Mint Rubbed Leg Of Lamb Food

SPICE-RUBBED LEG OF LAMB WITH HARISSA YOGURT SAUCE

Steps:

• For the lamb: Use paper towels to pat dry the leg of lamb. In a small bowl, combine the salt, cumin, cinnamon, allspice, ginger, black pepper and cayenne. Season all sides of the lamb with the spice mixture and place on a roasting rack in a roasting pan. Let sit at room temperature for 30 to 45 minutes or place in the refrigerator overnight and allow to sit at room temperature for 45 minutes before cooking.
• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
• Drizzle the lamb with the olive oil, then roast for 15 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F and bake until the internal temperature is 140 degrees F for medium, about 1 hour and 15 minutes more. Allow to rest before serving, 15 to 20 minutes, then slice.
• For the sauce: Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix the harissa, yogurt and honey. Season with salt. Refrigerate until serving.
• For the optional garnish: Garnish with the pomegranate seeds, mint, scallions, good olive oil and sea salt if desired. Serve with the harissa yogurt sauce.

YOGURT-MINT MARINATED GRILLED LEG OF LAMB

Steps:

• Using a paring knife, make several small slits over the entire surface of the lamb, and stuff the slits with the sliced garlic. Add the yogurt, mint, cumin and hot pepper sauce to the work bowl of a food processor and process until smooth. Place the lamb on a large baking sheet and rub the entire leg with the yogurt mixture. Cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours, or overnight.
• Preheat the grill to high. Remove the lamb from the marinade and season well with salt and pepper. Place the lamb, skin side down, on the grill. Grill until the skin side is golden brown, then turn the lamb over, and reduce the heat of the grill to medium so that the grill maintains a constant temperature of 350 degrees F. Continue grilling until a thermometer inserted deep into the meat reaches a temperature of 145 degrees F for medium-rare doneness, about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours. Remove lamb from grill, cover with foil, and let rest for 10 minutes. Slice the meat on the bias into 1/4-inch thick slices.

MINT-MARINATED LEG OF LAMB

Steps:

• Mix first 5 ingredients in large glass baking dish. Season with generous amount of pepper. Add lamb, turning to coat. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
• Preheat oven to 450°F. Drain lamb and transfer to large roasting pan. Season both sides with salt and generous amount of pepper. Arrange fat side down in pan. Roast 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375°F and continue roasting until thermometer inserted in thickest part of lamb registers 130°F for rare, about 20 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes. Cut into slices. Arrange on platter. Garnish with mint sprigs and serve.

GRILLED LEG OF LAMB WITH YOGURT-MINT SAUCE

Steps:

• In a blender, whirl yellow onion, garlic, rosemary, lemon juice, and salt. With blender running, slowly pour in olive oil.
• Rinse lamb and pat dry. With a small knife, make small slashes (1 inch long and 1 inch deep) all over the lamb, and put it in a nonreactive dish. Coat lamb with onion marinade, making sure the mixture gets into the slits. Cover and chill 2 hours or up to overnight, turning occasionally.
• Remove lamb from refrigerator about 1 hour before you plan to cook it. Spread lamb flat on an oiled barbeque grill over a solid bed of medium-heat on a gas grill (you can hold your hand 1 to 2 inches above grill level only 4 to 5 seconds.). Close lid. Cook lamb, turning once and brushing with marinade, until a thermometer inserted in center of thickest part registers 140 degrees, about 40 minutes.
• Transfer meat to a platter and cover. Let rest 15 to 20 minutes. Thinly slice meat, garnish with sliced red onion and radishes, and serve with yogurt-mint sauce.
• Yogurt-Mint Sauce:.
• In a blender whirl all ingredients until smooth. Transfer to a serving bowl and stir in an additional 3/4 cup plain whole plain yogurt. Makes about 1 cup sauce.

LEG OF LAMB WITH GARLIC, MINT, DIJON

Steps:

• In a mini food processor, pulverize all of the ingredients, except the lamb, into a smooth, somewhat runny paste.
• If your lamb leg isn't boned, remove all but the shank bone (lowest). There are some decent boning instructions and diagrams on the internet if you, like me, are new to this procedure.
• Lay open the upper, meaty, sirloin portion of the lamb leg and rub the spice paste mixture into any and all crevices and flaps.
• Using kitchen twine, shape the uppper portion into a compact roast--in my case I tied it about 5 times across the leg and 3 times lengthwise. I anchored the lengthwise threads by pushing them through a hole in the muscle attached to the shank (this is a testimony as to how much I hacked it up trying to get the bones out!).
• Once it is all tied, roast-like, smear the spice paste all over the outside of the meat.
• Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
• Remove lamb from refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature while you preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
• Position two racks in the upper third of the oven. When oven has come to temperature, oil the top rack, slide a rimmed baking sheet onto the bottom rack and drop the lamb onto the oiled rack. I guess you could use a roasting pan with a rack in it, but I don't have one.
• Check after about 20 minutes, if outside is browning too quickly, lay a piece of aluminum foil over it or flip it over or both.
• Roast until internal temperature reaches 140 degrees.
• Let rest 15 minutes before carving.
• My 4 to 5 pound lamb leg took about an hour and a half to reach the proper internal temperature.

GRILLED BUTTERFLIED LEG OF LAMB WITH MINT

Steps:

• Wipe lamb dry with paper towels and remove any large pieces of fat. In a small bowl, mix together mustard, soy sauce, olive oil, garlic, rosemary and pepper. Spread mixture over lamb on both sides. Refrigerate for three hours or overnight.
• Preheat coal for grilling. Spread mint leaves on a serving dish so that they make a thick carpet. Lay lamb on a rack and grill seven to eight minutes on each side for medium rare. Cook longer for well done.
• Place lamb on a board and slice pieces thin with a sharp knife. Arrange pieces on top of the mint in overlapping layers and serve.

LAMB WITH MINT CHIMICHURRI

Steps:

• Combine parsley, mint, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, red chile flakes, salt and pepper. Rub half of the mixture over 2 pounds of lamb shoulder chops or chunks, and marinate overnight.
• Heat a grill or broiler with the rack 4 to 6 inches from the flame. Wipe off the marinade; grill or broil, turning once, until medium, 4 or 5 minutes per side. Serve with the remaining chimichurri.

MINT-RUBBED LEG OF LAMB

Steps:

• Trim excess fat from meat. Cut 1/2-inch-wide slits into lamb in 16 different places. Cut garlic cloves in half lengthwise and insert each half-clove deep into each slit.
• Combine dried mint, pepper, and salt; rub mixture over entire surface of lamb leg. Drizzle honey over lamb and rub to coat. Place on a rack in a shallow roasting pan. Cover loosely with plastic wrap. and refrigerate about 2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove plastic wrap. Insert a meat thermometer into the thickest part of meat without touching bone. Roast, uncovered, in preheated oven for 2 to 2 1/2 hours or until thermometer registers 140 degrees for medium-rare doneness or 155 degrees for medium doneness. Remove from oven.
• Cover meat loosely with foil and let stand for 15 minutes. Serve in its own juices. Suggestions to serve along with the lamb are cooked herbed new potatoes, steamed baby carrots, and steamed asparagus. Garnish with mint sprigs, if desired.