We had a bunch of friends over for New Years Eve to celebrate and we thought we'd invest in the party by prepping a few racks of lamb. For one of the racks we made a spicy harissa marinade and the other we went with a mild herb based rub so there something for everyone. We smoked both of these racks on the new Cuisinart pellet grill and once they approached their final internal temp we seared them off on the pellet grill too. It's great to have a pellet grill that can give you that smoky taste profile you're looking for but also turn up the heat to get a beautiful sear. Check out the full recipes below.
Spicy Harissa Lamb Recipe
- Mix two tablespoons of harissa paste and one tablespoon of EVOO together
- Apply mix to a rack of lamb, place three whole sprigs of rosemary onto the rack and allow it to marinade overnight.
- The next day, add the juice of half a lemon to the lamb rack 1 hour before you’re ready to start the grill.
- Preheat the pellet grill to 275F and while you’re waiting for it to come up to temp, pat the lamb dry with paper towel and remove the rosemary.
- Once the grill hits 275F, place the lamb on the grill and stick a temp probe in the thickest part of the lamb rack
- Smoke the lamb until it reaches an internal temperature of 140F
- Remove the lamb from the grill and change the temperature setting to Sear. Wait 10-15 minutes for the grill to reach 500F
- Sear the the lamb on both sides for 2-3 minutes
- Let rest for 10 minutes before carving chops off of the rack.
- Add finishing salt to taste and serve
Dijon Mustard Savory Lamb
- Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons Dijon Mustard
- 1 tablespoon of EVOO
- Five cloves of crushed garlic
- One sprig of rosemary finely chopped
- Three sprigs of thyme finely chopped
- Mix ingredients and apply the rub evenly across the rack of lamb 1 hour before grilling
- Continue from step four from the harissa lamb recipe above
Bacon Brussels Sprouts
- Fry a dozen strips of thick cut smoked bacon in a cast iron pan and allow it to cool and crumble. Leave the bacon fat in the pan.
- Clean and slice two pounds of brussels sprouts in half and place them in the same pan you fried the bacon in
- Add crumbled bacon, salt and pepper to taste into the pan
- Mix ingredients around in the pan ensuring they get a good coating of con fat
- Preheat pellet grill to on the Sear setting
- Place pan in the smoker and allow to bake for 10 minutes or until the bottoms of the brussels sprouts have browned
- (Optional) top with candied pecans, dried cranberries and the zest of one lemon