Slow down...slow cook

Day light savings has begun and the weather is starting to cool down and this means one thing...beautiful cool nights of entertaining and enjoying comfort food. This Easter, I've been doing a lot of entertaining- which I love by the way! My one dinner party that I am looking forward to is this Tuesday night and I'd like to share a sneak peak of my menu for the night, including some great styling.
Since Jamie Oliver live, I've been seeing, thinking and dreaming of slow roasted lamb shoulder. I saw him pull out this amazing roast on stage at Hisense Arena that had been slow cooking for 3 hours. The meat was so soft, tender and falling off the bone. Amazing! I decided that I would like to make a slow roasted lamb shoulder as being a busy Mum, it would be an easy way to prepare an amazing meal for friends with not much to prepare. Yesterday i bought a beautiful fresh cut of lamb shoulder on the bone that will be perfect for slow roasting. It is currently sitting in my fridge, wrapped in foil...ready for Tuesday night. I did a bit of research and talked to my local butcher and found that wrapping fresh meat in foil and keeping it in the fridge allows it to "breathe" and stay fresh until you need to use it.
I love setting the table, and having close friends walk into my house with some warm lighting, beautiful smells and leave having experienced something different... new flavours, tastes, sights and great company.

So in honour of the lamb and its life, Im going to slow roast it and enjoy it with a glass of red with some lovely company, followed by an amaretti and strawberry tart.

Life is too busy to rush in the kitchen.... slow down when you can and enjoy fresh produce.

incredible roasted shoulder of lamb with smashed veg and greens (Recipe by Jamie Oliver).




For the lamb

• a large bunch of fresh rosemary
• 1 x 2kg shoulder of lamb
• olive oil
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 bulb of garlic, unpeeled, broken into cloves

for the smashed veg
• 750g peeled potatoes, cut into large chunks
• 3 large carrots, peeled and cut into small chunks
• ½ a large swede, peeled and cut into small chunks
• 75g butter

for the sauce
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 500ml good-quality hot chicken or vegetable stock
• 2 heaped tablespoons capers, soaked, drained and chopped
• a large bunch of fresh mint, leaves picked
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Preheat your oven to full whack. Slash the fat side of the lamb all over with a sharp knife. Lay half the sprigs of rosemary and half the garlic cloves on the bottom of a high-sided roasting tray, rub the lamb all over with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place it in the tray on top of the rosemary and garlic, and put the rest of the rosemary and garlic on top of the lamb. Tightly cover the tray with tinfoil and place in the oven. Turn the oven down immediately to 170°C/325°F/gas 3 and cook for 4 hours – it’s done if you can pull the meat apart easily with two forks.

When the lamb is nearly cooked, put your potatoes, carrots and swede into a large pot of boiling salted water and boil hard for 20 minutes or so until you can slide a knife into the swede easily. Drain and allow to steam dry, then smash them up in the pan with most of the butter. If you prefer a smooth texture, add some cooking water. Spoon into a bowl, cover with tinfoil and keep warm over a pan of simmering water.

Remove the lamb from the oven and place it on a chopping board. Cover it with tinfoil, then a tea towel, and leave it to rest. Put a large pan of salted water on to boil for your greens. Pour away most of the fat from the roasting tray, discarding any bits of rosemary stalk. Put the tray on the hob and mix in the flour. Add the stock, stirring and scraping all the sticky goodness off the bottom of the tray. You won’t need gallons of gravy, just a couple of flavoursome spoonfuls each. Add the capers, turn the heat down and simmer for a few minutes.

Finely chop the mint and add it to the sauce with the red wine vinegar at the last minute then pour into a jug. Add your greens and stalks to the pan of fast-boiling salted water and cook for 4 to 5 minutes to just soften them. Drain and toss with a knob of butter and a pinch of salt and pepper. Place everything in the middle of the table, and shred the lamb in front of your guests. Absolutely delish!