recipe-book

Slow Cooked Lamb Shoulder with Hopping
Hare & Honey and Wilted Seasonal Greens
Serves 5-6
Ingredients
Groundnut/rapeseed oil
1.81kg/4lb shoulder of lamb, trimmed
2 good handfuls of woody herbs like
thyme, rosemary & oregano
4 bay leaves (tie herbs together
in a bouquet garni)
1 whole garlic clove, cut in
half horizontally
1 carrot chopped in rough chunks
1 onion cut in half
2 celery sticks chopped in rough chunks
4 anchovy fillets
2 tbsp heather honey
1 bottle Hopping Hare
1 litre lamb, chicken or vegetable stock
3 bags or 750g young spinach leaves
4 wild garlic leaves (if in season),
shredded finely
2 bunches of good watercress, roughly
chopped (remove any woody stems)
salted butter
salt & pepper
Method
The lamb can be made the day before and re-heated for an hour or until hot in the middle
in a closed dish with a pint of water. A good tip is to warm your serving dishes for the lamb
and spinach in your oven 10 minutes before serving – and don’t forget to gently warm your
gravy boat too, but not too much or your guests will burn their fingers!
1. Take the lamb out of the fridge at least half an hour before cooking.
2. Heat the oven to its highest temperature.
3. Poke holes in your lamb about three inches apart with knife or skewer and season liberally
with pepper and small amount of salt (not a health thing, it’s allowing for the anchovies!).
4. Add oil to your dish and (if it’s hob safe) heat on stove. If your dish is not direct heat proof,
cook in a large pan.
5. Add your lamb and brown off, remove from dish to a plate. Add anchovies, all root
vegetables and garlic. Lightly fry off all ingredients. When the anchovies have dissolved
and the vegetables have started to lightly brown, deglaze with stock.
6. Add bouquet garni to dish.
7. Return the lamb and juices to dish, rest on vegetable base and pour over Hopping Hare.
8. Put lid on/seal with foil and put in the oven for 30 minutes at max temperature. After 30
minutes turn down to 160ºC and just leave to cook for 4-5 hours, checking liquid levels
occasionally. If levels get low, just top up with water or more beer.
9. The meat should rest for at least 30 minutes, so make the gravy straight away by removing
the lamb from dish and placing on a roasting rack over a large plate. Cover with foil.
10. Scrape the bottom of the cooking dish to remove all brown, sticky goodness and strain
the cooking liquor through a sieve into a pan (discarding the vegetables and herbs) and
place on stove and whisk in the honey.
11. Bring to a rolling boil and then turn down to a simmer, reducing to a desired consistency.
Serving and the greens
1. Once you are 10 minutes away from eating, it’s action time again. Carve your lamb, put
it in your warmed dish with a drizzle of gravy over it, cover in foil and keep in a very low
heated oven.
2. Then brush the inside of your wok with a piece of kitchen towel with
some oil on it and put over medium heat.
3. Rinse all your greens thoroughly under running water, and shake off
any excess water. Add in batches to the wok, adding a good pinch of
pepper each time and a tiny amount of salt with the last batch.
Add to your warmed dish and top with slivers of butter.
4. Place in the middle of your table with the lamb, gravy,
dauphinoise potatoes or Jersey Royals.
5. Raise a glass of Hopping Hare and enjoy your well-earned meal.
Melissa Cole, Beer writer,
girlsguidetobeer.blogspot.com
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