Barbecued Butterflied Lamb Leg Recipes

ASIAN BARBEQUED BUTTERFLIED LEG OF LAMB

Steps:

• In a large resealable plastic bag, mix hoisin sauce, rice vinegar, green onions, mushroom soy sauce, garlic, honey, sesame oil, sesame seeds, white pepper, and black pepper. Place lamb in bag, seal, and turn to coat. Refrigerate for 8 hours, or overnight.
• Preheat grill for high heat.
• Oil the grill grate. Place lamb on the grill, and discard marinade. Cook 15 minutes on each side, to a minimum internal temperature of 145 degrees F (63 degrees C), or to desired doneness. Transfer meat to a serving platter, and allow it to rest for 20 minutes before slicing and serving.

BARBECUED BUTTERFLIED LAMB LEG

Steps:

• In a small bowl, combine the mustard, oil, garlic and thyme. Unfurl the lamb, cut away any excess sinew or fat and put the lamb in a large bowl. Sprinkle over the salt and pepper, then massage gently to coat evenly. Spoon the mustard mixture over the lamb and massage to coat the meat in the marinade. Leave to marinate for at least 1 hour, or ideally overnight in the fridge (bring back to room temperature before cooking, if chilled).
• Preheat the barbecue with the coals banked on one side until smoking hot. (If cooking indoors, preheat the oven to 180˚C, gas mark 4 and heat a griddle pan.) Put the lamb on the barbecue directly over the hot coals (or on the griddle) and leave for a few minutes to get some colour. Flip the lamb over to colour the other side. Once browned, move it to the side of the barbecue with no coals (or put on a baking tray in the oven for 15-20 minutes). Cook for 18-20 minutes for medium (or to taste), turning and brushing often with the marinade.
• Once the lamb is cooked, take it off the heat and allow to rest for 10 minutes, loosely covered with foil. When ready to serve, carve and put on a serving platter, squeezing the lemon juice all over. Sprinkle with extra thyme and serve.

GRILLED BUTTERFLIED LEG OF LAMB

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, whisk together oil, lemon juice, vinegar, rosemary, garlic, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Place lamb in a large shallow dish with marinade, and turn to coat. Cover; marinate 1 hour at room temperature or up to overnight in refrigerator, turning occasionally. (Bring to room temperature before grilling.)
• Heat grill to medium-high. Thread several metal skewers through lamb in both directions to hold meat together during cooking.
• Grill lamb until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the meat registers 140 degrees for medium rare, 10 to 15 minutes per side. Let the meat rest, covered, about 10 minutes. Remove the skewers. Slice the meat thinly, against the grain where possible.

MOROCCAN-STYLE BARBECUED LEG OF LAMB

Steps:

• Mix the butter and oil in a bowl, then stir in the spices, thyme, garlic, lemon zest and juice. Add the harissa, 1 tsp salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper, and mix well.
• Put the butterflied lamb (see step-by-step guide) in a large shallow dish and spoon over the marinade. Using your hands, rub it all over the meat. Cover loosely with foil or cling film and leave to marinate for at least 2 hrs, or overnight in the fridge.
• Light the barbecue, adding plenty of coals. When it is ready, add the lamb, fat-side down, and cook on a fairly high heat for 5 mins until well browned. Turn over and cook for another 5 mins to brown the other side.
• Move the coals to the sides of the barbecue to reduce the heat under the meat and cook more gently for 30-40 mins, turning occasionally. This timing will give you pink meat.
• Remove the meat to a large board and cover tightly with foil. Leave to rest for 10-15 mins.
• For the sauce, fold the harissa, a little salt and the coriander into the yogurt. Cut the lamb into thick slices and serve with the sauce and couscous, if you like.

GRILLED LEG OF LAMB

Steps:

• Combine the yogurt, olive oil, lemon zest and juice, rosemary, salt, and pepper in a large non-reactive bowl. Add the lamb, making sure it is covered with marinade. Marinate in the refrigerator, covered, overnight or for up to 3 days.
• Bring the lamb to room temperature. Prepare a charcoal grill with hot coals. Scrape the marinade off the lamb, wipe the meat with paper towels, and season it generously with salt and pepper. Brush the grill with oil to keep the lamb from sticking, and grill on both sides until the internal temperature is 120 to 125 degrees for rare. This will take 40 minutes to 1 hour, depending on how hot the grill is.
• Remove the lamb to a cutting board, cover with aluminum foil, and allow to rest for 20 minutes. Then slice and serve.

MUSTARD-GLAZED BUTTERFLIED LEG OF LAMB

Steps:

• Combine mustard, garlic, oil, lemon juice, rosemary, salt, pepper in shallow glass or ceramic dish. Mix well.
• Add leg of lamb, secured with skewers, and rub mustard mixture all over it.
• Cover the dish & let marinate 3+ hours (if marinating in refrigerator, return lamb to room temperature before cooking).
• BROILER:.
• Preheat broiler.
• Place lamb flat on a rack in foil-lined broiler pan.
• Spread with any remaining mustard mixture.
• Cook under broiler until lamb is crusty & golden brown on the outside--10-15 min on each side for rare, 20 min on each side for medium, 25 min for well done.
• Transfer lamb to a carving board & let it rest for at least 10 minutes before carving into slices (not too thin) for serving.
• GRILL:.
• Preheat grill.
• Place lamb flat on a rack over grill; spread with any remaining mustard mixture.
• Cook until lamb is crusty & golden brown on the outside--10-15 min on each side for rare, 20 min on each side for medium, 25 min for well done.
• Transfer lamb to a carving board & let it rest for at least 10 minutes before carving into slices (not too thin) for serving.

BUTTERFLIED LEG OF LAMB: SEARED, THEN SLOW, FOR PERFECT DONENESS

Steps:

• Preheat your grill and prepare it for two-zone cooking or, as in our case, have a deflector plate of some kind handy to provide indirect heat when the time comes.
• Butterfly the lamb leg by flopping it as wide open as you can and cutting parallel to the cutting board through the thicker muscles, just leaving them attached enough to stay a part of the whole. Again, you can have your butcher do it if you like.
• Prepare the seasoning rub by combining the mint leaves (plucked from the tough stems), parsley, coarsely chopped onion, vinegar, chili, black pepper, and olive oil in a blender and blending until you have a smooth paste. Add more oil if necessary to make a loose, smearable paste.
• Score the fat cap on the lamb if there is one, by cutting a cross-hatch into the fat, trying not to cut the meat underneath it.
• Season the lamb generously with kosher salt, then apply the mint rub and work it into all the creases and nooks.
• Move to the grill and cook the leg of lamb for about five minutes per side, until the exterior is nicely browned and there are some charred bits on it.
• Move the meat to the indirect-heat side of the grill or change your grill setup for indirect heat.
• If there is any herb rub left from before, smear it on now.
• Use the air probe from your Smoke X2 to monitor the heat, and try to maintain a temperature of about 250°F (121°C). If you're not using a gas-powered grill, Billows will help a lot!
• Insert the meat probe from the Smoke X2 into the lamb and set the high-temp alarm for 130-135°F (54-57°C) for medium-rare lamb.
• Close the lid and cook, about 60-70 minutes, until the alarm sounds. Verify the doneness with your Thermapen and remove the meat from heat to rest.
• Carve and serve to great admiration.

BUTTERFLIED LEG OF LAMB WITH LOTS OF GARLIC AND ROSEMARY

Steps:

• Trim any excess fat from the lamb and place it in a 9-by-13-inch nonreactive pan.
• Whisk together all the marinade ingredients in a bowl.
• Scoop out and reserve 1/4 cup of the marinade and pour the remainder over the lamb.
• Massage into meat.
• Cover and refrigerate overnight.
• Remove the meat from the refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature.
• Preheat grill to medium heat.
• Place the lamb on the grill rack and cook, turning once and basting frequently with the reserved 1/4 cup marinade, for 15 to 18 minutes on each side for medium-rare.
• My favorite!
• Transfer to a platter, season with salt and pepper, and tent with aluminum foil.
• Let rest for 10 minutes before slicing, then place on a cutting board and slice thinly.
• Serve immediately.

GRILLED MARINATED LEG OF LAMB

Steps:

• Combine oil, lemon juice, garlic, oregano, salt, and pepper in sealable plastic bag. Add lamb and seal bag, pressing out air. Turn bag to coat lamb, then put bag in a shallow baking pan and marinate, chilled, turning bag over occasionally, at least 8 hours.
• Bring lamb to room temperature, about 1 hour, before grilling.
• Prepare grill for cooking over direct heat with medium-hot charcoal (moderate heat for gas); see Grilling Procedure.
• Remove lamb from marinade (discard marinade) and run 3 or 4 skewers lengthwise through lamb about 2 inches apart. Grill on a lightly oiled grill rack, covered only if using gas grill, turning over occasionally and, if necessary, moving around on grill to avoid flare-ups, until thermometer registers 125 to 128°F, 8 to 14 minutes total for medium-rare.
• Transfer lamb to a cutting board and remove skewers. Let lamb stand, loosely covered with foil, 20 minutes. (Internal temperature will rise to 135°F while meat stands.) Cut across the grain into slices.

GRILLED BUTTERFLIED LEG OF LAMB WITH LEMON, HERBS, AND GARLIC

Steps:

• Make herb rub:
• Finely chop garlic and in a small bowl stir together with remaining herb-rub ingredients.
• Put lamb in a large dish and with tip of a sharp small knife held at a 45-degree angle cut 1/2-inch-deep slits all over lamb, rubbing herb mixture into slits and all over lamb. Marinate lamb at room temperature 1 hour.
• Prepare grill.
• Lightly pat lamb dry. On a lightly oiled rack set 5 to 6 inches over glowing coals grill lamb about 10 minutes on each side, or until an instant-read thermometer horizontally inserted into thickest part of meat registers 125°F for medium-rare. (Alternatively, roast lamb in a roasting pan in middle of a 425°F oven about 25 minutes, or until an instant-read thermometer horizontally inserted into meat registers 125°F for medium-rare.) Transfer lamb to a cutting board. Halve and seed lemon. Squeeze juice over lamb and let stand, loosely covered with foil, 15 minutes.
• Cut lamb into slices and serve with any juices that have accumulated on cutting board.