Chef Juliette
Saddle of Mutton
Selle de mouton rôtie teaches that the roast is decided before the oven: trim cleanly, fold the flanks close, tie firmly, then carve rosy slices beside vegetables glossed with real butter.
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Gigot à la Boulangère
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 1307, Gigot à la Boulangère, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Gigot à la boulangère turns one roasting dish into the whole kitchen: lamb bronzes first, then onions and thick potato rounds drink the drippings until crisp-edged, tender, and ready for the table.
Main Dishes
French
Comfort Food
One Pot
Dinner Party
25 min
Active Time
1 hr 50 min cook•2 hr 30 min total
Yield4 servings
Gigot à la boulangère (leg of lamb with baker's potatoes) teaches timing: the joint must brown before the vegetables arrive, then its fat becomes their seasoning and cooking liquor. That is the one true thing to know before touching the pan. Put everything in together and the lamb pales while the onions weep; stagger them, and one dish gives you bronzed meat, sweet onions, and potatoes with crisp rims and soft centers.
The formula assumed a large joint, an earthenware dish, and a cook who knew the oven by feel. For four, its four onions and eight potatoes become two and four around a small bone-in leg, a direct half-scale that preserves the generous proportion. A heavy 35 × 25 cm roasting dish and an instant-read thermometer are the honest home equivalents; asking the butcher to remove the pelvis bone and shorten the shank replaces the boning and sawing that belong at the block, not your supper table. There is no saucier, no stockpot, and no separate sauce because the lamb's drippings are the sauce. One cook, one stove, one evening.
The butchery is scaffolding and can go to the butcher. Browning the lamb on both sides, coloring the onions in real butter, adding the half-inch potato rounds for the final portion of roasting, and serving from the cooking dish are the recipe itself, so they stay. Guard the browning first; if the potatoes lag behind the meat, lift the lamb to rest and let the dish carry on. Ça se rattrape.
Gigot à la boulangère belongs to the French Sunday table rather than to one region, particularly in towns where households entrusted a prepared joint to the neighborhood baker's oven after the bread came out. Boulangère means in the baker's manner: the name describes the shared oven and the bed of onions and potatoes that caught the meat juices, not a separate sauce. What entered the classical canon was the same domestic economy made exact, with the lamb browned first, the garnish added late, and the whole dish carried to the table in its earthenware vessel.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
small bone-in leg of lamb
Quantity
1 leg (about 4 lb / 1.8 kg)
pelvis bone removed and shank bone shortened
fine sea salt
Quantity
1 tablespoon (15 ml / 18 g)
freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
1½ teaspoons (7.5 ml / 3 g)
unsalted butter
Quantity
3 tablespoons (45 ml / 42 g)
large yellow onions
Quantity
2 large (about 1 lb / 450 g)
thinly sliced
large all-purpose potatoes
Quantity
4 large (about 3 lb / 1.35 kg)
peeled and cut into ½-inch (1.25 cm) roundels
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| small bone-in leg of lambpelvis bone removed and shank bone shortened | 1 leg (about 4 lb / 1.8 kg) |
| fine sea salt | 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 18 g) |
| freshly ground black pepper | 1½ teaspoons (7.5 ml / 3 g) |
| unsalted butter | 3 tablespoons (45 ml / 42 g) |
| large yellow onionsthinly sliced | 2 large (about 1 lb / 450 g) |
| large all-purpose potatoespeeled and cut into ½-inch (1.25 cm) roundels | 4 large (about 3 lb / 1.35 kg) |
Equipment Needed
- •Heavy 35 × 25 cm (14 × 10 inch) earthenware or enameled roasting dish
- •30 cm (12 inch) wide skillet
- •Instant-read meat thermometer
- •Carving board, knife, and fork
Instructions
- 1
Heat and prepare
Set a rack in the lower-middle of the oven and heat it to 450°F (230°C). Pat the lamb completely dry, especially over the fat, then season it all over with 2 teaspoons (10 ml / 12 g) of the salt and 1 teaspoon (5 ml / 2 g) of the pepper. Set it fat-side up in a heavy 35 × 25 cm roasting dish. Dry meat browns; moisture gives the oven another job before browning can begin.
The dish must leave enough room for the potatoes to sit no more than two layers deep around the joint. A cramped dish gives pale, soft potatoes. - 2
Brown, then roast
Roast the lamb fat-side up for 15 minutes, turn it carefully, and brown the second side for 12 to 15 minutes. Turn it fat-side up again, lower the oven to 350°F (180°C), and continue roasting for 30 to 40 minutes, until the thickest part reaches about 110°F (43°C), measuring away from the bone. The surface should be deeply bronzed on both sides before the garnish enters. If one side is still pale, give that side another 5 minutes at the higher heat before lowering the oven; browning delayed is browning lost.
- 3
Color the onions
While the lamb roasts, melt the butter in a wide skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and toss them for 8 to 10 minutes, until supple with pale golden edges but not fully caramelized. They need only acquire color because they will finish beneath the lamb. Cut the potatoes into even ½-inch (1.25 cm) roundels, dry them well, and season them with the remaining salt and pepper.
- 4
Add the garnish
Take the roasting dish from the oven. Arrange the buttered onions closely around the joint, scraping every drop of butter from the skillet into the dish, then overlap the potato roundels loosely over and among the onions. Spoon the rendered lamb fat over the potatoes and drag the lowest rounds through the fond, the browned glaze on the dish floor. Keep the layers shallow. If the garnish crowds the joint, move everything, including every scraping and drop of fat, into a wider ovenproof dish; the vessel may change, but nothing flavorful is left behind.
- 5
Finish together
Raise the oven to 375°F (190°C) and return the dish, with the lamb fat-side up. Roast for 20 minutes, then turn the exposed potato rounds and baste them with the drippings. Continue for 20 to 30 minutes, until the potatoes yield cleanly to a knife, their rims are bronze, and the lamb reaches 140°F (60°C) at its thickest point. If the lamb reaches temperature while the potatoes are still firm, lift it to a board, cover it loosely, raise the oven to 425°F (220°C), and give the garnish another 10 to 15 minutes. Ça se rattrape.
- 6
Rest and serve
Rest the lamb loosely covered for 15 minutes; its center should rise to at least 145°F (63°C). Confirm the temperature before carving, and if it falls short, return the joint to the 375°F (190°C) oven for 5 minutes, then rest it another 3 minutes. Set the lamb back among the potatoes, spoon the clear roasting juices over everything, and carry the cooking dish to the table. Carve across the grain and give each plate both crisp-edged potatoes and the soft onions underneath. À table!
Chef Tips
- •Ask the butcher for a small leg with the pelvis bone removed and the shank shortened so it fits the roasting dish. Boning and tying are permitted by the original formula, but a neat bone-in leg gives the home cook better protection against drying and a handsome joint for the table.
- •Choose firm all-purpose potatoes such as Yukon Gold. Very floury potatoes can collapse while being basted, while waxy salad potatoes resist the lamb fat instead of drinking it.
- •Use a wide, shallow dish. The potatoes need contact with hot fat and the oven's dry heat; buried in a deep pile, they soften without taking the burnished edges that make the garnish.
- •Serve with a firm red Bordeaux or a northern Rhône red. The wine needs enough structure for the lamb, but the onions and butter ask for fruit rather than severity.
- •Leftovers keep for up to 3 days when chilled promptly. Reheat the potatoes uncovered in a hot oven and warm sliced lamb beside them only for the final few minutes, or the meat will dry before the edges crisp.
Advance Preparation
- •Have the butcher trim the leg up to 2 days ahead and keep it well wrapped in the cold.
- •The onions can be sliced and tossed in butter up to 1 day ahead. Cool them promptly, cover, and chill, then bring them out while the lamb begins roasting.
- •The potatoes can be peeled and sliced up to 2 hours ahead and held under cold water. Drain and dry them thoroughly before seasoning; water left on the surface prevents proper browning.
- •Do not assemble the full dish ahead. The delayed addition of onions and potatoes is the technique that lets the lamb brown rather than stew in their moisture.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 570g)
Calories
985 calories
Total Fat
50 g
Saturated Fat
23 g
Trans Fat
2 g
Unsaturated Fat
23 g
Cholesterol
255 mg
Sodium
1970 mg
Total Carbohydrates
60 g
Dietary Fiber
8 g
Sugars
7 g
Protein
71 g
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