Lamb, under fire, and at its best
Plenty of summers have gone by without so much as a hamburger or hot dog touching my grill. But I will never miss the chance to barbecue a butterflied leg of lamb.
As good as it is in the oven, butterflied lamb is even better over the fire, where lean meat meets naked flame, charring on the outside, becoming pink and succulent inside. It all happens quickly, too, since the boneless meat does not need much time to cook.
Just be sure not to fall deep into conversation while it is grilling, or you could overcook it, as I did one recent evening. Listening to my guest’s juicy stories, I dried out the meat.
But even in the dullest of company, figuring out when exactly to pull the lamb off the fire can be tricky. Unlike a uniform steak, a butterflied leg of lamb is a lumpy, ungainly thing. Some parts can be as thick as your fist; others, cutlet-thin. How do you grill it so it all comes out the same?
The short answer is, you do not. You accept that the thicker bits will be rare, and the thinner parts medium-rare. And you hope your guests run the gamut in their meat-eating desires.
If you think everyone would like the meat cooked the same, you could cut it into smaller, more even pieces, separating thick and thin. Then lift each piece off the grill when it reaches the ideal moment of doneness (for rare meat, that is 115 degrees). After the obligatory 10 minutes of resting, the temperature rises by at least 10 degrees, giving you pink-red meat that leaks a little when you slice it. Spoon the juices back over the lamb for serving.
You do not need to marinate any good piece of meat before grilling; the combination of salt, pepper and char will add enough seasonings. But with leaner meats like leg of lamb, even a short stint with a marinade will add an herby, spicy or garlicky complexity. In this case, the yogurtbased mix of green chiles, cilantro, cumin and garlic, adds all three.
As a garnish, I use lightly pickled onions spiked with cayenne. But if that is one step too many, just scatter sliced raw onion over the meat. Butterflied lamb leg may not be as easy as hamburgers or hot dogs, but it is absolutely worth the extra work.
Grilled cumin lamb with spicy onions Ingredients: Preparation: 1.
• 2 limes
• 2 medium red onions, peeled
• 2 1/2 tsp kosher salt, plus more as needed
• Pinch of granulated sugar
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper, plus more as needed for sprinkling
• 1 1/2 tbsp cumin seeds
• 2 tsp coriander seeds
• 1/3 cup plain yogurt, plus more for serving, if desired
• 1/3 cup fresh mint leaves and tender stems, plus more for serving
• 1/3 cup fresh cilantro, leaves and tender stems, plus more for serving
• 6 garlic cloves
• 1 small jalapeño pepper, seeded if desired • 1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and sliced into thin coins
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 boneless butterflied leg of lamb, about 5-6 pounds without the bone
• Flaky sea salt
And to drink …
Grate the zest from one of the limes and squeeze the juice. Reserve both separately. Cut the other lime into wedges and save for serving.
Cut one onion into wedges; put into a blender and add lime zest. Halve remaining onion and slice it very thinly; put slices into a sieve and rinse well with cold water. Transfer onion slices to a small bowl.
Add lime juice to bowl with onion slices, sprinkle lightly with salt, sugar and cayenne. Toss well and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or until serving.
In a small skillet over medium-low heat, toast cumin and coriander seeds until fragrant, 1-2 minutes. Transfer to the blender with the onion and lime zest. Add yogurt, mint, cilantro, garlic, jalapeño, ginger, black pepper, 2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt and 1/8 teaspoon cayenne. Blend until smooth.
Place the lamb on a rimmed baking sheet, bowl or in a large resealable plastic
2. 3. 4. 5. Yield:
Grilled or roasted lamb is a wonderful pairing for good, well-aged reds, especially from Bordeaux, the Napa Valley, the northern Rhône Valley, Chianti, Montalcino and Rioja. Even with the spicy yogurt marinade in this recipe, I would still select from among these reds, but probably opt for primary fruit over age and subtlety. I mean a St.-émilion rather than a Pauillac; a reserva level Rioja, 12 servings
Time:
45 minutes, plus marinating bag. Pour marinade all over lamb, turning to make sure it is thoroughly coated. Cover lamb (or close the bag), and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight.
Heat the grill (or broiler). Wipe lamb with paper towels, removing most of the yogurt mixture. Grill or broil lamb until a digital thermometer reads 115 degrees for rare, or 125 for medium (about 6-15 minutes per side, depending on how you like your meat and how thick the lamb is). If the meat starts to char before it’s done, move it to a cooler part of the grill to finish cooking. Or if broiling, move it farther away from the broiler’s heat source.
Transfer to a cutting board, tent loosely with foil, and let the meat rest for at least 10 minutes before slicing. Arrange meat on a platter, spooning any juices from the cutting board over the slices, and top with more mint, cilantro, the spicy onions, yogurt if you like, and a sprinkling of flaky salt. Serve immediately, with the lime wedges on the side.
6. 7.
not a gran reserva; a Rosso di Montalcino rather than a Brunello; a Cornas, not a fine old Côte-rôtie. Many other reds of this ilk would be delicious: Ribera Sacra from northwestern Spain, Chinon from the Loire Valley, pinot noir from the Santa Cruz Mountains, restrained malbecs from Argentina, just to name a few. And for seasonal enthusiasts, a good, dry rosé works, too.