Recipe: Gigot d'Agneau Rôti (Roast Leg of Lamb)
Gigot is a classic Spring dish and is perfect for a Sunday lunch or Supper.
Our local butcher trimmed a bit of the bone and cut the meat into two parts so it would fit in our cocotte (Dutch oven), and he tied it up for us too! French butchers are amazing.
You can cook the whole thing in one 7-hour period, but we found it also works well to break it up if you don't want to spend the whole day in the kitchen. We did 5 hours on Saturday, then packed it up and brought it to our gathering and finished it in the countryside for the last 2 hours. It was delicious! We served it with crispy potato pancakes made by our Ukrainian friends who were visiting, and with flageolets flavored with lardons.
INGREDIENTS: (for 8-10 ppl)
6.5 lb gigot d'agneau, bone-in (leg of lamb) -- lamb shoulder works too
3-5 TBSP olive oil
4 medium carrots, rough chopped
1 onion, rough chopped
2 leeks, sliced lengthwise and chopped (clean them well!)
20 cloves of garlic, peeled (you can leave them in their skins if you prefer)
1 shallot, chopped
2 TBSP honey (we used acacia honey)
2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp turmeric
Salt and pepper
1 bouquet garni (herb bundle)--we used thyme, oregano and bay leaf
1/2 bottle dry white wine (we used an unoaked Chardonnay)
1/2 cup Grand Marnier (you can use cognac)
4-5 cups beef broth (can substitute chicken broth)
PREPARATION:
Take your gigot out of the fridge an hour before to let it come to room temperature.
Preheat your oven to 230 degrees (110 Celsius)
Warm a heavy-bottomed cocotte or Dutch oven on high heat. Salt and pepper the lamb.
Add 3 TBSP of olive oil to the pot, and put the lamb in the pot to sear. Turn it on all sides until you have a nice golden brown everywhere. Remove the lamb and set aside.
In the same pot, turn down the heat, add the onions and leeks, and let soften. Then add the carrots and shallots. (If you need a bit more olive oil, add it). Let them all sweat together for a few minutes.
While the veg is cooking, mix all the spices in a small bowl.
Rub the browned lamb with the honey, then sprinkle the spices over all sides, rubbing it in (the honey makes a nice "glue" for the spices!)
Once the vegetables have softened for a few minutes, add the white wine and the Grand Marnier.
Replace the lamb in the pot, nestling it on top of the vegetables.
Add the beef broth (it should come up a little more than halfway, but not cover the meat. Add the herbs.
Cover the pot and put it in the oven.
Check it every so often to make sure there is still enough liquid.
When you're finished cooking, you can remove the lamb and reduce the sauce to the thickness of your liking. We took the extra liquid out and reduced it dramatically until it was totally unctuous and syrupy--Yum! But you can serve it just with the natural juices if you prefer!
Add your favorite side dishes and voilà ! Bon appetit !
We first found this recipe from the marvelous François-Régis Gaudry (merci !) on the France Inter YouTube channel. We adapted it just a bit to our needs and taste.