RCP: Honey-mint-scallion marinated grilled lamb

[Jenise]

Here at Chez Stone, "lamb steak" is what we call a butterflied leg of lamb grilled rare and cut into thin slices, like a London broil. Ian's post about the combination of honey+mint+lamb got me to thinking about the combination last week such that when I chose that cut of meat for a dinner party main course, nothing but those flavors would do for my marinade. Not only would the honey give a nice flavor, it would guarantee that I'd have a fantastic charred exterior on the lamb to contrast with the rosy red middle and the green of Francesco's courgette pasta underneath.

We loved the result and would absolutely do this dish again.

Here's the marinade:

1/2 cup mint leaves
1/2 cup parsley
3 tblsp honey
4 whole green onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
olive oil to make paste, about 1/2 cup

Place the ingredients in a blender and whiz to a thick paste. Add more olive oil if neccessary. Debone lamb. Make a few half inch gashes in the lamb for the marinade to seep into, and place lamb and marinade in a ziploc bag. Chill 8 hours or overnight. When ready to grill, salt the lamb liberally and grill to desired doneness--about 30 minutes for medium rare. Allow to rest for ten minutes before carving.

Thanks, Ian and Francesco, for the inspiration.

%^)

How many people would this recipe serve ?

How thick/thin do you slice the lamb and do you slice it perpindicular or at an angle ?

Clink !

%^)

[Jenise]

Bill, that would depend on the size of the lamb leg. My piece was 2 and a half pounds once the bone was removed and it served 8, but it was the third course and hors d'ouvres had been served as well. None of the women took seconds, but the men did and finished it completely. I would nominally allow 1/2 lb meat per person after boning.

Sounds good Jenise. Might try that on backstraps (loin fillet) next time we get them. Sounds good for the BBQ too.

[Jenise]

Sue, glad you replied to this. Reading through the thread again, I just realized I forgot to include the honey in my recipe!

And yes, great for the barbie.

%^)

How thick/thin do you slice the lamb and do you slice it perpindicular or at an angle ?

Clink !

%^)

?

[Jenise]

%^)

How thick/thin do you slice the lamb and do you slice it perpindicular or at an angle ?

Clink !

%^)

?

Bill, sorry to have missed your question the first time. I tried to cut the slices about 1/4-3/8" thick. I wanted thin slices and that's about as thin as you can cut rare meat. (To be clear, I cooked the meat whole and cut it only at service.)