We have quite a number of successful ways of cooking lamb leg.  Our regular ‘go to’;  Greek lamb and roast potatoes  – is a particular favourite, but this Easter we wanted to try something slightly different.  We had came across a recipe from the delightful Marcus Wareing – from his book ‘Marcus at Home’.  He opens by saying “you really shouldn’t rush the cooking of a whole leg of lamb, and the secret to getting tender meat that’s infused with plenty of flavour is to baste frequently.” Music to my ears!!!

There is nothing revolutionary about this recipe, but it is simple, considered and perfectly balanced.  The final texture and taste of the meat, and the contrast with the sherry infused meat juices is exceptional!  The technique for the slow cooking is as you might expect, around 4hrs – so not ‘low and slow’ but cooked at 150C (the advice in the recipe for a conventional oven was 160C or 140C if with a fan.   So we allowed a good 5 hours so that we were under no pressure when it came to serving.

The Big Green Egg was set up in indirect mode and allowed to come to temperature (150C) and stabilise.  The lamb was sat on a trivet of quartered onions. It was covered in a paste made from rosemary, thyme, garlic, lemon zest, paprika, sea salt and olive oil.  The lamb was put into the BGE and cooked for an initial 45 minutes. After which time the lamb was gently taking on a little colour and releasing juices into the roasting dish.

We poured 250ml of sweet sherry over the meat being careful not to disturb the paste then set it back on its cooking journey for another 3 hours.  Other than basting the meat with the mix of sherry and meat juices every 45 minutes it could just be left to its own devices. (If the mix of sherry and meat juices starts too dry up just add a little water too it to rehydrate it – if cooking on the Minimax where the dish is close to the platesetter add 100ml water before the sherry)

After 3 hours and 45 minutes the core temperature of the lamb was at 86C and we were around 90 minutes away from eating.

So the meat was fully cooked but to a core temperature less than one would use if you were cooking pulled meat. We simply closed off the vents on the Egg, and allowed the residual heat to do a little more cooking, and then as it cooled further to act as a warming drawer as the meat was allowed to rest.

When the rest of the meal was ready, the lamb was carved and plated.  Some of the lamb fat/oil was poured off the cooking liquor and the jus was served in a small jug. We could have been very Chefy and passed the jus – but the little fragments of meat, herbs and onion were far too good to discard!!

I have to say the combination of flavours of the jus and the taste and textures of the lamb we’re quite exceptional…………..

  ………….indeed this may have been the best lamb dish I have ever eaten!

Footnote: whilst the combination of the gently soft meat and the sherry enriched jus was exceptional when served hot – the lamb, served cold the following day was every bit as good

Attributions: This recipe comes from Marcus Wareing’s “Marcus at Home” ISBN 978-0-000-818447-6.  The only modifications are those undertaken to cook in a Big Green Egg rather than a conventional oven.

We are very fortunate in having friends who have access to wild venison but don’t like it!  This means that we are sometimes recipients of generous pieces to cook.  On this occasion it was a (more…)

The idea of Greek lamb and roast potatoes takes me back to Athens in 2004 when we were invited to a friend’s wedding there.  Michalis was working on his PhD with me in the UK and very kindly invited Jackie and I to his wedding which was a spectacular affair!  Before the wedding though we had some time with Michalis and his family.  On one day before the wedding his mum cooked lamb and roast potatoes – and they were very special – soft roast potatoes full of meat juices and hinted with lemon, perfectly reflecting the meat – fabulous!    When we found a recipe that looked as though it was going to deliver something along the same lines I was excited – that it came from the pen of a 2 star Michelin Chef (Tom Kerridge) even better!
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