Leg of lamb question

maggiecon

This may seem like a silly question, but I have been watching the repeats of economy gastronomy on sky this week and decided to invest in a leg of lamb this weekend and then make the tumbledown meals from it.

We are not a big Sunday Roast family and so I am quite inexperienced when it comes to this kind of cooking.

anyway I took the roast our yesterday and proceeded to cut it with an elctric carver, I got 4 thin slices from the joint and then hit bone. And the rest of the joint was entirely bone with a bit of meat around the side. I dont even think I have enough left for one sheperd pie.

The joint cost me £13.50. Is this normally, I would hardly call it economy gastronomy if it is!!

rachbc

Yes its normal for legs to have bones in - the sheep have trouble standing up otherwise

My local farm leg of lamb has maybe 4 inches of meat deep all the way around the bone at the thickest bit so there is plenty of meat from half a leg for 4 plus left overs. Looking at supermarket legs of lamb they do seem scrawnier in comparison though

maggiecon

rachbc wrote: »

Yes its normal for legs to have bones in - the sheep have trouble standing up otherwise

My local farm leg of lamb has maybe 4 inches of meat deep all the way around the bone at the thickest bit so there is plenty of meat from half a leg for 4 plus left overs. Looking at supermarket legs of lamb they do seem scrawnier in comparison though

LOL. yes the question seems stupid doesnt it, but my point is the whole roast was just bone. there wasnt enough meat even for one dinner for a family of four.

dandy-candy

Yes the meat covering can be skimpy. Was it a whole or half leg? If you buy half go for the upper half! Next time try and get a boneless one so at least you can see how much you are really getting

tanith

Carving a leg of lamb is a bit hit and miss, you don't get many nice even slices you have to carve off smaller slices wherever you can get the knife in... but even so you should get more than enough for 4 out of a whole leg...

horsechestnut

Some supermarkets do what they call a "Carvery Roast". This removes the bone from the top half of the leg but leaves the bone at the foot end. It makes it easier to carve, but you still have the flavour of the bone (and the bone for soup) but it keeps the"looks" of the leg of lamb.
However it would have to be a big leg of lamb to last 4 people for several meals. (I can remember when they were much larger and I could make Shepherd's Pie out of the leftovers!)

rachbc

I have to say I think they are butchered to be small in the supermarkets - the 2 I got on my whole lamb were massive - like I say each half leg plenty for 4 and leftovers and the whole one a feast for a crowd - I suspect you got the bottom half of the leg as it tapers to be narrower.

p-pincher

i only tend to but legs of lamb when there on a really good offer (so not very often) last had one that should have been about £16 for £8. But i do agree they can be hit and miss on the meat. Normally i get enough for a roast for 5 and 2 shephards pies.

Try a different recipe from the estronomy gastronomy book using something thats cheaper to start with, I can personnaly reccomend the minced beef recipes and the shoulder of pork (my favourite), I can always seem to get hold of really reasonably priced pork from the butchers. The receipe fro the chickpeas is next on my list so that should work out quite cheap.

heretolearn_2

1/2 legs are better value as long as you get the top half - think about the size of your thigh compared to the size of your shin - pretty much same size bones but a lot more meat at the top. Same with sheep.

It does sound as if you got a particularly skinny one though - might be worth a polite complaint to the supermarket.

maggiecon

Thanks guys I actually made a point of buying from a butchers to make sure I got a good bit of meat!!

Dont think I will be rushing out to buy lamb again, very expensive for the small bit of meat you get - £13.50 for a sunday roast for 2 adults and 2 children

zippychick

ill merge this with the leg of lamb thread later
Zip