No. 1714

Leg of Lamb with Carrots

Gigot d'Agneau aux Carottes

Prepare the leg exactly the same as for gravy (No. 1715), only serve at the same time, but separately a garnishing of carrots made by parboiling about two pounds of new carrots cut into pear shapes and then cook them in a little stock (No. 194a) with salt and sugar added; finish cooking them very slowly, tossing at times to have them all done alike, then thicken with four raw egg-yolks diluted with a gill of cream and a little fine butter; add some chopped parsley and serve with a thickened gravy (No. 405) in a separate sauce-boat the same time as the leg.

← No. 1713 Lamb or Mutton Steak Plain, Maitre d'Hotel Lamb No. 1715 Leg of Yearling Lamb with Gravy Roasted →

For the Modern Kitchen

Ranhofer writes for a brigade that already knows the base recipes, so this entry is really just the carrot garnish plus two cross-references. The hinge is the egg-yolk liaison at the end: once the yolks go in, the carrots must never come back to a boil.

The liaisonWhisk the yolks and cream together, temper them with a little of the hot cooking liquid, then return everything to the pan off direct heat and swirl until it coats. Above roughly 180F the yolks curdle and the glaze breaks into grains.
A gillHalf a cup, 4 fluid ounces. Four yolks to that much cream is a rich liaison for 2 lb of carrots, and it is meant to bind a few spoonfuls of reduced stock, not to make a sauce.
"Pear shapes"Turned carrots, cut into small tapered barrels or pears with a paring knife so they cook evenly and look uniform. Buy carrots thick enough to carve; baby carrots trimmed to a point are the practical substitute.
The cross-referencesNo. 1715 is the plain roast leg; No. 194a is one of Ranhofer's stocks and No. 405 a thickened gravy from his earlier sauce chapters. Any good veal or chicken stock and a reduced pan gravy stand in without harm.
"A little stock"Only a small quantity, not enough to swim the carrots; it should cook down as they finish, and the sugar helps the reduction coat them. Too much liquid and you finish with boiled carrots in broth.
Slow finish, frequent tossingSlow finish, occasional tossing -- a gentle finish over low heat after the parboil, the pan shaken rather than stirred so the pieces keep their shape. Ranhofer says to toss "at times" so the pieces are "all done alike" -- even cooking, and in practice even glazing.
The lamb itselfRanhofer's yearling leg is older and larger than most modern lamb, so expect a longer roast for the same doneness. A modern bone-in leg of 5-7 lb roasts well at 325-350F to an internal 130-135F for medium rare, rested 20 minutes; no temperature is given here, as the method is deferred to No. 1715.
YieldTwo pounds of carrots garnishes one leg, six to eight portions. Everything goes to table separately: meat on one dish, carrots on another, gravy in a sauce-boat.

A Little History

Charles Ranhofer ran the kitchens at Delmonico's in New York for around thirty years, in two spells, and The Epicurean (1894) is his attempt to set down the whole repertoire as a numbered, cross-referenced system rather than a book of standalone recipes, which is why this entry opens by sending you to other numbered entries. The dish itself is straightforwardly French: gigot is the leg, and pairing it with glazed carrots bound by an egg-and-cream liaison belongs to the classical grammar Ranhofer trained in before emigrating. The turned, pear-shaped vegetable is a marker of that training too, labor spent purely on appearance and even cooking, affordable only in a kitchen with a large staff. Serving the garnish and the gravy separately from the meat reflects the service style of the period.