655054 Sat Sep 26 00:48:02 -0700 2009 19 31 Home Cooking 0 5059466 I bought a one-pound center cut steak, bone-in, from a leg of lamb. Both the butcher and several of my cookbooks note that it is best prepared by grilling or broiling. One book (may have been James Beard; I don't really remember) said that it *could* be braised, but only with caution. It looks like a beautiful, tender cut of meat. So I can understand how the dry heat methods would work with it. But (a science question, I guess) why is a braise risky? Also, I'm thinking about a marinade. I have a small bottle of ale. How would that work as a basis for a marinade for lamb? (I also have lemons, yogurt and wines on hand, so I could go one of those routes if the ale wouldn't match up nicely.) What would you do? Thank you. Sat Sep 26 00:48:02 -0700 2009 1104013 Normandie 1 5059487 i would not braise or stew such a lovely piece of meat. i would sear hard, set on top of carrots, onions, celery, rosemary and garlic then let roast in very low oven (100-115 celsius) for around 45mins. when done roasting, rest lamb for fifteen minutes as you make gravy: puree the roasted vegetables, add some red wine and reduce. serve with mint jelly on the side. i adjusted method for one pound so check that internal temp doesn't go above 65 celsius. Sat Sep 26 02:14:08 -0700 2009 5059466 1106176 epabella 2 5060271 Love the suggestion re the pureed veggies. It's getting coolish enough here for that to hit the spot. And the mint jelly. I love that stuff and haven't had it in so long. None on hand, but I'm planning to make this tomorrow, so I'll pick up some. Thanks a lot, epabella. Sat Sep 26 12:44:08 -0700 2009 5059487 1104013 Normandie 3 5060323 i forgot to add: strain the gravy as it's bound to be too chunky. if you don't want it too rare, increase roasting time and adjust oven temp and always check internal meat temperature and do not exceed 65 celsius or that lovely lamb will dry out. please let me know how it goes and enjoy. PS: if you think you'll need more time to achieve your level of doneness, wrap meat in foil for the first 30 mins to help prevent it drying out. Sat Sep 26 13:17:35 -0700 2009 5060271 1106176 epabella 1 5059545 I would definitely only grill it to rare or medium rare. Sat Sep 26 04:33:41 -0700 2009 5059466 131001 c oliver 1 5059859 Braise tough meat with lots of connective tissue and the results are unctuous and tender. Braise a tender cut with a minimum of connective tissue and the results are dry, stringy, and overcooked. Stick with dry heat, and don't cook the steak past medium. Medium-rare would be better. As far as the marinade goes, it depends on the ale. A pale ale, an IPA, or anything else that's aggressively hopped will be prone to bitterness. Yogurt, lemon, and wine all seem like surer bets to me. Sat Sep 26 08:41:30 -0700 2009 5059466 58743 alanbarnes 2 5060277 I'm not sure about this ale. I just checked the label and it's got some wheat and orange rind included in the brew. So I'll play it safe and stick with one of the other three, per your guidance, and experient with the ale on something else. Thanks for the advice, alan. Sat Sep 26 12:46:39 -0700 2009 5059859 1104013 Normandie 1 5060265 Thank you all for the answers. I'm going to listen to you, especially since you're in agreement, and use a dry heat method, either in the house or outside on the Weber. We won't be able to tolerate medium rare or maybe even medium. I know what a travesty many here consider that to be, and I understand the risk I'm taking. Hubby and I are just alike about that, with our meat. (I know, I know...) Sat Sep 26 12:42:31 -0700 2009 5059466 1104013 Normandie 2 5060303 Well, if you eat your beef well done, then go for it. It's yours after all. Sat Sep 26 13:05:01 -0700 2009 5060265 131001 c oliver 3 5060313 We can usually handle medium well, and speaking for me only, I find it easier to do so with lamb that other meats. But I know what I'm unfortunately doing to the meat and accept it. Thanks for the corroboration re the method. I'm glad I asked you all, or I would have violated it even more, probably, in my braise pot. :-O Sat Sep 26 13:12:40 -0700 2009 5060303 1104013 Normandie 1 5060318 I buy this type of steak often, though the ones I get are usually quite a bit smaller. I marinate them and then grill or cook like a beef steak by searing in a hot cast iron pan (and finish in the oven if very thick). I'm afraid if you cook it well-done, it will be tough. Our British Hounds may think this is crazy, but one of my favorite marinades is to smash up some garlic and throw it in a Pyrex pan, along with a half bottle of Crosse and Blackwell mint sauce (mint and malt vinegar). My other favorite is this Greek style marinade: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Barba-Yiannis-Grilled-Lamb-15842 Sat Sep 26 13:15:27 -0700 2009 5059466 14457 onrushpam 2 5060441 "Our British Hounds may think this is crazy" I do - but not because of your choice of marinade.Just the fact that you choose to marinate it. Assuming you're buying from a quality supplier, it should need no help whatsoever. Please try it just on your griddle pan as you do now - you'll get nothing but the delicate taste of the seared meat (don't undercook it - rare lamb is not pleasant) Sat Sep 26 14:24:13 -0700 2009 5060318 154102 Harters 3 5060449 I LOVE rare lamb!!!! More than pleasant IMO. Sat Sep 26 14:29:07 -0700 2009 5060441 131001 c oliver 4 5061228 "I LOVE rare lamb!!!! More than pleasant IMO" same here, my friend lou on another message board has a method i stole: "walk that critter past a candle, carve him up and serve" Sun Sep 27 00:34:05 -0700 2009 5060449 1106176 epabella 5 5061286 Kinda what my daddy (and now I) always said. I've also said, "put a bandaid on him and he'll get well." Sun Sep 27 04:18:05 -0700 2009 5061228 131001 c oliver 1 5060564 i'm still wrestling with the suggestion to braise the piece. while the cook-it-dry consensus is unassailable, i have a thought that might--in a particular circumstance--justify a braise. what id the steak came not from the top of the leg but was instead a fairly thick cut from the lower leg. such a cut might have something in common with a cross-cut shank--a very braiseable cut. (i like james beard and am looking for logic, just because he was mentioned.) anybody here ever tried the 7-hr braised leg of lamb. talk about caution--it scares me. Sat Sep 26 15:35:05 -0700 2009 5059466 270283 silverhawk 2 5060582 "anybody here ever tried the 7-hr braised leg of lamb" No, but I have just done a 4 hour roast/braise of a 1kg shoulder. Sat Sep 26 15:39:34 -0700 2009 5060564 154102 Harters 2 5060600 Good point, and one I hadn't considered. I've made 7-hour leg of lamb a number of times, and it's delicious because the leg has enough fat and connective tissue to keep it moist and succulent. Assuming that this steak has about the same composition as a whole leg, the recipe should work brilliantly, and in far less time. Since the OP has now expressed an aversion to meat that's cooked less than medium-well, I'm going to change my answer. Braise that sucker in red wine with tomatoes, carrots, celery, onions, garlic, and herbs until you can eat it with a spoon. Sat Sep 26 15:47:51 -0700 2009 5060564 58743 alanbarnes 3 5060620 Re your second paragraph, I'd been having that thought also. But they like well done beef steak so will probably like the lamb that way also. Sat Sep 26 15:57:35 -0700 2009 5060600 131001 c oliver 2 5061101 I was the one who mentioned that it might have been James Beard, silverhawk, so I went to double-check myself. I think I was wrong in attributing the "braise with caution" to him. I just can't remember now where I read that wording, although Saveur does have a feature on lamb and the various cuts in the current issue, so it may have been there. What JB *does* say about lamb steaks, after recommending broiling and "panbroiling", is that it may be cooked in any of the "prescribed fashions for chops". (This is from American Cookery, btw, p. 384.) However, he doesn't identify *which* type of chops, but as we know know, certain types, such as shoulder or blade chops, benefit more from braising that other types of chops. I was confused, having had no experience cooking a lamb steak before, which is why I came to ask you all. I'm having problems understanding how a steak, which comes from the leg and therefore should have well worked muscles, would be risky to braise or how it might fare as well with dry heat as do loin or rib chopes, which would be less exercised. But to confuse things even further, and to be inconsistent in my logic, I wouldn't braise an actual leg; I'd oven roast or rotissery roast it. Sat Sep 26 21:13:48 -0700 2009 5060564 1104013 Normandie