I was talking with a friend of mine recently about lamb. Miguel is a chef and restauranteur, and runs what is arguably the finest dining establishment in town. Miguel carries lamb, but lamb chops and ground lamb only.
"People are funny about lamb" Miguel explained. "Lamb chops and our ground lamb are all we can sell."
This, my friends, is a sad state of affairs. Lamb is a delicious and versatile meat, and there are great ways to prepare every part of it. So I am going to share with you several ways to do yummy stuff with lamb.
This week, lets talk about the leg-
Leg of lamb is probably the leanest cut, and it is tender as well. There is a layer of fat and membrane on the leg which you are well-advised to remove at least in part before cooking the leg.
Probably the most familiar cut of lamb to Americans, the leg is usually served roasted. But when I lived in a mostly Arab community in Michigan, I learned another way which is purely heaven. It is marinated, boneless leg of lamb done on the grill.
Middle-eastern style leg of lamb
1 leg of lamb
2 peeled cloves of garlic
1 handful of fresh mint or 2 tablespoons dried mint
1 lemon or lime
olive oil
salt
pepper
Begin by boning out the leg of lamb into one long steak of even thickness. If the shank is attached, cut it off first and set it aside for another use.
You may also have a piece of the pelvis called the "aitch bone" at the hip end of the leg. If you do, take a sharp knife with a long, thin, flexible blade and carefully separate the flesh from this bone until you can remove it. "SHARP" is important. The sharper the blade, the less strength you have to use when cutting and the more control you have. Remember not to cut towards yourself, and not to cut towards the hand holding down the lamb. We don't want to visit the emergency room if we don't have to.
Next comes removal of the thigh bone. Cut in towards the thigh bone where the bone is nearest to the skin. This will be along the inner thigh. Best is to look for a seam there, where two muscles meet. You can likely see the connective tissue that runs along the bone, that's the spot. If you don't see it, don't sweat it, just go in where the bone is closed to the surface and carefully separate the flesh from the bone until you can remove it completely.
It's not difficult. Take your time Save the bones for middle-eastern style lentil soup. We'll talk about the soup another day.
Having removed the thigh bone, you'll have a gully, so to speak, where the bone was, and a thicker piece of meat on both sides. The name of the game now is to cut, parallel to the cutting board, and beginning from where the bone was, through each of those thicker sections of meat, butterflying them out so you have one long steak of fairly even thickness.
Put the boned and butterflied leg of lamb into a roasting pan or similar. Salt it, pepper it, run a clove of garlic through a garlic press and rub it all over that side of the meat. Chop up half the mint, if fresh, or rub between your hands if it´s dry, and rub it into the surface of the meat. Squeeze half the lemon (traditional) or lime (not traditional but tasty) over the meat, and then drizzle over some olive oil. Flip the meat over and repeat on the other side. Put it in the fridge to marinate for at least four hours.
At the end of that time, grill the butterflied lamb over charcoal until medium rare, keeping an eye on it to avoid flare-ups. It should take about ten minutes on a side.
Let rest for 5 minutes or more, and slice thinly on the bias.
Serve with labneh.
Labneh recipe
2 cups yogurt
2 cloves garlic
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt.
Run garlic through a garlic press. Add the kosher salt, and either work in a mortar and pestle or mash it together in a bowl with the back of a spoon until the kosher salt has reduced the garlic to a puree. That hot, intense fresh garlic flavor is produced when the cells of the garlic are ruptured, so what we are doing here is producing maximum fresh garlic flavor. Stir the garlic-salt mixture into the yogurt and let it sit in the fridge for an hour or so.
This is not just a wonderful condiment, it has been served to me in Lebanese restaurants to ease cold symptoms, as well.
"People are funny about lamb" Miguel explained. "Lamb chops and our ground lamb are all we can sell."
This, my friends, is a sad state of affairs. Lamb is a delicious and versatile meat, and there are great ways to prepare every part of it. So I am going to share with you several ways to do yummy stuff with lamb.
This week, lets talk about the leg-
Leg of lamb is probably the leanest cut, and it is tender as well. There is a layer of fat and membrane on the leg which you are well-advised to remove at least in part before cooking the leg.
Probably the most familiar cut of lamb to Americans, the leg is usually served roasted. But when I lived in a mostly Arab community in Michigan, I learned another way which is purely heaven. It is marinated, boneless leg of lamb done on the grill.
Middle-eastern style leg of lamb
1 leg of lamb
2 peeled cloves of garlic
1 handful of fresh mint or 2 tablespoons dried mint
1 lemon or lime
olive oil
salt
pepper
Begin by boning out the leg of lamb into one long steak of even thickness. If the shank is attached, cut it off first and set it aside for another use.
You may also have a piece of the pelvis called the "aitch bone" at the hip end of the leg. If you do, take a sharp knife with a long, thin, flexible blade and carefully separate the flesh from this bone until you can remove it. "SHARP" is important. The sharper the blade, the less strength you have to use when cutting and the more control you have. Remember not to cut towards yourself, and not to cut towards the hand holding down the lamb. We don't want to visit the emergency room if we don't have to.
Next comes removal of the thigh bone. Cut in towards the thigh bone where the bone is nearest to the skin. This will be along the inner thigh. Best is to look for a seam there, where two muscles meet. You can likely see the connective tissue that runs along the bone, that's the spot. If you don't see it, don't sweat it, just go in where the bone is closed to the surface and carefully separate the flesh from the bone until you can remove it completely.
It's not difficult. Take your time Save the bones for middle-eastern style lentil soup. We'll talk about the soup another day.
Having removed the thigh bone, you'll have a gully, so to speak, where the bone was, and a thicker piece of meat on both sides. The name of the game now is to cut, parallel to the cutting board, and beginning from where the bone was, through each of those thicker sections of meat, butterflying them out so you have one long steak of fairly even thickness.
Put the boned and butterflied leg of lamb into a roasting pan or similar. Salt it, pepper it, run a clove of garlic through a garlic press and rub it all over that side of the meat. Chop up half the mint, if fresh, or rub between your hands if it´s dry, and rub it into the surface of the meat. Squeeze half the lemon (traditional) or lime (not traditional but tasty) over the meat, and then drizzle over some olive oil. Flip the meat over and repeat on the other side. Put it in the fridge to marinate for at least four hours.
At the end of that time, grill the butterflied lamb over charcoal until medium rare, keeping an eye on it to avoid flare-ups. It should take about ten minutes on a side.
Let rest for 5 minutes or more, and slice thinly on the bias.
Serve with labneh.
Labneh recipe
2 cups yogurt
2 cloves garlic
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt.
Run garlic through a garlic press. Add the kosher salt, and either work in a mortar and pestle or mash it together in a bowl with the back of a spoon until the kosher salt has reduced the garlic to a puree. That hot, intense fresh garlic flavor is produced when the cells of the garlic are ruptured, so what we are doing here is producing maximum fresh garlic flavor. Stir the garlic-salt mixture into the yogurt and let it sit in the fridge for an hour or so.
This is not just a wonderful condiment, it has been served to me in Lebanese restaurants to ease cold symptoms, as well.
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