It’s expensive eating out. Whether you’re going to a really nice restaurant or you’ve got a really fast moving date (wink wink), you’ll usually set yourself back quite a bit just by deciding to step out for dinner.
So, being someone who will jump at any excuse to be in the kitchen (I did not take that last piece of chocolate I swear! The box was empty when I got there!), I always do a slow roasted lamb when I find rosemary on sale. And don’t get turned off by the word “slow”, because something celestial just happens to meat when the word “slow” enters the picture. The absolute cheapest cuts of meat just become the most tender, juicy, fall-of-the-bone piece of heaven that you can get.
Why pay the restaurants top dollar when you can do it yourself?
I must say though, given my addiction to cooking programmes/magazines/books/anything-I-can-get-my-hands-on, that some of the recipes I use would come from one of these sources. This one’s from Jamie Oliver, with a couple of tweaks from me.
You need:
1 lamb shoulder
Garlic Cloves (I like garlic, so I use almost the whole head)
Rosemary
Salt
Pepper
Chilli Flakes
Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Rub a scored lamb shoulder with salt, pepper, chilli flakes and olive oil, and set it on a bed of rosemary and garlic. Set some rosemary and garlic aside to lay on top of the lamb. Cover the roasting tray with foil and put it in the oven. Reduce the heat to 150 degrees and leave in for 4hrs. After 4hrs, rest the meat for 20 min and serve with some salad and roast potatoes. Serves 4-6 (depending on who’s coming for dinner!)
It’s 5 mins worth of effort from me for a really tasty result! That, and you can leave the lamb in the oven while you go out to do some shopping. When you come home the smell of a hot roast dinner will perfume your home, and to me, that’s better than any incense that you can buy. There is nothing more welcoming and warming to the soul than the alluring smell of food.
And there isn’t a better welcome present for your dinner guests either.
Happy munching!