Braised Lamb with Mushroom Ragout

I must admit I got on the MasterChef Magazine bandwagon late and as a result I had every single publication bar issue one. I decided to reticfy this by back ordering and was inspired to create Curtis Stone's amazing Braised Lamb with Mushroom Ragout. It would be great for dinner party or a number of really luxurious lunches for zealous foodie. To begin you will need to season and brown a 1.4kg boned and trimmed shoulder of lamb in a large saucepan. Once this is done, remove the lamb to a bowl and soften 1 roughly chopped onion, 2 chopped carrots, 2 chopped celery and 2 roughly chopped cloves of garlic. Add 1/2 a cup of red wine and cook until almost evaporated.

Return the lamb to the pan and add 1.5 litres of veal or beef stock. Cover with with a lid and simmer over medium low heat for 2 hours and 15 minutes or until the lamb is tender. Then remove the lamb from the cooking liquid and break into chunks. Strain the vegetables and reduce the liquid for 30 minutes, or until there is 500ml. Return the lamb to the liquid. In the meantime make the following accompaniments:

• Mushroom Ragout: Take a large frypan and cook 400g of quartered swiss brown mushrooms and a finely chopped clove of garlic until golden. Remove from heat and repeat the same process for 400g of quartered button mushrooms and another finely chopped clove of garlic. Using the same pan, soften 2 finely chopped onions, 2 finely chopped stalks of celery, 2 finely chopped carrots. When the lamb is tender, add the mushrooms, vegetable mixture, 2 tablespoons of chopped flat leaf parsley and 2 tablespoons of chopped chives to the lamb.
  
  
• Vegetable Mash: Preheat your oven to 200°C and roast 1 sweet potato, 900g celeriac, 2 each parsnips/carrots/turnips (all to be peeled and cut into 3cm pieces) for 40 minutes or until tender. Then take a stick blender and puree.
  

To present the dish, plate up a portion of mash, layer the lamb over the top and garnish with a few pieces of fresh flat leaf parsley.