This dish epitomises good home cooking. Shoulder is one of the cheaper cuts of lamb, yet here it is transformed into a wholesome meal – the long, slow cooking rendering the meat tender, juicy and incredibly tasty. Maman Blanc never used stock – just water, herbs and the occasional splash of wine to create delectable cooking juices. A shoulder of lamb will vary in weight according to the time of year. In spring and early summer, it will be about 1.5kg, while in August it could be 2kg, and in November around 3kg, so you’ll need to adjust the cooking time accordingly: a 2kg shoulder will take 4½ hours; one weighing 3kg will need 5½ hours. Be sure to read my Kitchen Secrets below before starting the recipe.
Serves 4-6
1.5kg new season’s shoulder of lamb, plus 700g lamb bones and trimmings
To prepare the lamb: lightly score the skin of the lamb. Rub all over with the salt, pepper, chopped herbs and olive oil. Set aside to marinate at room temperature for 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 230C/210C fan/gas 8. Heat the rapeseed oil in a large heavy-duty roasting pan over a medium heat. Add the lamb bones and meat trimmings and colour, turning from time to time, for 7-10 minutes until lightly golden. Add the garlic and brown for 3 minutes, then take the roasting pan off the heat.
To roast the lamb: sit the seasoned lamb shoulder on top of the bones and roast in the oven for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small pan, bring the wine to the boil and let it bubble for 30 seconds, then add 400ml water, the bay leaf and thyme.
Take the lamb out of the oven and baste the joint with the pan juices, removing any excess fat. Add the wine mixture to the roasting pan, stirring to scrape up the sediment on the base of the pan.
Turn down the oven to 150C/130C fan/gas 2. Cover the meat loosely with a piece of foil and return to the oven. Roast for a further 4 hours, basting every 30 minutes with the pan juices. If, at the end of cooking, the pan juices are reduced right down, stir in about 100ml water to extend the jus.
To serve: remove the lamb from the oven. Strain the juices into a small saucepan and remove the excess fat from the surface. Set the lamb aside to rest. Reheat the juices until bubbling, then taste and adjust the seasoning. Pour into a warmed sauce boat.
Place the lamb on the table so your guests can help themselves. The lamb will be tender enough to be portioned with a spoon, though you can carve it with a knife if you prefer. My braised vegetables (see you.co.uk) and the turnip and potato gratin (see page 61) would be excellent accompaniments here.
VARIATION Flavour the seasoning rub for the lamb with spices rather than herbs – cumin and coriander seeds will give it an Indian flavour.
MY KITCHEN SECRETS Planning ahead The lamb can be scored and marinated several hours ahead. STEP 1 The salt and herb rub will permeate the lamb with a subtle flavour. The meat needs to be out of the fridge for at least an hour before cooking to ensure it reaches room temperature before going into the oven. STEP 2 Do not colour the bones too much, or the resulting jus will taste bitter and astringent. And remember there is 4 hours of slow cooking ahead. STEP 3 The bones serve two purposes. Firstly, they provide a platform for the lamb joint, allowing the heat to circulate all around it, facilitating even cooking. If the joint sits directly on the base of the pan, the meat in direct contact is liable to dry out. Secondly, the caramelised bones provide the basis for a wonderful pan jus. STEP 4 Adding water will lift the caramelised meat juices from the bottom of the pan and the bones, creating a flavourful jus. It will also keep the lamb moist during cooking.
Slow cooking in liquid transforms tougher cuts of lamb into fork-tender meat. Neck, shoulder and belly, either diced or as whole joints, are the best cuts for slow cooking and need to be cooked for at least 2 hrs at 150C to soften the meat.
Place the lamb fat side up on the grill rack and smoke for 4 hours at a steady temperature of 120° – 150°C, keeping the lid covered throughout this time. 5. Once the internal temperature of the lamb gets to around 80°C remove the water pan out of the grill, in order to help the heat build up higher and more intensely.
Season your lamb shoulder with rosemary and garlic, or even just a little salt and pepper. Sear the lamb shoulder in a hot pan to seal in the flavours if you wish, this is not compulsory however, slow cooking it as is works just as well.
Lower temp = more succulent meat – Tough cuts like lamb shoulder need slow-cooking to tenderise them. The lower the roasting temperature, the less total moisture evaporation and thus juicier meat. 3-hour lamb is cooked at 180°C/350°F, while the 12 hour lamb is cooked at only 100°C/212°F.
Sit the lamb shoulder on top, and then cover the lamb and roasting tray in foil. It's usually easiest to do this loosely as the bone in the lamb can pierce the foil, but don't worry too much if that does happen, it really won't affect things too much. Roast in the oven for 4-5 hours.
Whether boneless or bone-in, the perfect leg of lamb should be either oven-roasted until blushing pink on the inside (with an internal temp around 130°F) or roasted long and slow for several hours until the meat is very tender and falls apart to internal temp around 175°F (I often use the slow cooker for that).
As a rough guide, to roast a lamb joint allow about 45 minutes' cooking time per kilo in weight (or about 25 minutes per pound). Place in a preheated oven at a high temperature initially (230°C/gas mark 8), then after about 15 minutes, lower the temperature (to 200°C/gas mark 6) for the remainder of the cooking time.
Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Put 3 onions, each sliced into 3 thick disks, in the roasting tin, resting the lamb on top. Cover with tented foil and roast for 5 hrs, basting the meat occasionally. Remove from the oven, transfer the lamb to a board and allow to rest, covered, for at least 30 mins.
cook for 4 hours on 160 for most ovens, or of your more precise, 170 bake, 150 fan. After 4 hours, remove foil, and if you like, you can turn over the lamb so it's skin side up, turn up the heat to 190 and let it dry out a little on top, with more seasoning on top.
Lamb leg is lean, so to slow cook it's best to partially submerge in a flavoured liquid which keeps the flesh moist plus infuses with flavour. I'm using garlic and rosemary in this recipe – classic lamb flavours!
Letting the lamb rest for at least 15 minutes once you finish cooking it is essential. This rest period allows the juices to redistribute and settle throughout the muscle fibers, which creates a tender and juicy piece of meat. The juices will escape if you cut into the lamb right away, causing the meat to dry.
Cuts like the shoulder, shanks and forequarter are much more forgiving than a leg of lamb, and they can stay in the slow cooker for a couple more hours than the recommended cooking time. However, if you leave lamb in the slow cooker for too long it will become stringy and dry.
Before you begin the cooking process, be sure to remove your lamb from the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. This helps to ensure that the lamb cooks evenly and that you get an accurate temperature reading.
Instead of cooking to prepare lamb for service, any cut of boneless lamb can be thinly sliced and tossed in a bowl with a small amount of bicarb soda and corn starch then chilled to tenderize. For our quick cuts 1-2 hours is enough, but our shoulder and leg cuts would need at least 8 hours or overnight.
It depends on the cut. If you cook a lamb shank low and slow, it will become more tender as long as you don't let it dry out. A lamb chop, on the other hand, will reach optimum tenderness at medium rare. After that it will become tougher as it cooks.
Roast for 20 minutes to give the lamb a chance to develop a crust, then turn the heat down to 150°C/Fan 130°C/Gas 2. Roast for 21/2–4 hours, depending on the size of your joint.
Because the shoulder is a heavily used part of the animal, it can be tough. This means for it to become tender and melt in your mouth, it needs time for the meat to release the tension and for the fat to completely render down. Give yourself around 8 hours to get this one done, plus a little extra for prep.
Introduction: My name is Nicola Considine CPA, I am a determined, witty, powerful, brainy, open, smiling, proud person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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