Help me cook my beef and lamb roasts...

[StrawberryAnnie]

We are having a dinner party on Wednesday evening. Half of my guests like lamb the others prefer beef. SO I am cooking both, and serving them with mashed potatoes, gravy, and 3 kinds of veggies.

The question:

Can I roast both of them at the same time? They are both 4lb roasts. I have read that they both need to sit unrefridgerated for 2 hrs before cooking. The recipe I have for the beef roast says to heat the oven to 500, bake for 15 min, then turn off the oven and let bake for 1 hr. Can I throw the lam one in with it since it's the same weight? I really want both roasts to be tasty.

Please chime in with ideas and input.

Thanks in advance

[elleystar]

Hmmm, that's a toughie. I've never made a roast by that method-high oven heat, then turn it off. Problem is, a lamb roast needs to be rarer than a beef one, meaning you'd want to put it in the oven later...but using that method, you can't open the oven door.

If it were me, here's what I would do. Pull out both roasts 1-2 hours ahead to come to room temp. Brown each roast on all sides in a cast iron pan w/ a little oil, on med-high heat. (This part is SO important for good flavor!) Do the beef roast first, and put it in a 300 degree oven. Do the lamb roast an hour or so later and add to the oven. If the beef roast goes 3+ hours, and the lamb one about 2 hours, it SHOULD work out.

Do some Googling though and check out various times/temps in recipes. Good luck!!