For whatever reason, lamb is not a particularly popular meat in the USA, even though two lamb steaks cost less than a single New York Strip. This dish though, was absolutely outstanding. My wife is not too keen on lamb (to the point that I almost bought her a small sirloin as a backup plan), and she said this was probably the best lamb she had ever had.
So, totally not bragging or anything, but yeah… this lamb was really good.
Ingredients
- 2 Lamb Leg Steaks
- 2 Sweet Potatoes (or Yams)
- 1 Bunch of Red Chard
- 1 Small Red Onion
- Chopped Fresh Garlic
- Fresh Thyme (or Rosemary)
- 1 tsp Dried Garlic
- 1 tsp Onion Powder
- 1 tsp Black Pepper
- 1 tsp Sea Salt
- Olive Oil
Method
I did cheat a little for this recipe and roasted the sweet potatoes in a propane barbecue – but I promise the rest of it was done on an open fire!
Peel and chop the potatoes into 1″ chunks and place in a foil pan. Add some fresh garlic and a little olive oil and stir until the potatoes and garlic are well mixed. Cover with foil and place in the barbecue at about 350 for 30-45 minutes or until tender. It’s possible to do this on the open fire pit, by just placing the foil container in the coals, but it can be quite tricky to ensure even cooking, timing everything to be ready at the same time and making sure you don’t run out of heat before it’s all cooked!
Mix together the dried garlic, dried onion, black pepper and sea salt and apply it as a rub to both sides of the lamb. Wait until the flames have died down on your open fire, leaving a nice bed of red hot coals, then heat up the cast iron with a little olive oil.
When the oil is hot enough, add the seasoned lamb to the skillet and sear it on one side for a minute or two, then turn it over and sear the other side. Let it cook for 5-6 minutes, then turn it again for another 4 minutes or so. Once it reaches an internal temperature of 165, remove it from the pan, wrap it in foil and let it rest for 5 minutes. If you’re in to recycling you can remove the foil from the top of the potatoes and use it to wrap the lamb. The potatoes will thank you for letting them crisp up ever so slightly in the last 5 minutes…
While the lamb is resting, add the diced red onion and some of the fresh garlic to the skillet. There should be enough heat and hot juices left in the pan to brown the onions in under a minute . Add the chopped red chard and stir until wilted – maybe 2-3 minutes – and serve immediately with the lamb and potatoes. Don’t forget to garnish the lamb with the fresh thyme.

We chose an excellent Red Blend from Fasi Estate Winery to pair with the lamb.
Overall an excellent dinner. And if I had a rating system on this blog, I’d give it five hot skillets out of five.