I was interested in doing something fresh and new with the lamb shoulder roasts I have in my deep freezer. I lucked out on the inspiration front when I saw that fennel was in my CSA box this week. Building on the brisket recipe from last week which had such a great balance of sweet and acidic flavors with the maple syrup and cider, I decided to go with honey and lemon and fennel for this roast. It turned out delicious!

Ingredients

• 1 bone-in lamb shoulder roast
• zest from 1 lemon and 1 orange
• juice from 1 lemon and 1 orange
• 6 Tbsp palm or coconut oil
• 2 Tbsp raw honey
• 1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
• 1 Tbsp fennel seeds
• 1 Tbsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed and minced
• 1 fennel bulb, sliced
• fennel fronds
• 1/2 cup lamb stock (or homemade chicken stock (where to buy online?))

Directions

Marinate lamb overnight with the juice of the orange and lemon.

Remove lamb from the refrigerator 1 hr before cooking. Preheat oven to 450 F. Take the lamb out of the marinade (reserve remaining marinade) and pat dry. Rub with half the oil. Place lamb in a roasting pan with a lid (or use foil). Roast the lamb uncovered for 20 minutes.

While the lamb is roasting, make the spice rub. Mix the citrus zest, remaining oil, honey, spices and crushed garlic.

Remove lamb and reduce oven to 325 F. Rub lamb with spice mixture and add the fennel bulb slices and fennel fronds to the pan. Pour the reserved marinade and stock in the bottom of the pan and cover the roasting pan. Return to oven and roast for 4 hours at 325 F, until tender. Let the lamb rest, covered, for 30 minutes. Serve with pan juices.

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