Not counting candy, what else did we eat this Eastertide?
We had folks over for dinner and it was a small but fun affair. The menu included leg of lamb and rack of lamb, risotto, a Provencal squash and tomato dish that was excellent, grilled portabello mushrooms, zucchini, and onions. And a couple of bottles of decent wine. We've been drinking this Australian wine called Yellowtail, it's reasonably priced here and hasn't totally sucked yet.
Here is the leg of lamb recipe: I started wth a boneless butterflied leg. I had used about half for Irish stew on St Pats and this was the other half. It probably weighed about 2 1/2 pounds or so, but the exact size is not too important.
This recipe also works for lamb shoulder.
Ingredients:
Rub for the lamb
2 tsp fresh rosemary, ground
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp sea salt
2 Tbsp olive oil (does not need to be extra virgin since you are cooking it)
2 tsp fresh marjoram or 1 tsp dried marjoram
4 cloves of garlic, crushed
Mix this all together, and rub all over and into the meat. You can double it but
don't double the salt unless you don't plan to make the sauce or know how to fix oversalted sauces (check link). Another way to do this would be to salt the meat first, then rub it with the rub mix minus salt., this could save you from inadvertently oversalting the drippings as well.
Set the rubbed lamb aside.
Sweat 1-2 sliced onions (sweeter is better IMHO) in 3 Tbsp of olive oil, again, not the good stuff. Cover the bottom of an ovenproof, lidded casserole dish with the onions. Add a cup of Brandy, a cup of water, and four bay leaves. Put the lamb atop the onions, cover, and put them in an oven no more then 300 degrees. 250 is good if you have the time. Use a temperature probe in a thick part of the meat and take the meat out of the oven when the probe is 150 degrees or so. Take the meat from the oven, put it on a plate and cover in foil. It will continue to gain in temperature, as much as 15 degrees. It should be slightly pink but not red in the middle and the juices should be clear to brown. Let it rest at least 20 minutes before slicing.
Pour the contents of the casserole into a sauce pan and deglaze the pan with a cup of red wine. I used Merlot, Shiraz and Zinfandel also have strong flavors that stand up well to lamb. Scrape any bits of lamb left in the baking dish and return all to the sauce pan. Using a stick blender (or your margarita blender if necessary) puree the onions and sauce base together. Add two pinches of thyme and 5-6 peppercorns and reduce by simmering. When half of the volume is gone, strain the solids from the sauce base using a strainer and cheesecloth. Return to the stove and add 1 cup of brown stock. Further reduce. Just before serving, add 2-3 Tsp butter, whisk well and decant the sauce with a gravy separator. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Serve the lamb in slices, chunks, or rib chops with sauce over. Enjoy.
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Topic: Easter Feasts (Read 5237 times)