Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Kerry Had A Little Lamb

Ha, ha, I can't resist a stupid pun sometimes. I made a boneless leg of lamb tonight. The last time I made one was more than 5 years ago. I love lamb. I usually get the lambchops from Trader Joe's for my birthday and special occasions.

Right, so I honestly tried to find a recipe. But everything I came across required what I thought of as excess ingredients. So I DIYed it. And sorry, there's no pictures because I am cameraless. But there are plenty of leftovers, so if you'd like to get together you can have some.

Following Cookbook's lead from Zuni Cafe's Chicken's admonition to DRY THE CHICKEN, I rinsed and dried the lamb. Then I stabbed it several times and inserted half cloves of garlic into its wounds. It made me feel like I was a nurse cleaning out a particularly gory wound. "So Lambie McLambkins, this won't hurt," as I softly chuckled. Then I scored the thick layer of fat at the top and liberally shook out the Penzey's Turkish Spice Rub on top and inside. Seriously, this stuff is the bomb and makes everything better. Then I put it in the oven at 425 degree for 15 minutes.

Then I took it out, and started squeezing lemon quarters on top of it. However, this caused the glass baking dish to crack and break. Thankfully, it was only 2 pieces. (Let me tell you about the exploding Pyrex incident that sent shards of glass and casserole potatoes everywhere sometime. No wait, let me bury that memory. Please.) I sighed. I adapted. I took out my baking sheet, threw down some aluminum foil, moved Lambie over, and finished squeezing. Tossed the lemons along side and underneath, and then I put him back in the oven for 60 minutes at 350.

It looked gorgeous. It was a little overdone for my tastes, but the next time I eat it will probably be cold on salad for lunch Thursday as we are eating prison food tomorrow. I would skip the garlic next time and maybe make roasted garlic along side as the garlic perfumed it but didn't soften. I also made my favorite side, the Near East Original Rice Pilaf. No veggies tonight, as I don't have enough salad toppings. I'm out the door for that now.

2 comments:

drwende said...

Very good! Heck, I'll photograph lamb remnants for you if you like.

What is it with Pyrex, that it's never supposed to break, but when it breaks, it BREAKS? I'm still picking chunks of glass out of the back of my cupboard from when the big pan shattered for no reason.

Mella DP said...

I must try this - I also love lamb, though I don't know that I've ever cooked it for myself. (Never had it growing up, since parents don't like it.)

@Wende - THAT question takes me back to undergraduate chemistry labs. (I bet you didn't know that Erlenmeyer flasks bounce!)