This past Sunday I decided to make a simple roast shoulder of lamb. There is only one trick to making this lamb and that is the marinade, which ensures the lamb is gently infused with a subtle garlic and red wine flavor which complements the lamb perfectly.

For the marinade you will need:-

• 1/2 a Cup Virgin Olive Oil
• 1/2 Cup Dry Red Wine
• 2 tspn sea salt
• 1 tspn freshly ground black pepper
• Juice of a freshly squeezed lemon , and the following vegetables and herbs.

Garlic, Red Onion, French Chives and fresh rosemary, stalks removed

Blend all the marinade ingredients together and cover the meat (room temperature) thoroughly on all sides.

Ensure you are aware of the weight of the meat OR that you have a meat thermometer to test temperature

Allow to marinade for at least one hour, preferably two hours

While the meat marinades prepare some basic vegetables.

Three cups chopped carrots and 3 cups chopped mushrooms

Place the vegetables on the bottom of a roasting pan. To the remaining marinade add 1 cup of chicken stock and 1/ 2 cup of red wine and pour over the vegetables

Put meat into preheated oven (400 degrees Fahrenheit) for 30 minutes. Then reduce the temperature to 350 degrees and cook for 20 minutes per pound (4 pounds would be 80 minutes for medium rare. If using a thermometer, place this into the thickest section of the meat avoiding touching the bone and cook until temperature of meat 140 degrees Fahrenheit

While the meat is cooking, check every 30 minutes to ensure mushrooms and carrots do not blacken. Add 1/2 a cup of chicken stock if moisture is drying up

Remove meat and let it rest for 10 minutes

Roast Lamb. Unfortunately for me the fellow diners do not enjoy pink meat so my lamb was cooked through

I served the lamb and vegetables with roast potato's, steamed broccoli and white sauce and a green salad. There was no place on my plate for the salad when I took the photo.