Leg of Lamb – 10/31/10

I’m not sure what inspired me to roast a small piece of a leg of lamb. Somewhere in my mind I’d been wanting to do something with lamb…whether it be with the chops, shank or leg. The deal was sealed when I saw the perfect-sized piece of roast at my local Bristol Farms.

I got a boneless piece of roast which I liked because I could stuff it with various herbs before tying the roast together. I used fresh rosemary, thyme, garlic and…of course…salt and pepper. My method of cooking this would be simple – sear then finish in the oven low and slow – around 200 degrees. Conveniently, I was working on a pork confit at the same time in the oven at 200 degrees. I often like to roast things at a pretty low temperature, taking a page out of Cook’s Illustrated and Ad Hoc at Home. Roasting at a higher temperature tends to overcook and dry out the exterior of a roast before the whole thing is cooked through. With a lower temperature, I would be able to maximize the amount of perfectly-cooked medium meat.

I was aiming for a medium temperature on the meat. I took it out when my thermometer read 133 degrees and let it rest, though I felt the meat ended up being closer to medium-rare. Still good though.

I completed my plate with some garlic sauteed spinach, and a mint-based salsa verde on top. I just tossed in fresh parsley, mint, garlic, anchovies, and capers into my food processor while continually adding olive oil. I forgot to buy a lemon (dammit!), so I was missing some of the acidity I was looking for.

In all though, I was pretty happy with my lamb!