Sunday Session #1 – 1 May 2010

Well, we did it. We had our first and very successful Sunday Session last night. We ate, drank, and were merry. We also managed to completely avoid those nasty ‘in anticipation of Monday’ blues that I suffer from on Sundays.

P & A were the first friends we asked to participate in the Sunday Sessions. For those of you who have not been following the previous blogs, Sunday Sessions are where I invite friends for dinner but they provide the recipe. They also need to teach us how to cook this food. We provide the beautiful table setting and the ingredients.

I am still a little awe struck by the confidence P & A showed in us by selecting a rather ambitious recipe: slow roasted lamb shoulder with garlic, rosemary and wine. This also called for us to start without them and get the lamb cooking from lunch time in order for it to be ready for dinner.

The new table set and ready for our guests

After several text messages, one email and two panicked telephone calls to P & A, my hubby and I had the lamb in the oven and wonderful smells wafting through the house. I do think our ‘teachers’ did not expect to receive the types of questions us culinary idiots posed, such as “Okay, the shiny side of the tin foil – must it be on the top or the bottom?”

I might add that the morning had been very stressful as well with not only trying to find all the ingredients, but since this was our first dinner party around our new dining room table, I also first had to purchase placemats, a tablecloth, and two makeshift chairs - we currently don’t have chairs and only have one bench.

Hubby and P checking the roast – batman to the rescue

The final touches by P & A – how wonderful to invite people to dinner and make them work!

For a starter I prepared a cream of tomato soup (a can of Denny’s ready to eat soup), with a smidgen of cream splattered on the top together with black pepper. This was complimented with three-cheeses breadsticks from Woolworths. Dessert was a Woolworths malva pudding and custard. You’ve got to love Woolies!

For mains we devoured roast lamb, with baby potatoes and crunchy mixed veggies. The gracious guests brought some lovely wine to accompany the meal and prepared mojitos on arrival which got us in the right mood from the beginning. Perhaps preparing the lamb in advance was a good thing because I would not have been capable after that injection of rum.

Our glorious meal

All in all, the event was a huge success with good food and good company. The best of all is that my man and I feel that we would be able to make this meal again for ourselves.

Here is the recipe which I can highly recommend:


Slow roasted lamb shoulder with garlic, rosemary and wine


Ingredients
• 5 peeled garlic cloves
• 1 full head unpeeled garlic (separated)
• 3 tablespoons rosemary leaves
• 2 large bunches of rosemary
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 shoulder of lamb (or leg of lamb)
• 4 peeled and quartered onions
• 150ml dry white wine
• 300ml beef/chicken/lamb stock


1. Heat oven to 140°C or 120°C if fan assisted
2. Using a pestle and mortar, make a paste with the 5 peeled garlic gloves, chopped rosemary and soy sauce
3. Slash the top of the lamb shoulder 5 or 6 times (make the cuts about 1cm deep) and rub the paste into these cuts. Spread the remainder of the paste over the flesh.
4. Place the large chunks of onion pieces, the unpeeled garlic cloves and half of the rosemary sprigs in the centre of a large deep roasting tin. Sit the lamb on top of the onions, garlic and rosemary. Season with lots of black pepper and a little bit of salt. Scatter the remaining rosemary over the lamb.
5. Pour the white wine (150ml) and the stock into the roasting tin and cover with a loose “tent” of foil, folding the edges tightly around the tin.
6. Roast in the oven for about 6 hours, until the lamb can be easily pulled from the bone using a fork.
7. Then turn the oven up to 170°C or 150°C (fan), remove the foil and roast the lamb for a further 20 minutes until the top is crisp.