French Classics Made Easy (36 page)

1 leg of lamb (see “French-Style Leg of Lamb,” facing page), 6 to 7½ pounds untrimmed or 4 to 5 pounds trimmed

Game Marinade (
page 324
)

1 tablespoon light olive oil

2 teaspoons fresh or dried thyme leaves

1 teaspoon chopped fresh or dried rosemary

⅛ teaspoon salt

⅛ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Poivrade, Chevreuil, and Grand Veneur sauces (pages 322 to 324)

1.
Two to four days before you want to serve the lamb, start to marinate it (see instructions in the marinade recipe).

2.
Preheat the oven to 475°F.

3.
Remove the lamb from the marinade and dry it well. Strain the marinade and reserve it and the vegetables for the sauces. Rub the lamb with the oil and sprinkle all over with the thyme and rosemary. Season with the salt and pepper.

4.
Place the lamb in a roasting pan and roast for 15 minutes. Lower the temperature to 400°F, roast for another 15 minutes, and turn the leg.

5.
Meanwhile, make the sauces.

6.
Roast the lamb until it is springy to the touch, another 20 minutes, or until an instant-read thermometer registers 125°F for rare or 130°F for medium-rare.

7.
Remove the roast when done and allow the leg to stand, covered, for 10 to 15 minutes before carving. Serve on plates with the sauces on the side.

F
RENCH
-S
TYLE
L
EG OF
L
AMB
: A Different Kind of Cut

A leg of lamb is cut differently in France than in America. A French leg ends at the hip, whereas the American leg contains a part of the hip or sirloin. The shank bone on a French leg is left intact and serves as a handle, which you use to turn the leg while cooking and to hold while carving. Some American butchers crack or break this shank bone and fold it back against the leg, or cut it off.

To get a French-style leg, ask your butcher to leave the shank bone intact and uncut. Have him remove the “H” or hip bone. Once removed, you will see the ball joint of the leg. The meat will now extend beyond the ball joint and should be cut off to form a well-shaped leg. Freeze the cutoff portion for future use.

SERVING SUGGESTION

Because this is a winter dish, I often use baked beets in a green salad to start. I like to accompany the roast with Cauliflower Purée (
page 179
) and Green Beans Almondine (
page 183
) or sautéed mushrooms. An Apricot Soufflé (
page 263
) is a great way to end the meal.

FRENCH LAMB STEW

[NAVARIN D’AGNEAU]

An Irish stew is perhaps the best-known lamb stew in the world, but a
navarin d’agneau
is the best-tasting one. Over the years I’ve taught this
ragoût
in many cities throughout the country, and I’ve often had students tell me that at least one member of their family wouldn’t eat lamb. They checked the recipe further and found the turnips. Now matters were much worse, for no one in their family ate turnips! Can the turnips be left out? Not if the stew is to be a
navarin.

Luckily, my students went home, followed
the recipe, and re-created what they had tasted in class. The reports that came back were not only that the
navarin
was a success, but that “they even wanted more turnips.” If you are among those who do not like lamb or turnips, be encouraged, you are in for a tasty surprise.

As with any stew, this not only can be made ahead of time, but it improves with age.

SERVES 6

4 tablespoons vegetable oil

2½ pounds boned shoulder of lamb (see Note), trimmed and cut into 1½-inch cubes

¼ cup all-purpose flour

3 cups beef stock, homemade or canned (see chart,
page 305
)

1 cup dry white wine

1 tablespoon tomato paste

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

Bouquet Garni (
page 306
)

¼ teaspoon salt

⅛ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

4 large carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces

18 pearl onions, peeled, root ends trimmed but left intact to hold the onions together

3 small to medium white turnips, peeled and quartered

18 small Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled

Chopped parsley, for garnish

1.
In a large flameproof casserole, heat 3 tablespoons of the oil over high heat until it begins to smoke. Add the cubes of lamb and brown well on all sides, turning the pieces only after they have browned. If your casserole is not large enough to hold the lamb in one layer, this can be done in two batches.

2.
Sprinkle the flour over the meat and brown over medium heat, 3 to 5 minutes.

3.
Add the stock, wine, tomato paste, garlic, and bouquet garni. Stir with a wooden spoon. Season with the salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer.

4.
Meanwhile, in a 10- to 12-inch skillet, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil over high heat. Add the carrots and brown, shaking the skillet frequently, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the carrots and set aside. Next, brown the pearl onions and turnips in the same skillet, 3 to 4 minutes.

5.
After the lamb has been simmering for 30 minutes, add the browned carrots. After another 15 minutes, add the onions and turnips. Check both meat and vegetables for tenderness from time to time, and if one of the vegetables is fully cooked before the rest, remove it to prevent overcooking. While everything is gently cooking, skim off all the fat and impurities that come to the surface. Total cooking time will be about 1½ hours. (The stew can be made several days ahead to this point. Remove the bouquet
garni. Let cool to room temperature, cover, and refrigerate or freeze. Bring slowly back to a simmer while you cook the potatoes; see next step.)

6.
Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. Add the potatoes and cook until tender, about 20 minutes; drain well. Add them to the casserole when all the ingredients are tender, and cook for 5 minutes longer.

7.
Skim any remaining fat from the sauce, adjust the seasoning if necessary, and remove the bouquet garni. Transfer the stew to a hot serving dish and sprinkle with the chopped parsley just before serving.

T
URNING
V
EGETABLES

In many classic dishes, vegetables are “turned” (pared into uniform football or olive shapes) to add to the attractiveness of a dish. In France the vegetables in a
navarin d’agneau
or other
ragoûts
would be turned, but it’s not worth doing unless you think your guests will appreciate it. To turn large root vegetables (potatoes, turnips, carrots), first cut them into chunks, then trim them to an olive shape with a paring knife. This takes practice.

NOTE

As in
boeuf bourguignon,
this is one place where using a leaner cut of meat will detract from the dish. The lamb shoulder’s fat content will produce moist and tender meat. Your butcher may suggest boned leg of lamb instead, but you should insist on the shoulder.

SERVING SUGGESTION

When serving
navarin d’agneau,
I often start with a green salad and finish with a pastry like Cream Puffs Filled with Chocolate Soufflé (
page 226
). Or for a simpler dessert, I like Pears Poached in Port Wine (
page 284
).

WINE

Serve this with a red Bordeaux.

VARIATION

F
RENCH
L
AMB
S
TEW WITH
S
PRING
V
EGETABLES

[NAVARIN PRINTANIER]

This version of a
navarin
takes its name from the springtime (
printanier
) vegetables that are added to it. In step 6, along with the cooked potatoes, add about ½ pound cooked peas and ¼ pound cooked green beans.

PORK RIB ROAST
WITH WINE-POACHED PRUNES

[RÔTI DE PORC AUX PRUNEAUX]

In the Loire Valley, the flavorful combination of pork and prunes is often seen in local restaurants, especially in and around the city of Tours. Usually served as a
ragoût
(stew), chunks of pork are cooked with the prunes in a sauce made with white wine and finished with a little heavy cream.

I have taken the components of a simple pork
ragoût
and rearranged them in an elegant main course for a dinner party. Instead of chunks of pork, prunes, and sauce all cooked
together, I serve a pork roast accompanied with prunes and golden raisins poached in a full-bodied red wine. The poaching liquid is then used to make a light but intensely flavored sauce. While making the sauce, taste the wine before poaching the prunes and raisins. Then taste it after each addition of the remaining ingredients. You will begin to understand how a sauce is built.

I encourage anyone who has not enjoyed prunes and meat, or those who think poorly of the prune, to try this dish.

SERVES 6 TO 8

2½ pounds boned pork rib roast (center-cut rib section, 8 ribs; see Notes)

¼ teaspoon salt

⅛ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

½ teaspoon fresh or dried thyme leaves

1 bay leaf, crumbled

2 onions, quartered

3 large carrots, thickly sliced

6 tablespoons (¾ stick) butter

1½ pounds pitted prunes

½ cup golden raisins

1 bottle (750 ml) dry red wine, such as a Côtes-du-Rhône

1 cup beef stock, homemade or canned (see chart,
page 305
)

1½ teaspoons arrowroot, potato starch, or cornstarch, dissolved in 1½ teaspoons cold water

2 tablespoons port (see Notes)

1.
Preheat the oven to 475°F.

2.
Season the roast with the salt, pepper, thyme, and bay leaf. Place in a roasting pan with the vegetables. In a small saucepan, melt 4 tablespoons of the butter and pour over the roast. Place in the oven and reduce the temperature to 425°F. Roast until the juices run clear, about 1 hour and 10 minutes.

3.
While the pork is roasting, combine the prunes, raisins, wine, and stock in a medium-size saucepan. Cover and simmer over medium heat until the prunes are tender, about 30 minutes. Drain the fruit, reserving the poaching liquid. Return about ¼ cup of the poaching liquid to the fruit. Set the fruit and the remaining poaching liquid aside.

4.
When the roast is done, remove it from the pan and allow it to stand 10 to 15 minutes
before carving. Drain the fat from the roasting pan. Deglaze the pan and vegetables (and bones if used; see Notes) by adding the reserved poaching liquid and stirring over high heat to loosen the caramelized bits. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a saucepan. (Reserve the carrots and onions if you wish to serve them.)