What'd You Eat?
What did you have for dinner last night? We had shoulder of lamb - slowly roasted on a spit in our grill. We also had tender beef filet, a Greek salad, and the best creamed spinach ever! Oh - and ciabatta!
What do you need to make great lamb? Any piece of lamb will do - chops are more tender, but shanks, shoulders, and legs are filled with more connective tissue and need to be cooked slowly. A few cloves of garlic - I used 6 to 10 cloves of varying size. Two or three 6" sprigs of rosemary, leaves removed, stems discarded. Chop those leaves very finely - or use a mortar and pestle as I did. Kosher salt - or any other coarse grained salt, a teaspoon of peppercorns, a 1/2 teaspoon of coriander seed. First, grind together the rosemary with the dry seasonings (the dry seasonings are the abrasive material useful in breaking down the tough fibers of the rosemary). When you are satisfied that the fiber has been broken down enough - I like it very smooth - add the garlic cloves one at a time to make a rich flavorful paste.
Since I was making a boneless shoulder roast, I first untied the roast and opened it up. I know this roast was professionally deboned, but what I saw made me understand the derogative meaning of butcher! It didn't take long to remove gristly pieces of joint and bone fragments from the roast, although I left much of the fatty tissue because this lamb was so incredibly mild.
This is no poor reflection on Vandeburg Farms - the local source for mild lamb - I specifically requested very little trimming on my cuts. I like to trim my own roasts because, just like the giblets are useful when roasting chicken, the parts that you remove yourself can be made into delicious gravies and stocks.
While the shoulder was opened up, I took the opportunity to schmear half of the rosemary paste along the inside. I also sprinkled a small amount of salt, pepper, and olive oil on the meat. But remember that a roast has a lot of meat to be seasoned, a 1/2 teaspoon salt per pound of meat is not very much I bet this was a good 8 pounds raw and I used a mere 2 tablespoons overall. Also, since I was able to "open up" this kind of roast, I was able to get the seasoning as intimately in contact with the meat as anywhere else.
I was considering what else I could add to the roast when I quickly rolled the roast back up into a log - fat side out and retied it. I rubbed the remainder of the past into the outside, drizzled a bit more olive oil (it really was a lean cut, after all), then rolled it back up in the plastic it came in and let it "age" overnight in the fridge.
I didn't preheat the gas grill, but I gave it a good once over to make sure it was clean, lit the rotisserie burner, pulled the spit hardware (prongs and shaft) into the cozy warmth of the household kitchen. I cleaned up the spit and skewwered the chilly roast and made sure the sharp prongs were deeply embedded in the pink flesh. If you are doing this, make sure you use a dry paper towel to tighten all the wing nuts. I mounted the spit in the motor and got it going. I also slid the outdoor cookie sheet under the roast to intercept the drippings. After 30 minutes, I realized I neded a little more heat and flipped on the gas under the roast as well. I left the roast alone for 90 minutes. I didn't take the temp. I didn't cut a slit to see if it was cooked. Frankly, I didn't care. I want to rebel against the food service rules when I am at home! Except, of course, of the ones that protect us from ourselves.
I removed the roast from the spit. I'd like to write that I was graceful and deftly handled that task - but I was ruffian and nearly skidded the entire roast onto the deck. After swaddling the roast in heavy duty aluminum foil, I let it rest for 35 minutes while I prepped the rest of dinner.
The foil helps keep the roast clean and warm - we were having cold rain showers, but I have heard it said the rest lets the "juices" redistributed and keeps the meat moist.
Hmmm. I am going now to check on a sous vide experiment regarding lamb shanks - have vac system and programmable crock pot, will travel.
What do you need to make great lamb? Any piece of lamb will do - chops are more tender, but shanks, shoulders, and legs are filled with more connective tissue and need to be cooked slowly. A few cloves of garlic - I used 6 to 10 cloves of varying size. Two or three 6" sprigs of rosemary, leaves removed, stems discarded. Chop those leaves very finely - or use a mortar and pestle as I did. Kosher salt - or any other coarse grained salt, a teaspoon of peppercorns, a 1/2 teaspoon of coriander seed. First, grind together the rosemary with the dry seasonings (the dry seasonings are the abrasive material useful in breaking down the tough fibers of the rosemary). When you are satisfied that the fiber has been broken down enough - I like it very smooth - add the garlic cloves one at a time to make a rich flavorful paste.
Since I was making a boneless shoulder roast, I first untied the roast and opened it up. I know this roast was professionally deboned, but what I saw made me understand the derogative meaning of butcher! It didn't take long to remove gristly pieces of joint and bone fragments from the roast, although I left much of the fatty tissue because this lamb was so incredibly mild.
This is no poor reflection on Vandeburg Farms - the local source for mild lamb - I specifically requested very little trimming on my cuts. I like to trim my own roasts because, just like the giblets are useful when roasting chicken, the parts that you remove yourself can be made into delicious gravies and stocks.
While the shoulder was opened up, I took the opportunity to schmear half of the rosemary paste along the inside. I also sprinkled a small amount of salt, pepper, and olive oil on the meat. But remember that a roast has a lot of meat to be seasoned, a 1/2 teaspoon salt per pound of meat is not very much I bet this was a good 8 pounds raw and I used a mere 2 tablespoons overall. Also, since I was able to "open up" this kind of roast, I was able to get the seasoning as intimately in contact with the meat as anywhere else.
I was considering what else I could add to the roast when I quickly rolled the roast back up into a log - fat side out and retied it. I rubbed the remainder of the past into the outside, drizzled a bit more olive oil (it really was a lean cut, after all), then rolled it back up in the plastic it came in and let it "age" overnight in the fridge.
I didn't preheat the gas grill, but I gave it a good once over to make sure it was clean, lit the rotisserie burner, pulled the spit hardware (prongs and shaft) into the cozy warmth of the household kitchen. I cleaned up the spit and skewwered the chilly roast and made sure the sharp prongs were deeply embedded in the pink flesh. If you are doing this, make sure you use a dry paper towel to tighten all the wing nuts. I mounted the spit in the motor and got it going. I also slid the outdoor cookie sheet under the roast to intercept the drippings. After 30 minutes, I realized I neded a little more heat and flipped on the gas under the roast as well. I left the roast alone for 90 minutes. I didn't take the temp. I didn't cut a slit to see if it was cooked. Frankly, I didn't care. I want to rebel against the food service rules when I am at home! Except, of course, of the ones that protect us from ourselves.
I removed the roast from the spit. I'd like to write that I was graceful and deftly handled that task - but I was ruffian and nearly skidded the entire roast onto the deck. After swaddling the roast in heavy duty aluminum foil, I let it rest for 35 minutes while I prepped the rest of dinner.
The foil helps keep the roast clean and warm - we were having cold rain showers, but I have heard it said the rest lets the "juices" redistributed and keeps the meat moist.
Hmmm. I am going now to check on a sous vide experiment regarding lamb shanks - have vac system and programmable crock pot, will travel.
posted by The Barefoot Baker at
5:24 PM
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