More Cumbrian Lamb

After a week of pretty intensive meat-eating, we really should be on a diet of water and vegetables today but it would have been such a shame to freeze the lamb shoulder we brought home so we decided to delay the diet.

A week away when there is bad weather involved inevitably results in a huge amount of unpacking, washing and boot cleaning so, knowing we wouldn’t have much time to spend in the kitchen today, we opted to slow roast the shoulder. Using our usual recipe, we put the meat on at 1.30 and left it to do its thing while we got on with our chores. By 7.30, the meat was done so Stephen made the sauce while I served the roast potatoes and sauteed cabbage.

We had this cabbage while we were away but didn’t have a picture of it, it was really good then and just as good as an accompaniment to today’s lamb. We also had some of the best roast potatoes we’ve had for a long time, the lamb fat we used in conjunction with the vegetable oil made all the difference.

Sauteed Cabbage

Start by sweating off a chopped onion for as long as you can, you want it to caramelise slightly and be soft and sweet. I find the easiest way to do this is to start with a high temperature and then reduce the heat when the edges are starting to brown. Cook on a low heat for about 20 minutes. When this is done, add a clove of chopped garlic and cook for a couple of minutes. Add some shredded cabbage with a little water and cook through. Turn up the heat, pour in a little wine, cook off, season and serve.