Ingredients
- 600 g shoulder mutton cubed
- 1 bunch of spring onions
- Isle of Skye Sea Salt & milled black pepper to taste
- A drizzle of Summer Harvest rapeseed oil & a generous knob of butter
- 1 light scrunch of dried marjoram or oregano
- 1 batch Pilgrim Tea dumplings...
- 175 g flour
- Pinch of Isle of Skye Sea Salt
- 1 tbsp fresh Norse Pilgrim tealeaves finely chopped
- 3 tsps baking powder
- Approx 125mls milk
Servings:
Instructions
- Heat oil with butter and brown mutton chunks on the hob. When a rich brown tone, set aside.
- Lightly butter a casserole dish, lay cleaned spring onions, whole, on base and place meat on top. Deglaze the pan with a mug of water and add all the juices to the ovenware dish. Season well.
- Add sufficient water to just cover the meat and slow cook in a moderate oven of 170℃ for a minimum of two hours for a delicious tender result.
- As long as you have a close-fitting lid it should be fine but check from time to time and add a little water if it is becoming dry. It needs to remain quite ‘sloppy’ in readiness for the dumplings.
- Prepare the dumplings: mix dry ingredients in a bowl. Add sufficient milk, mixing with a knife, until the dough comes cleanly away from the sides of the bowl – similar to a scone dough.
- When mutton is tender, place spoonfuls of dumpling dough on the surface of the gravy. Replace lid, return to oven, increase temperature to 190℃ and steam for 10 minutes.
- Lift off lid for a final 5 minutes of cooking.
- Serves 4
Recipe Notes
Heritage breeds benefit from slow cooking. Due to the breed, feed and maturity, they are full of flavour unlike ubiquitous supermarket lamb. You can further enrich your dish with added roots and/or a bottle of local ale or the lovely Orkney Wine if wished.