My sister charmed us with a lobe of foie gras for Christmas (well, she gave it to Shaun but I’m sort of connected to him), based on a “group project” that we wanted to do. Megnut had made a torchon and blogged about it — sounded like something we would be interested in and relatively good at. It did end up being fun and challenging and mildly gross — all the things we had read. And, it made for a very nice evening after Ruby went to sleep. A grown-up dinner! That we made! Wanna see?

First we went through all the blech-y stages of cleaning it and getting it marinated and ready to wrap. We had chopped off and sauteed several pieces in advance of making the torchon, so it was actually sort of a small one.

We hung it up in the refrigerator to harden and gel and get all yummy and buttery and delicious:

For dinner, we paired it with some field greens, a cranberry chutney, and a great Burgundy Butter sauce Shaun made:

In the absence of an aged Sauternes (uhm, yeah, we don’t keep wine in the house anymore), we got Shaun an ice wine from Trader Joe’s that he said “[went] quite nicely” with the dish:

The Perfect Bite:

After dinner, we sat around a roaring fire and belched, in our pointy satin slippers, and talked loudly about how funny it would be to bare our bottoms to the serfs standing below our many turreted windows, gazing skyward and taking in the delicious smells and sounds of our intimate dinner party. We passed out, half-nude, with grease and jam still shining on our chins.

Yeah, we’re bringing sexy back here at Chez Fanning. Only here, we’re searing it.

Charlotte’s Web, A Veritable Smorgasbord

4 cloves (or just lots) of garlic, minced
2/3 cup lemon juice
1/3 cup dry vermouth
1 tbsp. rosemary (I use more)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
2/3 cup dijon mustard

1 4-6 lb. leg of lamb (we like the boneless one at Costco, fat removed)

Combine ingredients for marinade and mix well. Place lamb in the marinade for 24 hours in the fridge, turning every couple hours (except when you are asleep!).

Place butterflied leg of lamb on grill over medium heat. Cook lamb for 20 minutes on each side, brushing with marinade as you go. Remove from grill and let rest—cut into thin slices. Serves 6-8, including folks who “don’t like lamb.”  Try it!