Roast Shoulder of Lamb with Root Veg and Red Wine Gravy

This is a little bit of a hangover from The Wartime Kitchen – Ration Book Cooking, which is why the piece of meat is so small and there are so many vegetables surrounding it!  However, it gave me a chance to try out the Mermaid Deep Side Handled Roaster.   Made from hard anodised aluminium, Mermaid claim their
collection of bakeware will never peel or blister, withstanding the
highest cooking temperatures – perfect if you need high temperatures to
seal off your meat. Mermaid’s roaster is ideal
for hob to oven cooking, guaranteed not to warp or buckle, plus, it’s
extremely easy to clean and scratch resistant making it safe to use with
metal utensils such as a whisk. So let’s see if that is true!

Pot Roast Shoulder of Lamb with Root Vegetables and Red Wine Gravy

Piece of Lamb shoulder (I won’t insult you by telling you how little I used!)
2 shallots, peeled and quartered
4 parsnips, peeled and cut into large chunks or fingers
6 carrots, peeled and cut into large chunks or fingers
4 tbsp sunflower oil

1. Heat 1 tbsp oil in the roaster on the hob, sear the lamb on all sides.  Remove the meat and add the remaining oil.
2. Add the vegetables, season and place the lamb on top of the vegetables.
3. Cover with foil and cook at 160C for 1 1/2 hours.
4. Remove foil and turn up the oven to 200C, cook for 15 minutes until the vegetables start to colour.
5. Remove the meat and vegetables to a warmed serving plate and rest covered with foil.

Make the Gravy
Spoon off the excess fat. Next deglaze your dish on the hob with a medium
heat to release the delicious flavours within the darker juices. After
adding flour, wine, balsamic vinegar and stock and you have a delicious gravy.

Not feeling confident about making your own gravy?  Mermaid have a step by step video which will ‘hold your hand’ until you have mastered the art of making Old Fashioned Gravy.

I followed the instructions on the video to make my gravy and they were very easy to follow.  I used a metal whisk in the pan as instructed, although that was the hardest part of the whole process for me, it just seems wrong to use metal utensils on non-stick!  However, I have to say that the non-stick is incredibly tough and didn’t have a mark on it after cleaning.

It didn’t warp or buckle, it didn’t blister or peel, quite impressive given the bashing I gave it with the whisk.  I also liked the handles, which made it really easy to lift the roasting tin out of the oven  and to work with it on the hob.

I’ve used the Mermaid Deep Side Handled Roaster since to make roast potatoes, sorry no photos, and it worked well for that too.  I am also eyeing it up for a giant lasagne which would feed visitors over the Christmas holidays, it’s the perfect size and, with those lovely shiny stainless steel handles, I would even take it to the table.

Thanks to Sarah and Ria for providing me with the Mermaid Deep Side Handled Roaster for review, I was not required to provide a positive review and I was not paid for this post.  All opinions are my own.