Spring is in the Air

 

 

Spring is in the air! Those lovely mimosas from the Côte d'Azur are always the first sign at our Provençal markets that the days are getting longer. That does not mean that we don't have to fear cold, icy winds, even snow - until the end of March you never know what might hit you here - weatherwise that is. So we get big armfuls of these beautiful, fluffy little flowers pretending the winter is (almost) over and it is already springtime in Provence!

Springtime in Provence?

Would you believe what I found in my garden this morning? The first daffodil of the season! Although it has been unseasonally warm to have daffodils flowering on January 5th is ridiculous, even in Provence. But kind of nice, too!

Last Dish of the Winter Season

It's springtime in Provence! Today we had lunch outside and tomorrow we will get the lemon trees out of their winter quarter, back onto the terrace and into the Provence sunshine.  So I kind of had to hurry to prepare one of the last winter dishes  - and what a feast it proved to be! I had already told you about the oilve oil marinated lamb I bought at Gilles', our local butcher's:

Gilles' olive oil marinated leg of lamb

It comes as a vacuum packed deboned leg of lamb, marinated in olive oil, herbes de Provence and fleur de sel (kosher salt) which I prepared as the famous "Seven Hour Leg of Lamb" (Gigot de sept heures).

First I peeled and very finely sliced potatoes:

Onto which I liberally sprinkled semi-dried tomatoes, seasoned with pepper and salt,

then put the meat and most of the oil marinade on top plus added one whole head of garlic "en chemise". That is one expression I just love. Doesn't "garlic in a shirt" sound so much more poetic than "unpeeled garlic"? All that was then left to do was to firmly close the lid and put the pan into the oven, heated at 100°C/210°F.

After seven hours it looked this this, smelled heavenly and tasted even better:

Delicious One Pot Dish: Seven Hour Leg of Lamb