Amazingly Tender Slow Roasted Whole Leg Of Lamb. Very tender and delicious.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00Today on Passion for Food I'll show you how to roast a whole leg of lamb so that it's
00:04so tender it just falls right off the bone.
00:08But still stay nice and juicy for us because we're gonna slow roast this almost like
00:12we would a rack of ribs.
00:15And even though it might look like we slaved over this half the day, there's only about
00:18ten minutes of actual work involved, so no need to be sheepish, let's go ahead and
00:23get started.
00:25This is a whole shank on leg of lamb.
00:27I don't see these in my local stores a lot so I saw this big beautiful thing on sale
00:31and I just had to buy one.
00:34Most of the time all I see are boneless legs of lamb and butterflied legs of lamb so I
00:38was really excited to be able to work with this whole piece of lamb today.
00:42And the only prep I suggest doing to this is to cut a quick crosshatch into this top
00:46layer of fat.
00:48That fat can be a little thick and we're just gonna cut barely through that, that'll allow
00:53our seasoning to more easily penetrate down into the meat.
00:57We want to try not to cut down into the meat too much, but it's not a huge catastrophe
01:01if we do a little bit.
01:04And at that point we simply want to season liberally with salt and pepper.
01:08And don't be shy with the salt, keep in mind you're gonna need just under one teaspoon
01:12of salt per pound of your roast.
01:15And this roast was a little bit over eight pounds so that means we need just over two
01:19tablespoons of salt in total here.
01:23So keep that in mind and as I've mentioned before, under seasoning is one of the most
01:26common culinary crimes committed in the kitchen.
01:30Anyway let's get cracking with a little more black pepper and then we're gonna whisk this
01:34off to a giant roasting pan.
01:37Now luckily the big roasting pan I had was just barely big enough for me to get this
01:42huge leg of lamb into.
01:44Now if you're yelling at your screen that I've forgotten the classic rosemary, just
01:48hang on, we're gonna whisk this off to an oven first where we're gonna broil it for
01:52about five minutes just to develop a little bit of color.
01:57That's gonna add a great depth of flavor and also make for a much prettier presentation.
02:03Once we have some nice browning on our lamb I'm just gonna pull the rack straight out
02:07here and we're gonna add about four or five cups of boiling water.
02:11Now it helps if the water is boiling otherwise you're just resetting all the temperatures
02:15back to zero in the pan here.
02:17And it's at this point we're gonna add our classic rosemary.
02:20That crosshatch pattern we cut is gonna make it real easy just to lay that right on top,
02:25it'll stick right in.
02:27Now all we have to do is slap a lid on here, scoot our leg of lamb back into the oven and
02:32we're gonna slow roast this at 250 degrees Fahrenheit for five to six hours.
02:41The exact amount of time is gonna depend on the size of your leg of lamb but after four
02:45hours we can start to check.
02:48Just watch out for that initial blast of steam.
02:52Basically we should just be able to stick a fork in and kind of pull the meat apart
02:56a little bit, just like that.
02:58That's exactly what we're looking for here.
03:01So our lamb is beautifully tender but I am gonna let this sit and rest just for an additional
03:06ten minutes, mostly just so I don't burn myself.
03:12And there we have it, our lamb is ready to serve.
03:16Now you know when I was learning to cook I was always told that lamb is always tender,
03:21even the legs, so you shouldn't have to do a low and slow cook like this.
03:25Just roast it to the perfect medium well, you know, 150 degrees and slice it thin and
03:30you're good to go.
03:32But I've cooked dozens of legs of lamb that way and I still find them to be a little tougher
03:36in spots than I'd like so I definitely prefer this method and I hope you give it a try soon.
03:42I really hope you've enjoyed today's episode of Passion for Food.
03:45If you have, don't forget to give me a thumbs up below, subscribe, and hit that little bell
03:50so you don't miss our future episodes.
03:53And if you're looking for a quick serving suggestion for someone who maybe doesn't like
03:56lamb, try introducing them to it in a gyro.
04:00That tangy tzatziki sauce, lettuce, tomato, and onions really go great with the soft pita
04:05and lamb.
04:07And don't forget about the liquid reserved in our pan.
04:09This would make an excellent gravy if we were gonna serve this as a traditional roast.
04:14And also don't forget to check out one of the other great videos playing on the screen
04:18now.
04:20This has been Graham with Passion for Food.