On the heat. Mild

Ingredients

• 2 kg lamb shoulder, bone in
• 1.5 l rendered lamb tail fat (see Recipe 48), or duck fat
• — CURE — 12 HOURS
• 60 g coarse salt · 20 g sugar
• 1 tbsp crushed black pepper
• 6 cloves garlic, crushed
• Thyme, rosemary, 4 bay leaves, crumbled
• 1 tsp juniper berries, crushed

Method

1. Mix the cure and rub it all over the shoulder. Cover and refrigerate 12 hours, no longer, or it goes too salty.
2. Rinse the cure off thoroughly and pat completely dry.
3. Sit the shoulder in a deep dish and pour the warm melted fat over until it is completely submerged. That is the whole technique.
4. 130 °C for 6 hours. The fat should barely tremble. If it bubbles, the oven is too hot.
5. Lift it out very carefully — it will want to fall apart — onto a tray. Strain and keep the fat; it is reusable and better every time.
6. 230 °C for 20 minutes to crisp the outside. Serve with white beans cooked in a little of the confit fat, and something sharp — a mustard vinaigrette on bitter leaves.

Cook's note. The fat is an asset, not a cost. Strained and chilled it lasts six months and does this again, plus every roast potato you make in between.

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