Last night I cooked Roasted lamb shanks but without the redcurrant jelly and with two very large shanks instead of six as specified. I also made the mistake of completely uncovering the dish instead of slightly in step 3 and this probably contributed to the lamb unfortunately turning out quite dry. But the shanks did end up with the thinnest tasty blanket of dark purple concentrated red wine and the concentrated jus was extremely tasty. The jus, together with roast potatoes, carrots, parsnips, some wilted pak choi and a roasted garlic bulb (from the Really Garlicky Garlic Company), salvaged the meal somewhat.

Later I watched Heston’s Roman Feast which was good fun, apart from when he decided to make garum according to the authentic Roman recipe which apparently required him to disembowel live mackerel. It may have been ‘authentic’, but a swift blow to the head before wrenching the fish’s gut out would have been more merciful without having any impact on the final product.