Braised Lamb Shoulder with Tomato, Citrus, and Anchovy

from April Bloomfield's "A Girl and Her Pig"

• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 bone-in lamb shoulder (about 6 pounds), neck and rib bones removed
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 3 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 2 Dutch or other spicy long red chiles, pierced with a sharp knife
• 4 small celery stalks, cut into 1/2-ince pieces [Blanked on the fact that I had tossed the celery I had. When I got home from the store, I had zero desire to go back out again.]
• 1 garlic head, cloves separated, but not peeled
• 1 large Spanish onion, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 blood orange or small regular orange
• 1 lemon
• 1 tablespoon rosemary leaves, roughly chopped
• One 28-ounce can peeled whole tomatoes, drained, trimmed, and squished with your hands
• 4 whole salt-packed anchovies, rinsed, soaked, and filleted [Another Bloomfield favorite.  Eh, I'll just use oil-packed ones.]
• About 1 1/2 cups dry white wine, such as Sauvignon Blanc

 
Mise en place.  Using boxed wine because I've heard it doesn't oxidize in a minute like the bottled stuff does.

 
Browning the lamb shoulder.  Okay, I realized the rib bones are still attached and I would've gotten more browning action if there were not.

 
It was bitch to muscle around the 4 1/2-pound shoulder around the pot, but here it is looking all pretty.  Bloomfield says to remove the shoulder to a plate and then cook the vegetables in there, but it was far easier for me to take that task over...

 
Into another pot.
Add carrots to the pot first.  Then the rest of the veggies but don't stir stem for ten minutes.  I guess, technically, the carrots are supposed to brown while the rest of the veggies steam; though I can't imagine a pot that would be used for this dish that wouldn't allow all the veggies to have some contact with the pot.  Afterwards, cook while stirring occasionally until the vegetables are all softening and browning.

 
Cut long strips of zest of the lemon and orange.  And this, the rosemary, anchovies, and tomatoes and cook for five more minutes to allow the flavors to marry.  Squeeze in the juices of the orange and 1/2 the lemon.

 
Return the shoulder to the pot.  (Or in my case dump the veggies in with the shoulder) Pour the wine and 1 1/2 cups water around the shoulder and bring the liquid to the simmer.
Some of the juices from the veggies splashed onto the shoulder as I poured it in, but I figured I was trying.

Cover the pot and begin to braise in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes.  Lower the heat to 300 degrees and braise for 3 1/2 hours until the shoulder is very tender.  Remove the lid for the last 30 minutes.
It all smelled pretty amazing and first but less intense later.

Let the lamb rest for 10 minutes and then spoon off the fat from the top.  Which should amount to about 1/2 cup.

 

The finished shoulder with the meat pushed off the bone.

A pretty good dish though it didn't knock it out of the park.  The length of time it had to braise was killing me since I didn't start that part until somewhat after 10pm at night.  Wish I had bread around to mop up the broth when it first came out of the oven.