056/18 – Crown Roast of Lamb:
When The Ginger Pig launched their new online store I had a good look through everything on offer. Loads of great cuts of meat but the one that stood out was the Lamb Crown Roast. I ordered one and whilst waiting for delivery had a look online for a recipe, the one that caught my eye was Crown Roast of Lamb with Rosemary and Oregano – recipe here.
The Meat:
Lamb Crown Roast 1.3kg for £33.50 from The Ginger Pig.
The Prep:
To go with the lamb I decided to make Dauphinois Potatoes adapting this recipe. Double cream and garlic were heated in a pan whilst I thinly sliced potatoes. I took a cast iron pan and rubbed butter all over it then lined up the potatoes inside and poured the cream over. Salt, pepper and grated hard cheese on top – pretty simple!
In a bowl I mixed salt, pepper, chopped rosemary and chopped oregano. I brushed rapeseed oil on to the lamb then sprinkled the herb mix all over the lamb. To stop the bones from burning I wrapped them in tin foil. 
THE CHARCOAL:
Oxford Charcoal Birch – Matt recommends this above anything else when cooking lamb due to the sweet, minerally flavour profile. Having cooked lamb on it before, it is something pretty special!
I gave the BBQ hut a bit of a spring clean today and emptied out the Kamado Joe, hoovered it and cleaned the grates so a fresh batch of Birch went in. There were some massive lumps which are great for the KJ. I gave it 20 minutes with both vents open and the lid up.
The Cook:
Once the charcoal had been burning I put the potatoes in over direct heat and shut the lid – 225C.
I checked back after 20 minutes and it was coming along well so I moved the potatoes to the indirect side where I also had a heat deflector in.
Time to put the lamb in – over direct heat with some birch chunks from Smokewood Shack added. I got the lid down quickly to try and stop the charcoal or wood chunks flaring up and burning the bottom of the lamb.
15 minutes in. The lamb and the potatoes were smelling incredible. My Meater probe had failed to work so I reverted back to the ever reliable Thermapen which was showing around 55c internal temperature.
Time to Rest:
Another 5 minutes and the Thermapen was reading 65c in most spots so it was time to come off and rest.
Time to take the foil off. Whilst the lamb was resting I grilled some asparagus. Bit of oil and cooked over direct heat, turned after a couple of minutes.
I took the potatoes off as well, the colour was awesome. Maybe should have come off a couple of minutes earlier but they looked and smelt amazing!
Time to Eat:
Really didn’t know how the lamb was going to turn out as I sliced it. Massive sigh of relief where I saw it was nicely cooked with a good shade of pink!
Summary:
I really enjoyed this cook and the family enjoyed the whole meal which is a result! What a spectacular joint of meat. Real wow factor with this one but it was easy to prepare and pretty easy to cook as well. The lamb tasted fantastic, very soft and tender. Lovely taste to it from the herb rub, birch charcoal and the smoke wood.
The Dauphinois potatoes were cracking, another very simple dish to make and cook but with the smoke taste they were awesome. Next time I will make more as we all inhaled them!
Impressed again with the Kamado Joe, cooks just seem a lot easier and more comfortable on it.
| Cook Difficulty: | 2/5 |
| Cook Duration: | Quick: 2/5 |
| Cook Equipment: | Kamado Joe |
| Cook Method: | Direct |
| Charcoal: | Oxford Charcoal Birch |
| Smoking Wood: | Smokewood Shack Birch |
| Cook temperature: | 225c (ish) |
| Cook time: | 20 minutes |
| Internal temperature: | 65c |
| Notes: | 1: Watch the bottom of the lamb getting hit by any flames from the fat dropping.
2: Do more potatoes next time! |