1.8kg leg of lamb for dinner party

[gertrude70]

Hi all I'm having a dinner party for 6 and went a bit crazy by being a leg of lamb even though I'd never cooked one before...advice on how long to cook, whether to marinade and what to serve with it would be greatly appreciated! It would be great to prepare as much as poss. before hand so I don't start runnijng around like a headless chicken when they arrive

[Suzanne]

First of all, Welcome, Gertrude! You've come to a good place for answers.

(For those who in the U.S. are metrically challenged , the leg is about 4 pounds.)

Let me ask you a couple of questions, Gertrude: what kind of sides do you and your friends normally like? It may be that you've already got something appropriate in your repertory. (Won't that make life easier? ) And what flavors do you like -- garlic or not? spicy or not?

Also: how thoroughly cooked do you like your lamb? There are many ways to do it, some that will result in very rare meat, some in well-done (but still tender and moist).

Roasting a leg of lamb is not that different from any other roast (joint), so be easy on that!

[gertrude70]

thanks for replying so quickly ..getting in a bit of a panic as it is in 2 days...don't think have a fav side or if we do probably all different! and am open to tastes whether garlicky or spicy..although I would prefer not to have to hunbt down ingredients that are very exotic meaning a lot of places don't sell them..doesn't help does it? anyway any advice you could offer would be brilliant

Thanks again

[gertrude70]

sorry forgot to say like the lamb to be pink but not overly rare

[Cat Man]

Bone in or boneless?
Bone in will take about an hour longer then boneless.

I did one of these for Xmas dinner this year. Pretty simple but delicious.

Olive oil first (to help the herbs stick)
Basil, Rosemary, Thyme, oregano, sea salt (lots), fresh ground pepper,

In the roasting pan, 3 cups red wine, 12 garlic cloves, 1/4 lb butter, 4 whole carrots, not peeled, red onion quartered and a dozen brussel sprouts.

Broiler on high for the first 20 minutes, uncovered.

Cover with foil, turn heat down to 250....glaze every 30 minutes for a total cook time of about 2.5 hrs

Let sit for 20 min at room temp before carving and you should be good to go

Cat Man

[bluedogz]

Having married an Icelandic lamb addict myself, I learned early in my married life to produce an acceptable leg of lamb.

I used the below recipe for Xmas this year, and can tell you for a fact you can do all your pre-work a day ahead and refrigerate the lamb wrapped in plastic till the guests arrive: Recipes : Roast Leg of Lamb with Pancetta, Sage and Rosemary : Food Network

I'd counsel tooting over to Target or Wally World and spending the $7 on an instant-read thermometer- using that you KNOW when the meat is done, instead of guessing.

[cinnamon]

hi
Did nobody realized that 1.8kg of boneless leg lamb would give u enough for 12 portions?

[Harpua]

Wow, I was just going to post a thread about cooking my first leg of lamb! A friend of mine bought it for me.. it's a "mini" one. I've never even eaten lamb. Thanks for the thread!

[tessa]

Originally Posted by Harpua

Wow, I was just going to post a thread about cooking my first leg of lamb! A friend of mine bought it for me.. it's a "mini" one. I've never even eaten lamb. Thanks for the thread!

Its my favourite meat , mind you coming from a land of 3o million of the things its very unpatriotic not to love cooked lamb
for a 1.8kg lamb i would roast it in a slow oven in a covered pan with a little water about an inch deep, seasoning a good drizzle of olive oil and i would lay it on a bed of rosemary and whole garlic cloves , would cook it for about 2.5 hours on about 300F or what ever 150C converts to . turn it over half way through and add a little more water to the pan if it needs it for the last half hour i would leave the lid off so it browns up nicely in the oven , serve with some tasty mint sauce or gravy


what time is dinner i will be there shortly

[indianwells]

Pity you want it pink. In an ideal world it's nice to have it pink but for a dinner party it can be easier to have as little to worry about as possible. I rub the lamb with Olive Oil, stud it with garlic and Rosemary, sit it on a bed of root vegetables, season it, glug half a bottle of good red wine into the pan and throw it in a low oven for 6 hours. I forget about it and after 6 hours you won't need to carve it with a knife, a spoon will do. Add some stock to the glorious mess in the bottom of the roasting dish, bubble up, pass through a sieve and you have gravy to die for.
Nigella Lawson cooks hers for 24 hours!

[stir it up]

Trust me that this is how you get what you're after without worry. I just did one this week. It will give you pink and deliciously juicy, but not overly rare as you said. I shudder at the idea of well done leg of lamb, I wouldn't mind stewing other cuts like that, but not the leg.

You will need a thermometer. That is the best way, rather than going on time. Then if you take it out at the exact temperature, and let it sit, and it will "re-absorb" its juices and continue to finish on the counter. You will get the perfect amount of doneness without stress that you'll ruin it for your dinner party. I recommend the thermometer that has a probe on a string and a unit that reads outside the oven. They're about $20-25, they can be set to alert you when it's reached the temperature you're after. (or you can use whatever thermometer you have).

For a really simple "Provencal" type of preparation, what I do is first rub the lamb leg exterior with a rub of a little, not too much, olive oil, and then a healthy amount of rosemary and thyme (more rosemary than thyme, or you can use just rosemary), and some nice grey sea salt (a decent amount, but not oversalted). Then I like to "stud" it with garlic, by taking a tip of a good paring knife, making little nicks in the leg, and pressing garlic slivers into that nick (quite deeply so most of the garlic sliver is submerged). Then I grind pepper all over it, I personally like a mix that is pink peppercorns mixed with black peppercorns, but whatever pepper you've got.

Then to roast, you roast it on a rack, uncovered, until the internal temperature measures 125 Fahrenheit. Then take out of the oven, cover loosely with foil (I put it on a warmed platter, but you can leave it in the rack and pan too), and let rest for 15 minutes minimum before serving. I think that temperature will really work for you. I like to roast it at a high oven temp, say 425 or 450 with convection, or 450 without, to get the outer surface to brown a little. Or start it high and reduce to 350, but usually I find I just keep it up that high and take out when internal temperature is reached.

You will also hopefully have a little jus in the bottom of the pan, pour off after it's rested.