DonQui has been looking forward to trying out the lamb shoulder he had marinated overnight (see previous post).

As soon as he gets up, even before his morning cup of tea, DonQui chops up some vegetables (shallots, carrots and celery, along with a couple of garlic cloves and a sprig of rosemary) and pops them into a clay oven (Römertopf) which had been soaking in water overnight.

The lamb goes on top along with the residual marinade (see previous post), a splash of white wine and a splash of lamb stock.

The lid goes on and the clay pot goes into a cold oven (otherwise it could crack) which DonQui turns up to 120º C. It resides undisturbed in the oven for the next 5 hours.

DonQui seeks a peak at around the 3 hour point. All looks great and the kitchen is filled with the most wonderful smells.

Thirty minutes before serving, DonQui sets the meat off to one side to keep warm while he cooks up some red Camargue rice and prepares the vegetables.

To make the gravy he strains the lovely juices from the bottom of the clay pot into a base of lamb stock thickened with a roux of flour and butter. He discards the vegetables as they have done their job infusing the sauce. He separately prepares some far less cooked carrots, broccoli, mange-tout, mushrooms and cherry tomatoes  for eating.

DonQui apologises that he forgot to take a photo of the finished dish. The lamb was so tender that he just pulled it apart, set it on a bed of rice, and arranged vegetables around it. He poured some of the sauce overtop, with extra on the side along with some recurrent jelly.

He will most definitely try this again.