Q: I recently purchased a leg of lamb with the bone in and decided that rather than heating the kitchen with traditional oven roasting, I would like to grill it outside. How can this be done?
A: This can easily be done with a leg of lamb (bone-in), a whole chicken or even a whole turkey if you think of a lidded grill as just another design of an oven. A gas grill works best for this because you can easily control the heat. (Additional flavor can be achieved by placing soaked wood chips, herbs, vines or even corn cobs on the fire). Heat the grill to a medium level, lighting only one side. You need to trim all visible fat and marinate the meat or poultry, if desired. Have a large piece of heavy duty foil ready. First, brown the meat or poultry on all sides over the direct heat. Then lay the foil over the grill rack on the unlit portion of the grill. Transfer the meat to the foil and fold up edges slightly to catch any juices or grease that will accumulate. Cover the grill with the lid. For a 6- to 8-pound leg of lamb, bone-in, it should take 45 minutes to 1 hour of grill-baking to achieve medium doneness. Test with a meat thermometer for a temperature of 160 degrees. Carefully, remove the lamb and place for 10 minutes on a cutting board that will catch the juices. Turn off the grill and carefully remove the foil with juices. Pour all the juices into into a container and remove the fat; serve with the sliced meat.
NTC Q: I enjoy very simple cooking and find that weighing items with a scale rather than measuring saves a lot of time. Is there a conversion cookbook or manual that will show me the dry measure equivalents? And have measurements in metric as well as standard units?
A: A good cookbook that gives measurements and equivalents and has remained a basic reference book for decades is "The Joy Of Cooking," by Irma S. Rombauer. You may also want to try "The Food Lovers Companion," by Sharon Tyler Herbst.
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