probably the greatest advantage of all—it’s far easier to
carve: just cut straight through it into neat, even slices.
Butterflied leg of lamb is a boneless leg that has been split
open and then opened out. This is how I prefer to purchase
my lamb; it affords me the opportunity to season it both
inside and out. Often this just means a quick rub with salt
and pepper before rolling it up and tying it, but it can also
mean more elaborate rubs or herb mixtures. If you choose to
go with a butterflied leg, you’ll need to know how to tie it
up before roasting; see here.
Q: What about rack of lamb?
Rack of lamb is the lamb equivalent of a prime rib of beef.
It’s that same muscle and same set of rib bones. The only
difference is that a lamb is much smaller than a steer; hence
the daintier proportions. And while beef rib bones are
generally cut to within a few inches of the eye of meat, lamb
rib bones are left longer, which makes for a stunning
presentation—as well as giving you a convenient handle
with which to hold your chops if you choose to eat
caveman-style, gnawing the juiciest chunks of meat and fat
off the bones at the end.
When it comes to buying racks, you’ve got two basic
options: as is or frenched. “Frenched” is just a fancy way of
saying “we stripped the meat from the ends of the ribs for
you so they look all nice and pretty.” Because it looks so
nice, most lamb racks do come frenched, but to be honest, I
prefer unfrenched racks because the juicy, fatty rib meat
clinging to the bones is some of the tastiest stuff on the
animal. Think of it as lamb bacon.