Fakhitha Bel Laban Leg Of Lamb With Yogurt Recipes

YOGURT-MARINATED ROAST LEG OF LAMB

Steps:

• Marinade: Use a spoon to peel the ginger. Peel garlic and onion. Roughly chop onion and ginger, followed by half of the parsley and cilantro, including stems. In a blender, add the ginger, onion, garlic, herbs, ⅓ of the yogurt, and salt. Purée until smooth. Add the remaining yogurt and purée again to combine. Set aside.
• Lamb: Place lamb on a flat surface. Use a sharp knife to poke holes in the lamb at 1½-inch intervals; this will help the lamb absorb the marinade. Flip over and repeat on the other side. Fit a brining bag into a large container (or the roasting pan you'll be using, if it fits in the refrigerator). Then place the lamb into the bag and pour in the marinade. Massage the marinade into the lamb so all of the meat is covered, then seal the bag. Refrigerate for 1-2 days (longer marination will yield more tenderized lamb).
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Transfer the lamb and all of the marinade into a roasting pan. Lay parchment paper over the lamb to cover, then cover the roasting pan tightly with aluminum foil. Roast for 1 hour. (Total roasting time will be 3 hours.)
• After 1 hour, remove lamb from oven. Gently remove foil and parchment. (The yogurt will have separated into curds and whey, which is normal.) Use tongs to flip the lamb over, then cover with parchment and foil again. Place back into the oven for 1 hour. After the second hour of roasting, flip the lamb again and place back into the oven, uncovered, for 1 final hour.
• After a total of 3 hours of roasting, remove lamb. Pierce the lamb with a sharp knife to check for doneness. If there isn't a lot of resistance, it's done. Flip lamb over, spoon yogurt solids on top, and let rest, 30 minutes.
• Almond Relish: Roughly chop the almonds, place in a medium bowl, and set aside. Pick the leaves off the remaining cilantro and parsley, bunch together, and finely chop. Add herbs to the almonds. Add enough olive oil to cover, about ½ cup, and mix. Juice 3 of the 4 lemon halves into the relish, mix, and add salt to taste. Use the juice of the remaining lemon half to taste.
• Assembly: Use tongs and a meat fork to transfer lamb to a serving platter. Spoon relish over the lamb, and serve.

SPICE-RUBBED LEG OF LAMB WITH HARISSA YOGURT SAUCE

Steps:

• For the lamb: Use paper towels to pat dry the leg of lamb. In a small bowl, combine the salt, cumin, cinnamon, allspice, ginger, black pepper and cayenne. Season all sides of the lamb with the spice mixture and place on a roasting rack in a roasting pan. Let sit at room temperature for 30 to 45 minutes or place in the refrigerator overnight and allow to sit at room temperature for 45 minutes before cooking.
• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
• Drizzle the lamb with the olive oil, then roast for 15 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F and bake until the internal temperature is 140 degrees F for medium, about 1 hour and 15 minutes more. Allow to rest before serving, 15 to 20 minutes, then slice.
• For the sauce: Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix the harissa, yogurt and honey. Season with salt. Refrigerate until serving.
• For the optional garnish: Garnish with the pomegranate seeds, mint, scallions, good olive oil and sea salt if desired. Serve with the harissa yogurt sauce.

FAKHITHA BEL LABAN - LEG OF LAMB WITH YOGURT

Steps:

• Clean the meat, slash in several places and put in a baking dish.
• Mix the spices, salt, garlic, yogurt, tomato paste, mayonnaise and oil.
• Spread half of the mixture over the meat.
• Cover with foil, and put in the oven at 350 degrees until the meat is cooked.
• Just before serving, pour the remaining yogurt on top of the meat.
• I marinated the meat overnight. Weigh the leg of lamb to determine the amount of time it will need in the oven for rare, medium, or well-done.
• I like to cook roasts at lower temperatures for a long time, so I veered off from the given recipe, and cooked it for 3 hours at 250 Fahrenheit. If I had had more time, I would probably have cooked it 4 hours at 200 degrees Fahrenheit. The meat was tender due to both the yogurt and the long cooking. My leg of lamb was 1.3 kilos, or 2.8 pounds. Serve with flavored basmati rice.

GREEK LAMB WITH YOGURT MINT SAUCE

Steps:

• Place the garlic, rosemary, oregano, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 3/4 teaspoon pepper in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade and pulse until the herbs are finely minced. Add the lemon juice, olive oil, and red wine and combine. Place the chops in a glass or ceramic dish just large enough to hold them in a single layer. Pour the marinade over the chops, turning to coat both sides. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours but preferably overnight.
• When ready to cook, prepare a grill with one layer of hot coals or turn a gas grill to medium-high heat. Remove the lamb from the marinade, sprinkle generously with salt and pepper, and grill for 4 to 5 minutes on each side. Remove to a platter, cover tightly with aluminum foil, and set aside to rest for 10 minutes. Serve hot with the cold Yogurt Mint Sauce.
• Place the scallions, mint, dill, red pepper flakes, olive oil, and lemon juice in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade and puree until it's a coarse paste. Add the yogurt, salt, and pepper and pulse until combined. Transfer to a bowl, cover, and refrigerate for a few hours to allow the flavors to develop.

YOGURT-MARINATED LEG OF LAMB WITH CARDAMOM AND ORANGE

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 425º. Remove as much of the surface fat as is practical from the lamb. Mix together the yogurt, mint, orange zest, cardamom, salt and pepper; rub the meat all over with the yogurt mixture. If you have time, let the lamb sit for an hour or more (refrigerate if it will be much longer).
• Put the lamb on a rack in a roasting pan. (You might line the pan first with aluminum foil to make cleanup easier.) Roast for 30 minutes, then check; if the lamb threatens to burn, turn the heat down to 350º; otherwise leave it at 425º.
• After about 1 hour (total) of roasting, check the internal temperature of the lamb with an instant-read thermometer. Continue to check every 10 minutes; when it reaches 130 for medium rare (125 for very rare) in its thickest part (check it in several places), it's done. Total cooking time will be less than 1 1/2 hours. Let it rest for a few minutes before carving. Serve garnished with more chopped mint.

BONELESS ROAST LEG OF LAMB WITH FETA CHEESE, OLIVES, AND BABY EGGPLANT

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lay the butterflied leg of lamb flat on a work surface, fat side down. Combine the bread crumbs, currants, pine nuts, parsley, garlic, feta cheese, olives, rosemary, olive oil, and lemon juice in a bowl and blend well to make a coarse stuffing for the lamb. Spread the stuffing evenly along the center of the inside of the leg of lamb. Fold the lamb towards the center, one side and then the other, to enclose the stuffing and form a roll. Pin the roll closed with toothpicks or skewers, or tie the roll in several places with butcher's twine so that it does not open during cooking.
• Season the outside of the lamb with salt and pepper and place, seam-side-down, in a roasting pan. Place in the oven and roast for 45 minutes, then add the baby eggplants to the roasting pan with the lamb. Continue roasting the lamb and eggplant for another 35 to 40 minutes for medium rare.
• Remove the lamb and eggplants from the oven and allow the roast to cool for 20 minutes before slicing. Serve 2 to 3 slices of lamb per person and 1 or 2 roasted eggplants. The eggplant should be left whole during roasting, then split down the middle to serve. They should be eaten by scooping out the creamy eggplant interior, leaving the shells behind.

GREEK GRILLED LEG OF LAMB

Steps:

• Pound lamb until it is an even thickness.
• Place it in a shallow glass dish.
• Mix remaining ingredients until well-blended and pour over lamb.
• Turn meat in marinade, cover, and marinate in refrigerator overnight.
• Drain lamb and reserve marinade.
• Place meat on grill 6 inches above gray coals and grill for 40 to 45 minutes, brushing with marinade and turning every 10 minutes.
• Let lamb rest for 10 minutes.
• Cut meat into thin slices (lamb will be pink) and sprinkle with chopped fresh mint.

MEDITERRANEAN ROAST LAMB

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350F, lightly oil a shallow roasting pan.
• In your blender (food Processor), with the metal blade blend the olives, garlic, spices and oil.
• Blend until almost pureed.
• Smear all over the lamb leg, place roast in the pan and roast for apprx 1 hour (apprx 20 minutes per lb.) or until the internal temp reaches 155F.
• Let it rest for 10 minutes before carving.

LABAN (YOGURT)

Steps:

• Heat milk on low heat until it almost comes to a boil (you don't want it to boil over or burn on the bottom of the pot).
• Immediately remove from heat and cool until lukewarm. Add 4 tbs of milk to the yogurt and stir until smooth.
• Stir the yogurt into the milk and pour milk into a plastic or glass container and wrap in a heavy blanket. Store in a warm place until it thickens (about 6 hours), then refrigerate.

LEBANESE LABAN (YOGURT)

Steps:

• Place a couple of tablespoons of the milk in a small container and stir in the yogurt to make it more liquid.
• Bring milk to a boil. Place aside until lukewarm.
• Stir in yogurt (don't stir too much). Cover pot with lid. Wrap pot with a wool cover. Place in a warm place for 6 hours. Be careful not to move the pot during this time.
• Cool in refrigerator for at least 3 hours.

GRILLED HARISSA LAMB WITH YOGURT, MOROCCAN

Steps:

• First make the marinade:.
• In a spice grinder, crush the coriander and the cumin.
• In a small bowl, combine the harissa, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, coriander and cumin - into a thick paste.
• Season the lamb with salt and pepper and then smear both sides of the meat with the harissa marinade paste. Cover and marinate for an hour or two.
• While the lamb is marinating, make the yogurt sauce. Combine in a medium bowl, the yogurt, cucumber, mint, and the preserved lemon. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate until needed.
• Before cooking, let the meat come back to room temperature. Cut the meat to fit easily onto the grill. Grill each piece of meat for five minutes per side until the lamb is charred with grill marks. Remove the meat to a plate to rest and continue with the other pieces of meat. The meat should still feel mostly raw at it's thickest point. The harder the meat is, the more it's cooked through.
• Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Place the grilled lamb on a rimmed baking sheet covered in foil and place in the oven and roast until the lamb is medium rare. Check it after about 10 minutes, but it will probably take between 15 and 30 minutes. Remove the meat from the oven and let rest for about 10 to 15 minutes. Serve with yogurt sauce and a side dish of couscous.