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Greetings from a new EggHead

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RustyBrainpan
RustyBrainpan Posts: 32
edited January 2012 in EggHead Forum
After years of smoking and grilling on other less inspiring apparatus, I am now the proud owner of a large BGE.  My fabulous wife bought "me" the Egg for Xmas (she would eat Cheerios smoked if they didn't keep falling though the grate so I somewhat question the motivation).

I christened the Egg with the usual baby backs - they were marvelous though a little over cooked.  Next, a little mesquite grilled spatchcock chicken - incredible.  But this early in my Eggsperience, I may have already achieved a measure of absolute perfection.  Last night I cooked my Ancho Chile Grilled Leg of Lamb on the magnificent Egg and cannot now find adequate words to describe the results.  Thanks to the knowledge/wisdom/advice I garnered reading this excellent forum and the myriad of other blogs/websites before undertaking my first cook (ok, so the Egg was cracked when I received it and had to be replaced) I have now enjoyed the most incredible piece of cooked animal flesh imaginable.  Waiting for the dealer to reopen from the holidays to replace the defective Egg, I enjoyed an online shopping extravaganza purchasing the "necessary" accessories I learned of from reading this forum.  Setting out on my first adventures as a well equipped if not overly-skilled EggHead (thanks Amazon Prime and FedEx), I have enjoyed but the first of what I hope to be many incredible flavor festivals.

Here are a couple of photos of this marvelous meat.  Pardon the blurriness of some of them, I got a little eggscited.

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The aftermath.....

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So thanks to everyone that contributes here.  Your knowledge, wisdom and experience shared on this site has helped immeasurably in making  me the happiest carnivore on the planet!  I hope I can return the favor as my experience and skill with this incredible cooking vessel mature.


Comments

  • Village Idiot
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    You licked the plate clean?  Man, that must have been some good grub.   :))

    Congratulations, and welcome !
    __________________________________________

    Dripping Springs, Texas.
    Just west of Austintatious


  • hogaholic
    hogaholic Posts: 225
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    Nice.  Congratulations on your new Egg and welcome to the forum.

    I love lamb chops but haven't ventured into leg of lamb yet.  After looking at your pictures I believe I will give it a shot. 

    Care to share the recipe for that chilie sauce?????
    Jackson, Tennessee. VFL (Vol for Life)
  • 60snight
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    Great looking food.  Congratulations on your BGE.  By the sounds of things you have several great ideas as to what you would like to try.  Am interested in hearing more of your BGE cooking expereinces.
  • bluegrasstiger
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    Welcome.  Food looks delicious.  Looking forward to seeing and hearing about all of your cooks.
  • RustyBrainpan
    RustyBrainpan Posts: 32
    edited January 2012
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    hogaholic - here you go.....

    Ancho Chile Marinade

    1/2 cup white wine
    1/4 cup EVOO
    8 garlic cloves - peeled
    3 tablespoons Ancho Chile powder
    4 tablespoons fresh oregano
    2 tablespoons lemon juice
    1 tablespoon brown sugar
    3 teaspoons kosher salt
    3 teaspoons fresh ground pepper

    Combine all these ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.  Meanwhile, trim all the fat and sinew off a boneless leg of lamb.  This will reduce the overall weight of the lamb a good bit, maybe a pound or so.  Open the leg up and lay it flat.  There is usually only a small piece of the leg holding the larger and smaller sections together, so many times I cut it and just cook the two pieces separately, it doesn't make any difference. 

    I set the Egg up for direct 375 dome and used my adjustable rig set on the middle (3.0) level so the lamb would cook without excessive charring of the marinade.  I also added some soaked mesquite chips to the lump.  I turned it once during the cook - about 15 or 20 mins per side as I recall to get to 135 internal.  I prefer it a little less done, but my wife likes it more done with no pink.  The meat keeps cooking when you remove it from the grill, so you end up with some nice non-pink slices on the outside and some nice done slightly more than medium-rare on the inside.  I let the meat rest for 15 minutes before slicing.  Obviously you can adjust the cooking times to your preference.

    The mesquite (which I don't use very often) added just the right amount of its flavor to complement the Ancho marinade.  I have made this many times on a gasser without mesquite and it is quite good.  But the Egg took it to another level.

  • Squeezy
    Squeezy Posts: 1,102
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    How long did you marinade for?
    Never eat anything passed through a window unless you're a seagull ... BGE Lg.
  • RustyBrainpan
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    Well that is a glaring omission on my part - 24 hours works best.