[Stupid question] Côtes D'agneau sauce

I'm hoping one of you master chefs can help me out a little bit with this one. I just got back from vacation in Europe, and my last night in Geneva I ate at the Holiday Inn (Thoiry)'s attached restaurant, where I had a spectacular côtes d'agneau. The sauce they used on the lamb was (for lack of a better description) like a very savory BBQ sauce without the overpowering sweetness found in most BBQ sauces. It was so wonderful, I e-mailed the hotel to ask about what the sauce was.

Got this as a response yesterday:
We would like to thank you for your comment. We have ask our Chef how this sauce was made, he explains us as follow:

Ingredients: Lamb bones, lamb meat, herbs’, vegetables…

You have to put everything in a big saucepan, you make it boil slowly for a long time, then you grind it, you add some water and boil it again.

This is a small explanation, if you come back some time at the hotel, the Chef would be very glad to give a better explanation than mine.
Now, while I would LOVE to head back to Geneva to learn about this sauce, its a bit... unrealistic ;) So my question to you is, does anyone have any idea what this sauce is, and/or knows a recipe with a little more detail?

http://chazallet-gastronomie.viabloga.com/images/070616_hdl_carre_agneau_2 .jpg
(Google image for reference)

Cliffs:
Had tasty food with tasty sauce
Asked hotel what it was
Got vague answer

Just a random guess - it almost sounds like he makes a lamb stock with a stew like consistency - purees it - then waters it down and boils it again.

yeah looks like he's almost making a demi glace, and then rehydrating it afterwards.

for lamb, it's probably got thyme, mint, parsley maybe some lemon zest or juice, the cuts of lamb that weren't used for other dishes (the scraps pretty much) and a bunch of bones thrown in a pot, with water and simmered for a REAL long time (like hours upon hours) reducing everything to a real thick paste

removed from the heat, everything ground up and put through a sieve or strainer, then some more water added to get the right consistancy and it simmers until served

a quick a dirty way to do with would be with some cuts of lamp, some demi glace gold, add some water and simmer with herbs

here's the portion of that recipe without the sauce

http://www.my-french-house.com/recipes/carr-dagneau-a-la-provenaale-lamb-provencal/

I bet you could use the pan drippings and the technique I posted above to make the sauce *pretty* close to what you had



this may actually be closer...
http://www.yumyum.com/recipe.htm?ID=6885

Yeah, just:

Sear the lamb bones, get them brown
Simmer in a shallow pot of water (enough to cover them)

Keep letting it simmer, not bubble too much, every few hours or so, get a little ice water and splash it on the top of the simmering stock and remove whatever you see coagulate.

Just baby it for awhile and let it reduce correctly (it's worth it)

While his stock is reducing, he probably added his herbs
Most likely: Rosemary, Lemon zest and some parsley and a few whole peppercorns, bay leaf probably

I'd toss in a bouquet of carrots in the early stages, raw
I love what carrots add to a lamb fumet

Personally, i wouldn't puree the sauce if that's what he's implying
I'd let the stock get down to a decent thickness (you can just make demi if you want) and chinois the sauce to get out what we've added and to further clarify it

Hold the sauce warm
Lots of salt on the lamb, it needs it. Add some pepper, rub it on
Get a pan with some clarified butter hit with some olive/vegetable oil (this lets the flavor of butter sear at a higher temperature, cool trick i learned recently)

I'm not sure if what you had was breaded, if so:
Mix some breadcrumbs with chopped fresh rosemary and salt.
Mix in a little bit of olive oil, just to moisten. Cover the lamb very thinly with dijon mustard, and then the breadcrumbs on top.

Roast this in the oven to your liking

Sear the racks well, top side first, then around the rib
Finish the lamb in the oven to your desired doneness (should be decently pink inside (Like the picture))

You could make a pan sauce, depending on what you produced with your fumet.

If it's not too strong, let your pan cool off just a little after searing the lamb rack and toss in some shallots into the remaining oil

Let them quickly brown, hit the whole pan with some sherry or white wine

Let it boil and reduce. Turn off the heat when it is nearing au sec
Squeeze in a few lemon drops into the pan and add a sizeable amount of your lamb reduction. Add heat and reduce

Once the sauce thickens (depending on how thick you got it) turn off the heat. Mount the sauce with a few small chunks of butter, always stirring. Not too much though, and be carefuly to do it in chunks and slowly. Too hot and it'll break.

Salt and pepper your sauce to taste and set aside warm
Remove lamb when to your liking and let rest for 3-5 minutes. Slice the ribs between the rib, plate and sauce

This is just how I'd do it from scratch. I think it'd be similar to what you've had.

Much :heart: guys. I ain't much of a cook, but this dish has got me rather inspired to make a serious attempt at learning something easier than a stir-fry. All the ideas are hugely appreciated

Gonna have to invest in some serious lamb soon

Much :heart: guys. I ain't much of a cook, but this dish has got me rather inspired to make a serious attempt at learning something easier than a stir-fry. All the ideas are hugely appreciated

Gonna have to invest in some serious lamb soon

Serious Lamb? These people were at one time selling off their lambs that they were producing. Home - Bellwether Farms (http://www.bellwethercheese.com/home/)
Counting sheep / Local ranchers battle to keep California lamb on the table (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/04/10/FD164639.DTL)
Here's an older article about them too. I happen to appreciate a stronger lamb flavor too so bear that in mind.

Good luck.

edit:
These farms and sources are in Northern California.