Garlic Pea Crusted Rack of Lamb, Dauphinois Potatoes, Black Garlic Foam

Rack of lamb is a pretty expensive treat but this Welsh rack is a mighty fine treat indeed. This version combines the sweetness of peas with the flavour of garlic to form a colourful but flavourful crust. Paired with garlicky dauphinois potatoes and black garlic foam it takes some beating.

Ingredients:

1x Rack of lamb, seasoned
1x Slice of white bread, grated into crumbs
1x Handful of fresh parsley, finely chopped
1x Handful of frozen peas, allowed to thaw and finely chopped
1x Garlic clove, crushed or grated
Dijon mustard

500ml Lamb stock
1x Black garlic clove

1kg Potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced
2x Garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
300ml Double cream
300ml Milk
Butter


Method:

1. Arrange the potato slices in an oven dish.
2. On a chopping board sprinkle some salt over the 2 crushed garlic cloves then using the back of a fork work the garlic into a pulp.
3. In a saucepan mix the garlic pulp with the cream and milk and a good pinch of salt and pepper, and warm through.
4. Pour the garlic cream over the potatoes and scatter the top with knobs of butter.Cover with tin foil and put in the oven on gas mark 3 for 90 minutes.
5. To serve I simply placed a glass upside down on top of the dauphinois, cut around it with a knife then pushed the glass into the potatoes. You can then drop the potatoes out of the glass onto the plate to add that extra bit of visual presentation.

Black Garlic Foam:

1. Reduce the lamb stock by half by simmering on the hob, whisking regularly.
2. Peel the black garlic and crush it with the side of a knife. Add the pulp to the stock and continue simmering.
3. Thicken the sauce if needed with a cornflour and water mix then pass through a fine meshed sieve.
4. Pour the sauce into a whipping siphon and charge with one cartridge and shake very well. You can omit this bit if you haven't got a siphon and simply serve the sauce, it's just as tasty.

The Lamb:

1. Mix the breadcrumbs, peas, parsley and garlic together in a bowl.
2. In a hot frying pan brown the lamb on all sides but leave it a bit longer on the skin to melt the fat. Remove from pan and allow to rest.
3. Spread a really good dollop of dijon mustard over the skin and stick the garlic pea mixture to it.
4. Put the lamb in a gas mark 6 pre-heated oven for about 15 minutes. We like our lamb very rare so cook it a bit longer if you prefer it more done.
5. Slice the chops in pairs then plate up. We served ours with some french beans simply blanched for 3 minutes in boiling water.

You can read more about black garlic here www.britishblackgarlic.co.uk