Lamb for Joann

Rebekah Peppler

Serves

6

Ingredients

1.8kg to 2.3kg bone-in leg of lamb, trimmed and patted dry with paper towels
5 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
fine sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup (60ml) extra-virgin olive oil
910g new potatoes, cleaned and halved
230g shallots (8 to 10), peeled and halved
2 tablespoons grainy mustard
480ml dry vermouth, dry white wine, or fino sherry
8 sprigs fresh thyme
4 sprigs fresh rosemary
4 sprigs fresh tarragon, if desired
2 bay leaves

NOTE

One of Richard Olney’s many very excellent recipes calls for cooks to toss the garlic slices in a mixture of finely chopped herbs before inserting them into cuts of meat. He wrote that into a recipe for daube, but doing that here is awesome too, if a bit more time intensive. Joann has had and loved this recipe both ways, so take it or leave it as you please.

Lamb for Joann is, you guessed it, for Joann. Long before the exact form of this book took shape, I promised the always hungry, eternally brilliant, tabletop-climbing, dirty joke and lamb-loving photographer of this book (and the one before that and the one before that) a really good lamb recipe. Luckily, when the scope of le SUD came into focus, a rich, soft, supple, earthy, herbal leg of lamb wasn’t hard to place. L’agneau always belongs at the southern French table, and Sisteron lamb in particular – that is PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) designated and grazed on the lush wild grasses and herbs of Haute Provence – is especially and rightfully famed. Joann, this gigot d’agneau, made with aromatics of the region and not a small amount of vermouth, is for you, with love.

View the recipe collection here

Instructions

1.Preheat the oven to 150°C.
2.Use a sharp paring knife to cut slits all over the lamb, each about 4cm deep.
3.Use your finger to press a slice of garlic into each incision (you should use about 2 of the garlic cloves).
4.Season the lamb generously with salt and pepper.
5.Add the oil to a large Dutch oven or heavy ovenproof pot with a tight-fitting lid over medium-high heat.
6.Once the oil is hot, add the lamb and sear until browned on all sides, about 10 minutes.
7.Remove the pot from the heat and transfer the lamb to a large plate; set aside.
8.Add the potatoes to the pot, as many cut-sides down as possible, and season with salt and pepper.
9.Cook, without stirring, until the potatoes are golden on the cut sides, about 10 minutes.
10.Add the shallots and stir together, cooking for 5 minutes more.
11.Stir in the remaining garlic, the mustard, vermouth, thyme sprigs, rosemary sprigs, tarragon (if using), and bay leaves, using a wooden spoon to scrape up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan.
12.Return the lamb leg to the Dutch oven, cover, and transfer to the oven.
13.Cook for 2½ hours, then remove the lid and continue to cook, using a spoon to baste the lamb with the pan juices occasionally, until the lamb is golden on top and the meat is very tender, 1 to 1½ hours more.
14.Remove from the oven, cover, and set aside to rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Excerpted from Le
Sud: Recipes from
Provence-Alpes-Côte
d’Azur by Rebekah
Peppler © 2024.
Published by Chronicle
Books. Photographs
© Joann Pai.

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