Supper Club Party

June 5th, 2006

CookWithJames called yet another impromptu Saturday dinner party. In attendance were Victoria, Paul, Joseph, Pia and Fritz!

So Saturday morning I popped down to the Ferry Building to see what I could find. I was thinking of those great Marine Sun Farms lamb loin chops, but alas I was too late. However, I found something even better…a whole, fresh (not previously frozen) Marine Sun Farms leg of lamb. 5.1 pounds total.

When I arrived home, I marinated the lamb in salt, pepper, olive oil and crushed garlic and thyme. Then I covered in foil and refrigerated for the remainder of the day. While I certainly had thoughts on how I wanted to prepare this beautiful animal, I consulted a few books to get some ideas. In a perfect world I would roast the leg over a wood-burning fire using the “hanging from a string” method. You just twist the leg and its own weight keeps in motion over the fire. Unfortunately I do not have a large enough fireplace.

So I decided to roast the leg in the oven over a bed of thyme branches (thanks to LuLu’s Kitchen for this idea). Over a rack (inserted into a large roasting pan) I spread the thyme branches (if you cannot find thick branches you can just use garden thyme, twigs and all) and then lay the lamb on top. I also placed several heads of garlic into the bottom of the pan.

Next I roasted the lamb for about 10-15 minutes at 450 degrees and then lowered the heat to 350. After another 20 minutes, I adjusted the heat to 275 and 30 minutes later checked for doneness.

In the end I served the lamb with flagolet beans and fingerling potatoes. The meat turned out nice and pink with lots of that natural lamb flavor.

Entry Filed under: Recipe Postings, General Food Postings