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By Root 679 0

one of the most versatile cuts for grilling, providing everything from mammoth feast-worthy roasts to quick-cooking steaks, lamb cubes for skewering, and even some ground lamb. A whole leg typically weighs about 12 pounds. For this recipe you want a steamship leg, which includes all of the meatiest parts of the leg, but without the aitchbone (hip bone), which can make a full leg cumbersome to carve. A steamship leg of lamb still retains the major leg bone, which means that grill-roasting a leg will take a little longer than grilling boneless lamb, but the results are more flavorful and much juicier. Bones, particularly leg bones, have an insulating effect on the meat that surrounds them, giving credence to the old adage, “tender at the bone.”

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups Rosemary Red Wine Marinade

1 leg of lamb, steamship, aitchbone removed (about 6 pounds)

Coarse salt and ground black pepper

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

¼ cup fresh rosemary leaves, chopped

¼ cup molasses

2 tablespoons spicy brown mustard

2 tablespoons soy sauce

DIRECTIONS:

Combine the marinade and lamb in a jumbo (2-gallon) zipper-lock bag. Press out the air, seal, and refrigerate for 12 hours or overnight.

Light a grill for indirect medium heat, about 300°F.

Remove the lamb from the marinade and pat dry. Discard the marinade. Season the lamb with salt and pepper, and set on a rack in a large disposable roasting pan.

Put the pan on the grill away from the heat, cover the grill, and roast until the lamb is browned and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center registers 130°F, about 1½ hours.

Once the lamb is grilling, melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the olive oil and rosemary and heat until fragrant, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat and stir in the molasses, mustard, and soy sauce. Set aside

After the first 45 minutes of grilling, baste the lamb with ¾ cup of the rosemary mixture, brushing on a thin coat every 15 minutes.

Put the lamb on a carving board and let rest for 10 minutes. Slice against the grain, starting at the wider end and working your way around the central leg bone. Drizzle the remaining ¼ cup rosemary mixture over the top.

LAMB CUBES/LEG

Preserved Lemon and Lamb Kebabs

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

The lamb cubes that you find in the supermarket meat case are most often cut from the shoulder. It’s great meat for stew, but too tough for kebabs. For this recipe you want cubes cut from the lamb leg, which means you will either have to ask the butcher to cut them specially or cut up the leg yourself (not difficult at all). The lamb is marinated in yogurt that has been lavishly studded with preserved lemon and thinned with vodka. The preserved lemon provides the seasoning, and the vodka insures maximum saturation. You can buy jarred preserved lemons in the ethnic section of many grocery stores. We make our own.

INGREDIENTS:

4 long bamboo or metal skewers

2 cups Preserved Lemon Yogurt

⅓ cup vodka

1½ pounds boneless leg of lamb, cut into

1 ½-inch cubes

1 preserved lemon, rinsed and cut into 8 wedges (see Know-How, below)

8 medium garlic cloves, peeled

DIRECTIONS:

Mix 1 cup of the preserved lemon yogurt and the vodka in a 1-gallon zipper-lock bag. Add the lamb cubes and toss to coat. Press out the air from the bag and seal. Refrigerate for 3 to 6 hours.

If you are grilling with bamboo skewers, soak them in water for at least 30 minutes. Light a grill for direct medium heat, about 350°F.

Remove the lamb from the marinade, discard the marinade, and pat the lamb dry. On each skewer thread 1 preserved lemon wedge, 2 lamb cubes, 1 garlic clove, 2 more lamb cubes, 1 more garlic clove, 2 more lamb cubes, and another preserved lemon wedge.

Brush and oil the grill grate and grill the kebabs until browned and the meat is barely firm (145°F on an instant-read thermometer), about 15 to 20 minutes, turning the skewers about every 4 to 5 minutes. Serve with the remaining cup of preserved lemon yogurt for dipping.

KNOW-HOW: MAKING PRESERVED LEMONS

Preserved