SAUCIER: LAST-STOP LAMB

I tasted the herb and mustard glazed roasted leg of lamb when one of the other student groups made it last week. While it seemed like more of a winter dish, this lamb was delicious. Thin and tender, almost silky, I can't wait to make it.

More after class on the jump...

DISH: Herb and Mustard-Glazed Roasted Leg of Lamb (Bourgogne), Gigot D'Agneau A La Moutarde

RECIPE:

1 Leg of Lamb, trimmed of exterior fat, hipbone removed
200 G Dijon Mustard
3 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
2 Cloves Garlic, minced
1 Teaspoon Grated Ginger
1 Tablespoon Rosemary, minced finely
5 Tablespoons blended olive oil
1 Carrot, cut mirepoix
1 Onion, cut mirepoix
250 ML Red Wine
1 L Brown Stock, preferably lamb
Bouquet Garni
Butter
Salt & Fresh Ground Pepper

Procedure:
LAMB MARINADE Two hours before roasting the lamb, mix 200 G Dijon mustard, 3 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 teaspoon grated ginger, 1 tablespoon rosemary minced finely, 5 tablespoons blended olive oil, to form emulsion-like cream and paint lamb with it. Set aside at room temperature. Chop hipbone in small pieces. Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat carrot and onion mirepoix and bones with remaining olive oil and place them in a roasting pan. Position lamb on top and roast in oven for 1¼ to 1½ hours or until a thermometer inserted in the thickest part registers 125°F to 130°F. Deglaze pan with a bit of water during cooking if bones and aromatics brown too much.

After 1½ hours cooking, salt meat lightly, remove it from the pan and cover it loosely with foil. Let it rest for 20 to 30 minutes.

JUS Degrease roasting pan and vegetables and deglze with 250 ML wine, scraping sucs. Transfer the liquid to a small sautoir and reduce til syrupy. Add 1 L brown stock, preferably lamb, bouquet garni, and simmer until a well-rounded flavor is achieved. Strain, taste and adjust seasoning, and keep warm.

This jus can be enriched with a bit of butter or can be thickened with a slurry. If a more pronounced aroma is preferred in the jus it can be achieved by steeping a bruised garlic clove and a branch of thyme or rosemary in the jus while it is being held for service.

BREAKDOWN: It was raining, pouring, the old man? Forget about him. Cats and dogs, living together, mass hysteria, forty days and forty nights, a dark and stormy night-- there was hardly a second between the lightning and the thunder, the storm was right on top of us just letting loose. It was raining sideways so hard that in the ten feet I ran under an umbrella from the door to the house to the car my legs were soaked from the knee down. But I perservered and made it to school.

When I arrived, three of my group members were discussing leaving for various reasons, none of which were very good. It ended up being me and one other group member cooking Friday dinner entrees so we got down to business.

We would be serving the dish with a gratin potatoes with a layer of dried figs. My partner worked with our chef to get the lamb roasting and the jus going while I worked on the potatoes.

Gratin Potatoes w/Fig

1 Garlic Clove
2 QT Heavy Cream
20 Idaho Potatoes
40 Dried Figs
Bunch of Thyme
Salt & Pepper

Rub a hotel pan with the peeled garlic clove. Pour heavy cream in pan to cover bottom. Clean, peel and slice potatoes about a centimeter thick the long way on a mandoline. Line bottom of pan with potato slices, overlapping. Sprinkle salt, pepper and chopped thyme over layer, and repeat until there are 3-4 layers of potato slices.

An inch from the sides of the pan scatter thinly sliced dried figs to cover the potato layer, sprinkle with salt, pepper and chopped thyme. Do three more layers of potatoes with salt, pepper and chopped thyme in between. Pour heavy cream on top until the cream comes up on the sides to barely cover the top layer. Cover with tin foil, poke a few holes in the foil and put in the convection oven at 400°F for about 45 minutes, or until the top starts to brown. Pour a bit more cream on top and return to oven without foil for another ten minutes until the cream on top is crisp. Use a round pastry mold to cut out circles of potato gratin for service.

We didn't do much to change the recipe (above right, at front, figs marinating in red wine, behind it the lamb jus). We added figs, fresh figs marinading in some red wine on a low flame and some dried ones cut in half similarly marinated. At right, our station ready for service, at the front a cutting station set up, a sheet pan, a towel and two cutting boards on top.

It was a busy Friday despite the rain and we went through the expediting board once and started again-- we had about 30 orders. But the night went smoothly (right, food waiting under heat lamps to be brought out by the waiters).

The dish itself didn't disappoint. The lamb was tender and pink, moistened with a light jus and accompanied by fennel cooked a l'etuve (butter, water, sugar and salt). The potatoes were also very enjoyable. The fig center added a sweetness. To be honest however, the best part of the potatoes may not have made their way out to the restaurant. The bottom layer of the potatoes in the pan were slightly burned but the crisp potato layer was saved by the cream and sweetened by the juices of the fig dripping down to the bottom. Not the most healthy of treats I'm sure but my oh my it sure was delicious.