I just love this dish. The lamb shoulder meat is so tender and moist. It requires two sets of hands to remove if from the cooking rack as it breaks apart once it is moved!
This is a very simple meal to cook. It requires a little time, 4.5 hours in fact. You will need a deepish baking dish with a wire tray. The wire tray is essential as it allows the fat to drip off the meat and separate from it as opposed to pan frying the meat for an extended time. The wire rack helps lean the meat.
Preheat your oven to 250c. Take your should and rub it all over with olive oil, Murray River pink salt and freshly ground pepper. Place it on the wire rack in the tray.
Wrap the tray completely with aluminium foil. We are looking for an airtight wrap. Several layers may be required. The shoulder will cook in this enclosed area.
When the oven reaches 250c, place your wrapped shoulder in and close the door. Now turn the oven temperature down to 160c and leave for 4.5 hours. If you want to present this meal at 6.30pm your shoulder needs to be in the oven at 2.00pm in the early afternoon. Remember, cook it low and slow.
If you choose to brown the top, which I do not, once the 4.5 hours has endured, remove the foil and place the tray back into the oven for another 10 mins.
The two shoulder bones will slide out clean!
I served this shoulder tonight with hand sliced, stove top fried sweet potato chips in olive oil. I also served dressed baby cos lettuce.
Now a word about baby cos lettuce. It is so fresh and mildly bitter. No other salad vegetables need join it. Keep the other vegetables in a separate salad section! The baby cos lettuce was dressed with olive oil and Murray River pink salt. The secret to the salad is in the tossing. Every leaf must be coated in the dressing. I tossed this lettuce tonight for about one minute. The result: nothing left!
Remember, low and slow.
Please enjoy this meal. This recipe is a keeper.