James Beard Tarragon Lamb

The late James Beard,  a brilliant American chef who died aged 81 in 1985 wrote about this recipe in his Autiobiography. It is more delicious that I can say.  Among the many things he said on the importance of good food is,  ‘If ever I had to practice Cannibalism, I might manage if there were enough tarragon around.’  And part of his love of tarragon is seen in this recipe.

I like to cook this for a lot longer than the recipe so that it falls off the bone. So if this is not your preferred way to cook a leg of lamb, then cook it for less time.

Ingredients
One leg of lamb
A huge bunch of tarragon
A handful of butter
large quantities of double cream
sea salt

Those measurements are an illustration of James Beard’s zest for all things delicious in abundance.

so…

1.   Preheat the oven to 180ºC
2.  Chop the tarragon and mix it with butter.
3. Slather the mixture on top of the leg of lamb and sprinkle with salt.

4. Put it in the oven for 4 hours. During the last half hour, add cream and baste it every so often.
5. After the cooking time is over, place the leg on a board to rest.
6. Put the pan over a medium heat and just to assist your waistline further, add another cup of double cream. Season and stir until you have a very rich and delicious gravy.
5. Serve with potatoes and some fine thin green beans.  There is so much flavour in the gravy that it should be allowed to compliment its accompaniments rather than the other way around, so no further bold flavours necessary.