Happy Lambsgiving

Sorry if I've told this story before. Walt and I eat lamb — a leg of lamb — every Thanksgiving. That will include today. Nearly 30 years ago, we decided that we'd prefer to have lamb for Thanksgiving (a holiday in late November in the U.S.) and save our holiday turkey (or other bird) for Christmas. When we lived in the U.S., having lamb for one holiday made us not forget to cook lamb at least once a year. Besides, in France, it's hard to find a whole turkey in late November. Whole turkeys are only available at Christmastime, unless you get yourself really organized and special-order one a week or so in advance.

Here's this years leg of lamb (un gigot d'agneau in French). We had the butcher de-bone it and then roll it and tie it up. It's a lamb roast — un gigot désossé, roulé, et ficelé.It will be easy to carve, and we'll eat it all through the weekend either sliced, cold, with a home-made mayonnaise, or chopped up and turned into a soup or shephed's pie. Today we'll eat it with some flageolet beans and green mange-tout beans.

     The photo on the left just above shows the lamb roast's bottom, hidden side. On the right is how it will go into the oven, fat-side up, and be served after it's cooked. I was surprised that a leg of lamb prepared this way cost as little as it did — just 49 euros. It weighs 1.7 kilos. That's about 13 euros per pound. Last year's bone-in gigot d'agneau, which I got from the same butcher, was heavier and cost over 60 euros. I wonder how much that bone would weigh. You can see it and the accompaniments we had with it in this slideshow that I published 12 months ago.