Leg of Lamb With Coffee Sauce

For Easter Sunday last weekend, we bought a half leg of lamb from the Irish Organic Meats stall at Boyle market in Co. Roscommon. I wanted to do something a little different. Hanna suggested cooking it with coffee. This is a traditional Easter lamb dish in Hanna’ family which here grandmother always cooked back in Helsinki, Finland. Hanna phoned her Mum to get the recipe, which she had close to hand, as she was preparing the same dish.

Ingredients:

• Half leg of lamb, we used shank end weighing 1.5 Kg
• Salt and Pepper for seasoning
• 1 bulb of garlic
• 200ml cream

• 0.5 Litre of strong coffee – by no means use instant!
• 2 tablespoons of Muscavado sugar
• Cream – Hanna’s mum says enough that if looks like what granny used to drink!

Preparing and cooking the lamb

1. Season with salt and fresh ground black pepper
2. Cut slits into the lamb fat and push slices of garlic under the fat
3. Place on a baking tray lined with baking paper
4. Place into a pre-heated oven at 200 degrees Celcius for 15 minutes
5. Then lower the temperature to 180 and start to baste the meat with coffee
6. Spoon coffee over the lamb every fifteen minutes

Lining the tray with baking paper prevents the juices released from the meat from burning. Roast for one hour for the first Kilo and half an hour for every additional kilo.

When the lamb is cooked, pour the juices into a measuring jug, allow to cool a little and then remove fat from top. Keep lamb warm.

Pour into a saucepan and heat. Stir in an equal amount of coffee. If you want a thicker sauce you can thicken with cornflower.