This is the perfect recipe to start cooking midmorning then carry on with your day and have a delicious meal ready for the evening.


Recipe

Ingredients

1.2kg lamb shoulder, bone in
1 carrot
1 brown onion
150ml balsamic vinegar (for lamb recipe)
1L reduced salt chicken stock
1 small bunch thyme (for lamb recipe)
1 tbsp corn flour
Salt and pepper to taste
6 banana shallots
20ml olive oil
40g butter
50ml balsamic vinegar (for shallot recipe)
3 sprigs thyme (for shallot recipe)

Method

1. Start by seasoning your lamb with salt. Add oil to a heavybase pan on a medium heat and place your lamb in. Seal your lamb on all sides until it has a good colour. This should take 1520 minutes.
2. Once the lamb has good colour all over, remove it from the pan and set aside.
3. Dice your carrot and cut your onion into quarters. Then add them to the same pan and get some good caramelisation going.
4. Deglaze the pan with the balsamic vinegar. Then, pour everything in your pan into a cooking vessel of choice, add your lamb on top and your chicken stock. *note I used the domestic slow cooker set to low (these slow cookers normally run at about 80 degrees on low) but you can also just use a Dutch oven in the oven with your oven set to 80 degrees.
5. While the lamb is cooking, peel your banana shallots (being careful to leave the end on so they don't fall apart) and cut them in half (lengthways) and season them with salt. Pop them in a frypan with some oil over medium heat until you get some nice colour on the shallots. Add the butter to the pan. Once the butter is melted deglaze with the balsamic vinegar and add the thyme.
6. Cook the shallots in the oven at 180° for 1520 minutes or until just soft.
7. After seven hours, remove the lamb from the braising liquid and pass the braising liquid through a fine mesh sieve into a pot. Reduce this liquid until the seasoning is correct. Add a small amount of water to you cornflour to make a slurry and add this to your reduced liquid.
8. To serve the lamb, pour the sauce over the top and place your shallots in the serving dish. Serve family style with a side of mash potato and some sautéed green beans.