How to Make Stout-Marinated Lamb Ribs

Meat like lamb needs bold tastes to bring out the best flavor. Irish stout combined with herbs and spices accompanies the lamb’s outstanding flavor. This recipe is simple to make and delicious at the same time.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Gallon-sized resealable plastic bag
• Kitchen thermometer
• Medium-sized sauce pan
• Knives
• Roasting pan
• Above ingredients
• Full rack lamb ribs
• 5 cups Irish stout beer; you can also use a porter
• 2 Tbsp. fresh thyme
• ¼ lb. pearl onions
• 2 stalks celery
• 2 tsp. cracked peppercorns
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Ask the butcher if they will cut the rack into eight equal pieces of rack when choosing the lamb. This will make it easier to marinate the lamb later. If you prefer working with the full rack, you can forego this step. Also ask them to take the membrane off for you.
2. Wash the thyme and celery well.
3. Mince the thyme finely and set aside the amount you need. Set aside a few sprigs of thyme for garnish.
4. Cut the celery leaves and the root bottom off the celery stalks. Slice the celery down the length of the stalk neatly in half, then slice the celery into ½-inch wide pieces. Set aside.
5. In a medium saucepan, add the stout and heat over medium-high heat. Bring the stout just to a simmer, then lower the heat to medium-low.
6. Add the thyme, celery, peppercorns and onions to the stout. The pearl onions should still have their papery-thin skins on. Cover the saucepan.
7. Let the stout simmer for approximately 18 minutes, until the onions are fully cooked and are aromatic.
8. Taste the stout mixture and add salt and pepper to your tastes. The stout should taste of onions and thyme.
9. Take the saucepan off the heat and let the stout sit until it has cooled.
10. Take the lamb ribs and poke the outside of each rib several times with a sharp fork or a paring knife. This allows the flavor of the stout to penetrate the lamb with more ease.
11. Place the ribs into a large gallon-sized resealable plastic bag. Pour half of the stout into the bag, ensuring that the ribs are covered fully with the beer. Seal the bag, making sure to press any excess air out of the bag. Set aside the other half of the stout to use for roasting.
12. Place the bag of marinating ribs into the refrigerator and marinate the ribs for at least two hours. The longer the ribs marinate, the stronger the flavor will be. Occasionally take the bag out and massage the ribs in the marinade. Replace into the refrigerator.
13. Take the bag out of the refrigerator once the lamb has marinated for at least two hours. Discard the remaining marinade in bag.
14. Heat the oven to 325 degrees.
15. Sit the ribs standing upright in a high-walled roasting pan or casserole dish. Pour the remaining stout over the ribs.
16. Place the roasting pan into the oven and cook the ribs for 45 minutes. Check the ribs approximately every 10 to 15 minutes to baste the ribs with stout.
17. After 45 minutes of cooking, take the temperature of one of the ribs by sticking your kitchen thermometer into the thickest part of the meat. The temperature should be at least 165 degrees. If it is still not 165 degrees, cook the meat for another 10 minutes.
18. Take the roasting pan out of the oven once the meat reaches 165 degrees.
19. Serve the lamb ribs with a hearty side, like roasted garlic mashed potatoes.
20. Place a few sprigs of thyme on the lamb as a garnish.

Tips & Warnings

• If you want the meal to be a little sophisticated, ask your butcher to French the ends of the ribs. Frenching the ribs means to take a small amount of meat off the end of each rib so the bone is exposed.
• If you have the ribs frenched, a popular way of serving the frenched ribs is to place a cup of the side in the middle of the plate. Then stand three ribs so they rest against the side with their frenched tips over the side dish. The ribs should be equidistant from each other around the side dish.
• When you take the temperature of meat with a bone inside, make sure you take the temperature of the meat near the bone since the bone stays cooler than the rest of the surrounding meat. When the meat near the bone is the correct temperature, then the food is cooked properly.
• If the ribs are too big for one bag, cut them in half and put them into two different bags to marinate them.