Last night’s leg-o-lamb did not turn out as tasty and delicious as the last one I made for 2009’s Burns Supper—and I’m now eagerly awaiting 2010’s tribute to Scotland’s most beloved poet to make amends.
Though my friend Peter did marinate the lamb for a full day with garlic, rosemary and olive oil per my instructions, I think the issue was the grill.
While his grill is probably the finest gas grill money can buy and heated to nearly 600 degrees in a matter of minutes, it failed to impart any flavor whatsoever to the meat. “Duh” you say? I know…I did follow the instructions of my new favorite book (Cook’s Illustrated Guide to Grilling and Barbecue) but modified it slightly. Fearing flameups (and taking advantage of the colossal space on Peter’s grill), I used only indirect heat rather than having the burners under the meat on medium as suggested, while the burners on the other half of the grill were cranked. Maybe that would’ve helped?
Also wondering if I should’ve used some soaked hickory chips or something to add a little smoke.
Anyway, owing perhaps to the not-so-amazing nature of the meat, Peter insisted I take the leftovers. Fine with me.
Mmmm Lambwich
For today’s leftover leg of lamb lambwich I mixed some blue cheese with a little mayo and olive oil and pepper, spread it on some toast and then added a few slices of lamb that I heated in a steam basket on the stove for a few minutes to warm it up (this method was inspired by marveling for many years at how they keep pastrami and corned beef hot and tender at Katz‘s in NY). I then threw on a few sprigs of arugula from my garden (ah, Los Angeles) and fed a few scraps of fatty bits to my puppy, Whisky.
We were both very happy.
Later, I gave Whisky a soda bottle to chew on—her favorite, and most economical toy.
The Gourmale 