Butterflied Leg of Lamb with Caramelized Onion BBQ Sauce
If you like to wow your friends with your backyard cooking prowess, this is one showboatin’ dish you’ll want to try out. I like what happens when you marinate lamb in yogurt. The enzyme action in the yogurt does something special to the meat, tenderizing it and giving it an exotic allure.
Find a good butcher and make him your friend. He can make your life so much easier and get you better-quality meat than the ordinary stuff that comes in.<br/>Like everyone else, butchers respond to folks who show they care.
Recipe information
Yield
feeds 6 to 8
Ingredients
The Marinade
The Lamb
The Sauce
Preparation
Step 1
Make the marinade. Whirl all the marinade ingredients together in a food processor. Needle the lamb all over with a fork, and nestle it in a nonreactive bowl. Spoon the marinade onto the meat and slather it around til the meat is well coated. Cover and marinate in the fridge overnight.
Step 2
Prepare a hot coal bed and mound the coals on one side of the grill. When you’re ready to cook, scrape off all the marinade and pat the meat dry. Lay the lamb, boned side down, directly over the coals. Sear it for 4 minutes. Flip it over and sear the other side for another 3 to 4 minutes. Slide the meat away from the coals, to cook it with indirect heat. Cover the grill and adjust the heat so that it’s 325° to 350° inside. Roast for 50 to 60 minutes, til the internal temperature reaches about 145°.
Step 3
Get the sauce cooking while the meat roasts. Drop the butter in a saucepan and melt over low heat. Add the onions and season with salt and pepper. Cook slowly, stirring every now and then, til deeply caramelized. Add the broth, Mutha Sauce, and cumin. Keep warm over low heat.
Step 4
Check the meat with an instant-read thermometer, and once it reaches 145°, pull it off the grill and let it rest for 15 minutes. Carve the lamb across the grain into 1/4-inch slices on a cutting board with a well to catch all those delicious juices. You might have to remove some odd connectors or cut the muscle clods into more manageable sizes, but do what you’ve gotta do and keep carving across the grain. Arrange the meat on a platter.
Step 5
Pour all the accumulated meat juices into the sauce, and boost the heat up for a minute or two to get it nice and hot. Stir in the mint and then ladle the sauce over the sliced lamb. It’s ready to go.
