Page 13 - April 2021 Barbecue News Digital
P. 13

 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon ground bay leaves 10 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1/3 cup olive oil
Board Sauce
Ingredients:
6 tablespoons fresh parsley
and/or rosemary leaves
2 tablespoons fresh mint leaves
3 garlic cloves
3/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt (optional)
About the lamb. A typical bone-in leg of lamb will usually be in the 8- to 9-pound range, perhaps smaller in the spring. After it is trimmed and has the aitchbone removed, it will weigh about 6 pounds. The same boned leg will yield about 5 pounds of cooked meat.
Method
1) Prep. Remove as much as possible of the thick fat cap on the surface of the lamb and all the silverskin under- neath. Remove the aitchbone (see above) if you didn’t have it removed at the store. If you wish, gash some 1/2- to 1- inch slashes in the meat so it can get crunchy and to create more surface area for the rub.
2) Dry brine. Sprinkle on the salt and give it at least 6 hours to penetrate. Sprinkle less salt over thin parts of the meat and a little more on the thicker parts. If there are loose flaps of meat, tie the leg with butcher’s twine so the flaps lie flat against the rest of the leg. Refrigerate until everything else is ready.
3) Rub a dub dub. Mix the rub ingredients in a bowl. When ready to cook, massage the rub all over and deep into the gashes.
4) Fire up. Set up the grill for two-zone cooking so the indi- rect side is about 225°F. This cut of lamb performs much bet- ter at low temperatures. If you’d like a little smoke flavor, add a small amount of dry wood now. But I don’t think young lamb needs a lot of smoke so go easy.
5) Cook. Roast on the indirect- heat side with the lid down until the meat’s internal tem- perature hits about 120°F.
Move the meat to the direct-heat side and sear it until it is dark on all four sides and the temperature in the center reaches 130 to 140°F. As you can see in the picture below, I used a pair of preheated foil-wrapped bricks to hold the roast on edge and get an all over sear.
6) Make the board sauce. While the meat is cooking, coarsely chop the parsley and/or rosemary, mint, and garlic. Mix them in a cup with the pepper and oil.
7) Serve. Spoon a generous amount of board sauce onto a cutting board. Plop the meat on the board sauce and roll it around so everything gets a light coating. Slice the lamb across the grain into 1/4-inch-thick slices, get plenty of sauce on the slices and let the meat juices mingle with the sauce. You will be surprised at how delicate the sauce is. Serve with additional sauce and salt at the table.
Meathead is the barbecue whisperer who founded AmazingRibs.com, by far the world's most popular outdoor cooking website. He is the author of "Meathead, The Science of Great Barbecue and Grilling," a New York Times Best Seller that was also named one of the "100 Best Cookbooks of All Time" by Southern Living magazine. This article was excerpted and modified from his book and website. For 3,000+ free pages of great barbecue and grilling info, visit AmazingRibs.com and take a free trial in the Pitmaster Club.
  APRIL 2021
BarbecueNews.com - 13










































































   11   12   13   14   15