Catholics celebrate All Saints’ Day on November 1st to commemorate all the sacred souls of saints and martyrs. They do not have any specific holidays. People also pray for the souls of family members who have passed away in recent years. As a celebration, provide a feast to enjoy traditional Halloween food.
In this elegant lamb recipe, perfectly entertaining, boneless lamb legs get rubbed with mint and garlic. Butterfly lamb is cooked in record time, and the different thickness means that some slices will do more than others, so there is something for everyone. The recipe calls for the cuts to be big enough to serve about 16 people and still have enough leftovers to make a delicious sandwich or pasta.
Directions:
Step 1
Finely chop mint, parsley and garlic and combine in a small bowl. Stir in oil, salt and pepper.
Step 2
Pat lamb dry. If you have metal skewers, thread 2 through the lamb horizontally to help the meat hold together and make it easier to flip on the grill. (If you don’t have skewers, just be sure you have long sturdy tongs.) Rub the herb mixture evenly over the lamb. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or up to 1 day to allow the flavors to penetrate.
Step 3
About 1 hour before you’re ready to grill, remove the lamb from the refrigerator.
Step 4
Preheat a gas grill to medium or prepare a medium-hot charcoal grill and push the coals to one side.
Step 5
Grill the lamb over direct heat until an instant-read thermometer inserted horizontally into the thickest part registers 125 degrees to 130 degrees F for medium-rare, 10 to 15 minutes per side. If the meat is getting too charred, occasionally move it to the cooler part of the grill. (Alternatively, place the lamb in a roasting pan and roast in the oven at 425 degrees F until it reaches the desired temperature, 25 to 35 minutes.)
Step 6
Place the lamb on a clean cutting board, tent with foil and let rest 10 minutes before slicing.
Tips:
Make Ahead Tip: Marinate lamb (Steps 1-2) for up to 1 day.
Plan ahead when preparing a butterflied leg of lamb. Call your butcher a day or two in advance and ask them to “butterfly” a boneless leg of lamb for you (that is, open it up to a large, flat cut of meat) as well as trim off most of the visible fat.
Nutrition Facts:
Serving Size: 3-4 oz. Per Serving: 175 calories; protein 21g; carbohydrates 0.9g; dietary fiber 0.5g; fat 9.2g; saturated fat 2.5g; cholesterol 65mg; vitamin a iu 389.9IU; vitamin c 3.4mg; folate 25.7mcg; calcium 21.4mg; iron 2.4mg; magnesium 23.9mg; potassium 287.4mg; sodium 192.5mg; thiamin 0.1mg. Exchanges: 3 lean meat, 1/2 fat
Sometimes you just want to put something on and then forget about it while it does its own thing.. well slow roasted dippy messy, not alot of meat on them ribs fit the bill.
3 to 4 pds worth of Lamb Riblits-take out the night before and allowed to thaw in the fridge
3 Tbsp of oil or so to brown the ribs in, a frying pan on med heat.
Then move ribs and all drippings from the frying pan to the roaster or to a crock pot.
At that time, you can add
1 clove of garlic-minced
1/2 cup of vinager (any kind will work but apple or white wine are very nice)
1 cup of tomato paste
1 cup of water
1 tbsp of worcesterhire sauce
1/4 cup of brown sugar (packed)
1 small onion minced
half a tsp of salt/pepper
Put all the rest back into your frying pan and simmer for 15 min then pour over the ribs and bake in the over at 350 for about 2 hours or into a crock pot on low for four to six hours till the meat is falling off the bone.
A thank you out to Will for letting me know that for whatever reason the first posting didn’t work properly, thankfully I had a draft version still saved so didn’t have to write it out again.. very sorry folks that it came out the first time incomplete.
On Father’s Day we usually either grill steaks or make a huge Rib Roast. Both are great choices but this year we’ll be mixing it up a bit. Instead of grilled steaks or a nice rib roast I’ll be making a nice Rack of Lamb.
I made my very first rack of lamb for my grandson’s birthday last April. Lamb is one of his favorite meats and he requested it for his birthday dinner. We used to just throw a couple of racks on the grill during one of our weekly barbecues, but for his birthday I wanted to do something a little fancier. So I looked up several different recipes and tweaked them here and there until I came up with this delicious Herb Crusted Rack of Lamb.
I’m not a big fan of lamb, in fact I don’t eat it, which is why I don’t make it very often. But the rest of the family loves it. Years ago cooking lamb intimidated me, but I’ve since learned how to make it in several dishes. But never had I done a rack until the other month. I was happily surprised that it went well. It came out so well that I’ve served it a couple of times since my grandson’s birthday.
This recipe is very simple but it makes the lamb rack tender and juicy; and yes it looks impressive when served! The secret to making the perfect rack of lamb is to be sure the meat is at room temperature before roasting; just like making the perfect roast. Cooking meat at room temperature prevents over and undercooking. Another secret is to use your handy meat thermometer to ensure that you’ve cooked your meat to the proper temperature; well actually you cook meat until it’s about 5° BELOW your desired temperature. And lastly you allow your rack to “rest” for about 5 minutes after you take it out of the oven. (Here’s a tip: you should remove allow all meats, grilled, broiled, or roasted before it gets to the proper temperature and allow it to rest about 5 minutes)
You may be wondering why meats should be removed from the oven or grill before it hits the desired temperature and “rest” before serving. The reason is that your meat continues to cook even after you remove it from the heat source so if you take it out when the thermometer hits the correct temperature your meat ends up overdone. The resting period allows the meat to continue to cook to the desired temperature and seals in the juices. I learned this from the Chef who caters all our special events.
Before I write down my recipe here’s a couple more tips so that your rack of lamb turns out perfectly.
If you’re roasting more than 1 rack (a rack with 8 ribs feeds about 2-3 people) get racks that are close in size and weight so that they cook evenly.
Be sure the racks are “frenched” – meaning the bone tips are exposed and clean.
Be sure you get lamb not mutton! Mutton has a very strong gamey scent and is not tender, it comes from adult sheep.
If you can smell some gaminess in the meat rub fresh lemon all around the rack, this helps neutralize the scent.
Invest in a meat thermometer. You can pick one up from Amazon or any store that sells kitchen supplies. You don’t need the fanciest most expensive one although one that’s digital is a plus. They sell for under $20 and is one of the best investments you can make for your kitchen.
I try to use fresh herbs in my recipes and this one is no exception. It’s a great way to use the herbs I grow in my garden. But if you don’t have fresh herbs dried ones will work too.
Having said all this here’s my recipe! Try it out for Father’s Day I’m sure everyone will love it! I’ll give you the recipe for 1 rack but you can easily double or triple it for more racks. Just remember to get racks that are close in weight and size!
Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper and place rack on top.
Mix all the other ingredients together in a small bowl.
Rub oil mixture all over the rack, be sure you get the sides and the bottom.
Place rack fat side up on the sheet and let sit at room temperature for 30-45 minutes.
Pre-heat oven to 450°.
Insert thermometer in the thickest part of the meat.
Cook lamb in the oven until the thermometer reads 5° BELOW your desired temperature (see chart below)
Remove from oven and cover with foil. Let rest for 5-10 minutes or until the thermometer reads your desired temperature.
Slice rack between the bones, garnish with chopped parsley if desired.
Serve with your favorite sides and starch. We like it with Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Grilled Asparagus
Recipe Notes
Doneness Chart for Rack of Lamb: (Fahrenheit) Rare - 115° - 120° Medium Rare - 120° - 125° Medium - 130° - 135° Medium Well - 140° - 145° Well Done - 150° - 155°
We used the Breville Boss To Go blender to make this marinade.
Combine all marinade ingredients into the Breville Boss to Go Blender. Pulse for 5 – 10 seconds until smooth (makes 1 cup)
Tips & Hints:
To freeze the marinade: Pour into a small snap lock bag. Seal. Gently flatten bag and label. Freeze (flat) on a freezer shelf. Use within 1 month.
SLOW-ROASTED LAMB SHOULDER
Season lamb. Place lamb into a large snap – lock bag. Add marinade. Seal bag
Massage lamb to coat evenly with marinade. Marinate in the fridge for 4 hours, or overnight if the time permits
Preheat oven to 220°C/200°C fan forced. Place lamb and marinade into a baking dish. Pour 1 cup water into dish. Cover with a sheet baking paper and then cover pan with foil. Bake for 2 hours
Uncover lamb. Add an additional 1 cup water to pan. Reduce heat to 160°C/140°C fan forced
Bake uncovered for a further 2 hours or until lamb is very tender and falls off the bone. Remove from oven
Shred and slice lamb. Serve with roasted vegetables and green beans
Lemon, Garlic & Rosemary marinade
6 garlic cloves, peeled
1/4 cup fresh rosemary leaves
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup lemon juice
Slow-roasted lamb shoulder
1 x 2kg lamb shoulder (bone in)
1 quantity of Lemon, Garlic & Rosemary marinade
Roasted vegetables and green beans to serve
Slow-Roasted Lamb Shoulder with Lemon, Garlic and Rosemary
Maqluba is a Levantine dish popular in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Palestine. The name literally means “upside down” because the meat, vegetables, and rice are stacked in a handleless pot to cook, then flipped over and placed on a large tray for serving.
These days Maqluba is described as a one pot dish, which I suppose it could be; assuming you don’t count the pot you stew the meat in, and the pan you fry the veggies in. Not to mention the bowl you soak the rice in, and if you’re adding vermicelli and pine nuts the pan you brown the pasta and nuts in.
Maqluba is very similar to Paella which is also a one pot dish composed of meat or seafood, veggies, and rice. Considering that many parts of Spain was under Moorish rule for a total of about 800 years it would be fair to say that Paella is the Spanish version of Maqluba or vice versa.
It is honestly the only Arabic dish I can claim to have mastered. After years of making Maqluba I’ve finally gotten it right every single time. It’s really not that difficult to make, it’s just tedious due to all the steps in the recipe and the time it takes to make it. If you count the time it takes to soak the rice this dish takes all day to make, at the very least about 3 hours. But it is truly worth the time and effort.
Maqluba is typically made with stewed meat, either lamb, beef, or chicken; fried vegetables such as potatoes, cauliflower, or eggplant; and rice. All the ingredients are stacked in that order into a large deep pot preferably without handles. Of course you can omit the meat and make a vegetarian dish.
There are “enhancements” you can add to make the dish fancier. Some folks like to mix vermicelli and even garbanzo beans in the rice before cooking, then sprinkle it with pine nuts before serving. And of course in our family I slip tomato wedges between the meat before cooking, and some of us like to top the cooked dish with corn kernels and plain yogurt. In short I suppose each family has it’s own version on how to cook and eat Maqluba. But one thing is certain, it’s delicious!
Here’s how we make it at our house, but first here’s a quick tip. When making Maqluba use a deeper pot with no handles (a maqluba pot is the best, but hard to find in the US, you may find one at a middle eastern grocery store) and a lid, or a pot with removable handles or handles that aren’t too close to the pot lip. This will make flipping it over easier as handles can block the tray you flip it on to from laying flat on top of the pot. The pot has to be deep enough to layer the ingredients and still have enough space for the rice to expand as it cooks.
Maqcluba
Ingrdients:
4-5 Cups Long Grain Rice
1 Tbs. Turmeric Powder
1/8 Cup Olive Oil
8-10 pieces of meat (lamb, beef, or bone in chicken thighs)
1 Large Onion, cut in chunks
1 Tbs. Garlic, crushed
1 Tbs. + 1 Tsp. Ground Cumin
1 Tsp. + 1 Tsp. Ground Nutmeg
1 Tsp. Salt
1 Tsp. Ground Black Pepper
1 Box Stock (beef or chicken depending on the meat you use)
1 Large Cauliflower, cut into chunks
1 Large Eggplant, cut into rounds
3 Potatoes, peeled and cut into rounds
Oil for frying
Cooking spray
2 Tomatoes cut in wedges
6 Cloves of Garlic, peeled
Vermicelli (Optional)
1 Can Garbanzo Beans, drained (Optional)
1/2 Cup Pine Nuts (Optional)
Butter (Optional)
1 Can Corn Kernels (Optional)
1 Cup Fresh Plain Greek Yogurt (Optional)
Directions:
Place rice in a big bowl and cover with water.
Add Turmeric to water and stir until it is evenly distributed and water turns yellow. Set aside for at least 2 hours. Check periodically as the rice will absorb the water. If all the water is absorbed add more and stir.
Heat olive oil in a stock pot.
Saute onions in hot oil until it starts to turn translucent.
Add crushed garlic and cook another minute, stir to keep from burning.
Add meat, 1 Tbs. Cumin, 1 Tsp. Nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Cook until meat starts to brown.
Add stock and then add water to completely cover the meat.
Let simmer until meat is tender and fully cooked. About 2 hours. Set aside when done.
Meanwhile place about 1″ oil in frying pan.
Fry your veggies until cooked and drain on paper towels. Set aside.
If using Vermicelli and/or Pine Nuts: Melt about 1 tbs. butter in a small frying pan. Add vermicelli and cook until it starts to turn brown, stir constantly to keep from burning. Remove from pan and set aside. Repeat this procedure with Pine Nuts.
When ready to stack meat in the pot:
Spray bottom and sides of pot with cooking spray.
Drain rice then stir in vermicelli noodles and/or garbanzo beans if using.
Starting with the meat, remove meat from pot it was cooked it, reserve the broth do not discard.
Arrange meat at the bottom of the pot.
Slip garlic cloves and tomato wedges between the meat.
Sprinkle meat with 1 tsp. cumin and 1 tsp. nutmeg.
Arrange veggies on top of meat.
Pour rice mixture over the veggies and smooth out to make the top flat.
Gently pour reserved broth over the rice. Fill until the broth just covers the rice, if you don’t have enough broth add water.
Cover with lid and simmer over medium heat until rice is cooked. Check every 10 minutes or so to make sure the liquid has not all evaporated before the rice is cooked. If you need to add more liquid, either broth or water. This takes about 30 minutes.
If the rice is cooked and you still have liquid remove lid and raise the heat for about 5 minutes so that the rest of the liquid evaporates. Be careful not to burn the bottom. Or you can carefully drain extra liquid before flipping.
When rice is cooked and there is no more liquid remove pot from lid. Let rest about 5 minutes.
Flip over onto a large tray.
Garnish with cooked Pine Nuts on the meat if desired.
Serve with bowls of corn kernels and plain yogurt.
Happy Fall!!! {enter all the fall emoji’s you can think of!}
I’m sure you guys have noticed, but I’ve been waiting for the official start of fall and finally, it has arrived, I am pumped!
It’s my favorite time of year. So much to look forward to over the next three-ish months. So much to do, so much excitement and of course, so much awesome food! The food is my favorite thing about fall, it’s THE BEST.
Clearly, I NEEDED to start off autumn with a roasted chicken. It’s just the quintessential fall thing to do. When I was a kid roasted chicken was my mom’s thing. It was one of the handful of dinners she would make, and she’d only make it on a Sunday night. She’d do all the prep for the chicken, roast it, check it, baste it, add more butter… Dad would make the rice, and possibly some kind of green, but I must admit, the greens were kind of scarce.
SIDE NOTE: Dad used to ALWAYS eat salad every night for dinner, no matter what he was making us kids. He’d literally mow giant bowls of salad for dinner…the rest of just weren’t into that. Since I started cooking (and making food other than chicken and rice) dad has changed his ways, but he still loves a good salad.
Mom would always attempt to make bread in her bread machine…but most of the time she’d start the bread at like five or six and with a four-hour cooking time, the bread was normally served after dinner, but before dessert. Either that or she’d throw loaf of bread in the oven from the store, BUT, there was an 85% chance she’d burn the bread. I am not trying to be harsh on her, but she is notorious for burning bread and or starting it way too late, and she’ll fully admit to it too. It’s just mom and we all love her for it.
Anyway, I think my point in all this was, that to me, a roasted chicken symbolizes fall and family dinners. It’s such a loved meal for me solely for that reason. Well that and I swear, no one makes a roasted chicken better than my mom. Her secret? Salt, pepper, chicken broth, Vegata seasoningand umm, butter.
Butter is a must, you knew that one was coming. She made it simple, but GOOD.
I kind of fancified her chicken a bit though and stuffed a whole bunch of goat cheese and fresh herbs under that chicken skin. Oh my gosh, I know. WHAT!
Yes, I somehow found a way to add cheese to a classic like roasted chicken. I think I have issues.
WHATEVER. Everyone’s got issues. I can deal with it. Cheese rules, especially goat cheese. So it’s totally cool.
I still kept the actual process of roasting the chicken simple and easy. I know the title sounds kind of fancy, but it’s really not, it’s a simple, easy meal to make for your family… or maybe even just for one. Then you can just eat the leftovers all week long. YUM!
Ok, so what else!
You’ve got the goat cheese stuffed under that skin. You also have some caramelized walnuts, sage and just a little rosemary in there too. From there you just rub the chicken with a little olive oil, salt + pepper. Oh, and butter…of course.
Then throw some grapes in a roasting pan and place the chicken on top of the grapes and roast away! Don’t be weirded out by the roasted grapes. They’re kind of my new favorite thing!! I love, love, love using grapes in a savory way like this and the flavors pair so perfectly with the flavors from the chicken + goat cheese. It’s kind of magical. <–Truth.
OH! And one of the most important parts is the apple cider. You know how some people baste their chicken with chicken broth? Or maybe you don’t baste your chicken, I don’t know, but today we are basting our chicken in a reduced apple cider sauce. It’s sweet and makes for the most perfect, golden caramelized skin. If you’re a lover of the skin (which oddly not a single soul in my family is), than you will LOVE this little step.
Plus, it really helps to keep the chicken moist and tie in all those awesome fall flavors!
*Lastly, for those of you who saw this post earlier today. I want to you to know that your efforts to contact Pinterest on my behalf of my issue have worked! Pinterest finally contacted me to let me know that we have been removed from their blacklist. They apologized for the inconvenience and said that, “Occasionally good websites get caught in the mix when we’re looking for spammy sites. This shouldn’t happen again, however, please let us know if it does”. Thank you all for being such AWESOME loyal readers. You have no idea how much this means to me. 🙂 Tieghan
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
THE RECIPE
fall harvest cider roasted chicken with walnut goat cheese + grapes.
You’ve got the goat cheese stuffed under that skin. You also have some caramelized walnuts, sage and just a little rosemary in there too. From there you just rub the chicken with a little olive oil, salt + pepper. Oh, and butter…of course.
prep time20minutes
cook time1hour20minutes
total time1hour40minutes
servingsservings
calories537kcal
INGREDIENTS
1/2cupraw walnuts
2tablespoonshoney
8ouncesgoat cheesesoftened
2tablespoonsfresh sagechopped
2teaspoonsfresh rosemarychopped
2tablespoonsolive oil
salt and pepperto taste
1poundwhole chicken4-5
1cloveshead of garlicbottom sliced off to reveal the
2applesquartered
4tablespoonsbutter
1 1/2poundsfresh red grapes
3cupsapple cider
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Place a small skillet over medium heat. Add the walnuts + honey and cook until toasted and caramelized, about 5 minutes. Remove the walnuts from the skillet and spread out on a plate in a single layer. Allow to cool and then finely chop the walnuts.
In a small bowl, mix together the goat cheese, chopped walnuts, sage and rosemary.
Remove the chicken giblets. Rinse the chicken inside and out. Pat the outside dry. Generously salt and pepper the inside of the chicken. Stuff the cavity with the garlic and 1 quartered apple. Slide your hand between the meat and skin of the chicken and then carefully stuff the goat cheese mixture under the skin, pushing it as far back as you can get it without actually ripping the skin. Depending on the size of your chicken, you may not use all the goat cheese. If this is the case, just sprinkle the goat cheese around the grapes before roasting.
Rub the chicken all over with olive oil and then sprinkle generously with salt + pepper. Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken.
Place the grapes and remaining apples in a roasting pan or large cast iron skillet. Drizzle with salt, pepper and olive oil. Add a few fresh sage leaves and any remaining goat cheese.
Place chicken onto the grapes. Add four tablespoon size pats of butter around the chicken.
Roast the chicken for 1 to 1 hour 15 minutes, or until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh. Add the cider to a medium size pot and bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until it thickens and is reduced by about half. Halfway through cooking the chicken, brush the bird with half of the cider. About 5 minutes before the chicken is done cooking, brush it again with the remaining cider. If desired, you can also reserve some cider for serving.
Allow the chicken to sit for 10-20 minutes, covered with foil and then slice and serve!
RECIPE NOTES
*To intensive the cider flavor you can also brine the chicken in cider overnight. Add the chicken to a LARGE pot or even a plastic box of some sort. Pour over 16 ounces of apple cider and then add enough water to cover the chicken completely. Add 1/2 cup kosher salt and 2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage + rosemary. Cover and place in the fridge overnight. The next day, remove the chicken from the brine and pat completely dry, follow the directions above.
Come on, doesn’t this fall harvest cider roasted chicken just make you feel all warm and cozy?!?! YES!
Fall gather juice broiled chicken with pecan goat cheddar + grapes.
