I think this is the third or fourth time I've done a leg of lamb. I think I nailed it this time. I went to my local friendly Halal butcher for the legs, but they wouldn't sell me just the legs. I had to buy a whole hind quarter. This not only had the legs, but some other unknown cuts of meat.
I had them carve the meat into just the leg with their big battle axe. Whack, shank and hoof off. Whack, whack, whack, I have a cookable leg. There is a mess of other meat stuck to various bones above the leg, but whatever. It's evidently a girl lamb because there are no testicles this time, and I got the tail as well. If anyone knows what to do with a lamb tail, let me know because there's one in my fridge right now.
After an overnight dry brine with kosher salt (the legs just drank up the salt), I did the legs up with Dolly's Lamb Rub and got the fire ready. I exhausted my supply of rare foreign spices like bay leaves and paprika and I have to get some more next time I'm in the States. I used mustard powder because for some reason I don't have mustard seeds, have to fix that too. The extra part of the lamb's hindquarter, I carved as best I could and set aside.
I'm having a total of 9 people, so I figure 2 legs will be enough. I cook the way recommended in the article, on the indirect side until 110 internal temp, and then over the coals until 135. I didn't think to watch it so the outside was a bit overdone but I don't think it affected anything really. This indirect-direct cooking method, the reverse sear, really is a revelation that makes much better BBQ. After the comments from the South Africans before, I was careful to explain exactly what was going on at each step to my guests. I never thought of myself as a genius, but there is a level of technical skill in what we do when we cook BBQ the Amazing Ribs way. Temperature probes, grill surface thermometers, cooking logs, reverse sear, dry brining...there's a lot to it! Certainly more than that South African direct heat "braai". Pff! Calling us barbecue's retarded cousin indeed...
I then got ready to use the other new weapon in my arsenal courtesy of this website, the board sauce. I took my cutting board and cleaver and fruit knife (my entire complement of butchery) outside to carve the legs. Did I mention it's raining outside now? I put my two big umbrellas up but as this is their first real test in the rain, it turns out they're a bit leaky. Ugh. I've got a bowl of chopped rosemary in olive oil to pour onto the cutting board. It has a problem with running off the board, I really have to get a cutting board with a lip. I explain what I'm doing to everyone and tell them in 5 years, every cooking show is going to be doing this and to remember where they saw it first. I also point out the smoke ring and explain what it is and how it was made. This whole method is actually a pretty elaborate procedure when you think about it. A far cry from just throwing meat on the fire.
I made vinegar coleslaw and garlic mashed potatoes to accompany. Both also this site's recipes and both damn good. I just need to make more next time, 2kg potatoes and one head of cabbage don't quite feed enough people.
After I was done carving we still had the big leg bones left, with meat on them I couldn't cut off. No problem, just caveman it.
They were going for Lady and the Tramp's spaghetti scene in that last photo, but they just look like dogs fighting over a bone.
Now, the postscript. I forgot about the mystery cuts from hindquarter, but they're still in the fridge. I didn't dry brine them but I figure I can stoke the fire back up and throw them on with a little rub. Problem is, I exhausted like three ingredients of the rub. Did I mention I've also been drinking all afternoon? We had just opened up a specialty of the local region, yangmei jiu. This is Chinese baijiu distilled spirits put in a big jar with the yangmei fruit. You can't get yangmei anywhere else, it only grows in Zhejiang and Fujian provinces. Even then it's only in season once a year in June. Its English name is Red Bayberry, sometimes mislabeled as arbutus. I think you can buy the juice in America if you look for it (marketed under the "Yumberry" name). It is sweet and has a fibrous nature kind of like the flesh of an orange, but tastes kind of like a rasberry. I'm sure some of you have heard of baijiu by now. It is a vile, gasoline-flavored liquor that Chinese like to drink in large quantities at banquets. It is 100-118 proof and hits like a freight train. I don't like it, in fact I don't even like to be in the room when a bottle is opened, because its oily, chemical smell spreads quickly. I had my history with baijiu...never more. However, when you soak it in yangmei and rock sugar and let it sit for 3-6 months in the dark, it loses its harsh edges and becomes a drinkable, yummy adult beverage. You sip the liquor and eat the yangmei fruits, the fruit especially packs a punch.
So I come in to do the rub and I'm missing all these ingredients and am pretty tipsy. Rosemary, we have even though I'm about to use up all of that, too. Garlic, we have, but the mustard seeds are substituted by mustard powder. Hmm, that's not nearly enough. I'll add...basil! Why not, I have a lot of it. Still kind of not enough spices in the bowl. I add more mustard powder to make up the volume. Add water, and slather it all over the bits and pieces. Take 'em out and I guess cook them the same way as the leg. Only I don't have any way to know the internal temperature so I have to eyeball it. It came out OK I guess, we actually kind of liked the extra mustard taste. I suppose anything would have tasted good at that point, we were pretty loaded.
All in all, a great barbecue and all credit goes to this site for its amazing recipes. Everyone thinks I'm a BBQ guru but all I am is someone who can follow instructions I read on a website. They all say I need to have a competition cookoff with the South Africans. Bring it on!
I had them carve the meat into just the leg with their big battle axe. Whack, shank and hoof off. Whack, whack, whack, I have a cookable leg. There is a mess of other meat stuck to various bones above the leg, but whatever. It's evidently a girl lamb because there are no testicles this time, and I got the tail as well. If anyone knows what to do with a lamb tail, let me know because there's one in my fridge right now.
After an overnight dry brine with kosher salt (the legs just drank up the salt), I did the legs up with Dolly's Lamb Rub and got the fire ready. I exhausted my supply of rare foreign spices like bay leaves and paprika and I have to get some more next time I'm in the States. I used mustard powder because for some reason I don't have mustard seeds, have to fix that too. The extra part of the lamb's hindquarter, I carved as best I could and set aside.
I'm having a total of 9 people, so I figure 2 legs will be enough. I cook the way recommended in the article, on the indirect side until 110 internal temp, and then over the coals until 135. I didn't think to watch it so the outside was a bit overdone but I don't think it affected anything really. This indirect-direct cooking method, the reverse sear, really is a revelation that makes much better BBQ. After the comments from the South Africans before, I was careful to explain exactly what was going on at each step to my guests. I never thought of myself as a genius, but there is a level of technical skill in what we do when we cook BBQ the Amazing Ribs way. Temperature probes, grill surface thermometers, cooking logs, reverse sear, dry brining...there's a lot to it! Certainly more than that South African direct heat "braai". Pff! Calling us barbecue's retarded cousin indeed...
I then got ready to use the other new weapon in my arsenal courtesy of this website, the board sauce. I took my cutting board and cleaver and fruit knife (my entire complement of butchery) outside to carve the legs. Did I mention it's raining outside now? I put my two big umbrellas up but as this is their first real test in the rain, it turns out they're a bit leaky. Ugh. I've got a bowl of chopped rosemary in olive oil to pour onto the cutting board. It has a problem with running off the board, I really have to get a cutting board with a lip. I explain what I'm doing to everyone and tell them in 5 years, every cooking show is going to be doing this and to remember where they saw it first. I also point out the smoke ring and explain what it is and how it was made. This whole method is actually a pretty elaborate procedure when you think about it. A far cry from just throwing meat on the fire.
I made vinegar coleslaw and garlic mashed potatoes to accompany. Both also this site's recipes and both damn good. I just need to make more next time, 2kg potatoes and one head of cabbage don't quite feed enough people.
After I was done carving we still had the big leg bones left, with meat on them I couldn't cut off. No problem, just caveman it.
They were going for Lady and the Tramp's spaghetti scene in that last photo, but they just look like dogs fighting over a bone.
Now, the postscript. I forgot about the mystery cuts from hindquarter, but they're still in the fridge. I didn't dry brine them but I figure I can stoke the fire back up and throw them on with a little rub. Problem is, I exhausted like three ingredients of the rub. Did I mention I've also been drinking all afternoon? We had just opened up a specialty of the local region, yangmei jiu. This is Chinese baijiu distilled spirits put in a big jar with the yangmei fruit. You can't get yangmei anywhere else, it only grows in Zhejiang and Fujian provinces. Even then it's only in season once a year in June. Its English name is Red Bayberry, sometimes mislabeled as arbutus. I think you can buy the juice in America if you look for it (marketed under the "Yumberry" name). It is sweet and has a fibrous nature kind of like the flesh of an orange, but tastes kind of like a rasberry. I'm sure some of you have heard of baijiu by now. It is a vile, gasoline-flavored liquor that Chinese like to drink in large quantities at banquets. It is 100-118 proof and hits like a freight train. I don't like it, in fact I don't even like to be in the room when a bottle is opened, because its oily, chemical smell spreads quickly. I had my history with baijiu...never more. However, when you soak it in yangmei and rock sugar and let it sit for 3-6 months in the dark, it loses its harsh edges and becomes a drinkable, yummy adult beverage. You sip the liquor and eat the yangmei fruits, the fruit especially packs a punch.
So I come in to do the rub and I'm missing all these ingredients and am pretty tipsy. Rosemary, we have even though I'm about to use up all of that, too. Garlic, we have, but the mustard seeds are substituted by mustard powder. Hmm, that's not nearly enough. I'll add...basil! Why not, I have a lot of it. Still kind of not enough spices in the bowl. I add more mustard powder to make up the volume. Add water, and slather it all over the bits and pieces. Take 'em out and I guess cook them the same way as the leg. Only I don't have any way to know the internal temperature so I have to eyeball it. It came out OK I guess, we actually kind of liked the extra mustard taste. I suppose anything would have tasted good at that point, we were pretty loaded.
All in all, a great barbecue and all credit goes to this site for its amazing recipes. Everyone thinks I'm a BBQ guru but all I am is someone who can follow instructions I read on a website. They all say I need to have a competition cookoff with the South Africans. Bring it on!
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