SLOW COOKED SHOULDER OF LAMB IN FOIL
Ingredients for 2 - 3
A lean half shoulder of lamb, preferably blade.
6 small – medium carrots, peeled and topped but left whole
2 medium leeks, peeled, darkest green removed and each cut into 3 pieces
2 – 4 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced (optional)
Chopped herbs – any combination of thyme, mint, rosemary
500 ml chicken or lamb stock – from stock cube is fine as long as it’s low salt
e.g. Kallo
1 tablespoon oil
Seasoning
Method
Place a large piece of turkey foil in a roasting pan, long enough to make a not
too tight envelope around the lamb and vegetables. Take care not to tear or
puncture it.
Place the carrots and leeks in the foil.
Trim any excess fat from underneath the lamb and from the sides of the joint.
Heat the oil in a large frying pan and brown the lamb all over, particularly the
skin side. Drain the lamb of fat and place it on top of the vegetables. Sprinkle
over the herbs and the garlic slices, if using. Add about 100 ml liquid - red or
white wine, or sherry, or some of the stock. Season with a little salt (not too
much as the gravy is made by reduction) and fresh ground pepper. Bring two
edges of the foil together and fold them to make a seal. Now fold or scrunch
up the other two edges to make a seal each side. You should now have a not
too tight foil parcel in the roasting pan.
Place the pan in the oven an cook at 150 C (Fan 135 C) for 3½ hours.
Carfully open the foil and use a couple of forks to move the lamb to an
ovenproof dish. The lamb should be very soft and easy to pull away from the
bone. If you want to crisp the skin a bit, turn the oven up to 220 C (Fan 200 C)
and cook the lamb for about a further 15 mins. Otherwise just keep it warm.
Meanwhile, transfer the vegetables to a dish and keep warm. Pour the liquid
from the foil into a saucepan. Add the stock and boil rapidly to reduce and
create a nice gravy. Season to taste. If you want a minty gravy, add a
teaspoon or two of mint sauce.
Options
Whole shoulder can be cooked like this, but will probably take 4 –5 hours
depending on size. Most root vegetables including small potatoes can be
used. Peeled whole banana shallots are a nice alternative to leeks.
For a Spanish flavour use peppers cut into large chunks instead of leeks, add
a teaspoon or two of smoked paprika and some dry sherry to the foil parcel.
Curry spices can also be used for an Indian flavour.