In this video, learn how to make Chef John's Barbacoa Spiced Easter Lamb with a step-by-step cooking tutorial. Elevate your holiday meal with the savory flavors of homemade lamb, expertly seasoned with barbacoa spices. From succulent lamb marinade to getting the perfect temperature, this guide provides gourmet tips for a memorable feast.
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00 Hello, this is Chef John from FoodWishes.com with Barbacoa Spiced Easter Lamb.
00:09 That's right, we're using the flavors of barbacoa, but not the traditional cooking method, since
00:14 apparently a lot of homes and apartments these days do not come with fire pits.
00:19 But don't worry, this oven method I'm about to show you works incredibly well.
00:23 Whether we're going to serve this sliced on a plate or chopped up for some tacos, and
00:28 I'm going to show you both.
00:30 And what we'll need to get started is one big old leg of lamb.
00:33 And as you can see, this one has the bone in.
00:36 Right there's the leg bone, which of course attaches to the hip bone.
00:40 And then this side is where the shank was attached, which the butcher has removed.
00:44 But if yours came with the shank, that's fine, this method will still work.
00:47 And what I like to do first is take a sharp thin knife, and with the fat side up, I like
00:52 to score this about every half inch or so, slicing down about a quarter of an inch, going
00:57 from one end to the other.
00:59 And then we'll turn it and do the same thing the other way, which is going to help our
01:03 spice rub get down through that fat to the meat.
01:06 Speaking of which, once we're done slashing, we will start stabbing, right a couple inches
01:11 deep all over.
01:12 And then once we feel like that side's been stabbed enough, we will flip it over, and
01:17 we will stab the other side all over as well.
01:20 Oh, and be careful of the bone.
01:22 We don't want you to sprain a wrist, since no one will believe how it happened.
01:26 Hey, how'd you hurt your wrist?
01:28 Stabbing lamb.
01:30 So be careful.
01:31 And that's it, our leg of lamb is now ready for our Barbara Coa inspired spice rub, which
01:37 is going to start with some kosher salt, followed by some freshly ground black pepper.
01:42 And then we'll also definitely want some chili powder.
01:45 And I'm using regular standard chili powder, plus an extra tablespoon of ancho chili, which
01:50 yes is very dark, but delicious.
01:52 And if you don't have that, just use more of the regular.
01:55 But either way, we'll also want some ground chipotle, as well as some dried Mexican oregano,
02:00 or any oregano.
02:01 And then we'll finish up with a little bit of cinnamon, plus some garlic powder.
02:06 And then to turn this into a paste, we will use some citrus juice, in the form of one
02:11 orange, one lemon, and then a couple limes, or in my case more than a couple small Mexican
02:17 limes, which kind of sort of look like little lemons, and they kind of taste like something
02:22 in between.
02:23 And yes, I really should have done that through a strainer.
02:26 Alright, seeds aren't that big of a deal here, but it kind of bugged me.
02:30 So I did remove a few between shots, before I took a whisk and mixed this up.
02:35 And once it is mixed, we can place in our leg of lamb, and then we'll use a fork to
02:39 keep flipping that over, until it's thoroughly and completely coated with the rub.
02:44 And while I do that, I should mention, this is a very streamlined, very simple, very user
02:50 friendly Barbara Coa spice rub.
02:52 Alright, for the real deal, we would be soaking whole chilies, and then pureeing them.
02:57 But trust me, this is still going to taste amazing, and we're going to save a lot of
03:00 time.
03:02 And then speaking of time, once our lamb is completely coated, we're going to transfer
03:06 this into the fridge to marinate, for I would say a minimum of 24 hours.
03:11 Although I really do think two days is better, which is why I did leave mine in the fridge
03:15 for 48 hours.
03:17 And if you can remember, it's good to give it a flip halfway through, or several flips
03:22 during the process, just to make sure both sides are getting their fair share.
03:26 And by the way, I do not cover this.
03:28 Okay, water evaporates, but flavor does not.
03:32 So it's totally fine, if not beneficial, for this to dry out a little bit.
03:36 But anyway, like I said, we'll let that marinate for about two days, at which point it's ready
03:41 to roast, which hopefully we'll do in a nice big pan like this, that has a rack in the
03:45 bottom.
03:47 But if yours doesn't, don't worry, this will still work.
03:50 And what I like to do is scatter one sliced onion underneath the rack, and then once those
03:54 are spread out, we'll put the rack back on top.
03:57 And then once that's been accomplished, we can move on to prep any vegetables or potatoes
04:01 we're going to roast with our lamb.
04:03 And for this, I decided to do some nice carrot chunks, as well as some Yukon Gold I cut in
04:07 half.
04:08 And what I did is drizzle these with some olive oil, and yes, a lot of olive oil, but
04:13 you can't really use too much.
04:16 And then I transferred in a whole bunch of minced up garlic, before seasoning with a
04:19 generous amount of kosher salt.
04:22 And that's it, we'll go ahead and toss this thoroughly with our hand mixer.
04:26 And if you're wondering why I did not use a bigger bowl, that's because I used it for
04:29 the lamb.
04:31 So what I'm trying to say is, despite my success online, I only own one large bowl.
04:37 But anyway, I got it done.
04:39 And once we do, we can transfer that into the pan, and arrange it around the outside,
04:44 around the outside, around the outside.
04:47 And once we get all that situated, and evenly spaced, we'll transfer our lamb in, and we'll
04:53 make sure the fat side is up, so that it bastes the meat while it cooks.
04:58 And once our lamb is in, if we have any open spaces, we can move some of the veggies around.
05:02 Okay, we're going to roast this at a relatively low temperature, so if we have veggies that
05:07 are all packed together in spots, they may not cook all the way through.
05:11 But we will try to space things as evenly as we can.
05:15 And then one last quick thing before this goes in the oven.
05:18 What we'll do is take a couple cups of chicken broth, and we'll pour it into the bowl that
05:21 our lamb was marinating.
05:23 And we'll give it a quick whisk, and then pour everything into the bottom of the pan.
05:27 Since for this kind of a roast, a moist cooking environment is an advantage.
05:31 Oh, and if you wanted, you could use lamb stock if you have it.
05:36 But you don't.
05:37 And that's it.
05:38 Our lamb is ready to transfer into the center of a 475 degree oven.
05:43 But as soon as we close the door, we're going to turn the heat down to 300.
05:48 And by the way, if you're going to forget to do that, just start at 300.
05:52 And we're going to roast that for about two and a half to three hours, depending on the
05:55 size, or until we have an internal temp in the thickest part of 135, which after resting,
06:02 should give us a perfect medium.
06:04 And yes, it does look amazing, and you want to start slicing and eating, but we can't.
06:09 We have to wrap this loosely in foil, and let it rest for at least 30 minutes, which
06:14 will allow that internal heat to even out, and some say for those juices to redistribute.
06:21 And while we're waiting, we can do a few things to get ready for service, including transferring
06:25 our vegetables into some kind of bowl or platter.
06:27 Oh, and you probably should check those for doneness.
06:30 And if they need a little more time, you can crank up your oven to like 400, and toss those
06:34 back in for a little bit while the meat rests.
06:38 And then as far as those gorgeous pan drippings go, what I like to do is pour it into some
06:41 kind of measuring cup, and then let it sit until that fat comes to the surface, at which
06:46 point it's very easy to spoon off.
06:49 And while we could thicken that and turn it into a gravy, it is extremely flavorful, and
06:53 I generally just like to spoon it over like this.
06:57 But anyway, that's going to be up to you.
06:59 I mean, you are after all the Ray Davies of making gravies.
07:02 Oh, and by the way, fun fact, he was actually shot once in the leg in New Orleans.
07:08 But anyway, enough about his leg.
07:10 Let's get back to ours.
07:11 So I'm going to leave that and wait for the fat to fully separate.
07:14 And then once our leg is rested, we'll transfer that onto a cutting board, and we'll start
07:19 cutting this into nice thin slices.
07:22 And in general, the grain of the meat runs parallel to the bone, which is why we want
07:26 to try to angle the knife a little bit, so that we're sort of slicing across the grain.
07:31 But this method produces meat so tender, even if you did cut completely with the grain,
07:36 it's still going to be pretty much melt in your mouth.
07:38 And it's a little tough to see in this light, and you'll see it a lot better as we slice
07:43 in further, and especially when we plate up.
07:46 But if you cook it to the temp I suggest, most of this leg is going to be beautifully
07:50 pink and juicy.
07:52 Although near the bone, it will be closer to medium rare.
07:54 And of course, you people that like it well done, can just take pieces from the outside,
08:00 and the less thick parts.
08:01 But anyway, I'm going to go ahead and stop and have a taste.
08:04 And that my friends, was some of the most delicious, juiciest, most tender leg of lamb
08:09 I've ever had.
08:10 And besides that two day marinade, the secret here is that nice slow roasting at 300, which
08:15 results in extremely juicy meat, that has a perfectly uniform doneness, where the outside
08:21 and the inside have the same beautiful uniform pinkness, which you can see a lot better here
08:26 as I plated some up.
08:28 And like I said, I just like to serve this with the natural cooking juices spooned over.
08:32 But of course, I'm never saying no to a gravy.
08:35 Oh yeah, gravy does not take no for an answer.
08:38 But for me, served just like this, is pretty much roasted leg of lamb perfection.
08:43 And if you've tried to roast this cut before, and did not have a lot of success, this is
08:47 absolutely the method you should use.
08:50 And that is the case no matter how you season or flavor this.
08:54 Just because I went with this sort of central Mexican flavor profile, does not mean you
08:57 have to.
08:59 You can simply use salt and pepper, and the herbs of your choice.
09:02 And if you're not into citrus, you could just use a little bit of vinegar, and you will
09:07 produce something just as stunning.
09:09 Which reminds me, if you're not into the traditional plated sliced lamb, may I suggest warming
09:14 up some tortillas, and then topping it with some sliced or diced roasted potato, on top
09:19 of which we will transfer that very same lamb, only this time we cubed it up.
09:24 Although slices will also work.
09:26 And then just like the plate, we'll top that with some of our Pan Jus.
09:30 At which point I finish very simply, with some finely diced white onion, into which
09:34 I mixed a lot of fresh mint and cilantro.
09:36 Oh, and a pro tip I learned from Rick Bayless, after cutting, if you rinse your onions in
09:41 cold water, they get a lot more mild.
09:44 And that's it, I finished up with a squeeze of my Mexican lime, and my Easter lamb and
09:48 potato taco was ready to enjoy.
09:51 And yes, that was every bit as fantastic as you would imagine it would be.
09:55 And of course, you could go straight for the tacos, but the more standard scenario would
10:00 be serve it sliced and plated first, and then whatever leftovers we have, we could reheat
10:05 it and then dice it and make tacos.
10:08 Okay that's probably the best game plan, but no matter how you end up seasoning this, or
10:13 how many different ways you decide to serve it, even though it takes a couple days, this
10:17 is an extremely easy way to cook lamb, and I think you're going to be very impressed
10:21 with the results.
10:23 Which is why, I really do hope you give this a try soon.
10:27 So please follow the links below for the ingredient amounts, a printable written recipe and much
10:32 more info as usual.
10:34 And as always, enjoy!
10:38 [outro music]
10:40 [outro music]
10:42 [outro music]
10:45 [outro music]
10:47 [BLANK_AUDIO]