Slow Cooked Lamb with Yogurt Mint Sauce

I am supposed to posting today a wonderful risotto dish from The Goodness of Garlic. I have the picture right here on my desktop. And the recipe, alas, is a hundred miles away. This weekend, I promise.

So, for my backup, here’s another recipe from The Goodness of Garlic by Natasha Edwards. It’s a garlic intensive book and this recipe shines out: it asks for 7 hours of cooking. You’ve had pulled pork where the meat really is falling off the bone. Well, here’s pulled lamb complete with veggies cooked and cooked and stewed to perfection.

You can certainly add some potatoes to the veggies here. The veggie ensemble will be emboldened with the lamb juices forming the ideal autumn meal. If you are a football fan, you can start this on a Sunday morning and serve as the second game of the dayhas ended and just as Sunday night football begins. Enjoy the games and enjoy the aroma of all this lovely dish. This is comfort food created one hour at a time.

Slow Lamb with Yogurt Mint Sauce

Yield: serves 4 to 6

Ingredients

For the lamb:

4 pounds shoulder of lamb
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 onions, sliced
4 carrots, quartered lengthwise
1 garlic bulb or 8 to 10 cloves, peeled and left whole
1 bay leaf
1 cup white wine
1 cup vegetable, beef or chicken stock

For the sauce:

3 tablespoons plain yogurt
2 sprigs of fresh mint, leaves only
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 250°F.

Season the lamb well with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Heat the olive oil in a large roasting pot on high heat. Add the lamb joint to the roasting pot and fry for about 15 minutes, turning regularly, until browned all over. Turn down the heat.

Add the vegetables, garlic cloves, and bay leaf around the meat, then pour in the wine and stock. Bring to a boil before placing the casserole in the oven. Cook for up to 7 hours. (Although the meat will be cooked after about 5 hours, it’s best left for the full time if possible.) Turn the meat halfway through cooking.

Remove the pot from the oven and transfer the lamb and vegetables to a serving dish. Cover with foil and return to the oven to keep warm.

To make the sauce, skim off any excess fat from the liquid in the pot, then place the pot on the stove top on medium heat. Boil until the liquid has reduced by about a quarter, then add the yogurt and mint leaves, stirring well. Reduce the heat so the sauce comes to a simmer, remove the mint leaves, and add seasoning if needed.

Pour the sauce into a gravy pot and serve the lamb with mashed potatoes and a steamed green vegetable.