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Award-winning chef, author and forager Alan Bergo. Food is all around you.

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Porcini-Crusted Rack of Lamb (Slow Roasted)

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Slow roasted rack of lamb with bolete crust, jus, spinach and chanterellesThis slow-cooked, fall-off-the-bone-soft, bolete mushroom-crusted rack of lamb will rock your world. Rack of lamb is an intimidating thing for most home cooks as they’re expensive, and it doesn’t help that they’re small, touchy, and can overcook in just a few minutes either.

And, depending on how your rack is trimmed, and how the animals ate, the experience of eating can be different between people who prefer different things in the world of their roasted meat. If the rack hasn’t been frenched, it will still have the rib meat attached, and picky eaters that don’t like any flubbery-ness might pick the eye out of the rack and leave the rest of the fatty rib meat on the plate. Wasteful heresy aside, it’s a well-known reality dealing with children and some adults of lower-than-average culinary intelligence (picky eaters, come at me).

Slow cooked rack of lamb though? No worries. the cooking method won’t work with beef, and pork is questionable, but lamb and goat, with their small structure and great ratio of intramuscular fat, are a dream cooked low and slow, especially after they’ve been massaged down with dried bolete or porcini mushrooms (like in my mushroom rub recipe that uses Suillus.)

I’m talking about slooow roasting, and, specifically the magic of slow roasting in parchment, which holds in moisture while still allowing some browning, maillard reaction-ing, and development of all the delicious flavor compounds that make a roast chicken finger-licking good. Trust me, if you like crispy browned, roasted, tender meat things, you and yours will play fight club for the last mushroom-crusted rib chop.

Rubbing a lamb rack with dried mushroom rub

Give that rack a rub down. And, if you have time, let it sit overnight and dry-brine in the fridge for the best flavor.

Here’s the secret. Roast a regular rack of lamb, and you’re going to get (hopefully) a perfectly cooked loin eye, with the meat on the bone having to be gnawed off if it hasn’t been frenched (not necessarily a bad thing). Chances are, if you’re buying local lamb, or lamb you raised yourself, it probably isn’t frenched.

Slow cooking your rack in parchment negates any and all differences in the way the meat cooks and eats, at the same time rendering the rib fat to a crispy nubbin that falls off the bone like some pot roast of the gods. It’s one of the best ways to cook a rack of lamb. The only drawback is that it isn’t as pretty as a regular rack, which, depending on the eaters you’re expecting, might not be a bad thing at all–it’s going to taste amazing, and that’s the most important part, isn’t it?

Slow roasted rack of lamb with bolete crust

But, to unlock an additional meat cooking skill medal, and present the lamb as pictured with some cheffy flair,, you can chill the cooked roast afterwords, which will firm it up and allow you to cut the cleanest, easiest slices possible. From there, all you have to do is gently reheat each slice in a pan or the oven, and serve.

When I served this one, it went nicely with a pan sauce made from the fat and drippings, some wilted spinach, toasted garlic slices and chanterelle conserve that I warm up in and brown gently as I would fresh mushrooms. See the recipe notes for more variations and ideas.

Slow roasted rack of lamb with bolete crust, jus, spinach and chanterelles
Print Recipe
5 from 1 vote

Porcini-Crusted Rack of Lamb (Slow Roasted)

Slow roasted, fork-tender rack of lamb with a boletus mushroom crust
Prep Time15 mins
Cook Time4 hrs
Resting time (optional)12 hrs
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Boletes, Lamb bacon, Mushroom Rub
Servings: 2

Ingredients

  • 1 rack of lamb
  • 1 recipe dried bolete mushroom rub
  • 1 teaspoons fresh chopped thyme
  • Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper
  • Parchment enough to wrap the rack of lamb

Instructions

  • Using a paring knife, remove the half-moon shaped piece of cartiledge from the end of the loin nearest the shoulder, then score the fat just deep enough to penetrate it with a cross-hatch pattern to help it render.
  • Season the rack all over with salt, pepper and thyme, then place on a sheet of parchment large enough to wrap it up into a package. Apply the bolete mushroom rub, turning the rack over in the powder to help it adhere.
  • Put the rack bone-side down on the parchment, then sprinkle any remaining mushroom powder over the top. The amount of mushroom rub should seem excessive, but will help form the delicious crust you want.
  • Wrap the meat in parchment, tying the ends closed to make a package, and refrigerate overnight (optional). To cook the rack of lamb, bake the packet in a pan to catch the fat for 4 hours at 250 degrees, from here you can serve the lamb, although it will be messy. I like to chill to make perfect slices easy, and then reheat when needed.
  • Make a pan sauce from the drippings (optional)

Notes

Don't have a rack of lamb? Don't like lamb? No prob, here's some others you could use: 
  • Pork ribs
  • Beef chuck roast (heavily marbled and fatty) 
  • Leg of lamb 
  • Roast chicken (cook at 300F)
  • Pork shoulder 

Slow roasted rack of lamb with bolete crust, jus, spinach and chanterelles

Related

Previous Post: « Syllabubs with Preserves and Candied Angelica
Next Post: Simple Chokeberry / Aronia Preserves or Jam »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jenny G

    October 17, 2021 at 6:17 pm

    5 stars
    I must admit that I was a bit dubious to slow-cook a rack of lamb, but the results were delicious. Even my family member who likes neither mushrooms nor coffee said it was ‘really good’ and ‘thanks for making dinner, mom’.’ It’s definitely a keeper.

    I couldn’t tell when to use the black pepper and fresh thyme from the recipe text – just mixed it in to the rub.

    Reply
    • Alan Bergo

      October 20, 2021 at 1:14 pm

      Glad it worked for you Jenny.

      Reply

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Alan Bergo
Milkweed buds are the second-best edible part of t Milkweed buds are the second-best edible part of the plant, besides the pods in my opinion. They need to be cooked to be edible. 

I only pick from common milkweed in areas where there’s very large colonies. 

I leave some buds to flower on each plant, I also avoid any tops that have insects or monarch caterpillars. Plenty of food to go around. 

#milkweedisafoodplant #foraging #milkweedbuds #asclepiassyriaca
HALP! I’ve been keeping an eye on two loaded mul HALP! I’ve been keeping an eye on two loaded mulberry trees and both got a bunch of fruit knocked down by the storms and wind. 

If anyone in West WI or around the Twin Cities knows of some trees, (ideally on private property but beggars can’t be choosers) that I could climb and shake with a tarp underneath, shoot me a DM and let’s pick some! 🤙😄

TIA

#throwadogabone #mansquirrel #beattlefruit #mulberries #shakintrees
Lampascioni, or edible hyacinth bulbs are one of t Lampascioni, or edible hyacinth bulbs are one of the more interesting things I’ve eaten. 

These are an ancient wild food traditionally harvested in Southern Italy, especially in Puglia and the Salentine Peninsula, as well as Greece and Crete. I’ve seen at least 6-7 different names for them. 

A couple different species are eaten, but Leopoldia comosa is probably the one I see mentioned the most. They also grow wild in North America. 

The bulbs are toxic raw, but edible after an extended boil. Traditionally they’re preserved in vinegar and oil, pickled, or preserves in other methods using acid and served as antipasti. (Two versions in pic 3). 

They’re one of the most heavily documented traditional wild foods I’ve seen. There’s a few shots of book excerpts here.

The Oxford companion to Italian Food says you can eat them raw-don’t do that. 

Even after pickling, the bulbs are aggressively extremely bitter. Definitely an acquired taste, but one that’s grown on me. 

#traditionalfoods #vampagioli #lampascione #cucinapovera #lampascioni #leopoldiacomosa #foraging
Went to some new spots yesterday looking for poke Went to some new spots yesterday looking for poke sallet and didn’t do too well (I’m at the tip of its range). I did see some feral horseradish though which I don’t see very often. 

Just like wild parsnip, this is the exact same plant you see in the store and garden-just escaped. 

During the growing season the leaves can be good when young. 

They have an aggressive taste bitter enough to scare your loved ones. Excellent in a blend of greens cooked until extra soft, preferably with bacon or similar. 

For reference, you don’t harvest the root while the plant is growing as they’ll be soft and unappealing-do that in the spring or fall. This is essentially the same as when people tell you to harvest in months that have an R in them. 

#amoraciarusticana #foraging #horseradishleaves #horseradish #bittergreens
In Italy chicken of the woods is known as “fungo In Italy chicken of the woods is known as “fungo del carrubo” (carob tree mushroom) as it’s one of the common tree hosts there. 

My favorite, and really the only traditional recipe I’ve found for them so far is simmered in a spicy tomato sauce with hot chile and capers, served with grilled bread. 

Here I add herbs too: fresh leaves of bee balm that are perfect for harvesting right now and have a flavor similar to oregano and thyme. 

Makes a really good side dish or app, especially if you shower it with a handful of pecorino before scooping it up with the bread. 

#chickenofthewoods #fungodelcarrubo #allthemushroomtags #traditionalfoods #beebalm
First of the year 😁. White-pored chicken of t First of the year 😁. 

White-pored chicken of the woods (Laetiporus cincinnatus) are my favorite chicken. 

Superior bug resistance, slightly better flavor + texture. They also stay tender longer compared to their more common yellow-pored cousins. Not a single bug in this guy. 

#treemeat #ifoundfood #foraging #laetiporuscincinnatus #chickenofthewoods
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