I’m making a meal for relatives who love lamb but I’ve never cook one before. Has chef any tips?

Jess Shuttleworth, Ambleside

For me, the finest piece of lamb you can buy is the humble shoulder and to cook the shoulder you need plenty of time and patience! Buy a 2.5kg piece of bone in lamb shoulder from you favourite butcher. Pre-heat your oven to 220C. Lay half a bunch of rosemary in the bottom of a high sided roasting tray, then scatter about 10 cloves of smashed but unpeeled garlic into the tray. Place the lamb shoulder on top and put quite a few cuts across the fat of the lamb, rub with olive oil , season with salt and pepper and scatter another half bunch of rosemary and 10 smashed cloves of garlic over the top. Tightly cover the tray with a double layer of tin foil, then place in the oven. Turn the over straight down to 160C and cook for around 4 hours, when it’s cooked it should easily fall apart with a pair of forks. Make some lovely creamy mashed potato to serve with your lamb and then steam some mixed greens, such as Savoy cabbage, sprouting broccoli, spring cabbage and at this time of year, some wild garlic and some English asparagus. When the lamb is cooked, remove from oven, pour of any cooking juices into a clean saucepan, reduce down and thicken with a gravy powder. Flavour the lamb gravy with some chopped fresh mint and a few dashes of red wine vinegar.