Its pouring outside and its going to be an epic day of Cyclocross  racing tomorrow.  What with three days big rains and more on the way I needed something to distract me from the deluge out the back door.

One of the joys of cooking is finding neglected ingredients that are affordable.  Quite often these may the over looked root vegetable like celery root or turnips, herbs like Summer savory, or cuts of meat like pork shanks, beef flat-iron or lamb neck.   Among these I’m going to add lamb ribs.  If you enjoy good lamb like I do then grabbing several handfuls of these when they show up in the butcher case are a reason to celebrate.  If the ribs are in one small slab no problem.

You can simply run a knife down between each one or every other one if you chose.  Either way is fine, they’ll cook up the same.  Juicy and delicious.  But first a bit of marinade is in store.

Like any rib product they benefit from a bit of aggressive seasoning and slow cooking.  For these I  don’t go the sweet and sticky BBQ route but tend to give them an herby treatment with some chile and citrus.  Garlic never hurts as well.  Slow roasting  (see Techniques ) in the oven or grill is the ticket here.

First a we throw together a heady rub of oregano, thyme, fennel, parsley, garlic, black pepper, kosher sat ( for a good primer on salt types go here: foodnetwork kosher-vs-table-vs-sea-salt  ). Add in several teaspoons of fresh lemon zest ( my preference is meyer lemon) and a teaspoon of red chile flakes. Another tasty marinade idea would be mixing about  2 tablespoons of Za’atar with the garlic, oil and salt.  Next muss this up with 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and rub it in vigorously over all the surface of the riblets.  I like to let them sit for at least several hours at this point, even better over night.  A good trick is to use a zip lock bag.  This is also a super trick for any type of marinated food.  Easier to store in fridge.

Here are the herbs lined up a ready to go.

After some time together its time to grill.  Even in the rain the urge to grill can’t be held back.  Use a low heat for these and move the fire to one side with the riblets arranged on the grill on the other side away from the fire.  Put the cover on the grill and let them go for about 20 minutes, turning them over every 8 minutes or so.  Unlike pork ribs you don’t want these fall off the bone done.  They’re going to have a bit of grab to them.  Something like a medium well doneness but not charred. Remember low and slow.

While we let the riblets do their thing we turn our attention to the rest of the menu.  I chose a very simple warm potato salad.  This is a great fall back for when time is short.  Start with one pound of yukon gold potatoes left whole  (yukon gold history)  in a pot of water large enough to cover them with about 1/2 inch of water (start with cold, please).  Add a half teaspoon of salt and a bay leaf.  Set to boil and cook uncovered until the tip of a knife glides effortlessly through them.  This should take about 18 minutes from the time you turn on the flame.  When they’re tender done drain the water off.  Let them sit in the pot for a few minutes to cool.  When you can handle them cut each one into 1 inch pieces.  No need to be a stickler about shape here.  As you dice them up put them back in the pot.   When all are cut up add 1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, 3 tablespoons chopped parsley, a bit of kosher salt and 2 teaspoons of white wine vinegar ( oh heck if all you have is red wine vinegar then that’s okay).  A couple turns of the pepper grinder and its good to go.

Lastly, to round things out I decided to serve it all with a super salad of sauerkraut  (Sonoma Brinery.) and torn leaves of escarole or frisee.  You can use whatever your favorite might be.  And if you don’t have one then now’s the chance to do some research.  Cabbage is your friend.

Nutrition Facts Serving Size  (498g) Servings Per Container

Amount Per Serving Calories 600    Calories from Fat 290    % Daily Value Total Fat 33 g 51 %  Saturated Fat 9 g 45 %  Trans Fat 0 g    Cholesterol 120 mg 40 %  Sodium 1240 mg 52 %  Total Carbohydrate 37 g 12 %  Dietary Fiber 7 g 28 %  Sugars 4 g    Protein 40 g

Vitamin A   30 %  Vitamin C   80 %  Calcium   8 %  Iron   25 %