It’s been a busy summer for us all at Foray Catering, Fell Bistro and Aven Restaurant in Preston. With everything from a full calendar of weddings, pizza pop ups, new bottomless brunches at Fell, industry nights for others in the hospitality industry and a Lancashire Flavours tasting menu at Aven, we’ve been keeping ourselves on our toes.
It feels nice to move into a new season and, with it, the opportunity to tuck into some dishes that you can take your time over. This month’s recipe celebrates the wonderful Cockerham salt marsh lamb. I get mine from a farm on the marshes in Cockerham. We use their lamb quite a bit and they are a fantastic supplier. You can use hogget too, if you prefer, as it’s a great time of year for that.
Lamb shoulder is a bit underused, and it can be nice when slow cooked with lots of aromats. It’s a nice one, too, because you can pre prepare it, cook it, then let it cool down a bit and then roll it up and put it in the fridge. If you've got people coming over, then it's just a case of cutting it up and chucking it back in the oven.
I’ve always been a fan of fish pairing with lamb, too, so the anchovies offer a classic combination. It also makes sense when using it with salt marsh lamb as the animals feed on coastal herbs and seaweed, so it sits nicely with the anchovies. It is a bit more salty which brings a better flavour to the meat. The lambs aren’t going up and down hills and they are grazing across the flat – all of these things make the meat more tender. The flavours are ideal for September, too, a nice and clean taste and we’re edging towards the colder months, so slow cooking is definitely back on the cards. Tuck in.
MORE RECIPES FROM OLI
Oli Martin's ras el hanout roast leg of lamb recipe
Oli Martin's Treacle-cured barbecued bacon chop recipe
Oli Martin's pistachio, pine nut and rapeseed oil cake recipe
Slow cooked salt marsh lamb shoulder, anchovy, celeriac and mustard
Ingredients
For the lamb shoulder
1kg lamb shoulder
1 litre good quality chicken stock
3 sprigs lemon thyme
3 cloves garlic
2 bay leaves
Zest of one lemon
For the roasted celeriac, anchovy and mustard
1 celeriac
10 good quality anchovies
1 tbsp grain mustard
2 tbsp hollandaise
1 lemon, zest of
Parsley
For the lamb jus
Reserved lamb stock
250ml red wine
Method
For the lamb shoulder
Turn the oven to 210 degrees, dress the lamb shoulder in a little oil and salt and roast for 15 minutes until golden.
Cover the lamb shoulder in a good quality chicken stock, add the lemon thyme, garlic, bay leaf and lemon zest.
Cover and slow cook at 160 degrees for around six hours until the lamb is tender and falls apart. Allow to cool down in the stock for one hour. Reserve the stock for the lamb jus.
Pull apart the lamb shoulder and roll tightly in clingfilm, allow to set in the fridge for a couple of hours then cut it into chunks. Roast through the oven at 180 degrees until golden. Cover in the lamb jus.
For the roasted celeriac, anchovy and mustard
Leave the Celeriac in the skin and cover with oil, place in tin foil then roast in the oven at 200 degrees for around 1 and a half hours. Allow to cool for 30 minutes, remove the outer skin and cut the celeriac into chunks, chop the parsley and add all the other ingredients into a bowl and toss together with the celeriac.
For the lamb jus
Add the wine to a sauce pan and reduce the liquid down until glossy. Remove the aromats from the stock and add to the pan, reduce on the stove until the sauce thickens and holds on a spoon.
