Help settle an argument

I attended an event over the weekend, the main course was billed as "Lamb Loin". I know the chef and he asked for some constructive criticism.

I got over the part about it being rack of lamb rather than loin but having a hard time getting past the silverskin that remained on the rack. As I cut around the silverskin I realized I was ruining the presentation so I snapped a quick pic. I later suggested it should have been trimmed better and had he done the loin this would have been an easy task. Like many that ask for criticism he argued with it and insisted that the serving was "how it was done".

What say you? Is this amount of silverskin normal or acceptable? If no, how would you trim it? (This was a $60/plate)

Thanks,

DB

I am not a pro chef, however I love rack of lamb and make a really good one and don't leave that much silverskin on.

Dave, I'm just a home cook, but I would have been ashamed to serve that to guests. Yes, the silverskin needs to be trimmed.

Rick

It's funny, when I was catering we cleaned the HELL out of our lamb racks. None of the fat cap, like really, truly Frenched......definitely no silverskin at all.
When I went back to fine dining, the lamb racks were just cut out of the cryovac prior to service.....no cleaning at all. I disagree with this approach, but it wasn't my call to make.
Looks to me like that lamb coulda benefited from another minute of cook time as well.....
IMHO

Thanks all. Pls keep the comments coming.

@Chris - Yes, With 10 racks in 1 oven the doneness was all over the place. I think it's a good candidate for SV prior, sear before service or at least spread out across a couple ovens. I think we agreed on that part.

hate hate hate silverskin! i always remove when ever possible. he was either lazy or just didn't have time.

So I'm doing a little thinking about this and there could be a good reason to keep the lamb less cleaned......if you leave all the extra bits on, I makes it possible to get a reeeeeeealy nice sear(in a pan only) medium heat will render off most of that fatty goodness, leaving a delicious crust behind. There's a nice tender up in there wrapped in sinew!
The rack is still delicious without it, but the meat can dry out faster and you miss out on extra flavor. The downside is the pesky, kinda gross silverskin.
My old chef's argument was that "people that really like lamb don't mind, they're used to it"
I call BS on that, but like I said....not my call.

When catering we saved all those tasty bits and ground them up for Lambburgers or meatballs.

I don't trim the little New Zealand racks much at all. But the bigger domestic ones I clean more. Just who I learned from when I was young

I wouldn't plate that. I wouldn't eat that.

There's nothing worse than chewy rack of lamb.... except overcooked rack of lamb. That should be removed.

I love lamb...that looks undercooked, under trimmed, should not have been served.

JMO, seems most of the time people ask for constructive criticism, they know their **** is ****** up and then they want to defend it.

If I had paid for that, someone would've had to listen to me ***** about it.

Edit, not sure what's up with all the asterisks

I think that the nastiness of the silver skin is more from improper cooking than improper processing. My personal way of processing & cooking: Pull the entire fat cap, trim excessive silver skin, French the finger meat from between the bones. Save all the bones & scrapes for stock. Marinated at least 48 hours in oil, herbs, garlic, whole pepper, etc. Sear meat side down to a very good caramelization. With bone side down on a sizzle platter brush with a quality whole grain mustard & top with a persillade of bread crumbs. Cook until desired doneness (12 to 20 minutes). Rest & serve.

I believe that the disappointment of the silver skin, on this particular dish, was from NOT searing enough before finishing in oven. JMHO. :cool2:

I don't serve NZ lamb as a plated entree, only Colorado/Domestic. NZ is only for butlered hors d'oeuvres IMO.

I could live with the color of the meat, but clearly also would have cleaned it more. If they were prepared on the grill as individual pieces, leaving the skin on would be ok IMHO, but not prepared like that. That said, I only see this as a $60 plate if you had eaten 7 other pieces before taking the picture...

Stefan

also pretty damn expensive that domestic lamb

Even as a home cook I trim off as much silverskin as possible. So on a $60 plate...

It looks pretty undercooked, too. Was it?

Agree with Rick about the NZ lamb. Frankly, I would not serve a piece of lamb that was that "gray" in color.

If you Google image search "rack of lamb chop" (see link below), you will see various trimmings of the rack.
Some with too much fat caps left on, and some with too much removed. Most places I've worked removed all of it, and then would either grill it or pan sear it. Back then I disliked lamb rack, I thought that was just how it was done. This was quite some time ago.
But then I started to cook "my own" lamb. Long story short, I find the best results come from leaving that thin outer ring on protein that wraps around the eye of chop attached. There is a very thin layer of fat that connects this ring as well as coat it. This is also best left on.
What this does is act as a buffer, protecting the eye of the chop from direct heat, which forces the meat to tense up, like a sponge being squeezed of all is delicious juice.
This leads me to my next point, I don't grill it not do I pan sear it. My lamb racks never directly touch a hot surface. It's marinated (various ways), then simply placed on a room temp sizzle platter and into a 375f oven. From raw to finished desired temp. Allow to rest then slice to serve. Does this take a long time? Yup. Certainly does. But I can't argue with the results. Heck, this method will give you a juicy, tender well done product. Yeah, I've over cooked a couple. Can't just throw em away, right?
I've cooked rack 'o lamb sous vide as well, great results but just not as good as the slow roast. The slow roast helps melt away the fat and other chewy bits of connective tissue, making it super tender.
That's my take.
And I'll agree that lamb looks a little under loved. Sorry, I hate judging others without having that person(s) in the same room to discuss it with me. The lamb in the pic just looks a little chewy to me.
I'm not the end all be all on lamb, but I'm confident enough to put mine up against anybody else's.


https://www.google.com/search?q=rac...m3-QGsiqOwDA&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=800&bih=1280

W

cheflarge said:

I think that the nastiness of the silver skin is more from improper cooking than improper processing. My personal way of processing & cooking: Pull the entire fat cap, trim excessive silver skin, French the finger meat from between the bones. Save all the bones & scrapes for stock. Marinated at least 48 hours in oil, herbs, garlic, whole pepper, etc. Sear meat side down to a very good caramelization. With bone side down on a sizzle platter brush with a quality whole grain mustard & top with a persillade of bread crumbs. Cook until desired doneness (12 to 20 minutes). Rest & serve.

I believe that the disappointment of the silver skin, on this particular dish, was from NOT searing enough before finishing in oven. JMHO. :cool2:

Click to expand...

Classic and spot on for me.

that plate looked very underdone.

and that silverskin looks like it needed to go. or you needed a better knife.