Roasted Leg of Lamb with Green Sauce

Roasted leg of lamb is an Easter tradition. So with a group of
11 en route, I ordered up two legs from the neighborhood high end butcher
who gets them from a farm nearby. (While I will not pay extra for
organic produce, the idea of well husbanded meat, raised and slaughtered
nearby is attractive.) I have yet to be disappointed with the freshness
and quality of well husbanded meat and poultry--the relatively few times
I've gone for them.
The lamb legs came with the aitch bone removed, as I requested, but
with the sirloin flab still attached. Good! So the first task was
to tie the flap on and shape each roast. I then frenched the trotter ends
of the bone. We used a marinade of mustard-based garlic, soy sauce,
lemon juice, rosemary and EVOO. All lathered up, the legs were then
vacuum sealed for a 24 hour stay in the fridge and to be taken out 2 hours
before roasting.
Roasting instructions for leg of lamb vary by cookbook. Since
we have a very good oven vent, the legs were started off at 450F for 20
minutes--each legs turned at the 10 minute mark. Heat was then reduced
to 375F and the legs were turned again at 30 minutes. To our surprise
the legs were done in another 30 minutes for a total roasting time of about
80 minutes. Indeed the Thermopen read
140F at the first check and 130F near the bone--ten over where I wanted
it. After resting for 20 minutes they carved out medium rare with some
rare at the bone and some well done at the surface. In all, these
legs of lamb looked beautiful from start to finish and roasted out moist
and very tender.
(Note: It didn't exactly go as described above. I made the
mistake of starting the whole roasting process with water in the bottom
of the roasting pan to reduce smoking at 450F. Well of course, all
the initial energy went to boiling off the water. The oven didn't
boom to the desired 450F until the pan was boiled dry, which took just
long enough to make me nervous.) No harm done, but dah . . .
For the sauce (well liked): In a food processor: 1.5C yogurt;
4 spring onions chopped white and green; 1/2t of freshly shaved frozen
ginger; 1 large jalapeno pepper with seeds and white removed;
a whole package or bunch of mint leaves; an equal sized bunch of cilantro
leaves; some salt and a little fresh ground pepper. Spin all this
to smooth and then taste. It should be balanced, with equal notes
of mint and cilantro. When right, pour the green sauce into a gravy
boat and then fridge. Take it out of the fridge early and let it
warm up a bit before serving as a side to the sliced lamb.
(Another note: Do all you can to keep the lamb very warm--hot platter
and warmed plates.)
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