I have always enjoyed lamb from the time I was young, and my parents took my sister and I to Greece. Growing up in London and Turkey sealed the deal since it was a common main dish for dinners. I could never quite understand why the lamb in the Mediterranean was so much more flavorful until I visited my friend Laurie’s family friend in Adana and saw how much salt she used to flavor the meat! I usually like to make lamb for Easter if I am cooking, but this year as it is a favorite of my father in law’s we made it for St. Patrick’s Day a few days early! I know some people are squeamish about it, but I implore you to give it a try!
Ingredients
One 6–7-pound leg of lamb
Small bunch fresh thyme
½ cup honey
Juice of lemon and lemon halves
1 stick of butter
6 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
1 tbsp. sea salt
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. tabasco sauce
2 tbsps. chopped tarragon
2 tbsps. chopped mint
Fresh ground black pepper
Chicken stock or white wine (fill roasting pan by about an inch)
1. Preheat the oven to 475 F. Pull enough leaves off the thyme sprigs to make 3 tsps. and spread the remaining sprigs in the bottom of a heavy roasting pan lined with foil. Dry the lamb and score the top layer of fat in a crisscross pattern with a sharp knife.
2. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat and add the honey, sitting until mixed. Add the lemon juice, garlic, salt, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, thyme leaves, tarragon, and mint. Stir and remove from heat.
3. Rub the marinade all over the lamb on all sides. Cut the lemon halves in half again and toss them on the thyme branches in the roasting pan. Place the lamb on top, fat side up, and season with black pepper. Cover with foil and place in the oven. Immediately bring the temperature down to 325 F.
4. Roast for 2 hours, then remove the pan from the oven, and pour in enough of the stock or white wine to fill the pan by an inch. Scrape some of the drippings from the bottom of the pan. Leave the pan uncovered and roast until the lamb is brown and crispy on top, about 30 extra minutes.
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