Friday, June 18, 2010

Slow Solar Roasted Lamb and Potatoes

I don't plan weekly menus. I admire those who are able to do so, but have never had much success with them. The few times I've tried I'd spend hours putting together a detailed shopping list and head out to the store, only to find that some key ingredient was out of stock. I'd find myself in a panic, trying to improvise substitutions. It took all the fun out of grocery shopping. I gave up after a couple of attempts and have learned to accept the fact that winging it works better for me.

I do have one trick that helps me avoid wasting food. When I spot something new I'd like to try I don't buy it until I've found a recipe. When I saw this boneless lamb shoulder roast at my local Fresh and Easy the other day I resisted the temptation to throw it in my cart until I could do some research. I found a recipe on epicurious.com that was easily adapted for the Sun Oven. The recipe was for a 4 pound piece of meat, that was slow cooked, at 300ºF for 5 hours; the ideal temperature for cooking in the Sun Oven. My cut was much smaller, under a pound, and it was ready in two hours. The meat was seasoned with a paste made of chopped pancetta, rosemary, and garlic. The meat was not browned before putting in the roasting pan, but you wouldn't know when you saw it on the serving platter. I think the pancetta was superfluous. I'd make it with only rosemary and garlic next time. There was enough room in the Sun Oven to bake some potatoes to go with it. It was really good and I'll definitely make it again.

If you would like to read the recipe click here.

3 comments:

  1. Oh, wow! I saw some lamb on sale the other day and almost bought it, too, but common sense and my budget stopped me. This is a wonderful recipe that I've downloaded and will grab the next chunk of lamb I see. I can smell it, already...thanks, so much, for sharing...

    P.S. Getting to the home stretch, aren't you? What next?

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  2. The cut I used was called something like boneless shoulder roast. It wasn't very expensive, but like I said it was a little under a pound, just enough for two people.

    After the year is up - at the end of this month - I plan on keeping the blog going with less frequent updates and to start putting my recipes together for a solar cooking book.

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  3. Well, you certainly deserve the rest. I'm glad you're going to continue...and will very much look forward to the cooking book...love your recipes...

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