Braised Lamb with White Wine, Baby Onions and Mushrooms and Baked Kumara

1.8kgs boned shoulder of lamb, cut into 4cm pieces

3 tbsp olive oil
¼ cup white or red wine vinegar
2 cloves of garlic crushed
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp chopped rosemary
2 bay leaves
2 tbsp flour
1 cup white wine
1 cup chicken stock
250 grams small button mushrooms
12 pickling onions, peeled with root end left intact
16 baby carrots, with tops trimmed
Salt and pepper
8 large sliverbeet leaves

Preheat oven to 160 Celsius

Lamb: Trim lamb of excess fat. Heat olive oil in a large ovenproof casserole and brown the lamb in
batches. Add the vinegar and let it bubble for a few seconds then stir in the garlic, tomato paste,
rosemary and bay leaves. Cook for 1 min then sprinkle over the flour and cook for another minute,
stirring constantly. Gradually whisk in the wine and stock then add the mushrooms, onions, carrots,
and return the meat, along with any juices. Season generously, cover, and braise for 1.5 hrs or until
the lamb is very tender.
To finish: Trim out the tough stalk and thickly slice the sliverbeet leaves. Cook in boiling water until
tender then drain well and stir into the braised lamb.
Serve with baked kumara and a salad of crisp leaves such as cos, iceberg, and radicchio along with
thinly sliced fennel, avocado and watercress.

Baked Kumara with Roasted Garlic Butter

4 large orange kumara
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
2 heads of garlic, top third cut off
100 grams butter at room temperature
2 tbsp chopped parsley

Heat oven to 180 Celsius

Halve kumara lengthways and brush both sides with olive oil. Place them cut side up in a baking dish
and season with salt and pepper. Place the heads of garlic alongside and drizzle with a little olive oil
and sprinkle with salt. Pour in 1 cup of water, cover the pan with foil and bake for 40mins until the
kumara is tender and the garlic is soft. Uncover and bake for another 10mins. Keep warm in a low
oven.
Squeeze one head of garlic into a bowl, add the butter and parsley, season and mash. Lightly rough
up the surface of each kumara with a fork. Arrange them on a serving platter, top with few knobs of
the garlic butter and seasons. Serves 8.