This week's French Garden recipe

People who know me would tell you that it's hard to tell which I like more: gardening or cooking. I'd say it depends on which I'm doing at the moment. Anyway, French cooking and French gardening go hand in hand. For me, cooking is an on-going adventure. Join me here on my culinary explorations, where I share with you both my old favorites as well as new inspirations. It's my fondest wish that these recipes serve as a springboard for your own new creations.

04/27/2005
Navarin of spring lamb (Navarin du printemps)

Ingredients:

To serve 4:

For the stock:

A lamb neck, cut in slices, excess fat removed
Bones from the lamb shoulders below
1 onion, roughly diced
2 stalks celery sliced
1 large carrot sliced
1 leek with greens, sliced
Bouquet garni of plenty of thyme, some parsley, bay leaf, winter savory if available
1 T. olive oil
5-6 peppercorns

For the navarin:
4-5 pounds of shoulder of lamb, deboned, excess fat and membranes removed, cut into 2-3" cubes
2 T. olive oil
1 large onion, diced
1 large carrot, diced
One head of garlic, whole, root and outside skin removed
4-5 medium tomatoes, red ripe
1 bunch of leafy thyme
1 T. flour
3 T. unsalted butter
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the vegetables:

2 lbs. fresh fava beans in shell(you can substitute 1 lb. tiny green beans if you can't find favas or aren't growing them, or some tiny fresh artichoke hearts), shelled, tossed in boiling water for 1 minuted, drained, and peeled of their tough skins
2 lbs. fresh peas in shell, shelled
1 large bunch tiny fingerling carrots, scraped, with a small stub of green top left attached.
1 large bunch tiny new turnips, peeled and left whole or cut in half
1 lb. tiny new potatoes
One large bunch new onions (scallions can be used in a pinch, but best are the spring form of regular onions, with a small succulent bulb)
1 T. unsalted butter
1 t. sugar
Pinch of salt

The day or morning before, prepare the lamb stock. Heat the olive oil till very hot in a heavy dutch oven. Throw in the meat and sear it until browned. Toss in the vegetables and stir until they are lightly browned. Add water to cover, the bouquet garni, and the peppercorns. Bring to a boil and skim foam. Simmer for several hours. Strain and discard solids. Refrigerate, and skim solid fat from surface.

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Cut the tomatoes in half crosswise, squeeze out the seeds, and roughly chop them. Salt the meat. Heat a heavy dutch oven until very hot. Add the oil and toss in the meat. Sear it carefully until browned. The purpose is to brown the meat quickly while keeping the inside moist and as raw as possible.

Remove the meat to a platter. If there is a lot of grease in the pot, toss most of it out. Add the diced carrot and onion; cook, stirring, until lightly browned. Reduce the heat. Return the meat to the pot, sprinkle everything with flour, toss and cook for a couple of minutes.

Add the tomatoes, the garlic head, the bundle of thyme, and lamb stock to barely cover. Bring to an active simmer on the stovetop. Then place in the oven for 30-40 minutes while you prepare the vegetables. Be very careful not to overcook; the meat should be lightly rosy inside. As soon as you remove it from the oven, remove the meat to a serving dish, cover, and keep warm. Strain the sauce and reduce it by half over high heat, skimming any foam.

Meanwhile, prepare the vegetables. Thinly scrape the carrots with a peeling knife, whittling a stub of the attached greens as you would use a knife to sharpen a pencil. Leave this pared stub of green attached (very pretty)! Cook them in lightly salted, boiling water until barely tender; scoop out and set aside.

Cook the turnips in the same way.

Cook the potatoes until they can just be pierced by a knife. Peel them and set aside. You can combine all these vegetables, cover them and keep them warm.

Remember that you have already prepared the favas by parboiling them and popping the individual beans out of their skins. For a detailed description of how to do this, see 'Forgotten Favas' in Au Potager.

Cook the shelled peas in boiling water until just tender and still bright green.

Melt the butter in a small heavy saucepan. Toss in the cleaned little fresh onions and sprinkle with sugar and pinch of salt. Cook, stirring, for a couple of minutes. Add water to barely cover and cook over medium heat until water is just evaporated. Reduce heat and stir carefully until onions are golden and glazed.

Whisk the 3 T. of butter into the reduced sauce.

Take out the platter of meat. Scatter the vegetables over it and combine lightly and carefully. Make sure everything is adequately hot. If not, cover tightly with foil and place in a hot oven for a few minutes. Pour the sauce over everything, and serve with crusty bread and a young Saint-Estèphe.

Note: A navarin is the ultimate spring-time delicacy and celebration of the garden. It is decidedly not a stew, but a nuanced medley of everything that is best of the season cooked to perfection: lamb and the first tiny vegetables from the garden. In France, I'm able to make this with agneau de lait, milkfed lamb that is just a few weeks old. To really experience the spirit of the dish, try to obtain local lamb and not long-distance lamb from New Zealand. This is time-consuming to prepare but so worth the effort! The careful separate treatment of each ingredient allows the individual flavors to sing in this delicate dish.

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Products of Interest:

Fava 'de Seville'
Turnip 'De Nancy'
Pea 'Douce Provence'

Try some of our past French garden recipes:

Appetizers and small dishes

Basics

Beef, pork, lamb, and veal