Tarragon Lamb
Submitted by delorey
Leg of lamb marinated in white wine, scored and stuffed with tarragon, then slow-roasted and finished with a velvety cream pan sauce. Sunday roast worthy of a standing ovation.
YIELD
6 servingsPREP
20 minCOOK
20 minREADY
40 minThis is the roast you bring out when you want to impress.
A whole leg of lamb gets trimmed, scored in a deep criss-cross pattern, and packed with tarragon before soaking in a white wine and onion marinade for two hours.
Then it roasts low and slow, basted often, until the meat is tender and fragrant.
The real showstopper is the sauce: the pan juices and marinade get reduced by half, then finished with cream to create something rich, silky, and impossible not to spoon over everything on the plate.
Chef Tips
- Score the lamb deeply. You want those slits to go well into the flesh so the tarragon and marinade can penetrate, not just sit on the surface.
- Trim the fat aggressively. Removing the outer fat and as much internal fat as possible gives you cleaner, more concentrated lamb flavor.
- Baste frequently while roasting. This keeps the lean, trimmed meat from drying out and builds layers of flavor on the crust.
- Reduce the sauce before adding cream. Boil it down to half first so you get intensity, not a watery cream gravy.
Ingredients
Directions
Skin the leg of lamb and trim away all the outside fat and as much of the fat lying between the muscle tissue that you can reach.
Score the flesh deeply with a criss-cross pattern and stuff the slits with the tarragon.
Rub the meat with the oil and cover with the onion.
Place in a suitable dish for marinating and pour over the white wine.
Add a little salt and pepper and leave to marinate for about 2 hours in a cool place, basting occasionally.
Roast the lamb with the marinade, basting it frequently, in a warm oven 325℉ (160℃) until done.
About 10 minutes before the meat is cooked, pour off the marinade and meat juices into a saucepan.
Reduce the gravy to half its original quantity by boiling vigorously.
Carve the meat into thin slices and add the resulting juices to the marinade.
Arrange the meat on a serving dish and keep warm.
Remove the gravy from the heat, stir in cream and carefully re- heat the sauce until it forms a medium-thick consistency.
Pour the sauce over the lamb and keep warm.
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