Herbed Lamb Chops With Golden Beets And Parsnip Puree

Total Time: 60 minutes (as these can be done in parallel and timed)
  Rack of lamb: 30 minutes
  Parsnip Puree: 20 minutes
  Beets: 60 minutes

As soon as I saw Gordon Ramsey give a master class of his herbed lamb chops on an episode of Masterchef,  I took a trip down to my local butcher, bought a rack of lamb and tried out the recipe. It’s as delish as it looks and really simple to make. It’s been about a year since I first tried this recipe and it never fails me. This really is a tribute to one of the great chefs I closely follow. I have tweaked the recipe slightly from the original and also have my additions of parsnip puree and golden beets. I hope you guys love it!

Ingredients:

For rack of lamb:

• Rack of lamb (with 10-12 chops cut in 2 racks)
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro
• 1/4 cup fresh mint leaves
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley
• 1/8 cup dried rosemary
• 1/8 cup fresh dill leaves
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 1/2 cup cup bread crumbs
• 1 cup mustard sauce with whole seeds
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• Salt and pepper

For Parsnip Puree:

• Fresh Parsnips (2 no. about 12 oz)
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• Salt and pepper

For Golden beets:

• 6 no golden beets
• 1/4 cup vinegar
• 6 cups water
• 1 tbsp salted butter

Method:

For rack of lamb:

Preheat oven to 380F. Marinate the lamb rack generously with salt and pepper. Set aside for 15 minutes.

Heat olive oil in a cast iron skillet on medium-high heat with garlic cloves and fry the lamb rack on all sides to give a nice golden brown color (About 2-3 minutes on each side) This helps to retain the moisture in the lamb chops. Now transfer the lamb chops with the cast iron skillet to the oven and bake for 8 minutes.

While the racks are in the oven prepare the crust. Add all the herbs with the bread crumbs to a food processor and blend. The mixture should have a nice bight greenish color. Transfer to a large mixing bowl.

Now, get the lamb racks out of the oven while still in the skillet. Apply the mustard sauce on the rack (I used Maille whole grain mustard sauce) and coat evenly. Now move the racks to the mixing bowl and coat with the herb and bread crumb mixture. Transfer back to the skillet and bake in the over for another 4 minutes. Bring the rack out of the oven and let it rest for a few minutes before slicing.

For the parsnip puree:

In a vessel melt the butter and garlic over medium heat. Wash, peel and chop the parsnips in 1/2 inch sizes and add to the vessel. Add in the milk, salt, pepper and paprika and bring to a boil. The milk should be just about enough to submerge the parsnips when boiling. You can adjust with a little water if needed. Cook the parsnips till tender. Then add all the ingredients to a food processor and puree.

For the beets:

Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil with quarter cup vinegar. Add in the golden beets and cook (About 30-40 minutes) depending on the size of the beets. Now bring out the beets. Cool and peel off the skin. Slice in half and place in a baking tray. Melt butter and coat the beets and low broil in the oven for 5-10 minutes. the beets should now be glistening.

Serve the sliced lamb chops on a bed of parsnip puree and golden beets at the side!