New Years Eve Dinner HNT

I cooked a leg of lamb for the first time on New Years Eve. As usual, I did the cooking and Lori set the table and cleaned up afterwards. My son Brian was home and had a little too. It was unanimous; I did a good job.

The night before, I rubbed a mixture of herbs all over the lamb. I used parsley, rosemary, tyme, a little salt and lots of fresh ground pepper. I also cut slits in the roast and inserts pieces of garlic. Then I put the lamb in a Reynolds oven bag and let it marinate over night. The next evening just after Lori arrived, I took the leg of lamb out of the refrigerator so it be closer to room temperature when I put it in the oven.

Lori got to my place about 5:00pm on Sunday. I had a gin & tonic ready for her like I always do. Then we sat on the couch and talked for a bit. Then I brought out shrimp cocktail and we had another drink and chatted some more.

Then it was time to prepare dinner. I had almost everything out already, so this time I didn’t have to search around for things like I usually do. Whoops, I forgot the flour.


I needed to put a tablespoon of flour in the bottom of the oven bag for some reason unknown to me. Lori says it’s to help make gravy. I’ll take her word for it, because all the box of bags says was to put the flour in the bottom of the bag.

I opened the oven bag, put in a tablespoon of flour and then started cutting up the vegetables and added them to the bag too. I added a sweet potato, some baby Yukon gold potatoes, a bunch of baby portabella mushrooms, a cup of cut up frozen rutabagas (turnips), a few carrots, a half a dozen large shallots and some salt and pepper.


Check out my new chef’s knife. Brian gave it to me for Christmas. (Lori! Hurry up and take the picture! I can't hold in my stomach in for too long!)


Lori called this helping. I called it being naughty. ;-)


Here she goes again. I’m not sure what she was after here, because I didn’t have any money in my pocket.


LORI! Can't leave you in charge of the camera, can I? What ever. Here's the token ass shot Lori took.


Now back to the cooking.

When I had finished adding the vegetables, I closed up the oven bag and stuck the temperature probe in the meat. I love that thing. You stick the probe in the meat and then plug it into the kitchen timer. Set the temperature on the timer you want the meat to cook to and wait for it to beep. The meat will be done to exactly the right temperature.


Next I made the creamed onions. I used a jar of onions, some half & half, a little sherry, Parmesan cheese, a pinch of nutmeg (Rachael Ray says a pinch is an 1/8 of a tablespoon. BTW, did you know Lori got me tickets for the Rachael Ray TV show in a couple of weeks?), I also added a little dry mustard and some butter. Then I put it in a dish and sprinkled the top with paprika. I put that aside until the leg of lamb was done.


Lori cleaned up the kitchen and then we retired to the couch to watch TV snuggle and waited for dinner. The lamb took about an hour and fifteen minutes to cook.

Look at that, no pan to wash! Those oven bags are great! Check out the onions too. The cheese came to the top and made a nice crust. This is a great recipe and I highly recommend it. If you want these recipes, let me know.


Wait! I forgot. I dumped the bag into the pan so I could separate the juices from the meat and vegetables. I wanted to put the juices in a separate pot. (Lori, sorry you had to clean the pan babe.)

How's the leg of lamb look?


I cut the lamb off of the bone and added it to the vegetables. Man, I love the new knife. It’s so sharp and makes cutting so much easier and safer too. I never cut myself with a sharp knife, just dull ones. I have to fight a dull knife and that’s why I get cut.


Then we sat down to dinner by candlelight. Yes, you heard me right, candle light. Lori lit the candles that are always on my dining room table. We are a very romantic couple of horn dogs.


Now for all you horn dogs and in honor of Half-Nekkid Thursday, here’s the token man-boob shot.

Happy Half Nekkid Thursday Y'all!

If you want to see lots of boobs, follow the link on my side bar to Os’s blog. I promise you will not be disappointed.