Warm Shredded Shoulder Of Lamb Food

PULLED LAMB SHOULDER WITH STICKY POMEGRANATE GLAZE

Steps:

• Put the garlic, cinnamon, cumin, oregano and lemon in a blender with 1 tsp salt and 2 tsp black pepper. Blend until smooth. Put the lamb in a large roasting tin and tip the marinade over the top. Massage all over the lamb and leave for 24 hrs in the fridge, or up to 2 days.
• Remove lamb from the fridge 1 hr before cooking. Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/ gas 3. Scatter the onions around the lamb, tucking some underneath, then pour over the pomegranate juice. Cover the lamb with foil and cook for 4 hrs.
• Remove the foil, carefully pour the meaty pomegranate juices from the tin into a large saucepan and add the honey. Increase oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7, re-cover the lamb and continue cooking for 30 mins. Meanwhile, bubble the cooking liquid over a high heat until reduced, thick and syrupy - this may take up to 30 mins.
• Pour the sticky pomegranate glaze over the lamb and onions and return to the oven for another 30 mins, uncovered, until the glaze is bubbling and just starting to char, and the lamb is really tender. Mix the yogurt, most of the pomegranate seeds and mint leaves in a small bowl. Shred the lamb at the table and serve with the sticky onions and the minty pomegranate yogurt. Scatter over the remaining pomegranate seeds.

SLOW-ROASTED SHOULDER OF LAMB

Steps:

• Make the marinade. Blitz 1 halved shallot, 4 garlic cloves, 4 cherry tomatoes, 2 anchovies, ½ tsp toasted cumin seeds, ½ tsp toasted coriander seeds, ½ tsp pink peppercorns, 2 tbsp rosemary leaves, leaves from 1 thyme sprig, chopped leaves from a small bunch mint, 70ml white wine, 4 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp brown sugar and zest of juice of 1 lemon in a food processor.
• Pierce 2kg lamb shoulder all over with a sharp knife, put it in a large roasting tin and slather the marinade onto the meat, coating thoroughly.
• Cover with cling film and leave in the fridge for at least 3 hrs, preferably overnight.
• Take the lamb out of the fridge at least half an hour before you cook it to bring it to room temperature. 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.
• Return the tin of onions and marinating juices to the oven to keep warm.
• Combine zest ½ lemon, 1 crushed garlic clove and 1 tbsp finely chopped mint in a bowl.
• Pull the lamb apart with forks and serve with the roasted onions and gremolata scattered over.
• Skim off any fat from the juices and serve alongside the lamb.You can use the leftover meat in Rosie's lamb shoulder flatbread recipe (see 'goes well with').

WARM SHREDDED SHOULDER OF LAMB

Steps:

• Cut the carrot and onion into very large chunks and place into a roasting tin, together with the lamb shoulder and the peeled garlic cloves.
• Pour the pint of water over the lamb.
• Cover the roasting tin with foil and bake in a slow oven (around 140 degrees) overnight or for around 8-10 hours.
• If you don't have enough time for this, roast at 170 degrees for around 3-4 hours.
• Remove the lamb from the roasting tin and place on a rack to drain for around ten minutes.
• The lamb should"fall apart" and the carrots are wonderfully juicy and tender.
• Shred the lamb onto a serving plate If pomegranetes are in season, squeeze the seeds over the shredded lamb for a lovely warm summer salad.

WARM SHREDDED LAMB SALAD WITH MINT AND POMEGRANATE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F.
• On the stovetop, brown the lamp, fat-side down, in a large roasting pan. Remove when nicely browned across its middle (you won't get much more than this) and set aside while you fry the shallots, garlic and carrot briefly. Just tip them into the pan - you won't need to add any more fat - and cook them, sprinkled with the salt, gently for a couple of minutes. Pour the water over and then replace the lamb, this time fat side up. Let the liquid in the pan come to a boil, then tent with foil and put in the preheated oven.
• Now just leave it there while you sleep. I find that if I put the lamb in before I go to bed, it's perfect by lunchtime the next day. But the point is, at this temperature, nothing's going to go wrong with the lamb if you cook it for a little less or a little more.
• If you want to cook the lamb the day you're going to eat it, heat the oven to 325 degrees F and give it 5 hours or so. The point is to find a way of cooking that suits you: you know what sort of pottering relaxes you and what makes you feel constrained; how much time you've got, and how you want to use it. Don't let the food, the kitchen or the imagined expectations of other people bully you.
• With the homily over, about 1 hour before you want to eat, remove the lamb from the pan to a large plate or carving board - not that it needs carving; the deal here is that it's unfashionably overcooked, falling to tender shreds a the touch of a fork. This is the best way to deal with shoulder of lamb: it's cheaper than leg, and the flavor it deeper, better, truer, but even good carvers, which I most definitely am not, can get unstuck trying to slice it.
• To finish the lamb salad, simply pull it into pieces with a couple of forks on a large plate. Sprinkle with more sea salt and some freshly chopped mint, then cut the pomegranate in 1/2 and dot with the seeds from 1 of the halves. This is easily done; there's a simple trick, which means you never have to think of winkling out the jeweled pips with a safety pin ever again. Simply hold the pomegranate 1/2 above the plate, take a wooden spoon and start bashing the curved skin side with it. Nothing will happen for a few seconds, but have faith. In a short while the glassy red, juicy beads will start raining down.
• Take the other 1/2 and squeeze the preposterously pink juices over the warm shredded meat. Take to the table and serve.
• What I do with the leftovers is warm a pita bread in the microwave, and then spread it with a greedy dollop of hummus, then take the chill off the refrigerated lamb in the microwave and stuff the already gooey pita with it. Add freshly chopped mint, black pepper and whatever else you like; raw, finely chopped red onion goes dangerously well.

ROAST SHOULDER OF LAMB WITH MUSTARD AND RED CURRANT GLAZE

Steps:

• Trim excess fat from lamb.
• Combine mustard, jelly, garlic, oil, and say sauce.
• Brush glaze over lamb.
• Place lamb on rack over a baking dish.
• Add about 0.5 cup water to baking dish.
• Bake in a moderate oven, 180°F, basting frequently with pan juice for 1.5 hours or until done as desired.
• Stand keeping warm for 10-15 minutes.
• Serve glazed lamb with gravy.

SLOW-ROASTED LAMB SHOULDER

Steps:

• In a food processor, pulse together the pitted olives, garlic, cured lemon slices, olive oil and herbs to form a rustic paste. Be careful not to overprocess; you want the paste to stay a bit coarse.
• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Open the lamb shoulder up on a cutting board and use a sharp knife to trim and score the flesh. Season the inside with salt. Rub the inside of the lamb with the seasoning paste. Carefully roll the lamb tightly and truss, or tie, with butcher's twine. Season the outside of the roast with salt and pepper. Place the roast on a wire rack set inside a deep roasting pan. Roast the shoulder in the preheated oven for 1 hour 25 minutes.
• After 1 hour 25 minutes, remove the lamb from the oven and check the internal temperature of the roast with a metal probe thermometer the inside should read between 145 and 150 degrees F. If the temperature is lower, return the lamb to the oven and keep cooking until the desired internal temperature is reached.Once the lamb is cooked, set it aside in a warm place to let it rest for at least 15 minutes before slicing and serving. Carefully remove the butcher's twine. With a sharp knife, carve the shoulder into thin slices. Arrange on a serving platter, season with coarse sea salt if you like, and serve immediately.

CHERRY WOOD SMOKED LAMB SHOULDER

Steps:

• Mix all the marinade ingredients in a medium bowl.
• Place lamb in a large sealable baggie and pour marinade over top. Make the the marinade has coated the entire surface of the lamb.
• Place the lamb in the refrigerator and allow to marinate at least 5 hours or over night.
• Soak 6 cups of wood chips in water for 1 hour.
• Make a smoke pouch by draining 2 cups of the wet wood chips and squeezing the excess water out. Spread them on a large piece of aluminum foil. Place 1 cup of dry wood chips on top and mix them together. Close the foil around the chips to make a sealed foil pouch. using a fork, puncture holes on the top and bottom of the pouch. The more holes, the more smoke. Make a total of three pouches.
• Place one smoke pouch under grate on one side of the grill. Turn on the heat under the pouch to 400 F/200 C or high heat and close the lid. Wait for smoke. When the smoke starts to billow out of the barbecue, lower the heat under the pouch to 200 F/100 C or low heat.
• Place the lamb on the cool side of the grill. Close the lid and cook for 1 hour per pound of lamb.
• Change the smoke pouch every hour and a half.

WARM SHREDDED LAMB SALAD WITH MINT AND POMEGRANATE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 140C/ gas mark 1.
• On the hob, brown the lamb, fat side down, in a large roasting tin. Remove when nicely browned in the middle (you won't get much more than this) and set aside while you fry the vegetables briefly. Just tip them into the pan - you won't need to add any more fat - and cook them, sprinkled with salt, gently for a couple of minutes. Pour the water over and then replace the lamb, this time fat side up. Let the liquid in the pan come to a bubble, then tent with foil and put in the preheated oven.
• Now just leave it there while you sleep. I find that if I put the lamb in before I go to bed, it's perfect by lunchtime the next day. But the point is, at this temperature, nothing's going to go wrong with the lamb if you cook it for a little less or a little more.
• If you want to cook the lamb the day you're going to eat it, heat the oven to 170C/ gas mark 3 and give it 5 hours or so. The point is to find a way of cooking that suits you.
• About an hour before you want to eat, remove the lamb from the tin to a large plate or carving board; not that it needs carving: the deal here is that it's unfashionably overcooked, falling to tender shreds at the touch of a fork. This is the best way to deal with shoulder of lamb: it's cheaper than leg, and the flavour is deeper, better, truer, but even good carvers, which I most definitely am not, can get unstuck trying to slice it.
• I get on with the vegetables while the lamb's sitting meekly, but you could equally well have done this earlier. But to finish the lamb salad, simply pull it to pieces with a couple forks on a large plate. Sprinkle with more salt and some freshly chopped mint, then cut the pomegranate in half and dot with the seeds from one of the halves. This is easily done; there's a simple trick, which means you never have to think of winkling out the jewelled pips with a safety pin ever again. Simply hold the pomegranate half above the plate, take a wooden spoon and start bashing the curved skin side with it. Nothing will happen for a few seconds, but have faith. In a short while the red glassy, juicy beads will start raining down.
• Take the other half and squeeze the preposterously pink juices over the warm shredded meat. Take to the table and serve.