Leg of lamb -- how to?

[Doran]

I love lamb. But, I have never cooked a leg of lamb/roast. I have a 3.5 lb. roast (bone in) that I have defrosted and plan to cook for our main meal tomorrow. I'm planning to stick it full of garlic slivers. Any secrets that I need to know? What's the ideal temperature at which to cook lamb? And at what temperature is it done? I often find that the temps. recommended in cookbooks for all types of meat leave it too well done for my tastes.


What are YOU serving for your Easter meal?



Doran

[Jenny in Atl]

AUTHENTIC GREEK LAMB
====================

Ingredients:
------------
Leg of lamb
many cloves of garlic
lots of oregano and pepper
lots of lemon juice
a bit of salt

Instructions: pre-heat 325 ..
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Place many cloves of garlic under the skin/into the meat all around the
leg. Sprinkle lots of oregano, pepper, lots of lemon juice, and a bit
of salt on to the meat. Cover with aluminum foil & bake. The meat
should still be brown/pink when done (Approx 1.5 hrs).
uncover the last 1/2 hour to get a crust on the leg. Meat should be ~150 degrees

[M&M]

I am trying to decide on side dishes now. I'm thinking roasted asparagus, beets, and some sort of carrots.

I guess I will have to brave the supermarket tonight.

Sigh, I hate busy weeks when everthing happens at once.

Hope you dinner is great

[H0MEFree]

Cook it just like beef.

I believe that you roast at 350' F.

[Chris in VA]

Hi Doran,

What we do with a leg of lamb---
Ours is all cut up and marinating in Italian dressing overnight.
Tomorrow, we will skewer big chunks of peppers (green, orange and red), big mushrooms, and onions, and grill them until yummy, brushing with italian dressing as they go.
On separate skewers, we grill the lamb. Finally, we do a skewer of cherry tomatoes--these go very fast.
Mix it all together in a beautiful crock, and serve with rice.
It's the best thing I've ever eaten--lamb tastes mild and is so tender, you really don't need a knife.
Perhaps next year for you!!

[MJN]

you want to grill it, there are directions on how to in this recipe. And if you have any leftovers, this recipe is WONDERFUL!! I just had lamb for the first time ever last year and love it. It's so tasty and tender. Enjoy!

[Doran]

..

[JFS in IL]

buy a $$$ butterflied leg of lamb at Trader Joe's. Heat the oven to 475 degrees, as indicated on the package, and watch your kitchen fill with smoke from ??? that was baked onto the oven floor (oops) and now is going nuclear. Have hubby reach the smoke detectors an turn them off as the dog howls. Then have hubby trudge out into the SNOW and pull his grill out of the garage, get the charcoal and lighter fluid, and try to grill the lamb so we have time to eat before church tonight. End up nuking the lamb, which gets gorgeous on the outside but refuses to cook on the inside, so it stops bleeding and the kids will eat it. Gobble like pigs and head out to church (we just got back).

It was actually a very tasty bit of lamb! Now I need to start the oven cleaning cycle before I forget...

Moral - make sure your oven is CLEAN before turning the heat on super high! (I baked a cheesecake earlier at 350 degrees and no smoke. And, no - it was not spilled cheesecake in the oven. )

[EKS]

Rub lamb with ground ginger and garlic (the stuff in the spice containers). Cut holes all over and stick cut shallots in. Pour soy sauce and vermouth all over. Cook in oven until done.

It's good. And it smells really good while it's cooking!

[skimerinkydo]

I will be cooking lamb for the first time too. My recipe says to cook it to an internal temperature of 140 degrees.

[LisaNY]

Preheat your oven to 425. Cut slits in lamb with a small knife and insert slivers of garlic and rosemary leaves. Melt about 3T of butter, and pour over lamb - sprinkle with pepper and rosemary. Roast in oven for about 20 minutes, until you see it begin to brown. Reduce heat to 350, and add 2 cups of chicken broth and 1 cup white wine. Baste every 1/2 hour or so. (If it is a large leg of lamb, you can add more wine and broth) I thicken the gravy with a little corn or potato starch when meat is done cooking. It makes a delicious gravy.

[Doran]

The lamb was superb! As usual, I combined a variety of recipe ideas and created "my own thing". Only problem was it was a bit too rare in the middle, so we had to cook those pieces a bit longer. The leftovers are still pretty rare which will make reheating a breeze.

What I did:

Coated exterior of lamb shank with finely chopped garlic and rosemary, s & p. Coarse chopped 1 carrot, 1 celery stalk, 1 onion, 1 tomato and scattered them in the bottom of the roasting pan w/ 1/2 cup of water. Roasted on 375 for an hour. Could have used a quarter hour more. Tossed the veggies and deglazed the pan juices, mixed with a scant cup of red wine and a couple tsp. dijon mustard for a nice, light, sauce. It was great!! Served it with tossed salad, sauteed broccoli and new potatoes tossed with butter, s & p, and fresh cilantro. Mmmmmmm!

Now...what to do with the bone? Any great soup ideas among you lamb fans?


Doran