Tarragon-Crusted Lamb with Goat Cheese Fondue
Andrew Zimmern’s Kitchen AdventuresAhhhh,springis springing, and a young man’s thoughts turn tolamb. Let’s get the negative thinking out of the way first. Young lamb (less than about seven to eight months old) is superbly tender, not fatty or the least bit barnyard-greasy, and the younger you go, the better the product, in my opinion. If you can get milk-fed baby lamb at a farm market or via CSA or farm-direct, go for it. A whole baby rack is a single serving, but for greater quantities I roast whole baby-lamb quarters on the grill or in the oven all the time. The meat is pale pink and achingly sweet and tender. This recipe calls for one rack to serve two people, which is about three or four small chops per person. And it assumes you are buying conventional lamb that’s around eight or nine months old. That’s pretty standard.I think lamb and goat cheese is a perfect combination. The goat cheese sauce here is a simple one that pairs beautifully with any grilled or broiled red or white meat. For years, I often made little sandwiches on toast with leftover roast leg of lamb and soft ripened goat cheese. Much later, I merged a couple of thoughts together and developed a more formal recipe at home for dinner parties. After watching our son devour the leftovers one day, I made it part of our family’s rotation during weekly meal planning. It became so popular that my seven-year-old and I even "taught" this dish together at a family-dinner demo last year at Walt Disney World. Kids love putting the sauce on the lamb, and what kid doesn’t love "meat lollipops"?—Andrew ZimmernFast Lamb Chop Recipes