Rack of Lamb with Apricot Sauce
One of the food trends over the past ten years has been the use of fruit in sauces for seafood, poultry, and meat. Hubert Sandot enhances rack of lamb with a piquant apricot sauce using dried apricots and apricot preserves.
Ingredients
- Apricot Sauce
- Dried Apricots - 16
- Chicken broth - 4 cups
- Cornstarch - 3 teaspoons
- Unsalted Butter - 4 tablespoons
- Onion - 1/2, minced
- Garlic Cloves - ,2 minced
- Apricot preserves - 1/2 cup
- Honey - 1 tablespoon
- Lamb racks - four, 8- to 12-ounce, trimmed and frenched
- Unsalted Butter - 3 tablespoons, at room temperature
- Fresh Thyme - 2 tablespoons, minced
- Coarsely ground pepper to taste
- Garlic Cloves - 4 large, minced
Instructions
To prepare the sauce: In a bowl, soak the apricots in 2 cups of the chicken broth for 2 hours. Remove the apricots and reserve; dissolve the cornstarch thoroughly in the broth. In a medium, heavy saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat and saute the onions and garlic until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the cornstarch mixture; cook and stir for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the rest of the broth, apricot preserves, honey, and apricots. Simmer over low heat for 8 to 10 minutes, or until thickened. Keep warm.
Preheat the broiler (the lamb could also be grilled over a charcoal fire). Dry the lamb racks with paper towels, then rub the meat (but not the bones) with butter. Sprinkle evenly with the thyme, pepper, and garlic. Cover the bones with aluminum foil to prevent them from burning. Broil the racks, bone-side up, 3 inches from the heat in the broiler for 10 minutes, then turn the racks and broil for 5 more minutes. Remove the racks from the broiler.
To serve: Remove the foil from the bones on each rack of lamb. Carve apart at the separations between the bones and arrange the meat on each of four serving plates. Spoon apricot sauce over and around the meat.
