Ina Garten's Dijon- Balsamic Rack of Lamb

Lamb is one of those nostalgic scents for me. I spoke a bit about this when I posted on Basque Lamb Stew. My dearly loved Grandma used to make roasted lamb. She and Grandpa lived on a ranch, which was an amazingly fun place to visit as a kid. After a day of swimming with goldfish in the horse trough, dodging the psychotic rooster, and taking rides with Grandpa around the ranch in his hot pink Jeep... we would open the door to the house and become overwhelmed by the scent of lamb that had been slow-roasting most of the day. It tasted as good as it smelled too. So as a result, lamb has always been a favorite special treat. Last weekend, I treated my family to Ina Garten's Rack of Lamb.

I've made many recipes for rack of lamb. Though it can be on the expensive side, if you're armed with an instant-read thermometer, it's an easy meat to prepare and it's well worth the extra cash. I buy my lamb at Costco- their racks come already 'frenched'- and I've been very happy with the quality.


In Ina's recipe, you just spoon the quickie-marinade over the top of the rack and let it sit at room temp. for about an hour. Then it's popped into the oven for a quick roasting. I have one of these great oven thermometers where you can stick the thermometer in the meat but the part that registers the temperature sits outside the oven. It's an invaluable piece of kitchen equipment for me! If you have one of these, your meat will turn out perfect every time. No guessing needed. No over or under-cooking! You must get one.


The Barefoot Contessa rarely disappoints, and this was no exception. It was unanimous- my family loved this lamb recipe. The flavor was nice, and the meat was tender and perfectly roasted (we roasted it to medium-rare 130 degrees.)

This night, the scent of lamb filled the house and stirred up a few Ranch memories to share during dinner. And hopefully, with all of the cooking that I do, I am creating some nostalgic scents for my own family!

This recipe can be found HERE. For the next week or so I'll be posting a string of Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa) recipes that I've been trying.

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