Episode XVIII: Baby Sheep

Its finally, finally time to get back to Big Bob and make some progress. Choice on this night was the Rack of Lamb with Mixed Herb Seasoning on page 202. Several folks were over including Riff Raff (again!) and the The Traveler with Ms Malaysia. I love lamb and don't get it often, so was really looking forward to it. Unfortunately I was drinking and chatting a lot and this was a little complicated for someone doing a lot of multi-tasking. Plus, it takes two grills to accomplish. Well maybe not for everyone, but this is one place where the Komodo was a little bit of a hindrance.

Anyway.... I digress. Rubbing down the lamb and wrapping the ends in foil so they didn't burn off went well enough. What you do is put the whole rack and a hot grill and kind of sear it up. Of course I got distracted (I'll blame it on the friends but it might have been, just maybe the alcohol) and caught them on fire. Gotta remember that these oil based pastes can light up fast when near an open flame. Fortunately, I caught it fairly quick.



Then... it was time to move it off the gas and onto the Komodo at a lower temperature where I smoked it for a while over apple wood.








Then.... it's time to slice the rack into chops, season a little then pop them back on the hot grill for 30 seconds per slide. Well, that was pretty complicated to manage three racks, not burn the chops and just generally keep things moving. Fortunately, I pleaded for help from The Traveler. I figured he used to work he used to own a restaurant so he could help, right? Well, not sure I trusted him working the knife while drinking so I put him in charge of the chop cooking. I think we ended up with some perfectly cooked medium-rare chops.

My thoughts?

• They came out excellent. I loved them. Lots of flavor and I would definitely do them again.
• The Traveler was just back from Japan and loved having "real" food again.
• I would advise limiting the drinking while handling all of these logistics.