Rubbing Shoulders, Or: Saturday Night and Sunday Morning

Shoulder of Lamb with Garlic and Mint and Caper Sauce

Well, it could have been the plural if I hadn't cut into my last £1o note... Two pieces of lamb shoulder were on offer for £10 pounds at the market, but I had bought ribbons and other things that would come in useful.... (some day... surely...), so I didn't have enough cash left. Still, I bought one shoulder, rubbed it with salt and put it into the oven.
I basically followed the recipe by self-declared mummy's boy Alex Mackay from Sainsbury's magazine, March 2009. I was quite sceptical as to the mint and caper sauce, but it really worked a treat, the lemony mint complementing the sweetness of the roasted lamb and vegetables. And with its 3 hour braising method it was just the sort of recipe I was looking for. Something to put in the oven, ready to eat when we come back from rugby matches on a Sunday.

So, this is how I am going to record it for myself.

Saturday night:
vegetables:
500g+ potatoes (Charlotte), halved
200g shallots, peeled
9 medium carrots, peeled and halved lengthways
broccoli spears, cut up
keep in a sealed plastic bag until needed

2 heads of garlic, peeled

gravy:
650ml lamb or chicken stock
1 tbsp tomato puree
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
bring to the boil and reduce by half; add the cloves of garlic for 5 minutes, then remove and keep aside

mint sauce:
25 g mint, leaves only
1 clove of garlic
1 tbsp capers
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
pich of sugar
blitz in a food processor, season with salt and pepper

1 tbsp of lemon juice

Sunday morning:

pre-heat the oven to 220°C/gas 7; put 1 tbsp vegetable oil in a roasting tin, heat it in the oven for at least 5 minutes. Rub the shoulder of lamb with salt, place it, fat-side up, in the tin and roast on the middle shelf for 45 minutes.

This gives you time to make yourself that much-needed bucket of strong coffee, after which you might be able to face the shower.

Transfer the lamb to an oven-proof plate, put the potatoes, carrots and shallots in the tin, tossing them in the fat. Place the lamb on top, cover tightly with foil, place on the middle shelf of the oven and braise for 3 hours at 160°C/gas 3.

Put on the skiing jacket, the hiking boots, the supporter's scarf, the hat, the gloves, and head for the coldest place known to men in Middle England. My BH reckons that temperatures at Portway drop well below its surrounding environment, and he's most surprised that there aren't any natural history programmes made about this phenomenon.

On coming home, all muddy and rosy-cheeked, hopefully revelling in dump tackles "the little one" has administered to the opposition, a glorious smell of roasted vegetables and lamb will greet you.

You now have to:

• boil salted water for broccoli
• start simmering the reduced stock
• when roasting time is up: remove the tin, turn temperature up to 240°C/gas9; transfer the lamb to the plate, cover with foil, put into top oven to keep warm
• drain 3/4 of pan juices (this is tricky) and add to simmering stock;
  
• add poached garlic to vegetables, put tin on the top shelf of the oven for 15 - 20 minutes
• bring the reduced stock and lamb juices to the boil, mix 2 tsp of cornflour with water, add and stir in well; bring back to the boil, stirring constantly until thickened.
• Put the roast lamb on top of the vegetables, stir the lemon juice into the mint mix, pour the gravy into a gravy boat, serve.

As far as I'm concerned, the taste was out of this world - but I'm not used to this 'never mind the calories' cooking, so I'm probably no good as a litmus test.

The Saturday Night and Sunday Morning reference, is of course, to Alan Sillitoe's novel, famous in the 70s. Sillitoe adapted the screenplay for the 1960 film adaptation himself, and the film was directed by Karl Reisz. Featuring Albert Finney as the protagonist Arthur Seaton, the film is considered to be the first of the social-realist or 'kitchen sink dramas' of the 1960s. It was at the forefront of films dealing with working class issues in a serious manner, and portraying a more realistic side of everyday issues such as sex, unwanted pregnancy and abortion.
It was also the main piece of work that my friends W. and M. chose as their exam topic for English literature. For the record: I chose G.B. Shaw, not 'early' or 'late' Shaw, no. All of his plays. The words 'over' and 'ambitious' come to mind? Not good in combination with the procrastination of the peripatetic mind. ... Story of my life.