Tour de France '20 - Stage 3 : Nice to Sisteron.
A final nod to Nice, the birthplace of ratatouille, and a big Bonjour to Sisteron (the first time, in the history of the Tour, a stage ended there) as well as to a long-desired first of my own: Provençal leg of lamb - slathered in dijon, herbs, and drizzled with a delicious, rosemary honey from Savannah Bee Company. Their honeys are seasonal, so you may have to wait to get this one, but they have plenty of other delicious options.
Why had I waited so long to do this?! I once desirously read a feature about spit-roasted legs of lamb and imagined myself somewhere in the Old World turning a spit in an outdoor fireplace. Why would I possibly tarnish that image in my head by making a simple roast in my oven? I guess we all hold on to weird, fantastical ideas which, in turn, only prevent us from reaching the zenith of our dreams. I’m here to tell you: we need to drop that nonsense right now and get moving with our lives and talents. Don’t be afraid to try and accomplish something that may not be perfect or exactly as you’re imagining it in your head. Do a little research and dive in steadfast!
Since I don’t own a rotisserie for my grill (yet! I’m burying that hatchet very soon, too.), I went with an oven-roasted recipe. But, I needed a trustworthy source. Someone who is “fancy AF” yet, at the same time, non-threatening, cordial...motherly. So, I went with the imitable Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten. Who doesn’t want to live it up in the Hamptons, eating her delicious recipes and knocking back a few cocktails or bottles of wine and listening to her chortle at your bad jokes?
The beauty of her recipe is the concentration of robust flavors which develop by oven-roasting the tomatoes along with absorbing some of the drippings from the roast. I strongly suggest using a high quality honey, like I did, if you can. The difference between even my preferred local vendor’s wildflower honey and this rosemary honey plays a large role in the layered depth of flavor you will get out of the final roast. Sampling both honeys as I write this entry (it’s for science, you guys, gimme a break), the rosemary honey is deeper in color, slightly thicker (so it won’t run all over the place as easily) and the rosemary, while also tying nicely into the herbs used in the roast, adds a deep and woodsy body that an oven roast benefits from (since I couldn’t live out my dream of spit-roasting over an open fire, this is the next best thing).
To add some roastiness to the dish, however, I prepared a grilled-vegetable ratatouille. Pair with a Syrah from Côtes du Rhône.
Roasted Provençal Lamb
Adapted from Barefoot Contessa, Ina Garten
4-5 lb. bone-in leg of lamb
½ cup dijon mustard
9 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tbsp minced rosemary + add’l sprigs
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
3 lbs ripe tomato, quartered or cut into 6 pieces, if large
½ cup Extra-virgin olive oil
½ cup of honey
1 large onion
Thyme
Preheat the oven to 450. Dry off the lamb and place it fat-side up in a large roasting pan.
Whisk the mustard, garlic, 1 tbsp of rosemary and balsamic vinegar together and rub into the roast. Season the roast generously with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. In a bowl combine the chopped tomatoes, EVOO, half of the honey, and stir in some salt and pepper. Once fully coated, place the tomatoes around the roast, tucking them into the bottom of the lamb. Slowly pour the remaining honey over the roast. Place some sprigs of rosemary and thyme atop of the tomatoes.
Place in the oven. After 20 minutes, reduce the heat to 350 and continue roasting for an hour.
Remove from the oven as the roast hits 130 degrees. Cover lightly and let the meat rest for 15 minutes. If you’d like to add additional color to the roast, place under the broiler for a few minutes before slicing. Serve along with the roasted tomatoes and grilled ratatouille.
Grilled Ratatouille
Red and yellow pepper
1 large zucchini
2 small summer squash
1 large (or 2 small) eggplant
2 red onion, quartered
4 ripe tomatoes
Thyme
Olive oil
Garlic
Preheat your grill to high. Be sure the grate is clean to prevent sticking just before adding the vegetables to the grilling surface. Grill the peppers with the lid down, turning infrequently, until all of the skin is fully blistered and blackened, 10-12 mins total, and set aside to cool. Meanwhile, cut the zucchini, squash, and eggplant in half lengthwise and peel and quarter the onions. Put the cut veggies and whole tomatoes in a large bowl, drizzle with 2 tbsp olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle on some freshly chopped thyme. Add the tomatoes and cut vegetables to the grill (skin-side down), for 4 mins with the lid closed. Then, flip and grill, flesh-side down, for about 3 mins with the lid open (just obtaining grill markings) and monitoring flare-ups while rotating the tomatoes periodically to obtain grill marks all over the skin. Remove and let the vegetables cool slightly.
Meanwhile, warm 2 tbsp of olive oil over medium-heat in a small skillet for 1 min. Mince 2 garlic cloves and sauté in the olive oil, stirring continuously for 1 min over the heat, then remove the pan from the burner and set aside. Remove all of the blackened skin from the peppers along with the seeds and cut the remaining flesh into large dice. Rough chop all of the other vegetables and combine in a large serving dish, drizzle with the garlic-infused oil and taste for any additional seasoning.
Copyright 2020, Brendan McCann, All Rights Reserved.
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