Rosemary Garlic Leg of Lamb

We’re back from my mom’s house; recharged and ready to tackle the last leg of summer!  And in honor of the last “leg” of summer, it seemed only fitting that I cook up a butterflied “leg” of lamb.  Ok, I know, yet another weak attempt at wit on my part, but hey, at least I try right?

I have to say, I was pretty proud of myself for putting this dish together as well as I did.  The deck was somewhat stacked against me.  I mean, I have never used the outdoor grill before

That is totally my husband’s domain.  But this time around, I decided to try it myself and see if I could master the art of it. In addition, I realized halfway through cooking that my meat thermometer was broken, so I had no way to know if the meat was cooked proper other than to just sort of guess based on my limited meat knowledge and hope I guessed right.

And let me tell ya,  not only did I master the grill and guess my temperature correctly, but I did it with the ease of a Bobby Flay wannabe.  It was juicy, delicious, and perfectly cooked.  Some would say skill on my part, but I call it complete and utter luck.  Let’s get to it.

Ingredients Needed:

1 Butterflied Leg of Lamb
1/4 Cup of Olive Oil
1/4 Cup of Red Wine
1 Tbsp of Balsamic
1 Tbsp of Fresh Thyme (1 tsp of dry)
3 Stems of Fresh Rosemary (1 tsp of dry)
1/4 tsp of Dry Mustard
1/2 tsp of Dried Mint (or 1/2 Tbsp of Fresh Mint)
4 Cloves of Garlic
1/2 tsp of pepper
Salt to taste

To get started mix all your ingredients into a marinating dish with the exception of the lamb and the salt.  Salt can dry meat out, so you always want to wait until just before you cook it to add it to your dish.

Add your lamb to the marinade and fully cover the meat with it.  Cover your dish with plastic wrap and let it soak in the fridge for a minimum of three hours.

When you’re ready to cook up your lamb, pull it out of the fridge and sprinkle a light coating of salt over it.  Now grab a large saute pan and turn the heat up on high.  Give the pan a few minutes to get good and hot and throw your lamb in to sear it up.  Give the lamb about 2 to 3 minutes on each side.  This will help cook the juices into your meat so they don’t leak out during the grilling.

Alright, you’re officially ready for the grill.  Set your grill to a medium heat (about 300 to 350 degrees is ideal). Once the grill is preheated, throw your lamb on with the fat side facing down.  Close it up and let ‘er cook.

Resist the urge to check it every five minutes and resist the urge to flip it multiple times. The less you tamper with it, the juicier and tastier it will be.  Also, another great tip to carry with you is to NEVER use the grill fork to maneuver the meat.  Always use tongs.  This will assure that you don’t release any of the precious juices from your meat.

You will cook the meat for about 35 to 45 minutes, flipping once, until the internal of temperature of the meat reaches 130 degrees. This is optional, but while the meat was cooking, I boiled up the marinade for a couple minutes to use as a sauce for the meat.  I hate wasting food and to be honest, the stuff was just plain tasty.  I added in a few shakes of salt to this as well.

When your lamb hits the magic number, pull it off the grill and cover it with foil for about 5 minutes.  This will allow it to get it’s last little bit of cooking in and bring all the juices back into the meat.  Try to resist drooling on your keyboard when you look at this perfect cut of meat.

Now you see it…<

And, now you don’t.

And that’s all there is to it!  You should now have a beautiful, juicy lamb with a killer delicious flavor.  Enjoy your last leg of the summer!