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Taste of Provence
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La Belle Cuisine
How to Treat Lamb
The New York Times, April 3, 2002
By Alain Ducasse
(This is
the sixth of eight columns by Alain Ducasse...
written with
Florence Fabricant.)
You often see chefs make dozens of little slashes into a leg of lamb and
then
force slivers of garlic into each one. It horrifies me. That's no way
to treat a
piece of
meat.
With lamb, garlic is essential, but it should perfume the meat.
Garlic is
the very essence of Provence, but you must play it off against herbs,
tame
it a
bit, not force
it on the lamb.
I take some crushed cloves and good olive oil and let the lamb bask in this
mixture for a couple of days. I do this regardless of whether I'm preparing
baby lamb,
which you can find starting about now, or older spring lamb.
It's worth trying to find baby lamb, but you must also know how to cook it.
More mature lamb should be medium-rare so it remains tender. But naturally
tender
baby lamb is better done medium. It's a pale meat, and my rule is
that
the lighter
the meat, the more cooking it needs. That's why, in
general, veal
and pork both require more cooking than lamb or beef. Once the
lamb is
ready to roast I massage
it with thyme and savory. I know that
rosemary is
often paired with lamb
but you have to be careful because it's
strong, and
in the roasting pan it can
burn. You can add a little at the
very end.
After browning the lamb I roast it on a bed of cut-up lamb trimmings to
help
concentrate the pan juices. When the lamb is done, it must rest for
about
half
an hour, and you can use that time to simmer the pan juices
to make a
nice,
simple sauce. (Use a wet basting brush to wipe down the
inside of your saucepan, so
you
can incorporate the tasty remnants that
collect as the
sauce cooks.)
I like to serve scallions and fennel with the lamb, and, if I have them,
fresh
shell
beans like favas. I blanch thick slices of the fennel, sauté
them and
then season
them with my lovely lamb jus and some Parmesan. They
need
to bake 20 minutes
or so, but make for a fragrant and flavorful
vegetable
component to your dish.
It's
all you need.
You find fennel most often used with fish but it should not be overlooked
for
lamb.
I think it's absolutely superb, and so Provençal besides.”
Provençal Leg of Lamb with
Fennel and Scallions
Time: 2 1/2 hours, plus 2 days'
marinating
Yield: 8 servings
1 leg of lamb, preferably spring lamb,
boned, about 5 pounds
1 tablespoon paprika
3/8 cup extra virgin olive oil
7 large cloves garlic, smashed
1 bunch thyme or savory, or 1/2 of each
1 1/2 pounds lamb neck, in 2-inch chunks
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 large bulbs fresh fennel
2 bunches scallions, trimmed,
leaving 1-inch of green
1 cup chicken stock
1 sprig rosemary
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan.
1. Lightly score fat on lamb; rub with paprika. Place 1/2
cup olive oil
and 5 cloves garlic in bowl that will hold lamb snugly. Place
lamb
in bowl, turn to coat sides, and cover by placing sheet of plastic
wrap
directly on meat. Refrigerate 48 hours.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Remove lamb from bowl. Discard the
garlic.
Reserve 4 branches herbs. Use the rest to rub lamb all over,
inside and out.
Tie lamb at 1 1/2-inch intervals with butcher's cord.
Heat 1 tablespoon oil
in heavy ovenproof casserole that will hold
lamb comfortably. Brown leg of
lamb on top of stove on all sides.
Remove
from casserole. Place pieces of
lamb neck in casserole,
season with salt
and pepper, place leg of lamb on
top, place in the
oven, and roast 1 hour
for medium-rare for 5- to 5 1/2-pound
roast.
Add 15 minutes for 6- to
7-pound roast. Instant-read thermometer
inserted in center should
register 120 degrees F.
3. While lamb is roasting, trim fennel: cut a /2-inch slice off the bottom
of each bulb and cut off branches down to the bulb. Slice bulbs in
four vertically. Use wooden skewers or toothpicks to hold the
layers
together. Bring
large pot of salted water to a boil. Blanch
fennel about
3 minutes. Drain,
remove skewers and set aside.
4. Heat remaining oil in heavy skillet. Lightly brown fennel slices on
each
side. Place fennel slices, slightly overlapping, in shallow
baking dish.
Lightly brown scallions and place around fennel.
5. Remove lamb from oven and place in shallow baking pan tented
with
foil,
30 minutes or up to 1 hour. Transfer contents of cas-
serole to
saucepan.
Deglaze casserole with chicken stock and
add to saucepan.
Bring contents of
saucepan to a simmer. Peel
remaining garlic and add,
along with the reserved
herb sprigs
and rosemary. Simmer gently 30
minutes. Strain, return to
the
saucepan, degrease and season with salt and
pepper. Spoon 4
tablespoons
sauce around fennel and scallions in
baking dish.
6. Turn oven to 400 degrees F. Pour any juices accumulated
around
lamb
into
saucepan. Remove foil from lamb and place
in oven in
baking
pan.
Dust the fennel
and scallions with
Parmesan. Place
in oven;
bake 20 minutes.
7. Remove lamb from oven, snip cord, and cut in slices. Arrange
on
warm
platter. Drizzle a little of the sauce over it. Remove
fennel
and scallions
from oven and serve with lamb and the
remaining sauce
on the side.
Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company
Used with permission.
More from Chef Alain Ducasse:
Asparagus Three Ways
Confiture de Vieux Garçon (The Old
Bachelor's Fruit Preserves)
Glazed Mango With Sour Cream Sorbet
and Black Pepper
Olive Mill Pasta
Herb-Roasted Chicken
Steak with Style
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