Leg of Lamb: Easter Sunday

Well. Yesterday was Easter. This is the Christian holiday where the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Probably the holiest of weeks for Christians like myself. It's the center of the faith. The lamb also had some important significance. In Exodus, it was the blood of a Passover lamb that was painted over the home's of the children of Israel. Every door with the lamb's blood painted over it, the Angel of Death passed that home. Lambs were also part of daily temple sacrifices in the Old Testament as well. Jeremiah also wrote about one being like "naive as a lamb

being led to slaughter (1) and through that, Israel would be redeemed through this sacrifice. Lamb was also a big item in Passover feasts as well (in particular, in the Old Testament days). In the modern day, I'm not as certain. I've heard debates on both sides (specifically, eating the entire lamb and how the lamb is prepared. Some of those who don't is due to what I understand as the Paschal sacrifice. (2)

The pictures you see are of the lamb my parents and I ate. This was Easter dinner last night. We also had sweet potatoes and white asparagus. In the moment, I was not going to touch on this. Then I recalled that I did an Easter lamb recipe a while back. Mom, as usual, did a wonderful job with it. Unlike the lamb recipe I did before, this one was much simpler. The breakdown is below.  

1. Mom purchased a 7-lb leg of lamb. I know you can get a roast or something of the like. The leg is VERY flavorful and obviously, more meat to enjoy. The bone was also left in. 

2. What did she use to season it? Pretty simple. She used Kosher salt, crushed pepper, a touch of oregano, some granulated garlic (since we had no fresh garlic on hand)  & rosemary. Maybe next time, I could create some sauce to compliment it instead of using a crust as I did before. 

3.  She roasted it at 325 degrees F (or 190 C) for about 4 hours (25 minutes/pound). She cooked it to rare to medium rare for a couple of reasons. The first is she knows that's the way I like it. Also, there's a pretty simple trick to cook it a bit more. Just put it in a skillet of stove flat top and cook a piece to your liking. I don't suggest going past medium. Next time and if time allows, I'll pull out the grill and do it there. I touched on making a side sauce like something cream-based. The thing is the meat itself is good on its own. 

As you can see, sometimes the simple works better than the complex. Any other questions, feel free to ask. Sorry I didn't show this plated so I hope this does the job. 

Work Cited:
1. Jeremiah 11:19 (The Message)
2. "Eating Lamb for Passover", Ask Rabbi Lerner, http://judaism.about.com/library/3_askrabbi_c/bl_pesachlamb.htm