Leg Of Lamb With Red Wine And Garlic

This is one of the simplest ways to roast lamb and gives you spoonable, moist meat, full of flavour with the added benefit of the potatoes cooking with the meat and pan juices to save you making gravy.

While the oven is on for this I like to roast some veggies at the same time, tonight it was beetroot, carrot and parsnip with some fresh parsley, thyme and rosemary.

Use the pan juices to pour over the meat as you serve, any leftover meat and juices can be used to make shepherds pie the following night.

Serves 8-10 depending on portions

Ingredients

2.8kg leg of lamb

4 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced

50mls olive oil

2 onions, peeled and cut into 1cm rings

750mls red wine

750mls stock or water

salt and pepper

2-2.5kg baby potatoes, skin on

Method

Preheat the oven to 220 degrees Centigrade.

Take the leg of lamb and stab all over with a sharp knife, slide a slice of garlic into each stab hole. Drizzle with a little olive oil. Season well with salt and pepper.

Lay the solid onion rings into the base of a roasting tin, place the lamb on top and pop into the oven for 20 minutes.

Remove from the oven, pour in the wine and stock, cover tightly with foil, return to the oven and turn down the temperature to 160 degrees Centigrade. Roast for four hours.

After the four hour roast, add the potatoes to the pan, cover again and roast for 1 hour.

Now, carefully pour as much of the pan juice as you can out of the roasting tin into a small pan.

Return to the oven to let the meat and potatoe colour up, around an hour, basting occasionally.

The meat will be spoonable so no need to carve, I just use some tongs to pull it off and reheat the pan juices to pour over the top.

Slow Roast Lamb Shoulder With Lemon And Garlic

I have mentioned before my love for slow roasting and the benefits to my soul knowing dinner is quietly getting on with itself while I’m out and about.

This lamb is melt in the mouth consistency and to be honest I always roast two shoulders now as one isn’t quite enough and I love leftovers!

Leftovers are used up in Turkish prides and stuffed bread, recipes in my blog. Apologies, if I knew how to do a link for them I would!

A shoulder this size feeds 4.

Ingredients

 1.8kg lamb shoulder, bone in

2 lemons

50mls olive oil

6 gloves garlic, peeled

20g parsley leaves

Salt and pepper

500mls water

Method

Preheat the oven to 140 degrees Centigrade.

Take the shoulder and stab it all over, as deep as you can without piercing the underside, waggle the knife around a bit so there is space to fit a couple of fingers into the cuts where able.

Whizz the zest and juice of 1 lemon, the olive oil, garlic, parsley and seasoning to make a loose paste.

Pop the shoulder into a deep roasting tin.

Rub the paste all over the underside of the shoulder, flip over and then push the paste through the cuts and cover completely.

Take the second lemon and slice very thinly, remove the seeds and lay over the top of the shoulder.

Pour the water into the base of the pan.

Measure a piece of baking parchment to fit over the roast and tuck in to the sides. Squish it up under running water and then lay it over the roast, tucking the edges in.

Cover the tin with tin foil and seal well.

Pop the roast into the oven and roast for 7 hours.

Turn the heat to 200, remove the foil and parchment and drain the pan juices.

Spoon the fat from the pan juices back over the lamb and return to the oven, baste again after 20minutes and then remove after a further 20mins.

To serve, warm the pan juices back up, check for seasoning and then pour over the roast as you serve.

Pork Belly With Star Anise and Orange

The crunchest of crackling and most spoonable meat make this a brilliant way to cook a humble pork belly!

This size of piece feeds 4-6 depending on sides, I like something green to go with this, stir fried broccoli with pine nuts is nice!

Ingredients

1.6 kg piece of pork belly, scored finely

75mls gluten free soy sauce

400mls water

4 star anise

2 cloves garlic, sliced roughly

1 thumb sized piece of fresh ginger, sliced

2 large spring onions, topped, tailed and cut roughly

zest of one orange

1-2 teaspoons salt

Method

Combine the soy sauce, 100mls water, star anise, garlic, ginger, onion and zest in a shallow oven proof dish.

Add the meat skin side down and marinade for 1 hour.

Turn the right way up and marinade for 4hrs at room temperature if cool enough.

Preheat the oven to 220 degrees Centigrade.

Wipe the skin of the pork with kitchen towel roll and rub in the salt, try not to let it fall in the marinade as it is already salty!

Pop the meat in the oven for 30mins.

Remove, turn the heat down to 150degrees Centigrade, add the remaining water and cover well with tin foil.

Bake for 3 hours.

Turn the oven back up to 220 degrees centigrade.

Drain all of the pan juice and set aside.

Return the meat to the oven, turning regularly until the skin is crisp.

Allow to sit for 20-30 mins.

While the meat rests, skim the fat from the pan juices and sieve out any lumps. Pour into a pan, reheat gently and check for seasoning.

Serve the meat with rice and pan juices over the top.

Pulled Roast Pork Shoulder

Gosh I love meat when it is falling off the bone with pan juices for gravy! This recipe you start the day before but once it’s in the oven at a lower temp you have eight hours of piece while it does its own thing. Guaranteed dissolve in the mouth deliciousness with the the pan juices taking it to another level. Leftovers, chop the meat, add the leftover pan juices and some frozen peas and make pasties, very popular in the boys lunch boxes! Serves 6-8. Ingredients 3kg piece of pork shoulder, skin on, scored finely 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 tablespoon coriander seeds 2 teaspoons fennel seeds 1 tablespoon dried oregano 2 tablespoons smoked paprika 4 large cloves of garlic 1 tablespoon salt freshly ground pepper 500mls water Method The day before roasting, combine the oil, coriander, fennel, oregano, smoked paprika, garlic, salt and pepper to make a thick paste, I use a large mortar and pestle or processing will work too. Take the pork and rub the paste all over, really well, including the cuts in the skin, place in a large dish or ziplock bag and pop in the fridge for 24 hrs. Preheat the oven to 220 degrees centigrade. Place the meat, skin side up on a rack in your roasting tin. Roast for thirty minutes. Turn the oven down to 140 degrees Centigrade. Remove from the oven and turn the meat over, skin side down. Pour the water into the base of the pan and cover tightly with foil. Pop back in the oven for 8 hours. Turn the oven up to 220 degrees Centigrade. Turn the meat skin side up, drain the pan juices and set aside. Return the meat to the oven and roast for 40-50 mins until the skin has crackled. While the crackling cooks, skim the fat from the pan juices and warm gently. To serve, remove the crackling and break up into pieces and using tongs, pull the meat apart into manageable pieces, serve with hot pan juices over the top.

Mexican Pulled Beef

What can I say!

Falling apart beef, ideal for stuffing into burritos, tacos, pittas and dare I say, pies.

Slow cooking achieves the melt in the mouth texture and you just need tongs to serve as you pull it gently apart, top with a spoonful of the pan sauce, heaven!

Not too spicy but with a massive hit of flavour. The boys love this served with rice in a burrito with avocado and sour cream and for the gluten free option I have it with rice.

If you want, add 2-3 drained tins of black beans for the final 30-45 mins to make the meat go even further.

This quantity serves 12-14, I make this quantity and then  freeze half for an easy dinner another night.

Ingredients

2.5kg piece of beef, I use blade, cut into very large chunks, around 10cm

3 ancho chillies

100mls olive oil

6 onions, sliced

6 cloves garlic, chopped

120g chipotle chillies in adobe sauce, around 3 chillies and their sauce, diced

750mls passata or sieved tomatoes

500mls water

2 tablespoons dried oregano

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

3 tablespoons brown sugar

salt and pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 150degrees Centigrade.

Boil the kettle, place the ancho chillies in a heat proof bowl, pour over the boiling water and allow to soak for 30mins. Once softened remove stem and seeds, dice roughly.

In a large oven proof, lidded pan, heat the oil and add the onions.

Cook the onion over a medium heat until soft and caramelised, around 30mins.

Add the garlic and cook for 10mins.

Pour in the passata, ancho chillies, chipotle chillies, water, oregano, cocoa, brown sugar, salt and pepper.

Bring up to the boil.

Add the beef to the pan. Stir well.

Cover the pan with a piece of overlapping baking parchment and then the lid.

Pop in the oven and cook for 4 hours.

Remove the lid and paper and allow to cook down, in the oven, for a further 30-45mins.

Pull the beef apart with forks or tongs and serve.

Lamb Shoulder With Garlic and Rosemary and Easy Roast Potatoes

This is a favourite roast. Left to its own devices for 4 hours and then potatoes roasted in the tin, saves on washing up and they taste yum!

Depending on your appetites you may want to up the size of your shoulder and the number of potatoes. This easily feeds my family of five with a leftover portion for lunch the next day.

Serves 4-6.

Ingredient

2kg lamb shoulder

3 cloves garlic, sliced

3 sprigs rosemary

olive oil

salt and pepper

1kg potatoes, peeled and cut into 5cm wedges

Method

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Centigrade.

Take a sharp knife and stab the top of the roast all over.

In each hole slip a slice of garlic and a few rosemary leaves.

Drizzle with a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Cover and bake for 4 hours.

After four hours, remove the lamb, set aside.

Drain all but 1-2 tablespoons of fat.

Turn the oven up to 200degrees Centigrade.

Add the potatoes, toss in the fat and pop in the oven.

After 30mins, turn the potatoes and return to the oven for 20mins.

Now turn the potatoes, move them to the sides of the roasting tin.

Return the lamb to the tin, cover the lamb loosely with foil.

Roast for a further 20mins and then serve.

Roasted Rolled Pork Shoulder

I enjoy having a roast on over the weekend, it feeds us well and gives me cold meat for sandwiches during the week and the house smells like a home!

I find that the cheaper cuts of meat really LOVE long slow cooking, although this shoulder  has had it’s bone removed it still benefits from slower cooking and you can still have the crackling too. I like to aim for “spoonable” meat with these cuts, literally falling apart, in fact, the string and crackling are the only things holding this shoulder together, yummy! Serves 6 plus leftovers.

While the oven is on you can utilise the heat to roast some beetroot for the beetroot and chocolate brownies or wrap some medium to large potatoes in foil and serve these baked potatoes with your roast.

Ingredients

2kg piece of boned pork shoulder, skin on and scored, the butcher can do this for you.

a few sprigs of thyme, rosemary, oregano and parsley, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 onion, sliced into 1cm rounds, do not separate the layers

250mls white wine

250mls water

salt and pepper

Method

Preheat oven to 220 degrees Centigrade.

Take the shoulder and open with the skin down.

Rub the garlic all over the flesh side of the meat, season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with the chopped herbs.

Take some cooking twine and cut into six 30cm lengths. Place a chopping board vertically on your work surface, the idea is that the cooking twine will follow the same lines as the scoring on the skin.

Space the six pieces of twine on your board, spacing them a couple of centimetres apart. Lay the shoulder on top.

Now, if you are really lucky you will have a willing helper to help with the stringing up.I don’t use any fancy knots, a Grannie knot will do the trick here!

I tend to start on the central strings and work my way out, it’s ok if your twine/string goes into the cuts on the skin.

Work your way up and down the strings until they are all done. Cut off the tails of the string.

Now, sprinkle some more salt on the skin and rub it in well, this will help your crackling.

In your roasting pan, spread out the onion, this will work as a rack for your meat.

Pop the meat on top and whack in the oven for 30mins, this seals your meat.

Now turn the oven down to 160degrees centigrade, add the wine and water to the roasting tin and cover with tin foil. Pop back in the oven for 5-6hrs.

Turn the oven back up to 220 degrees Centigrade and roast for a further 30mins to allow the skin to crackle, keep an eye on it, you may need to turn the pan around but it’s easy to burn the skin so be watchful!

Take the meat out and set aside, covered in foil while you get on with the gravy.

Add 500mls water to the roasting tin and slowly heat on the stove top, using a spoon, scrape the pan to get all the sediment off, bring to the boil.

Seive and pour into your gravy boat/jug. I don’t tend to thicken this gravy, however, you can with a paste made of corn flour and water.

To do this, seive the gravy into a clean pan. In a bowl combine 4 tablespoons of cornflour with enough water to make it into a cream like consistency.

Add the corn flour mix to the pan and stirring constantly bring up to the boil. It  will appear “milky” initially and once the gravy has thickened it will return to its original dark colour.

Serve with baked potatoes and some greens.