Lamb


 
C

Clark Deutscher

TVWBB All-Star
Good afternoon all. I through a lamb shoulder on the smoker this morning. Made a paste of onion, garlic, rosemary, and olive oil. Also added a small touch of lemon. Going to serve with Lemon Dill roasted potatoes.

Anyways I'm looking for a decent finishing sauce for the lamb? Most of the ideas I have found are lemon based but I'm going to try to avoid this if at all possible due to the lemon in the potatoes and the rub. Any other ideas?

Also I was planning on pulling the lamb but does anyone who has tried this hav a preference on pulled v sliced?

Thanks!

Clark
 
Hmm. Hard one, to me, because of the dill. Things that come to mind that would work with the lamb, pots, rosemary, lemon, onion, garlic don't, imo, work with dill, mostly, probably, because--to me--the dill doesn't work well with the other combinations on the plate.
 
O.k not a problem. Looks like the lamb is going to take longer to get ready than I was expecting. I was counting on an hour and a half to two hours a pound but it looks like it's going to be more like two and a half hours. So anyways it's going to be tomorrows dinner.

So now I can get rid of the dill in the potatoes. Does a sauce of lemon juice, rosemary, olive oil, and garlic sound reasonable or to strong?
 
Could be overkill--could be fine--depending on proportions.

Got any dried fruit--specifically dried cherries or apricots?
 
Don't know if you'll like this idea but it came to mind when I read the OP. It wouldn't work with dill though. (You might go with lemon-thyme or lemon-pepper potatoes.)

Both apricots and cherries play to the natural sweetness of lamb meat and work with everything else on the plate. Here's my thought:

Plump 6 or 8 apricots in about a c of chicken stock by simmering them, covered, tiil soft and tender. A few minutes before the fruit is soft, stick a small piece of rosemary sprig in the pot (maybe a 1-inch piece). When the fruit is done, discard the rosemary sprig, lift out the fruit to cool a bit, reserve the stock off heat. Finely chop the fruit.

In a saute pan, melt a little butter into a little evoo then saute a few thinly sliced or finely chopped shallots (or a med onion, finely chopped) till soft. Add a little thyme and some minced or pressed garlic and cook just till the garlic is fragrant. Whisk in a little Dijon. Add the finely chopped apricots and the reserved chicken stock and bring to a simmer.

Reduce the sauce by about 1/3. You can then reserve off heat or you can add body to the sauce by either forcing through a medium sieve some or all of the solids, or do so by pureeing with a hand- or conventional blender some or all of the sauce. (I'd like puree 1/3 of it first then go from there.) Reserve the sauce, covered, off heat.

For service, rewarm the sauce over low heat. Take the collected drippings from the foil and add them--a couple t at a time--til the sauce is nicely flavored with them but not over-the-top. Adjust salt and pepper. Remove the sauce from the heat then whisk in about 3 T unsalted butter, one quarter of it at a time, by stabbing each butter piece with a fork and stirring the sauce with it. Stir with some energy but not too vigorously, so the butter melts and emulsifies with the sauce.

Add a few drops of lemon juice--tops--and serve.

(I usually just separate the shoulder into chunks for service.)

Hope this helps.
 
Clark

What Kevin said -
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> Both apricots and cherries play to the natural sweetness of lamb meat and work with everything else on the plate. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I have an apricot tree in my backyard and share the fruit with the native birds every year - They get 80% I rescue 20%.
I alway make about a 4 litres (gallon) of chilli and apricot relish basically I pulse up 6 or so onions, 1/2 kilo of banana peppers 1/4 - 1/2 kilo of chillies depending on heat and put into a non-reactive saucepan to which I add about 3/4 litre of vinegar and about 1 1/2 kg of chopped up apricot flesh which i simmer for 1/2 hour or so. then I add about 3 - 4 cups of white sugar and a bit of salt and simmer on low heat stirring regularly for about 1/2 - 3/4 hour I then put it into a couple of sterilized jars let it cool seal and put it in the fridge. I serve this cold on the side with hot lamb, sausages and corned beef. It works very well, so I can see how the sauce Kevin has given you will match the meat very well.
As for the dill, it is a herb that it is best served on its own, I love it in chilled soups. With Q, if you have a lot of flavours happening then I personally would not use it as well on the same plate.

Regards
 
Your lamb seasoning paste sounds great and is going down the greek path with your seasonings. I would think you could drop the dill from the taters and use some fresh thyme to stay with the savory flavors from the rosemary on the lamb.

I am not so sure the fruit would work so well with the strong earthy flavors of the rosemary. Did you ever think of getting pitas and slicing the lamb leg thin and making a homemade gyros with tzatziki sauce? This is good stuff and the way I envision how real gyros would taste if I had them in Greece. I would also use some fresh oregano in this sauce. Slice up some fresh onion and tomatos with some thyme roasted taters! Here is our recipe for the tzatziki sauce and gyros.

Porkrastinators Pit Roasted Gyros
These are always a massive hit at the gathering I have made them at... VERY tasty...Enjoy!

1 Boneless Leg of lamb Aprox 5 pounds
5 cloves of garlic, minced
1 handful of fresh oregano, chopped
4 sprigs of fresh rosemary
Juice of 2-3 lemons
1/2 Cup Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
1 TBS Dijon mustard
Salt
Pepper

Unroll the boneless leg of lame and begin scoring it vertically starting at one end to further open up the leg and expose more meat. Season both sides with salt and pepper. Take remaining ingredients and place into a bowl except the olive oil. Start whisking briskly and start drizzling olive oil in to make the emulsion. Rub the leg down with the seasoned oil mixture. Roll up leg and tie with butchers twine.

Roast on the pit at 300-350 until internal temperature reaches 145-150 then pull and rest, tented in foil for 20 minutes. Slice the leg into strips. Slice some onions and tomatoes and serve on pita bread with the homemade Tzatziki recipe. (Follows)


Porkrastinators Tzatziki Sauce:
16 ounces plain yogurt
1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded, and finely chopped
Pinch kosher salt
2-3 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
5 to 6 mint leaves, finely minced

Place the yogurt in coffee filter, gather up the edges, suspend over a bowl, and drain for 2 hours in the refrigerator.

Place the chopped cucumber in a coffee filter and squeeze to remove the liquid; discard liquid. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the drained yogurt, cucumber, salt, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, and mint. Serve as a sauce for gyros.
 
'Real gyros' are not made from lamb leg, they are made from ground lamb, sometimes with beef thrown in to the mix.

Gyro meat

I get your point on the rosemary and fruit but rosemary isn't really 'earthy'. It is strong though. It has a high end minty quality that goes well with some fruits--imo--particularly stone fruits and many berries, but certainly not all.

Tza-tziki is always a winner. Yours looks very good.
 
I have a lamb question as well. On Tuesday I'm getting half of a juvenile lamb... head and neck removed, feet removed, and then basically one side of lamb. As the lamb is so young, I expect this to be about 15 lbs. of lamb.

I'm not sure that the fat content is going to be too high. What do you guys think?

Should I butcher it into smaller cuts of meat? If I halve it so that there are two quarters of lamb, I could fit it in my WSM, but I am worried that it might not be fatty enough and will dry out plus I'm not sure that smoked lamb would be any good. I could fit it whole onto a grill.

Suggestions?
 
Smoked lamb is quite good. (I go lighter on the smoke.)

It is a matter of how you like lamb cooked, imo. You can do whole lamb (or in your case a half) and cook the whole thing to med-rare, say, or medium or you can cook it completely through. I like shoulders slow cooked through, legs roasted to med-rare, shanks braised through, and loins roasted to med-rare. So I think it's a matter of how you like your various lamb parts cooked--know hwat I mean?

Welcome to the board.
 
Man I just love these lamb discussions. Typically I like the leg done on a rotie and sliced. But there's lots of good material here. I really like the different views on the fruit. And although I like the homemade authentic Gyro as a cool thing to try this summer I've got to say the non traditional sliced lamb sure sounds good.

Seth I love the sounds of that sliced lamb "gyro". Thanks for posting! Frankly I like the "pocketless pita" that I can get from the Indian groceries near by and would love to try this recipe with them.

Kevin - in this case (gyro meat) I can order the cuts of beef and lamb and have the butcher dress, cube and grind everything fresh. I would then use the food processor to make the paste at home (there wouldn't be any fillers). Do you always use 50% mix of beef/lamb? Or only when the lamb is Australian. I know that I can get all American high quality from one location typical from another when I give this a try.
 
For me and a particular group of friends I go with all lamb irrespective of source. For some groups I mellow the lamb with the addition of the beef.

Great looking relish you got there Phil.
 
Just figured I'd update. The sauce that Kevin concoted above turned out really well and I highly recomend to anyone.

Kevin - I also through together your banana kethcup recipe on the weekend. It is excellent. I'm going to have to get that mango ketchup recipe from you at some point. Also how long will the banana ketchup last in the fridge if not frozen being that it has fresh bananas?

Clark
 
I'd think a week on the ketchup, maybe, more, but it doesn't really have the acidity to go longer without suffering I think. I vac and freeze it in small packages.

I'm glad you like it and glad the lamb sauce worked for you.
 
Just a note. I did a lamb shank with only a dry rub like I do my ribs and smoked with a tri-tip and some sausage this past Sunday and it was great. Sliced off the bone and served with the tri-tip. I'm doing it again! I have always braised or roasted before but never again. It seemed the fat rendered nicely and wasn't quite as rich(fatty) as roasting. I always find once someone gives lamb a chance they will come back for more.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I always find once someone gives lamb a chance they will come back for more. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Jon
You gotta beleive it. Laaamb is our favourite though it is becoming more expensive with the drought.Typically we are paying 8.99 a kilo for a side as compared to 3.99 a kilo 2 years ago.

We have lamb steaks as a cut here in Australia they run about 8-10 to the kilo and are generally 15.99 a kilo. They are a fabulous cut grilled 2 1/2 minutes a side with pinch of S&P - melt in your mouth full of that sweet lamb flavour - I found some on special for 9.95 kilo we had some last night with my apricot and chilli relish (above) - just like being in heaven.

A hint on selection of lamb - generally the darker the meat the older the lamb the olderv tyhe tougher. Always try and select the lighter coloured meat look for good marbling and thick fat around the joint end of the leg.

Regards
 
Just for an info, did Seth's Lamb recipe (the smoking part only) last Sunday. Top rack WSM, sand in pan with lump. Took about an hour and 45 minutes at fairly high heat (no thermo, but could only put hand on lid for 1 second). Took to 140º. The leftover fresh rosemary I laid on the grate and set the lamb on top for a little extra flavor. Definitely a winner.
 
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