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Easy Roast Lamb Recipe

Sometimes the daunting thought of cooking a leg of lamb can feel like too much, well think again. Because here’s your chance to cook that perfect main course, spend time with your guests and not be tied to your oven checking for that perfection. Who would have thought that your insulated freezer bag would “cook” your meal for you?

This is an amazing and innovative way to achieve a tender and still pink leg of lamb with very little effort. This recipe comes from the wonderfully talented team at Mas d’Augustine and something you might enjoy as a guest in their chambres d’hôtes near Uzès.

Roast Lamb Recipe Agneau juste a temp @Masdaugustine

Agneau juste à temp

Garlic and Rosemary infused tender leg of lamb cooked to perfect pink served with bright blanched vegetables. A must for your next dinner party or gathering.
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 15 minutes
Course Main Dish
Cuisine French, Provencal
Servings 6 people

Ingredients
  

  • 1 leg Lamb (gigot)
  • 3 Garlic Cloves
  • Fresh rosemary
  • olive oil
  • 2 large Broccoli heads
  • Baby carrots
  • 12 new potatoes all a similar size
  • 12 Shallots
  • 4 oz Red Port
  • 1 oz Butter
  • Sea Salt
  • 2 large Towels
  • 1 Insulated freezer bag

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 250C
  • Carefully slice the peeled garlic into thin slices.
  • Make a deep incision in the leg of lamb and insert one slice of garlic and a sprig of rosemary.
  • Repeat approximately 12 times, or until the gigot is well studded.
  • Rub the gigot on both sides with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt.
  • Place the lamb in a roasting tray skin side up and roast in the oven, uncovered, for 15 minutes.
  • Remove the lamb, turn it over and return to the oven for 8 minutes.
  • It is important to ensure that the oven is at full temperature before you start cooking.
  • Whilst the lamb is cooking, spread out two large towels on your worktop, one towel on top of the other.
  • After the 23 (15+8) minutes in the oven, remove the roasting tray and place it on top of the towels.
  • Cover the roasting tray with aluminum foil, making certain to fold the foil tightly around the edges of the tray.
  • Carefully fold the towels up over the tray from all four sides and place the entire “package” into an insulated freezer bag and leave for 1.5 hours…….
  • Peel the shallots and gently sauté them in butter for 10-12 minutes until soft and translucent.
  • Add 4 fl ozs of port and de-glaze the pan.
  • Simmer gently until reduced and syrupy, cover and set aside
  • To perfectly cook your vegetables – fill a large container with ice cold water and set aside.
  • Fill a large deep saucepan with water, add a tablespoon of salt (the water should taste salty) and bring to the boil.
  • Whilst this is coming to the boil, prepare your vegetables.
  • Trim and cut the broccoli into similar sized florets.
  • Peel the carrots and slice diagonally or if small, leave them whole.
  • Wash the potatoes and slice in half, lengthwise.
  • Once the water is at a rolling boil, blanch your vegetables in batches.
  • Start with the carrots for 3-4 minutes, test after 3 minutes, there should be a slight resistance when you push a sharp knife into the centre.
  • Remove with a slotted/basket spoon and plunge into the cold water.
  • Ensure the water is still boiling and repeat the process with the broccoli; it will take 2-3 minutes depending on the size of your florets.
  • Finally, repeat with the potatoes (10-12 minutes).
  • When chilled remove from the water and drain well.
  • When you are ready to cook them, arrange in a single layer in an oven proof dish, sprinkle with sea salt and olive oil and place in a medium hot oven (180c) for 7-8 minutes.
  • After 1.5 hours in your freezer bag, the lamb will be perfectly cooked and a lovely pink colour throughout. It can now be (carefully) removed from the bag.
  • Take the lamb juice from the oven tray and pour off any fat.
  • Reheat the shallots and add the meat juice, simmer for 2 minutes to reduce back down to a syrupy consistency.
  • Carve the lamb and serve on warm plates with the shallot and port glaze.
  • Place the dish of vegetables on the table for your guests to help themselves.
  • This method works well, as the lamb only needs your attention for 23 minutes (it will cook itself during the 1.5 hours in the freezer bag) and you can prepare and blanch your vegetables the day before …… leaving you free to entertain your guests !!

Notes

The key to successful blanching is to always have boiling water, regularly try your vegetables during the process and quickly plunge them into the ice cold water to halt the cooking process.
If you believe you might be pressed for time on the evening of your dinner party (or perhaps you want to spend more time drinking with your guests!), you can prepare the vegetables (in the manner described above) the day before and keep in a dry container in the refrigerator.
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Gary and Jane Langton

Gary and Jane Langton

When Jane was younger she wanted to be a show-jumper and, although she had some success, Jane knew she could never afford a horse that could take her to the top. Similarly, Jane enjoyed cooking and would have loved to be a chef, but she always knew that the unsocial hours would never fit with raising her family. So she stepped into the world of property construction and interior design, where she enjoyed a successful and fun filled career.

Gary went to a nautical school and always dreamed of going to sea, captaining his own ship. Although he managed to be selected for officer training in the Royal Navy at an early age, by the time he was 18 he no longer had 20:20 vision and his chosen field in the RN was no longer open to him. For a short period Gary studied quantity surveying before finally choosing a career in banking, during which time he lived for a period in New York before returning to London and ultimately running a global business team (involving much travel).

Jane and Gary met, via the internet, in February 2005 and their relationship took off. By 2007 they were married and, in early 2009, they both decided that enough was enough - the constant travelling with their jobs, rushed weekends together and too much politics in their business lives finally taking its toll.

So they decided on a total change of life. Jane had always dreamed of running a boutique hotel or upmarket B&B and pushed this idea which was accepted by Gary as he couldn’t come up with an alternative plan. The couple finally decided on France (proximity to their children in the UK and good weather) and spent about 18 months viewing 100+ properties in the South of France, from Provence to almost Spain and back, before finally settling (in December 2010) on an old stone house (and former silk farm) in La Bruguiere, a small village about 10 minutes from Uzes, France’s first Duchy and a beautiful little town.

The house renovation took 17 months and they first opened for business in summer 2012. As they end their sixth year in France the couple have no regrets and remain positive about their future.

Jane has finally managed to fulfil one of her childhood dreams of cooking professionally for others and continues to ride her horse. Gary works front of house at Mas d'Augustine their chambres d’hôte and (when asked) offers business advice to friends/associates in their location, whilst amusing himself by playing (bass) in a local French group. The couple recently started an additional business to project manage renovation works/remodelling (and, if requested, provide interior design) of holiday homes for absentee owners.

Life is too short to stand still and wait for it – Jane and Gary are firm believers that life is for the taking. Enjoy Jane's recipes here or spend a couple of nights to savour her cooking first hand.

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