Cotswold Hogget shoulder, charred hispi cabbage, pickled mushrooms

Paul Foster

Paul Foster

18th November 2018
Paul Foster

Cotswold Hogget shoulder, charred hispi cabbage, pickled mushrooms

At Salt we started buying whole lambs from a local guy called Sam Walby, who runs Nolan Brook. He breads the most amazing grass-fed Cotswold lamb and he is one of many quality local suppliers we have met since Salt opened. I have never met such a passionate lamb farmer. The lamb is stunningly sweet in spring and amazingly full of fat and flavour when it reaches hogget age. I thought it important to start buying whole animals and teach my team how to break them down and utilise the whole beast. As we are so small it makes it very challenging to use every cut in an exciting way, so what we do is design a lamb dish for the tasting menu and change the cut as we go through the week, while keeping the garnish the same . It makes things really exciting for the kitchen as we are using a variety of methods to cook the individual cuts.

Ingredients

  • Hogget shoulder
  • 1 hogget shoulder, on the bone
  • 1 bulb garlic cut in half
  • 10 sprigs thyme
  • 50g mint
  • Sea salt
  • Goats curd
  • 100g unpasturised goat’s curd
  • 10 sprigs of mint
  • 1 pinch cumin
  • Hispi
  • 1 hispi cabbage
  • 50g butter
  • Sunflower oil for cooking
  • Pickled mushrooms
  • 1 punnet brown shimeji mushrooms
  • 100g cider vinegar
  • 50g caster sugar
  • 2g truffle oil
  • 50g water
  • 2 sprigs thyme
  • To finish
  • Tiny mint leaves
  • Lamb sauce (see base recipes)

Method

Hogget shoulder
Place the whole hogget shoulder in a deep pan. Cover with the garlic, mint and thyme and season well with sea salt. Cover with a tight fitting lid and cook overnight in a steam oven at 85C for 12 hours. Remove from the oven and leave to cool until you can handle it. Remove the garlic and herbs from the shoulder and place on a chopping board. Carefully remove the shoulder blade and take off the front leg. There will be one bone left in the middle that will pull out from the shoulder blade side. Once all the bones are out press between two trays in the fridge over night.
Pickled mushrooms
Trim the mushrooms from the punnet. Warm the rest of the ingredients and pour over the mushrooms. Leave to cool then vacuum pac tightly.
Goats curd
Shred the mint finely and beat into the curd. Add the cumin and check the seasoning. Spoon the contents into a piping bag.
Hispi
Cut the hispi into quarters and char both sides in a large hot pan using a little oil. When the sides have a nice charred colour add the butter to the pan and start to foam. Cover with foil and place in the oven at 150C for 10-15 minutes until the hispi is just tender. Remove from the oven and keep somewhere warm until needed.
To finish
Cut 4 portions of the shoulder. Sear in a hot pan and glaze with the lamb sauce, ensuring it is not over-reduced. Pipe the goat’s curd on the plate and drain the hispi on kitchen paper. Arrange the shoulder and hispi around the goat’s curd and finish with the mint and pickled mushrooms.

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