A step-by-step recipe with a photo of cooking a leg of lamb baked in the oven at home. Features, technology, subtleties and combinations of ingredients. Video recipe.
Delicious and juicy lamb meat will be a wonderful decoration for any festive table. You can cook it in different ways, but in this recipe I suggest baking a leg of lamb. The baked lamb leg even sounds festive. She will decorate New Year's holidays, birthdays, and any celebration. Appetizing crust, juicy pulp, aroma of herbs … Having put such a treat on the table, the dish will become the main meal. The main thing is to bake the dish, observing all the subtleties, then guests and loved ones will definitely like such a dish. In order for the lamb to turn out well and make you want to taste it, you need to start cooking with the choice of meat:
A real meat delicacy can be prepared only from the meat of a young lamb, and such a lamb is considered to be up to 1 year old. The color of the fillet will help determine the age of the animal: in a young individual, the tenderloin is light with a pinkish tinge, almost fat-free and very tender. If the color of the lamb is dark red, and the fat is yellowish-gray and loose, then it is better to use such meat for minced meat. it belonged to an old sheep or ram.
If there are thin layers of fat on the lamb, then they should only be white. A yellowish tint indicates that the ram has lived for several years. In a lamb, which is 2-3 years old, the meat is denser and tough. Although it can be cooked deliciously. You just need to choose the marinade correctly.
The lamb shank must be fresh. Determine freshness by applying finger pressure to the fillet. If it is springy and there are no dents left on it, then you can buy. The smell of meat should be pleasant, but in no case rotten or musty.
It is better to cook fresh meat, because a frozen ram on the bone will have less of an impression when cooking. And thawed lamb loses its nutritional properties, as well as elasticity. Store lamb in the refrigerator for no more than 1-2 days, otherwise it will deteriorate very quickly. The marinade will extend its shelf life, but only by one week.
- Caloric content per 100 g - 225 kcal.
- Servings Per Container - 1 Leg
- Cooking time - 3-4 hours
Ingredients:
- Leg of lamb - 1 pc.
- Mustard - 1 tsp
- Soy sauce - 50 ml
- Garlic - 2-3 cloves
- Ground sweet paprika - 1 tsp
- Ground nutmeg - 0.5 tsp
- Ground black pepper - pinch or to taste
- Salt - 0.5 tsp or to taste
- Coriander - 0.5 tsp
Step-by-step cooking of a leg of lamb baked in the oven:
1. Prepare the marinade for the meat. To do this, peel the garlic cloves and pass through a press. Either grate it or chop it finely with a knife.
2. Add all dry spices to the garlic mass: ground nutmeg, sweet paprika, coriander and black pepper. The number of spices, as well as their set, can be selected at your discretion. You can make any mix of aromatic herbs and spices. For example, marjoram, ground ginger, coriander, cinnamon, hot red pepper are good for a lamb. You can put liquid honey. If it is very thick, then preheat it in the microwave or steam bath to melt it. Otherwise, very thick honey is difficult to stir in the sauce until smooth. You can add basil, tarragon, sage, thyme, cardamom, sesame seeds, mint, oregano, marjoram, tomatoes, parsley, cilantro, onions. Pass all this through a blender or meat grinder.
Add salt directly to the meat on top before baking. Otherwise, during marinating, the salt will draw out the juice from the meat, which will make the dish less juicy.
3. Place the mustard next to the spices. My mustard is the usual pasty, moderately spicy. Optionally, you can take grain Dijon or French. But keep in mind that these varieties have a softer taste. Therefore, if you like more spicy marinades, it is better to use hot mustard. Dry mustard diluted with vinegar is also suitable. Vinegar softens meat well, especially for fatty meat, because will add a slight sourness. The main thing with him is not to overdo it.
4. Add soy sauce to the spices. In my recipe, he is the main ingredient for a quick marinade. But instead, you can use white or red wine, beer, dairy products, tomato paste or sauce. Add pomegranate or lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, olive oil, ketchup, and sour jam as desired.
5. Using a fork, spoon or small whisk, thoroughly grind all the spices until smooth. Taste the marinade. If it doesn't seem spicy enough, add your favorite spices and herbs to your liking. Also, having tried the marinade, you will understand how much salt you will need to add so as not to overdo it with its amount, because the marinade is prepared on the basis of soy sauce, which is already salty. You may not need salt at all, because it will be enough from soy sauce.
Such a marinade can be prepared in advance and stored in the refrigerator for two days, or made just before marinating the meat.
6. Thoroughly wash the leg of lamb under running warm water. The water should be just warm, because cold water will not help remove excess fat and dirt from the surface of the mutton. Then dry the carcass with a paper towel. Remove any unnecessary parts that could negatively affect the taste of the finished dish. This is an inedible film, tendons, excess fat. Therefore, carefully cut off the excess fat with a sharp knife. It is important not to remove all the fat, but focus only on the outside. But still, leave a little fat, as it will give the finished meat juiciness and rich taste. Also remove the white film from the top, as the marinade will not pass through it well into the fibers.
Place a piece of meat in a roasting sleeve and secure it on one side with special clips or tie it with ordinary thread.
7. Pour the cooked marinade into the leg sleeve.
8. Rub the bag with your hands, spreading the marinade evenly throughout the meat. Marinating will soften and flavor the piece of meat. Place a piece of meat in a bowl and marinate for at least 1 hour at room temperature. But you can endure it longer, for example, the whole night. In this case, place it in the refrigerator. In general, it is recommended to marinate lamb from 3 hours to several days. The longer the ham is marinated, the richer and brighter the taste of the finished meat will be. If you do not have time for marinating, then inject the marinade into the carcass with a syringe and bake the meat immediately after the "injection".
9. After a while, put the leg of lamb right in the same sleeve with the marinade on a baking sheet. Salt the meat if necessary. Secure the other side of the baking sleeve with the special clips. If you marinated meat in the refrigerator, then take it out 2-3 hours before cooking and let it come to room temperature.
If you don't have a baking sleeve, place the meat on a baking sheet and cover with cling foil. Or take any heat-resistant glass, clay, or ceramic mold with a lid. A culinary sleeve, foil, or a closed container will help keep the meat as juicy as possible.
If desired, you can add slices of potatoes or other vegetables to the sleeve or baking dish. Then you do not have to additionally prepare the side dish, and the side dish itself will be saturated with juice and the aroma of meat and will become perfect.
10. Send the leg of lamb to a preheated oven to 250-270 degrees, depending on the model of your oven. Bake for 1.5 hours on top and bottom heat. Decrease the temperature by 10 degrees every 10 minutes. After 90 minutes, the temperature will reach 180 degrees. Then the leg of lamb will be juicy, tender and perfectly baked. 15-20 minutes before the end of cooking, cut the sleeve at the top to brown the lamb. But since the cooking time depends on the age of the animal, then check the readiness by cutting the meat with a knife. If clear juice oozes out, it says it's done. If the meat is bloody, continue to bake for another 15 minutes and then remove the sample again. Do not overdo the lamb in the oven, otherwise the meat will turn out tough and stale. In general, calculate the baking time as follows: 1 kg of carcass is baked for 40 minutes, plus an additional 20 minutes for the whole piece. If you have a special culinary thermometer, a temperature probe, then install it in the thick part of the meat: the optimal readiness of the dish is 65 degrees. Focus on the following degrees of doneness: medium 54-57 ° C, medium-well 60-63 ° C, well-done 65-68 ° C.
Do not rush to chop the finished ham immediately, leave it wrapped in foil or a sleeve and leave it in a warm place (you can in a slightly open oven) for 15 minutes, rest and so that the juices are evenly distributed inside. Then take out the leg of lamb baked in the oven and serve. It is served only hot, since cold meat has a specific taste, and the fat will freeze, which will make the dish less appetizing.
It is well suited for a side dish with lamb: rice, potatoes, green beans, fresh vegetables, etc.
