Rack of Lamb with Oatmeal and Cracked Black Pepper Crust

This recipie is featured in the Scottish recipes by Lady Claire Macdonald leaflet. World - renowned writer, cook and cookery demonstrator, Claire Macdonald lives at Kinloch Lodge on the Isle of Skye.

Allow 1 rack to serve two people

To serve 6

3 Racks of Lamb
6 tablespoons Hamlyn’s Scottish Oatmeal
About 30 grinds of black pepper, best if you have a very coarse grinder
1 teaspoon approx. best rock salt, such as Malden
A sprig of Rosemary - chopped

Lay a sheet of baking parchment in a roasting tin - this will make washing up very much easier.

Now, either cut the fat and skin from the racks - easy with a very sharp knife, or, if you like to eat fat, leave it on but score it, again with a sharp knife, in lines across then diagonally. Mix together the oatmeal, salt and pepper, and scatter it over the racks. Roast in a hot oven, 400’f, 200’c, gas mark 6, for 20-25 minutes if you like the meat rare. Personally, I like lamb cooked right through - unfashionable, I know - so I cook the racks for an hour. Because I cook them for so long I cover them with a piece of baking parchment for the first half of their cooking time, to prevent scorching the oatmeal during the cooking time. If you leave on the fat, a lengthy cooking time allows the fat to crisp up and much of the fat literally melts into the meat. Delicious!

Serve the lamb with a minty hollandaise sauce:

3 large Egg Yolks
150g - 225g (6-8 oz) Butter
A good handful of chopped mint leaves - applemint if at all possible
140ml (1/4 pint) White Wine Vinegar simmered till reduced by half with: 6-8 peppercorns, a bayleaf, a few crushed parsley stalks, half a raw onion. When cold, strain the flavoured reduced vinegar.

Put the yolks into a pyrex bowl which fits on top of a saucepan. Have about 2” of water simmering in the pan. With a whisk add the flavoured wine vinegar to the yolks, then add the butter, about an ounce at a time. Stir with the whisk until the butter has melted before adding another piece. Keep the water beneath the bowl at a gently simmer - not a fast boil - as you stir in the butter pieces. You should end up with a thick sauce. Take the bowl off the heat and stir in the chopped mint. This sauce will keep its heat and can be made an hour before serving - keep it in a warm place, but not over direct heat.

To serve the racks, you can either cut each rack in half and serve it just as it is, or you can cut between each bone and arrange three chops per person on each warmed plate. Do whichever you choose. If you really want to be correct, you can buy small frills of white paper, specially made to cover the ends of the bones, but I have to confess that I have never done this!