Dinner a la Tour de Cause

The last week is quickly winding down here in France. The tourists have nearly headed home, the leaves are now rapidly falling, and there is a definite chill in the air. The are two tourists here that have just arrived from my quaint hometown. Neil and Maxine decided to take their vacation to France after I casually mentioned that I was going to be staying and working at the bed & breakfast. For them it has become a great excuse to see a lot of France, and for me, it was very welcome friendly familiar face. It was also an excuse for me to dash into the kitchen to cook a what I hoped to be, delicious meal!

Since being here, I have learned what the French have (amazing cheese, a butcher in every town) and what they do not (chicken broth, lack of microwaves). I have learned where to go to find the best produce, and which supermarket has what (because they do NOT all have the same things, sometimes items aren't there on certain days, etc etc). Most importantly, I think I have expanded my culinary knowledge in flavors and tastes. For my birthday about a month ago, my Grandma sent me a book called Lunch in Paris, by Elizabeth Band . It's a book about a traditional love story of an American girl and a French boy but includes delicious sounding recipes to try. I had just read a chapter that ended with a scrumptious orange and star anise lamb dish and since Neil and Albert (owner of the B&B) had both recently mentioned the loved lamb, it seemed like the perfect dish. A date was set (last night) and we brainstormed how to cook, and more importantly, where to find, lamb shanks.

A trip down to the local butcher in Castelnaud...

And a few laughs trying to tell the butcher what we wanted (because the name for shank is different for lamb, pork, and beef), we finally ordered six to pick up the next day. Since that hurdle was crossed, we went up to see the castle that has been looming in my horizon for the past two months, the Château de Castelnaud.

The castle, on the right, taken from an earlier kayaking river trip

The castle's kitchen

Friday the real preparation for the meal was made. Caitlin and I went to the farm co-operative to pick up as many fresh vegetables as we could...

The lettuces had been picked that day, beautiful in size and color. The potatoes were local and fresh. They are just the type of people you want to support-a full time farmer's market. We  couldn't unfortunately get everything here, so went to the local supermarket (where they were also having a wine fair and wine tasting), to pick up the Comté  cheese and some other items for the B&B.

Even at the supermarket, there is a fantastic cheese selection, with someone who knows a lot about cheese and can give suggestions

We got home and we were off! The lamb dish takes about an hour and a half to cook (slowly in the oven), and between the browning and the dicing of the vegetables for the sauce, I popped it in the over at 6. Dinner was supposed to be at 7, whoops! But, it left more time to eat some foie gras on toast before the meal was served.

Browned Shanks

Sauce ingredients

Smile!

Lamb + Sauce, about to go the oven

We started with a Salade de Betterraves, a beet salad! But not just any beet salad, one with lardon (bacon), the Comté cheese, and walnuts-some of my most favorite things in the world.

We then moved on to the lamb dish, that I took out of the oven just as we were serving the salad. Upon lifting the lid of the pot, I had a feeling it had been a success as the lamb was falling off the bone and a heavenly aroma wafted around the kitchen. Served with a side of boiled potatoes to soak up the sauce, it was tantalizingly good.

Pre-sauce for the potatoes!

For those of you who like lamb, or have a lamb lover in your life, I suggest this recipe to be tried immediately. It was so good and very warm and comforting on the nearly stormy night. Here's the recipe for you who would like to try it out! Adapted from Lunch in Paris

Souris d'Agneau à l’Orange et à la Badiane
6 lamb shanks
Coarse sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1-2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium red onion, dices
1 head garlic, cloves peeled and left whole
3 whole star anise
1 organic navel orange, cut into six sections but leave the peels on
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup tomato-basil sauce (we use nice tomato sauce with fresh cut basil from the garden)
1 cup chicken broth (made ourselves since they don't sell it)
1 cup white wine

1-Preheat oven to 350
2-Season the lamb generously with salt and pepper and brown in a large Dutch Oven on the stove. When browned, remove and set aside
3-Add in the olive oil, let it get hot, then add the onion, garlic, star anise, and orange. Saute until they are slightly colored (the onions should be translucent) about 5 minutes
4-Add the liquids and the sugar, bring to a boil then add the meat back in, cover and pop in the oven
5-Cook for one and a half to two hours till lamb is tender and almost falling off the bone, the sauce being slightly reduced
6-Let sit 10-15 minutes before serving!

This recipe is fool proof, very easy and very enjoyable. I also found a similar French recipe for a whole roast leg of lamb if that is easier. The flavors and the textures are just simply to die for. And a bonus, if you make your chicken stock like we did, you have a whole boiled chicken and there is loads of sauce leftover, enough for a chicken dinner the next night!

We finished the evening with a lovely Tarte Tatin served with a little Creme de Noix,  essentially a walnut jam, and some Crème fraiche. YUM!

It was nice to be in the kitchen, cooking for a small crowd, and having that small crowd really enjoy their meal. Makes me excited to try out some skills when I get back home in a month.