Gigot de Sept Heures – Seven Hour Lamb

This recipe is a great favourite of my boys.

On a Sunday morning, when the weather turns cold.  We light the fire.  And now that I have made this recipe, it's not just any lamb they want for dinner, but "seven hour" lamb.

But don't let the name put you off!!  This is actually a very simple dish to prepare and leaves you with a day of lovely cooking smells in the kitchen.

Little work and big mileage with the family!  Besides the bit of prep, the rest is just sitting in the oven while you get on with your day.

Amid the heady mixture of wood smoke and fabulous cooking smells, the boys head off on an afternoon bike ride with some of our local friends.  Back home an hour later to warm baths and a hearty meal!

GIGOT DE SEPT HEURES

Ingredients

3kg leg of lamb

4 onions , sliced

8 garlic cloves , peeled, but left whole

4 large carrots (quarter lengthways), or 8 small carrots (leave whole)

300ml nice white wine

300ml stock (I use vegetable)

thyme sprigs, to finish

Method

1. Heat oven to 120C.  Put your largest lidded casserole dish on the stove, add a good drizzle of olive oil and brown the seasoned leg of lamb on all sides for about 10 minutes on a high heat - do this very thoroughly until it is a good dark brown as it will not brown during the cooking. (If you don't do it now, it will end up light beige.)
2. Toss in the vegetables, wine and stock. Bring to the boil, then put on the lid and place in the oven. Bake for 7 hrs, turning twice. After 5 hrs the meat will be cooked and offer no resistance to the knife.
3. There is no need to rest the meat when cooked in this way.  To finish the sauce, transfer the meat and vegetables to a serving dish. Pour the cooking liquid through a strainer, into a new pan.  Boil to reduce by a quarter to finish the sauce (I add a teaspoon of butter here - great taste and makes a nice 'sheen' to the sauce).  Season with salt and pepper to your taste.
4. The lamb should be served with a spoon, a la cuillère as the French call it. Serve with the sauce, mashed potatoes (made with butter, milk, salt and pepper), and some quickly boiled green peas.

Oh, and we usually have those 'bake at home' rolls - hot from the oven to mop up the sauce!

Bon appétit!
Jennifer
x

Brisbane Winter foliage: my garden

This is my ammended version, the original from BBC Good Food website can be found here.  Main pic from BBC Good Food.