The Easter holidays are an opportunity to get together with family and enjoy a good comforting meal. On the menu, what could be better than a recipe highlighting lamb, a traditional emblem? To find good ingredients, there is no need to go far, we choose local products : an estuary lamb accompanied by mojhettes. In order to revisit the recipe in a gastronomic way, we called on the Chef of the restaurant La Table de la Cèpe, Fabien Dos Santos.

The secrets of preparing leg of lamb from the estuary with mojhettes

Ingredients (for 6 people)

leg of lamb :

  • 1 leg of estuary lamb (1,6 kg to 2 kg depending on appetite)
  • 2 sprigs of thyme
  • 2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
  • olive oil
  • salt and pepper
  • a nice piece of butter
  • 200 to 300 g of lamb juice

To vary the recipe, you can replace the leg of lamb with a saddle or rack of lamb or with a candied shoulder.

To know

THEestuary lamb is raised on the right bank of the Gironde estuary, in the heart of the marshes, while respecting the environment. It is these humid meadows which give it its unique iodized taste.
For this recipe, the leg of lamb comes from The Gravelle Farm, member of the committed association The Sheep of the Estuary.

Charentaise-style mojhettes:

  • 400 g of mojhettes
  • 3 small carrots
  • 3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
  • 1 whole onion with 3 cloves stuck in it
  • a bouquet garni (thyme, bay leaf, parsley)
  • a handful of coarse salt
  • 5 tablespoons candied dried tomatoes, diced
  • 5 tablespoons of diced carrots (we will use those used for cooking the mojhettes)
  • 1 tablespoon of tomato concentrate
  • 5/6 spring onions
  • 70 g butter

mojhettes mousse:

  • 450 g of mojhettes
  • 200 g of mojhette cooking juice
  • 100 g of liquid cream

To know

The "mojhettes” in patois (or mogettes) are small, very fine, semi-dry white beans, belonging to the ingot variety.

the virgin sauce:

  • 10 cl olive oil
  • 10 basil leaves
  • 10 sprigs of chives
  • 2 dried tomatoes
  • 2 spring onions
  • lemon confit
  • parsley

The mixture of herbs present in the virgin sauce brings freshness to a fairly hearty dish.

Making a virgin sauce

1. Preparation of mojhettes Charentaise style

The day before, soak the 850 g of mojhettes in a large salad bowl overnight (minimum 12 hours)
On the day of the meal, in a large pot filled with cold water, moisten the mojhettes
Add the carrots, garlic, onion and bouquet garni
Cook for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Add salt halfway through cooking.
Once cooking is finished, remove the bouquet garni
Reserve the carrots and cut them into cubes
In a large frying pan, brown the dried tomatoes, spring onions, carrots and tomato paste in half the butter.
Add half of the mojhettes with a little cooking juice (the other half will be used for the mousse)
Add the other half of butter and pepper

2. Preparation of the mojhettes mousse

To obtain a very light mojhette puree, mix all the ingredients in a blender
Put the preparation in a siphon with 3 gas cartridges

3. Preparation of the estuary leg of lamb

In a large casserole dish, pour the oil and brown the leg of lamb on all sides over high heat. Salt and pepper.
Place the leg of lamb to roast in the oven for 1 hour to 1 hour 30 minutes at 180°
Once cooked, leave to rest for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
In a large skillet, make foamy butter. Add the thyme and garlic.
Brown the leg of lamb by drizzling it with melted butter. Turn it over and repeat the operation.
Reserve the meat
Prepare the lamb juice and deglaze it with the cooking juices from the pan

Cooking estuary leg of lamb

Letting the meat rest at the end of cooking helps maintain its tenderness and develop its flavor.

4. Training

Cut the leg of lamb into slices.
Arrange the slices on plates. Water them once with the lamb juice.
Add the mojhettes à la charentaise as well as the mojhettes mousse
Make a virgin sauce by mixing all the previously well chopped ingredients
Pour the sauce over the meat

Sprinkle with mixed dried olives and add a few small croutons for the finishing touch.

Estuary lamb with Charentaise mojhettes revisited

Food and wine pairing

To accompany the dish, Ludivine, manager of the restaurant La Table de la Cèpe, recommends a local white wine: Colombard N°1 from the vineyard. Talmont Heights.

Themes

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