Leg of Lamb with a Crown of Garlic From Perigord

Yield > 8
Servings
Ingredients :
2 1/4 kg Leg of lamb
Salted water
40 gm Goose fat, or
40 gm Butter
50 x Garlic cloves, peeled
3 tbl Armagnac, or
3 tbl Brandy
250 ml Sauternes, or
250 ml Montbazillac, or
250 ml Other sweet wine
Salt
Black pepper, freshly
Method :
• Ground Blanch the lamb by
putting it in boiling, salted water for 15 minutes. Drain the leg
and dry it well with absorbent paper or a clean cloth. Melt the
fat in a large, deep casserole. Add the lamb and brown it all
over. Put the garlic cloves around the lamb. Pour over the
Armagnac or brandy and set it alight. When the flames die
down, add the wine and season with salt and pepper to taste.
• Cover the casserole tightly, using foil to make a perfect
seal. Cook over very low heat for 5 or 6 hours, turning the
meat over every 2 hours. Serve the lamb on a large dish with
its cooking juices and place the garlic around it in a circle. This
dish is traditionally served with pureed haricot or broad beans
or a dandelion salad.
• French name: Gigot Perigourdin a la Couronne d'Ail. This
wonderful dish appears in various parts of France under
different names. The long slow cooking removes any slight
bitterness from the garlic and it becomes a vegetable - tender,
golden brown nuts of delicate flavour. It is a dish for
midsummer, when the young garlic is still tender and juicy, its
fat stalks coloured with green and purple streaks, its skin silky.
• the Great Regional Dishes of the World. Mitchell Beazley
Publishers 1974.
• This edition: Spring Books, London 1988.