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MARINATED LAMB

I like to make this for company since it is "started" days ahead and all I have to do is cook it. (From SIMPLY IRRESISTIBLE: Easy, Elegant, Fearless, Fussless Cooking by Sheilah Kaufman)

• 2/3 cup olive oil
• 3 Tablespoons lemon juice
• salt
• freshly ground pepper
• 3 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 3 bay leaves, crumbled
• 1 cup thinly sliced onions
• 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 6 to 7 pound shoulder of lamb, boned, slit lengthwise (butterflied), laid flat and trimmed of fat (OR if your butcher will remove the sciadic nerve, use a leg of lamb)
• 1 teaspoon salt

Three or four days before serving, make the marinade by combining the olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, parsley, oregano, and bay leaves in a large shallow glass baking dish. Add the onions and garlic. Lay the meat in the marinade, and spoon some of it over the meat. Cover and let the meat marinate in the refrigerator for three or four days, turning the meat 3 or 4 times a day if possible.

Preheat the oven to broil, or heat your barbeque grill.

Without drying the meat off, place it fat side down, on a rack about 4" from the heat in the broiler or on your grill. Sprinkle the meat with salt and broil for a bout 15 minutes; do not baste. Turn the meat over with tongs to avoid puncturing it, and moisten it with a little of the marinade. Sprinkle it with a little more salt. Broil or grill another 15 to 20 minutes. The meat is done when it is pale pink inside with a dark brown crust. Remember when you cut the meat to test it for doneness, it will oxidize and get darker (inside) after a minute or two. To serve, slice the meat against the grain into thin slices and place on a serving platter. Serve with cooked onions if desired. Serves 8 to 10.