Butterflied leg of lamb?

[corazon]

I'm using a recipe that calls for a "butterflied leg of lamb." What does butterflied mean? All they had was "leg of lamb" at the grocery store, so do I need to butterfly it myself? Here is the recipe
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_22519,00.html
Thanks all!

 

[Andy M.]

Butterflied, in this case, means it's been cut open and had the bones removed. If the leg you bought is boneless, it's been butterflied and it should open flat when unwrapped.

If it's bone-in, some butchering has to be done to remove the leg bone. You should be able to see the ends of the bone at the ends of the leg. If you make a cut along the bone, you can expose it and carve away the meat and free the bone from the leg.

 

[pdswife]

oh my that sounds good!

Butterflied means almost cut in half but not all the way. Split it down the middle.

 

[pdswife]

yes.. Andy is right.. the bone should be removed.


side note...
we always use dill instead of mint
in our tzatiki. It's much better that way.
imo.

 

[corazon]

Thanks Andy, that was very helpful info.

And thanks for the side note pds, I thought mint was a little weird. I have dried dill, will that work? I know dried dill is stronger than fresh so I'll put less in.

 

[buckytom]

is the only difference between souvlaki and gyros the way the meat is sliced (thin slices for gyros, cubed for souvlaki)?

 

[ironchef]

is the only difference between souvlaki and gyros the way the meat is sliced (thin slices for gyros, cubed for souvlaki)?

I think it's because how it is served. Whenver I order a gyro the meat comes already inside the pita. Whenever I order a souvlaki the meat come seperate on the side, and you can choose to eat it as is or build a gyro. I should ask one of the Greek workers at this restaurant that I go to quite often.

But BT, for all I know the way the meat is cut could be the reason. Either way, it's **** good so I guess I never really thought to ask. I found this on the net. There were some other sites but this one was more to the point.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Souvlaki

 

[buckytom]

thanks ic, good info. i love wikipedia. are they a publicly held company like google (who's stock has exploded recently)? the whole china thing with google is interesting.

i'm not a big fan of nyc gyros; who knows what's in the giant reconstituted hunk of vertically grilled meat. at least the chunks taste like lamb.
(ok, iso recipe to make rat and cats taste like lamb...)

 

[Michael in FtW]

iso recipe to make rat and cats taste like lamb...

Now, THAT one is easy, Buckytom! The flavor is in the fat - so either include some solid lamb fat, or rendered lamb "drippin's", with the rat/cat meat as you grind it, or trim off all the fat from the rats/cats and cook it in lamb fat! I've only tried it with beef .... but it fooled a Greek cook.

Yeah, corazon - I agree with Andy M. - Tyler really messed up on this recipe. What he is describing is a "deboned" leg of lamb - not butterflied. In fact, for this recipe, you don't even need to debone it before cooking - just cut the meat off the bone when done. That's the way I would do it (and have most of the time).

As for using dill instead of mint .... mint is "traditional" (check the grocery store and see if you find any "dill" jelly). I generally stud my lamb with slivers of garlic, coat it with extra virgin olive oil, then coat it with a sprinkle of rosemary. Sandwiches are always from leftovers - and I always use mint for my tzatziki.

 

[jennyema]

Bucky,

I love NYC gyros!! The best vendors were on Liberty Street right under the WTC. There were like 5 or 6 of them all in a row and really drew a crowd. I haven't found where they relocated to.

Both/either mint and dill are very traditional herbs to add to tzazki and other Greek yummies.

And regarding deboning and butterflying: Just about any butcher in a butcher shop will do this for you, as will some butchers in supermarkets.

 

[corazon]

Wow! Thanks guys! I think maybe I'll split my tzaziki in two and use mint in one and dill in the other, figure out what I like best.

 

[pdswife]

"As for using dill instead of mint .... mint is "traditional" (check the grocery store and see if you find any "dill" jelly). I generally stud my lamb with slivers of garlic, coat it with extra virgin olive oil, then coat it with a sprinkle of rosemary. Sandwiches are always from leftovers - and I always use mint for my tzatziki."


I'd have to disagree...
having been to Greece a number of times
and being part of a Greek family it's just not so.
All the tzatziki I've ever had was made with dill.

Cora making half with dill and half with mint is a great idea.
Figure out the way that YOU like it.

smiles, Trish

 

[jennyema]

I put cilantro in mine once but it wasn't going to be eaten with lamb ...

 

[pdswife]

That's a new idea that I hadn't thought of Jenny. Did you like it??

 

[jennyema]

YES! It was very good ... if you like cilantro.

Wasn't real tzaziki. I think I had it with grilled chicken.

Not sure if even I would like cilatro and lamb

 

[pdswife]

I don't think cilantro and lamb would go together.. at least not the way that I cook it.