Lamb with Onion Sauce
An Old English Classic….
I was thinking about a dish I used to eat many moons ago and how much I seemed to miss it. Perhaps I had left my rose coloured specs on a little too long but lamb with white onion sauce CAN and I stress CAN be a wonderful meal. Back then I would have eaten mutton, I don’t mean at home, this was later and the distinctive taste of mutton has stayed with me ever since.
I would happily use mutton in this dish, it’s got lots of flavour and the onion sauce is a perfect match but for now I am using lamb rumps because the customers prefer it. We make two types of lamb stock, a brown one for reductions and a white one for soup and this particular sauce. We slow cook a lamb shank in a broth of carrots, onion, celery and leeks which is flavoured with bay, peppercorns, thyme, garlic and fennel seed. Once the shank meat is falling away from the bone we remove the meat and pass the stock through a fine sieve or chinoise as we chefs like to say! (pay attention Rod, I’ll test you later)
Some of the stock is put back into a pan and brought to the boil before being simmered until it has reduced by half. Whilst this is doing its thing we cook diced onion in oil and butter with a sprig of thyme and a bay leaf until the onions are very soft but not coloured. A splash of white wine is added and cooked out before using as much of the reduced stock as we need. This then gets cooked down again before the finishing touch of a glug of double cream to bring it all together. Salt and white pepper go in next-white sauce-white pepper, we don’t want any black bits to spoil the effect.
Now this is a simple way of making an onion sauce, don’t be shy with the onions, they cook away to next to nothing so use plenty, it wants to be oniony (new word) and not taste of boiled cream. You could go down the milk, butter and flour road if you wished but this is a quicker route to the same destination.
I also take some of the stock to make a potato gratin with. Working on the idea of an old fashioned Lancashire hotpot or a French lamb boulangere for that matter I like to incorporate plenty of lamby (another new word) flavour into the corresponding garnish. The dish is finished with a smooth puree of carrots cooked in a well seasoned cream and some honey roasted swede.
A simple dish, ideal for a cold day….
Simple dish? With words like chinoise?
Miles, you publish blog posts daily, you create exotic and beautiful culinary delights, you take wonderful wildlife photos and concern yourself with bazillion dollar specialty guitars — you don’t know what “simple” means.
:-)
Melissa
February 1, 2009 @ 2:36 pm
Melissa,
That is a simple dish really, break it down into individual dishes and it’s pretty easy. Trust me
Miles
February 1, 2009 @ 6:15 pm
Chef
pay attention Rod, I’ll test you later
I’ll be bloging something for you to pay attention to soon
Melissa,
That is a simple dish really, break it down into individual dishes and it’s pretty easy.
It’s not easy for me because I’ve only got the onions, garlic and peppercorns
Check On !
Rod
February 1, 2009 @ 7:05 pm
It looks delicious, Miles, and the sauce really sounds very easy to make.
February 1, 2009 @ 7:42 pm
Miles, this looks so good! Meat & two veg, but to professional standard, of course.
I’ve got to hold my hands up though, lamb with onion sauce is a dish I’ve never heard of. Do you know if it’s particular to a region?
Dave
February 1, 2009 @ 8:13 pm
Miles,
Another winner from the Collins stable. I thought Chinoise was something to do with oriental vase decoration…. are you sure you’re not drifting off into Antiques Roadshow?
Cid
February 1, 2009 @ 9:02 pm
Greedydave,
I don’t think it is particularly regional, but as I say it would have been mutton rather than lamb in years gone by.
Miles
February 2, 2009 @ 8:26 am
Xenny,
Don’t scrimp on the onions when you make it, the more the better!
Miles
February 2, 2009 @ 8:27 am
Cid,
I’m just in a snow drift right now
Miles
February 2, 2009 @ 8:27 am
Miles,
Here in Camelot we’re experiencing a little flurry now and again but otherwise it’s a balmy 3c and sunny! Never fooled though, I’ve kitted myself out in full Narnia gear
I expect you ski to work on days like this?
Cid
February 2, 2009 @ 9:42 am
Miles
. I knew an old lady who used to refer to eating mutton and white sauce when young.
I am glad you taught us the art of onion slicing before introducing this sauce
I am more familiar with beef and a tasty white horseradish sauce (not the jar variety!).
On the onion front, I love onion quiche, with a tasty glass of Riesling, of course.
Alert call:
Cid, get your sledge ready and Melissa, you bring Fairbanks - we need to get Miles out of a snowdrift
Elsie
February 2, 2009 @ 9:42 am
Elsie,
I’ve got the sledge at the ready but as yet there’s no hydrogen fuel cell to power it…. being resourceful women we’ll have to think our way out of this….. if I have to walk it’ll take me three days, do you think he’ll manage until then?
Fear not though, Miles is good with knives and will probably whittle himself an igloo and be quite happy with his Ray Mears fire making and dehydrated casserole kit we bought him for Christmas 
Cid
February 2, 2009 @ 12:59 pm
Cid,
I see it all but we must not be like mutton dressed up as lamb. You know what Miles will make of that
Elsie
February 2, 2009 @ 1:20 pm
My sister lives in Harpenden, and emailed some pix of the wee flurry or two they’ve been experiencing. Apparently schools have been closed today, many roads are impassable, and it seems set to continue for a day or two. I trust that all our UK mates are taking extra special care, especially when driving.
February 2, 2009 @ 4:13 pm
Elsie,
Does that mean no faux shearling coats?
We’ll wear what we normally wear in circumstances like this…. designer leg warmers and army issue boots…. he’ll have no problem spotting our approach 
Cid
February 2, 2009 @ 4:42 pm
To all the Brits,
I am sorry you are having the cold. Here in California is is a pleasant 70 (22 C) degrees, with bright blue skies. On the downside, we are in the midst of a drought which does not bode well for the summer.
February 2, 2009 @ 7:37 pm