Cooking in a Jenn-Air Oven

Great Lamb Recipe

Jenn-Air Oven Microwave Combo

I ran across this terrific recipe online. The author was kind enough to let me reproduce it here. Even though Easter has passed, it's still a great time for spring lamb. Also, this recipe shows how versatile the Jenn-Air oven really is. Of course, I'm biased. I had this same Jenn-Air oven in my last home. I loved it, and in full disclosure I previously worked for Jenn-Air. Here is the article/recipe in its entirety:

Easter is the first great culinary weekend of the year. And it brings up that basic question: ham or lamb. This year it was lamb and it will be lamb next year, too. And, during the rest of the year, when we want a spectacular feast, lamb will be on our list. The lamb spent five hours in our Jenn-Air® Microwave/Wall Oven with V2™ Vertical Dual-Fan Convection System. This oven has all the space needed to hold a leg of lamb, in this case a very big 12-pound leg of lamb. With the space and circulation of the Jenn-Air® dual-fan convection system, our roast achieved a perfectly uniform heat treatment. After five hours, the meat was done, no pink, but still moist. That strong, consistent, uniform heat is the secret to success of this recipe.

The recipe is titled Five Hour Lamb with Potato Gratin. Usually, “gratin” denotes adding cream and cheese to produce some rich, succulent potato extravaganza. Not here. No dairy at all. Just the lamb. Those potato slices in the bottom picture become candy in the top in the top picture. The juices and fat from the lamb drip down into the potatoes, first cooking them to tenderness, then beginning to actually crisp and caramelize them.

The lamb is wonderful, flavored with a coating of anchovies, garlic and mint sauce. But the potatoes? Oh, you have never in your life experienced potatoes like these. But you can. You need a grand oven with perfect heat. And you might want a bottle of wine as you watch the transformation. The aromas begin by Hour 3. You’ll have two hours to develop patience. I suggest a bold red.

This recipe comes from the new book Perfect Plates in 5 Ingredients by John Waite, the winner in 2012 of The Great British Baking Show. He’s a young chef and writer of exceptional talent. This recipe, his take on Greek ideas, is certainly a perfect plate and an elegant one as well.

The marinade here has proportions for a 4 ½ pound leg of lamb. Ours was 12 pounds, so we scaled the marinade proportionately. Feel free to dabble with proportions and taste test before using. The recipe comes Great Britain so it refers to mint sauce. We used mint jelly which is much easier to find here in the United States. Or, you can Google and find and make your own mint sauce if you are obsessive about authenticity. That’s a fine obsession to have.

The leftovers are wonderful. If there are any.

Five-Hour Lamb with Potato Grain

Yield: serves 6-8, assuming 4-5 pound leg of lamb

Ingredients:

• 3 ½ ounces jarred anchovies in olive oil
• 8 garlic cloves
• 1 tablespoon mint sauce
• 4 ½ pound leg of lamb
• 6 medium russet or Yukon gold potatoes
• Sea salt flakes
• Coarse black pepperPreparation:

For the marinade, blitz the anchovies and the oil they came in, with the peeled garlic cloves and the mint sauce to a smooth paste in a food processor. If you don’t have a food processor, you could make the paste using a sharp knife and bold ambition. Stir in 1 teaspoon each of salt and pepper.

With a sharp knife, stab the lamb leg repeatedly all over— you need as many deep cuts as possible, without completely massacring the meat. Spread the paste over the entire surface of the meat, working it well into the cuts. Refrigerate for an hour, or until required.

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Remove the lamb from the fridge 1 hour before it goes into the oven, to bring it up to room temperature.

Slice the unpeeled potatoes as finely as possible—I use a mandoline—and arrange them in layers in a deep-sided roasting dish, seasoning with a very small pinch of salt and pepper every couple of layers. Place the lamb on top of the potato slices. Cover with a couple of sheets of foil, ensuring you seal it extremely well. Roast for 4!4 hours.

Remove the dish from the oven, and increase the heat to 425°F. Remove the foil, and baste the lamb with some of the juices from the roasting dish. Put everything back into the oven for an additional 30 minutes. Remove the lamb from the oven, transfer it to a plate, cover it with foil and leave to rest. Return the potatoes to the oven for a final 25 to 30 minutes, until slightly crispy around the edges.

Source: Perfect Plates in 5 Ingredients by John Whaite [Kyle, 2017]

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