Leg Of Lamb Stuffed With Apple Wood Smoked Chevre And Golden Chanterelles Recipes

STUFFED GREEK LEG OF LAMB

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Lay out the leg of lamb on cutting board with the inside of the lamb facing you. Drizzle olive oil evenly over the lamb. Sprinkle oregano and basil over the lamb. Top lamb with artichoke hearts, feta cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, and garlic; season with salt and pepper.
• Roll the lamb around the stuffing. Bundle the lamb with kitchen twine to keep from unrolling. Wrap lamb in aluminum foil and place in a baking dish.
• Roast in preheated oven to your desired degree of doneness, or an internal temperature of 150 degrees F (70 degrees C) for medium, about 90 minutes. Set aside to rest in a warm area for 10 minutes before slicing. Reserve pan juices for serving.

STUFFED LEG OF LAMB

Steps:

• Remove plastic netting or twine from around the leg of lamb, if any, and open up the roast on a cutting board. Place the boned side of the roast up. With a sharp paring knife, cut away any excess fatty areas. Use a sharp knife to cut 1/2-inch deep slits in the meat about 2 inches apart, to help the meat lie flat. Cover the meat with a sturdy piece of plastic wrap or a cut-apart food storage bag, and pound the meat with a mallet or the edge of a small plate until the roast is about 3/4 inch thick everywhere, and 10 to 14 inches square.
• Preheat an oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• Sprinkle the upper side of the meat with salt and pepper, and then spread spinach leaves over the top of the roast to within 1/2 inch of the edges. Break up the goat cheese and sprinkle it evenly over the spinach, then sprinkle the pine nuts over the cheese.
• Roll the roast up into a tight cylinder, and tie the roast together with kitchen twine at 2 inch intervals. It's okay if a little stuffing protrudes from the sides of the roast.
• In a flat dish, mix together the flour, 1 tablespoon of salt, 1 tablespoon of pepper, the thyme, and the fennel seeds, and press the tied roast firmly into the flour mixture to coat all sides.
• Heat the sesame oil in a heavy oven-proof or cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat until the oil shimmers, and sear all sides of the roast, including the ends, to a golden brown color. Lay the roast into the skillet, place into the preheated oven, and roast to your desired degree of doneness, or an internal temperature of 145 degrees F (65 degrees C) for medium, about 40 minutes. Remove from the oven, cover with a doubled sheet of aluminum foil, and allow to rest in a warm area 10 to 15 minutes before slicing.

STUFFED LEG OF LAMB

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Rub lamb inside and out with garlic clove. Stuff leg of lamb and tie securely; sprinkle meat with rosemary.
• Put stuffed lamb on a rack and roast for 1 3/4 hours to 2 hours or until meat is 135 to 140 degrees. Remove from oven as you finish sauce.
• Discard fat in roasting pan. Add wine and broth and reduce. Add tomatoes and olives and season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove from heat add parsley.

GORDON HAMERSLEY'S BONED STUFFED LEG OF LAMB

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Place the lamb bones in a roasting pan and roast for about 45 minutes. Roughly chop the unpeeled onion, the carrots and the celery and add to the roasting pan with the tomato paste. Mix to distribute the vegetables and coat them with tomato paste and fat from the lamb. Return to the oven and roast an additional 15 minutes.
• Remove bones and vegetables from the pan and place them in a stock pot that is just large enough to hold them comfortably. Deglaze the roasting pan with the red wine over high heat and add to the stock pot. Then add enough chicken stock or water to just cover the bones in the pan. Bring to a boil, skim any scum that rises and add a pinch of salt, two cloves of garlic, the bay leaf and peppercorns. Lower the heat to simmering, partially cover the stock pot and simmer for at least two hours. At the end of this time, the stock should have a destinctive lamb flavor.
• Remove stock from the heat and strain through a coarse sieve. Return strained stock to the pan and cook briskly to reduce and thicken the stock. You should have about four cups of sauce when it is reduced.
• While the sauce is cooking, clean and rinse the kale, stripping the leaves from the ribs. Discard the ribs. In a saute pan over medium high heat saute the kale in three tablespoons of olive oil until it is softened but still a little crisp to the bite. (You may need to add a bit of water to keep the kale from burning.) Remove from the heat and set aside.
• Roast the red peppers over a gas flame, an electric grill or in a preheated broiler, turning until the outsides are blackened. Place in a paper bag for about 15 minutes to soften the skins. Then peel the peppers, discard the seeds and inner membranes and cut in thick slices.
• Roughly chop the olives together with the peeled shallot and remaining garlic cloves. Mix in dried herbs.
• Spread the butterflied lamb out on a countertop, skin side down. If the butcher has left the nugget of fat on the inside of the leg, remove and discard it. Layer the kale over the lamb, then layer the strips of red pepper over that. Sprinkle the olives, garlic and shallot pieces over the pepper strips, then sprinkle salt and cracked black pepper and about half the one-quarter cup of olive oil over the vegetables.
• Roll the lamb leg, securing the stuffing, and tie it in several places with butcher's twine, tucking in the loose flaps at both ends. The result will be a long cylinder.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the lamb roll on a rack in a roasting pan and roast for exactly one hour. Remove from the oven and set aside to rest for 15 minutes. Carve in thick (one-half to three-quarter-inch) slices and serve on heated plates with a little of the hot sauce. Pass the rest of the sauce in a sauce boat.

BONELESS LEG OF LAMB STUFFED WITH SWISS CHARD AND FETA

Steps:

• Wash the Swiss chard well, drain it, and in a heavy saucepan steam it in the water clinging to the leaves, covered, over moderate heat for 3 to 5 minutes, or until it is wilted. Drain the chard in a colander, refresh it under cold water, and squeeze it dry in a kitchen towel. In a skillet cook the garlic in 2 tablespoons of the oil over moderate heat, stirring, until it is pale golden and transfer it with a slotted spoon to a bowl. To the skillet add the chard, cook it, stirring, for 1 minute, or until any excess liquid is evaporated, and transfer it to the bowl. Let the chard mixture cool and stir in the Feta.
• Pat the lamb dry, arrange it, boned side up, on a work surface, and season it with salt and pepper. Spread the lamb evenly with the chard mixture, leaving a 1-inch border around the edges, beginning with a short side roll it up jelly-roll fashion, and tie it tightly with kitchen string. (The rolled and tied roast may look ungainly, but it will improve in appearance when cooked.)
• Transfer the lamb to a roasting pan and rub it all over with the remaining 1 tablespoon oil, 1 teaspoon of the rosemary, and salt and pepper to taste. Roast the lamb in the middle of a preheated 325°F. oven for 30 minutes, scatter the onion around it in the pan, and roast the lamb for 1 to 1 1/4 hours more (a total of 20 minutes cooking time for each pound of boneless meat), or until a meat thermometer registers 140°F. for medium-rare meat. Transfer the lamb to a cutting board and let it stand for 20 minutes.
• While the lamb is standing, skim the fat from the pan drippings, and set the roasting pan over moderately high heat. Add the wine, deglaze the pan, scraping up the brown bits, and boil the mixture until it is reduced by half. Strain the mixture through a fine sieve into a saucepan, add the broth, the remaining 1/2 teaspoon rosemary, the water, and any juices that have accumulated on the cutting board, and boil the mixture until it is reduced to about 2 cups. Stir the cornstarch mixture, add it to the wine mixture, whisking, and simmer the sauce for 2 minutes. Season the sauce with salt and pepper and keep it warm.
• Discard the strings from the lamb, arrange the lamb on a heated platter, and surround it with the quinoa timbales and clusters of the carrots. Strain the sauce into a heated sauceboat and serve it with the lamb, sliced.

LEG OF LAMB STUFFED WITH MUSHROOMS AND CHEVRE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Pound lamb out to about 1 1/2 inches thick.
• In a large saute pan heat butter over med heat and saute mushrooms until soft. Set mushrooms aside until later.
• Season lamb liberally with salt and pepper.
• Layer lamb with shallots, chevre and criminis.
• Roll the lamb into a log and tie with butchers twine.
• In a large saute pan, heat oil over med-high heat and sear lamb on all sides.
• Place lamb on wire rack with baking sheet underneath. Roast for about an hour until internal temp is reached (140 for rare, 170 for well done, I usually go about 155 and it's nice and pink but not bloody).
• Let the lamb rest about 10 minute to prevent juice from running and it drying out.

LEG OF LAMB STUFFED WITH GREENS AND FETA

Steps:

• In a large skillet, heat the oil and sauté the fennel bulb over medium heat until just tender, about 3 minutes. Add the scallions and chopped garlic and sauté for 2 minutes more. Add the greens and sauté, stirring, until wilted. Remove from the heat and stir in the fennel seeds and pepper to taste. Let cool, and then add the mint.
• Make 8 small slits randomly in the lamb and insert the garlic quarters.
• Transfer half of the greens mixture to a small bowl. Add the cheese to the greens remaining in the skillet. Taste and adjust the seasonings, adding salt if necessary (Feta is usually quite salty). Stuff the lamb with the cheese mixture, squeezing it to extract the excess juices; add some of the remaining greens if needed; the lamb should be well stuffed. Close the opening with toothpicks. Rub the lamb all over with the remaining greens. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, or overnight.
• Preheat the over to 450°F.
• Scrape the greens off the surface of the lamb and reserve. Brush the lamb with oil and sprinkle with the oregano and salt and pepper to taste. Place the lamb in a roasting pan that just holds it comfortably, preferably clay or Pyrex one. Roast for 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, bring the wine to a boil and simmer for 1 minute. Add the reserved greens.
• Pour the greens mixture over the lamb and roast for 5 minutes more. Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F and roast the lamb, basting frequently with the pan juices, adding a little more wine to the pan if necessary, for about 30 minutes longer, or until an instant-read meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the meat registers 135°F for medium. Remove the lamb from the oven, sprinkle with the chopped fennel or dill, cover with aluminum foil and let rest for 15 minutes.
• Carve the lamb and serve, passing the pan juices in a bowl or sauceboat at the table.
• NOTE: Alternatively, you can use a butterflied leg of lamb. Spread the stuffing over the lamb, roll it up and tie it. Marinate and roast as directed.