leg of lamb

[46direct]

Got a leg defrosting
NEVER cooked this
Got a range (aga)
Want to make a posh meal for tomorrow. What is everyone's best way to cook?
Also ideas for accompanying dishes?
Never buy it due to ££
Want therefore to create a GREAT meal!
Thanks

I would place it on top of a quartered onion, about 3 or 4 garlic cloves and a couple of rosemary sprigs.
Cover with foil and put in low ish oven for about 6 hours.
When cooked, remove lamb and place under foil to rest, remove rosemary and throw away.
Push onion and garlic through a sieve back into the pan, add red wine or port, red current jelly and some water. Simmer on a low heat. Yum
For side dishes, I wold go traditional with roast spuds, but jersey royals would also be lovely.
Cauliflower cheese is great with lamb.
Hope this helps.

Have you got a slow cooker? If so, stick it in that, smothered in mint sauce and put on low for as long as possible.

Serve with some roasties, carrots and broccoli. Yum.

Not got a slow cooker.
Like the idea of pushing the onion and garlic through sieve with wine for sauce!
I do fab roasties. Also have baby potatoes.
Thinking about a posh master chef (lol) thing like a pea puree (how?) Or other fab ideas that are not liable to be an epic fail?

Stab it all over and in each one put half or a third of a garlic clove. If you can, get hold of some fresh rosemary and put a spring of those in with each piece of garlic. Brush some olive oil over it and sprinkle it with salt.

When it's roasted, make a sauce with equal quantities of redcurrant jelly and mint jelly heated up in a pan - you can add grated orange peel to that if you want but I don't bother (although Delia does.)

Oh and while the lamb is roasting, put carrots (no need to cook, just chop a big carrot into four) into the pan and let them roast with it. They're lovely and sweet cooked that way. Serve with roast potatoes and peas.

Bloody gorgeous.

How do I roast it properly?
For pork I put it in the top oven (aga) for 30 mins then the bottom for a few hours

I've got cloves and garlic - yummy

Ooh yes definitely stab and put in garlic and rosemary, but also put a bit of a tinned anchovy in each hole. Then make dauphinoise to go with. We also have it with Delia braised red cabbage. That's our Boxing Day meal each year and I prefer it to the Christmas Day meal.

Got some rosemary today in anticipation. Anchovies hmm I am willing to try as I believe that they enhance and dont taste gross in an actual meal!
Pea puree - good idea or bad?
Also I have a veggie guest and was hoping to give the veg and something (what? ) for them.

I wouldn't bother with the pea purée unless your guests are under 12 months old.

you're probably right! This made me laugh!

Timings?

Or just low for 6 hours?

Lamb should be pink in the middle. Whatever you do, don't overcook lamb. Veg that go well, other than roast potatoes are beans. Any kind of beans.

put it in a covered casserole dish/oven-safe saucepan/cast iron pan with half-bottle red wine, anchovies, rosemary (we steal it from the municipal bush), a couple of bulbs of garlic, peeled and separated into segments, maybe some olives, capers, a stock cube

Cook at 140C until it is falling off the bone, could take four hours, depends how much it weighs

Serve with couscous + roasted veggies.

bed of ratatouille (sp?) - onions, courgette, tomatoes (with the vine), garlic, aubergine all bitesize
rub the leg with oil/crushed garlic/rosemary, seasalt.
cook lowish for 2 hours

Yaou could also go Moroccan and serve with a big bowl of fragrant cous cous and maybe some flat breads. Slow roast it after you've rubbed it in spices and popped garlic slices in the slits.

I love the moroccan idea. Ran it by hubby - wants more traditional.
Hmm.cant wait actually. I LOVE lamb!

Just to clarify
I go low temperature all the way?
No high blast at any time?

You can definitely cook it on high temperature, but slow and low is more foolproof.

I made a lovely dish of roast lamb served with a creamy sauce made from feta, olive oil, lemon zest and mint I think (I may have added the mint but not sure it was in the recipe.). It was great as a summery dish served with a Greek style salad of cucumber, tomatoes, more feta and olives plus some bread or potatoes. Will try and google it if you like the sound of it.

Well, as a leg of lamb virgin thats the best for me.
Slow is good!

PenelopeGarciasCrazyHair - if you think that might work with the leftovers of lamb I would be VERY interested!

I would second dauphinoise or cauliflower cheese, creamy accompaniment lovely with lamb, and would also be substantial for vegetarian guest. Wish I had some now!

Brown the leg well on all sides in the pan on the top of the cooker, then slow slow slow in it.

Andy Bates' recipe for lamb with feta salsa for you 46. Enjoy.