Slow roasted lamb & chilli fetta carrots

With the cooler weather (finally) hitting Perth, Mr Alphie has started requesting a Sunday roast. We've had roast chook (WA raised free range, of course) a couple of times now, and after the most recent request for a chicken roast, I realised that the alternative had to be pretty tempting to draw Mr Alphie from the roast chook obsession he was clearly about to fall in to. I had a quick ponder back to previous winters, and other roasts cooked, and remembered stumbling upon a fantastic lamb recipe last winter.

In the low calorie obsession of the last 12 months, I bought a number of cookbooks I would not have otherwise. On reflection, most of the books are are quite weird  but one that has had more than it's fair share of gems, is Jane Kennedy's OMG! I Can Eat That?. It still has some weird stuff in it, and I think she takes the low-carb thing a bit far sometimes, but the slow roast lamb recipe is definitely a winner. Beautifully soft, pull apart lamb shoulder, drizzled with a garlicky, lemony 'gravy'.... mmmm, oh, and the smell wafting through the house as it cooks... Perfection.

Another recent realisation I have had, is that just because we're having a roast, doesn't mean we have to have the full suite of traditional roast veges (potato, sweet potato, pumpkin, carrot, parsnip, etc), with an obligatory serve of green veg on the side (peas, beans or broccoli). Don't get me wrong, I adore roast veges, and have been known to just have roast veges for dinner, but I'm starting to fall for carefully crafted 'side dishes' to star along side the roast, rather than as uninspired support acts.

A recent favourite  thanks to a continuing excess of carrots that arrive in our fruit & vege delivery, is also found in OMG! I Can Eat That? Chilli feta carrots. So divine, and it's possible I love these more than regular roasted carrots, which I previously thought of as the best part of a roast. I have a continuing love affair with Brussels sprouts/cabbage and bacon, and of course, a roast is not a roast, without some form of roasted potato to accompany it - soft & fluffy in their jackets is my preference.

Slow Roast Lamb
slightly modified from Jane Kennedy's OMG! I Can Eat That? pg 105
Serves 4-6

• approx 1kg boned lamb shoulder
• 1 lemon, quartered
• 1 head garlic, broken up, but not peeled
• 2-3 stems rosemary
• 1 cup chicken or beef stock
• olive oil
• salt & pepper

Preheat your oven to 220°C.

In a roasting pan, place the lemon wedges in the centre, ad surround with the garlic cloves. What you're trying to do here is create a 'trivet' for the lamb to rest on. Depending on the size of your lamb shoulder you may need another lemon, or some more garlic. Place the rosemary on top, followed by the lamb. Drizzle with a bit of olive oil, salt & pepper, and rub it all in.

Add the stock to the pan (Jane recommends you do this at the end to make the 'gravy', but I had too many experiences of the lemons & garlic burning on to the pan & engulfing the kitchen in acrid smoke), and cover tightly with foil. Chuck it in your hot oven, and immediately reduce the heat to 160°C.

Leave it for 4 hours. Yes, 4 hours. I promise you, it'll be worth it.

After the 4 hours are up, take the foil off & increase the oven to 220°C. Leave for another 20 minutes, just to get some crispy bits going.

Remove from the oven, set the lamb aside on the serving plate & cover with foil. Fish the lemon bits & rosemary out of the pan, and squeeze all that delicious slow roasted garlic out of its skins back into all the pan juices. You might also want to get rid of a bit of the fat in the pan at this point, although I don't always have to - it depends on the lamb. Mush up that garlic & put the pan on the cooktop on a medium heat to reduce a bit. It won't thicken up like a gravy, but that's ok.

This works best if it's served family-style - a big plate in the middle of the table & everyone can help themselves to the unctuous lamb & drippy pan gravy. So, shred the lamb on the serving plate & spoon the gravy over the top.

Serve & dig in!

(sorry about the lack of 'in progress' photos, I had to fight Mr Alphie for the oven & I got a bit frazzled trying to get it in on time)

Chilli Fetta Carrots
slightly modified from Jane Kennedy's OMG! I Can Eat That? pg 193
Serves 4-6

• 3-4 carrots, peeled & sliced on the diagonal
• olive oil
• salt & pepper
• 1/4 - 1/2 tsp chilli flakes, to taste
• 50g fetta cheese (or there about, I just eyeball it)
• 2tbs chopped flat leaf parsley

Either toss your carrots in a bit of oil, then spread out on a baking tray lined with baking paper; or chuck them straight on the tray (still with baking paper) and spray with oil. Whichever method you choose, sprinkle the carrots with salt & freshly ground pepper & chilli flakes.

Roast the carrots in a 200°C oven for 25 or so minutes, until they're just golden. Mix with the fetta & parsley in a serving bowl.

Enjoy!

Do you have any favoured side dish recipes that are starts in their own right? Please share, I'd love to hear about them.

Curried lamb pasties

These were a bit of a mission to make. I started dicing the lamb shoulder just after lunch, and we didn't start eating until 8.30 or 9.00! Admittedly it was a late lunch, but I did not expect these to take that long. The recipe is one I ripped out of a SMH Good Living about 2 years ago, and has been languishing in my 'green folder' ever since (much like the Moroccan lamb meatballs). Now that I have such great lamb to work with, I thought it was time I gave it a try.

Just a few hints, so that maybe it wont take quite so long... Use a non stick pan - I made a 'shocking mess' of the pot I used, which wasn't non stick, and I haven't attempted to clean it yet (I made these yesterday)... Cooling the lamb mix will take a couple of hours (unless, like me, you are in a total rush, and are crazy enough to cool it in an ice bath...), so I would suggest you start this either the day before, or at least 8 hours before you want to eat them... And lastly, don't try to put too much filling in the pasties, they wont seal well, and will probably burst open during cooking.

FH Alphie rated them: 8.5/10

Curried lamb and winter veg pasties
from SMH Good Living, 8 July 2008.
makes 6

• 600g diced lamb shoulder
• 1/2 cup plain flour
• salt
• pepper
• olive oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 stick celery, diced
• 1 large carrot, diced
• 4 garlic cloves, sliced
• 3tbs curry powder
• 2 birds eye chillis
• 500ml beef or chicken stock
• 200g pumpkin, diced
• 200g parsnip, diced
• 200g celeriac, diced (swede also works well if you can't find celeriac)
• 6 sheets/600-700g shortcrust pastry
• 1 egg, lightly beaten

Toss lamb through the seasoned flour. Heat oil in a large, preferably non stick, pan and brown the lamb in batches.

Then add the onion, celery, carrot, garlic, curry powder and chillis and cook until soft (about 10 minutes). Return the lamb to the pan, and add the stock. Simmer, stirring often (another reason I made such a mess of the pan...) for 90 minutes, or until the lamb is soft and the sauce is thick.


Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Combine the pumpkin, parsnip and celeriac/swede on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil, season, and bake for 15 minutes. Stir into the lamb mix, and cool completely.


Cut pastry into six, 20cm circles, brush with egg and spoon mix (about 3/4 cup) into the centre. Bring sides together at the top, and pinch sides together to seal all the way around. Place on a baking tray, and brush with more of the egg. Bake for 10 minutes at 200 degrees, then 20 minutes at 170 degrees.

Enjoy! But be careful, they will be hot.

-Alphie