Saturday evening we had a wintry dinner with our parents that focused on a slow cooked leg of lamb.
The recipe is really all about time and technique as the time commitment is substantial.
I ordered a bone-in leg of American lamb from a local butcher I like. I forgot to ask him to remove the hip bone which I did myself, but if you’re not up on butchering don’t forget to ask.
1 whole bone-in leg of (American) lamb approx 7-8 lbs.
EVOO
Coarse sea salt
Coarse grind black pepper
1 heads worth of unpeeled garlic cloves
3 large branches each of rosemary and thyme
1 liter of dry white wine
Rub the leg with olive oil and season well all over. In my case I tied up the end where I removed the hip, but a butcher can do that for you as well.
I put the meat into a large roasting pan and browned well all over over medium heat.
Remove the leg from the pan. Add the garlic and herbs and deglaze with the white wine.
Add the meat back to the pan. I improvised a cover from two pieces of aluminum foil folded together along their sides and covered the entire pan with that.
Bring the liquid in the pan to a boil over the stovetop and transfer to a 300F oven.
Baste the meat frequently. Turn the leg over after approx 3 1/2 hours.
Continue to baste.
Check the meat with a fork after about 6 hours. It should be very (falling apart) tender. It will need to rest out of the oven for at least half an hour in order for you to be able to carve it, otherwise it will shred.
I served this with roasted root veg (carrots, turnips, and parsnips) and brussel sprouts, creamy polenta, and a salade of chicory, roasted beets, and Valdeon.
We stuck with Languedoc reds for wine.
Yeah.
I only had the time to pick up the meat that morning or I would have pre-seasoned it something along those lines. Had to get it seared and in the oven or it would have been Sunday breakfast.
Nice++
As luck would have it, we had roasted leg of lamb last night as well. From Costco, we got a deboned leg from Oz. I made a paste out of EVOO, S&P, granulated garlic, rosemary, thyme and desicated lemon peel. Tied it back up and did a bastardized rotisserie job on the Weber using mesquite hardwood charcoal. Served with a side of thyme and roasted garlic couscous and some pan roasted Brussels Sprouts.
Serge, it was extremely tender. I took it to 135 deg F in the thickest part, so it was perfect for me and Kristi. The thinner end was all little more well done, but the kids scarfed it down and had seconds. They even wanted MORE Brussels Sprouts…go figure. We have been extremely happy with the Australian racks and legs from Costco as of late.
Still, nothing beat the dry aged lamb that Flannery provides.
Has anyone done a similar recipe with lamb shoulder?
Looks great Mark. I never used this cooking method before. I will try this recipe next time I cook leg of lamb or lamb shoulder.
I usually use the lamb shoulder in a slightly different recipe. I scour the fat, rub with olive oil, salt and pepper. I place the roast fat side up with garlic, rosemary and thyme under the roast. Cover the roasting pan and let cook without opening for an hour per pound. Also, I preheat my oven to 500 degrees and before I place the roast in the oven I knock it down to 325.
Yes and I wrap the meat in cheesecloth before it goes into the oven so that when it comes time to take it out it is easy to handle without breaking up the roast.