- dash olive oil
- 1 onion, thinly sliced
- 1 leek, thinly sliced
- 1 fennel, thinly sliced
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 fresh thyme sprig
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 50g/2oz butter
- 500ml/18fl oz lamb or chicken stock
- 700g/1lb 9oz potatoes
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- dash olive oil
- ½ bag of hay (clean eating hay from the petshop and not bedding hay)
- 1 rack of lamb, French trimmed
- For the boulangère potatoes, preheat the oven to 160C/325F/Gas 2.
- Heat a heavy-based pan, add some oil, then add the sliced onion, leek, fennel, garlic, thyme, fennel seeds and fry for 3-4 minutes.
- Meanwhile, bring the stock to the boil in a saucepan and grease a small ovenproof dish with a little of the butter.
- Slice the potatoes thinly on a mandoline and start to layer up the dish with alternating layers of potato and the onion mixture, seasoning with salt and freshly ground black pepper in between.
- For the final layer, arrange the potatoes in a neat layer and pour over the hot stock.
- Add a couple of knobs of butter, cover with foil and bake for one hour. Remove the foil and cook for another 30 minutes, or until cooked and crisp.
- For the lamb, turn the oven up to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
- Heat a dash of olive oil in a cocotte (a cast iron casserole dish with a lid) placed over a stove top and brown the lamb all over. Remove the lamb from the cocotte.
- Add the hay and a little more oil, just until the hay starts to smoke, then place the lamb on top and cover with the lid.
- Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes, or until the lamb is pink.
- To serve, remove the lamb from the hay, rest for 5-10 minutes, then carve and serve with the boulangère potatoes.