Lamb

[stillsmoking]

Hi all, anybody else doing some lamb today?  I put a 7 lb boneless leg of lamb in some marinade last night.  Marinade consisted of;

Apple juice, 1/2 gallon
Red wine, 1 bottle
Soy Sauce, 1 cup
Garlic chopped, lots
Onion chopped, 1
Black pepper with lemon, 1 Tbsp
Smoked Paprika, 2 Tbsp

All measurements are approximate, I have a narrow tall container that will hold the leg upright.  I just poured and got everything about right.  The lamb is in the smoker at about 200, I will hold it there until it reaches an internal temp of 135-140.  Started out with apple and will finish off with hickory and cherry.  Out of the smoker, FTC, for a couple hours and then slice it up.

[squirtthecat]

That sounds great!   I was going to do one, but since I would be the only one to eat it - I wanted a small 4 lb one.  Could only find the big ones.

[Habanero Smoker]

That does look good. I have one going into the smoker today, using a mint/parsley paste. Not sure how it will turn out, since the original recipe called for fresh basil (instead of the mint/parsley), that I could not locate.

Let us know how it turns out.

[stillsmoking]

The lamb turned out great!!!  Definitely in the top three I have ever done.  Ended up being in the smoker about six hours.  Mostly apple smoke with some hickory and cherry mixed in.  Took it out, FTC for roughly three hours, then the moment of truth.  Tender, moist, mild-even the fat wasn't strong flavored.  We had the lamb with consomme rice and broccoli last night.  Onion rye bread, sliced tomato, Swiss cheese and cold lamb sandwiches for lunch today.  Can't decide if it was better last night or cold today.  The fat reduced and cooked off nicely in the smoker, that and the marinade made all the difference.  Sorry, no pictures this time folks.

How is your lamb looking Habs?  Sounds like you had something good in the works.

[Habanero Smoker]

Great to hear you lamb turned out well. I think I will try yours.

Mine was good. I was surprised with the mint/parsley paste. My paste/rub was 1 cup each of mint and parsley leaves, processed with 1/2 cup of olive oil, 1/2 cup of toasted pine nuts, 2 garlic cloves, 2 slices of toasted white bread, with cayenne pepper, salt and black pepper to taste, until it was a rough paste.

I boned and butterflied a semi boneless leg. Salted and pepper the inside before applying half the paste on it. Rolled and tied it, and added salt and pepper to the outside. Put it in preheated 225°F smoker and applied 1:20 hours of smoke. Bought it to an internal temperature of 135°F, about a total of 2 hour 45 minutes total time.

At that point I removed it from the smoker, applied the other half of the paste on top of the roast, and sprinkled about 1/4 cup of toasted pine nuts that had been crushes. Place it in the oven about 8 inches below the broiler, and broiled at 500°F for about 5 minutes to brown and crust the paste. That step did not work out as well as I had planned. I had difficulty getting the paste to adhere to the hot meat. After removing from the broil, I let it rest for about 20 minutes and carved. Final internal temperature was 141°F

The meat was tender, juicy and flavorful. The paste needs a little more work, I did like the mint/parsley mix so I will stick with that. I need to add more garlic, and maybe more bread to help the paste bind better.

[stillsmoking]

Wow Habs that sure sounds like some special lamb.  The ground pine nuts I think would be a natural with lamb, very flavorful sounding paste.  I may have to try something like your method next time it sounds really good.

[Habanero Smoker]

The original recipe was in April's Food & Wine magazine, and it called for 2 cups of basil leaves instead of the parsley/mint combination. I don't know what the problem with basil, I haven't been able to find any fresh for awhile.

I just checked and the recipe is on line. It is a Brazilian style recipe. Here is a link; the recipe name is "Basil-Crusted Leg of Lamb with Lemon Vinaigrette". If I make this again, I think I will add beaten egg white of one egg to the paste to make it a firmer crust.

I forgot to mention that I had planned to use pecan, but grabbed Oak, and it came out really well for lamb.

[classicrockgriller]

Had a small Family deal on Sunday and I did a 6lb Leg of Lamb.

Not knowing what I really wanted to do, I did the following.

A rub of EVOO, Sprinkle of Lemon Pepper, Cple of grinds on each side

Of Malabar Black Pepper, Sprinkle of Valencia Orange Peel, Crushed

Rosemary and Crystallizied Ginger.

The Ginger was hand crushed and after about 30 minutes of Heat, I

finished rubbing it on the top of Lamb. I gave it 2 hrs of Pecan/Apple

at 210*. Took it off smoker at IT of 145*. For my first leg of Lamb it

was most excellent. It was still on sale Monday ($3.99, Austrialian)

so I bought a cpl more for a planned 90th Birthday Party for my Step-

father.

[Habanero Smoker]

Citrus and rosemary are good combinations for lamb. I've never tried crystallizied ginger in anything other then baking, I may try that in the future.