Shoulder

Shoulder of lamb came round again at the end of last month. Ben the Butcher in Upper High Street was the preferred source, but given that I had not ordered it on this occasion and did not want to have to walk back into town if he failed me, I thought I had better try town first.

There was some rather odd story to do with ticketing or pricing at Waitrose, the result of which was that they did not sell whole shoulders of lamb, although I do vaguely remember seeing one there. While it turned out that M&S, despite there being lots of steak and chickens on display, did not really do joints at all. So Ben the Butcher it was and, as it turned out, he had two on his front display - neither of them very neatly trimmed, in the way of butchers of old who, on a Friday or Saturday (this being a Friday) might have had a dozen or more of them hanging up and would have made sure that they all looked neat, tidy and attractive.

But he did tell me that he got a pig in once a week, so with notice I could have a hand of pork. Or a brain - not otherwise an orderable item. Presumably there was not enough call for wholesalers to bother with it. Not that I much fancy brain anyway - even though he thought that one might slice it, fry it and take it on toast.

The original plan had been to follow the shoulder with a mincemeat and apple tart, although BH was doubtful that I would be able to buy any mincemeat. And so it proved: none of the four shops I tried had any, although the young man at Waitrose did offer to ask his special telephone at which branch I might be more successful. While this morning, the Waitrose website did not seem to distinguish mincemeat for tarts and such from minced meat and did not appear to have the former. Alternatively, the Sainsbury's website seemed to know about Robertson's mincemeat in jars but could only actually offer marmalade. And to think that they were practically giving the stuff away after Christmas.

Back with the shoulder, it weighed in at 6lbs 7.5oz on Sunday morning. And I noticed an odd gash in the outer side, maybe two inches long, but no longer visible in the snap above. Some kind of accident during processing at the abattoir?

Perusal of the archive suggested that the sheep shoulder day of reference 2, back in the days of lock-down and Jubilee Way, set the the right precedent. Say 3 hours plus 15 minutes at 160°C. Start at 10:45 for 14:00. In the event, the roast was postponed for a day, and I went for 10:15 for 13:30.

Taken with white beans, brown rice and Brussels sprouts. No gravy on this occasion, although I did prep some stock by keeping the fat and washing out the roasting tin with some hot water.

Plus a new-to-us red from Aldea del Fresno, a little to the west of Madrid, via the people at Guildford.

A wine that does not seem to exist at reference 3, which has the right name, but it does exist in the snap above. Perhaps because my label said bottled for Les Caves de Pyrene, that is to say the people at Guildford. In any event, we liked it enough that I promptly bought some more.

Not the neatest bit of carving.

But it looked well enough on the plate, and did well enough in the mouth. Cooking of the meat, although I say it myself, was spot on. A fatty cut which it does not do to take rare. And despite the lack of trimming, Ben had done us pretty well too.

The last segment of dessert, a pineapple upside down cake, started the day before when I was not feeling so great. Tinned pineapple, being a lot more convenient for these purposes than fresh.

On day two, still not very pretty in the joint.

But it, and the warmed up left overs did well enough on the plate. Fresh sprouts. And gravy, which turned out better than I expected. Stock having been enhanced with celery, onion and the peelings from the Brussels sprouts.

On day three, more of the same. With stewed plums for dessert. Foreign.

The fourth outing was a couple of days later, as it happens, the last day of January. Down to the bones.

I think we had moved onto a second round of beans.

After which what little was left of the shoulder was snacked away somewhere.

Cold meat might not photograph that well, but it seems to do us pretty well. Tasty and convenient.

PS: on the afternoon of the second day, I was puzzled by this poster underneath the railway bridge at Hook Road. Looking closely, there were some lentils lurking in among the pasta, but that did not look to be what you got from the bag right. A brand - to be found at reference 4 - of which I had not previously been aware. I associated to Merchant Ivory, quite different, but all the thing when I was young. To be found at reference 5.

References

Reference 1: https://bensbutchery.co.uk/.

Reference 2: https://psmv4.blogspot.com/2021/06/sheep-shoulder-day.html.

Reference 3: https://apiedetierra.com/.

Reference 4: https://www.merchant-gourmet.com/.

Reference 5: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merchant_Ivory_Productions.