Roast Leg of Lamb with Rosemary and Garlic

Roast Leg of Lamb with Rosemary and Garlic

As previously mentioned my first conundrum when starting this blog was being trapped somewhere that isn't The Kentish Town Kitchen. I have now made it back through the snow to Kentish Town, but thought I'd share my thoughts on the Kent leg of lamb that we had for dinner on Sunday night.

Part of the reason I felt inspired to start the blog was that the meal we had was entirely comprised of ingredients that were bought at the Yalding Farmer's Market. I loved the fact that everything on the plate came from local growers that we'd met and got to know at the local market. The Veg Man and the Lamb Man are the most classic farmers that you can imagine, ruddy cheeks and flat caps, and a tie and jacket for the event.

Veg from the Yalding Farmer's Market

Anyway, on with the meal!
When it comes to roasts, I'm not fussed with doing anything too special or pulling any fancy tricks with the food. Especially in this situation, let the food speak for itself.

On the menu: roast leg of lamb, roast potatoes and parsnips, carrots and braised...and not forgetting the home made gravy! All of this was followed up with baked apples (also from the Veg Man) which my Dad made, so if you're interested in that, let me know, I'll get the recipe up here.

Unfortunately my parents have an Aga and so the oven temperature is already set, with no variation. I've had a quick look online and the suggested temperature for the Aga's hot oven is 240C, but when I use my own oven 200C is my usual oven temperature.

Lamb

With roasting meats I usually go with a cooking time of around 40 mins per kilo plus an extra 20 mins. 
In this case the lamb was 2.2kg, as we like our lamb pink I disregarded the extra 20 minutes, this made the cooking time 1 hour 28 mins (88mins).

To prep the meat;
Peel and cut up some garlic into slivers, stick a small knife into the lamb and use the hole made to stuff in the garlic with some rosemary, repeat this over the whole joint.
Drizzle olive oil over the meat and rub it evenly over the whole surface of the joint.
Season with salt and pepper.
Rest on a wrack on a baking tray and place in the over, start with it higher in the over to colour the meat while you prep the other veg.

Potatoes and Parsnips

Some people fuss around with par-boiling potatoes, and I guess it all comes down to preference, but I've never been bothered with that. For the amount of potatoes I usually count them as I cut them up until I get at least 5 per person; and for parsnips I usually do about 4 per person.

To prep the potatoes;
Peel, wash and cut the potatoes into roughly 1 inch pieces.
Toss the potatoes in olive oil.
Place in a baking tray (if using the same one as the meat, make sure the potatoes are not underneath the meat or they will not colour) and cook for 1 hour or until browned.

Cut potatoes being turned in olive oil.

To prep the parsnips;
Peel, wash and cut the parsnips into batons.
Toss the potatoes in olive oil.
Place in a baking tray and cook for 30 mins or until browned.

Potatoes and parsnips fresh from the oven.

Carrots

There's some dispute, and again it's personal preference, about the boiling vs. roasting of carrots. For me, it's got to be boiling them every time, plus that way I get ready made beg stock for the gravy!

To prep the carrots;

Peel, wash and cut the carrots into batons

Submerge the carrots in water with a pinch of salt and a splash of oil

Cook until soft

Cooking the cabbage, carrots and gravy.

Cabbage was one of those things that I hated when I was little, and until recently it still didn't seem like a very appetising option. This was until I discovered a recipe, which I have since modified, for braised cabbage. Since then, there's been no turning back.

As I don't want to over crowd this post I'm going to put up the recipes for my Home Made Gravy and Braised Cabbage with Garlic and Thyme at a later date.


In retrospect I'm not sure whether this was the most sensible thing to put up first, as it's not much of a recipe. However, I feel it's something I wanted to share...so here's the finished article:

'Must improve on presentation'