Shoulder of lamb.....not so lowly

[ardcarp]

We've done leg of lamb in the past. I always find it unnerving to carve because (a) that bone in the middle is annoying and (b)you're never quite sure whether it'll go round the assembled company.

Mrs A. did shoulder on Sunday, and boy was it good. Flavour surpasses leg IMO, and you don't have to carve; it just falls off, and I reckon there's more actual meat than on a leg even if it doesn't look so elegant.

Mrs A's method was to shove the shoulder on a bed of rosemary and garlic, drench with olive oil, cover with foil and bung in a very hot oven. Then the oven (in our case, Reyburn) was turned right down and the thing was left in for four hours.

I'm sure this isn't rocket science.

We had it with roast spuds (had to be done in another, hotter oven) and redcurrant jelly. Oh, and leeks from the garden done in white sauce. Mint sauce was available but somehow seemed unnecessary.

Scrum.

[vinteuil]

... all good. But hogget or mutton is better.

[Nick Armstrong]

One of my favourite things.

It was the plat de résistance of a cherished pub down in Sussex on the Surrey borders - which ceased to be available when a member of the rockocracy bought it and turned it into something posher which has now failed

Their half-shoulder of lamb washed down with a couple of pints of Ringwood's 'Old Thumper' was just about as good as food and drink gets

[vinteuil]

Their half-shoulder of lamb washed down with a couple of pints of Ringwood's 'Old Thumper' was just about as good as food and drink gets

hmmm. With such an excellent foodstuff as this shoulder of lamb / mutton - especially as described by ardcarp - such a waste to accompany it with an insipid beer. It is crying out for a decent claret - I wd suggest a pauillac...

[ahinton]

All agreed about lamb shoulder - as with pork shoulder or belly; get great produce (and hopefully locally reared and if possible organic) in the first place and the less expensive cuts can almost always delight; sorry, though, Cali, but the prospect of so much as a teaspoonful of Ringwood's Old Thumper or any similar liquid would, for me, spoil everything about it! No - give me a good St. Émilion or Pomerol any time (though not two pints thereof at one sitting, thanks!).

Hogget and mutton are not "better" in my view, but cvetainly not to be ignored and are well worth a try for a change.

Lamb's the thing in eastern Catalunya; I do remember an exquisite shoulder of it accompanied by a fine almost Bordeaux style red from the area (Empordà) that encouraged me to ask out of interest the age at which the animal might have been slaughtered, as very young lamb's quite the thing there - "oh", came the reply, "age? - you mean you thought we'd have waited for it to be born first?!"...

Sorry if that offends anyone's squeamishness or other sensibilities but I couldn't resist telling that one...

[ahinton]

hmmm. With such an excellent foodstuff as this shoulder of lamb / mutton - especially as described by ardcarp - such a waste to accompany it with an insipid beer. It is crying out for a decent claret - I wd suggest a pauillac...

I was typing while you posted that, so great minds evidently think alike - or almost alike, with you as a left-winger and me as a right-winger (well, if sounds better than "right banker", n'est-ce pas?!)...

[teamsaint]

Lamb , especially shoulder, is always worth doing Greek Style

Cook very slowly, (several hours as Ards suggest for a whole shoulder) on a trivet, with appropriate herbs.
Underneath the trivet, place plenty of potatoes and sliced onions, and cook them in the fat as it drips from the joint.

Yum.

[Nick Armstrong]

I wd suggest a pauillac...

a good St. Émilion or Pomerol any time

Thanks, Gents - I don't mind if I do

[Anna]

I've probably arrived too late at the feast* - shoulder of lamb, yes I roast on a bed of rosemary and garlic or as ts says above, put the tatties below, they won't be crispy but they will be chock full of beautiful fatty, herby, lamby, juices. Also, try rubbing all over with oil and Ras-el-Hanout for a bit of Moroccan flavour.
Belly pork and Puy lentils are another match made in heaven. Again, long and slow is the secret.
* No jokes about the 10 wise and foolish virgins arriving without olive oil!!

[MrGongGong]

Slow roast shoulder was out Christmas dinner this year
I put it on at 7am (a 20 minute blast to get it up to temperature) then just left it for the day until we ate at about 2:30 ish
Sat it on bed of rosemary bush twiggy prunings and stabbed garlic and rosemary into it, large glug of Red in the bottom of the dish
Much better than leg IMV

[Flosshilde]

Nigella Lawson has an excellent recipe for slow-cooked lamb shoulder; cook it in a slow oven & when it is thoroughly done (no nearly raw nonsense) shred it (as ardcarp says, it falls apart with very little encouragement) & mix in plenty of chopped mint & sprinkle generously with pomegranate seeds. Serve warm.

[Ferretfancy]

Ask your butcher ( I love that phrase! ) to bone the shoulder for you. Stuff it with chopped apricots, onions, rosemary and bread crumbs seasoned with salt and pepper and if necessary moistened with a little wine. Off it goes into a moderate oven, wrapped in foil for a couple of hours, the last half hour or so uncovered.. Delicious.

[ahinton]

Ask your butcher ( I love that phrase! ) to bone the shoulder for you. Stuff it with chopped apricots, onions, rosemary and bread crumbs seasoned with salt and pepper and if necessary moistened with a little wine. Off it goes into a moderate oven, wrapped in foil for a couple of hours, the last half hour or so uncovered.. Delicious.

All this talk of that wonderful stuff is doing terrible things for my appetite(!) - but "ask your butcher"? - well, they do still exist, you know! - even here in darkest Herefordistan (where they arguably have even more reason still to do so as they might elsewhere).

[Anna]

We've done leg of lamb in the past. I always find it unnerving to carve because (a) that bone in the middle is annoying and (b)you're never quite sure whether it'll go round the assembled company.

Leg is dead easy to carve, just look at a video then the bone don't get in the way. Leg is also delish cold (mind you spike it well with rosemary and garlic) then serve cold with mash, redcurrant sauce or an Indian carrot chutney.

I eat more lamb than any other red meat, mutton, well, cook it ahead, (you'll have enough tallow for candles to last you all winter), it's not like lamb in taste, strong, needs strong flavours, caper sauce. something vinegary, to cut the fat.

[Flosshilde]

Ask your butcher ( I love that phrase! ) to bone the shoulder for you. Stuff it with ...

Jane Griggson has a recipe for shoulder of lamb stuffed with crab. Ideally the lamb shout be reared on a salt-marsh. I haven't tried it but would love to.