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Leg Of Lamb


acevedo81

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I like rosemary or thyme, and garlic. If it's bone-in I sometimes roast it slowly in the oven with potato and tomato slices in the bottom of the pan. Boneless, we usually slather the inside with rosemary, garlic, dijon mustard, and a little honey, roll & tie, then grill it over indirect heat.

I am somewhat out of fashion and prefer my lamb medium to medium-well, so others could probably give you better cooking times than the ones we use.

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Good question - how do you want the leg itself prepared? Boneless? Whole leg? Half leg?

The way I usually do it starts with a boneless, butterflied leg of lamb. I make a paste out of herbs (rosemary is my favorite), mustard, olive oil, garlic, maybe crushed toasted pine nuts,...whatever looks fresh and yummy. And then i cut a few small shallow slashes into the inside of the leg and rub the paste into it. Tie the leg up with butcher's twine so that you've got a nice compact roast.

I fire up the grill (ours is a weber performer, hence charcoal fueled but can easily be done on gas) and build up a two zone fire. One side banked with a full starter of charcoal, the otherside with just a drip pan. On gas, just fire up one (or two) burners and leave the other off. Sear the leg for about 10-15 mins per side over direct heat and then move to indirect heat until done to about 125F (I like my lamb on the rare side). Of course, let it rest 15 mins before slicing!

I've tried experimenting with smoking agents, too. I've soaked fresh rosemary and thrown that on the grill. Smoked rosemary smells incredibly like.......pot. :) The lamb is too strong to really accept anything that subtle. Stronger wood smokes like mesquite conflicted with the lamb taste (IMHO). So I've stayed away from any strong smoke flavours.

One twist is to sear the meat in a super hot pan before it goes on the grill. Then I like to deglaze with port and build a nice pan sauce from that. The lamb doesn't really need it so your mileage may vary.

My absolute favorite method is a Bengali preparation called Kosha Mangsho. It's my mom's recipe and it's not really hot but extremely flavourful. Of course, trying to get a recipe out of my mom is like pulling teeth. It's been ten years and I still can't get it to taste the way hers does, no matter how many times I watch her. I'm convinced she's putting in something when I'm not looking!! :)

I am somewhat out of fashion and prefer my lamb medium to medium-well, so others could probably give you better cooking times than the ones we use.

Probe thermometer is the way to go. I find it so hard to cook large cuts of meat where the size varies from one cut to the next. Lamb legs aren't like steaks where you can basically poke at it and tell from feel it if it's done. I use a Polder - I've gone through a few but I find them indispensible.

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I am somewhat out of fashion and prefer my lamb medium to medium-well, so others could probably give you better cooking times than the ones we use.
Medium well. Ewwwwwwwwwwwwww.

Unroll the leg from the bone, poke a zillion little slits in it with the tip of a paring knife, and put little sprigs of rosemary and/or slivers of garlic in the slits. Throw it in a puddle of wine for a day or so. Let it sit out until it's roughly room temperature, sear and then turn the heat down and cook low and slow.

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Cooks Illustrated has a great recipe, but you have to spend alot of time cleaning

the tendons and sinews of the leg. In a nutshell, first you brine it - 2 to 4 hours in a solution of water and salt and crushed garlic. This helps allow it to stay moist when you cook and also prevents a "livery" flavor

and also makes it tasty no matter how long you cook it. Then you MUST clean the leg of sinews, tendons or other muscles that will only make it chewy when you bite into it. This can take 15-30 minutes, but it makes a BIG difference - the leg of a lamb has many tough tendons as you would expect and this will give you a very enjoyable chew when you bite into it. Also about 1/3 of the meat is taken from the final mini-roasts - this is used to create the "jus" BUT I didn't throw this out - I used the odd leftover meat pieces after simmering for 30 minutes for ground lamb - good for many applications. The leg pieces that are left get 1/2 inch deep slits every inch or so and you can spread many things in the slits, but the recipe says roasted garlic and parsley - you can change that to many things, it's up to you. Then it's rolled up like mini tenderloins and tied together with string. Sear this about 5 minutes on each side in a pan or grill and bake at 400 degrees or so to get to your choice of doneness. You can eat this cold or warm, and it portions well almost like mini-tenderloins. Nice wine to go with this would be an Australian Shiraz, but any big red wine such as Bordeaux or a Cab from California will do fine. This freezes pretty well too!

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The marinades and seasonings mentioned upthread are all wonderful, and I've done variations on those. I like to add a little lemon juice or red wine to the marinade, along with a little EVOO.

My current favorite marinade recipe is on this page and although it says it's for braised skirt steak, it is close enough to the rosemary-maple bottled marinade that Trader Joe's used to carry that I use it on lamb, pork, and even chicken. I especially like it on lamb loin chops on the grill, but I think by doubling it you could marinate a small butterflied leg of lamb.

This is making me very hungry--hope my meatloaf is almost ready. :)

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I like to add a little lemon juice or red wine to the marinade, along with a little EVOO.
What is the purpose of adding olive oil to any marinade? It seems counterintuitive to me. You want the flavors of the water-based ingredients to penetrate the meat. It strikes me that the addition of olive oil would interpose a barrier between the water-based ingredients and the meat, preventing the penetration. I don't see the olive oil adding much in terms of flavor to the meat.
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What is the purpose of adding olive oil to any marinade? It seems counterintuitive to me. You want the flavors of the water-based ingredients to penetrate the meat. It strikes me that the addition of olive oil would interpose a barrier between the water-based ingredients and the meat, preventing the penetration. I don't see the olive oil adding much in terms of flavor to the meat.

Calling Dr. McGee....

I admit that I, too, am confused as to whether or not oils in marinades prevent any kind of flavour penetration.

But does olive oil add much in terms of flavour to the meat? Absolutely - especially on the grill. One of our favorite summer dishes is to marinade skirt steak in olive oil, garlic, lime juice, gr cumin, gr coriander, br sugar, cayenne, etc and grill it over direct, VERY high heat (I've often used the Alton Brown trick of putting it directly on natural hardwood charcoal to great effect - don't try this with Kingsford, which has lime in it and will leave ash on your steak). I really think the oil makes for a tastier sear on the steak. Maybe it just facilitates heat transfer better, resulting in a better sear.

By the way, Cleveland Park....if you want to do lamb leg with bone in, would you be interested in an Indian preparation? It doesn't have the same presentation value as some of the other suggestions, but it's damn tasty!

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But does olive oil add much in terms of flavour to the meat? Absolutely - especially on the grill.
I can understand what effect oil on the surface can have on grilled meat, but you can brush on oil right before yoiu slap the meat on the grill. I thought the purpose of marinade was to move the flavor from the surface to the interior of the meat. I don't see olive oil penetrating the meat.
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Speaking of olive oil and lamb, a rgreat thing to do with leftovers is to slice them and throw them in a vat of olive oil with poins of crushed garlic and rosemary. Let it sit for a couple of days and make a lamb sandwish with feteh cheese. Quite excellent.
That works equally well with thinly sliced pork roast.
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If you like garlic, I make a garlic/rosemary/breadcrumb paste and put a crust over all exposed surfaces of the lamb. Ideally, it sits in the crust overnight prior to baking. Your proportions can vary but here's about what I use:

1 cup peeled garlic

1 cup bread crumbs (seasoned or unseasoned, your choice)

Ground black pepper if using unseasoned bread crumbs

4 10 inch sprigs of rosemary

3 TBS lemon juice.

I use the Cuisinart to mince the garlic and rosemary, then add the breadcrumbs and lemon juice and pulse a bit. I apply the paste just thick enough so you can't see the meat.

I have also used a mix of yogurt and tandouri seasonings, marinated for 24-48 hours, and smoked the lamb leg.

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So I no longer have a car and I´m stuck in Cleveland Park. Can anyone offer solutions for where one can find good baby lamb? I prefer in the city, but metro accessible will do. Thanks for the help
Are you referring to milk-fed or spring lamb (abbacchio)? Not the season yet, nor as far as I know, is it possible around here unless you arrange it yourself and are willing to pay much, much more than you'd expect. I think there's a mail-order company that restaurateurs rely on--it may be detailed in the following topic that relates to your search if I understand you correctly: Where to buy a whole lamb
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Anybody ever tried putting anchovy into slits cut into leg of lamb? As suggested by Simon Hopkinson, apparently famous Brit chef in recently released in US cookbook, Roast Chicken and Other Stories?

I think I get the concept of anchovy=umami, but fish as umami to red meat seems so . . . . decadent?

Decadent, maybe, but very good :mellow:.

I've been making a meatball recipe from The Silver Spoon that combines beef with anchovies. I actually increase the amount of anchovies over what is called for in the recipe. The anchovies enhance the flavor of the meatballs beautifully but are not distinguishable as anchovies. I'd give the anchovies in lamb a try.

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Seeking Advice:

Boneless leg of goat, less than 1 1/2 lbs. worth.

Planning on doing a riff on a recipe by Suzanne Goin for lamb, marinating it w garlic, rosemary, parsley, salt and cracked pepper, then roasting it, stuffed with bread crumbs and more herbs after cooking up diced peppered pancetta-ish stuff, maybe some lemon rind and caramelized onion.

Just how long does it take to get the marinating stuff to flavor the meat?

I ask because I plan on marinating now and it would probably be more convenient for me to roast this tonight rather than tomorrow.

Thanks

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Seeking Advice:

Boneless leg of goat, less than 1 1/2 lbs. worth.

Planning on doing a riff on a recipe by Suzanne Goin for lamb, marinating it w garlic, rosemary, parsley, salt and cracked pepper, then roasting it, stuffed with bread crumbs and more herbs after cooking up diced peppered pancetta-ish stuff, maybe some lemon rind and caramelized onion.

Just how long does it take to get the marinating stuff to flavor the meat?

I ask because I plan on marinating now and it would probably be more convenient for me to roast this tonight rather than tomorrow.

Thanks

I believe that it has been shown that most marinades flavor the surface of the meat only, so you'll get plenty of flavor from an 8-hour marinade. 12-24 would probably give you a bit more flavor, but you do what works for you. The only significant difference I've found is when marinating a boneless leg of lamb in yogurt, onion, garlic and herbs, making many knife punctures in the meat and keeping it all in a ziplock bag for four or five days, turning and massaging the bag a couple of times a day. The lactic acid in the yogurt tenderizes the meat without making it mushy as a stronger acid would and the meat is deeply flavored throughout. This is meat that I charcoal grill like a steak, it isn't stuffed and rolled and roasted.

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Seeking Advice:

Boneless leg of goat, less than 1 1/2 lbs. worth.

Planning on doing a riff on a recipe by Suzanne Goin for lamb, marinating it w garlic, rosemary, parsley, salt and cracked pepper, then roasting it, stuffed with bread crumbs and more herbs after cooking up diced peppered pancetta-ish stuff, maybe some lemon rind and caramelized onion.

Just how long does it take to get the marinating stuff to flavor the meat?

I ask because I plan on marinating now and it would probably be more convenient for me to roast this tonight rather than tomorrow.

Thanks

You'll probably be fine roasting it tonight. We just did a leg of lamb on Sunday, coated with dijon mustard, rosemary, (fake) soy, S&P and I think there was powdered ginger. I may have forgotten something we added, as the recipe usually calls for garlic, but alas, can't do that anymore. This was our first attempt to make our standard* lamb recipe without the garlic and soy that it calls for, and it came out quite well. Especially since we were also experimenting with a roast that had been in the freezer well past any sell by date. :lol: (From before my allergies were diagnosed) 2002...is that a record? Even with the short prep time, the meat came out full of flavor, moist in the center. Only issue was that we took it out at 126 and let it rest, but the outsides were a little too done. But still pretty moist. And, we both survived with no ill effects!

In the past, we've actually marinated for one day, to overnight, to several days. There's not a whole lot of difference with the coating we've used, since it has so much flavor to begin with. So I say go for it when it works better for you, and note how it comes out.

*our standard recipe is Julia Child's Herbal Mustard Coating for Roast Lamb from Mastering the Art of French Cooking. It's a great coating and would probably taste fine on goat, if you want something that will take a little less time.

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Yes, Porcupine. (Cf. Dupont Circle thread.) Did you buy another part of the dear, little critter?

Zora: The yogurt marinade sounds fantastic--will do next time I buy lamb from the Childs. The marinade is only going to be on the thing for around 6 hours, but being without my copy of McGee (and meat thermometer :lol: ), all I could recall was the popping of the tenderizing myth.

I figure three huge, fresh smashed cloves of garlic, fresh rosemary from the garden, etc. should do something good to such a tiny little roast, especially when there's stuffing involved.

Squid: Will report later. Thanks for the other references.

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Glad you asked. My Board name should suggest a certain affinity for lamb.

Mine is a labor of love, and worth it. I take the leg and a sharp knife, and for a good hour I dissect every muscle so that I end with four basic products -- absolutely perfect, without a speck of fat, lamb steaks; the bones of the leg, to be sawed into 2-inch pieces; small scraps of relatively fat-free lamb meat; and a large pile of almost pure white fat.

The fat goes into the trash can. The bones are sawed up and roasted for 45 mins. at 400 degrees, then turned into a wonderful lamb stock, using purified water, aromatics (onion, celery, carrot, bay leaves) and some peppercorns. The small lamb pieces are reserved for the next stage.

The steaks are marinated in balsamic vinegar, worcestershire sauce, olive oil, garlic, rosemary, and whatever else you think you like. Believe me, good eating is ahead. Set aside the marinated steaks for a while.

Strain the stock after about an hour and a half, then reduce it by half. Make the best rice pilaf you know how to make. Make a roux and then add the stock a little at a time until you have a gravy-like consistency. Saute the small lamb pieces, season them, and add them to the gravy.

Grill the steaks to medium rare. Serve with pilaf and gravy. Add a salad in the late summer, early fall. Add a pureed root vegetable in the winter, or roasted cauliflower. You get the idea....

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Glad you asked. My Board name should suggest a certain affinity for lamb.

Mine is a labor of love, and worth it. I take the leg and a sharp knife, and for a good hour I dissect every muscle so that I end with four basic products -- absolutely perfect, without a speck of fat, lamb steaks; the bones of the leg, to be sawed into 2-inch pieces; small scraps of relatively fat-free lamb meat; and a large pile of almost pure white fat.

The fat goes into the trash can. The bones are sawed up and roasted for 45 mins. at 400 degrees, then turned into a wonderful lamb stock, using purified water, aromatics (onion, celery, carrot, bay leaves) and some peppercorns. The small lamb pieces are reserved for the next stage.

The steaks are marinated in balsamic vinegar, worcestershire sauce, olive oil, garlic, rosemary, and whatever else you think you like. Believe me, good eating is ahead. Set aside the marinated steaks for a while.

Strain the stock after about an hour and a half, then reduce it by half. Make the best rice pilaf you know how to make. Make a roux and then add the stock a little at a time until you have a gravy-like consistency. Saute the small lamb pieces, season them, and add them to the gravy.

Grill the steaks to medium rare. Serve with pilaf and gravy. Add a salad in the late summer, early fall. Add a pureed root vegetable in the winter, or roasted cauliflower. You get the idea....

Why on earth do you get rid of every speck of fat?

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One of my grilling season sure fire crowd pleasers is grilled, butterflied leg-o-lamb. I marinate it for at least 24 hours in red wine, garlic, either chopped mint or rosemary, a couple of splashes of balsamic vinegar (industrial quality is fine), some olive oil and S & P. The only tricky part is, since butterflying invariably leaves you with a misshapen piece of meat with varying degrees of thickness, you need to keep an eye of it while it is over the fire and keep turning it to ensure that the thin parts don't overcook.

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