Leg of Lamb

[jackal10]

If I've done it right here is the link to Andy's course.

Scroll down within the post for the Lamb recipe.

Or go back up this thread to page 2 or 3 where I paraphrase his technique.

Good luck!

←

Ahm..I wrote the course and cooked the food and took the photos. Andy kindly edited and posted it for me - this was before eG had Imagegullet.

[Lilija]

Ok, my husband found a semi-boneless leg of lamb, on sale. He brought it home, with that look in his eye...

Me, I'm not a fan of lamb. I'll eat a sliver of it, off his plate, or a cube from his vindaloo, but I don't think I could make a meal of it. Outside of a gyro, I could pretty much take or leave the stuff.

I looked at it, and thinking of our recent discussion on Greek marinade, I said "sure, I'll chunk it up and make kabobs out of it". You would think I said I was doing that to the family dog, by the look he gave me. He wants this thing roasted the traditional way, with mint jelly and the works.

This is where I turn to you fine folks, and pick your brains. Tell me all about the traditional roasted leg of lamb dinner, how I should do it, what temperatures for cooking, doneness, seasonings, sides, hilarious anecdotes, history lessons, etc.

This is the first lamb I have ever cooked. Bonus points and an eternal spot in my fond memory if this lamb will wow even me.

Edit: Something told me I should have done a search! Thanks for combining this, loads of great reading here!

Edited March 18, 2008 by Lilija (log)

[Peter the eater]

Yesterday's Sunday night dinner was a roast leg of lamb. I bought a whole fresh leg from a nearby farm, took the shank off and boned the thigh. Coarsely chopped garlic, crunchy salt, rosemary and olive oil was applied to the inner side and the whole thing was rolled and tied. The 4 lb roast went in for 2.5 hrs at 350F. Served with pan sauce, gooseberry compote and mint jelly. And a biscuit (that looks like a small head of roasted cauliflower) and a salad.

[docsconz]

Now that is xxxx food porn! Beautiful.

[Peter the eater]

Now that is xxxx food porn! Beautiful.

←

As you well know, lamb is a beautiful thing!

What I like about this preparation is that you get a crunchy brown shell on the outside with the meat getting a bit more pink as you get nearer the centre, and then BAM! the sharp garlic and rosemary is waiting for you.

We had cold lamb sandwiches for lunch today - the brown pan sauce (okay, it's gravy) spreads like peanut butter after a night in the fridge.

I find the frozen lamb from down under is good, but I just know I could pick out the fresh local stuff in a blind taste test - it's as much a texture thing as it is a flavour thing.

[Smithy]

*bump*

 

I picked up a small leg of lamb at a halal market and spent a great deal of time perusing this topic.  There's good advice here. I also drew inspiration from @Abra's excellent blog post, Cook 7 Hours, Eat With Spoon. The gist of my reading was that the butt/shoulder end may be cooked on high heat, quickly, or low and slow - with or without bone, grilled or oven-cooked, and done beautifully either way - with differing texture and doneness depending on whether it's low and slow or high and fast.  The shank end, on the other hand, benefits best from the low and slow treatment.  I looked at my 3.5 lb bone-in leg, and said to myself, "self, that's the shank end".

 

 

I seasoned it with a mix of spices aimed at Egyptian shawarma, browned it in the pot, put celery stalks and onions beneath it as a rack, and threw it covered, into my oven, at the lowest setting possible.  This gas oven's control scale doesn't go lower than 300F, but I know there's a detent at around 200F.  I had started a bit late to allow a full 7 hours, so was reluctant to use the 200F detent. I spent the next several hours monitoring the oven temperature and doing my best to maintain something between 200 and 300F in the oven and around 165F inside the meat.

 

Late in the afternoon I realized the meat temperature had gotten away from me - up to 185F - and after some cooling and allowing it to settle back to 165, decided it was tender enough.  Here's how it came out of the oven:

 

 

It wasn't wrecked at all.  This is a terrific cooking method.

 

 

Lamb.  It's what's for dinner last night, and pita stuffing today.

 

 

(Yes, I need to work on my plating skills.  No, I didn't bother making gravy last night, but the juice was good.)