Sheep from Sainsbury's

On Easter Sunday, we took leg of lamb, which is proper, but, unusually we took one frozen from Sainsbury's. Don't know now whether it was sold frozen or whether it was frozen on arrival, but it was almost certainly a good deal cheaper than a similar item would have been from Ben the Butcher, certainly if the shoulder noticed at reference 2 is anything to go by. 

BH in the chair as far as cooking the meat went, so no details available as to weight, temperature or time.

I was, however, responsible for vegetables, gravy, generally finishing off and delivery to table.

On this occasion, no blender was available, so the vegetable broth of reference 2 was not an option. Instead, I boiled up a couple of shanks with vegetables to make the stock the day before - a rather different proceeding to that noticed at reference 3. We snacked the meat off the boiled stocks, in my case in white bread sandwiches - probably what Waitrose are pleased to call a 'stonebaked white boule', which does well enough when fresh for meat sandwiches.

Full gravy dipping performance on the Sunday. It had turned out very well.

On the plate. Perhaps a touch overcooked: it had run a bit red when I tested it, so I gave it another 15 minutes, a mistake as it turned out. But it did well enough for all that.

Not much left by the end of the first shift, but I think we managed another meal out of it: there was more meat on the bone than might at first appear. And we did what was left of the gravy on bread, on which it did very well.

Followed by a fine apple pie - the flat sort, on a white enamel plate - with choice of cold custard (tasting rather strongly of vanilla) from a box or hot custard from a saucepan. There are people out there who prefer the former.

All washed down with some Argentinian Malbec, sourced from Dorset Wine of Poundbury, already noticed at reference 4 and probably to be found at references 5 and 6. Failed to turn up this very bottle though. Benegas; Estate single vineyard; Malbec; 2021.

Where, along with the arty shots of grapes and bottles, we get what looks like a very cold river. Not for a bracing morning dip, at least not for me.

We didn't take brandy or coffee, but we did manage to add a few more washers to the worksheet - although I forgot all about the new micrometer, much easier to use than the old calipers.

References

Reference 1: https://bensbutchery.co.uk/.

Reference 2: https://psmv6.blogspot.com/2026/04/shoulder.html.

Reference 3: https://psmv6.blogspot.com/2026/02/clay-oven.html.

Reference 4: https://psmv6.blogspot.com/2026/04/to-portland.html.

Reference 5: https://benegaswinery.com/.

Reference 6: https://benegaswinery.com/nuestros-vinos/single-vineyard/benegas-malbec/.