Beremill Farm Black Welsh Lamb 

Garden peas, sweetbreads, Jersey Royals,ewe's cheese, marjoram 

Bere Mill Farm sits on the banks of the River Test near Whitchurch in Hampshire on chalk upland. The sheep graze the water meadows and drink from the crystal-clear waters of the River. This is a very special landscape, which is managed sensitively and with care to protect the natural environment.

Black Welsh Mountain sheep are a hardy breed, requiring little intervention, who thrive on water meadow grazing. They take over a year to reach their final weight and so their meat is sold as hogget, which is rich in colour and has a very full bodied flavour that retains the mouthwatering succulence of lamb.

The lamb is perfectly paired with garden peas, sweetbreads, Jersey Royals, ewe's cheese and marjoram.

RECIPE

Serves 4 

Day One - Curing the Lamb Belly

500g lamb belly
300g rock salt
200g caster sugar
50g tarragon

1. Making the cure - using a food processor, blend salt, sugar and tarragon.
2. Coat your lamb belly in the cure and leave for 4 days in a sealed container in the fridge.

Day Two - Brining the Lamb  Shoulder

500g lamb shoulder
100g brown sugar
100g salt

1. To make your brine, add 100g of water and 100g of sugar to 800g of water and bring to the boil, then leave to cool.
2. Once chilled, put the lamb shoulder inside the brine, cover with a tea towel and leave overnight or for 12 hours.

Day Three - Braising the Lamb Shoulder

2 x carrots
1 x white onion
3 x garlic cloves
1 bunch of celery
500g white wine

1. Remove the shoulder from the brine and pat it dry with a kitchen towel.
2. Pre heat the oven to 95°C / 203°F.
3. Heat a frying pan with vegetable oil. Once oil is hot seal all sides of the lamb shoulder. A side is sealed once the meat is browned. Do not season as this has already been brined. 
4. Place the shoulder in an ovenproof dish or cast iron pan with a lid. Roughly chop the carrots, onion, garlic and celery. Add these to the pan. Add the white wine and 500ml of water. (Personal recommendation - Chapel Down White, as English wine works excellently). 
5. Bring this to the boil on the stove. Once boiling, seal with tin foil, place in the oven and leave overnight or for 12 hours. 

Day Four - Pressing the Shoulder

Butcher’s recommendation:
Use a prime cut of lamb. Either saddle, rack or rump are always a great choice.

1. Remove the braise from the oven. Leave for 6 hours at room temperature, this will enable the meat to reabsorb all the flavour. 
2. Remove the meat from the braising liquor.  
3. Take a small container, line it with cling film. Remove the meat from the bone and heavily press the shoulder into this container. Cover the container with cling film and leave in the fridge. This will set the gelatine in the shoulder.
4. Keep the braising liquor from the shoulder in the fridge. This will be used again for your sauce on the serving day. 
5. Take your choice of butcher-recommended prime cut and leave uncovered in your fridge for 2 days/until day 6 - this will slightly dry age it.

Day Five - Making the Fricassee & Pea Purée

100g broad beans 
100g sugar snaps
600g garden peas 
200g salted butter
6 x new potatoes

1. Lamb belly has now become lamb belly bacon! Wash all the cure thoroughly off it under cold water and pat dry with kitchen towel. 
2. Dice it into bacon lardons and on a low heat dry fry for 15-20 minutes. (To dry fry means no added oil, the belly fat will render). The lardons need to be nice and crispy but do not let them burn. 
3. Remove from the heat, drain all the fat into a separate container to the lardons, and keep ready to use on day 6.
4. Blanching - bring one pan of water to the boil and have another with ice water. Boil the broad beans for 30 seconds, place in ice water for 30 seconds and then remove. Repeat process with the sugar snaps and peas separately.
5. Once blanched, roughly chop the sugar snaps. 
6. The pea purée - place 500g of garden peas into salted boiling water for 45 seconds. Remove and place into a blender/food processor with the butter. Process until smooth consistency. If purée seems too thick add drops of the pea water until it reaches the consistency of a smooth thick soup.
7. New potatoes (skin on is fine) - boil in salted water and store in the fridge to be used on day 6.  

Day Six - Sauce, Final Prep and “Service”

1 x white onion
1 x carrot
2 x garlic cloves
1 x celery stick
Fresh marjoram 
(or oregano)

1. Take out your prime cut, leave cling filmed and let it come to room temperature for a maximum of 3 hrs. 
2. Portion the pressed lamb shoulder into cubes, large or small at your choice, and seal them in a pan. 
3. Making the sauce - with the reserved lamb fat, pan fry the onion, carrot, garlic and celery until golden. Add a splash of white wine and the braising liquor. Reduce to a ‘gravy’ consistency. Add a handful of fresh marjoram to infuse at the end. Leave to steep for 5 minutes and then pass through a sieve. 
4. Pre heat oven to 160°C / 320°F. 
5. Cut the new potatoes into chunks and pan fry in vegetable oil. Once crispy mix through your fricassee and also add your lardons ready to be warmed in step 8.
6. Heat veg oil in a pan until hot. Season your prime cut with salt, seal well until golden on all sides. Season with black pepper. 
7. Put prime cut in oven. 10 minutes for medium rare, 12 for medium and 14 for medium-well as a general guideline. Remove from oven and rest for 4 minutes. At the same time flash your shoulder through the oven, it doesn’t matter if it’s 10 or 14 minutes as it is already braised.
8. Service - warm up the fricassee, sauce and pea purée at the same time. 
9. Plating - I recommend pea purée first, your fricassee, shoulder then prime cut. Sauce your dish and enjoy!  

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