A Tale of Two Roasts

We spent the weekend at my mum’s in Kent and, knowing that we had a busy day ahead, decided on slow roast shoulder of lamb for Sunday’s lunch. One of the great things about this dish is that it cooks on a low heat for a long time which gives you plenty of time to get on with other things.

We eat this a lot and usually serve it with the caper and mint sauce, this time we decided to make a simple gravy from the cooking juices and serve it with roast potatoes. We did stud the lamb with some whole anchovies this time but should have cut them up as, even though the meat cooked for three hours, the anchovies stayed rather large.

One of the not so great things about this dish is that the whole house inevitably ends up smelling like lamb which can be painful when you have to wait so long before you can actually eat it. By the time the food arrives at the table you generally end up eating far too much and can’t move very well by the time you’ve finished. We got over this in the traditional Sunday fashion though, by laying on the sofa watching James Bond until it was time to head home, via a friend’s house for a cup of tea.

We thought our friend’s were out when we arrived as there was no answer at their door. The reason there was no answer is because J had found an old CD and was busy listening to the Pet Shop Boys at high volume while he prepared their dinner of roast beef. Unable to just stand back and drink our tea while there was action happening in the kitchen, Stephen and I quickly armed ourselves with various knives and peelers and leant a hand. It was at this point that J said we should stay for dinner. Still completely full of lamb and not wanting to intrude, we declined and continued to do so until J suggested he and Stephen went for a traditional Sunday-night pint at the local. Then he produced a selection of very interesting wine and told us they had plenty of food for a mini-roast for the two of us. A quick call to my mum to tell her we would be back later and off they went to the pub while the other J and I stayed behind to keep an eye on the dinner.

So, about four hours after we’d eaten roast lamb for lunch, we sat down to a (mini) roast beef dinner*. None of us could think of a time we’d eaten two roasts in one day and, as lovely as they both were, I don’t think we’ll be doing it again any time soon. We did all think a whole day of roast dinners, starting with breakfast, was a good idea though so who knows, we could make it to three next time.

*The picture above is not the mini-roast Stephen and I ate, our portion was much more restrained.