Roasted rack of lamb with spiced honey glaze

What a special treat! We liked the double rack pork rib roast so much we wanted to try another recipe from Molly Stevens' new book, Roasting.

For this one, you combine 1/4 c. honey, 2 Tbl. butter, 1 tsp. paprika, 1 tsp. cumin seed (toasted and ground), 1/4 tsp. ground ginger and a pinch of cayenne. You sprinkle the 2 1 to 1-1/2 lb. racks (8 ribs each) with salt and pepper, brush half the glaze onto the racks and put into a 425-degree oven. After 10 min. baste with the drips of glaze and check temperature every 5 min. to get to about 135 for medium rare.

Add 3 Tbl. lemon juice and 2 minced garlic cloves to the remaining glaze in a saucepan, bring to a simmer and reduce to a syrup, season. Rest the racks of lamb then carve and dribble with glaze syrup and sprinkle with chopped mint. I carved double chops and used chopped parsley because I couldn't find mint.

This was a very special meal, which we paired with her vegetable suggestion, quick-roasted sugar snap peas with sesame salt.  You take 1 lb of the sugar snap peas, pull of strings as necessary, spread on sheet pan and toss in olive oil. You roast them about 12 min. in a 475-degree oven, until blistered and blackened in part. You prepare the sesame salt by toasting 2 Tbl. of sesame seeds in a skillet, mixing with 1/4 tsp. sea salt and grinding to a coarse mixture. When peas are ready, put them in bowl and sprinkle with the sesame salt.

For wine, we had a very nice Bordeaux I had been saving for a special occasion.