Mares eat oats and Doe's eat oats and Little lambs eat Ivy

Another Sunday and I wanted to cook something good for dinner. I really wanted to try something with Lamb. I have lots of it in the freezer. It is Leyden Glen Farm Lamb (Waving to Kristen...Hi Kristen! I wish you could come over for dinner). I didn't want something too fussy. I wanted simple.




I went looking in our cookbooks but I just didn't want what it took to make any of the recipes. Of course I could have always just done my own thing (which would have probably turned out pretty much like what I got using the recipe).



I finally found it online at Savuer. I made "Seven-Hour Leg of Lamb". That is so I could do what I want in those 7 hours. Turns out that we only cooked it for 5 hours because the piece of meat we used was smaller than what was called for.



Creme Fraiche in a recipe can never be a bad thing.



I liked this recipe a lot. It was comforting and let me be lazy. I also made a salad with fennel and greens and radish and other stuff that I can't remember but it is just a salad. People, you don't need a recipe for a salad.



We also finally took the meat we were hanging in the basement down. Man were these pretty and they tasted even better than they looked.



Guanciale came out great. I better say that. I bought a whole pig for those cheeks. You are so jealous of my pig cheeks I can tell.



This is the Ventreche. It was amazing. This was the Ventreche that Dom rolled at the Charcuterie Workshop we went to. We smoked it lightly and then hung it up to dry. There is LOTS of it so if you want to come over for a taste I will cook you up some. It taste like the best bacon you ever had. Don't mention this to Dr. Food but I liked the Ventreche better than the Guanciale. Uh, when I hinted at that Dr. Food got a weird look on his face and said "We have a whole pig because of this Guanciale. You BETTER love it" ok so here it goes, "Yes, honey I love it, BUT I love the Ventreche better" I can say that in a blog post but I wouldn't dare say that to his face. He doesn't read this blog anyhow so I can say whatever I want. "Hey Dr. Food. I bought a bracelet online" "I also bought some Yarn" Heh heh ...that will show HIM for not reading my blog.

Printable Version

Seven Hour Leg of Lamb
SAVEUR October 2009


FOR THE LAMB:
1 4-lb. shank end leg of lamb or
a 4-lb. piece of shoulder, trimmed
3 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper,
to taste
1 750-ml bottle dry white wine
20 cloves garlic, unpeeled
10 sprigs each fresh rosemary,
thyme, and savory
5 fresh or dried bay leaves

FOR THE BEANS:
2 cups dried white beans, preferably cannellini
or white coco, soaked overnight
5 cloves garlic, smashed
3 sprigs fresh thyme and parsley and a bay leaf
tied together with kitchen twine
10 whole cloves
1 large onion, halved
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper,
to taste
2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbsp. crème fraîche

1. Cook the lamb: Heat oven to 300˚. Rub lamb with oil and season generously with salt and pepper. Heat a 6-qt. Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add lamb and cook, turning occasionally, until browned on all sides, about 12 minutes. Transfer lamb to a plate. Add wine and 2 cups water to the Dutch oven; scrape up browned bits from bottom of pot. Nestle garlic and herbs into a large oval casserole; place lamb on top of herbs; add pan juices from Dutch oven. Cover lamb with foil; transfer to oven and roast, basting frequently, for 3 1⁄2 hours. Uncover, flip lamb, and continue to cook, basting frequently, until lamb is very tender, 3–3 1⁄2 more hours. Transfer to a rack and let cool for 20 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, prepare the beans: About 1 1⁄2 hours before the lamb is done, drain beans and transfer to a 4-qt. saucepan along with 6 cups water, 4 cloves garlic, and the herb bundle. Insert the cloves into the onion and add to the pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until beans are tender, about 1 hour. Remove pot from heat and season with salt and pepper. Discard herbs and strain beans, reserving cooking liquid. Transfer 2 cups beans, 1⁄4 cup cooking liquid, oil, crème fraîche, and remaining garlic clove to a blender and purée. Stir puréed bean mixture and about 1 cup of the cooking liquid back into pot and cover to keep warm until lamb is cooked. Serve the lamb sliced or torn into chunks, alongside the beans.

SERVES 6 – 8