This is the second attempt at cooking a Leg of Lamb on the BGE.  My first try was a moderate success, this one was an absolute success.  I had a slightly larger leg this time so I adjusted the temperature and cooking times to reflect this.  I also bought an electronic temperature monitor recently that has greatly improved my cooking.  This time I made a wet rub that I marinated the meat in all day.  Searing was by reverse method at the end and resulted in perfect crisp edges.  The key is to slit a criss cross pattern in the meat so the marinade gets the most surface area and then the edges get charred in the end.  The meat was 140 F internal temperature when I started to sear.  The results were medium cooked, slightly pink morsels of really juicy meat with crispy edges intermixed.  I served Cabernet Sauvignon, some steamed green beans and a side salad with gorgonzola and aged balsamic dressing.

1. Leg of Lamb, 5-6 pounds bone in
2. 10 or more Garlic cloves
3. 1 Tablespoon Sage
4. 1 Tablespoon Thyme
5. 1 Teaspoon Parsley
6. 1/4 cup olive oil
7. 1/4 cup lemon juice
8. 1 Teaspoon Salt
9. 1 Tablespoon Black Pepper

The units are not exact, nor do you have to use dried herbs, fresh would actually be better.  Put all the ingredients into a food processor and blend until you have a smooth paste.  Adjust the Olive oil and Lemon juice to achieve a thick consistency so it can stick to the meat.  Rinse and pat dry the leg of Lamb and cut slits in the meat in a criss cross pattern, about 1/4 inch deep.  Cover the meat in the rub and let sit all day.  I left it in a cool oven, out of the way which allowed the meat to reach room temperature before cooking.  I set the BGE up for an indirect heat and placed a tray of water on top of the setter to catch drippings and provide extra moisture.  I only put three chunks of hardwood for a minimal smoke addition.  Temperature was regulated at around 275F.  My remote temperature probes were inserted and the meat was laid on the grill for about 2 hours, I flipped it over half way.  When internal was 140 I removed the meat, removed the setter and opened the vents.  When the BGE registered 650F I placed the leg back on the grate and reverse seared each side for about 2-3 minutes until there were some nice charred edges.  Tenting the meat for 15 minutes allowed it to stabilize and then I carved it up into bite sized pieces.  Yum…

Criss cross slitting of the Lamb

The herbs and oil mixture

Marinating all day

The finished Leg!

I couldn’t help myself.  I need to explore every recipe I can muster to grill meats on the Big Green Egg (BGE).  This time I marinated a butterflied leg of lamb overnight in Greek yoghurt, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice and Tunisian Tabil spices.  I cooked it on a high heat using the direct cooking method.  I had no choice as the skies had opened up and delayed dinner so much that the kids were about to revolt if I had taken even a minute longer than absolutely necessary.  It only took about 20 minutes to grill it so I could carve off the outer sections.  The middle was still rare so it got another dose of the charcoal the next day to ‘heat it up’.

4-5 lb leg of lamb, butterflied

Half a head of garlic, roughly chopped

2 tablespoons Olive oil

2 tablespoons Lemon juice

salt and pepper

4 cups plain yoghurt, I used Greek as it is thicker and tastier

Tabil spices: 2 tablespoons coriander seeds, 1 tablespoon cumin seeds, 1 tablespoon caraway seeds, 1/2 tablespoon red pepper flakes.

I ground the spices together in a coffee grinder.  Mix all the ingredients together and marinate the lamb overnight.  I set the BGE for direct heat and let it rip once the coals were hot.  I choked down after the initial sear and maintained about 400F dome temperature to allow the middle to cook.  20 minutes total for rare inside, probably another 10 minutes for medium.  It was absolutely delicious and I highly recommend a Shiraz or big juicy Napa Cabernet to go with this spice infused beauty.  I scored the meat before marinating and served up some Tzatziki sauce on the side.

The yoghurt drenched leg going on the coals

I scored the meat before marinating to give it some char

The ‘bits’ chopped up small and dipped in Tzatziki sauce

I was incorrect last week when I said that my next venture with the Big Green Egg was going to be a Turkey.  I had forgotten that I had purchased a whole leg of Lamb and it needed to be cooked soon, so I looked up some recipes, got some ideas and cracked open a killer wine to go with it.

I juiced a few lemons, added some Olive oil, salt, pepper and a concoction of herbs into a bowl.  The Oregano, Basil and Rosemary were the key players but I was adding whatever I could find in the spice rack that I figured would go with Lamb.  I then scored the meat with a deep crisscross pattern so I could slit some garlic slivers deep into the meat.  I basted the whole thing up and let it sit for a few hours, ideally this should be done in a bag and left overnight in the fridge.

The meat was cooked for nearly 2 hours on an indirect fire with smoking chips added for flavor.  I turned the Leg once and kept the dome temperature at 300F.  When the meat was registering 140F I removed the indirect heating tray, opened the vents and cranked the heat to 500F.  This allowed me to ‘reverse sear’ the meat and get some delicious blackened edges and really get the fat crispy.  I think I let it go a little too long as the meat was medium well after I tented it for 10 minutes.  It was however delicious and I would repeat the recipe without hesitation, knocking about 20 minutes from the slow cook to try for a moister, more rare finish.

Syrah/Shiraz is probably the most perfect combo to pair with Lamb, so I took the opportunity to open the Clarendon Hills Syrah ‘Liandra’ 2007 for the dinner.  It was ideal.  Salut….

Updated:  I just added another post about grilling a leg of lamb on the big green egg.  Enjoy!

The Lamb dressed up in its baste

On the grill, 300F for 1:40

‘Reverse Searing’ the leg of lamb