I have a nice leg of lamb all ready for tomorrow - I thought I'd like to try doing a slow cooked, fall off the bone version (possibly a slightly spicy, aromatic one or a herby/wine one).

I have tried before, but wasn't completely happpy with the result - more over cooked and grey rather than the melty, shredded effect that I was seeking. I have had a wander thru' the net and the consensus of various recipes seems to be 160 C(320F?) for about 4 hours - some starting off hotter for about 20 mins.

Anyone got a favourite/failsafe recipe?

Panda, leg of lamb is really at its best in my opinion if it is not roasted too long. For that melting, soft texture, the smaller shanks are the better cut, braised slowly with liquid and aromatics. The leg has a nice texture and taste if it's just cooked to a medium stage--even just slightly pink for most juiciness. It's a lean cut, and overcooking will ruin it. I love to butterfly and grill it, and here's a roasting recipe I've been very happy with--but don't overcook, or the texture will be dry and mealy! Is your leg bone-in, or boneless and rolled, by the way?
Roast Leg of Lamb

Thank you Amy - I do do a braise of shanks, but that wasn't what I was after. When I do a normal roast, my husband likes it quite pink.

This is something quite different and can be a little dry but very flavoursome. You do need a large, bone-in leg for it (even better with mutton, apparently, but not as easily available)-I saw it done on TV recently (maybe Jamie Oliver, but not from any of the books I have)but I didn't absorb the details.

If no-one bounds forward with an alternative idea, I'll go with the Middle Eastern influence one I have found involving cardamon, cinnamon and cumin and served with roasted veggies and couscous. I think when I was disappointed with it before, I may not have cooked it for long enough - the TV version was cooked covered, which would keep in the moisture.

Think I've answered my own question now!

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This is something quite different and can be a little dry but very flavoursome. You do need a large, bone-in leg for it (even better with mutton, apparently, but not as easily available)-I saw it done on TV recently (maybe Jamie Oliver, but not from any of the books I have)but I didn't absorb the details.

This is a technique he uses often. Last night we made his slow-roasted pork belly which cooks on a bed of fennel for 4 hours.

I searched on the net and found this recipe although he uses a lamb shoulder. He's posted a slightly different recipe on his website forum.

So, the leg is braised, not roasted? That recipe sounds delicious! Let us know how it turns out! And shoulder is another great cut for slow cooking--I usually cut it up and use it for stews.

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Last night we made his slow-roasted pork belly which cooks on a bed of fennel for 4 hours.

Now that sounds delicious !

I shall let you know how it turns out - first of all I have to get to the kitchen and my husband has just started to paint the dining room . Timing...

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Now that sounds delicious !

That recipe is from his latest cookbook. I'll blog about it soon.

We made his slow roasted pork shoulder with fennel and mashed vegetables a few months ago. I posted it on my blog here. It has become my most searched post . . . apparently it is this year's BBQ stuffed flank steak (last year's most searched post). Someone in the UK posted the link on a BBC discussion forum and the traffic was incredible. Perhaps I should sell ads! LOL

I love fennel - but am in a minority of one in this family. This might be a good way of winning my fennelphobics around!

Swiss chard would be perfect with it - I have moaned before how difficult it is to get in this country for some reason (my husband is used to it as an everyday veg in his native New Zealand). I can sometimes get it in the local farmers' market and my very sweet neighbour with a large allotment puts a packet of seeds in for me every year (with varying success - the bunnies love it even more than me!)

Cooking update: halfway through, and smelling lovely (lots of herbs and aromatics used)

Panda, I did the meat for our coop expat dinner yesterday-- a leg and a shoulder. Because so many people do not like lamb rare, I did a slow roast. Italian lamb is tiny, and the British guest said British lamb is, too. I don't know that. Legs here run +-3 pounds, and in general this very young lamb needs much more delicate handling than older US and NZ lamb because it is much less "gamey" tasting.

I rubbed both pieces of meat with a Moroccan lemon-spice rub, which when I make it myself is lemon, peel, cumin, achiote, paprika and coriander, pestled to death.

Over the meat I squeezed 3 fresh lemons and tossed the skins into the wide pan. I scattered .25 kilo of dry-cured black olives about and one head of garlic, separated but not skinned. I sparingly scattered fleur de sel on the meat.

This cooked for 3 hours at 125°C, then the meat was removed, a lot of cooked chick peas were stirred into the pan juices, the garlic skins removed and the meat placed back on top and this was held in the oven until carving time.

It was not fall off the bone, but was extremely juicy. There was a small amount of pink, which turned out to be what everyone liked best, and the rest wasn't pink but felt and tasted the same.

The chickpeas were very popular, studded with those salty olives and soft garlic cloves-- even with a chick pea hater who said he tried them because they looked like peanuts.

When I braise, which isn't often due to how tender this meat is, I do it Italian style with tomatoes and often use rather Byzantine spicing. Just because I like it over polenta!

It was delicious - much applauding from the family. I used a Greek recipe, in the end - which had lots of lemon, herbs and white wine with potatoes cooked around it. They absorbed some of the juices and were really lovely - I took the lamb out after about 4 hours in total, drained off and reserved the juices for a sauce and put the temperature up high for 20 mins to brown the potatoes. I also used some cinnamon and cumin in my spice, herb mix that I had coated the lamb in which gave it a subtle, slightly North African flavour. The recipe had green olives added when the potaotes were put in (about half way through, though the consensus was they they didn't add anything)


I will certainly do it again - I thought I'd try it with red wine next time (though not with potatoes, since I think they'd go an awful peculiar colour! - maybe couscous or I like the look of the chickpeas.)

I've just got around to reading the magazine supplement of the Sunday paper - what did I see? Yes, slow cooked lamb !!

My lamb leg was quite large - about 1.75kg (nearly 4lb?)