CHM said in a comment that he wanted to see this Thanksgiving's gigot d'agneau (leg of lamb), so here it is. It's what Walt and I eat at Thanksgiving. Why? Because here in the French countryside it's not easy to find whole fresh or frozen turkeys except at Christmastime. You can special-order one, but that's a lot of trouble. We cook leg of lamb just once a year...
This gigot weighed 2.75 kilograms — about six pounds. We roasted it in our new oven. As side dishes, we had the traditional French lamb accompaniment, which is flagelot beans. We also steamed some Jerusalem artichokes (topinambours). With some good local bread and a bottle of Touraine primeur red wine, it made for a pretty good holiday dinner. And then we had pumpkin pie that Walt made from scratch...
Un grand merci. I almost felt I had a slice of that gigot cooked to perfection, my favorite kind of meat. We had turkey yesterday, of course, with corn, but no cranberry sauce, and neither sweet potatoes. So I didn’t eat any of that. We have turkey at least once a week!
ReplyDeleteVery nice, appetizing slideshow.
Thanks, CHM. We were worried about over-cooking the lamb, so we were paying attention and taking the leg's temperature with an instant-read thermometer. It worked out perfectly.
DeleteWe eat turkey nearly every week, but not whole roasted turkey. We buy parts. Legs, thighs, breast. It's all good.
I’m sure the French turkeys are much tastier than their American industrial counterparts!
DeleteLooks delightful, I have never roasted a leg of lamb,
ReplyDeleteThe lamb is beautiful, it is Lewis' favorite meat also. I found some chops for him this week. I should send you some cranberry sauce, CHM- it's necessary at Thanksgiving, even the kind that comes in a can.
ReplyDeleteBeautifully cooked and presented -- merci! It's nice to have a tradition, like that.
ReplyDeleteThat looks delish. And a belated thank-you for every day with your blog, all the times and work and frustration with difficult programs and what-not -- it makes France, as someone else said, so much closer for those who are far away.
ReplyDeleteI had organic turkey, which seems better tasting than the industrial kind. And I recommend cranberry-orange relish -- a friend made some and it's very good. It was the kind of meal that induces sound slumber afterwards.
For one of our first Thanksgivings here in Saint-Aignan, I ordered a farm-raised turkey from a butcher in town. It cost 30 euros, which seemed steep to me then, escpecially since the bird weighed only 3 kilos. I was not disappointed. I remember saying at the time that it was the best turkey I had ever tasted. We get very good turkey — boneless, skinless breast filets, drumsticks, thighs, and wings and eat turkey several times a month. I'm glad yours was good. I wonder if it was raised in North Carolina.
DeleteI don't know the bird's provenance, but I will ask my hostess next week. If I could get good turkey like that ordinarily, I wouldn't dislike the stuff so much.
DeleteI don't know the bird's provenance, but I will ask my hostess next week. If I could get good turkey like that ordinarily, I wouldn't dislike the stuff so much.
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