International Cooking School Vacations: Deep fried Aromatic Lamb Ribs (served with new red onions confit and artichoke sauté)

Deep fried Aromatic Lamb Ribs (served with new red onions confit and artichoke sauté)

June 2008

Deepfried Aromatic Lamb Ribs (served with new red onions confit and artichoke
sauté)

Villa Mangiacane is a magnificent 16th-century Tuscan villa in the hills just outside of Florence. Not only is the property stunning, but so is the cuisine that is created there. Florentine cook Francesca Maria Boni is always creating something new and edgy! If you want a week of culinary immersion with Francesca, make your next vacation A Luxury Lifestyle at Villa Mangiacane!

Ingredients

New Red Onion Confit

  • In this period you can easily find new red onion bunches in every green grocer shop.
  • Take one medium onion per person, remove the external peel, cut the stalk and put in a container that can go in the oven.
  • Cover with extra virgin olive oil, add the peel of one orange, fresh thyme and cover with alluminium foil.
  • Cook at 65°C for 1h 30min.
  • The onions will be perfectly cooked and have a consistant texture. Let them cool in the oil for about one hour.

Artichokes

  • In May and June you can find very small artichokes, perfect to be preserved in olive oil.
  • Take two artichokes per person, remove the external leaves and keep in water and ice with some lemon juice to prevent them from turning black.

Lamb Ribs

  • Ask your butcher for “frenched racks” of lamb (it means the loin without the external fat) and cut it in ribs to have 3-4 ribs per person.
  • Season the ribs with wild fennel flower (available in herbal or organic shops), fresh thyme, ground black pepper and just a little of sel de guerande (organic, non-refined, non-washed french salt). Let the ribs absorb the flavors for one hour.

Batter

  • Take one bottle (33 cl) of iced cold weiss beer (lager beer can be good as well but won’t have the same weiss beer aromatic taste) and some rice flour.
  • Mix together with a whisk till you obtain a creamy but not thick batter. Do not add salt. Let it rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Directions

1. Cut the artichokes in halves and cook them in a pan with oil, new garlic (the young garlic still without the bulb) and bayleaf for 3-4 minutes so they will remain al dente. Add some fresh mint leaves, salt, turn off the flame and cover with a lid.

2. Pour olive oil in a casserole (or frying machine) so that the ribs will be completely dipped when frying. Take the ribs and put them in the batter for a few seconds. One at a time, put the ribs in the hot oil (170°C) and cook for about one min. Take them out of the oil and put them on some paper to dry. Wait one more minute and repeat the operation once more, dipping the ribs again in hot oil. This procedure will make them much more crunchy. Salt them with sel de guerande.

3. Cut the onions confit in cloves and heat them in the oven. Put them nicely in the middle of the plate like you are preparing a “nest” for the ribs. Put the ribs on the onion cloves and finish with the four halves of baby artichokes.

4. Use some fresh mint leaves and a pinch of wild fennel flower to decorate your dish.