Two Way Soft & Crispy Spring Lamb

By Hugh Gallagher

INGREDIENTS

You will need
1 whole shoulder of lamb
1 rack of lamb
1 egg
Milk
Breadcrumbs

Marinade
1/2 sprig thyme leaves
1 whole garlic bulb (peeled)
Salt and pepper
50ml olive oil
I tbsp Arran mustard

Sauce
3 tbsp redcurrant jelly
1 tbsp tomato puree
Splash lemon juice
Splash Worcester sauce
Reserved cooking liquid from the shoulder with the fat removed (should have solidified over night)
100ml port

Parsnip Puree
500g parsnip
50g butter
125ml milk
Salt and pepper

Purple sprouting broccoli

METHOD

Blend all the spices together and rub over the surface of the lamb shoulder.
Place the lamb shoulder in a roasting tray and cover the tray with foil. Place in a preheated oven at 120C and roast for 9 hours.

Once cooked, allow to cool so that the meat can be handled then strip off all the meat. It should come away from the bone easily. Try to keep it in large pieces and place in a parchment-lined metal tray. Press with another tin until you have a depth of around an inch and a half. Place something heavy on the top tin to maintain pressure and refrigerate overnight. Reserve the cooking juices for the sauce.

The following day, remove from tin and take slices of around 2cm in thickness from the pressed shoulder, plus flour, egg wash and breadcrumbs ready for frying.

For the rack of lamb, ask your butcher to trim and prepare for you.

In a hot pan, seal on both sides until golden brown and on the bottom for 1 minute.

Season with salt and pepper.

Place on a wire rack and put in a hot oven at 200C for between 8 and 12 minutes, depending on how well cooked you like your lamb.

Remove from the pan and allow to rest for 8 minutes.

Whilst the rack is resting, shallow fry the breaded lamb shoulder for 3 minutes on either side and then serve with 2 lamb chops from the rack.

For the puree, place all of the ingredients in a pan and cook until soft then puree with a hand blender.

For the sauce, place all of the ingredients in a pan and bring to the boil.

Whisk and then reduce to a coating consistency.

For the purple sprouting broccoli, put a pan of water on to boil, add salt and cook for around 4 minutes (leave the lid off as this can discolour your green vegetables).

Plate and enjoy!