Smoked Leg of Lamb with Brussels Sprout and Kale Salad

Easter was this past weekend and for the first time in many years, the boy was able to be with us.  He drove down early Sunday morning and brought the grandpups.  We went to church and came home for a big Easter dinner.  We had a good visit before they returned home.


When talking about Easter weekend a few weeks back, the good wife stated that she'd like to have lamb.  I had picked up a boneless leg of lamb on sale a while back so I just had to pull it from the freezer.  Normally, when I do lamb I leave the boneless leg open and grill it though I have been known to put some mint leaves and feta cheese on it and roll it back up to grill.  Grilling like this is fairly quick and yields good results but I wanted to smoke it.


I prepped the lamb after breakfast before I got dressed for church.  I cut off the netting and opened the leg and did a bit of trimming.  This meant cutting out some large chunks of fat and trimming some silver skin off one of the muscles.  After it was trimmed to my satisfaction, I poured olive oil on it and rubbed it all over then seasoned it with Uncle T's spice mix #2.  I then rolled it up tightly and tied it in place.  Once it was tied I repeated the oiling and seasoning.  The lamb ended up resting with seasoning blend on for about 3 hours before going into the smoker.

Boneless Leg of Lamb Fresh From the Smoker

Smoking the lamb was done in the Weber kettle grill rather than the Weber smoker because it was raining and it was easier to set up the grill for indirect cooking/smoking and to manage it than getting the smoker up and running would be.  The lamb was smoked with a combination of rosemary branches and cherry wood.  I pulled it when it reached 125F internal and let carry over finish it while the rest of the meal was completed.  You can't beat medium rare lamb.

Smoked Leg of Lamb

I also made a variant of the Brussels sprout salad I'd made on the good wife's birthday.  For this salad I used kale from the garden and store bought Brussels sprouts.  Everything else was the same.  Texture wise it was a bit chewier thanks to the kale.  There was also just a slightly noticeable difference between using store bought Brussels sprouts versus fresh from the garden.  It was still an excellent salad though.

Brussels Sprout and Kale Salad

The good wife also wanted asparagus with the meal so naturally I made it happen.  The asparagus was cut into pieces, about 2 inches, then put in the skillet used to cook the bacon for the salad.  There was only about 1 Tbs of bacon grease plus the brown bits from frying the bacon.  Once the asparagus was cooked I sprinkled on some grated parmesan cheese and tossed it.  Once the parmesan browned a bit some more was sprinkled on top and it was removed from the heat.

My Plate

We also had parmesan roasted potatoes and the good wife made deviled eggs and a plate of pickled okra and pickled beets.   Both the okra and beets came from our garden and the good wife canned them.  I didn't think to take pictures until most of the eggs were gone so I failed to document the good wife's handiwork.


For some reason, most Americans seem resistant to trying lamb.  If you are one of those people, I urge you to give it a try.  You can find boneless leg of lamb at many stores at prices comparable to beef prices.  Just remove most of the fat since lamb fat doesn't get melty and tasty like beef or pork fat.  Lamb fat also has a high melting point so it will get hard and coat your mouth at a temperature at which beef or pork would still be soft and flavorful.  So, trim the fat then season the lamb and smoke it.  I'm sure you'll be pleased with the taste.


I hope you'll give lamb a try along with these other dishes.  It's spring so asparagus is cheap again, get some and enjoy.  If you try the lamb or the salad, let me know what you think.  Remember, have fun in the kitchen.


Uncle T