Provençal 7 Hour Lamb

By gnikylime

Modified from: http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Seven-Hour-Leg-of-Lamb

Ingredients

• FOR THE LAMB:
• 3 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 (4-lb.) [1.8 kg] shank end leg of lamb or a 4-lb. [1.8 kg] piece of shoulder, trimmed
• 20 cloves garlic, peeled
• 10 sprigs each fresh rosemary, thyme, and savory
• 1 (750-ml) bottle dry white wine
• 5 fresh or dried bay leaves
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• FOR THE BEANS:
• 2 cups dried white beans, preferably cannellini or white coco, soaked overnight
• 5 cloves garlic, smashed
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme and parsley and a bay leaf tied together with kitchen twine
• 10 whole cloves
• 1 large onion, halved
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp. crème fraîche
• FOR THE SAUCE:
• Few tablespoons butter
• Few tablespoons flour

Preparation

Step 1

Cook the lamb: Heat oven to 300F/150C [NEXT TIME TRY 210F/99C!!]. Rub lamb with oil and season generously with salt and pepper. Heat a large oval enameled casserole dish over medium-high heat. Add lamb and cook, turning occasionally, until browned on all sides, about 12 minutes. Transfer lamb to a plate. Add wine and 2 cups water to the casserole dish; scrape up browned bits from bottom of pot. Nestle garlic and herbs into the casserole dish; place lamb on top of herbs. Cover lamb with foil; transfer to oven and roast, basting frequently, for 3 1⁄2 hours. Uncover (saving the foil to put under the rack when cooling the lamb), flip lamb, and continue to cook, basting frequently, until lamb is very tender, 3–3 1⁄2 more hours. Transfer to a rack and let cool for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the beans: About 1 1⁄2 hours before the lamb is done, drain beans and transfer to a 4-qt. saucepan along with 6 cups water, 4 cloves garlic, and the herb bundle. Insert the cloves into one onion half and add to the pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until beans are tender, about 1 hour. Remove pot from heat and season with salt and pepper. Discard herbs and strain beans, reserving cooking liquid. Transfer beans, 1⁄4 cup cooking liquid, oil, crème fraîche, remaining garlic cloves, and uncloved onion back into the pot and purée with an immersion blender. Stir about 1 cup of the cooking liquid into the puréed bean mixture and cover to keep warm until lamb is cooked.

While the lamb is cooling on the rack, prepare the sauce. In a medium-sized pot, make a roux with the butter and flour. Working about 1/2 at a time, incorporate the strained pan juices from the lamb. Whisk to mix well in between. Once all of the pan juices have been incorporated, increase the heat to high and continuously whisk until the sauce has been reduced to your desired consistency.

Serve the lamb sliced or torn into chunks, alongside the beans, whole garlic cloves from the lamb pot, and the pan juice sauce.