Recipe and Tasting Notes: Grilled Lamb Ribs and a 1995 Brunello di Montalcino

Some Thursday night meals are just better than others. This one was, well, better than most. As you may know, twice a year I buy a whole lamb from our vet who owns a farm (we buy a cow, as well!) and takes outstanding care of her livestock. It’s quite nice to know you’re buying meat from animals that were well taken care of, especially with all of the problems with abuse in the large slaughterhouses. The result of this great care is beautiful cuts of meat that are filled with flavor!

For tonight’s dinner I came up with a rub using some ingredients we had around the kitchen and used it to make grilled lamb ribs. I really enjoy cooking when we haven’t gone shopping in a while; it’s a fun challenge and I usually come up with combinations I haven’t tried before. The result this time was a rib of lamb, rubbed with a dry rub of sage/garlic/thyme/capers (and more) and grilled to juicy perfection!

Here are the tasting notes on the wine (from my favorite wine region in the world, Montalcino) which I acquired recently from a collector with a cellar deep in Italian greats. Overall, the wine was very good- making me miss Montalcino even more!

The wine: 1995 Fattoria dei Barbi (Colombini) Brunello di Montalcino: Opened and poured. Garnet with a tint of deep rust. The nose was actually showing a lot of great aromas with blackberry, cherry, mushroom, spice, petrol and a bit of earth/wet forest. You could tell this one was just past its prime but dark fruits were in tact as well as a meaty component and a lot of sour cherry that showed up after an hour in the glass. Surprisingly good balance, medium tannins, nice finish. Still drinking well but definitely heading downhill. My rating: 89 pts, GV (Good value Brunello)

Dry rubbed grilled lamb ribs

Ingredients:

• 1 large (2-3 lb) rib of lamb, fat trimmed chilled in fridge
• 1/4 cup fresh sage
• 1/4 cup fresh thyme
• 2 Tablespoons salted capers
• 1 tablespoon crushed red peppers
• 1 tablespoon toasted corriander seeds
• 2 gloves garlic
• fresh ground pepper
• olive oil

1. In a small food processor add all the spices and herbs, and capers and grind/chop until all ingredients are finely chopped and thoroughly mixed.
2. Rub lamb ribs with olive oil, then cover both sides with dried rub working the rub deep into the ribs.
3. Cover and let sit for 20 minutes at room temperature. Pre-heat grill to high heat.
4. Turn the grill heat down on one side to lowest setting, place lamb ribs meat-side down on indirect/low heat for 6 minutes. Flip, and let cook for another 6 minutes.
5. Increase heat on all burners and place lamb meat side down on direct heat for 3 minutes, then flip for 4 minutes.
6. Remove lamb from heat and place on cutting board. Allow to rest for 10 minutes, then cut between ribs in desired portions and serve.

I served this with a left-over lamb ragu (covered in parmasean-reggiano) that we had the night before and was a result of the same “use what you got” style of cooking! Both went great with the Brunello. What are some of your favorite or memorable dishes that you threw together at the last minute with stuff sitting around the kitchen?

An essential when making a dry rub: