Leg of Lamb: Tips & Techniques

[Richard Kilgore]

I picked up a small 3.79 lb.) half leg of lamb, and would appreciate any suggestions for preparation.

Thanks,

Richard

[Kimchi]

Roasted Leg of Lamb w/ Pancetta, Sage & Rosemary.

1 x 3-4lb. leg of lamb

1 handful fresh sage

1 clove garlic

salt

freshly ground black pepper

1 lemon, juiced

olive oil

1 handful fresh rosemary

3 oz pancetta, sliced

Roast Leg Of Lamb With Pancetta, Sage And Rosemary

With a knife, follow the lamb bone down about 4 inches (you are just making a 'tunnel' where you are cutting the meat away from the bone). Do this from the top end and the bottom end.

Pierce the skin at an angle with a sharp pointed knife 6 to 8 times at random around the leg. Where you have made the incisions, open them up a bit by poking your fingers down in them to make a bit of space.

Using a pestle and mortar smash up half the sage with the garlic and 1 teaspoon of salt.

When its pulped, add the lemon juice, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, the other half of the sage and the rosemary roughly chopped.

Stuff the mixture into all the incisions and gaps you have made with the knife.

Then stuff the pancetta deep into the gaps along the bone and the incisions. This gives a lovely fragrant flavor to the meat.

Season with salt and place directly on oven shelf in a pre-heated oven 225 C/425 F/Gas 7 until cooked.

[Richard Kilgore]

Welcome, Kimchi. And thanks for the recipe. That looks delicious.

[fifi]

I did a similar recipe with pork not long ago. My sister had sage and rosemary in the herb garden. I had not combined sage and rosemary before for some reason. It was WONDERFUL.

[Kimchi]

You're more than welcome. And thanks for the greeting!

[Jaymes]

Here's Mine!

Edited March 27, 2016 by Smithy
Repaired broken link (log)

[pleiades]

At the suggestion of LuLu Peyraud, I tried roasting lamb that had been covered in black olive tampenade. I have never been a fan of tapenade, but her recipe made a believer out of me. Upon tasting it, I asked her for it. It can be had in her cookbook as well (LuLu's Provencal Table) but here is the gist-

All into the blender:

A mess of pitted black olives, one goos sized to go container (greek, for instance)

2 cloves raw garlic, crushed

2 filleted salt-pack anchovies. Not the ones in a tin full of oil, but the real deal. A little tedious to fillet them suckers, but worth it. Rinsing them off first helps.

10-15 leaves chopped fresh savory

Ground pepper

Kosher salt if you think it needs it

Maybe 1/2 cup of evoo.

Blend. Usually bursts, since the stuff isn't runny enough to support sustained blending. Just sort of scrape the sides down, burst, scrape, burst. You can add more oil if you think it needs it.

Then I rub the lamb with a little evoo, salt and pepper it, then slather on the tapenade and roast as normal. Out of this world. It seals in juiciness, lends a sublime savoriness to the meat, and doesn't require any sauce other than the juice from the pan. Open a bottle of S. Rhone like Gigondas or Vacqeyras, or a provencal wine like Bandol, Madiran, or St. Chinian.

[Richard Kilgore]

Thanks also, Fifi, Jaymes and Pleiades. They all sound great to me. Hmmm. Decisions.

[Sweet Willie]

I have three favorites:

1. Cut up leg into 3X4" (or about) size pcs. marinate in following for 24 hours, then grill.

Moroccan Glaze

Makes 2 cups

Zest from 2 lemons, finely minced

1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/4 cup honey

1 tablespoon ground coriander

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 tablespoon freshly grated nutmeg

2 teaspoons sweet paprika

2 to 3 teaspoons cayenne or

crushed red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup chopped mint leaves

2. Cut up leg into 3X4" (or about) size pcs. marinate in following for 24 hours, then grill.

1/2 cup lemon juice

1 cup red wine

6 minced cloves of garlic

3 tablespoons basil

3. Lamb w/Date sauce, the sauce w/the lamb (& almost anything else, is too die for) Taken from Mario of FoodTV.

6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 leg of lamb, bone-in, about 5 pounds

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 teaspoons fresh thyme

2 teaspoons anchovy paste

1 red onion, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1 carrot, cut in 1-inch length pieces

1 stalk celery, cut in 1-inch length pieces

Date Sauce, recipe follows

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

In a heavy-bottomed roasting pan, heat olive oil over medium heat.

In a small bowl, combine the thyme with the anchovy paste. Season lamb with the salt and pepper, and smear lamb entirely with the thyme and anchovy paste mixture. Brown the lamb on all sides in the roasting pan. Add the onion, carrot, and celery and place lamb in oven. Roast for 1 hour and 30 minutes, or until meat is fork tender. Serve with the date sauce.

Date Sauce:

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, or 1/2 teaspoon dried

5 dried dates, pitted and roughly chopped

1 teaspoon anchovy paste

1/4 cup dry red wine

1/4 balsamic reduction, see note below

1/4 cup olive oil

Salt and pepper

Using a mortar and pestle (or food processor) combine thyme, dates, and anchovy paste, and pulverize into a paste. Add the red wine, balsamic reduction, and olive oil and continue to pulverize until completely combined. Season with salt and pepper.

Note: To make balsamic reduction, pour 1 cup balsamic vinegar into a sauce pan and simmer over low heat. Reduce down to 1/4 cup to make a syrup, or reduction, of balsamic vinegar.

[Richard Kilgore]

Thanks everyone. The lamb has not met my mouth yet. The night of my last post my electricity went out apparently due to a short in the AC. They tried to fix the AC and kept blowing up a transformer, and the first repair guy and the second repair guy could not figure it out, thinking it was another bad part. Wires hanging out all over the place with a pile of connector thingies in a pile. So no AC until after the holiday, and consequently I was not about to turn on the stove or oven. All is well now and I am looking forward to trying one of these ideas this weekend. I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks again.

[Richard Kilgore]

I am bringing this back up for a post mortem...so to speak.

I decided to try Kimchi's recipe (Sage, Rosemary and Pancetta) first, but no Pancetta in the store yesterday, so I substituted Sopresetta. I put it in the oven at 425 and fortunately checked on it after an hour --- 159 degrees! Yikes! Needless to say it was welldone over half way through. And it was the desireable pink only at the deepest points. Very tasty, nonetheless.

So please help me with the analysis. Recall this half leg was 3.79 lbs. Would you simply not do it at 425 (350 instead)? Or start it and then turn it down to 350 after 20 minutes. What would best bring it to the desireable pinkness.

And secondly --- what to do with the leftovers. I was thinking it might be best to turn it into a stew, but am open to suggestions. Burnt offerings to the gods?

Yours scorchingly,

Richard

[docsconz]

Shorten the time or keep a meat thermometer such as a Polder electronic thermometer to monitor the ongoing temp. of course that only gives the temp in one location. I have been burned by that .

[Jaymes]

As I said in my recipe above, I always butterfly my leg of lamb and begin by broiling, fat up. It's pretty easy to gage the degree of pink inside when you do it that way.

[guajolote]

And secondly --- what to do with the leftovers. I was thinking it might be best to turn it into a stew, but am open to suggestions. Burnt offerings to the gods?

Lamb hash w/ poached eggs.

[Richard Kilgore]

Thanks docsconz, Jaymes and guajalote. I'll try to do a leg of lamb again soon. I think it will be lamb stew tonight.

[prasad2]

Thanks docsconz, Jaymes and guajalote. I'll try to do a leg of lamb again soon. I think it will be lamb stew tonight.

If you still have time you could do the following recipe:

Rogan Josh gets its name from its rich red appearance. There are many recipes for rogan josh; this is probably the simplest of them all.

Ingredients:

Boned Leg of Lamb to 1 inch cubes – 2 lbs

Peeled & Coarsely chopped Ginger – ½ Oz

8 Cloves Peeled Garlic

Black Pepper Powder – ½ T Sp

Salt – To Taste

Vegetable Oil – ½ Cup

Cardamom Pods – 10

Bay Leaves – 2

Cloves – 6

Cinnamon stick – 1 Stick (2 Inches)

Peeled & Finely Chopped Spanish onion – 1

Coriander Powder – 1 Tsp

Roasted ground Cumin Powder – 2 Tsp

Bright red paprika – 1 Tsp

Cayenne Pepper – 1 Tsp

Plain Natural Yogurt – 2 Tbl Sp

Garam Masala Powder – ¼ Tsp

Cooking:

Blend ginger and garlic to a smooth paste by adding 4 tablespoons of water. Heat oil in a wide, heavy pan over medium heat. Add cardamom, bay leaves, cloves and cinnamon in the same hot oil. Stir once and wait until cloves swell and the bay leaves begin to take on color. This just takes a few seconds. Now put in the onions, stir and fry for about 5 minutes or until the onions turn into a medium brown color. Stir in ginger garlic paste and add in coriander, cumin, paprika, cayenne and salt. Stir and fry for about a minute and then add the meat cubes. Stir for two minutes and add the yogurt and cook for five minutes to sear the meat. Now add 10 fl oz of water, bring the contents of the pan to a boil, scraping in all the browned spices on the sides and the bottom of the pan. Cover, turn heat to low and simmer for about half hour or till meat is tender. Every ten minutes or so, give the meat a good stir. When the meat is tender, take of the lid, turn the heat to medium and boil away some of the liquid. You should end up with tender meat in a thick reddish brown sauce. Sprinkle the garam masala and the black pepper over the meat and serve with hot steamed rice or Indian Bread such as Nan or Paratha.

Serves 4-6

[Soup]

I but a boneless leg of lamb last weekend at Costco. I've left it in its origional packaging for the past week stored at the bottom of the Fridge which reads 39 F.

I'm planning to cook it for the ladies that are showing up for my wife's book club tomorrow night. The packing didn't look all that different from the other times, I've bought the item. It was sealed and wasn't ballooned in anyway. But when I opened it, the smell was unbearable. I thought I was going to get sick. I can't describe the smell that precisely but it smell a little like butter but not really.

I prepared the marinade (alton Bronwn's recipe in silence of leg o lamb) and butterflied the leg (cooks faster this way on the grill). They are currently merinading in the frige.

I've now very worried about the smell. What could cause it? Is the meat ok or am I going to make all the ladies in the book club really sick. I usually cook the meat medium rare for about half the crowd and well done for the other half.

I guess I have 3 choices...

1. throw the meat out.

2. cook the meat well well done (just cook the heck out of it).

3. cook as normal and hope for the best

I don't think I'm going to risk giving this to my kids though. I would love to hear some guidance on this please.

Soup

[bookluvingbabe]

That's the beauty of Costco--return it!

[chezcherie]

sometimes cryovaced meat will have a very strong smell when you first open the seal, but it dissapates within about 15 minutes, in my experience.

[Soup]

sometimes cryovaced meat will have a very strong smell when you first open the seal, but it dissapates within about 15 minutes, in my experience.

←

so do you think that I can grill & eat (even to my 1 and 3 year olds)?

[SethG]

I would pitch it or return it. I've purchased Costco lamb on numerous occasions and never encountered such an odor. Meat that smells bad may have gone bad. Your body had that reaction for a reason. No point in taking chances.

[Bernaise]

as everyone has suggested, if you have the option of returning it to CostCo you might want to. But another thought I had was...the fat on lamb is usually what gives a distinctive odor that can be off-putting for some-even when cooked. Another thought, maybe they're selling mutton as lamb

[Anna N]

I had a similar experience with cryovac packed lamb and I disposed of it very quickly into the garbage - the smell was quite beyond anything imaginable and I am a lamb lover. Mine was not purchased from Cosco but I suspect it had been mishandled at some point. It was a very long time before I could face lamb again. I say return it and don't take any chances with your health or that of your family.

[budrichard]

Old adage:

"When in doubt, throw it out."

We are very scrupulous in our food prep and sanitation and I cannot remember when anyone has gotton ill. So if your nose tells you there is something wrong, then believe your nose.

I just purchased a boneless leg of New Zealand lamb at Sam's marked use by 9/23 or freeze. I opened it yesterday to marinate for Leg of Lamb ala Robert from Pepin. The lamb smelled mild and pleasant. I did remove the fell and fat which will help grass fed lamb. We will grill today.

If your lamb came all the way from New Zealand, the oportunities for mishandling certainly exist. What were the dates on the package? If it was on the expiration date on the day your purchased it, then sitting a week in the fridge would not help it. Use or freeze within the date.-Dick

Edited September 18, 2005 by budrichard (log)

[Carolyn Tillie]

Cook and serve it to your kids.

But ony if you have enough money and time to spend with them in the emergency room 'cuz I think their gonna be puking their guts out.