Slow Roasted Lamb Shoulder with Celeriac Puree

Slow Roasted Lamb Shoulder with Celeriac Puree

Ingredients
Lamb shoulder (Suffolk, Flinders Is, Saltbush, Castricum or  Junee) fat untrimmed
1-2 Garlic heads halved length ways
1 Carrot quartered
1 Celery Stick quartered
1 Brown onion quartered
Dry white wine wine (a good splash or more)
Chicken stock/glaze (good quality) or water (anything up to 1 cup of stock or 1/4 cup chicken glaze mixed with 1 cup of water)
Couple of sprigs of fresh rosemary and fresh thyme
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper

Remove lamb shoulder from refrigerator and let it come to room temperature.
Preheat oven to 250 degrees.
Score lamb fat and rub with sea salt then, season with freshly ground white pepper and place in a roasting pan and drizzle with olive oil.
Roast lamb for 30 minutes.
Remove lamb from the oven. Reduce oven to 150 degrees. Arrange vegetables around meat, pour wine over lamb, add chicken stock or water to pan and scatter over thyme and rosemary. Cover tightly with foil and cook for 4 hours, basting with pan juices every hour.
Remove lamb from oven and reduce oven to 100 degrees. Remove foil from lamb and place lamb back in the oven and cook for another hour or so basting every 20 minutes.  Lamb is ready when dark, gelatinous and falling off the bone.
Remove lamb from oven.  Discard vegetables, pour pan juices into a small saucepan and simmer to reduce to make your jus.  Excess fat can be skimmed from the surface. Cover lamb loosely with foil until ready to serve.
In winter slow roasted lamb is ideal for serving with celeriac or cauliflower puree (see other posts) and blanched vegetables served warm with melted butter or a drizzle of olive oil and a good pinch of sea salt flakes….that is if you can resist picking the lamb off the bone with your fingers!
Left over lamb can be left on the bone and gently reheated in the oven in a pan with jus, covered with foil.

Notes:
Pork Belly or pork shoulder can be substituted.  You will need to ensure you get a good quality cut with a good amount of fat to ensure the meat doesn’t dry out or taste bland.  I recommend VICS Meats Butcher at Broadmeadows.
I have successfully slow cooked 2 lamb shoulders covered with foil overnight for 8 hours on 100 degrees and kept them warm for a lazy Sunday lunch.  The only thing is you’ll be waking up hungry all night to the smell of baking lamb!

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Slow Roasted Pork Belly with Celeriac Puree and Cavolo Nero

Slow Roasted Pork Belly with Celeriac Puree and Cavolo Nero

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Cured Ocean Trout with Remoulade and Dill Vinaigrette

Cured Ocean Trout with Remoulade & Dill Vinaigrette

Cured Ocean Trout:
Ocean Trout filleted with skin on
Lemon rind finely grated
Rock salt or salt flakes
Sugar

Pin bone fillet and trim off and discard belly flaps and blood line as required. Put a large sheet of plastic wrap on a clean work surface. Pat dry fillet with paper towel.
Mix together salt, sugar and lemon rind until well combined.
In a flat, shallow baking tray add half the salt mix and place the fillet on top and cover the fillet with the remaining salt mix. Weight it down, cover and refrigerate.  The curing mixture will draw out the juices.
Remove fillet from the refrigerator and wash off salt mix with water.
Remove the skin and cut into required portions

Remoulade:
Home made mayonnaise (whole egg, Dijon mustard, olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar, salt and pepper)
Freshly grated celeriac

Dill Vinaigrette:
Coursely chopped Dill
Olive Oil
Lemon
Red or White Wine Vinegar
Salt and Pepper

Useful Websites:
http://carolcookskeller.blogspot.com/2008/05/citrus-marinated-salmon-with-confit-of.html
Make the citrus marinade for the salmon: Zested one orange, half a lemon, half a lime, and a third of a grapefruit.
Mixed zest in a bowl with some salt, white pepper, and sugar.
Spread part of the marinade on a sheet of aluminum foil, place the salmon fillet (skinned) on top, sprinkle the rest of the marinade on top of the salmon, wrap it up, and put it between two baking sheets (picture looks like baking trays) and put it in the fridge for about three hours.
Remove the salmon from  the refrigerator, rinse off the citrus marinade, pat the fish dry, cut it into servings and sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
Bring a pot of olive oil up to 110 degrees Fahrenheit, add the salmon pieces to it, and poach them in the oil (about 10 minutes).  Take the salmon out of the oil and let them drain for a minute on a paper towel-covered plate.

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Cream of Celeriac Soup

Cream of Celeriac Soup

Ingredients
1 celeriac
1-2 celery stalks chopped (optional)
20g butter
1 onion or eshallots sliced finely
1 clove garlic finely chopped
2-4 medium potatoes peeled and chopped
1 litre liquid – either chicken stock, water or a combination
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Pure Cream
To serve:
Hazelnut oil (optional)
Freshly ground nutmeg

Peel the celeriac, chop in large pieces and place in acidulated water.
Heat butter in a heavy based saucepan over low heat, then cook the onion, garlic, leek and celery until soft and translucent.
Add the potato and drained celeriac and cook for approximately 2 minutes.
Pour in enough liquid to cover. Bring to the boil then reduce heat and simmer until celeriac and potato are cooked through.
Strain the liquid into a bowl.
Transfer the vegetables to another bowl and puree, adding stock as needed.
Whisk in remaining stock to achieve the desired consistency.
Return soup to a clean pan and gently reheat.
Season to taste and before serving, stir in the cream.
To serve, ladle soup into bowls and drizzle with hazelnut oil and sprinkle with freshly ground nutmeg and and add an extra splash of cream.

Celeriac Puree:
Alternatively, once the vegetables have been strained, they can be blended with some of the stock and/or milk to make a celeriac puree. To finish, stir in a good amount of butter and some pouring cream. Season to taste.

* Acidulated water:  1 litre water, 1T salt, 1T white vinegar or lemon juice
* Ensure the potato and celeriac are cut into pieces which will allow both vegetables to cook in an equal amount of time
* Alternatively use 1/2 an onion and 1/2 a leek

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