I know most people are Christmas fans, but I will go to my grave defending Thanksgiving as the best holiday of the year.

My family’s small and my dad hates turkey so we always do something different for the main entree. This year my parents requested a rack of lamb, which I’ve never made before. I’m happy to say it was a great success, and my parents left super full and satisfied.

Along with the lamb, I made a cornbread and sausage stuffing, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, and bacon brussels sprouts.

And wine. Lots of wine.

This rack of lamb came out moist and flavored perfectly, and it’s actually pretty easy to make.

You will need:

• 1 Rack of lamb, about 8 pieces
• 1/4 cup red wine
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons dijon mustard
• 1 sprig rosemary, roughly chopped
• 5 cloves of garlic
• salt and pepper

Place the rack of lamb on a flat baking sheet lined with foil and season with salt and pepper. There’s a lot of fat on the rack, but keep it on! Otherwise your meat will dry out.

Throw all the ingredients (aside from the lamb, obviously) into a food processor.

Once the mixture’s blended together, pour it over your lamb and make sure the meat is covered liberally. Cover tightly with foil, and let it marinate in the fridge overnight.

Remove the lamb at least one hour before cooking so it can reach room temperature. Set the rack in a roasting pan, curved side down.

Place your lamb in the oven at 450 degrees for 25 minutes for a rare cook. My mom likes her meat at the very least medium, so I started it off on high heat at 15 minutes, then turned it down to 375 and let it cook for another 25 minutes. A rare temperature will be around 140 degrees, and medium is 145-150.

Remove the lamb and let it rest on a cutting board, and then slice by each bone.