Five-hour leg of lamb

This old French recipe was once seven-hour leg of lamb. The sliced onions, whole carrots, garlic clove and a bit of wine were placed into a Dutch oven. Sometimes the pot was sealed with a little flour and water mixed to form a paste then the pot was brought to the town baker and left to simmer all day. We have more reliable ovens now so the time can be adjusted to about 5 hours. Cook at about 325 degrees.

5 pound leg of lamb (the weight is approximate, what is more important is that the lamb fit into your pot, if you are doing a 4-5 pound lamb that should fit into a large Dutch oven. If you are making a whole leg have your butcher cut the leg into two pieces and proceed)

Garlic, you might choose to insert the slivers of 3 or 4 cloves of peeled garlic all over the lamb (I like this method) or just toss a whole head of garlic with the top lopped off, into the pot.

1 Tablespoon olive
¾ teaspoon kosher Salt
½ Teaspoon ground pepper
A few carrots (lets say 3) peeled and placed at the bottom of your pot
A few onions, (again we will say 3), Spanish onions, peeled, sliced thin and tossed into the pot.
2 sprigs thyme
1 cup red wine
½ cup water or stock

Preheat to 325

So, we take the lamb and rub olive oil all over it, season with salt and pepper. Insert garlic slivers or place garlic in to 7 quart Dutch oven. Add onion and carrots to the pot. Place lamb on top of onion and carrots then add thyme, red wine and ½ cup water or stock to pot.

To seal
Into a mall bowl add
¾ cup flour
Drizzle in just enough water to form a dough/sticky paste. Roll the dough out into a thin rope, long enough to go around the top rim of the pot. Alternately, you can just stick the dough all around the top rim – this method is less pretty but it really dose not matter- this dough is just to seal the pot.

Place the lid on top and put dish in the oven to cook for about 5-6 hours.