Let's do it. Let's fall in love

This weekend has been rather romantic on our farm - in an animal sense. We are smack bang in the middle of the rut, which means our stags are calling up and down the valley in their unnerving gutteral way, inviting the ladies to come and be ‘privately romantic’ with them in a quiet corner of the paddock. Likewise with our ducks, though their courting techniques seem rather more clumsy. Yes, feathers were flying.

Even the snakes are at it. We interrupted two copperheads in 'the act' yesterday, if snakes don’t make you feel too ill have a look at the picture here.

Tim spent most of today on the tractor so I took the kids into town to meet a friend at Orange’s beautiful Cook Park. There was a brass band celebration (btw I LOVE brass bands) and Alice shone her affections on little Edward, her friend from pre-school, making him dance with her in front of the rotunda. Sweet.

Anyhoo. I thought I’d get into the spirit of things by courting Tim via his stomach. Specifically slow-roasted lamb. This recipe is dead easy, actually Alice did lots of the prep,and it's seriously delicious. Also, it's great for entertaining as all the work (and it’s hardly that) is done well in advance and delivers fail-safe results every time. If making this for a big group, serve with a big crunchy autumn salad and some home-made garlic bread.

Signing off. With love. Sophie

Slow-roasted lamb

1 boneless lamb leg, about 1.2kg

1/4 cup currants
1 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tbsp parsley and rosemary. finely chopped
1 tbsp finely grated orange rind
1 cup breadcrumbs
1/4 cup pine nuts
1 cup white wine

Pre-heat the oven to 140C. Soak the currants in a little bowl of warm water to soften them up a bit and then cook the onion and garlic in a saucepan with plenty of olive oil until nice and translucent. Let the onion and garlic cool off then mix remaining ingredients together, including the currants but drained of the water. Season the stuffing to taste. Lay the lamb flat on a work surface and spread the stuffing across it. Then roll up and tie together with kitchen string. Place the lamb in a casserole dish with a lid and then pour over the white wine and sprinkle with sea salt. Cover with a lid or a tight layer of foil and place in the oven for four hours. Check every now and then and baste with the pan juices. If it’s looking at all dry then add a little more wine.

When cooked, remove from the pan and let rest under a tent of foil. Place the casserole dish on the stove-top and turn the heat to high. Add a little more wine and splash of water and stir well until you have a nice rich sauce. To serve, flake the lamb onto a warm platter and pour over the sauce.