Israeli/ North African is good, interesting, flavourful food.
Honey and Co’s Slow cooked lamb shoulder with plums and roses
This dish looks as girly as can be – the bed of pink plums and rose petals makes it look like the set of a lingerie shoot or perfume commercial – but the flavours are grown-up and complex, and should appeal to both sexes.
1 lamb shoulder, on the bone
1 celeriac
2 heads of garlic
12 red plums
1 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp dried rose petals, plus more togarnish
2 large cinnamon sticks
2 glasses of white wine
chopped soft,fragrant herbs (coriander/
parsley/mint/chervil, etc.),to garnish
For the marinade
1 large onion
1 tbsp ground cardamom pods
2 tbsp ground coriander
1 tbsp dried rose petals
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp white pepper
Use a food processor or a pestle and
mortar to puree the marinade ingredients
together to a paste. Rub all overthe lamb
shoulder and leave to sit for about an hour
at room temperature to allowthe lamb
and marinade to get acquainted.
Preheat your oven to 250°C/230°C fan/gas
m.ark 9.
Peel the celeriac and cut into chunky
cubes. Break the garlic into clovesbut
don’t peel. Quarter 8 of the plums. Cut the
remaining 4 plums into wedges, place in a
bowl, sprinkle with the sugar and set aside
tilllater.
Placethe celeriac, garlic, quartered plums,
rose petals and cinnamon sticks in alarge,
deep roasting tray and place the marinated
lamb on top. Put the tray uncovered in the centre ofthe oven for aominutes, by
which time the lamb should have started
to colour and brown (it may take another
10 minutes ifyour oven doesn’t run
very hot).
Pour the wine intothe tray and leave to
cook for another 15 minutes, then pour
in enough water to reach halfway up the
lambjoint. Cover the tray with aluminium
foil. Lower the oven temperature to
200°c/1so0cfan/gas mark 6 and cook
for hour.
Remove the roasting tray from the oven,
baste the lambwith the liquid at the
bottom ofthe tray, then re-cover and
return to the oven. Reduce the heat to
180°C/160°C fan/gas mark 5 and cook for
afurther hour, basting halfway through
this time and again when the hour is up.
Then add the plum wedges that you kept
aside and return the covered tray tothe
oven for the final 30-45 minutes.The
meat should be falling off the bone.
Preferably serve in the roasting tray,
with some rose petals and chopped herbs
sprinkled on top ofthe lamb for show,
and amound of buttered rice or couscous
alongside,to soak up the sauce.