There was a bugger cook this morning who made me a leg of lamb with Béarnaise sauce, which was wonderfully successful, I admit, but precisely because of that, I took so much that I still have it on my stomach. (The Side of Guermantes).
Ingredients:1 leg of 2.4 kg, 3 cl olive oil, 80 g butter, 3 onions, 1 head of garlic, 1 teaspoon thyme flower, 2 bay leaves, salt, pepper, 200 g béarnaise.
Preheat the oven to 220°C. Peel the 3 onions and cut them into 6 wedges. Heat a large griddle on which you have previously poured the olive oil. Salt and pepper the lamb, then brown it on the very hot plate.
When the lamb is nicely colored, butter it, add the cut onions all around, the head of garlic cut in half, the thyme and the bay leaf. Put in the oven and cook for 55 minutes. During cooking, if you see that the onions are burning, add a small glass of water.
When the lamb is cooked, remove it and let it rest for 30 minutes, it will be all the more tender (to keep it warm you can wrap in foil or bake 3-4 minutes before serving). Cut it up and serve it immediately with a béarnaise.
Note:you can accompany the meat with sautéed potatoes or simply green beans sautéed in butter.
From "Proust" La Cuisine Retrouvée published by Chêne Editions.
