Who’s Ready For Christmas In Paris?
Well, that’s where I ate Chef Greg Marchand’s incredible lamb dish – at his restaurant Frenchie’s, and it’s a perfect holiday meal – and I can prove it!
I made the dish from his cookbook – “Frenchie At Home” by Chef Greg Marchand!
“Viva la France!”
Alex and I met the Chef when we ate there in Paris a few years ago, and he gave me a signed copy of his cookbook…of course, I was excited to cook from it….well, until I realized one thing:
Yes, This French Chef Released A “French” Cookbook!
So there’s the recipe – not that I would know! You see, I speak limited French and don’t read it much better, but lucky for me, my wife is a pro!
Alex jumped right in to help me read it – and also used a translation app on her phone so that I could tackle the dish – which makes a great holiday presentation!
Frenchie’s Grilled Lamb With Peas And Mint Chutney!
This is a delicious and easy dish to make. Here are the ingredients you will need for this recipe:
4 pieces boneless lamb leg or loin
8 tiny new potatoes
1 pound sweet peas
2 mangos
1 bunch mint
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 bunch cilantro
butter – 3-4 tbl melted for two separate uses listed in the recipe
lemon for zesting
1 rosemary sprig
4 garlic cloves minced
olive oil
black pepper
Let’s get cooking!
Prep Your Lamb!
Yes, the Lamb needs a bath. This quick marinate will pack the lamb with extra flavor!
Combine the rosemary, garlic, lemon zest, pepper and olive oil in a baking dish. Add the lamb, turning to coat the meat – also rub it in a bit. It will look like this:
Cover and let marinate ideally for 4 hours in the refrigerator, but any amount of time will help take the lamb to a new level!
Time To Make Mint Chutney!
This is something I don’t make often, and every time I eat it I wonder why, because it’s fast and easy and really delicious – you can use any stone fruit!
Peel and pit the mango and cut the flesh into 1/2 inch dice.
Remove the stems from the mint and cilantro and combine all of it with the cumin in a blender until finely chopped, then drizzle in about 3 tbl. of olive oil.
When you like the consistency, add a bit of salt, place a fresh mint leaf on top and refrigerate!
Next, here’s something to quickly knock out next: peel your new potatoes and boil them in slated water until soft but not mushy…drain and set aside – you will warm them in a small pan with melted butter at the end before serving and that makes then glisten with goodness!
Sweet Pea Time!
This one has a bit of added entertainment for you: put your fresh sweet peas in salted water and boil them for about 3 minutes…and to make it more musically enjoyable, here is a clip of the peas boiling away, accompanied by the band YES and their classic song “Leave It”:
Put the peas in a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking and help retain the color…set aside a dozen of the cooked peas as garnish, then blend the rest with a touch of melted butter and salt and it’s ready to go!
Finally, it’s time to make the lamb. Bring it out up to an hour before cooking, then heat your outdoor grill:
Add some salt and pepper to each side and put them on your hot grill for about 5 minutes per side…here’s how I did it – and a valuable lesson I learned about grilling meat that has been marinated:
5 minutes on each side worked for me…I removed the lamb from the grill, let it sit for a few minutes before I thinly sliced it against the grain.
Now is also the time to warm your potatoes with a little melted butter and salt as well…they will glisten!
Now. let’s compile the dish!
The shiny buttered potatoes are in the middle, the sliced lamb resting against them, and the peas arranged around them with the extra whole peas scattered about…put a mint leaf on top and then it was time to drizzle the mint chutney on top!
Voila!
That’s French for “looks pretty tasty!”
And it was!
Keep the chutney close – it’s delicious and we added more throughout the meal – and the lamb was perfectly medium-rare…so much flavor with the minced garlic and lemon zest!
This was really delicious, and easy to make – thanks to Jo for putting on the Brookford Kitchen Diaries cookbook challenge – this month all about the holidays!
See her latest post here and offer up your recipes!
I have a number of “go to” dishes for the holidays and another favorite dish from France, by way of Anthony Bourdain, also has a great look on the plate:
You could also make the late Chef’s “Bacon-Wrapped Pork Tenderloin” recipe for Christmas as well – here is that recipe:
Here is another dish I made years ago when I produced a cooking competition for PBS:
This “pulled pork pasta in almond cream sauce” was from a show I created and produced – and I love making it for that reason and because it’s delicious as well!
Click here for the recipe:
And my great blogging friend Carol has a holiday cookbook – I own it and make all sorts of great things from it!
See it here!
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Thanks again Jo at BKD – check it out! If you like the story, share it with friends on social media! Thanks!
Categories: Bite Eat Swallow, Bite! Eat! Repeat!, Books / Media, Chef memoirs, Cookbooks, Eat This!, Fine Dining, Food, Food Writing, Recipes, World's Wildest Food
Bite! Eat! Repeat! 
This would be my husband’s favorite Christmas dinner, as long as there was duck on the side!
We made Duck one year and loved it…then made Goose and a disaster! All fat, tons of messy grease and the bird shrunk down to the size of a pigeon, woefully inadequate for 8 people! Thanks for the comment!
I made good a couple of times and you really need to pierce that thing way more than duck, and what an odd carcass! The saved goose fat was great for roasting potatoes.
Thanks for that tip – maybe I need to try again, and the idea of goose fat potatoes has me drooling and my wife loves potatoes so she’d approve – thanks for that!
Looks delicious!
A cookbook in French would be a problem for me too. I’m impressed that Alex speaks French. This meal looks and sounds amazing.
It was really good and is perfect for a holiday: lamb is such a great dish for Cmas! Thanks for the comment!
🎄🎅🏻
Have not come across Greg Marchand for ages, still speak enough French to manage his cookery book and absolutely and utterly LOVE lamb! Win! Win! Lovely recipe! Originally coming from NE Europe goose is the main Christmas dish followed by duck and pork with HEAPS of crackling and then all the pig blood dishes I adore 🙂 !
Thanks for the memories!
I love lamb!!! I might pass on the peas though. I have never liked cooked peas, unless they’re in a chicken pot pie or a soup (but even then, not too many) and I love split pea soup…haha. But maybe I’d like them mashed.
I’m not the biggest fan of peas but the recipe called for them…anything would work! Thanks for the comment!
i have to say no to the lamb but the mint chutney and pea puree look delicious!
happy festive season to you and yours
sherry https://sherryspickings.blogspot.com/
I’m not a big Lamb fan, but my wife loves it so I make it a few times a year and that works for her – happy holidays to you as well!
Lamb, potatoes and peas… I’m there! With mangoes though, you’ve got a Queensland summer on a plate. Thanks for your support this year, I’ve enjoyed getting to know you through your food.
I love the idea of Mangoes! It’s below freezing right now in New York so anything that says “summer” is appreciated! Great being part of your food efforts, thanks for having me!