Grilled Spicy Leg of Lamb

About

A leg of lamb is always impressive for serving whole on a buffet or at the table. Often I bone a leg of lamb, butterfly it, season it with herbes de Provence, salt, and pepper, and grill it flat for a few minutes before finishing it in the oven. When I cooked leg of lamb in restaurants, I would separate all the muscles of the leg, using the bottom round and shank, which are a bit tougher, for a stew, curry, or brochette, and grill the other larger muscles, like the top round, top knuckle, and sirloin.

This technique made it easier to serve individual patrons throughout the evening in a restaurant situation. At home, I still like to cook a whole leg of lamb as a showpiece and carve it at the table.

Domestic lamb is the best, but often supermarkets offer only Australian or New Zealand lamb. These are good, especially if you remove the top fat. They are young lambs, which because of climatic conditions have a more assertive taste than domestic lamb. However, the strong taste is always in the fat, and for the leg of lamb I am preparing here, I remove essentially all the surface fat. There should be very little fat remaining on the top, short of the skin on the shank area, where there is basically no fat, only skin. Sometimes leg of lamb comes with the pelvis bone still attached, while sometimes it comes without the pelvis bone, which is the way I prefer it. Remove it, or have it removed it your leg of lamb comes with it to make carving easier.

I marinate the lamb for a long time, at least overnight, in a spicy and assertive mixture and sear it on the grill to get that grilled, smoky taste. To finish the lamb, I place it in a low oven, about 275°F, to finish cooking. During that slow cooking, the meat has a chance to rest, becoming pink from beginning to end and releasing some of its juice, which can be served with it.

For my marinade, l use hoisin sauce (a sweet Chinese bean sauce classically served with Peking duck), balsamic vinegar, lots of chopped garlic, soy sauce, and Tabasco sauce to make a very spicy coating that can be used on ribs or pork tenderloin in the same manner.

Recipe

• For a small whole LEG OF LAMB weighing ABOUT 4/2 POUNDS with hip pelvis bone removed, trim most of the fat from the top, especially from the hip area, where there is a thicker layer. There should be about 12 ounces of fat on a leg this size, although there may be more on domestic lamb. Leave the skin intact on the lower part of the leg and shank area.
• In a bowl, mix together ⅓ CUP OF HOISIN SAUCE, 2 TABLESPOONS OF BALSAMIC VINEGAR, 2 TABLESPOONS OF CHOPPED GARLIC, 2 TABLESPOONS OF SOY SAUCE, and 1 TABLESPOON OF TABASCO SAUCE. Place the trimmed leg of lamb in a large plastic bag. pour the marinade over it on all sides, and tie the bag tightly. Refrigerate the lamb and let it marinate overnight.
• A few minutes before you want to cook the lamb leg, heat a gas or wood charcoal grill, and preheat your oven to about 275°F. If using a charcoal grill, make sure you use wood briquettes, not charcoal briquettes, which are made from a petroleum derivative. Also, make certain that the grill is cleaned thoroughly and the wood briquettes are white hot before you put the leg of lamb on the grill. Clean off most of the marinade from the leg, and set it aside in a roasting pan for later use. Grill the lamb for about 10 minutes, turning it so it is nicely browned all over, and then put it on top of the marinade in the roasting pan with ¾ CUP OF WATER.
• Place the lamb in the oven, and cook for about 1 hour. Turn the oven off, and let the lamb rest there until serving time. Adjust the time if the leg is bigger or if you like lamb medium rather than rare.