Boneless leg of lamb

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lyndalou

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HI,

Does anyone out there have a favorite recipe for the above? I want to roast mine (4lbs) in the oven. Should I brown it first, then put it into the oven?

Thanks
 
Lyndalou, this is definitely a TNT recipe. Been making it, teaching it for years. Always a HUGE hit -- and SO easy! Your friends will think you worked really hard. Your 4-pounder will be fine, just be sure to use a thermometer (I like the digital probe) to ensure you don't overcook it. Overcooked lamb takes on a terrible odor.

Butterflied Leg of Lamb à la Provençale

makes 8 servings

1 Leg of Lamb, trimmed and boned (approximately 5 pounds trimmed weight)
(Be sure to ask your butcher to remove the fell.)

Marinade:
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves
1 tablespoon fresh marjoram leaves
3 cloves garlic
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 lemon, juice and zest

1. Coarsely chop leaves and garlic. Add lemon zest and mix with oil and juice of the lemon. Rub lamb well, all over. Wrap in plastic, and marinate at least 1 hour. (You can let it sit up to three hours in the refrigerator.)
2. Grill over rosy red coals, or an electric range top grill, for 45 minutes (to 130 degrees F. internal). Or, you may roast it in the oven--375 degrees F. for 20 to 25 minutes, then slide under the broiler 2 minutes (to 125 degrees F. internal) to achieve that crusty grilled look.
3. Let sit at least 10 minutes before carving.
 
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I've never felt the need to brown a leg of lamb first, it has enough fat and browns quite well by itself. I do put down a bed of sliced onions under the roast, and I make stabs with a paring knife and insert cloves of garlic, and if available, sprigs of rosemary. Salt and pepper liberally. Then go for it!
 
Rosemary and Garlic seems to be the favorite around here but if you need another way there is the Indian marinade and I can vouch that it tastes super and no there is no need to brown the lamb if you ever try this recipe:

3 cups of full fat plain yogurt (greek or middle easter is the best)
1 tbsp of freshly roasted and ground cumin
1 tbsp of freshly roasted and ground corrainder
1/4 cup of tomato sauce (canned)
1 cup of almonds, blanched and then ground
2 tsp of ground chili powder ( I make mine fresh with arabol chilies that are dry roasted and then ground)
salt to taste
Juice of two limes
2 tbsp of ground ginger
handful of freshly chopped cilantro
handful of freshly chopped mint

Stir the marinade ingrdeints in a bowl. Taste, adjust salt and pour it over the lamb. Let it marinate overnight.

Place in the oven and intially cook it covered for an hour and then cook it again open for 2 more hours.

Prior to serving, warm 2 tbsp of clarified butter or regular butter in a pan, add some sliced almonds and golden raisins until they are puffy. Pour it over the lamb.

Serve with naan. It's delish.
 
Yakusa your recipe is very near the Royal Lamb Korma I make using welsh spring lamb I grill it on a very fierce BBQ and eat it pink.
 
Butterflied Lamb Balkans style.

First get your Pekka out, if you don't have a Pekka make one by cutting a small metal beer barrel in half and finding a tray that will fit inside.

Marinade your lamb in evoo, lemon juice and garlic over night, prick all over and stick slivers of salted anchovies in the slits, it should be salted sardines but I doubt you will be able to find them.

Build a good hardwood fire and let it burn till it starts making a lot of embers.
Place big potatoes, onions half garlic heads and a good selection of root veg in the tray and dress with evoo, salt and a lot of pepper, sit your lamb on top, squeeze lemon juice over it.

Rake out of the fire a good thick base of embers and put your tray on top then cover with the Pekka, using a shovel cover the top of the pekka with embers.

Next get a chair a few beers and the Sunday news, papers sit next to the fire, using a rake and a shovel keep replenishing the embers. About 3 to 4 hours at wood mark 5 should do:)
 
i do mine exactly the same way as claire. lamb is a beautiful thing all by istelf, so it needs few accoutrements.

a bone-in roast from a while back, with garlic and rosemary sprigs inserted, over quartered potatoes rubbed in s&p and fresh thyme.

before cooking:

img1633co9.jpg


ready to chow down:

img1645ho3.jpg
 
not all that often, bolas. i've had it before, but i'm not a huge fan. like i'd mentioned, i like lamb in a relatively simple state. i'd gnaw on one in the field if i could, lol.

i've never made my own sauce, and in restaurants they usually just serve a cheap mint jelly.

do you have a good recipe for a sauce i could try? the only thing that comes to mind is a sort of middle eastern mint yogurt sauce.
 
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sorry Tax its a pun on the heat settings of a gas oven which go from Gas mark 1 to 10.:)

I thought it might be, but since I am unfamiliar with the gas settings I don't know if those are an amount of gas or a thermostat setting. I always wonder about that when I see it in a British recipe. Would you please elaborate?
 
not all that often, bolas. i've had it before, but i'm not a huge fan. like i'd mentioned, i like lamb in a relatively simple state. i'd gnaw on one in the field if i could, lol.

i've never made my own sauce, and in restaurants they usually just serve a cheap mint jelly.

do you have a good recipe for a sauce i could try? the only thing that comes to mind is a sort of middle eastern mint yogurt sauce.
Tom mine is malt vinegar with sugar, add some water so its not to tart then mix in lots of chopped mint, let it sit for 60 mins or so. Then sprinkle on your lamb slices, its a very UK thing:)
 
oh man, that sounds good. thanks, bolas that's one i will definitely try.

i'll have to ask my dad if he's ever had a mint malt vinegar with lamb, having been raised on it just outside the occupied counties in northern ireland. an irish attitude mixed with a proper english education.

thanks again.
 
I thought it might be, but since I am unfamiliar with the gas settings I don't know if those are an amount of gas or a thermostat setting. I always wonder about that when I see it in a British recipe. Would you please elaborate?
okay Tax
gas mark1=275f
2=300f then just add 25f for each subsequent mark ending at gas mark 10=500f:)
 
Butterflied Lamb Balkans style.

First get your Pekka out, if you don't have a Pekka make one by cutting a small metal beer barrel in half and finding a tray that will fit inside.

Marinade your lamb in evoo, lemon juice and garlic over night, prick all over and stick slivers of salted anchovies in the slits, it should be salted sardines but I doubt you will be able to find them.

Build a good hardwood fire and let it burn till it starts making a lot of embers.
Place big potatoes, onions half garlic heads and a good selection of root veg in the tray and dress with evoo, salt and a lot of pepper, sit your lamb on top, squeeze lemon juice over it.

Rake out of the fire a good thick base of embers and put your tray on top then cover with the Pekka, using a shovel cover the top of the pekka with embers.

Next get a chair a few beers and the Sunday news, papers sit next to the fire, using a rake and a shovel keep replenishing the embers. About 3 to 4 hours at wood mark 5 should do:)
What is a "Pekka?" :question:
 
June, you can buy Pekka's in the Balkans, they are made out of metal and shaped like a flat topped bell. I just cut a metal beer barrel in half.
Using your Pekka outdoors is good fun;)
 

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