Rack of lamb (WITHOUT a herb crust)

When did it suddenly become mandatory to add a herb crust to a rack of lamb? You don't seem to be able to order one in a restaurant, or go round to someone's house for dinner (usually a single man who rather fancies himself as a chef) without encountering a rack of lamb with a herb crust.

And I, too, was about to reach for my blender in order to whizz up some parsley, mint, garlic, breadcrumbs and whatever the hell else there is to a herb crust on Sunday when we were cooking a rack of lamb. But then I was struck with the very clear sensation that this was peer pressure, pure and simple.

So, feeling very defiant I - (and when I say I, I mean Giles) - just roasted a seasoned rack of lamb, a snip at £34,000 from the farmer's market, in a 220C oven on a bed of rosemary and lemon for about 10 minutes, 10 minutes at 180C and then 10 minutes' rest. Giles says that if he was going to do it again he'd lightly brown it first. But there was nothing wrong with it.

We had with it baked leeks, which were very easy. I parboiled some leeks for 5 minutes in salted water and then put them in a gratin dish, poured over a modest amount of extra thick single cream and a lot of grated gruyere and baked in a 180C oven for 25 minutes. They don't look very nice in the photo but they were great.

Then we ate it dancing around the kitchen a bit to Cheryl Cole, who'd come on the radio. And when I say we, I mean I.