All Caution Thrown To The Wind

It has suddenly warmed up here in LA. Of course it's probably because Awards Season is upon us once again. Don't start thinking it's all part of the climate change thing, as we know full well here in Vanity City it's the heat from the rest of the world's gazing eyes toasting up the atmosphere in our little bubble. Living in greater Hollywood makes residents adept at avoiding traffic snarls that result from road closures for the events, but I did get caught in the Critic's Choice Awards mess around The Palladium last night since that one was not on my radar. In fact, I realize I am generally out of touch with that kind of buzz since I hardly watch broadcast TV and don't subscribe to cable. I do, however, watch movies and TV series of interest through Netflix. I get my industry news from friends, the newspapers online, and NPR. I do drive by The Kodak Theater and all along Hollywood Boulevard almost daily to make sure everything is ticking over nicely.

So the Awards Season is signal for me to "hunker down" and hide away, which I like to do anyway. I've cozied up to my own weekend Merchant Ivory DVD season (mixed in with Mad Men 2 and Reilly). I ran out and got a large tube of Winsor&Newton's Cadmium Red oil paint at Blick's sale, and, throwing all caution to the wind, a boneless leg of lamb which you see above all ready to season and pop in the oven.

Here it is again, studded with a head of garlic, rosemary sprigs from my own plant, crushed juniper berries and allspice, with pepper ground from my new Perfex grinder (a Christmas gift), and all laden in an oval roasting dish (also a Christmas gift). It's currently in the oven at 400f with potatoes, parsnips and carrots all cozying up to each other. I will let you know how it all turns out. Time to prep the shallots and stock for the gravy!

UPDATE:
Sadly I was so eating the results that I failed to capture a pic of it, but, I will tell you that it all came out well and there is plenty left over for a lamb curry. For the gravy I lightly browned finely chopped shallots and added a little clarified turkey stock to soften. Added a cup of medium flavored Douro and brought it to the boil. I poured off the oil from the baking pan after removing the roast to leave the thick black caramelized roasting juices.  I then added the boiled stock with wine and popped it back in the oven to liquefy the pan juices. Ten minutes later I brought the pan back out of the oven and strained it all through a simple sieve. Added micro-planed lemon peel into it and thickened it with a very little cornstarch. Coarsely chopped parsley followed. It made the richest most delicious black sauce drizzled over the meat and soaked over the hard crusted potatoes. The Yukon potatoes were roasted in their own dish, having been parboiled and then scored, and then halved and open face down in canola oil. The parsnips and carrots were roasted whole without oil in their own dish - what intense flavor! some fresh peas added to the veggies on serving.