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Nathalie Chiva

On Sun, 16 Mar 2008 23:47:43 +0100, (Victor Sack)
wrote:

>Ophelia > wrote:
>
>> Will you share your recipe please, Victor?
>
>Sure, but it is not "my" recipe. It is from _The Real Meat Cookbook_ by
>Frances Bissell.
>
>Victor
>
> Gigot Boulangère
> Serves 4-6
>
>1 leg of lamb, weighing 4-5 lb/1.8-2.3 kg
>2-3 cloves of garlic
>4 lb/1.8 kg maincrop potatoes, peeled and sliced quite thinly
>1 tsp dried rubbed thyme
>2 bay leaves, crushed fine
>1/2 tsp salt
>good pinch of freshly ground black pepper
>1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
>up to 4 oz/110 g butter
>
>Peel and slice the garlic, then cut it into 'nails'. Insert these into
>the leg of lamb, all over, in slashes made in the in the fat with a
>sharp knife, between the muscles and around the bone.
>
>Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F, gas mark 6. Mix the herbs, seasoning
>and onions together. Butter an ovenproof dish and lay half the potatoes
>in it. Sprinkle on half the seasoning then the rest of the potatoes in
>a layer, topped with the remaining seasoning. Dot with half the rest of
>the butter. Pour on enough warm water to just cover the potatoes and
>put them in the oven for 1 - 1 1/2 hours.
>
>Mix the rest of the butter with a good pinch each of salt and pepper and
>smear this over the leg of lamb. Remove the cooked potatoes from the
>oven and place the lamb on top. Return it to the oven and cook it for
>15-18 minutes per lb/455 g, depending on how well cooked you like the
>meat.
>
>Switch off the oven, open the door and let the meat relax for 5-10
>minutes before carving and serving.

Well, for me it's not real gigot boulangère - for one thing, with the
water, the potatoes cook in water so they'r not crispy, and secondly,
in the real McCoy, everything was assembled and then brought to the
bakery - no first cooking the potatoes then adding the lamb.
Here is my (very simple) recipe:

Stud a leg of lamb with garlic. Oil a large oven dish, lay potatoes,
scrubbed (but not peeled) and thinly sliced, in it, season with salt,
pepper and thyme, add a little bit of oil (not too much, the fat from
the lamb will also be "used up" by the potatoes), mix well (with your
hands, it's easier :-)), lay in one layer, lay the lamb on top, fatty
side up, season the lamb with salt, put in hot oven (220°C, 450°F) for
approx. 45 min. (for a 3 lb leg of lamb), turning the lamb once.

Nathalie in Switzerland