Guard of honour in hay with apricot mint sauce - country

8 servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
1 tablespoon Butter
¼ cup Finely chopped onion
1 cup Chicken broth
1 pack (6-oz) dried apricots, each quartered
Clean, pesticide-free hay, rinsed
1 cup Water
2 Untrimmed racks of lamb, 8 bones each
String
2 teaspoons Coarse salt
½ teaspoon Coarse ground black pepper
1½ teaspoon Chopped fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon Red-wine vinegar
1 tablespoon Honey
½ teaspoon Ground cumin
2 tablespoons Finely chopped fresh mint, preferably apple mint leaves or 1/2 t crumbled dried rosemary leaves
1 teaspoon Dried oregano leaves
1 teaspoon Dried thyme leaves
Fresh parsley sprigs (opt.)
Fresh rosemary sprigs (opt.)
Fresh thyme sprigs (opt.)
Fresh mint sprigs (opt.)

Directions

APRICOT MINT SAUCE

LAMB

1. Several hours or day before serving, prepare Apricot Mint Sauce: In 2-quart saucepan, melt butter. Add onion and cook until lightly browned and tender. Add broth, apricots, vinegar, honey, and cumin; heat mixture to boiling over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until mixture is saucelike about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in chopped mint; cover and refrigerate.

2. One hour before serving, prepare Lamb: Place hay in roasting pan and pour water over hay. Trim lamb racks so that 1½ inches of each rib bone is exposed. Trim excess fat, leaving ¼-inch layer of fat over racks. If desired, with knife, score fat layer in a diamond pattern.

3. Heat oven to 375'F. Arrange racks on hay in roasting pan parallel to each other with fat side out. Press together at top, alternating bones. With string, tie racks together. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, rosemary, oregano, and thyme.

4. Bake racks 40 to 50 minutes or until meat thermometer, inserted in center of meat portion of widest rack, registers 140'F for rare.

Remove string from top of racks; place hay and racks on serving platter. Garnish racks with parsley, rosemary, and thyme sprigs, if desired. To serve, slice lamb between bones and pass Apricot Mint Sauce, garnished with mint sprigs, if desired.

Country Living/March/91 Scanned & fixed by Di Pahl & <gg>

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