So, here I am. I succumbed to the commercial marketing and bought a lump of lamb to cook and eat on the gazetted public holiday officially known as Australia Day.
Resting rolled shoulder of lamb.
Ingredients
Boneless rolled lamb shoulder
Iodised salt
Whole black peppercorns
White refined sugar
Chilli flakes
Kent pumpkin
Brown onion
Broccoli florets
Gravox instant gravy
Seared rolled lamb shoulder with pumpkin and onion.
Instructions
The night before, or the morning of cooking, remove the lamb from the plastic vacuum wrapping. Dry the surfaces with a towel. Season the outer surfaces with salt and put the lamb back into the refrigerator to dry brine.
Turn on the oven and set the thermostat to 180 °C.
With a pestle, grind out some salt, pepper, sugar, and chilli flakes within the mortar chamber.
Rub the ground salt, pepper, sugar, and chilli onto the lamb flesh and fat. Don’t be gentle, really rub it in.
Heat a skillet to be smoking hot.
Sear the outer surfaces of the lamb in the skillet. There’s no need for any extra oil. The sugar and the rendered fat from the lamb will caramelise the outer surfaces of the lamb.
Insert a wireless thermometer probe deep within the flesh of the lamb. You want the tip of your temperature probe to hit the perfect spot.
Smear some cooking oil onto a baking sheet and place the seared lamb on it.
Rub leftover salt, pepper, sugar, and chilli onto the surface of a wedge of pumpkin and place it next to the lamb.
Top and tail the brown onion.
Put the lamb, onion, and pumpkin into the oven and cook according to the app connected to the wireless thermometer probe you’ve inserted deep into the flesh. The aim is to get an internal temperature of 54 °C.
While the lamb and pumpkin are roasting, steam the frozen broccoli florets and allow the florets to cool a little.
Put the broccoli florets into a mixing bowl and season with salt and add a splash of extra virgin olive oil. Toss the broccoli florets in the salt and oil. When the app suggests 20 minutes are remaining for the lamb, add the broccoli florets to the baking sheet.
According to the app, observe the resting time to ensure a succulent, juicy piece of meat.
Make the gravy according to the instructions for use on the tin.
Carve enough of the lamb with a sharp knife for the meal.
Wrap the remaining lamb and refrigerate for lunches and dinners throughout the week.
Serve the meat with the gravy and vegetables.
Lamb shoulder with pumpkin, onion, broccoli and gravy.
Another busy day and on the way home I got a call from work to check something out. It meant my plan for takeaway was thwarted because once I’m home I don’t want to go out again.
I had the last of the lamb in the refrigerator from the weekend roast lamb shoulder. I looked in the freezer and saw some corn cobs and peas.
I was cooking dinner and received a telephone call from work.
I couldn’t not answer and the call came through after I had added some mushrooms and spring onions to a hot frypan. I could barely hear the caller so I couldn’t attend to a noisy frypan and induction hob while on the telephone.
The result was a burnt dinner. I did manage to fix it a little. It tasted okay.
On Saturday and Sunday I cooked quite a lot of mammalian meat in the form a bone in rib steak and a rolled lamb shoulder.
The great thing about weekend cooking is the leftover meat which can be used cold from the refrigerator as a source of protein for lunch.
If you’re eschewing excessive carbohydrates in the form of bread, noodles, pasta, and rice; then a little bit of meat is a good way to keep hunger at bay.
Leftover lamb shoulder with blue cheese on Cos lettuce with dates drizzled with truffle honey
Rollup of lettuce, lamb, cheese, dates, and honey
Ingredients
Leftover slice of lamb shoulder meat
Cos lettuce leaf
Blue cheese
Chopped dates
Honey
Instructions
Wash a leaf of lettuce.
Dry the leaf by flicking it so you get water all over the place.
Lay the slice of lamb shoulder meat on the lettuce leaf.
Put some crumbly blue cheese on the meat and flatten it with your thumb to try to spread it out a bit (make sure you have clean hands and under your fingernails, you don’t want anything nasty getting on your food after you’ve been scratching about…).
Press some chopped dates into the blue cheese.
Drizzle some truffle honey over the meat and cheese and dates.
Roll up and eat.
Public Holiday
Today is a public holiday and I’m working from home. The modern availability of broadband Internet is great. I can participate in international teleconferences and do other work without having to be in the office (and wear shoes).
It’s Monday so there will be salmon for tea while for breakfast I splurged and had two steamed eggs rather than one with my wilted spinach and melted cheese.
