Slow Roasted Lamb Shoulder

For someone who had only ever tasted lamb once before I moved over to the UK, I have become a fast and firm lover of this glorious meat. The only time I'd had it back in Canada, was the time my mother thought she would try to cook us some lamb chops. They smelled like mittens burning in the frying pan, and that was the end of that. We never had it again. I'm afraid that experience kind of put me off of it . . . for a very long time.



At our wedding meal, which was held in a Brewer's Fayre pub here in the UK, I decided to be brave, and chose Lamb Loins with a Cumberland Sauce as my meal. The rest is history. I fell in love at first bite, and it's been a happy love affair that has grown from strength to strength ever since!



Oh, I do love a nice lamb chop . . . seasoned and seared until it is just pink inside . . . likewise rack of lamb or leg of lamb. Tender and pink and oh so tasty. The Salt Marsh Lamb over here is the best in the world and a real treat to eat. Although it costs more, I try to eat Welsh or British Lamb over any imported lamb. It's rather strange really that home grown lamb should cost more than the foreign stuff . . . but I do have to say, it is well worth the extra expense!



My favourite cut has to be the shoulder. When cooked properly, this has got to be the tenderest, most flavourful cut of meat ever. Rich and succulent, it is just packed full of taste . . . and it's so very easy to cook. It doesn't take special techniques, or talents. It doesn't even take special spices and herbs. You could do a really tasty shoulder, using nothing but salt and pepper as far as that goes! This is the roast that really cooks itself!



A sprinkle of seasalt and pepper, and a gentle massaging with some olive oil . . . then laid to rest on a bed of rosemary sprigs and garlic cloves . . . and gently blanketed with more . . . this is the roast that is quite happy to be ignored until about half an hour before serving.



And then . . . oh my goodness . . . tender deliciousness that falls apart at the touch of a fork . . . oh so scrummy, served up with a big pan of oven roasted root vegetables . . . carrots, swede, parsnips, beetroot . . . oh and a bit of butternut squash thrown into the roasting pan as well, coz it was there . . . and I felt like it. Oh so sweet and delicious . . . and just perfect with this tender lamb. Some freshly mashed potatoes and Bisto on the side and lashings of Mint Sauce proved this to be a most delectably gratifying, if humble . . . Sunday lunch!



*Slow Roast Shoulder of Lamb*
Serves 6 to 8, depending on appetites
Printable Recipe

Deliciously tender. Nothing could be easier. This roast cooks itself. I like to serve this with a pan of roasted vegetables . . . butternut squash, beetroot, carrots, parsnips, swede, and a big pot of mashed spuds.

1 (2kg) shoulder of lamb, bone in
a bunch of fresh rosemary
a handful of garlic cloves, unpeeled
olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Crack your oven up to the highest temperature it will go. You will need a large casserole roaster with a lid.

Take your piece of meat and cut slashes in a diagonal pattern across the fat on the top of it with a sharp knife. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle generously with some sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Rub this into the meat with your hands.

Place half of the rosemary sprigs and the garlic into the bottom of the roasting dish. Drizzle with olive oil. Place the lamb on top. This bed of herbs and garlic will act as a trivet and flavour the meat. Top your lamb with the remaining rosemary and garlic.

Cover and place into the preheated oven. Immediately reduce the oven temperature to 170*C/325*F/ gas mark 3. Cook, undisturbed for 4 hours. By then it should be deliciously tender. Remove from the oven and set aside, tented with foil to rest for about half an hour. Use two forks to tear off pieces of the meat for eating.

You can make a gravy with the juices, but I find it has an odd green tint which we don't like and it is difficult to get rid of all the fat. So I just use Bisto. You can squeeze some of the garlic out of the skins to mash and serve with the meat though. It's really quite mellow and delicious.

Ginger Marmalade Roasted Chicken

They say you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, but I'm afraid that sometimes I do. I came across this cookery book a month or so before Christmas, and I absolutely fell in love with the cover. I had never heard of Lotte Duncan, (I know, what rock was I hiding under!), but the beautiful presentation of this fabulous looking tart on it's cover made me swoon. Pink is also one of my favourite colours and so . . . I was smitten. I just had to bring it home with me.

I love cookery books. I have a ton of cookery books. I have so many cookery books that, every time I bring a new one into the house, Todd rolls his eyes in exasperation and voices his doubt that I really needed to buy yet another one . . . however . . . let it be put down for the record . . . here and now . . . that he has never once complained at having to eat the results of my cooking labours, which are the natural side effect of me having made a new purchase!



(the first basting, early on in the cooking time)

I read cookbooks like I read novels. I literally devour them from page one to the last page, and when I read Lotte's introduction to this book where she said:

“I believe that to enjoy your food, you don’t want to be so tired from cooking that you’re unable to lift a fork to eat it…”

I thought to myself . . . here is a woman after my own heart. I have always believed that cooking should be a fun and non "labour intensive" exercise . . . and delicious of course! I had enough of labour intensive when I was cooking at the manor, churning out six-course "silver service" dinners all on me own . . . and, whilst I truly enjoyed the challenge of it all, that was work and I was being paid to do it . . . at home . . . I like simple.



(the finished bird)

I've made several recipes from this book now, and I have to say, Lotte is as good as her word. There is not much in it's pages that is so labour intensive as to put you off from cooking it. There's quite a variety of recipes here as well . . . from a sensible sausage and bean casserole, on up to a beautifully whimsical syllabub trifle! The photos are beautifully presented, and the recipes seasonal. All in all, I count this as one of my favourite cookery book purchases last year.

We love Roast Chicken in this house. Most times when I cook it, I follow the same pattern . . . I start off with a good free range bird, and then I rub it with butter and herbs all over and under the skin of the breast, pushing it in as far as I can go and massaging it on the outside. I stuff it with lemons and garlic, and then I squeeze lemon juice over the top, seasoning it with salt and pepper as I go. It always turns out fabulousy delicious, and we love it. Garlic, lemon and chicken are like the holy trinity of chickendom!



(another angle)

Lotte had a deliciously different recipe in her book that I wanted to try however . . . Marmalade Roasted Chicken and, so, quite naturally I did . . . try it that is, with most delicious results . . . but of course, as you know . . . I had to do things just a tad bit differently . . .

One, because I can never leave well enough alone, and two, because I believe in using ingredients I have to hand, without having to go out to the shops to get more if at all possible! (If there is one thing Todd hates more than seeing new cook books walk through the door, it's going to the grocery store!)



(Can you tolerate yet another view??? I thought so!)

I didn't have any plain marmalade, but I did have Ginger Marmalade in the refrigerator, and since Lotte's recipe called for preserved ginger to be used along with marmalade, I thought plain old ginger marmalade would do fine, and . . .

It did. The results speak for themseves. This was wonderfully moist and tender, and oh-so-flavourful. I highly recommend. I highly recommend Lotte's book too.



*Ginger Marmalade Roasted Chicken*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

A moist and flavourful recipe borrowed and adapted from one by Lotte Duncan. Roast chicken is a real favourite in this house, and this is a delicious version.

2 ounces butter, softened (1/4 cup)
2 TBS of Ginger Marmalade
1 medium sized free range roasting chicken
(about 4 1/2 pounds)
1 small onion, peeled
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 180*C/ 350*F/ gas mark 4.

Season the inside of the chicken with salt and pepper. Place the onion inside.

Mix together the butter and marmalade. Loosen the skin on the breast of the chicken and place half of the butter between the skin and the flesh, pressing down on the outside to help spread it around a bit. Spread the remaining marmalade butter all over the outside of the chicken. Sprinkle with some sea salt and black pepper.

Tear off a long piece of foil. Place the chicken in the centre of this and bring it up to tent the chicken, covering it loosely and sealing all the edges. Place in a roasting tin and roast for 1 1/2 hours, opening every so often and basting it with some of the juices. Re-seal well each time.

At the end of the 1 1/2 hours, open the foil completely, baste again and roast for another half an hour with the foil open to brown. Remove from the oven to a plate. Loosely cover and allow to rest for 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

We like to have this with roasted potatoes and parsnips, Steamed carrots and broccoli and some gravy made from Bisto. Don't be tempted to use the pan juices. The marmalade would make a very bitter gravy.