Sunday 14 April 2013

Slow-Roasted Shoulder of Lamb











The sting has finally gone out of the sun. It's Autumn... true Autumn. Cooler days with the glorious sun warming everything it touches. Not the sun I was swearing at a few weeks ago, but the sort of sun that's perfect for basking in with a glass of dry white wine within arms reach. The kind of sun that doesn't make you run from your car to your front door for fear of third degree burns. The sunny sun that makes you want to apply your raspberry lipstick now that you don't have to use Chapstick to protect your lips from the weather. The benign sun that makes you want to slide a shoulder of lamb into the oven and slowly roast it all through the lazy day. The gentle sun that has you piling shredded, unbelievably tender lamb morsels into soft fluffy buns and eating one after the other. Actually, that last bit has absolutely nothing to do with the sun because I'd eat this in Marble Bar in the middle of January.


NOTE: Start this recipe the night before.


Slow-Roasted Shoulder of Lamb
slightly adapted from Neil Perry's Easy Weekends
Serves 6

1 x 1.5 lamb shoulder on the bone
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground fennel
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 star anise, ground (I used a dedicated coffee grinder)
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamon
2 teaspoons sea salt flakes
freshly ground white pepper
60ml extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling

The night before, mix the spices and seasoning with the olive oil and rub it all over the lamb. Place the lamb in a roasting pan just big enough to hold it and cover it with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight.

The following day, remove the lamb from the refrigerator 2 hours before cooking.

Preheat the oven to 120 degrees C.

Take the plastic wrap off the roasting pan and drizzle the lamb with a little more oil. Pour 60ml of water into the pan and tent it with foil.

Cook the lamb for 7 hours. Allow it to rest for 20 minutes before shredding the meat with two forks.






18 comments:

  1. This meat looks so succulent, it's making my mouth water!
    Why is it that all of the recipes that I want to reat right now take so long to prepare/cook? I.e croissants and slow roasted lamb.
    I think I need to be more organised to be able to pull off my favorites.

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  2. Haha Sam. I think I'm a barometric cook. I've responded to the cooler weather by having the oven on all day instead of the air con.

    While both recipes take a bit of time, this lamb is really easy. There's very little work involved, just prep the lamb the night before, then chuck it in the oven mid morning. The croissants are more labour intensive, so you'll need a lazy weekend for those. (If you don't have the starter/sourdough culture, I can send some in with the boss. Just let me know when.)

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  3. Lamb prices in the U.S. are pretty high all year round. The last time the wallet was fat we did a boneless leg of lamb - combining two recipes and grilled it. Fabulous flavor. This looks ever so good.

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  4. can I come for dinner?
    I don't think I've ever seen a lamb shoulder at the grocery store before. It's usually leg of lamb or chops. I wish lamb wasn't so expensive around here, or I'd eat it once a week. I have to save it for special occasions, but this looks TO DIE FOR!!! now i want lamb.....darn it.

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  5. That looks lush and lovely.. Very hard to find lamb on the bone here, if it's not chops. Glad you are enjoying milder weather.. You can come from brunch if I can come for dinner..

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  6. Absolutely beautiful lamb! Glad you have some beautiful weather to go with it!

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  7. It looks like the best pulled meat in the world.

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  8. In my house, this would be gone by the time I go to fetch the camera. Your photos are mouthwatering though, I guess I must roast a lamb shoulder this weekend. Don't count on seeing photos though :-)

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  9. Hi Jen, this looks amazing, do you get your shoulder from the butcher ? i've baked this before and it was quite fatty ??
    but yours looks so good :)

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  10. Hey Patty. I didn't realise lamb was so expensive in your part of the world. The prime cuts of lamb can be expensive here like the loin or cutlets but the shoulder joint is one of the least expensive and one of my favourites because it needs long, slow cooking..

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  11. Hey Michele. I'd love to have you for dinner. Australia is one of the world's leading producers of lamb and the Australian public are among the biggest consumers of lamb in the world. We eat the best quality lamb there is. We're very lucky.

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  12. Hey Maria. That brunch/dinner arrangement works for me :)

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  13. Thanks Little Kitchie. Bun-stuffing, sun-loving.

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  14. @That Food. Thanks for stopping by.

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  15. Thanks Aya. My family just accept the fact that they have to wait for the ubiquitous photo shoot to be over before they can dig in - it's written in the contract :)

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  16. Hey Shez. I actually got this from the supermarket (Woolworths). It was on special. I really couldn't be happier with the quality though. Not an excessive amount of fat (which is a deal-breaker for me), really tasty, melting meat. I don't like it when it's fatty at all. If you get a joint that looks like it's got too much fat on it, give a good going-over and trim the excess fat before you cook it. Hope this helps.

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  17. I've cooked this twice and I have had success and a failure. the second attempt the lamb lacked flavour and was not very tender at all. Followed the recipe so I am at a loss as to why. Any suggestions?

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  18. Hey Anon. Sometimes you just get a dud piece of meat. That's the only explanation I've got.

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