Hi all, a very happy Diwali to one and all! Yes, today we celebrate the festival of lights here in Singapore and that means that I have a holiday Tuesday to update the blog with this post.
This past Sunday we had two dear friends over for a lamb roast. Now we’ve done plenty of lamb roasts but none quite as tasty as this one. So, without a whole heap of photos, here’s what you’ll need to do to make quite possibly the tastiest boneless leg of lamb on your grill/smoker!
You’ll need to plan ahead for this recipe – by at least 12-24 hours if you can. The leg of lamb will require a marinade/paste for at least 12 hours to get what can only be described as an out of this world taste.
For the marinade you’ll need:
4-5 solid “glugs” of quality olive oil
2 Tbsp dried thyme
2 Tbsp fresh rosemary (chopped) and save another 3 or 4 long sprigs for later
2 Tbsp fresh parsley (chopped)
2 Tbsp dried marjoram
1 Tsp ground cumin
4 garlic cloves (minced) then set aside another 3 cloves thinly sliced
Zest of one lemon
A squeeze of half a lemon
1 Tbsp quality balsamic vinegar
Combine all of the above ingredients in a bowl and mix well – I did it by hand so that I was able to crush the fresh herbs and garlic, releasing all that yummy flavour! Now take your boneless leg of lamb and give it a quick rinse and pat it dry with some kitchen roll (paper towel!) Now take a really sharp knife and make a number of deep but small incisions. Stuff a sliver of garlic and some rosemary inside. Try and go as deep as you can without tearing the a massive hole into your lamb. Careful here and you’ll be just fine!
Once done, plonk the leg of lamb into a large zip top bag and pour the marinade (a thick pasty thing) into the bag. Now make sure you cover all of the leg. Massage the bag ensuring you get a good even cover. Now pop the bag onto a plate and into the fridge for the next 12 hours.
OK, fast forward and you’re ready to get your lamb on! First, get your lamb out of the fridge and get the temperature up to as close to room temp as you can. In the meantime prep your smoker/grill. I used our trusty BGE and this is how I set her up.
Fire up the Egg to a target temperature of 300 degrees F (130C)
Plate setter in, legs up
Cherry wood chips (once the charcoal is lit and settled)
Drip pan under the rack
V-Rack for the lamb leg
Lightly oil your v-rack with some vegetable oil and then remove your lamb from the bag and place your leg of lamb on it, fatty side up. Smush all the herbs and oil out of the bag and onto the leg. Close the lid on your smoker/grill and let the magic happen for the next few hours.
Using my trusty iGrill, I set the target internal temperature for 155 F and the ambient temperature at a stable 300 F. I didn’t bother timing it but the length was about 3.5 hours. Again, I used the internal temperature as my gauge and not time (a far better measure if you ask me but one that peeves my wife when she asks, “when are you going to be done?”
Once you hit the target temperature of 155F, take the lamb leg off the rack and wrap it in aluminium foil and a tea towel. Let that sit for at least 10 minutes to redistribute the juices.
At this point, we prepped the salad, potatoes and pita bread eagerly awaiting the carving of one of Mary’s little ones…The result? Absolute killer and the reason why I wanted to post the secret marinade for everyone to have a crack at. Don’t forget to use all the drippings from the lamb as a gravy! Don’t waste an ounce of this stuff….it’s pure gold!
Sorry, no detailed photos of this one, save for the one I took with my iPad. I wasn’t planning on an entry but the result was so good that I just had to.
Enjoy!
Overall Heather Rating: 10/10
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