Lamb & Mutton
Leg of Lamb Cooked Over New Potatoes with Spicy Mint Rum Sauce
Description
Cookbook author and scholar Jessica B. Harris serves this roast leg of lamb cooked over a bed of new potatoes as the centerpiece of her Bastille Day dinner party, which she has traditionally hosted to open up her summers on Martha's Vineyard.
Ingredients
- 6 large garlic cloves, peeled
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, finely chopped
- 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons dried culinary lavender buds, finely chopped
- 1 (4- to 5-pound) shank-end lamb leg, trimmed (see Note)
- 3 pounds small (about 1 1/2- to 2-inch round) Yukon Gold potatoes, halved
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons plus 1/2 teaspoon flaky sea salt, divided
- 2 tablespoons mixed peppercorns
- 1 tablespoon dried rosemary
- 1 tablespoon herbes de Provence (preferably Simply Organic, see Note)
- 3/4 cup mint jelly (such as Stonewall Kitchen)
- 3 tablespoons (1 ounce) dark Barbados rum
- 1 small (5/8-ounce) jalapeño, seeded and finely chopped
Directions
- Preheat oven to 450°F. Finely chop garlic on a cutting board; sprinkle with thyme and lavender. Using the flat side of a chef's knife, smash garlic mixture until a coarse paste forms. Using the tip of a sharp paring knife, make about 15 (1/2-inch-wide, 3/4-inch-deep) incisions all over lamb leg. Stuff garlic mixture evenly into holes (about 1/4 teaspoon mixture each). Set aside.
- Toss together potatoes, oil, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a large roasting pan; spread in an even layer. Roast in preheated oven until potatoes have just started to brown, about 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, combine peppercorns, rosemary, herbes de Provence, and remaining 2 tablespoons salt in a spice grinder. Pulse until coarsely ground, about 8 pulses. Rub mixture all over lamb.
- Remove potatoes from oven; stir mixture in pan. Place lamb, fat side up, on potatoes. Return to oven, and roast at 450°F until lamb just begins to brown, about 15 minutes. Remove from oven. Stir potatoes in pan, lifting lamb to stir potatoes under it. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F. Continue roasting to desired degree of doneness or until a thermometer inserted in thickest portion of meat registers 120°F for medium-rare, 1 hour to 1 hour and 25 minutes. Remove from oven. Let rest 15 minutes.
