French Style Lamb Recipe
Recipes for Tender Slow-Cooked Leg of Lamb and Potatoes Dauphinoise
The lamb in this recipe is cooked after 5 or 6 hours, but 7 is the traditional French timing for 'gigot a la cuillere' - a joint that can be carved with a spoon.
You will need a very large oven proof casserole with a lid or a large, deep roasting tin which you can cover tightly with tin foil. Serves 6.
French Style Lamb
Ingredients
- 1 large leg of lamb, weighing approx 3kg / 6lb 8oz
- 4 onions, sliced
- 8 cloves of garlic, peeled and left whole
- 4 large carrots, quartered lengthways
- 300ml / 1/2 pint white wine
- 300ml / 1/2 pint stock
- 2 tablespoons Armagnac or Madeira
- few sprigs of fresh thyme
Method
- Preheat the oven to 120 degrees C or 100 F, gas mark 1/2. Season the leg of lamb. Put the casserole or roasting tin on the hob and brown the lamb thoroughly on all sides (it is important to do this now as the meat will not brown in the oven). If the lamb sticks add a little oil to the casserole. Use the cooker extractor fan to disperse any smoke. Drain away any fat that has gathered in the bottom of the pan.
- Add the vegetables to the casserole along with the white wine and stock. Season and bring to the boil. Put on the lid or cover tightly with tin foil and place in the pre heated oven. Bake for 7 hours, turning twice during this time. The meat will be cooked after 5 hours and offer no resistance to the knife.
- The meat requires no resting time when cooked in this way. Transfer the meat and vegetables to a serving platter. Strain the meat juices into a jug and pour or blot away the fat with kitchen paper. Pour the juices into a pan and boil vigorously until reduced by a quarter. Adjust the seasoning and add the Armagnac or Madeira. Garnish the lamb with the sprigs of thyme and serve with the sauce. Use a spoon to carve and serve the lamb - a la cuillere as the French call it. It will be tender, succulent and delicious !
Nutritional content per serving - 743 kilocalories, 73g protein, 14g carbohydrates, 41g fat, 20g saturated fat, 3g fibre
Serve accompanied by Potatoes Dauphinoise. Serves 6
Ingredients
- Knob of butter for greasing
- 1kg / 2lb 4oz waxy potatoes
- 150ml / 1/4 pint full - fat milk
- 142ml carton double cream
- 1 clove garlic, peeled and halved
- 2 sprigs thyme
- pinch freshly grated nutmeg
- 25g / 1oz freshly grated parmesan cheese
- Preheat the oven to 160 degrees F (fan) / 140 degrees F / gas mark 4. Line an 8cm brownie tin with greaseproof paper, then butter the paper. Peel and thinly slice the potatoes and pat dry.
- Pour the milk and cream into a pan, then add the garlic and thyme. Heat to boiling point, cool a little and strain into a jug. Sprinkle with nutmeg and keep warm.
- Layer half the potatoes in the tin, overlapping the slices and sprinkling each layer with a little salt and pepper. Pour over half the liquid and finish layering the remaining potato slices, then add the rest of the liquid and scatter over the parmesan cheese.
- Bake for 1 - 1 and a quarter hours until the potatoes are tender and the top is golden. Allow to stand for about 5 minutes, then cut into 6 portions and serve.
Nutritional content per serving - 289 kilocalories, 7g protein, 30g carbohydrate, 17g fat, 9g saturated fat, 2g fibre
The copyright of the article French Style Lamb Recipe in French Cuisine is owned by Corinne Lutton. Permission to republish French Style Lamb Recipe must be granted by the author in writing.
