Leg of lamb, upgraded

[JasonGotaProblem]

I don't think I've ever truly enjoyed an oven roast leg of lamb. They're always dry and chewy. Lamb is a traditional thing to cook for Easter, but i cant bring myself to make something I know I won't enjoy.

So I decided last year I was gonna start from scratch and do leg of lamb my own way. And I'm Armenian, so my own way is kebab cooked over open flame.

So i started by prepping the marinade. It's a red bell pepper and about 12 cloves of garlic, blended in bullet blender. I strain out and discard the pulp, and add lots of shawarma, turmeric, cumin, coriander, a ton of black pepper, and a pinch of mint, along with a pinch of adolphs tenderizer (too much makes it dry you don't want more than a pinch). I also cut up a bunch of saffron and soaked it in a shot glass of recently boiled water, and added the saffron "tea" to the mix. I also added a bunch of olive oil and a fat dollop of Greek yogurt and whisked til smooth.

I cut the leg into roughly  half inch wide steaks that I beat the F out of of with the spiky side of a mallet, then cut into bite sized pieces and put in the marinade overnight.

Then i cooked it all over my big green egg with a super hot fire.

It gets served with Armenian yogurt salad (which the greek restaurants copied and call "tzatziki sauce" but our version is better) it's Greek yogurt, grated cucumber and onion, dry mint flakes and a ton of black pepper.

Oh and the bone? That didnt go to waste. I deliberately left some meat on it and threw it in the oven til I saw the meat start receding, let it cool, and gave it to the happiest dog ever.

It was better this year than last. I'm optimistic that I'll improve it further next year.

[handi2]

I'm hungry again..!

Looks great Jason

[MarkT]

Yes, it looks fantastic.  Hey, shouldn't you have used Armenian yogurt rather than that Greek stuff? 

[JasonGotaProblem]

Yes, it looks fantastic.  Hey, shouldn't you have used Armenian yogurt rather than that Greek stuff? 

I knew that was coming. Got any Armenian yogurt? Probably available in CA, less so in FL

[Midway Tommy]

I tried lamb once, a couple of bites, gagged and nearly puked. Never eaten lamb since, and never will.

[steelhead_killer]

Its all about how the lamb was raised.  My sister has a huge farm in N. Cal and would send me a lamb every year.  Completely grass fed nothing else.  Best tasting lamb ever.  Did not even have a smell.  Those leg of lamb you get at Costco or most other places are raised in a pen with hay and grain.  Taste and smell bad.  My 2 cents.

Andy

[DougK]

excellent !

we do ours Greek style, on a spit, basting every 10min or so with a mix of olive oil, lemon juice, oregano and rosemary.. keeps the meat moist and the flavor is terrific..

[MarkT]

Yes, it looks fantastic.  Hey, shouldn't you have used Armenian yogurt rather than that Greek stuff? 

I knew that was coming. Got any Armenian yogurt? Probably available in CA, less so in FL

I don't know, hey, it's all Greek to me! We probably have Armenian yogurt since we already have the worlds most famous Armenian family... maybe you've heard of the Kardashians? Maybe you can get them to move to Florida?

[Brewcrafter]

That looks great!  I have had sub-par lamb, and I have had great lamb.  And one of the constants (not just with lamb but many proteins) is overcooking it....-john

[thorhammer]

This all looks great! Love lamb chops-RARE, lamb osso bucco is fantastic, and lamb stew. gotta try kabobs.