Adventures in Eating: BBQ Leg-of-Lamb, Bone-Herb Stock, Wine-Herb Sauce

Here’s a recipe that is a perfect mate to this month’s red wine se­lection: grilled leg-of-lamb served with a robust, though not piquant, sauce. But please read it all, before starting. Prepare the sauce ahead, reheating before serving. Allow 4 hours for preparation. The sauce is adapted for lamb using leftover bones and a technique learned at a Provence cooking school. It infus­es the sauce with lamb and wine flavor. Have your butcher reserve the leg bones, separate them at the joint and cut each bone in half for you—the French waste nothing!

Barbecued Leg-of-Lamb

Marinade:

1 7 lb. leg of lamb, boned and butterflied

1 cup dry red wine

1 cup olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

3 5″ stems fresh rosemary (or 2 T. dry)

3 5″ stems fresh thyme (or 2 tsp. dry)

1 bay leaf

1 tsp. each salt and pepper

Mix ingredients. Marinate lamb in mixture 18 to 24 hours. Turn occa­sionally. Grill the meat, placing over coals, cooking 40 minutes for medium. Turn 2 or 3 times. Re­move to serving platter.

Bone-Herb Stock

1 cup dry red wine

1 cup water

2 bay leaves

3 stems thyme

3 stems parsley

1 shallot, minced

1/2 tsp. salt

1 dash pepper

Mix ingredients, adding reserved bones and simmer in a saucepan. Replenish water as needed to keep bones covered. After 3 hours, turn heat to high. Reduce liquid to 1/4 cup. Pour this stock through a sieve, removing herbs and bones.

Wine-Herb Sauce

1/4 cup “bone-herb stock”

2 cups beef broth

1/4 cup + 2 T. Madeira wine

1 1/2 T. arrowroot

2 T. Dijon mustard

Mix stock, broth and 1/4 cup Ma­deira in a saucepan. Boil 5 min­utes. Mix the remaining Madeira, arrowroot and mustard in a bowl, and add to the boiling stock, whisking all the time. Boil 1 min­ute while sauce thickens. Remove from heat. Add salt and pepper to taste. When meat is done, reheat sauce adding meat juices from the platter. Pass sauce in a separate bowl or pitcher.