My dish is actually very simple, and easy enough even for a novice. I'll describe it for you...
I browned the meat in a pan containing a small amount of hot oil, to seal it and caramelize it a little. Because of the shape of the piece I had to use tongs to hold in the right position for the end surfaces:
Then I threw into the pan some sliced onions, some carrots and some red Asian shallots (the latter simply because I had some that needed using up. Otherwise I would have used another onion). It was quite colourful at this stage!
I then put in about a liter of beef stock, a couple of sprigs of fresh Thyme and some salt and pepper, covered the pan and bunged it in the oven at 150C for three hours.
After an hour I took the dish out of the oven for a minute or so while I added a tin of Flageolet beans. You could also use Cannellini, Borlotti or any other type of bean that you like, as long as they are pre-cooked. I didn't add them right at the beginning of the cooking-time because I didn't want them to go too soft.
That's it. Just leave it to cook slowly, for about 3 (or 4) hours. You might want to check once or twice that it hasn't got too dry. Mine was the opposite. I left the lid off for the last half-hour or so to let the stock reduce a bit and thicken the gravy.
Meanwhile I made a Gratin Dauphinois and prepared some Brussels Tops to accompany the main dish.
Gratin Dauphinois
Brussels Tops
Here is the finished dish, plated-up.
This next photo demonstrates the tenderness of the Lamb by this stage. You can see how the meat has shrunk away from the Y-shaped shoulder bone. The carrots were great too. Cooked slowly like this they go really soft and sweet.
And the beans soak up the lovely "Lamby" gravy and take on a soft creamy texture. What's not to like?
This is a dish that I really loved! Give it a go. You won't be disappointed.
