Cliff inspired Leg o' lamb

[SmokinKat]

Cliff posted about a lamb roast he did here awhile back: http://www.pelletsmoking.com/pelletsmoking-com-gallery-10/lamb-roast-mak-easter-dinner-8170/

And OH. MY. GOSH. this was so stinking good. Using the brown mustard as a base makes for just incredible flavor-- tangy, but not 'mustardy' at all. I'm usually pretty nice about letting James steal all the leftovers to take to work for lunches, but I threatened to go on a week long cooking strike if he didn't leave me at least ONE slice of this.

I (foolishly) tried mixing my spices in olive oil first, but it would work a lot better had I just done like the professional did in his original post! I ended up getting it to work, but it was messier than it probably should have been.



My ingredients:
5+ Tbsp of brown deli mustard
1 Tb. of fresh black pepper
1/2 tsp of smoked paprika
1 tsp smoked salt
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary, finely chopped

I wanted to see what kind of gravy I could make, so I put the roast on my top rack with a pan of turkey stock (what I had fresh on hand) underneath.



SO GLAD I did that-- here's a pic of the drippings I used to make gravy.



I smoked the roast for 2 hours, then turned the temperature up to 275° for about an hour, till the roast reached like 125° IT. Then I set the roast in the warmer/smoker box on my MAK 2 Star, and cranked the grill up to HIGH, with the FlameZone covers off.

I seared the outside of the roast to get a bit of a crust-- this pic make it look way blacker than it really was!



For sides, I did sliced sweet potatoes with a drizzle of olive oil and S&P, which I cooked for about 30-40 minutes till they were golden brown on the bottom. I absolutely love sweet potatoes this way-- they're sweet and have a little crispy on the bottom... just incredible.



The roast finished up at a little over 145, but had a nice smoke ring, and was so juicy and delicious



And then... the gravy.... seriously think this was the best gravy I may have ever made... just... I have no words. James thought it overshadowed the excellence of the meat, so he mostly just dipped his potatoes in it.




We got the roast at 50% off at Safeway (from what I affectionately call the 'used meat bin'), so the whole meal cost us about $12 total, with enough leftovers for a couple of lunches. We were just marveling at how spoiled we are now-- we don't even need to go spend a gazillion dollars at fancy restaurants to get amazing food!

 

[mcschlotz]

Excellent Kat! I'm hungry already!!
What size was the roast? Assuming it was deboned?
Looks like you removed the webbing and retied for the sear, correct?
Can you provide how you went about finishing the gravy?

 

[JD McGee]

I'd hit that! Great job Kat!

 

[TentHunter]

NICE!!!

Yep, just putting the seasonings directly on the mustard coating always works well for us. Brown mustard is my go to glue for beef & lamb.

Now pass me some of that gravy!

 

[SmokinKat]

Excellent Kat! I'm hungry already!!
What size was the roast? Assuming it was deboned?
Looks like you removed the webbing and retied for the sear, correct?
Can you provide how you went about finishing the gravy?

The roast was about 3 lbs, and it was deboned.
Yeah, I should have just gone with the cooking bands from the get go, since it dawned on me I might pull off a bunch of crust if I seared with that netting in place. It might have been just fine, but I got fidgety and decided to switch to bands at the end.

For gravy, I melt about 4 Tbsp of fat (butter, bacon grease, whatever I have on hand) in a pan on medium heat, then whisk in the same quantity of flour, until it's a nice thick paste. I'll usually let it brown a little, stirring constantly, then slowly add in the drippings, stirring constantly, until it's the consistency I want. This time I had to add a bit more broth, since I didn't have quite enough in the drippings pan to thin it to the right consistency.

As good as the gravy was, I think James was onto something... I think just drizzling the meat with the drippings as they were would have been perfect for this dish, rather than making them into a thick gravy.

 

[mcschlotz]

I find spicy brown mustard regularly but haven't found any brand labeled just brown mustard. What brand are you using?

 

[SmokinKat]

We really like Beaver brand mustards-- they're a local Oregon company, and have a great line up of different kinds. The one we used was just called "deli mustard"-- it's kind of medium coarse, with some horseradish in there too.

 

[TentHunter]

I find spicy brown mustard regularly but haven't found any brand labeled just brown mustard. What brand are you using?

Yeah, you'd be hard pressed to find brown mustard that's not spicy. In my above post when I said we use brown mustard, I was actually meaning spicy brown mustard.



An interesting note about Mustard & Horseradish: Unless the mustard is cooked (like prepared yellow mustard is), it will be hot & spicy with a horseradish-like flavor, even if it doesn't contain any horseradish. That's because horseradish and mustard are in the same family of plants.

Try mixing some regular ground mustard powder with some cool water into a paste. Let it sit for a bit, then taste it.


Kat, I think I'm going to get some of that beaver brand and try it. I love good mustard!

 

[mcschlotz]

Thanks Kat, might have to see if I can locate it out here in the midwest.

Tent, kind of what I was thinking. Really appreciate the added info too. I regularly do the Coleman's and water routine for egg roll dipping

Since wife is unfortunately very sensitive to hot/spicy stuff I'll probably resort to the yellow to be on the safe side.

 

[TentHunter]

Since wife is unfortunately very sensitive to hot/spicy stuff I'll probably resort to the yellow to be on the safe side.

You don't really detect any heat from the brown mustard after the roast is cooked, only the tangy mustard flavor. So I'm sure yellow mustard should work just fine.

 

[mcschlotz]

While I've done a fare amount of smoking over the years I have strayed from using mustard over the concern (maybe unfounded) of it possibly over powering the flavor profile of the meat+smoke+rub. Guess I need to get off the fence and give it a try. Thanks for the input Tent!

Matt