3/23 Easter Leg of Lamb

Cooked up some lamb this weekend for Easter. Followed two recipes that I’ve used in the past, and they worked just as well as in the past. First the lamb. This one came out of Anthony Bourdain’s Les Halles Cookbook. It’s the “seven hour leg of lamb.” Just like it sounds, you basically cook the leg of lamb at a low temp (300 degrees) for 7 hours in a sealed cooking vessel of some sort. Before it goes in, you stuff it with slivers of garlic and throw in a few carrots and onions, white wine and herbs for good measure. Cover, bake and voila! Essentially you get confit leg of lamb that falls off the bone.

Traditionally in France, lamb is often served with flageolets beans. These are essentially small premature kidney beans that once cooked are creamy and delicious. For these I followed a Thomas Keller recipe out of his Bouchon cookbook. Essentially, you quick-soak these by bringing them to a boil and letting them sit for an hour, then you cook them for 2-3 hours with aromatics – but no salt (this apparently toughens the beans). Then you finish them in butter, salt/pepper, thyme and comfit garlic… like I said, very creamy and tasty. (btw it's worth clicking on the picture to make it bigger if you don't do this anyway!)