A Delicious Winter Treat

Author, home cook, and all-round lovely person Kelly Gibney has created this warming family meal to match our delicious Pinot Noirs. Perfect to share with friends and family on a chilly winter night.

Asian spiced lamb shoulder with rice noodles & quick pickled cucumber

Serves 6

Deeply warming and beautifully spiced, this succulent lamb shoulder is paired with thick rice noodles and the bright flavours of pickled cucumbers. With just the right amount of spice and a pleasant touch of acid, perfect to share with friends on chilly winter nights.

2 tablespoon cumin seeds

2 tablespoons fennel seeds

2 tablespoons coriander seeds

1.3 kg boneless lamb shoulder

3 tablespoons finely grated ginger root

5 garlic cloves

3 tablespoons fish sauce

3 tablespoons soy sauce

4 tablespoon mirin

1 ½ teaspoon dried red chilli

1-litre chicken stock

300 g thick rice stick noodles

Sea salt and cracked black pepper

Quick pickled cucumbers

½ telegraph cucumber – halved, deseeded and finely sliced

Pinch of salt

¼ cup rice wine vinegar

2 teaspoons brown sugar

Pinch red chilli flakes

To serve: 1 spring onion – green part thinly sliced, black sesame seeds

Cucumber method (prepare 2-24 hours in advance)

Toss the cucumber with the salt and leave for 10 minutes. Drain any liquid that is produced and mix together with the rice wine vinegar and brown sugar. Sprinkle lightly with dried chilli flakes. Stir and place in the fridge until ready to use.

Lamb method

Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius.

Place the cumin seeds, fennel seeds and coriander seeds into a dry sauté pan over medium heat. Gently cook, moving regularly for 2-3 minutes until fragrant. Place in a mortar and pestle. Grind into a fine powder.

Season the lamb shoulder and place in the oven to brown for 30 minutes.

Heat a generous portion of olive oil in the saute pan over a medium/low heat. Add ginger and garlic. Cook gently, without browning for 4 minutes. Add the crushed spices, fish sauce, soy sauce, mirin, dried chilli and chicken stock. Bring to a boil. Pour over the lamb after it’s initial 30 minutes in the oven. Cover tightly with a lid or tinfoil. Reduce the heat to 140 degrees celsius and cook for 3 ½ hours, spooning the juices over the meat every hour. Remove the tinfoil and cook for a further 30 minutes uncovered. Use two large forks to pull apart meat into chunks. Keep warm until ready to serve.

To assemble: Prepare noodles according to the packet instructions. Do not undertake this step until you are ready to serve as you don’t want the noodles to become gluggy.

Divide the noodles between warmed bowls. Top with meat and big spoonfuls of broth. Pair with pickled cucumbers, spring onion and sesame seeds. Serve immediately.