"The lovely neighbor upstairs" is what we call Elisabeth, who is a rare exception to the normal neighbors one has in Paris though secretly I think lovely isn't a lovely enough adjective for such a wonderful person. She is one of those rare sort of people who is usually half-smiling and always willing to help. When Elisabeth told me she'd like to try lamb with mint sauce, I promised her we would have an occasion to make it.
One of my other favorite things about Elisabeth is her little hallway garden that she has at the top of the stairs. She has a real green thumb, something I envy, but I also found quite inspiring. A few months ago we got a plot of community garden space across the canal and planted flowers and vegetables that we bought at a flower shop just around the corner in the hope that after her wise counsel I might manage to grow my own veggies and then some spices on our balcony.
All but one of my plants has survived though with very little help from me. One of the problems with this apartment is the southern exposure with almost a full day of sun that few plants can endure. I watered the plants from time to time, but didn't pay them much attention learning a valuable lesson: I think I don't water plants enough, but actually I overwater plants.
In order to prepare my recipe with my own homegrown mint, I preened large to mid-sized leaves from the plant, leaving the smaller less developed leaves to grow a little more. This only gave me a small portion of what I needed for this recipe, so I bought some extra mint from the store with the intention of using the store bought mint for the marinade part and my mint for the sauce.
This is not a difficult dish to make if you keep a few things in mind such as.
1. The quality of the lamb.
2. Never overcook lamb. It should always be pink or rosé, in French.
3. Prepare the lamb beforehand no matter the quality. It enhances the texture.
For this dish I used a roast of boneless lamb shoulder, but leg (with or without the bone, but cooking time needs to be adjusted accordingly because meat on the bone takes longer to cook), or lamb chops work just as well.
Prep work:
Rub the lamb you're using with fine sea salt to coat and let sit in the fridge covered completely for up to 3 hours. Keep the lamb refrigerated during this process.
The process of using salt to tenderise meat is something I've always done, especially with meat I've kept frozen. It wasn't until I bought my first cookbooks (Julia Child's two volumes of Mastering the Art of French Cooking) that I knew this was actually a cooking technique called "brining".
Roast Lamb with Mint Sauce
(6 servings)
Ingredients:
2 - 2 1/2 lbs of lamb shoulder
6 generous teaspoons of Dijon mustard
3 cups fresh breadcrumbs
6 tablespoons fresh mint
Roasting the Lamb Part I
Preheat over to 450°F.
1. Drain the water from the lamb roast with paper towels.
2. Rub the Dijon mustard over the entire roast, paying special attention to the nooks and crannies.
3. Combine breadcrumbs and fresh mint to make breading.
4. Press the breading into the lamb roast until it is entirely covered and no moisture from the mustard shows (it will look like dark wet spots in the breading).
The reason why breadcrumbs are called for in this recipe is to absorb the fat that will come out of the meat during the cooking process. This will be especially important if you're using a leg of lamb as there is more fat in the legs than the shoulder or the chops. If using a rack of lamb or pre-sliced lamb chops, bread in the same way, making sure to cover the bone.
5. Wrap the lamb in foil making sure to crimp the edges together so that no heat can escape during cooking.
6. Cook for 20 minutes at 450°F.
While the lamb cooks, we will start to make the mint sauce, the starch, and the vegetables.
Mint Sauce
Ingredients:
1 cup finely chopped mint
1/2 cup beef broth
1/2 cup minced shallots
4 tablespoons good quality red wine vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons corn starch
You can substitute canned beef broth for beef bouillon cubes, but make sure to stick to the measurements found on the package and to keep the broth as light as possible without losing the taste.
Sifted flour can be a substitute for corn starch if needed.
1. Combine the mint, broth, shallots, vinegar, and sugar in a small saucepan and stir until the sugar dissolves.
2. Simmer the sauce for 2 minutes.
3. Pour the sauce into a bowl and set aside in the refrigerator.
Roasting the Lamb Part II
After the 20 minutes have passed, lower the heat to 350°F and roast for 15 minutes.
While the lamb roasts prepare the green beans by trimming the end the bean where it hung from the vine only.
If using baby potatoes, you do not need to scrub them. Instead run your hands over the potatoes while you rinse them to remove any dirt or debris.
In a large stock pot add enough water so that all the potatoes with be submerged, add salt, and bring to a boil.
After the 15 minutes have passed, remove the lamb from the oven without disturbing the foil and set on the back of the stove.
Baby Red Potatoes with Sage Butter
2 1/2 pounds of baby red potatoes
6 - 8 leaves of fresh sage chopped finely
4 teaspoons of salted butter
Salt and pepper
1. Boil the potatoes in their skins (or jackets) until tender.
You may want to check the tenderness around the 15 minute mark as baby potatoes cook quicker than older potatoes.
2. Drain the water and gently move potatoes to serving dish.
3. Over low heat melt the butter and add the sage until you can smell the scent.
4. Remove butter and sage from heat, add salt and pepper to taste and drizzle over the potatoes.
5. Cover serving dish with foil and add to the back of the stove.
My secret to green beans is simply to boil them in salted water until cooked half way through, drain off the water, pat them dry with paper towels, and then to sauté the green beans with butter, salt, and pepper. This keeps a nice crunch to the bean and makes them taste fresh from the garden. Once the green beans are cooked to your tastes pour them in a serving dish and cover with foil.
Roasting the Lamb Part III
Don't worry this is the final step.
Preheat oven to highest broiler setting (on my French oven this is 275°C, or 525°F). Move rack to the tallest position possible without having the lamb roast touch the top of the oven. Peel back the foil and broil on each side, turning the roast when the breadcrumb mixture has browned. It will almost look as if you have fried the roast when properly browned. Drain off any of the juices into the mint sauce mixture, recover with the foil and set on cutting board for 10-15 minutes to let meat properly set.
Strain the mint sauce with a very fine mesh strainer, making sure to squeeze out all the liquid, and reserve some of the coarse mint and shallot mixture. Pour back into original saucepan, and add the 2 teaspoons of corn starch or flour over low heat and stir until dissolved.
A good tip for making sauces where either corn starch or flour is called for as a thickening agent is to make sure the liquid is cooled. The heat is what causes the sauce to thicken, so adding the thickening agent to a hot liquid will make it clump up. Once the thickening agent has dissolved, you have to continously stir to keep the sauce from getting too thick. If the thickening agent has been properly dissolved you will not have lumps unless you do not stir or use the right heat setting.
Once the sauce has thickened to the consistency of a syrup (like maple), take the sauce off the heat and pour into a serving dish and cover.
How to Serve
Slice the lamb horizontally in 1/2 inch slices. The breading will fall off at this point, but don't worry. I usually salvage it from the cutting board to use as a secondary garnish.
If serving "family style", as I did last night, plate the roast in slices to show the degree of pinkness of the cooked meat and garnish with the breading and some of the mint and shallots leftover from the original sauce.
If you want to plate this then calculate 2 - 3 slices of lamb per plate and drip the sauce over the lamb (you can use a zig-zag pattern or simply serve the sauce as if it were gravy). Be careful how much sauce you give each serving because even though this sauce is very light, mint is a really powerful spice!
I like to use kitchen tongs (or chopsticks) to cross my green beans because I like the aesthetics. You've just made a huge delicious meal and should do whatever you want. Serve 3 - 4 potatoes per plate depending on the size, making sure to get a little bit of the butter and sage.
And voila! You've just made a somewhat traditional version of Roast Lamb with Mint Sauce.
Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of the finished dish before it was devoured, but am happy to say my concerns that this English dish wouldn't please sensitive French palates were rubbish, but it received rave reviews. I would normally consider this dish seasonal autumn or winter fare, but this is precisely why I used baby potatoes and fresh green beans. Also, this mint sauce is a somewhat lighter version, which gave it a more summery sort of taste.
Bon appetit!
One of my other favorite things about Elisabeth is her little hallway garden that she has at the top of the stairs. She has a real green thumb, something I envy, but I also found quite inspiring. A few months ago we got a plot of community garden space across the canal and planted flowers and vegetables that we bought at a flower shop just around the corner in the hope that after her wise counsel I might manage to grow my own veggies and then some spices on our balcony.
La Chienne seems to be guarding the plants, but was
actually nibbling at them, and was caught in the act!
In order to prepare my recipe with my own homegrown mint, I preened large to mid-sized leaves from the plant, leaving the smaller less developed leaves to grow a little more. This only gave me a small portion of what I needed for this recipe, so I bought some extra mint from the store with the intention of using the store bought mint for the marinade part and my mint for the sauce.
This is not a difficult dish to make if you keep a few things in mind such as.
1. The quality of the lamb.
2. Never overcook lamb. It should always be pink or rosé, in French.
3. Prepare the lamb beforehand no matter the quality. It enhances the texture.
For this dish I used a roast of boneless lamb shoulder, but leg (with or without the bone, but cooking time needs to be adjusted accordingly because meat on the bone takes longer to cook), or lamb chops work just as well.
Prep work:
Rub the lamb you're using with fine sea salt to coat and let sit in the fridge covered completely for up to 3 hours. Keep the lamb refrigerated during this process.
The process of using salt to tenderise meat is something I've always done, especially with meat I've kept frozen. It wasn't until I bought my first cookbooks (Julia Child's two volumes of Mastering the Art of French Cooking) that I knew this was actually a cooking technique called "brining".
Roast Lamb with Mint Sauce
(6 servings)
Ingredients:
2 - 2 1/2 lbs of lamb shoulder
6 generous teaspoons of Dijon mustard
3 cups fresh breadcrumbs
6 tablespoons fresh mint
Roasting the Lamb Part I
Preheat over to 450°F.
1. Drain the water from the lamb roast with paper towels.
2. Rub the Dijon mustard over the entire roast, paying special attention to the nooks and crannies.
3. Combine breadcrumbs and fresh mint to make breading.
4. Press the breading into the lamb roast until it is entirely covered and no moisture from the mustard shows (it will look like dark wet spots in the breading).
The reason why breadcrumbs are called for in this recipe is to absorb the fat that will come out of the meat during the cooking process. This will be especially important if you're using a leg of lamb as there is more fat in the legs than the shoulder or the chops. If using a rack of lamb or pre-sliced lamb chops, bread in the same way, making sure to cover the bone.
5. Wrap the lamb in foil making sure to crimp the edges together so that no heat can escape during cooking.
6. Cook for 20 minutes at 450°F.
While the lamb cooks, we will start to make the mint sauce, the starch, and the vegetables.
Mint Sauce
Ingredients:
1 cup finely chopped mint
1/2 cup beef broth
1/2 cup minced shallots
4 tablespoons good quality red wine vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons corn starch
You can substitute canned beef broth for beef bouillon cubes, but make sure to stick to the measurements found on the package and to keep the broth as light as possible without losing the taste.
Sifted flour can be a substitute for corn starch if needed.
1. Combine the mint, broth, shallots, vinegar, and sugar in a small saucepan and stir until the sugar dissolves.
2. Simmer the sauce for 2 minutes.
3. Pour the sauce into a bowl and set aside in the refrigerator.
Roasting the Lamb Part II
After the 20 minutes have passed, lower the heat to 350°F and roast for 15 minutes.
While the lamb roasts prepare the green beans by trimming the end the bean where it hung from the vine only.
If using baby potatoes, you do not need to scrub them. Instead run your hands over the potatoes while you rinse them to remove any dirt or debris.
In a large stock pot add enough water so that all the potatoes with be submerged, add salt, and bring to a boil.
After the 15 minutes have passed, remove the lamb from the oven without disturbing the foil and set on the back of the stove.
Baby Red Potatoes with Sage Butter
2 1/2 pounds of baby red potatoes
6 - 8 leaves of fresh sage chopped finely
4 teaspoons of salted butter
Salt and pepper
1. Boil the potatoes in their skins (or jackets) until tender.
You may want to check the tenderness around the 15 minute mark as baby potatoes cook quicker than older potatoes.
2. Drain the water and gently move potatoes to serving dish.
3. Over low heat melt the butter and add the sage until you can smell the scent.
4. Remove butter and sage from heat, add salt and pepper to taste and drizzle over the potatoes.
5. Cover serving dish with foil and add to the back of the stove.
My secret to green beans is simply to boil them in salted water until cooked half way through, drain off the water, pat them dry with paper towels, and then to sauté the green beans with butter, salt, and pepper. This keeps a nice crunch to the bean and makes them taste fresh from the garden. Once the green beans are cooked to your tastes pour them in a serving dish and cover with foil.
Roasting the Lamb Part III
Don't worry this is the final step.
Preheat oven to highest broiler setting (on my French oven this is 275°C, or 525°F). Move rack to the tallest position possible without having the lamb roast touch the top of the oven. Peel back the foil and broil on each side, turning the roast when the breadcrumb mixture has browned. It will almost look as if you have fried the roast when properly browned. Drain off any of the juices into the mint sauce mixture, recover with the foil and set on cutting board for 10-15 minutes to let meat properly set.
Strain the mint sauce with a very fine mesh strainer, making sure to squeeze out all the liquid, and reserve some of the coarse mint and shallot mixture. Pour back into original saucepan, and add the 2 teaspoons of corn starch or flour over low heat and stir until dissolved.
A good tip for making sauces where either corn starch or flour is called for as a thickening agent is to make sure the liquid is cooled. The heat is what causes the sauce to thicken, so adding the thickening agent to a hot liquid will make it clump up. Once the thickening agent has dissolved, you have to continously stir to keep the sauce from getting too thick. If the thickening agent has been properly dissolved you will not have lumps unless you do not stir or use the right heat setting.
Once the sauce has thickened to the consistency of a syrup (like maple), take the sauce off the heat and pour into a serving dish and cover.
How to Serve
Slice the lamb horizontally in 1/2 inch slices. The breading will fall off at this point, but don't worry. I usually salvage it from the cutting board to use as a secondary garnish.
If serving "family style", as I did last night, plate the roast in slices to show the degree of pinkness of the cooked meat and garnish with the breading and some of the mint and shallots leftover from the original sauce.
If you want to plate this then calculate 2 - 3 slices of lamb per plate and drip the sauce over the lamb (you can use a zig-zag pattern or simply serve the sauce as if it were gravy). Be careful how much sauce you give each serving because even though this sauce is very light, mint is a really powerful spice!
I like to use kitchen tongs (or chopsticks) to cross my green beans because I like the aesthetics. You've just made a huge delicious meal and should do whatever you want. Serve 3 - 4 potatoes per plate depending on the size, making sure to get a little bit of the butter and sage.
And voila! You've just made a somewhat traditional version of Roast Lamb with Mint Sauce.
Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of the finished dish before it was devoured, but am happy to say my concerns that this English dish wouldn't please sensitive French palates were rubbish, but it received rave reviews. I would normally consider this dish seasonal autumn or winter fare, but this is precisely why I used baby potatoes and fresh green beans. Also, this mint sauce is a somewhat lighter version, which gave it a more summery sort of taste.
Bon appetit!
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