Improvising for good reasons: No Rutabagas so I substituted Turnips, lazy with buying cumin and coriander seeds because I already had the ground versions, too cheap/lazy to buy tomato paste so I squeezed and squished a tomato into the caramelized onions/shallots/wine broth, bought a boneless leg of lamb instead of lamb shanks (economizing) which proved to be the bomb.
Silly improvs: Did not use the full amount of red wine because I did not want to open another bottle because I am low on red wine for drinking, don't know why I didn't use the full amount of beef broth-I guess because I cut back on the wine.
I bought the needed root vegetables at market this morning, the lamb at Costco. I asked advice from another customer about cooking the lamb as I have never cooked lamb before. I whipped out my recipes from epicurious.com and ask "oven or crock-pot" since I am not doing the shanks. She recommended "oven" but I was set on the crock-pot because of squeezing in a long bike ride tomorrow. The recipe reviews recommended crock-pot cooking (4 hrs) for the shanks, too. But a boneless leg of lamb could get over cooked, especially when I could not estimate the cooking time for the crock-pot and I would not be home to save it. In the end, our Sunday guest could not make it so I switched dinner to tonight and choose the oven as I estimated that the lamb would take under two hours to cook at 400 degrees in a covered, dutch oven (20 minutes per pound).
I marinated the lamb in a fantastic rub for at least three hours (overnight would have been best but little time to marinate because of the change of plans). I caramelized the onions and shallots while I prepped the potato and root vegetables. Then I cooked the potatoes and root vegetables in the oven at 400 for an hour while I did some yard work. I thought we could have them on the side like roasted vegetables but because I pretty much cooked them without any water or oil, they seemed too dry so I did what the recipe called for - mashed 'em. I finished up the lamb base by boiling the wine and broth in the caramelized onions and shallots (pan: 6 quart, 13" Calphalon similar to this one but paid a lot less 6 years ago and my lid has a higher dome so the lamb fit perfectly).
The Rub:
1 1/2 tbsp cumin seeds
1 1/2 tbsp coriander seeds (grind 1 tbsp of each seeds in a spice or coffee grinder)
1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme
1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
1/2 tbsp curry powder
1/2 tsp coarse salt
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Combine all (don't forget the seeds) with the oil. Rub the meat with the mixture; place in a glass or ceramic dish and cover with plastic wrap.
The Base:
Caramelized onions & shallots (2 medium onions sliced, 5 shallots sliced)
1 3/4 cups of dry red wine
2 cups beef broth
smashed and squeezed 1 tomato (I did not put the tomato skins in the mix)
2 bay leaves
The caramelized the onions and shallots sat for an hour while the vegetables cooked. When I was ready to cook the lamb, I poured the wine into the onions and shallots and brought it to a boil, then added the broth, squeezed the tomato and added the bay leaves. When I placed the lamb on the pile of onions and shallots, I poured all the extra oil and herbs into the mix with two rosemary sprigs on top. I cooked five+ pounds of lamb in the oven for 1 1/2 hours at 400 degrees.
The Mash:
8 red potatoes, quartered
4 turnips peeled and quartered
6 small parsnips peeled and chopped
Cooked at 400 degrees for an hour. Then mashed with salt, pepper, olive oil and butter (about a 1/2 stick!). I covered the mash and kept it on the stove over the oven vent to keep it warm.
Start time: around 2 p.m. with dinner ready at 6 p.m.
