Best leg of lamb and mint oil with honey & vinegar roasted parsnips & carrots

I never understood Americans obsession with beef. let me rephrase. not so much that its beef is that its pretty much only beef.  It's our preferred meat by miles, at least since white men stepped onto the continent. As a culture, as westerners it's hard to accept that our diet is that limited but its kinda true. It really doesnt feel like we eat much meat outside the range of cattle and chicken. And I never understood why. Don't get me wrong-there are cuts and parts of the cow I would devour in a heartbeat. Some ribeye or oxtail can taste incredible. There's something about lamb when you cook it though thats more tender and almost juicier than beef a lot of times. I never understood why it never caught on more, outside the southwest. Its on every menu in New Mexico. And healthier. With proper Salt and olive oil, it crisps up around the edges like no meat...I remember Seder/Passover night smelled like this. There's nothing like it. For dinner for mom and Iris tonight...and to prep for my painting day tmw, re-imagining the flamingo room in the basement, I pulled out an old classic recipe for mom...my creation spawned from scrumpets at the Breslin. It was well good too! And it may not be HGTV style but I'll make the flamingo room posh!

Nicks Best Leg of Lamb 

To the sheep!  Firstly wash and pat-dry and admire your beautiful leg of lamb. With a sharp knife, Make about 3-4 1 inch deep slits on both sides. grab a handful of basil and oregano and/or rosemary and bash them up in a pestle/mortar [or food processor or chop by hand] with 3 whole garlic cloves, 1 lemon rind, a few glugs of olive oil, salt and pepper. Take the rub and spread it around the entire leg with both hands. stick good chunks into the 8 slits with your fingers. It should be gloopy and be able to smear around easily. Set this aside on a platter. 

carrots/parsnips & spuds

turn your stove up to 325F. get a mandolin, peel and quarter 4 long thin carrots and 4 parsnips. If you want potatoes-I know we don't eat them a lot these days but when they crisp up from the lamb fat you'll seriously wonder why you ever questioned it. If you want potatoes, get 4 medium yukon gold potatoes, peel and half them. toss them all in a roasting pan large enough for your leg, separating the potatoes on one opposite side. drizzle a few glugs of olive oil, season generously with sea salt & pepper. heres the fun part. On the carrot mix, drizzle about a tablespoon of honey and 1 tablespoon of apple cider or champagne vinegar over the top and mix them around. Now toss all the veggies together and create a bed in the middle for the leg. lay the leg across the top of the potato bed and tuck in. You'll roast this in the oven for  2 hrs. midway give the leg a baste and scuff the potatoes around on another side to get color spread around. for the last 20 minutes however, turn the heat up to 375 and blast that crispness. remove from the oven.  you'll need a meat thermometer now. this is not the point where you want your meat to run dry as this meat can and this will help with the exact medium doneness factor. it should be between 150-160 inside the leg. Now wrap the leg up in foil for at least 15 minutes to retain moisture while its still essentially cooking inside the foil. toss the veggies in for another 15 minutes, take out and set aside. when your hungry guests arrive [ it serves 6], carve thin slices on all sides holding it lengthwise and pour a quarter of the reduced juice from the bottom of the pan through a strainer and over the meat. save the rest as au jus. keep the bone and a good amount of trimmings intact to boil up to make shepherds pie. serve lamb and veggies together....now dip the lamb in that mint oil :) enjoy

mint oil

get this going while your legs in the oven. I don't know where the mint 'jelly' thing ever started but this mint/vinegar concoction is much more tasty and pucker. grab a handful of mint and throw in a pestle/mortar or food processor. add 1 tablespoon of wine vinegar and hot water, 1 teaspoon of sugar, a few pinches of salt and a glug of olive oil and bash/mix till almost a paste. You may have to mix it around with a spoon a few times. put into a small bowl and set aside. room temperature is fine for a few hours.