1 month before Easter I ordered a Mont St. Michel, pre-sale leg of lamb. The man at Maison Trotoux assured me he could get one and that it was a good thing I was ordering early because he had lots of orders for the specialty. He wrote it down in his book with my name for the Friday before Easter. I was still in Stuttgart on Friday but I asked Chantal if she would pick it up for me. At first he insisted on talking to me but when she said I was still in Germany, he said he couldn’t get the lamb. Well, on Saturday, I swung by his shop for an explanation that was useless. He had assured me that he could get the lamb. He lied. Looks like a 6 month to 1 year grudge I’ll be carrying. That’s okay, there’s always Au Village Gourmand 🙂
Anyway. I went to the market and found a gorgeous, normal, French leg of lamb. Resentfully, I stabbed it all over with a sharp knife, then prepped it simply with garlic, herbs and olive oil.
As I wanted to make a typically French Easter lunch and it isn’t fresh bean season until the fall, I went to Picard for some frozen flageolet beans. Yes, it’s true that Picard was one of those companies that had horse meat in their frozen lasagna but forgive and forget and don’t buy frozen prepared meals anywhere :/
And to make it easy on myself, “les patates” skin on, roasted with herbs. Easy and delicious.
We began the meal with a beet tiramisu but, Champagne befuddled, I forgot to take the picture before we ate it. For the picture and recipe go here. It’s really good!
The meal ended with a fresh strawberry mousse, my go to dessert when I’m obliged to make one 😉
Coming soon: M. Parret Does Veal Roast
Leg of lamb with Flageolet Beans
1 large lamb leg
5 large garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped
1 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
1 tbsp fresh sage, chopped
Salt and pepper
3-4 tbsp olive oil
3 onions, quartered
1/2 cup grillaudes diced/lardons/chopped bacon
1 tbsp butter
2 shallots, chopped
1 large bag frozen flageolet beans, steamed for 10 minutes
3 tbsp chicken broth
2 tbsp flour
With a sharp knife, stab the lamb all over. Mix the garlic, herbs, salt, pepper and olive oil together, then massage into the lamb. Place the onions on the bottom of a lightly oiled roasting pan and place the lamb on top. In a preheated 425 F oven, roast the lamb for 30 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 350 F and continue to roast for 1 hour.
In the meantime, brown the grillaudes pieces in a skillet, remove and set aside. Melt the butter in the skillet and add the shallots, sauteing until soft. Stir in the beans, reserved grillaudes and chicken broth. Cover and simmer for a few minutes.
To make a sauce for the lamb: Remove the lamb from the roasting pan and set aside to rest. Put the roasting pan on a medium flame, slosh in some white wine, stir and scrape up the bits on the bottom for about 2 minutes. Sprinkle in the flour, stirring. Add 2 1/2 cups of water and continue to stir until thickened.
Wine suggestion: Julienas
Love the resentful stabbings! .. c
Makes me feel better 😀
6 month – one year grudge…that’s awesome. Is your strawberry mousse recipe posted on your blog? I want it!
Use the same recipe for cherry mousse, substituting strawberries http://cookinginsens.wordpress.com/2013/07/06/m-parret-eats-french-a-la-americaine-salade-gesier-and-cherry-mousse/
YUM! Love how simple you kept the lamb. Hope your Easter was good!
http://www.khoasinclair.co
Thank you Khoa.
There is nothing better than lamb and flageolets. What a dissapointment you didn’t get the Mont St Michel lamb… Happy belated Easter!
Thank you Marie. I was so disappointed! He could have said that he would try but he wasn’t sure, instead of promising to deliver. He must be shunned 😀
He should 🙂 I had a similar experience with a delicious duck, I was planning to make Julia Child’s Canard en Croute and he didn’t deliver eather, took a day off… Evil Butchers. Did you ever try Canard en Croute?
No I haven’t but it sounds very interesting!
Herby lamb and potatoes was what we had too. Can’t you wrong with that… And lots of booze! 🙂
Lots 🙂
Leg of lamb is an Easter classic. Can’t go wrong with this one!
Thank you Mary.
A perfect Easter lunch – and I’d hold that grudge too 😉
Thank you Chica. I’m glad you see it my way 😀
It looks like you made up for not being able to get the special lamb.
I don’t suppose Picard knew they had horse in the lasagne – one would imagine that they thought they could trust their meat supplier. As I like horse meat and if I bought ready meals, which I don’t, I would consider it a bonus 🙂
As you may know, I don’t object to unusual foods. In fact, I have some ground horse in the fridge that I’m going to try soon. However, bonus or not, I want to know exactly what I’m eating.
I agree and one wants to know if the meat is good quality, though I don’t think the meat in ready meals is very good to start with, hence the problem of origin.
Voila!
It sounds like a lovely Easter feast. Sorry about your not being able to get the lamb you were promised. I remember sheep grazing on the salt grass in the fields that surround Mont St. Michel when we have traveled in Normandy.
Thank you Karen. I’ll probably have to go back to Mont St. Michel with a cooler 🙂
The lamb looks amazing, but those fresh beans are really calling to me.
Thank you Greg. I can’t wait for the fresh bean season!