Easter Sunday

When my daughter was 6-months old we had her baptized at a beautiful old church in Brittany. Although I don't practice any religion and her father is what you call a lapsed Catholic, this was important to us because, burdened as she is already with three nationalities, we wanted to give her some cultural bearings for later on in life when she would certainly grapple with identity issues.

For now though, Easter is primarily about chocolate eggs and bunnies, or les cloches (bells). We hunted for eggs around the house and ate a traditional meal of gigot d'agneau. The recipe is adapted from Joel Robuchon's Simply French, which was my bible for many years (one of those books where you've tried every recipe and every single one works.)

Roast leg of lamb with parsley crust

-1 leg of lamb, bone-in, fat trimmed
-1 tablespoon of unsalted butter
-2 whole unpeeled heads of garlic, top sliced off
-2 slices of white bread, crusts removed
-flat-leaf parsley leaves

1. Rub the lamb with butter and season generously with salt and pepper. Roast with garlic (cut side down) at 425 degrees F, about 15 minutes for each pound. Turn occasionally. Remove from oven and season again. Cover in foil and let rest in warm oven for one hour.
2.Prepare the crust by processing bread and parsley to a fine grind. Add sea salt to taste.
3.To finish: carve the leg and arrange the slices in a baking dish. Cover with parsley crumbs and put under the broiler and watch carefully until the crust turns golden brown, about 5 minutes.
Serve with roasted potatoes tossed in pan's juices and sprinkled with paprika.