Lamb - Choosing the right cut, seasoning Lamb, A Perfect Roast, Allow Your Roast to Rest Before Serving
For many people, roast lamb is magnificent. It possesses a rather complex flavor that can be bold, yet delicate. The texture of the meat can vary between the crisp, flavorful exterior and the tender, juicy interior. And the aroma of lamb is absolutely unique. Preparing a perfectly mouth-drooling roast lamb is amazingly easy to do – just follow along with the simple tips and techniques below.
Choosing the Right Cut
Roasting is a "dry heat" cooking method, meaning that you do not add any liquid to the meat as you cook it. Dry heat is best for cuts of meat that are naturally tender, such as legs of lamb and the rack of lamb. Often, when you see a picture of a rack of lamb, it is presented with several individual bones protruding from it. This fancy style of preparation is known as a "Frenched” rack of lamb. This look is accomplished by trimming the fat and meat from between the ribs and scraping the bones clean. Ask you butcher to do this for you when you purchase your rack of lamb, and then save the meat trimmings to make soup later on.
Seasoning Lamb
Though lamb is flavorful enough on its own that it doesn't need a great deal of complicated spicing or marinating to accent the flavor, it’s flavor, nevertheless, combines beautifully with any number of bold seasonings. Some that complement lamb wonderfully are rosemary, oregano, marjoram, thyme, lemon zest, cumin, coriander, mint and garlic (though not necessarily all at once). Before seasoning the lamb, trim some of the excess fat, along with any of the silver skin (to prevent the meat from curling during cooking). Be sure to finely chop your herbs and seasonings of choice and rub the mixture evenly over the surface of the meat, then wrap the coated meat tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate it overnight to allow the flavor to fully develop.
Another popular way to season a roast is to make small incisions in the surface of the meat and push slivers of garlic and sprigs of herbs into the slits. You can do this right before you begin roasting, or do it a day ahead of time for a more intense flavor. Season the lamb in whatever manner you prefer, but remember one important thing: Never salt any fresh meat until just before cooking. Salt will leach the moisture out of the meat, leaving you with a bone-dry roast.
A Perfect Roast
Before roasting lamb, remove it from the refrigerator and allow it to sit for 30 minutes or so, because meat that comes to room temperature will roast more evenly than if it is cooked cold. It is always better to use a roasting rack to ensure even browning and heat circulation, so it is strongly recommended that you use one if you've got it, and buy one if you don't.
The amount of fat that your piece of lamb has surrounding the outside and marbled through the middle will determine the both cooking time and temperature that you cook at. For a leaner piece of meat, cook it in a very hot (450º F/230º C) oven for the first 15 minutes or so, and then turn the temperature down to 350º F (175º C) to continue roasting. By using this method, the meat will take about 25 minutes per pound to reach medium rare. Using a hot oven in this manner will also allow leaner cuts of meat to get nicely browned on the outside before they become overcooked and dry in the middle.
Pieces of meat that are fatter, though, are much better when roasted at a lower temperature (325º F/160º C) for a longer period of time, because it allows the fat to slowly melt, thus bathing the tender roast in its own juices. Meat cooked with this method will take about 30 minutes per pound to reach medium rare. As always, the most accurate way to determine doneness is with a meat thermometer: 110º F (42º C) is rare, 120º F (58º C) is medium-rare, and 145º F (68º C) is medium-well. It is generally not recommended that you cook lamb beyond this temperature, or it will become dried-out and tough.
Allow Your Roast to Rest Before Serving
Once your roasted lamb is within 10º F (5º C) of its ideal doneness, remove it from the oven and allow it to rest for 15 or 20 minutes with a tent of foil placed very loosely over it. As the meat rests, the internal temperature will increase by several degrees, the muscle fibers will relax, and the juice that has come to the surface of the meat during cooking will begin to return to the center. A well-rested piece of meat will be more tender, and will retain its juices better when you slice it. |
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