Orkney Boreray Mutton Leg Roast with Bere Puddings
Orkney Boreray Mutton Leg Roast with Bere Puddings
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Pre heat oven 250°C.
  2. If the joint doesn’t fit your cooking pot, then line a roasting tin with foil and lightly oil. Place mutton on foil and open roast in oven for 30 minutes to sizzle.
  3. Remove from oven, add a cupful of water and cover completely with a layer of foil.
  4. Reduce heat to 175°C and cook for a minimum of 3 hours. Check halfway and add a little more water as required to ensure it is moist.
  5. To make bere puddings, whisk ingredients together (omitting the butter) to make a smooth batter, adding half the liquid at a time. Set aside to rest for an hour if possible.
  6. For the last hour of cooking, place potatoes around the roast to cook in the wonderful juices. Scatter salt over potatoes and mutton at this stage. Replace foil and return to oven. Rosemary can also be added if wished.
  7. When ready, remove roasting tin from oven and set aside to rest. Usually a little fat rises to the surface. This can be simply skimmed off with a metal spoon if wished and saved in a bowl. Stored in the fridge, it is perfect for sautéing vegetables and roasting potatoes.
  8. Turn oven to 220℃. Place hazelnut-sized knobs of butter in each dimple of a bun baking sheet and place in oven for 5 minutes. The butter will become brown and nutty.
  9. Carefully remove from oven and place a spoonful of bere batter in each – it will immediately start sizzling.
  10. Return to oven and bake for 15-20 minutes until risen, golden and crisp.
  11. Serve mutton with a ladle of jus, pot-roasted hasselback potatoes and peas.
  12. Makes 12 puddings.
Recipe Notes

Orkney Boreray is one of Scotland’s most rare sheep, reared only on Orkney and available through Macbeths when in season.