A whole leg of lamb, cured with salt, scented with garlic and herbs, slowly smoked, then rested at length for rosy, juicy meat and a dark, aromatic crust with a subtle resinous edge.
Ingredients
- 2.8 kg whole bone-in leg of lamb
- 2 l cold water
- 120 g coarse gray sea salt
- 30 g light brown cane sugar
- 8 cloves fresh garlic cloves
- 3 pieces yellow onions
- 3 pieces carrots
- 6 sprigs fresh thyme
- 3 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 3 leaves dried bay leaves
- 2 tsp whole black peppercorns
- 4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 50 g unsalted butter
- 50 cl lamb or veal stock
- 15 cl dry white wine
- 150 g beechwood chips for food smoking
Method
- The day before, prepare the brine: dissolve the coarse salt and sugar in the cold water, then add the pepper, bay leaf, some of the thyme, some of the rosemary, and the lightly crushed garlic cloves. Submerge the leg, cover, and refrigerate, turning it once so it cures evenly.
- Remove the leg from the brine, rinse it briefly under a stream of cold water, then pat it very thoroughly dry. Leave it uncovered in the refrigerator until the surface is matte and slightly tacky: this pellicle helps the smoke adhere.
- Before cooking, bring the leg to room temperature. Score the surface lightly near the bone and tuck a few slivers of garlic into the cuts without slashing the meat. Rub the entire piece with the olive oil, then sprinkle with thyme, rosemary, and freshly cracked pepper.
- Prepare the smoker or a covered grill for gentle indirect smoke at around 105 to 115 °C. Add the previously soaked and drained beechwood chips. The smoke should be light and blue, never black or acrid.
- Place the leg fat-side up, away from the direct heat source. Close the smoker and smoke slowly, keeping the heat steady. The surface should darken gradually to mahogany brown, while the fat begins to bead without burning.
- While the leg smokes, prepare the roasting bed: slice the onions and cut the carrots into large pieces, then sweat them in the butter until the onions turn translucent and the edges just begin to take on color. Deglaze with the white wine and reduce until the raw alcohol smell has disappeared.
- When the leg is well smoked and the crust feels dry to the touch, set it on the onion and carrot bed in a hot roasting dish. Add the stock without spooning it over the crust. Continue in a gentle 130 °C oven until the meat is rosy at the center, yielding under pressure, and the juices beading near the bone are clear pink.
- Baste only the bottom of the dish from time to time, not the top of the leg, so the smoked crust stays intact. If the jus reduces too quickly, add a little hot water. It should remain short, brown, and aromatic, never diluted.
- Remove the leg, place it on a warm board, and cover it loosely. Let it rest at length: the meat should relax and the juices should stop running freely when it is sliced.
- While the meat rests, strain the cooking jus, gently pressing the onions and carrots. Spoon off the fat from the surface, then reduce over medium heat until you have a glossy jus that coats the spoon and has naturally thickened. Taste and adjust the salt only at the end, since the meat has already been brined.
- Carve the leg into thick slices, following the bone before cutting across the grain. Serve very hot with the jus on the side or spooned around the meat, without hiding the smoked crust.
Nutrition
Per serving
- Energy
- 502 kcal
- Protein
- 56.84 g
- Carbohydrate
- 5.02 g
- Fat
- 27.2 g
- Fibre
- 16.49 g
- Calcium
- 46.72 mg
- Iron
- 1.09 mg
- Magnesium
- 37.12 mg
