Roasted leg of lamb receipe

Pretty soon I'm gonna take the plunge and try doing a lamb roast. My game plan is to get a boneless leg of at Costco. Season it inside & out with S&P, then lightly coat with some olive oil and add some minced garlic and a small bit of rosemary. Then I'm gonna tie it up and roast on the BBQ with indirect heat.

What internal temp should I cook it to?

What else should I do to it?

MikeS.

the BEST lamb marinade ever... REALLY

1 & 1/2 C Canola oil
1/2 C soy sauce
1/4 C EACH red wine vineger,lemon juice,worchestershire sauce,dry white wine
2t EACH minced fresh ginger, crushed garlic,salt
2 scallions chopped
2T. dry mustard
1T fresh ground black pepper

butterfly leg of lamb to lie flat on grill
pierce the flesh in various places, place in pan. mix all marinade ingredients and pour over lamb .... cover and refridgerate, turning occaisonally 24 hours.
Grill.... medium (sorry, don't know the exact temp...)
serve with apricot mint sauce

Apricat Mint sauce

1C goodquality apricot preserves
1/4 C choppedfresh mint leaves
2-3 T bourbon
mix together and simmer over low hear. serve warm with the grilled meat.

We have grilled and enjoyed boned butterflied leg of lamb. It is rare if removed at 145 internal temp and medium at 150 (let it rest before carving for at least 10 minutes). A stuffing of a tapenade of anchovies, olives, and rosemary is very rasty ( I think there's a recipe on the Food channel page from a few weeks ago). Also, we start ours over hot coals and move it aside to a cooler fire after searing the outside.

When roasting a leg of lamb in our oven we always use a bone in leg - it is much tastier - just poke some slits in the leg and stuff with bits of garlic and rosemary and sprinkle the outside with rosemary, salt and pepper, roast on a rack over a mirepoix of onion carrot and celery. And, yes, we love mint jelly with our lamb...

Cheers, John

I love the costco boneless leg of lamb. Am disappointed that the price went up from what it was (i.e., $2.99/lb). I never could get the webbing back on to it once I take it off to put the rub on and trim the meat. I end up retieing it myself.

But I digress. I don't even trim the meat that much. I use the Alton Brown recipe (Brown sugar, mustard, rosemary, EVOL and garlic). I've also put whole cloves insides and it comes out nice a mushy and sweet. Roast red or new potatos with rosemary, seasalt, pepper and EVOL. Salad of your choice. Its all good.

BTW, the leftovers are almost as good as a turkey meal leftovers. Cold lamb sandwiches are great. Having it already deboned, I do miss the stock opportunity.

What is EVOL?

quote:

Originally posted by MikeSh

What is EVOL?

estra virgin olive oil

I've done lamb similiar to seafarer's, taking a butterflied leg and then making a paste of olive tapenade, garlic and rosemary. Roll it up and tie and then grill on my Weber on indirect heat. An old Weber grill guide I have says 130 degrees for rare, 140 for medium rare and to let stand for 20 minutes.

Sounds great! I need to smoke a piece of lamb myself one of these days. Never cooked it like bbq.

From one who grew up on lamb in a Welsh family; forget the mint jelly.
Where did that idea come from?! I've had lamb all over Wales and England and never once saw it served with mint jelly. . . also never saw it served with mideastern food. . . . hmmmmm. . . this suspiciously points to one source of such an abomination. . . . France.

I just want to note Illeechef's method for oven roasting posted over on the lamb and duck thread.
http://www.roadfood.com/Forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=7123&whichpage=2

That's EVOO , not EVOL, and the first I ever heard the term was from that giggly young woman who cooks on the Food channel and has more air time than even Emeril nowadays.

As to mint jelly with leg of lamb. Like I said, we love it. I grew up in an Irish American household and the mint jelly was standard fare with lamb- most likely a "lace curtain" affectation of my pretentious grandmother. I suspect that mint jelly might be found in Ireland - I'm told that mint thrives there.

As to blaming it on the French: I don't think the French use much mint in their cooking, but the Italians use lots of it - maybe they're the ones to blame

I don't want to belittle the Welsh, they are a fine cultured people who have given us great poets and imaginative spelling, but one has to wonder about the culinary acumen of a society that waves the leek as a national symbol...

Cheers, John

I have never seen a sprig of mint in either France or Italy! But hey, if you like mint jelly with your lamb, then eat it. The lowly leek happens to be one of my favorite vegetables!

Thanks for the tips guys, I'll e trying this soon and I'll report back.

MikeS.

the best marinade is dijon mustard, worcestire sauce, salt and pepper. the aroma is tantalizing as it roasts. also, plenty of sliced onions strewn around the pan.

quote:

the first I ever heard the term was from that giggly young woman who cooks on the Food channel and has more air time than even Emeril nowadays.

That would be Rachel Ray. People love her, don't ask me why. I personally find her very annoying and cannot watch her for more that a few minutes.But that's just me.

Here in the UK, mint sauce ( a thin vinegar based type ) mint jelly ( much less used ) and redcurrant jelly are fairly standard with lamb. No affectation or lace curtainism. There are some regional variations, ie rowan sauce or jelly in Wales. I love lamb and mutton and think that the rich fattiness is great but definitely needs something like mint sauce or a fruit jelly to cut the richness a bit and accentuate the sweetness. Try roasting whole small onions alongside your leg of lamb, they go very well also.

Nothing wrong with the leek as a national symbol whatsoever, I can't see any reason to decry this extremely useful, tasty vegetable which has been in culinary use for 1000's of years :)

quote:

Originally posted by SouthHillbilly

Sounds great! I need to smoke a piece of lamb myself one of these days. Never cooked it like bbq.

From one who grew up on lamb in a Welsh family; forget the mint jelly.
Where did that idea come from?! I've had lamb all over Wales and England and never once saw it served with mint jelly. . . also never saw it served with mideastern food. . . . hmmmmm. . . this suspiciously points to one source of such an abomination. . . . France.

I grew up eating lamb with mint jelly, but years later an English couple had us over for Easter dinner and they served it with a wonderful mint sauce. I learned that mint sauce was quite the norm.

Miss Kitty: I was really only kidding about the leek- it is a useful and tasty addition to many dishes and the Welsh have every right to be proud of their symbol.

What is rowan sauce? I think what you folks call a rowan tree is what we call a mountain ash tree. It is a smallish tree with beautiful red berries in the Fall, but I did not know the beries were edible.

BTW: we had sauted and caremalized cippolini onions with our lamb last week- it was a great side dish. Around here cippolinis are rarely seen in the grocery stores, so I grab them whenever I see them.

Cheers, John

Originally posted by MissKitty

Here in the UK, mint sauce ( a thin vinegar based type ) mint jelly ( much less used ) and redcurrant jelly are fairly standard with lamb. No affectation or lace curtainism. There are some regional variations, ie rowan sauce or jelly in Wales. I love lamb and mutton and think that the rich fattiness is great but definitely needs something like mint sauce or a fruit jelly to cut the richness a bit and accentuate the sweetness. Try roasting whole small onions alongside your leg of lamb, they go very well also.

oh ya gotta try the apricot mint sauce i posted at the top of this thread, it's good and minty and fruity. so yum
We always roast (halved) onions and potatoes if we do lamb in the oven .A funny thing though, my husband's Mom is Scottish... she's served her family these for YEARS of course, and for some reason, hers(the roast P's & O's) always come out better than mine...even though i do it " her way...." hmmmmmmmmmmm???

I definitely will try that apricot mint sauce hefried because I love sweet and savoury combos :)

lol ok John fair enough about the leeks, you gotta remember to some people here Wales and the Welsh are the butt of a lot of inter-country jokes ( like you have regional state to state humour about cultural differences ) and I was just sticking up for part of my family's heritage :P

Yes rowan is mountain ash with the bright red berries :) a jelly recipe here : http://thefoody.com/preserves/rowanjelly.html - you can use normal apples but I think crab apples are slightly higher in natural pectin - or just use the berries for a clear jelly and add pectin to set more firmly. And some interesting background about rowan here : http://www.whitedragon.org.uk/articles/rowan.htm

Miss Kitty: I now know more about the Rowan tree than I ever thought I'd want to know. My neighbor, of Welsh descent , by way of Canada, planted a Rowan tree a number of years ago - it apparently did not do him much good- he died quite young. The tree is now in a dying condition in the neighbor's yard , but with luck i might get some berries off it this Fall. If I do I think we'll try making the Rowan/Crabapple Jelly using the recipe yoou have so kindly provided.

Cheers, John

What is happening to the tree and what kind of soil is it in ? I don't know a great deal about gardening but I know a few people that might have some ideas how to save it, it would be a shame to see it expire

It is my understanding that Rowans are short lived here in the northeastern USA - maybe 40 years at best.

Cheers, John

quote:

Originally posted by seafarer john



I don't want to belittle the Welsh, they are a fine cultured people who have given us great poets and imaginative spelling, but one has to wonder about the culinary acumen of a society that waves the leek as a national symbol...

Cheers, John

SeafarerJohn cuts me to the quick!
To even slightly diaparage the noble leek! That glorious allium!
A good Welshman will always pin one to his coat on St. david's day.
Question Welsh culinary acumen?! Obviously you've never had a big plate full of fried cockles and laver bread.

Never did,SH, but I'dlove to share one with you someday- and I'll even wear a leek for the occasion.

Cheers, John

quote:

Originally posted by bethgrd

the best marinade is dijon mustard, worcestire sauce, salt and pepper. the aroma is tantalizing as it roasts. also, plenty of sliced onions strewn around the pan.

Never done it, but, I am thinking of a bone in leg of lamb roasted low and slow in oven.

Here is my game plan - just for my own reference.

Buy leg.
Lay out on counter an hour or so to bring to room temp.
Dry rub - I'll figure that.
Marinade - as above. imo, marinade is just a proper balance of acid (vinegar/sweet).

Overnight in fridge.

Next day - score and tuck in garlic / cloves. Another dry rub. Lay on rack in rosting pan with marinade under rack. Roast until done - low and slow. When roasting pig and cow, I start in a 500 oven, then take it down to 175.After some hours, I increase heat and add marinade under rack as needed until internal temp is reached.

Do the thing on the drippings.

Wish me luck.

160 degrees internal was just right. Low and slow was around five hours @ 225 and them maybe an hour at 375. This for a five pounder.

Dry rub was fennel, mustard, savory, black and white pepper, oregano, thyme.

Marinade was beer, lemon juice, garlic and cloves. After the overnight marinade, a second dry rub and a good coating of minced garlic (from the jar.)

Bought a Trader Joes seasoned leg of lamb. Grilled the butterflied roast and served with Red Onion Jam. Boy did we "pig" out! I'll try to post the red onion "jam" on the recipe board later.