Asian Flavored Rack of Lamb

Having grown up in the Midwest, I never ate much lamb, but when we moved to Australia for work, we had to learn to cook and eat lamb. The lamb in Australia and New Zealand is superb. This is a recipe that I brought home from Australia.  The original version called for using a butterflied leg of lamb and roasting the meat in the oven.  Since there are just two of us in our household, I have modified the recipe and use rack of lamb.  One frenched rack will serve two to three people.  I generally allow for three ribs per person.  I do the cooking on the grill which gives the marinade a nice crispy bite and is much quicker than roasting. If you prefer doing a leg of lamb, marinate the meat for 24 hours and roast in a 450 degree oven on a rack in a pan with a little water on the bottom of the pan.

Ingredients:

One rack of lamb (preferably from New Zealand) (for a larger group allow 2-3 chops per person and buy the # of racks needed)

Marinade: (adjust quantities upward for greater quantities of lamb)
4 cloves garlic crushed
1 TBSP sugar
1 TBSP chopped fresh ginger
2 TBSP Ketchup
2 TBSP soy sauce
2 TBSP dry sherry
3 TBSP Hoi Sin Sauce*
1 TBSP honey
1 Tsp. Chinese five spice powder*

*available in the Asian section of your supermarket

Preparation:

Combine all Marinade ingredients in a small bowl and stir well. 

Remove lamb from packaging and wash and pat dry.  Trim some of the extra fat off of the back side of the rack.  Using a sharp boning knife, separate the rack into serving size portions of two to three chops each.
Put chops into a non-reactive baking dish and cover with the marinade. Cover dish and refrigerate.  Allow the meat to stand in the marinade for 3- 4 hours. 

Pre-heat grill, with direct flame on half and indirect heat on remaining part of grill. Sear chops on each side over direct heat, then move them off of the direct heat and cook for a few minutes on each side.  I like to serve the chops rare, but you may cook as you like. 

I like to serve the lamb on a bed of Garlic mashed potatoes with some nice fresh asparagus on the side.  And of course, you will need a glass of Australian Shiraz to accompany the lamb.  Penfold's Ste. Henri, will do nicely.