December 3, 2011 – Dinner – Grilled Leg of Lamb

December 3, 2011 – Dinner – Grilled Leg of Lamb, sauteed Turnips and asparagus

On Wednesday, we bought a one-half boneless leg of lamb at Costco (about 2 ½ lbs. $4.99/lb.) and on Friday I started marinating it in a plastic bag using about one cup of leftover Cutler Creek Vineyard cabernet sauvignon, a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, four cloves of garlic smashed and a hand full of fresh rosemary. 

We did not cook Friday night but we did cook on Saturday evening, but wanted an easy meal, so we prepared about eight or nine turnips from our garden that had been stored in our vegetable crisper for at least one month.  I diced the turnips and blanched the turnips for about five minutes in boiling water, because that is what Julia Child suggested to relieve the bitterness of turnips before cooking them, except young spring turnips.  Then I diced one Jonathan apple and about ¼ cup of brown onion, about fifteen leaves of sage sliced into strips and two cloves of garlic in a pan with about two ounces of heated butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil for about twenty minutes, until they began to take on a brownish color and began to wilt a bit.  Suzette grilled the marinated leg of lamb for about twenty minutes. After about ten minutes I stemmed and steamed 12 asparagus stalks for about eight minutes.  We got a mint sauce and the bottle of Suzette’s green tomato chutney out of the fridge and I opened a bottle of Three Knights Pinot Noir from Sonoma County ($7.99 at Trader Joe’s).

When the lamb was cooked we covered it for a few minutes and let it continue to cook a bit more to consolidate the juices.  Then I sliced the lamb.  It was still rather rare in places, but on the well done side at the ends and a fair amount of medium and medium rare.   The lamb has been fully impregnated with the flavor of th garlic and rosemary and was tender and moist.

The turnips and lamb with a bit of mint sauce or green tomato chutney made a great bit of food.

I cut and toasted three slices of fresh French breach (Paris Bakery $3.99 for a double baguette).  After dinner I spread St. Andre cheese on two slices of bread.  The cheese was a triple cream cheese and very delicious)

Then we opened the box of chocolate covered cherries in liquor from Trader Joes ($4.99 for 14 oz. or 30 pieces).  The cherries were Hungarian and not as sweet as American cherries). 

The wine was not as long lasting as we had hoped and seemed to have additives that gave us each headaches, so we will not be buying any more of it.  I am still looking for a delicious Pinot Noir for under $10.00.

Bon Apetit