Two weeks ago, Andy had indicated a desire to do some smoking. He hasn’t really done any yet this year, and when I asked him what he wanted to smoke, he really didn’t know. So when I was out picking up a few things I made the decision to challenge him, and I picked up a boneless leg of lamb. We’ve only ever prepared lamb once- and while we thought it was absolutely delicious, we haven’t tried it again since. For one, it’s actually rather difficult to find around here. Oddly enough, there are several farms in the area who raise lambs, but to actually find the lamb at a store…it just doesn’t happen. However, Sam’s Club to the rescue, where I’d heard the lamb they carry there is actually very good. So I picked up the boneless leg (very happy with the price, mind you) and presented it to Andy, who was a bit puzzled as to how to prepare it.
We ended up using a cookbook that we haven’t used before- so not only did we prepare a food we weren’t too familiar with, we also managed to put an unused cookbook to use. Sublime Smoke by Cheryl and Bill Jamison was a book I’d picked up a while ago for Andy. I think I bought it when I picked up a few new cookbooks for myself, and felt I needed to offset the purchase by buying something for my husband. As he enjoys smoking with the grill, and knowing that the Jamison’s know their stuff, I thought this book was the perfect choice for him. Sure enough, when we pulled it out, there was a whole section on smoking lamb. Flipping through the recipes, we settled on one for Lemon-Garlic Leg of Lamb. I prepared the paste as directed- and used about half the oil called for, by the way. We smeared it on the lamb, put it in the fridge and spent the afternoon thinking about how delicious this lamb was going to be. And then it started raining.
Not just raining mind you, but pouring. Andy tried… he went out in the pouring rain and tried to get his grill started, to no avail. We both looked at the marinating leg of lamb, and just knew that popping it in the oven wasn’t going to do it justice, so we labelled it and stuck it in the freezer and took the kids out for dinner.
But this was the weekend for it. And timing wise, it couldn’t have been better. We had a lazy weekend around the house, taking care of a couple of odd jobs and such, and Andy had plenty of time to smoke the lamb to his liking. The only thing we were unsure of is whether or not the kids would like it. In fact, I was certain that one taste of the lamb and they’d both be asking for cereal. Oh, how wrong I was. Andy had the job of slicing the lamb, and I swear to you that he could not keep up with the kids. They inhaled that lamb. They loved it, declaring their profuse love for lamb and insisting that we make it again very soon. It was Zander who provided the title for today’s post. Each kid probably had four servings of lamb, and Andy and I weren’t very shy either. The light smoking that Andy did was absolutely perfect for lamb. It really complimented the gamey flavor that lamb sometimes has. The spice paste was perfect as well. The flavors were there- but weren’t overwhelming in the least. Andy happily took the leftovers with him this week for a few sandwiches, and we all have a new food that we love.
Lemon-Garlic Leg of Lamb
from Sublime Smoke by Cheryl and Bill Jamison
Serves 8 or more
The night before you plan to smoke the lamb, prepare the paste. In a food processor, combine all of the ingredients except the oil and the lamb, and process to combine. With the processor running, pour in the oil and continue processing until a paste forms.
Spread the lamb generously with the paste, inside and out. Place the lamb in a plastic bag and refrigerate it overnight.
*Alternatively, this works fantastic if you freeze it at this point for later cooking.
Bring your smoker to the appropriate cooking temperature. Remove the meat from the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for 45 minutes.
Transfer the lamb to the smoker. Cook the lamb until the internal temperature of the meat is 150ºF, or medium-rare, about 30 minutes per pound at a cooking temperature of 225º to 250ºF.
Remove the lamb from the smoker and let it sit for 10 minutes. Slice the lamb and serve it warm or chilled, with a squeeze of lemon juice, a drizzle of olive oil, and a generous sprinkling of paprika and mint.
Technique Tip: Lamb taste best when it’s lightly smoked, so go easy on the amount of wood you use. If you are cooking a leg of lamb or other large cut in a log-burning pit, wrap the meat in foil after the first hour.
**We used a boneless, 3-pound leg of lamb. Andy untied it and we smeared the paste on it, then placed it in the freezer. When we needed it, we placed it in the fridge overnight to thaw, and then finished the thawing for 2 hours on the counter. He smoked it by putting it on the charcoal grill over indirect heat, and used maple to lightly smoke it. Our lamb was done in 1 1/2 hours, but next time he will take it off when the thermometer registers 145ºF, as we found the lamb lost all it’s pink color when cooked to 150º- likely because we left it untied.