Sous vide Rack of Lamb with Zhug, Buttermilk and Grilled Spring Onions | Recipe by sousvidetools.com

Sous vide Rack of Lamb with Zhug, Buttermilk and Grilled Spring Onions

COOK TIME: 3 Hours
PREP TIME: 6 Hours
DIFFICULTY: Medium
SERVES: 4

Ingredients

Sous vide rack of lamb

2 racks of lamb
2 tbsp of olive oil
1/2 bunch of rosemary
25g of butter
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

Buttermilk

120g of buttermilk

Brine

70g of table salt
1/4 tsp white peppercorns
1/4 tsp coriander seeds
1/4 tsp fennel seeds
3 sprigs of thyme
1 bay leaf

Zhug

1 bunch of coriander, small (28g), leaves picked
1/2 bunch of parsley, small (28g), leaves picked
1 green chilli, deseeded and finely diced
1/2 tsp cumin seeds, toasted and finely crushed
1 cardamom pod, finely crushed
2 cloves, finely crushed
1/2 tsp agave nectar
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely microplaned
50ml of olive oil
1/2 tsp table salt

Sous vide griddled spring onions

2 bunches of spring onions, roots left on, washed
1 tbsp of olive oil
1/4 bunch of thyme

Equipment

Sieve
J-Cloth
Whisk
Piping Bag
Sous Vide Water Bath
Large Vacuum Bags
Sous Vide Bar Sealer

Method

Recipe courtesy of Chantelle Nicholson from Great British Chefs. Watch the full instructional video below to discover how to make this delicious sous vide recipe.

METHOD

To begin, place the buttermilk in a sieve lined with a J-cloth and place over a bowl. Leave to strain in the fridge for 6 hours
After this time, scrape the strained buttermilk out of the J-cloth into a new bowl and whisk until smooth. Place in a piping bag and refrigerate
To make the brine for the lamb, place all the ingredients in a saucepan, add 500ml warm water and bring to the boil. Simmer for 2 minutes then remove from the heat and add 500ml cold water. Allow to cool completely before using
Fully submerge the lamb racks in the brine and place in the fridge for 2 hours
Preheat a water bath to 55°C
When ready to cook the lamb, rinse the racks well and pat dry. Season well, place in 2 large vacuum bags and add some oil and rosemary to each one. Seal with a bar sealer and cook in the water bath for 3 hours
While the lamb is cooking, make the zhug. Place all the ingredients in a blender jug with 2 tbsp of water and blend until a chunky paste is formed. Season to taste
When ready, remove the lamb from the water bath and increase the temperature to 90°C (to cook the spring onions)
To prepare the spring onions, place in a sous vide bag with the the olive oil and thyme and season well. Seal with a bar sealer and place in the water bath for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, heat a chargrill pan until almost smoking for when the spring onions are ready
To brown the lamb, place the butter in a frying pan over a high heat. When foaming, add the lamb racks fat-side down and cook until golden, for approximately 5 minutes. Remove from the pan and keep in a warm place to rest for 5 minutes
Pour any cooking juices from the sous vide bag in the pan and reduce to a glaze
Remove the spring onions from the bag and quickly brown in the chargrill pan
To serve, carve the lamb racks into 12 pieces. Divide the spring onions between the plates, add 3 lamb pieces to each plate and drizzle the pan juices over the lamb. Pipe the buttermilk on the plate, spoon over some zhug and serve

Video

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Post by Chris Holland

Our Chef Director Chris Holland worked as Head Chef at the prestigious Alderley Edge hotel before joining us. He has a passion for using the best produce and never compromises on quality. Author of our best selling book Sous Vide The Art of Precision Cooking, Chris is a expert on the sous vide technique.During the later part of my school days at Wardle High School Rochdale I always wanted to be a chef . I knew from the very start that my path to work was never going to be academic it was always going to be something practical and hands on.

As a young boy growing up I was inspired to cook with my Grandma who was and still is an inspiration to me . I have memories of helping make the cakes that she always had made for visitors and family alike . She made the most amazing cakes and I loved nothing more than eating the sweet raw cake batter straight from the bowl . We used to fight over who got to lick the bowl/spoon after the cakes were made. My grandma’s philosophy for cooking even on a shoe string budget was always to use fresh and seasonal ingredients either home grown or bought from the market.

School was somewhat of a drag for me as I was itching to learn to become a chef.

I started at Hopwood Hall college as a chef and instantly fell in love with it .To me it was the only real time I excelled in something and this inspired me to really get my head down and put in the hard work. College was the first time I really excelled in something and gave me the opportunity to laugh at the teachers who said I would never make something of my life!!!!

During the three years at college I also took on a part time position in a local hotel working the bar and restaurant first and then the kitchen. These were great days and gave me the opportunity to see how the industry ticks. I learnt a lot from those days both good and bad !! But I have to say I was itching to work only in the kitchen but it was a good insight into the catering world .

After completing college I moved away from Rochdale for a full time roll at one of Cheshire’s most talked about Hotel restaurants The Stanneylands Hotel. This was the school of hard knocks for me as I quickly realised that although excelling at college meant nothing in “The Real World”.

I loved every minute of the 18 hour days 6 days a week on minimum wage . Although difficult I feel that without this grounding I wouldn’t have achieved what I have today. After 18 months of hard graft I left Stanneylands and went with the Head chef to open a fine dining restaurant at Mere Golf and Country Club. The opportunity to work alongside Matthew Barrett was too good to turn down. I learnt so much from the ex-Ritz chef and working in a much slower paced role helped me develop a much better understanding of how to organise and run a kitchen. We were a very small team and teamwork was and still is the only way to go for me.

After 2 years at Mere I got the opportunity to go into The Alderley Edge Hotel as Junior Souschef. The Early days at the Edge were all about learning new styles of cuising which is invaluable in any role as a chef. I got the opportunity to grow and learn all aspects of every section which was inspiring . I was offered the opportunity at the age of 29 (2004) to take the role of head chef. For me this was when I really started to develop my own style of food.

After 9 years at the top winning Cheshire restaurant of the year , Chef of the Year and appearing on GBM amongst many highlights including cooking for many celebrities and famous people I decided to move on into development with Sousvidetools.

The main inspiration for this was to train and educate people . I always had a great passion for education but could never really see myself at a college . The job is super rewarding and I am proud to say we have become the leading light in sous-vide education in the UK . This is something I am very proud of . Food is my biggest passion and this is what keeps me interested the most . I love to travel and try out other countries cuisines. I am constantly inspired by ingredients and the pursuit of getting the best out of them without destroying their natural flavour .It is super important to me to continue to try and be at the forefront of the food scene this is what inspire me and the team to keep driving forward .

Technology is now widely used in the industry and I am super proud to say we have been a big part of spreading that message.

I am very lucky to be in the position I am and the drive to constantly improve our training and links to the next generation of young budding hospitality chefs.

TI feel that my experience over the last 25 years really enables me to get close and educate the “next generation” of chefs .

The industry which I love is really struggling to bring through new recruits and if I can help that process I will be immensely proud.

The food seen in the Uk has improved dramatically over the last ten years and I feel this will continue with the correct education. What happens next only fate will tell us...

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