Flavoring large cuts of lamb

[Tab]

I confess to never having succeeded at flavoring large cuts of lamb.

Little chops are no problem, season and oil, but give me a large cut, like a leg of lamb, bone-in or boned, and if I marinate it too long, it gets mealy (a common failure of marinades), and if I don't marinate it long enough, I don't see any effect, and I have yet to get the mediterranean flavors that I want, and I'm not sure I can get them from rubs.


Help!

[politicat]

1. Okay.... the Balkan way

Taught me by my ex-mother in law. Also works for any other large cut of meat.

Make a paste of the herbs and spices you want to use with olive oil.
Peel a number of cloves of garlic and cut them in quarters the long way. The number depends on how much you love garlic and how many vampires live in your neighborhood.
Roll the garlic pieces in the paste.

With a sharp, long, narrow knife (carving rather than chef), cut slits in the meat.
Now, either find someone with long, slender fingers (my way) or get a pair of Japanese chopsticks (the pointy ones) (my ex's way) and poke the garlic and herb paste into the slits.
The more slits, the more flavor.

Let sit for at least 4 hours in the refrigerator. Overnight is okay, as long as your herbs are fresh.

Bake or roast as normal.

[ernstbass]

5. My chef brother cuts little slits

and inserts rosemary and garlic.

[grasswire]

2. the best lamb I ever had...

...was our leg o' last Christmas. We simply coated it with Crate & Barrel's lavender sea salt from France and roasted it. It was just delicious. Leftovers for the next several days were delicious, too. So I heartily recommend a lavender sea salt (it was grey) for good flavoring.

[mike_c]

3. I use the garlic/herb paste method, too....

For a leg o' lamb, pound MANY peeled garlic cloves (I use a whole head, more or less) to a paste with some coarse salt. Add fresh herbs-- plenty of rosemary and thyme, and black pepper-- like a cup or more of herbs and either continue pounding or whirl in a mini-processor with a little olive oil. Trim the fat from the meat and cut some shallow slits in it. Rub the paste all over, and into the slits. Let it sit in a zip lock bag for several hours, and give it time to come to room temp before cooking. I cook it on the grill over a mesquite fire, but any fragrant wood added to the coals is good.

[fortyfeetunder]

4. Garlic, red wine, rosemary

The best marinade I ever used had those ingredients. And I added about a teaspoon of balsamic vinegar for a little tangy taste.

[catnhatnh]

6. Ok....Grandma's way.....

As with the others insert the garlic cloves-as many as you would like. Then coat the entire leg with mustard (salad mustard-regular old fashion yellow mustard)and dredge in flour with added salt and pepper and whatever herbs you like.The main idea is that the drippings you produce will make a kick-ass gravy.Cook as normal....good luck....

[calico1]

7. I also have a similar method as the other

posters. I make some slits in it, then rub in salt, pepper and give a nice massage. Then I crush some garlic with my mortar and pestle and add some rosemary. Crush it with the garlic a bit to release the flavor. Then I add olive oil (extra virgin) and a little lemon or lime juice. Again, I rub it on good. After I do this I wrap the leg in plastic and let it sit overnight.