mint Persillade to give it that extra fillip. And how easy is that? A persillade, is simply a fancy French word for a parsley and garlic sauce. Now with a food processor, I ask you, what could be easier? Whack the woody stems off a bunch of parsley, toss it in the processor with a clove of garlic, touch of sea salt and cracked pepper, a drizzle of oil and a tiny bit of red wine vinegar. Wow. Now, to go the extra mile, add a bunch of parsley to the mix. Yummy. You can use this in a couple ways, after you have reduced it to a fine puree, just coat the lamb chops and cook. OR, you can serve it raw as a condiment.
Actually, the way I cooked it was to coat the rack in four-seeded mustard, and serve the persillade on the side. It was so delicious we all swooned this Easter Sunday. And not too expensive either. Here’s the real recipe.
Thank you Linda!
Ingredients for 2 Servings
• 1 Rack of lamb
• 1 Tablespoon four seeded mustard
• 1 Recipe persillade
• 1 Bunch parsley, rinsed thoroughly and dried, woody stems discarded
• 1 Bunch mint, rinsed thoroughly and dried, woody stems discarded
• 1 -2 Cloves garlic
• 1/2 Teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 Teaspoon cracked pepper
• 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 Teaspoon red wine vinegar
Preparation
1. Preheat the oven to 400. Place the lamb on an olive oiled backing sheet, meaty side UP. Coat the rack with mustard and bake 15 minutes. Cut it in half and see if it is just pink. If its too rare, put it back in the oven for just a few minutes.
2. Meanwhile, combine all persillade ingredients in the food processor and reduce to a puree. Place it in a little dish and serve alongside the lamb. Alternately, you can skip the mustard altogether, and coat the lamb with the persillade and roast. Yummy.
Linda West Eckhardt
To learn more about Linda’s most recent work on healthy weight control, go to: The Silver Cloud Diet
To get a look at a book of Linda’s that’s full of information and recipes for a low carb diet, go to: The High-Protein Cookbook: More than 150 healthy and irresistibly good low-carb dishes that can be on the table in thirty minutes or less
To order a world class, hand-picked olive oil from California's Stella Cadente, and our favorite, go to: L'Autunno Blend Extra Virgin Olive Oil
To view all the recipes on the American Feast web site just scroll down after you go to: American Feast's Recipe Collection
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