45 Reviews of Mean's Lamb You Can Eat With a Spoon

From: Mille® ™

On Jan 27, 2003

I made this with fresh local lamb from my butcher. I only had to make one change, because you cannot buy pancetta within 5 miles of here, so I used ¼ pound of chopped, uncured, slab bacon instead. The recipe calls for 6 cloves of garlic but, fortunately, I could only find 10 in my pantry, so I had to make do with just the 10. One comment regarding the cooking process – I tossed about 5 sprigs of fresh rosemary into the liquid and, the first time I opened the oven to baste the lamb, the smell of the rosemary was very strong and almost overpowering. But I’m glad I went with my gut instinct not to remove any of the rosemary, because the eventual taste of the sauce had a most agreeable, distinct but quite subtle, hint of rosemary. Speaking of the sauce – after I had reduced it and skimmed off the fat, I returned the caramelized onions and garlic to the sauce and pureed the whole shootin’ match in the blender – this was about the richest, most savoury meat sauce I have ever had. This review can be summed up in the words of one dinner guest who said, simply, “This lamb is well beyond excellent.”

From: Tracy K

On Apr 24, 2002

Honestly, this is pretty much the only way I cook lamb. Be sure to make a LOT of mashed potatoes to go with it, the sauce makes an incredible gravy, and lots of it. The meat is fall-apart tender, and wonderfully flavored from the wine and aromatic veggies... perfect comfort food.

From: JustJanS

On May 9, 2002

This was great. The only problem I had was knowing what I should do with all the onions, garlic and shallots after I caramelised them. I decided to lay them in the bottom of the baking dish with the lamb on top and cook it all! It worked a treat. Then I just reduced the whole lot to form the sauce. A dish just made for mashed potatoes.

From: Lorac

On Jun 17, 2002

If you are lucky enough to have leftovers, cover the dish with lettuce leaves and hide it in the vegetable drawer. I used the sirloin half of a leg and reduced the ingredients by half (I cheated a bit with the pancetta) and substituted with Merlot. I have Rosemary, Thyme and Bay leaf growing in the back yard so I used a combination of all three. Make extra mashed potatoes!

From: Evie*

On Jan 1, 2003

Have wanted to make this recipe for a long time, I picked one of the hottest days of Summer to do it, but it was worth it. Over the months Ive read discussions on here and been surprised at the amount of people who dont care for lamb. For them I'd say make this! I couldnt get Zinfandel so subbed with Merlot, loved the rich vegetable sauce and served with lots of mashed potatoes as others suggested. I used rosemary as the herb. Thanks for sharing.

From: Sackville

On Apr 18, 2004

When I started cooking this, I thought that if I was using a whole bottle of wine (Ernest & Julio Gallo Zinfandel) it had BETTER be good and I wasn't disappointed! I had a 1.7 kg leg of lamb (bone in) and it took about 3-1/2 hours to cook, basting every 20-30 minutes. In the seasoning, we used thyme and lots of pepper, regularly ground over the lamb. Also, I didn't have a big enough covered roasting tin, so I used aluminium foil to cover the lamb and that worked just fine. All in all it was a gorgeous meal, just perfect with a huge mound of mashed potatoes.

From: s'kat

On Jun 16, 2003

This is probably the wrong time to choose to eat a slow-cooked lamb dish (June, 90's, lots of humidity...), but so be it. I used a boneless leg of lamb. Due to this, I was slightly off on my cooking times, and the lamb came out a little overdone. Nonetheless, the flavours were just perfect. I think it should be noted here and now that this recipe CANNOT be made without mashed potatoes. That killer gravy begs for a fluffy, white mound of starch to soak into. This is lamb perfection- thanks.

From: BluMing

On Aug 16, 2004

I made this tonight for my husband and daughter who are not real crazy about lamb. They actually made ooh's and ah's with every bite!I was so amazed at how good this was. My lamb was a partially boned 4.5 lb leg.I used a Le Creuset pan w/lid which worked great. The meat was incredibly tender. Pancetta was not available, so I used some uncured bacon. We call it zuurkool spek here in Holland. The gravy was not as thick as we preferred, even after reducing it, so I added a little corn starch for thickening. I also used a cabernet sauvignon because I did not have any red zifandel on hand. I snipped one 5 in. fresh sprig of rosemary to cook alongside the lamb in the liquid. I think it was a perfect enhancing balance and anymore would have been too much. My family agrees that this was the absolute best lamb I have ever cooked and we have ever eaten.I took the advice of others and made lots of mashed potatoes to go with the gravy. It is an expensive dish to make, but well-worth it for a special occasion. This is also a dish that would make a huge impression on anyone you had over for dinner. Well-worth the time to make it. Thanks MEAN CHEF for another wonderful recipe!

From: Polar Bear

On Dec 25, 2003

This was our Christmas dish. I defrosted the New Zealand leg of lamb at about midnight the day before and left it near the window as it is winter and wouldnt spoil but wouldnt remain covered in ice either. It had been thickly covered with ice from blast freezing from the butcher´s. I got up at 5:00 a.m. The leg of lamb had defrosted but still cool. Then I started preparing the ingredients and immediately started cooking at about quarter to 6:00 a.m. It was fork-extra-tender by 11:00 a.m. and was about to fall off the bone. The nice thing about this recipe is that it remains whole, browned, but should you move it a bit with a fork, you can see how tender and juicy the meat is. THIS IS THE MOST SUCCULENT, SOFTEST LEG OF LAMB WE EVER HAD. We didnt change anything in the recipe, but I did place a lot of herbs because we like the smell. The basting, slow cooking, are the main points of this superb recipe. I kept basting as instructed and the long wait was indeed worth it. This is an excellent, sumptuous DISH-TO-IMPRESS even those with highly discriminating taste for meat dishes. I would not change anything in this recipe and am just too grateful Mean Chef shared it. Thank you Mean Chef !!! I give you 10 stars for this !!!!!!! We DID run out of mashed potatoes. The sauce made excellent rich gravy, even the day after. It just becomes richer and thicker the next day and it was just great for the holiday season. Next time I make this, I will invite more guests and make more mashed potatoes. This is gourmet as it should be and I´m not even a great chef. The recipe is just excellent. Grateful, Polar Bear

From: MssAditood

On May 24, 2004

Mean Chef, Thank you for this incredible recipe. I asked you for a little assistance in doing a 2 1/2 pound boneless leg of lamb and you answered my question perfectly. This is the ABSOLUTE BEST recipe I have ever had for lamb. I simply halved all of the other ingredients and cooked this in the oven for about 3 hours. And I agree with everyone else, you MUST have LOTS of mashed potatoes for the amazing gravy that this makes!! Thank you again for one of many wonderful recipes that you have posted. Hugs, Susie