Roast lamb is the essence of traditional Australian cuisine, and quince trees were once common in Australian backyards. Traditional ingredients to make an innovative dish to match with an alternative varietal wine.

This recipe is suggested by Sue Thornton of Amulet Vineyard in the Beechworth Wine Region of North Eastern Victoria. This recipe was originally published on the Food Lovers Guide to Australia in an episode featuring the Peppermint Bay Hotel in Tasmania

Ingredients: Serves 6-8 people
Preparation time: a day to marinate
Cooking time: 3-4 hours

• 1 large whole leg or whole shoulder of lamb
• 5 halved and squeezed lemons
• 5 halved heads garlic, with skin left on
• 4 quinces, skinned and cooked to a puree
• 4 cinnamon quills
• 8 whole cloves
• 200g honey
• Plus 4 quinces, peeled and halved
• Splash olive oil
• Splash red wine, Amulet’s Barbera
• Splash water
• Sea salt and freshly-cracked black pepper

Method:
Place all the ingredients in a bowl except the halved quinces, wine, water and oil. Pour over the lamb and marinate in the fridge overnight or longer if possible. Two days is better.

Pre-heat oven to 160’C. In a large roasting tray, place the halved quinces and lay the lamb as flat as possible on top. Pour over the marinade, add a splash of the olive oil and enough wine to cover the base of the tray by about 1 cm. This method of ‘wet roasting’ allows the liquid to gently steam the meat. The liquid also stops the sugars in the marinade from burning.
Cover tray with foil as tightly as you can. Place in the oven.

After one hour, check the progress of the lamb. If there is still sufficient liquid in the tray, replace the foil and continue cooking. If not, add a little water.

After three more hours, remove the lamb from the oven. It should be a darkened caramel in colour. Rest for at least one hour as this will ensure the lamb stays moist.

When it’s cool enough to handle, gently run your fingers along the muscle to separate it from the bone. It should slide off easily. If the bone emerges clean then you know that it is cooked perfectly. Pour any excess liquid over the meat and garnish with the roasted quinces.

Gently re-heat the lamb with a little more wine and cover with foil again.

Serve with couscous tossed with roasted walnuts, tahini, yogurt and harissa (a Moroccan chilli paste)

Recommended wine: Amulet 2004 Duck Label Barbera.

Additional comments from Winemaker Sue Thornton: At Amulet” we having been considering a suitable recipe to go with our 2004 Duck Label Barbera.”

As lamb producers we have come up with this succulent lamb recipe which we found on the Food Lovers Guide to Australia website. It also features quinces and quince trees are often found in the orchards of old farm houses. So this recipe has flavours of country Australia.

This is a classic dish worthy of any restaurant but you can do it at home. Slow cooking in a slow oven with wine, stock and vegetables is needed to get the shanks to the falling-off-the- bone stage.

This rich and flavoursome dish would go very well with a well flavoured Petit Verdot.

This recipe serves 10, scale it up or down to suit your number of guests.

You need:
10 lamb shanks
50 mls oil
50 grams butter
Half cup grams carrot, peeled and chopped
Half cup grams onion, finely chopped
Half cup celery, chopped
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 tin crushed tomatoes
4 cloves garlic
Half bottle of red wine
4 cups water or vegetable stock
2 tablespoons of flour

Method:
Brown the shanks on all sides in oil in a frying pan. Seal on all sides. Transfer the shanks to a baking tray with a lid.

In the same frying pan saute the finely chopped vegetables and the crushed garlic for a few minutes. Add the butter to the pan then sprinkle over the flour. Stir thoroughly to absorb the flour.

Deglaze the pan with the red wine; stir to remove any lumps of flour in the mixture. Add the tomatoes and bring to the boil, stirring occasionally. Pour the boiled liquid over the lamb shanks and stir.

At this stage, you could add two or three bay leaves to the lamb shanks; for a bit of extra flavour, you could try adding a cinnamon stick.

Cover the baking tray with baking paper and then foil and then cover with some aluminium foil. Place in an oven preheated to 160 degrees Celsius and cook for one and a half hours. Remove the cover for the last half hour or so.

Remove from the oven and extract the shanks; correct the seasoning of the liquid if required.

Pour the sauce over the shanks and serve with some creamed polenta or mashed potato and green vegetable.

Wine Suggestion:
This dish needs a full flavoured red. My suggestion is Petit Verdot.

Click on the image to buy from Amazon or browse for similar booksAustralian readers: buy it from Seekbooks!