This lamb recipe of slow-braised shoulder and marinated rump with smoked potato, crunchy breaded cheese fritter and spinach purée is aimed at the skilled cook.
Serves 4
Ingredients:
Lamb Shoulder Sausage
– 1kg lamb shoulder
– 100g sliced pancetta or Parma ham
– 100g each of onion, leek, carrot & celeriac, diced
– 2 garlic cloves
– 1 branch of rosemary
– 100ml white wine
– 500ml chicken stock
Lamb Rump & Marinade
– 1 lamb rump steak (400g), fat trimmed
– 100ml port
– 100ml balsamic vinegar
– 2 tbsp soy sauce
– 1 tbsp honey
– 5 garlic cloves, crushed
– A sprig of fresh thyme
Spinach Purée
– 1 large handful of spinach
– 1 knob of butter
– 1 tsp blue cheese, grated
– 100ml chicken or vegetable stock
– 1 tbsp mashed potato
Rosemary Gravy
– 500ml boiling water,
– 1 tbsp rosemary spines,
– 1 tbsp ketchup,
– 1 jellied chicken stock cube
– 10g gravy granules
Smoked Potato
– 4-6 peeled rooster potatoes
– 2 tbsp green tea
– 200g raw rice
– 2 tbsp demerara sugar
– 2 tbsp of fresh rosemary spines
– 1 bunch fresh thyme, roughly chopped
– Salt and white pepper
Cheese Fritters
– 200g blue goat’s cheese
– 200g flour
– 2 beaten eggs
– 200g dried breadcrumbs
Method:
Lamb Shoulder Sausage
1. On a wide-based pan, sear the shoulder till brown all over and place it in a deep roasting tray or casserole dish with the roughly chopped vegetables.
2. Add the white wine with enough boiling chicken stock to a depth of 4 cm.
3. Cover the roasting tray or dish tightly with foil/lid and roast at 150ºC for 3 hours, checking every 30 minutes that the liquid does not evaporate. Top up if needed.
4. When cooked, it should be ‘falling apart’ tender. Reserve the pan juices for the gravy.
5. Using 2 forks, rake the meat into a bowl.
6. Lay down a double layer of cling wrap, 120cm x 120cm.
7. Layer strips of overlapping pancetta or Parma ham on the cling wrap. Spoon the flaked lamb, 4-cm thick, across the ham.
8. Lift the cling wrap and roll one end of the ham all the way forward over the flaked lamb, packing it tightly, to form a long sausage shape, always keeping the cling wrap on the outside.
9. Complete the sausage shape by twisting both ends of the cling wrap tightly. Tie the ends and leave this in the fridge for 1 hour to set.
10. To portion this roll, simply cut through the cling wrap at 4-6 cm intervals. Remove the cling wrap and panfry the outer layer of ham till brown.
11. Then place into the oven at 140ºC for 10 minutes to reheat the inside.
Lamp Rump
1. Mix together all the marinade ingredients. Marinate the rump steak for 2 hours.
2. 20 minutes before serving, sear the rumps on a pan, fat side down, to render/melt off any excess fat. Then season the meat, seal on a pan and cook at 180ºC for 15 minutes.
3. Remove from the oven and rest the meat in foil for 10 minutes while you reheat the other compo-nents.
4. For lamb rump, ‘medium’ is a nicer texture to eat as the natural fibres are chewier if any way rare.
Spinach Purée
1. In a small pan, sweat the spinach in the butter till wilted. Reserve a spoonful of this for the smoked mash potato later.
2. Add 100ml of chicken stock, 1 tbsp of mash potato and 1 tsp blue cheese.
3. Simmer for 2 minutes. Using a blender, purée all the ingredients to form a smooth, soft green purée.
Rosemary Gravy
1. With the exception of the gravy granules, boil together all the ingredients listed with the reserved roasted juices from the shoulder and 50ml of the rump marinade. Reduce this by half.
2. Finish the sauce by whisking in enough gravy granules to thicken the sauce. Strain and reheat when ready to serve.
Smoked Potato
1. Roughly chop the potatoes into 2cm dice, and boil or steam till soft.
2. Mix together the smoke ingredients. Place them in a wok lined with foil. Cover with a lid, and then heat until heavy smoke builds up inside. Turn the heat off.
3. Place the cooked chunks of potato on a trivet/wire rack suitable to fit under the lid.
4. Lift the lid swiftly and place the potatoes into the wok, covering tightly again to retain as much smoke as possible. Keep covered, off the heat, for 15 minutes.
5. When the fuming is complete, remove the potatoes to a small pot, season with salt, white pepper and add a knob of butter.
6. Mash the potatoes while hot and add the reserved wilted spinach.
7. To serve: spoon the mash 2cm high into a shaping ring or scone cutter
Cheese Fritters
1. Cut the blue goat’s cheese into 2cm dice and roll into balls, allowing 3 per portion.
2. Coat each one in flour, followed by beaten egg and then breadcrumbs.
3. Leave to set in the fridge.
4. Just before serving, deep-fry in vegetable oil till crunchy (1 minute).
Plating the Dish:
1. Heat all the components, including your plates.
2. Begin by forming a circle of mash on the plate, followed by a strike of spinach purée across the plate.
3. Place the tube of braised lamb on the plate.
4. Place 3 tiny dots of mash around the plate and place each fritter on top.
5. Slice the rump and layer it across the potato circle. Spoon on enough gravy to complement the meat.
Optional Garnish:
– Serve with a sprig of rosemary, some redcurrants, micro herbs and a band of pancetta.
– (Pancetta band: wrap a slice of pancetta around a well-oiled metal cutter and place in the oven at 130ºC for 15 minutes till set and crispy. Slide the ring off the cutter.) Secure the pancetta band on top of the tube using a spot of mash or reduced sticky jus.
Chef’s Tip:
– With the exception of the rump, all components can be cooked a couple of hours in advance and reheated just before serving.
All in the Food is published by O’Brien’s Press and is available to buy here.