Monday, June 20, 2011

Roast Leg of Lamb

After being here in Spearfish for almost a month now, I'm finally getting my cooking mojo back. While I was in Rawlins last year I bought up all the lamb I could. Tonight I cooked up the last bit I bought. Since I am living here solo, I bought a 5 pound leg of lamb in Pocatello and had my butcher chop it up in 4 pieces. As far as cooking times, consult whatever reference you see fit. There aren't any references for itty-bitty leg of lamb roasts.

Recipe (keep in mind, this was for a 1.25 lb roast, you'll have to adjust the recipe accordingly):

Preheat oven to 425F

Prepare spice rub:
1/2 t dried rosemary crushed
1/2 t Hungarian sweet paprika
pinch cayenne pepper
pinch lemon zest
1 small chopped garlic clove
fresh ground black pepper
kosher salt

Mix rub together

Rub extra virgin olive oil into roast
Rub spice rub into roast

Due to the lack of a small roasting pan I used a medium sized cast iron skillet and preheated the oven with the skillet in it. I think this helped sear the roast.

Put roast into pan fat side up. (I did it fat-side down and that was a mistake). Add some red wine to the pan.

Roast for ~20 minutes at 425F then turn temp to 320F until roast is done. Using a meat thermometer, cook the roast till desired doneness. I prefer mine rare, so I cooked it until it was 153F on the inside.

Once done, remove roast and let it rest for 10-20 minutes.

Since I'm living as a feral bachelor, the lamb never even made it to a plate. I ate it standing in the kitchen, lamb slices in one hand and chef's knife in the other.