Ingredients
- 3 medium red potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch dice
- 2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice
- 1 medium white onion, halved and thinly sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled and halved
- 1 cup cooked (or canned) garbanzo beans
- 1 large sprig epazote (if you can find it)
- 1 (3-pound) rolled and tied boneless lamb shoulder roast
- Salt, preferably coarse, about 3/4 teaspoon, plus some for sprinkling on lamb
- About 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
- 1 canned chipotle chile en adobo, seeded and finely chopped
- About 1 1/2 cups salsa, store bought or home made
- 2 tablespoons finely crumbled Mexican queso anejo or Parmesan
- Sprigs flat-leaf parsley, banana leaves, or lemon leaves, for garnish
- 1 cup good-quality manzanillo olives, pitted
- Warm tortillas, as an accompaniment
Directions
Preparing the grill and the soup ingredients: About 30 minutes before cooking, prepare a charcoal fire, letting the coals burn until they are covered with a gray ash and are medium-hot. Bank the coals on 2 sides of the lower grate to prepare for the indirect cooking that follows.
In a 12 by 9-inch, heavy-duty aluminum-foil pan (or something similar), combine the potatoes, carrots, onion, garlic, garbanzo beans, and epazote. Position the pan in the center of the lower grate and surround with the coals. Pour water into the pan to about 1-inch from the top (it'll take about 5 cups). Position the cooking grate 8 inches above the coals and set an oven thermometer on it, if you have one.
Grilling the meat: Sprinkle the lamb liberally with salt. Lay the roast in the center of the cooking grate directly over the soup, cover the grill, and cook, maintaining a moderately low temperature (between 250 and 300 degrees F), checking every 30 minutes and adding coals as needed. The lamb will be beautifully smoky-roasted, it'll register about 170 degrees F on a meat thermometer and be fall-apart tender in about 2 1/4 hours. Be sure to check the slow-simmering soup that's capturing all those lamb juices periodically, to ensure the liquid level remains more or less the same, adding more water if it's needed.
Finishing the dish: With a couple of meat forks or spatulas, remove the roast to a platter. Sprinkle with salt and let rest, tented with foil, in a warm place for about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, with the precision of a steady-handed circus performer, carefully remove the pan of soup from the bottom of the grill. Skim off the fat that is floating on the surface, then taste and season with salt, usually about 3/4 teaspoon. Stir in the cilantro and finely chopped chipotle and ladle into small, warm soup cups.
Scrape the salsa into a serving dish and sprinkle with cheese. Remove the string from the lamb. Slice the lamb into good, thick slabs and arrange on a warm platter that's lined or decorated with parsley, banana leaves, or lemon leaves. Strew the olives around the platter and carry to the table with a flourish. Serve each guest a cup of soup, and pass the meat, salsa, and lots of warm tortillas for everyone to make delicious soft tacos
Review This Recipe
You must be logged in to review this recipe.
or Sign Up to Review
Newest Ratings and Reviews
Read all 2 reviews
By cupcake absolute
Near Yorktown,VA.
on August 19, 2011
Flag
Flag This Review?
Please provide the reason why you think this review is inappropriate.
or Cancel
Chef Bayless is Passionate and Fearless with Mexican cuisines.All over Mexico there are "regions" much like the USA.Yes,an advanced recipe.Since we have 2~3 books By Chef would like to answer last reviewer:Lamb butterflied open to cook on a Grill is Tradition.The vegetables probaly needed a head start.Especially,if "dense".Chef Bayless has more than a Gas Grill.Also,a "Fire Pit" style.Know One's limitations and please use microwave to 'par~cook' the food ingredients that Are Challenging.In the End? A Delicious,Repeatedly used Recipe from Spring into early Fall.Delete what is able to prepare in own kitchen with same results.Though agree,Grilled food is Nothing like the stove top/oven.
By Bob 2200
on August 07, 2011
Flag
Flag This Review?
Please provide the reason why you think this review is inappropriate.
or Cancel
The process and application of this recipe is very easy. Little prep and not an intense process. However, I found a problem with the time element and cooking time of the roast and the vegetables. I have a gas grill with four burners, I used the two outside burners and put the roast and the vegetables in the center as instructed. The tempature was kept a 350 degrees for the time to cook the lamb. The vegetables in the "soup" were not even close to being complete. I had to continue the cooking on the range to get them cooked thus my cooking time was increased by about 30 minutes..
Read all 2 reviews