Roast Lamb Normandy

Total Time: 1 hr 25 mins Preparation Time: 25 mins Cook Time: 1 hr

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 2 quarts water
• 6 bay leaves
• 3/4 cup kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons black peppercorns, cracked
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 1/2 cups honey
• 1 1/2 cups maple syrup, pure is best
• 2 lbs lamb loin roast, with ribs attached, one rib per person
• 1/4 cup calvados
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 golden delicious apples or 2 red delicious apples, peeled, cored, cut into 8 wedges
• 1/2 lb mushroom, trimmed, sliced
• 1 tablespoon fresh chives, finely chopped

Recipe

• 1 combine the water, bay leaves, salt, crushed peppercorns, cloves and ginger in a dutch oven; heat to a boil over medium-high heat. lower the heat to a simmer; stir in the honey and maple syrup. remove from heat; set aside to cool to room temperature, about 45 minutes. add the lamb to the brine; place a clean, heavy container or kitchen weight on the lamb to keep it submerged. cover the pan; refrigerate 5-8 hours.
• 2 heat the oven to 450 degrees; transfer the roast from the brine to a roasting rack in a roasting pan; roast until cooked through but still slightly pink inside or until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of the roast reads 150 degrees, 50-60 minutes. transfer the roast to a carving board; cover with foil to keep it warm.
• 3 remove the rack from the pan; pour off excess fat. place the pan over medium heat. add the calvados; cook, stirring and scraping, 1 minute. stir in the broth; cook, stirring, 2 minutes. stir in the cream. raise heat to medium-high; heat to a boil. cook, stirring often, until the sauce is slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. pour through a fine-meshed strainer into a bowl. cover; keep warm.
• 4 meanwhile, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large skillet; add the apple wedges. cook, stirring occasionally, until tender and golden brown, 7-10 minutes; remove to a bowl. add the remaining 1 tablespoon of the butter to the skillet; add the mushrooms. cook, stirring, until beginning to brown, about 4 minutes. stir the mushrooms into the strained sauce; adjust the seasonings, if needed.
• 5 slice the roast into 1/2-inch thick pieces; spoon the sauce onto serving plates. arrange the meat slices, overlapping, on top of the sauce; garnish with apples. sprinkle with chives.
• 6 notes:
• 7 brining time: 5-8 hours.
• 8 cooking time: 1 hour or until ideal temperature is reached. see above.
• 9 i would suggest periodically adding water to the bottom of the roasting pan. with the high oven temperature, the drippings tend to burn & set off the smoke detector. if the drippings burn, it's tougher to make the gravy.
• 10 this recipe can easily be made for more people. i would suggest doubling the gravy ingredients if you are serving 6 or more people. one "rib / chop" per person.