Grilled Lamb -- The Other Red Meat

A lot of people don’t care for the taste of lamb. 

And why not?  So many times it’s overdone, tough, and somewhat fatty, as well as tasting “gamey.” And that nasty mint sauce, yuck. 

My brother and I developed this simple technique as part of our barbecue cooking team, The Backyard BBQ Brothers.  We have won several awards with this recipe since 2004, and now these secrets can be yours…..it’s so simple, too.  Try this out on your next grilling event; you’ll be surprised at how good it is.   If you enjoy a good steak, you’ll love this, and so will your guests. 

The meat 

Buy a boneless leg of lamb from your butcher; they average about 3 to 3 1/2  pounds each, and cost around $4.99 per pound, more or less.   Boneless is important to the preparation, as you'll see.   This will serve about 4-6 adults, depending how hungry they are.

The Prep 

Unwrap the leg, and remove any twine or netting the butcher used to hold it together.   Lay it on your cutting board as flat as possible, and using a sharp knife, remove as much fat and silver skin as you can; it contributes to the “gamey” taste.   

You will see that the leg is composed of several different muscles, running in a couple different directions.   If you end up cutting the leg into a couple different sections to facilitate removing the excess fat and sinew, no problem.  

For the really thick pieces of the leg, butterfly them so you have an even thickness of about 1 to 1 1/2 inches.   You will end up with  a little less than a pound of trimmed sinew and fatty parts; so you’ll have around 2 to 2 1/2 pounds of lean, tender meat.  If that’s more than you want to  grill, save the biggest parts for the grill, and cut the remainder into cubes to freeze for later; you can use them for shish kebabs or a  lamb stew. 

The seasoning 

This is the easiest part, and so simple. 

Lay the meat flat on your cutting board and rub at least two tablespoons of chopped garlic all over both sides of the meat.  (We use the bottled kind in olive oil.)  Don’t skimp on the garlic!  

Pepper both sides generously with cracked black pepper.  Kosher salt is great, too. 

Place the meat into a Ziploc bag and squeeze the juice of a lemon over it.  If the lemon is small, use two. 

Add about 1/4 cup, or a bit more, of extra virgin olive oil to the bag, and then close, removing as much of the air as possible. 

Squish the meat around inside the bag to be sure the lemon juice and olive oil get distributed.  Place the bag into a dish in case it leaks, and put it into the fridge.  Marinate for at least 4-6 hours, or all day, giving it a squish every so often to redistribute the marinade. 

The cooking 

Preheat the grill to medium high.  This should take about 12-15 minutes for most grills.   Make sure the cooking grate is clean and lubricated.   Grill each side for about 5-6 minutes for medium degree of doneness, a bit less of you like medium rare, and a minute or two longer for medium well-done.  You can use an instant-read meat thermometer, inserted from the side to the thickest part of the leg, to check for doneness.  135 degrees is about medium.  

We do recommend medium rare or medium; no more.  You want to retain juiciness; and some pink in the meat.   This is just like cooking a steak; no problems, right? 

Let it rest for a few moments on the cutting board before slicing across the grain into 1/4” slices.  If you slice it right, and with the delicious marinade, it will be as tender as the best sirloin steak! 

The serving 

We like to serve ours with grilled pita or french bread, brushed with a bit of olive oil, pepper and garlic, just like a bruschetta.   We also make either a rice pilaf or a baked potato, or grill some asparagus and always a big Greek-style salad with romaine, tomato, green pepper, cucumber, thin slices of red onion, olives, and feta cheese, dressed with oil and vinegar dressing.   

There, wasn’t that easy?

Enjoy your grilling this week!