Selecting the meat

Lamb is meat from a sheep less than one year old. The quality of lamb can depend on the age of the animal, however most are brought to the market between the age of six to eight months. The younger the lamb, the more tender the meat. Meat from older sheep is called Mutton and is graded according to the age of the animal like lamb. There are five basic major (primal) cuts into which lamb is separated: shoulder, rack, shank/breast, loin, and leg.

Useful tips

• Never salt lamb until just before cooking as the salt will extract the moisture from the meat, leaving you with a dry roast.
• To make a Frenched Rack of Lamb, like you see in the pictures (with the protruding bones), trim the fat from the meat by scraping the bones clean. The meat trimmings can be made into soup or used for stock. You can always ask one of the friendly butchers at Peters Meats to prepare it for you.
• Lamb is delicious with fresh herbs such as rosemary, oregano, marjoram, thyme, lemon zest, cumin, coriander, mint and garlic.

Roasting a leg of lamb

Serves 4 to 6.

Ingredients:

• 1 leg of lamb, about 2 - 2.5 kg
• juice of 1 lemon, about 2 tablespoons
• 1 to 2 cloves garlic, cut in several slivers
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons dried, roughly chopped rosemary
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme /li>
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 170° C.
2. Rinse lamb with cold water and pat dry with paper towels. With a small knife, make several tiny slits evenly over the lamb roast and insert slivers of the garlic. Rub lamb with lemon juice, then combine the minced garlic, herbs, salt, and pepper.
3. Rub the garlic-herb mixture over the lamb. Place leg, fat side up, on rack in roasting pan. Roast for about 30 minutes per 500g, depending on how well done you like it. Let the lamb rest for at least 10 minutes before calving.