Dr. Melik: This morning for breakfast he requested something called “wheat germ, organic honey and tiger’s milk.”
Dr. Aragon: [chuckling] Oh, yes. Those are the charmed substances that some years ago were thought to contain life-preserving properties.
Dr. Melik: You mean there was no deep fat? No steak or cream pies or… hot fudge?
Dr. Aragon: Those were thought to be unhealthy… precisely the opposite of what we now know to be true.
Dr. Melik: Incredible.
~ A conversation in Woody Allen’s movie, Sleeper.
Trends catch our eye and spark our imagination. We find in them something inventive, exhilarating. Today we are bombarded with what is “trending”. Yet, what is trending today is often forgotten tomorrow, and food is no exception to this. Kale chips, anybody? This conversation in Sleeper highlights our desire to find a food that will insure our good health and also highlights a certain gullibility when it comes to food trends. Today half the recipes we run across contain a nod to the trends of today. Paleo, gluten-free, quinoa are words that accompany many recipes today. I had to shake my head when I saw a steak recipe labeled as gluten-free.
These trends definitely aren’t bad, but I love food that doesn’t need help from a trend to catch our eye. Food that is timeless. That is what I think about roast leg of lamb. It has been eaten for generations before us and will be eaten for generations to come. There is an elegance to food like that. I don’t know what it is about lamb that exalts it in my eyes so much. When it is roasting in the oven it fills the air with a quality I can only describe as primitive. When a food combines elegance with primitiveness, you know you have a winner.
*Recipe Source ~ Fine Cooking magazine
Ingredients (Serves 4)
1 2 1/2-lb. bone-in leg of lamb
1 large clove garlic, sliced
1 sprig of rosemary, separated into clusters of 3 to 5 leaves each
1 1/2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp dried lavender, crushed
1 lb. medium red potatoes, halved
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
Make sure the lamb is dry by patting it with paper towels. Make several deep slits through the roast and insert a sliver of garlic and a rosemary leaf cluster into each slit. Sprinkle the roast with the cracked pepper and lavender. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Remove the meat from the refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before roasting. Heat the oven to 375° with the rack in the center.
Toss the potatoes with the olive oil, salt and pepper to taste in a 9″ x 13″ roasting pan until well coated. Arrange cut side down in a single layer.
These are suppose to be cut side down!!!
[These should have been cut side down! They turned out fine, but I think cut side down is the way to go.]
Sprinkle the lamb all over with 1 1/2 tsp of salt and set it on the potatoes.
Roast about 2-1/2 hours until well done. For me, well done is best for lamb, but if you prefer lamb medium rare, reduce cooking time to 1 1/2 hours or when a meat thermometer shows 135°F at the thickest part. Remove from the oven and let rest for 20 minutes tented with aluminum foil.
Slice and serve with potatoes.
Enjoy!
Roast Leg of Lamb
Ingredients
- 1 2 1/2- lb. bone-in leg of lamb
- 1 large cloves garlic sliced
- 1 sprig of rosemary separated into clusters of 3 to 5 leaves each
- 1 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 2 tsp dried lavender crushed
- 1 lb. medium red potatoes halved
- 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Make sure the lamb is dry by patting it with paper towels. Make several deep slits through the roast and insert a sliver of garlic and a rosemary leaf cluster into each slit. Sprinkle the roast with the cracked pepper and lavender. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
- Remove the meat from the refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before roasting. Heat the oven to 375° with the rack in the center.
- Toss the potatoes with the olive oil, salt and pepper to taste in a 9" x 13" roasting pan until well coated. Arrange cut side down in a single layer.
- Sprinkle the lamb all over with 1 1/2 tsp of salt and set it on the potatoes. Roast about 2-1/2 hours until well done.
- Remove from the oven and let rest for 20 minutes tented with aluminum foil.
- Slice and serve with potatoes.
I love food! I read cookbooks like they were novels. I get giddy in a farmer’s market. I find a chicken in a pot surrounded by carrots, onion, and celery a thing of beauty. My favorite sound is Mmmmmmmm!
I could not agree more with your outlook on food trends and timeless dishes. I find myself flabbergasted and shaking my head quite often these days at certain “labels” given to recipes. Leg of lamb is one of my favorites… it’s rustic, delicious and simply delicious. However, Boy does not share my love of lamb anything 🙁 Every once in a while I will prepare lamb for myself, this roast leg of lamb is going to the top of my list of “must make when Boy goes out of town on buisness”. Thanks for sharing another beautiful dish. Hope you have a wonderful weekend, sweet lady!
Thank you, Cheyanne! I’m so glad you commented. I felt like I might be the only one! We have some lamb holdouts in my family too. They won’t even try it and make me out a barbarian. hahaha Oh well, as my Dad use to say when we were little and didn’t like what was for dinner, “More for me!”
I think you should make this tonight!
This looks great!