The lamb recipe I promised
Roast Lamb with Potato, Onion, and Tomato Gratin
6 garlic cloves, 1 split, the rest chopped
2-3 pounds baking potatoes such as russets, scrubbed and sliced
salt and fresh ground black pepper
dried thyme
dried rosemary (fresh if you have 'em, dried if you don't)
2 large onions, sliced
5 medium tomatoes (approx 1.5 pounds), cored and sliced
2/3 cup dry white or red wine (I tend to throw in whatever wine I have, frequently half white and half red)
1/4 cup olive oil, plus a little
1 leg of lamb, bone in (3-7 lbs, depending on how many you want to feed and whether you want leftovers)
Preheat oven to 400 F / 205 C
Rub the bottom of a roasting pan with with the split garlic clove. Then rub some olive oil over that, so your potatoes don't stick. Arrange the potatoes, in a single layer if possible, doubled if necessary, and season generously with salt and pepper and more cautiously with thyme and rosemary. Add a couple cloves of chopped garlic. Layer the sliced onions on top of this and repeat the seasonings. Layer the sliced tomatoes and add the rest of the seasonings. When in a hurry, I've been known to slice the veggies directly into the roasting pan and be less than cautious. It still works out. Pour the wine over the vegetables, then the olive oil.
Trim the thicker portions of fat from the leg of lamb, then season it with salt, pepper, thyme, rosemary, and more garlic if you're a fiend for such. Place a sturdy cake or baking rack directly on top of the layered vegetables and set the lamb on this. Really, you want the lamb to drip on the veggies!
Roast, uncovered, until done by a meat thermometer. Every 15 minutes or so, turn the lamb and baste with the accumulated pan liquids. I go by a meat thermometer since I don't actually like my lamb rare. I'm aware in certain parts this is considered heresy. I will only say in my defense that this recipe is still moist when cooked to well done, which seems to be about 30-35 minutes/pound. The original recipe I adapted calls for an hour and 15 minutes for rare and an hour and 45 minutes for well done, for a 6-7 pound leg of lamb.
Remove from oven and let sit for 20 minutes before carving. (If you can manage 20 full minutes, you're a better man than I am, Gunga Din.) Serve slices of lamb with spoonfuls of gratin alongside and maybe a green salad for variety of taste/texture. I recommend a good strong red zin with this (the Rancho Zabaco zinfandel did beautifully) or an equally strong and rather dry white wine (last year, we had a pinot grigio/chardonnay blend by Oak Leaf that also worked very well.) Oregano wouldn't go amiss in the seasonings, for that matter, but I tend to stick to rosemary and thyme.
And now I'm off to write. Later!
6 garlic cloves, 1 split, the rest chopped
2-3 pounds baking potatoes such as russets, scrubbed and sliced
salt and fresh ground black pepper
dried thyme
dried rosemary (fresh if you have 'em, dried if you don't)
2 large onions, sliced
5 medium tomatoes (approx 1.5 pounds), cored and sliced
2/3 cup dry white or red wine (I tend to throw in whatever wine I have, frequently half white and half red)
1/4 cup olive oil, plus a little
1 leg of lamb, bone in (3-7 lbs, depending on how many you want to feed and whether you want leftovers)
Preheat oven to 400 F / 205 C
Rub the bottom of a roasting pan with with the split garlic clove. Then rub some olive oil over that, so your potatoes don't stick. Arrange the potatoes, in a single layer if possible, doubled if necessary, and season generously with salt and pepper and more cautiously with thyme and rosemary. Add a couple cloves of chopped garlic. Layer the sliced onions on top of this and repeat the seasonings. Layer the sliced tomatoes and add the rest of the seasonings. When in a hurry, I've been known to slice the veggies directly into the roasting pan and be less than cautious. It still works out. Pour the wine over the vegetables, then the olive oil.
Trim the thicker portions of fat from the leg of lamb, then season it with salt, pepper, thyme, rosemary, and more garlic if you're a fiend for such. Place a sturdy cake or baking rack directly on top of the layered vegetables and set the lamb on this. Really, you want the lamb to drip on the veggies!
Roast, uncovered, until done by a meat thermometer. Every 15 minutes or so, turn the lamb and baste with the accumulated pan liquids. I go by a meat thermometer since I don't actually like my lamb rare. I'm aware in certain parts this is considered heresy. I will only say in my defense that this recipe is still moist when cooked to well done, which seems to be about 30-35 minutes/pound. The original recipe I adapted calls for an hour and 15 minutes for rare and an hour and 45 minutes for well done, for a 6-7 pound leg of lamb.
Remove from oven and let sit for 20 minutes before carving. (If you can manage 20 full minutes, you're a better man than I am, Gunga Din.) Serve slices of lamb with spoonfuls of gratin alongside and maybe a green salad for variety of taste/texture. I recommend a good strong red zin with this (the Rancho Zabaco zinfandel did beautifully) or an equally strong and rather dry white wine (last year, we had a pinot grigio/chardonnay blend by Oak Leaf that also worked very well.) Oregano wouldn't go amiss in the seasonings, for that matter, but I tend to stick to rosemary and thyme.
And now I'm off to write. Later!