Lamb Four Ways

Background -
Last week, I got a little freer with my spending and decided to buy a rack of lamb. Since I wanted to cook it for fun rather than nutrition or a party, I decided that one preparation wasn't sufficiently haute and that I wanted to do it at least 3 ways. I eventually upped that to four after some consideration.

The four I went with were English (for mint), Italian (Heston), Egyptian (Nomnompaleo), and Chinese. I decided against trying an Indian variant.

For the recipes I went with:
http://www.marthastewart.com/316902/roast-rack-of-lamb-with-mint
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Roast-Rack-of-Lamb-with-Hoisin-Orange-Glaze-and-Red-Onions-233711
http://chocolateandzucchini.com/recipes/appetizers/dukkah-egyptian-spice-mix-recipe/

And then the recipe I used at the final party of last year.

I decided against the Food Wishes minted lamb approach because it seemed too Italian. The Martha Stewart one basically sucked, though, so next time I'll probably either do the Food Wishes one or use Heston's with mint sauce and do a more traditional parmesan crust for the Italian.

I made the Dukka myself, but think I oversalted it, didn't get the power fine enough, and should have pan-toasted the nuts instead of/in addition to getting them pre-roasted. The aroma was very nice, but I layered it too thick. The crust texture mixed really badly with that of the meat, and I found it generally unpleasant.

Heston's worked like a charm again, and the Chinese one was amazing - I'm going to try that glaze as a barbecue sauce on pork ribs in the next few days.

I wanted to serve condiments for each one, going regionally. I went with minted mashed potato/pomme puree for English, Heston's tapenade for Italian, sweated red onions in the hoisin glaze for Chinese, and moussaka for the Egyptian. I'm not going to do that again; the dish is heavy enough as-is so I'd rather do a big central main side (probably the potatoes) and then sauce the others. The hoisin onions worked very well as a "sauce" (I pureed them with the hand blender), but I'm never bothering with the tapenade again. The moussaka didn't really work with the lamb (or couldn't save it from the terrible duqqa crust - though I remember forgetting to add the thyme) and the mashed potatoes didn't really add anything to the plate for the English one.

But, for this iteration:

For the Hoisin Glaze -
1/2 cup hoisin sauce
1/4 cup frozen orange juice concentrate
1 1/2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger
1 tablespoon chili-garlic sauce
3/4 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder or ground aniseed

Whisk ingredients together in a bowl.

For the Dukka Crust -
30 grams (1 ounce, 1/4 cup) hazelnuts
30 grams (1 ounce, 1/4 cup) shelled pistachios (unsalted)
4 tablespoons sesame seeds
2 tablespoons coriander seeds
2 tablespoons cumin seeds
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon black pepper berries
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 teaspoon salt

Toast the nuts in a pan; remove, then toast the seeds for 2 minutes. Add the salt and thyme, then grind in a spice grinder or mortar and pestle to combine; you may need to work in two batches.

For the Mint Crust -
1 medium shallot, peeled, coarsely chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 cups fresh mint leaves, (no stems)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Add all ingredients to bowl of food processor; pulse until mixed.

For the Herb Crust -
2tbsp finely-minced rosemary
1tbsp finely-minced thyme
Olive Oil

Mix the herbs together with the olive oil.

For the Lamb -
1 Rack of Lamb, Frenched
Hoisin Orange Glaze
Dukka Crust
Mint Crust
Herb Crust

Cut the lamb into four portions of two ribs each; try to keep sizes equal. Crosshatch the fat on top and coat all sides generously with kosher salt. Refrigerate overnight, uncovered, on a wire rack.

Apply one crust to each segment, coating on all sides. Refrigerate another night to marinade, still uncovered.

Preheat oven to 150F convection roast. Cook the lamb elevated on a wire rack for 4-6 hours or until internal temperature reaches 130F. Remove from oven and raise temperature to max; prepare sides. Once oven has been at temperature for 30 minutes, return the lamb for 5-10 minutes to crisp.

Cut each pair of ribs apart, and spread on plate in a pinwheel. Serve sides between both ribs and to one side of each "section" (so Egyptian Rib - Moussaka - Egyptian Rib - Moussaka - English Rib - Potato - English Rib - Potato - Chinese Rib - Onions - Chinese Rib - Onions - Italian Rib - Tapenade - Italian Rib - Tapenade).

Change Ideas:
- Do the sides as sauces rather than sides. The onions worked really well with the Chinese one. Use a mint sauce for Heston's and call it English. Do a more traditional Italian one. Work out an Egyptian sauce to serve.
- Do them sous vide with the "crusts" as marinades, then sear and pack the crusts on afterwards. This also lends itself to pre-searing if we want to try the mutton flavor.
- Alternative plating idea - split them apart and do as }{ rather than {{.
- Presentation would also look better with more wasteful butchery - trim them down along the axis of the loin so they're all the same size.
- The Chinese one would work really well for a party - it's not much effort, it's delicious, and you could just carve up a ton of the racks and serve in circles around bowls of the onions.

I won't give the potato, tapenade, and moussaka recipes, but the onions were easy - just roughly dice red onion, sweat down in some olive oil, mix with some of the glaze and cook together for a few minutes, then remove to a pitcher and liquefy with a hand blender.