A Meat Fest Weekend in Chicago

For the past couple of years, I have had the amazing opportunity to help a dear friend of mine with the Chicago Beefsteak Event, an annual event hosted at the Dank Haus, the German cultural center on Western Avenue in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of Chicago.

This year, the event took place over an entire weekend. We butchered, cooked and sliced a bunch of meat, from racks of lamb to prime sirloin to the most delicious of all - American wagyu beef. All that was served at this event was meat, meat and more meat! 

Working an event like this is a lot of fun for a chef, especially since I don't get to do this kind of volume cooking very much anymore. It is a lot of fun, but also a lot of work! We also had many great helpers, who were key to the event's success. 

The day started with cleaning the rack of lamb or what's known as “frenching “them. Rack of lamb is a section of ribs usually 7, sometimes 8 lamb chops, in one piece. "Frenched" is a classic way to prepare the rack of lamb, where you remove the meat, fat and membranes that connect the individual rib bones. The technique gives the rack a clean look for an elegant meal. 

In my opinion, the best rack of lambs come from New Zealand and Australia, so you will find them mainly frozen at the grocery store. Let them defrost in your refrigerator, ideally two or three days before working with them. Check out Wild Fork Foods who carries a great variety of high quality frozen products, including rack of lamb. There are physical stores in the West Loop and Roscoe Village in Chicago, but you can also order online and have lamb delivered to wherever you live. Once you get your rack of lamb, I suggest making this elegant recipe which has always been a hit at The Chopping Block. 

Roasted Rack of Lamb with Red Wine-Truffle Sauce 

Scroll down for a printable version of this recipe

Yield: 4-6 servings

Active time: 30 minutes

Start to finish: 45 minutes 

2 tablespoons grapeseed oil

2 racks of lamb, frenched 

Salt and pepper to taste 

3 tablespoons Dijon mustard 

2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, finely chopped

1 cup panko breadcrumbs mixed with 1 teaspoon grapeseed oil

For the sauce:

2 tablespoons butter

1 shallot, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 cup red wine 

1 1/2 cups beef stock 

1 canned black truffle, rough chopped

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

 2 tablespoons cold butter, diced 

 Salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 375°
2. Season the lamb on both sides with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Heat a sauté pan over medium-high heat and add the oil. Sear the lamb in the hot pan, presentation side down, until deep golden brown on each side. Transfer the lamb to a rack set in a roasting pan. Note: Save the sauté pan to prepare the sauce.
4. Spread the mustard over the surface of the lamb, sprinkle with the rosemary and coat with the breadcrumbs.
5. Bake in the oven until the thickest part of the chops reaches an internal temperature of 125° to 130º, about 15 minutes.
6. While the lamb is roasting, prepare the sauce. Heat the same sauté pan used to sear the lamb over medium heat, and wipe away any excess fat. And the butter and gently sauté the shallots until lightly caramelized, about 1 minute.
7. Sprinkle in the flour, and cook for about 1 minute.
8. Deglaze the pan with red wine, scraping free any bits of fond from the bottom of the pan.
9. Whisk in the beef stock and mustard, and simmer until reduced by half of its original volume.
10. Remove the sauce from the heat, and whisk in the truffle and cold butter, and season with salt and pepper to taste. 
11. Once the lamb is done, allow the racks to rest for 10 minutes. Cut the chops apart between the bones and serve with the sauce. 

If you would like to learn more techniques for cooking meat, specifically beef, don't miss our virtual Building Blocks: Beef Cookery coming up on Saturday, February 26 at 10am CST. In this class, you'll learn how to:

• Identify different cuts of beef
• Choose the correct cooking techniques for the cut of beef
• Sear beef
• Prepare compound butter
• Determine beef doneness
• Roast beef
• Stir fry beef

Our virtual Building Blocks series is a great place to start, and you can take this class in the comfort of your own kitchen. If you want to expand your cooking horizons even more, learn more about our popular Culinary Boot Camp. In our most intensive cooking class, you'll spend five days in our kitchen cooking alongside professional chefs, learning all of the same techniques they did in culinary school. Our next session runs Monday, February 21 through Friday, February 25 from 9am-5pm each day at Lincoln Square.

Yield: 4-6

Author: The Chopping Block

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Roasted Rack of Lamb with Red Wine-Truffle Sauce

Prep time: 20 MinCook time: 15 MinInactive time: 10 MinTotal time: 45 Min

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
• 2 racks of lamb, frenched
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, finely chopped
• 1 cup panko breadcrumbs mixed with 1 teaspoon grapeseed oil

For the sauce

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 shallot, thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 cup red wine
• 1 1/2 cups beef stock
• 1 canned black truffle, rough chopped
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons cold butter, diced
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375°
2. Season the lamb on both sides with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Heat a sauté pan over medium-high heat and add the oil. Sear the lamb in the hot pan, presentation side down, until deep golden brown on each side. Transfer the lamb to a rack set in a roasting pan. Note: Save the sauté pan to prepare the sauce.
4. Spread the mustard over the surface of the lamb, sprinkle with the rosemary and coat with the breadcrumbs.
5. Bake in the oven until the thickest part of the chops reaches an internal temperature of 125° to 130º, about 15 minutes.
6. While the lamb is roasting, prepare the sauce. Heat the same sauté pan used to sear the lamb over medium heat, and wipe away any excess fat. And the butter and gently sauté the shallots until lightly caramelized, about 1 minute.
7. Sprinkle in the flour, and cook for about 1 minute.
8. Deglaze the pan with red wine, scraping free any bits of fond from the bottom of the pan.
9. Whisk in the beef stock and mustard, and simmer until reduced by half of its original volume.
10. Remove the sauce from the heat, and whisk in the truffle and cold butter, and season with salt and pepper to taste.
11. Once the lamb is done, allow the racks to rest for 10 minutes. Cut the chops apart between the bones and serve with the sauce.

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