a side of lamb

[Xabia Jim]

We found a butcher that sold lamb by the side and tried it....about $3.00 a pound or about $50 for the side, very nicely cut up....shoulder, leg, lots of chops (chuleta's) and stew meat with a kidney. We figure 10 to 12 nice meals! What a deal.

Last night we slow roasted the leg in the WFO....fantastic.

Off to make the Pesto Manchego Xabia.....

[AnnieMacD]

Re: a side of lamb

Jim,

Approx what temp/time did you do the roast lamb? Do you cover it?

Annie

[Xabia Jim]

Re: a side of lamb

Annie, I roasted it with the fire going so I did cover it with foil initially and then took the foil off for the last hour. I did not pay too much attention to time or temp. It was in a long time, about 3 to 4 hours and it was a pretty slow oven, probably about 350F.

I was cooking other things and they went uncharastically slow as well.

I had put a slug of red wine in the roasting dish and cut full green pepper over the lamb leg which both helped the lamb cook slowly and moistly. It came out beautifylly.

[AnnieMacD]

Re: a side of lamb

Thanks, Jim, I'm definitely going to try it. But, I don't think my oven is ever as low as 350F with the fire going. I might do it overnight with a slower oven after bread baking. Would that work?

Annie

[Xabia Jim]

Re: a side of lamb

Annie, I'd give it a try.

You probably know the temperature curve for your oven (what it is going to be in the morning) so I'd probably put the lamb in late and low.

There has been some discussion of cooking meat at very low temps which scares some people but I think it has merit. One concept was to bring the meat up to desired temp by cooking it in a slow oven, basically at the temp you want the meat to come up to. This is a little bit of what we want to accomplish. The fear with lamb would be to overcook it so I might also have some liquid in the dish (wine) and other things like garlic, onions, potatoes, peppers that would help keep the moisture in while cooking. covered with foil.....might have an awesome piece of meat the next day.

good luck with it!

[AnnieMacD]

Re: a side of lamb

Jim, I cooked the lamb tonight. Bought a leg of lamb this afternoon and spiked some pieces of garlic under the skin. Smeared it with olive oil and some salt & pepper and put in the Le Creuset with the lid on. After the bread baking the oven was probably about 375 at the front so stuck it in. Had a look after the bread deliveries (approx 2.25 hours) and it's ready! Maybe a little overcooked if anything. It tastes wonderful. However, it's now after midnight so will have to have it for dinner tomorrow.

Thanks so much for the tip. I'll have to investigate more the use of the residual heat in the oven. My problem is I'm so knackered after a full day of baking and oven management that the last thing on my mind late at night is starting to cook!

Annie