“Whiff of Autumn” shoulder of lamb, with cumin-orange mashed sweet potato and minted spicy corn relish

Lamb

1/2 shoulder of lamb (bone in)

1 yellow onion, peeled and quartered

2 cox apples, peeled and quartered

8 cloves garlic, peeled

few cloves

stick cinnamon

2 dried red chilies (if I had them I would have used chipotle)

few sprigs rosemary

2 fresh bay leaves

1-2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon dried oregano

salt and pepper

olive oil

1/3 bottle full-bodied red wine (I used a cahors/malbec)

honey

1 can flagelot beans

Put the garlic, onion, apple rosemary, chilies, bay leaves, cinnamon and cloves in a small roasting pan or deep heavy bottomed skillet.  Put the shoulder on top, drizzle with olive oil and rub in cumin and dried oregano.  Top off with salt and pepper.  Pour over about 1/3 bottle of wine (a bit more if your roasting pan is large). Drizzle honey over the entire shoulder and put into a 200C oven.  Turn the temp down to 160C and roast, covered for 2.5 hours.  Remove cover, add a about a cup of water and roast uncovered for another 1.5-2 hrs, or until the meat is easily pulled off the bone.  Remove the meat, cover with foil and set aside to rest.  Skim off the fat from the pan then pour the pan juices through a strainer into a small pot.  Add the drained flagelot beans and cook, covered, over low heat for about 15-20 minutes.

Mashed cumin-orange sweet potato

1 large sweet potato

1 orange

1 tablespoon butter

pinch cumin

pinch crushed chili

salt and pepper

Roast potato in an oven at 160C for 1-1.25 hrs.  Take out and set aside until cool enough to handle.  In a large bowl put in the butter, crushed chili, cumin, the juice from one orange and 1 teaspoon of orange zest.  Scoop out the cooked sweet potato into the bowl and mash…add salt and pepper to taste.

Minted spicy corn relish

2 ears corn

1 jalapeno

1 small red onion

1 tomato

1 lime

small handful fresh coriander

couple sprigs mint

pinch sugar

olive oil

Remove the kernels of corn from the cobs and cook for 3 minutes in a covered bowl in the microwave.  Set aside to cool.  Add chopped tomato, onion, mint, coriander and jalapeno.  In a separate bowl mix together a pinch of sugar and the juice of 1 lime.  Pour lime sugar mixture over corn and mix well. Add a few tablespoons olive oil, salt and pepper and set aside at room temperature to marinate for about an hour.