Spit Roasted leg of lamb

The origins of this dish are mainly Greek. I purchased a leg of lamb, boned it, saved the bones for stock and cooked the meat on the spit. All this trouble is unnecessary though. I went through the trouble since I am planning to use the bones for lamb stock. If you want to skip this step, simply visit your butcher and ask for your leg of lamb boned and tied for spit roasting.

Marinade-
4-5 cloves garlic, skin removed
1 cup olive oil
Place the lamb into a large plastic baggie along with the oil and garlic-

Marinate in fridge 1-2 days

When ready to cook-
2 Tablespoons Kosher salt
1 Tablespoon freshly ground pepper
1-2 Tablespoons dried oregano or Marjoram
Juice from ½ a lemon
½ teaspoon paprika (Spanish)

Remove lamb from marinade, lay it flat on a countertop and season it on both sides with salt pepper and Marjoram. (If pre tied just do your best to stuff some seasonings inside log of meat. Add the Marinade liquid (oil) and rub it into the meat and scatter the garlic cloves over the meat (or stuff then into the log). Pour the juice from half a lemon all over the lamb. Roll, and then tie up the meat with about 2-3 feet of butchers twine, so that it will not come loose on the spit. Insert metal rod and rotisserie prongs to hold the meat in place. Season the outer areas of the lamb with paprika then place in your oven to cook for 2- 2 ½ hours. I prefer a longer cooking time so that the outer parts of the lamb get almost crunchy, though this obviously will cause the inner areas to be pink but not medium rare, as many American are used to eating their lamb.

Optional garnishes-
Lamb sauce – I like to take the lamb juices, skimmed of fat and strained, and add them to a saucepan. Add in about 1 tablespoon demi-glaze, 1 cup water, a dash of heavy cream and season with salt and pepper. Cook this down to desired consistency and serve over lamb.
Lemon confit- if you made lemon confit (see recipe) then you will remove 1 lemon from salty brine, rinse it, cut off pulp and white pith and mince up yellow zest. This adds a nice salty note to the lamb and pretty color as well
Chive oil- if you have some around it add a lovely green color
Tapinade- (see recipe) chunks of tapinade all over the lamb are fantastic

Ham and Mahon cheese Croquettes

This style croquettes are often served as part of Spanish Tapas. As part of Tapas they are quite elegant. The big bonus here, is that children seem to love them as well.

1 oz of Mahon cheese, grated
4 Tablespoons butter
4 Tablespoons flour
1 cup milk, warm
Large pinch of salt
1 ham steak (7oz) rind removed and minced (I am using Smithfield)

1-2 eggs scrambled
½-1 cup wondra flour
Vegetable oil for frying

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan (I am using non-stick). Over medium to low heat whisk in the flour or stir it in with a wooden spoon. Slowly, stir in the milk. Stir to make sure there are no lumps. Raise heat to high and keep stirring. Mixture will thicken like pudding and pull away from sides of the pan. Whisk or stir in cheese, salt and ham. Chill mixture in refrigerator 2-3 hours.

You can use a large melon baler to scoop, or about ½ of a heaping tablespoon of batter. Take the batter and roll into a ball. Repeat with remaining batter. Dip the batter into the scrambled egg then roll in the wondra flour.

Fry in 350-degree oil for about 3-5 minutes or until a little golden in color.

Hello, Cupcake!

Hello, Cupcake! -a book by Karen Tack & Alan Richardson

I first walked by the beautiful cupcakes at Sur La Table. They looked so nice, and perfect, I thought no way will I ever attempt that kind of cake decorating. That, is for people who decorate wedding cakes, not me. When I got home I looked the book up online and it turns out that most of the cupcake tricks and decorations are made from stuff that anyone can get in a grocery store or gas station! The book even uses canned frosting, boxed mixes, goldfish, Oreo’s, and wait for it…, yes, Twinkies!

I returned to Sur La Table and picked up a copy.

My kids spent hours looking through the book, trying to decide which cupcakes they want for their next birthday party. This morning we set up bowls of goodies and frosting then they went to work (for hours and hours I tell you) creating their own “faces” on the cupcakes. Granted, our cupcakes don’t look quite as pretty as the ones in the book yet, but having read the book I now feel like I too can create Martha like goodies for the next bake sale. At $15.95 the book was better and more fun that any babysitter, gave us great and very creative ideas and was a huge hit.

Bobby Flay, Grill It

Chicken on a Spit

Many modern ovens include a rotisserie option. I find this is a great way to cook a 4-5 pound bird. It is easy, and a snap to prepare. I love the idea of the chicken cooking around lunchtime while I work on other projects. The rotisserie will help give you nice crispy skin and very tender and juicy dark meat.

One 4-5 pound chicken
1 head of garlic with the top cut off
1 lemon, quartered
2- tablespoons room temp butter
Salt and pepper

This is about as simple as it gets. You will place garlic and as much lemon as will fit into the cavity of the chicken. If you have a few thyme sprigs feel free to throw those in as well. Truss the chicken with twine (see how to truss a chicken) then rub the outside with butter. Season the outside with salt and freshly ground pepper. Insert the metal spit and place chicken in rotisserie. You will want to cook this, as per the time given in the instructions that came with your oven. My oven suggests 2 hours, presumably this factors in the amount of time the oven takes to heat up. Feel free to throw in a handful of sliced or diced potatoes on a baking sheet to soak up the chicken drippings. Yum.

Spit Roasting

Spit Roasting is a great way to prepare a dinner. Options include spit roasting on your grill or in an oven. In both cases a metal rod is inserted through a piece of meat and then into a mechanical device, which will turn the meat continuously while cooking. I am spit roasting in my large countertop oven, so, cooking times may vary slightly if you are using an outdoor grill.

Traditionally, large portions of lamb, duck, and pork are prepared on the spit. If fact, some people claim that spit roasting is the best way to prepare duck, since duck is so fatty it bastes it self as it turns. Don’t be put off from buying a spit device because you think them too complicated. They are quite simple to use and will free you to focus on other parts of your meal. A butcher can tie up the meat for you and you can simply insert the rod then set the timer.

How to Bone a Leg of Lamb

A butcher can bone a leg of lamb for you, but I find it can just as easily be done at home. In order to cook, roast or otherwise, the much of the outer fat of the lamb leg can be removed especially any purple inspection stamps. Try to leave a smaller layer of fat directly over the meat, but with a knife I shave off quite a bit of the excess chunks of fat.

It should be said that roasting a lamb with the bone is more flavorful, but if you are placing the lamb on a spit/rotisserie, grilling the lamb or simply doing a roast for company, sometimes a boned lamb is easier to deal with particularly when it time for carving the meat. The lamb bones need not be wasted though. I save mine for stock. Some butchers will also sell you half a leg, and if you get the part without the “pelvic” bone, carving is quite easy.

I bone the leg of lamb by first removing much of the outer fat, then, staring with the “pelvic” area, make small incisions around the bones with a boning knife, separating the meat from the bone. Once all of the meat has flopped away from the pelvic area, I make one long incision all the way down the primary leg bone. After this incision is made it is quite simple to work the rest of the meat away from the bone. Once the meat is off the bone you will be able to lay it flat on your cutting board.

To butterfly- it is simple enough to “butterfly” the meat at this stage by making 4-5” incisions with your knife wherever the meat looks much thicker than the rest. This will help the meat to cook more evenly.