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Posted to rec.food.cooking
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Leg of Lamb cooking method
Victor Sack wrote:
> <sf> wrote:
>
>
>> On Sun, 12 Nov 2006 23:19:54 +0100, (Victor Sack)
>> wrote:
>>
>>
>>> Gîgot d'agneau à la sept heures Ambassade d'Auvergne
>>> Ambassade d'Auvergne's Seven-Hour Leg of Lamb
>>>
>>> Cook lamb for seven hours? For those of us who have religiously
>>> followed the rule that "the only good lamb is a rare lamb," this recipe
>>> is sheer heresy! I first sampled it years ago at Paris's Ambassade
>>> d'Auvergne, and decided that the slow cooking - almost like a pot roast
>>> - really worked well with a large leg of lamb.
>>>
>> I'm not against fully cooked lamb, but why over cook a part that
>> doesn't need to be over cooked? It's akin to braising a beef fillet.
>>
>
> It is not overcooked, it is cooked just right. There is more than one
> way to prepare a piece of meat. The proof's in the eating - try it and
> see. As to braising a beef fillet, it is done too - and I posted a
> recipe fairly recently - see
> <http://groups.google.com/group/rec.food.cooking/msg/7f178261191bccb6>.
>
> Seven-hour leg of lamb is an old, traditional French recipe, much loved
> by a lot of discerning people, not just Patricia Wells but, for example,
> Anthony Bourdain, who includes a recipe in his Les Halles cookbook, or
> Heston Blumethal, a Michelin three-star chef, no less. Here is
> Blumenthal's version, from
> <http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4304720,00.html>.
>
> Victor
>
> Gîgot de sept heures
>
> Although this is called seven-hour leg of lamb, this is the shortest
> time you should cook it for.
>
> Serves six to seven.
>
> 1 leg of lamb, around 3kg
> 30 g Maldon sea salt
> 1 bunch thyme
> Olive oil and pepper
> 2 carrots
> 2 onions
> 1 1/2 star anise
> 1 head garlic
> 1 bouquet garni consisting of a bay leaf, plus lots of thyme and
> rosemary
> 300 ml white wine
> 100 g cold unsalted butter
> 2 tbsp chopped parsley (optional, but it really does make a
> difference)
>
> You'll need an oven tray big enough to hold the lamb and vegetables. The
> dish should have a lid, but tightly sealed tinfoil will do.
>
> Two days before cooking, rub the meat with half of the sea salt and half
> the thyme. On the day of cooking, wipe off any excess salt and brown the
> leg in olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pan with a tight-fitting lid.
> Pepper the meat and set aside.
>
> Pre-heat the oven to 65°C. Peel and roughly chop the carrots and onions.
> Pour out excess fat from the pan and lightly brown the vegetables with
> the star anise, adding a little fresh olive oil if necessary. Place the
> meat on the vegetables and the head of garlic, cut across in half,
> either side. Add the bouquet garni and 300 ml of water, and put the lid
> on. Place the pan in the oven.
>
> Every half an hour, remove the tray from the oven and baste the meat
> with the juices, adding more water when necessary. Maintain the water
> level for the full seven hours. Half an hour before the meat is ready,
> add the remainder of the thyme. Meanwhile, put the white wine in a
> saucepan and as soon as it comes to the boil, burn off the acidity by
> holding a naked flame to the liquid; just watch your fingers! Reduce the
> wine until thick and syrupy, to about 50 ml.
>
> Remove the leg of lamb and set aside. Tip the contents of the pan into a
> fine-mesh sieve, placed over the saucepan containing the reduced wine,
> pressing on the vegetables with the back of a spoon to extract all of
> the juices. Discard the contents of the sieve. Bring this to the boil
> and reduce, skimming off any impurities that come to the surface. When
> the liquid has a sauce consistency, whisk in the cold butter. Sprinkle
> the parsley on the lamb and serve with the sauce on the side.
>
That sounds wonderful, but there is just one off-putting thing. Basting
the meat every half hour for seven hours!
Christine
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