Cut 'n Braai

Yes i know, its a terrible pun, all intended to introduce the fact that we had a bbq last night.
I may have mentioned before that i love my Weber knock off bbq, and nothing cooks a butterflied leg of lamb better than a bbq, or to use the South African term, braai.
I have to say that personally i find lamb a little bit on the dull side, but roasting it on the bbq give it a much needed edge of flavour that it needs. I alway add lots of herbs when i bbq lamb too, and give it a good rub with oil and seasoning.
For this lamb, which turned out lovely, i pounded a handful of rosemary sprigs, some thyme, and lots of oregano in the mortar and pestle, I gave this a really good bashing, then added a couple of small garlic cloves, some salt and the zest of a small lemon and gave that a good working in till i had a rough paste. Then i added oil. Normally id use olive for the flavour, but i didnt have any so it was just plain old vegetable oil. You want to add enough oil to anoint your lamb before it goes on the coals and enough to baste it while its cooking. I also added the juice of the lemon to the oil just to give it a pumch, then squeezing the herby mash as you go, rub a good amount of the flavoured oil into the meat, concentrating on the meaty side (what would have been the inside of the leg)
The coals should have been started before you even got the meat out of the fridge, so by the time youve slapped on a coat of the oil, it should be ready to go. Just to remind everyone, this is when the coals have a layer of white ash on them. I set up the coals by pushing them over to one side of the bbq, and putting a drip pan in on the other side with some water in it. This could also be a flavoured liquid like beer or wine of you want. The idea is that it will catch any drips from the meat and prevent them from burning and giving an acrid flavour to your meat, and the heat will also create a moist atmosphere from the liquid, in the bbq when you close the lid.
Give the meat a final season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper on both sides, and pop it in the bbq over the drip pan, put the lid on, and adjust your bottom vents to about half way. You want the meat to cook relatively slowly. Then you leave it alone for about 30 mins. Check it when half an hour is up and see if its cooking well. If it needs more heat, open those lower vents again, and if less, open the top vents and close the bottom ones. Baste the meat, turn it, baste it on that side and again leave it for another half hour or so. After the hour check to see if the meat is the way you like it, remembering that like in an over, the meat will continue to cook after coming off the bbq. When im satisfied with the way the meat is cooked i usually give it a few minutes directly over the coals, just to crisp and brown and get that real smoky flavour. Remove the meat from the bbq, and if you want, throw on some corn, still in its husks, thats been soaked for a while, and grill this with the lid off, just to use the last of the heat. When the corn husks are scorched and blackened, the corn is ready.
Eat!