Spring Recipe Swap Blog Hop

Welcome!  We're in the middle of an exceptionally weird time when we can't pop round to anyone's house for a chat but no one can stop us going on a Blog Hop can they?  So thank you for visiting, if you were here in person I'd offer you a glass of something chilled while we join in with Leslie's Spring Recipe Swap where she asked us to share our favourite spring recipes.

Now we do have to bear in mind that because I'm in the UK, the recipe I'm going to share will be suitable for spring in England.  Which can be warm, can be cold, can be rainy, can be dry - or all four in the same day!  So this is a dish that is a family favourite of ours which can be eaten hot with a full on roast dinner, or if the sun is shining, made into a warm salad to eat with pitta bread.

The inspiration for this dish lays firmly with the Domestic Goddess herself, Nigella Lawson, who looks far more glamorous than I do in the kitchen and remains the epitome of calm should 8 people suddenly arrive at her dinner table.  The secret to this is that this takes 5 hours to cook - yes really! But it requires no attention after you put it in the oven so you are free to swan around in a silk dress, with a glass of champagne in your hands waiting for your guests to arrive.

So, let's get cooking so we can enjoy warm shredded lamb with mint and pomegranate.

Gather your ingredients:

1 shoulder of lamb (approx 2 kg or 5 lb)
4 Shallots (or ordinary onions)
6 cloves garlic
1 carrot (peeled and halved)
500 ml / 2 cups boiling water
Small handful chopped mint (I don't always use this if there is none growing in the garden)
1 pomegranate (or a tub of pomegranate seeds from the supermarket)

Heat your oven, 170 C/Gas 3/ or 325 F

On the hob, brown the lamb joint with the fat side down, in a large roasting tray until the fat has browned slightly.  Take the meat out of the pan then add the vegetables and fry them briefly too.  Pour the boiling water over them, then replace the lamb (fat side up this time) Cover the whole pan with foil and put it in the oven.

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That's it.  Put it in the oven for 5 hours and forget about it.  Could not be easier right?
Half an hour before you want to eat, take the lamb out of the oven and leave it to rest on a carving board. The meat will be so tender it will fall off the bone.  Then simply pull the joint to pieces with two forks and scatter the shreds onto a serving plate.  If having hot, take veg out of the cooking juices and then pour the juices over the lamb.  Sprinkle with mint leaves and pomegranate seeds and any pomegranate juice that may be there.  

Delicious with roast potatoes and your favourite veggies or if you want it to let it cool a little, it goes really well with a spoonful of hummus inside a warm pitta bread.

This would have been our Easter Sunday lunch if lockdown hadn't happened but as there were just the two of us here I couldn't really justify buying a whole shoulder of lamb just so I could take a photo of it to go with this post!  So there is no photo to share with you, but I can show you what it looks like in the recipe book 

So, that's my favourite Spring recipe, I wonder what everyone else has to share with us?  Join me and click through the links

1. You are here - so please now visit 
2. Lauren Kim at Mom Home Guide  https://momhomeguide.com/
3. Laura Bambrick at I do deClaire http://www.idodeclaire.com/
4. Joanne Rawson at My Slices of Life https://www.myslicesoflife.com/
5. Carrie Albrecht at Curly Crafty Mom https://www.curlycraftymom.com/
6. Penny Struebig at Penny’s Passion   http://pennyspassion.blogspot.com/
7. Dani Doman at Faster than Forever http://lildesiqua.blogspot.com/
8. Dani Park at Family.Love.Inspiration  https://familyloveinspirationeducation.wordpress.com/
9. Our hostess with the mostest - Leslie Clingan at Once Upon a Time & Happily Ever After  http://onceuponatimehappilyeverafter.com/
10. Cindy Handy  at Seasonal and Holiday Recipe Exchange   https://www.facebook.com/TX2Step