I really hate that I didn’t get a picture of this gorgeous lamb roast before we sliced it up, but like most times, I was living in the moment and couldn’t wait to eat this meal. We had friends over and more important things were on my mind. The recipe was adapted from a collection of recipes from the Puketapu School in New Zealand and my mother-in-law swears by it. The recipe in the book calls for lamb shoulder which I couldn’t find so I switched to boneless leg of lamb. I also added shallots to the roasting pan because I felt like it needed a touch something more. Wow, this recipe did not disappoint and my friends said it was some of the best lamb they had ever tasted. I can’t wait to make this recipe again and again.
I made a few small tweaks and did a rough conversion from the metric system.
Here is the original recipe:
I used a 3.5 lb boneless leg of lamb that had been tied by the butcher. I used Dorot frozen garlic and ginger cubes. I used about 3 tsp (3 cubes) of each and rubbed the lamb with garlic and ginger, salt and pepper. I seared the lamb in the roasting pan directly on the stove top so that it was nicely browned on all sides. Meanwhile, I made the sauce and did a bit extra since I knew the leg of lamb wouldn’t melt in the same way a shoulder would (I think I did 1.5 cups chicken broth, 1/2 cup whiskey, 2-3 tbsp honey, 4 tbsp cider vinegar) and made it in a separate sauce pan. I added 2 large shallots that had been roughly chopped, about 1 cup of prunes, and 1 lb of peeled carrots to the roasting pan. I deglazed the pan by pouring the sauce over the lamb. I also added a small sprig of rosemary because, why not?
The oven was preheated to 350 and I put the lamb in for about 1.5 hours. I pulled the lamb when it was 138 degrees so that it would finish cooking to its ideal temp (145) while resting. I removed the lamb from the roasting pan and placed it on a plate and tented it with foil. Meanwhile I put the roasting pan with the carrots back in the oven and cranked it up to 425 so they could finish browning for about 15 minutes while the lamb rested. All of the delicious sauce was poured into a gravy boat so guests could spoon it over the lamb and carrots themselves. We sliced the lamb it and served it with the carrots and prunes, a side of smashed potatoes, and a yummy kale salad. This was the perfect dinner party recipe and was relatively hands off so I could enjoy the company.
And….in case you’re wondering we later enjoyed the ”famous” chocolate bourbon pecan pie (search pecan pie at the top and you’ll find the recipe). The quality of the photos is due to the mood lighting and copious wine….forgive me : )
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