Braised lamb shoulder

Cooking a lamb shoulder is, at its most basic, extremely straightforward.  All you have to do is take a whole shoulder, on the bone, massage with oil and seasoning and place it in a tray in an oven at 160C for 5 hours, pouring in a cup of water and covering with tin foil half way through.  Rest for 15 minutes out of the oven, carve (vaguely), pour the juices from the tray, less most of the fat, over the meat and serve with couscous, green beans and minty yoghurt.  In an Aga you could roast it for 40 minutes in the bottom right oven then covered well overnight in the top left.

If you wanted to make a proper jus from the braise you would have to be only slightly more attentive.  One excellent variation is to braise the shoulder in a large casserole pot with white wine, peeled whole garlic cloves and rosemary, again in the oven, with the lid slightly ajar.  Allow the braising juices to almost dry out many times, topping up with a small amount of water each time.  Keep going until the neighbours come round to ask where that unbelievable smell is coming from.  Brown the shoulder on all sides over the hob before placing into the oven.  Roast uncovered for 45 minutes initially at which point the fat should be drained off and the other ingredients added.  Cover tightly for the final hour or two to steam the meat to perfection, and serve with mashed potatoes, green beans again, redcurrant jelly and mint sauce.  Get a butcher to cut the joint into two pieces if it won't fit in the casserole pot. 

Finally, this is a simple way to treat those little packets of boned, rolled half lamb shoulders sold in small urban supermarkets, for one or two people.  Cut off the string, un-roll the joint and again massage with oil and season.  Place a roasting tray over a heat source and lay the lamb onto this, skin side down, until the skin is nicely crisp and browned.  Turn over then place into the oven at 175C for 2 hours.  Remove the lamb to a board to rest briefly, pour off any fat from the tray and place the pan back over the hob.  Scrape up the browning juices with a splash of white wine to make a jus, cut down through the lamb with a sharp knife to carve and serve.  I promise you if you do this it will be extremely delicious.