A Delicious Lamb Recipe that You will Never Prepare

This grilled lamb recipe is a labor of love. I have served it to many friends and made numerous converts to lamb. Lamb is not popular in the South. However, no one that I know has ever attempted to make the recipe. It requires work that most cooks are unwilling to perform, and they would rather just come and eat it at my house. The marinade can be used on virtually any cut of red meat.

1 leg of lamb

Creole Marinade

Olive oil for brushing

Creole Seasoned Salt

Coarse, fresh ground black pepper

Step 1

I buy a boneless leg of New Zealand lamb from Sam’s Club.

New Zealand lamb has more flavor than American raised lamb. This is because it is grass fed and not fattened on corn. New Zealand lamb is also no older than one year, while there is no age limit on American lamb.

Step 2

Prepare the marinade (recipe follows). Remove the layer of fat that surrounds the meat’s exterior.

Step 3

Seam the leg. In the parlance of restaurant kitchens and the meat industry, this means to separate each individual muscle. To essentially disassemble it. This is accomplished by pulling the muscles apart, cutting between them, and removing the fat and membranes. Once this is done you are left with pure lean lamb of two types. Several large muscles (the five to the right) and several smaller scraps to the left. I freeze the latter for grinding to make kofta at a later date (Middle Eastern ground meat kabobs).

Step 4

Place the lamb in a zip-top plastic bag with the marinade. Zip the bag almost closed, expel as much air as possible, and zip the bag fully closed. Knead the bag to coat each piece of meat. Marinate refrigerated for 2-3 days, turning and kneading once each day.

Step 5

Remove the meat from the bag, reserving the marinade. Place the marinade in a saucepan and maintain at a low boil for 10 minutes. Remove the bay leaves and thicken slightly with flour. Hold warm to serve as a gravy.

Remove the meat from the bag, reserving the marinade. Place the marinade in a saucepan and maintain at a low boil for 10 minutes. Hold warm until served.

Step 6

Prepare the grill for direct cooking over a hot fire. Brush the meat with oil and season with Seasoned Salt and black pepper.

Step 7

Grill the meat directly over the fire, lid closed. Cook to medium rare, rare is chewy and above medium gets a strong flavor. The large pieces will require approximately 15 minutes, the smaller approximately 8 to 10. Turn the meat every 4 minutes. It is especially helpful to have an instant read thermometer when grilling several different sizes pieces of meat at the same time.

Creole Marinade

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 garlic cloves, pressed or minced

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

2 bay leaves

1 can (10 ½ ounce) low-fat beef stock

1/2 cup American-style chili sauce

1/2 cup dry red wine

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1/2 teaspoon salt

Combine all ingredients and bring to a boil. Let the marinade cool before placing it in a zip-top plastic bag.