How much lamb do you eat?

[Trunk]

How often do you eat lamb?

I think it tends to be the forgotten red meat for Americans.

It's really great stuff, though. A meaty texture, but more "melt in your mouth" than beef. The slightest gamey flavor, but not like goat.

Most of the lamb I buy tends to come from Australia and New Zealand. I suspect our G'Dopers eat their fair share of the creature with the wooly hair.

Things I've done with lamb (no, not those kinds of "Mississippi things". . .):

Ground lamb can be made into "lamburgers" with some spices and grilled. Afghani's might call that "Kofta". I serve it with yogurt sauce on a pita and eat it with french fries.

I use a big leg of lamb to make chili or lamb stew with.

A think lamb loin chop makes a delicious meal served with rice/potatoes and a green vegetable (that's what I had for supper last night and lunch today).

Lamb shanks can make you a version of "osso buco" if you don't want to use veal.

I've used a type of chop (shoulder or blade or something, a fattier, thinner chop than the loin) for types of Indian stew.

Not to mention the classic roasted rack of lamb. Ah. so crisp on the outside, so red on the inside. But, pricey for the amount of meat you get.

Any favorite lamb dishes from the dope?

I bet we eat Lamb about twice a month, probably almost as much as we eat beef.

Lamb lamb wonderful lamb.
Better than jamb!
Better than yambs!
Even better than hamb!

[cher3]

I love lamb, too, although it's been kind of scarce around here lately, for some reason. I'm hoping it will reappear with Easter coming up.

I like to use it for curries or stews. There's also a cut they call lamb steak, which is really tender and nice to just broil with lots of garlic. It must just be a portion of the leg.

One of my favorite things to do is make a lentil salad with bits of onion, roasted pepper and olives, and a mustard/balsamic vinaigrette and serve it warm with leftover roast leg of lamb. The combination is wonderful and for some reason doesn't work nearly as well with beef.

[Scumpup]

How much lamb? Nearly none. Last year I made roast lamb for Easter. That was only the second time in my 43 years that I'd had it. It's good, and all, but just doesn't seem to be real popular here. The grocery stores seldom have it other than at Easter.

[Abbie Carmichael]

I've never had lamb. Trying to work up the courage to try it this September at Greek Fest ...

[Regallag_The_Axe]

When I'm at home, my parents usually make lamb kababs (basically just meatballs made with lamb and spices) once or twice a month. Of course my aunt lives on a farm and raises, you guessed it, sheep and goats. So we generaly have no problem finding lamb.

[Cowgirl Jules]

Cowboy bought a 4-H lamb last summer, and we've almost finished it. So one lamb serves the two of us for not quite a year. He gets tired of it before I do, but if that's what we've got in the freezer, that's what I'm cooking. I love lamb.

[Rufus Xavier]

I never cook lamb. In my opinion it's one of the meats that is most difficult to prepare in a way that brings out the full flavor potential. There are, however, a few restaurants in my area that make delicious lamb dishes, so I probably eat it about once a month on average.

My favorite is a Greek restaurant that serves roasted baby lamb. Mmmmmm. Melty.

Also, a Cuban restaurant that serves it as big hunks of meat in a savory sauce with rice, black beans and plantains. Yum.

Finally, a couple of Indian restaurants in my neighborhood make a fantastic and o-so-spicy lamb vindaloo. Yow!

For the record, I've never been a big fan of rack of lamb, leg of lamb, or lamb chops.

[cmkeller]

Make me drool on my keyboard, why don't you? Lamb chops have been my favorite food since childhood, and I discovered lamb riblets not too long ago...based on the price, they seem to be the "garbage" cut of the animal, but put a cherry-based glaze on them and they are the most delicious finger food (albeit messy on the fingers) imaginable. I've never seen a menu that offers "rack of lamb," but it sounds yummy. I also drooled over the lamb dish served by Matthew McConaughy (sp?) to Kate Hudson in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days and if anyone has any idea what that dish is called and a recipe by which I can make it, I'd be in their debt.

How much do I eat? Not nearly enough...the stuff is expensive (at least kosher lamb is...I have no idea how non-kosher lamb ranks in price as compared to other non-kosher meats). Maybe once every other month. More often if it's on sale at my local kosher supermarket, I'll stock up.

[NoClueBoy]

once or twice a year maybe. No special events, just when I think about. I'll do them at family cook outs with other meats available. They cause flame ups easily, so an constant watch is needed. A little salt and fresh cracked pepper is all I put on them, rubbed in and let sit for a while before grilling.

[NoClueBoy]

[specify!!!]

Lamb chops

[UrbanChic]

Lamb is nummy. I would say we have it four or five times a year. Two of those times are when I prepare Irish Stew.

[Trunk]

I never cook lamb. In my opinion it's one of the meats that is most difficult to prepare in a way that brings out the full flavor potential.
Oh, I don't know about that.

Loin chops just need a little S&P and you can cook them in a pan with olive oil, just like a NY Strip. You can eat them medium-rare to well done.

For dishes like Lamb Vindaloo (one of my favorite things to eat in the world) or that cuban dish you mentioned, it's probably just a leg cut into cubes.

A 3.5 or 4 pound leg might be $15. . .make a stew with potatoes, and carrots or a chili with tomatoes and beans and you probably have about 6 delicious servings for $20.

I think there's a "lamb hump" for some people, because it's not something that Mom made a lot. People are more comfortable with chicken, beef and pork.

[Jervoise]

Most of the lamb I buy tends to come from Australia and New Zealand. I suspect our G'Dopers eat their fair share of the creature with the wooly hair.I'm Australian, but I went the first fifteen years of my life without ever tasting lamb. My country-born father was force-fed lamb for much of his life, so he refused to eat it in adulthood. ( Our dog, OTOH, was fed with lamb so the smell of lamb chops frying makes me think of pet food.)

Having said that, lamb (particularly roast lamb and lamp chops) is a common meat in Australia -- not to the extent of beef or chicken, but I wouldn't be too surprised if it rivalled pork in popularity.

(Thankfully, I've overcome my lamb = pet food association and now enjoy the occasional lamb roast. Hold the mint sauce though.)

[The Unkempt One]

Whenever I go to the Mongolian BBQ near my home, I always load my bowl up with lamb meat and all sorts of tasty vegetables. My lunch companions tend to look at me a bit weird when they find that I am eating lamb, but I don't care! Lamb is great. So tender, so tasty...

[Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor]

Had lamb chops at the last Nashvegas Dopefest.

MMmm-MM! Tasty!

[Chefguy]

Mmmm...loves me some kofta. Spiced ground lamb made with plenty of cilantro and other spices on a pita with a cucumber yogurt sauce. Heaven.

[twickster]

How much lamb do I eat? Not nearly enough.

[Saintly Loser]

I eat lamb all the time. I love lamb. Every couple of weeks, at least. Lamb chops, rack of lamb, leg of lamb, whatever. Baby lamb chops are especially good. Tiny little lamb chops with very tender meat.

Mutton isn't bad, either. One of my favorite steakhouses, Keen's, in New York, is well-known for its mutton chops. Very tasty.

[bdandhr]

None.

Raised 'em for three or four years. Brought many lambs in my house trying to warm 'em up because their mom's would drop them in the coldest weather nowhere close to the barn. Tried to raise several with a bottle (what a labor of love that is!) only to have most of them die anyway.

THEN, you take them to the sale. And watch them bum out because they are so scared.

Sorry - just can't do it. I eat other meat though!!

[Cunctator]

I never eat lamb. I just don't like the taste. Too fatty.

[Scribble]

I love lamb. I also love goat.

I don't cook either meat myself. But we have local Ethiopian, North Indian, and Middle Eastern places that do a great job with it. Oh, and our local Greek Festival every Labor Day weekend serves the Best. Lamb. Ever. Bar none.

We also have some really good West Indian places that serve incredible curry goat. Oh, and the Somalians have some great goat dishes, too.

But this thread isn't about goat. It's about lamb. So, back to lamb.

I don't know how often I eat lamb, really. I don't eat a lot of it, since it's kind of expensive. But sometimes I'll have it to celebrate, or if I've had a particularly rough time and am in need of a treat.

[Scribble]

I love lamb. I also love goat.

I don't cook either meat myself. But we have local Ethiopian, North Indian, and Middle Eastern places that do a great job with lamb. Oh, and our local Greek Festival every Labor Day weekend serves the Best. Lamb. Ever. Bar none.

We also have some really good West Indian places that serve incredible curry goat. Oh, and the Somalians have some great goat dishes, too.

But this thread isn't about goat. It's about lamb. So, back to lamb.

I don't know how often I eat lamb, really. I don't eat a lot of it, since it's kind of expensive. But sometimes I'll have it to celebrate, or if I've had a particularly rough time and am in need of a treat.

[LindyHopper]

I love lamb. I think it's fair to say that it's my favorite meat (even more than beef--although a thick porterhouse sure is nice). When I'm cooking a lot (which I haven't been lately), I probably make it once a week. Lamb chops, lamb stews (Indian, North African, Middle Eastern of various stripes, etc.), and, if I'm having a dinner party and want to pull out all the stops, maybe a rack of lamb or leg of lamb. Yummy.

It is kind of hard to find here, though. Montana is beef country, to the extent that a friend of mine who grew up in Colstrip (eastern part of the state) never even tasted chicken until she went to college. :eek:

[TheLoadedDog]

Most of the lamb I buy tends to come from Australia and New Zealand. I suspect our G'Dopers eat their fair share of the creature with the wooly hair.
You might be surprised. Although I love lamb, and it's a childhood comfort food, it is simply too bloody expensive these days ( it's all being exported). The price for something that used to be a workingman's staple has shot up to the stratosphere. Conversely chicken, which I remember as being an expensive treat (and my mum remembers as a home-killed chicken for Xmas dinner only) is now dirt cheap.

The other problem is that my wife is Vietnamese, and most East Asians that I have met find lamb to be rank and have a "gamey" flavour, and they refuse to eat it. When my wife does the shopping, she'll go to a Vietnamese butcher that does the most exquisite cuts of tender pork and beef, but he doesn't even have lamb in the shop. The large Asian population in Sydney may have had an effect on the economics of providing lamb for this city's consumer base, and if the Americans are willing to pay more, off it goes.

Nothing like lamb chops though. Or kebabs.

[Kilvert's Pagan]

I was going to say NEVER NEVER NEVER until I realized that I do wolf down the occasional Gyro.

Lamb was the only meat I was allowed to eat as a child for a while, because I was going through an extensive food allergy diet to try to isolate what was breaking me out. Needless to say I got really sick of it.

I've never actually bought lamb from a store and prepared it, and I'm in my late 40's.

[TastesLikeBurning]

In my opinion, better than lamb is pork fillet.

It's generally cheaper than lamb, virtually no fat on it, and takes very well to marinating.

The secret is not to overcook it, making sure it's still a little pink on the inside.

Try chopping up 3 cloves of garlic, 1 chilli, then add to a bowl or something large enough to hold a pork fillet. In the bowl you should have the pork fillet, chilli, and garlic, to which you add approximately one cup of white wine, tablespoon of honey, and liberal amount of sea salt. Stab the pork all over to allow the marinade to penetrate the flesh.

Put it in the fridge for at least an hour, or even overnight if possible, then cook when ready on a bbq or ver hot stove-top grill.

Make sure to sit the pork for half an hour or so before slicing to serve.

[carlb]

Once every week or two. I generally buy a few chops, put some sort of an herb or spice rub on them, and fire up the grill.

Last week, my wife said that I made the BEST. LAMB. EVER. Damned if I can remember what I rubbed the stuff with.

[Small Clanger]

How often do you eat lamb? Quite often when I'm visiting the parents - Sunday roast - with mint sauce. Occasionally I'll cook a lamb curry, with no mint sauce*.

I think it tends to be the forgotten red meat for Americans.Ah, well it's not forgotten by the English. We eat it with mint sauce.


*If you get sheek-kebab (lamb on a stick) at an Indian restauraunt it does come with (a different type of ) mint sauce.

[Rayne Man]

One of the forgotten cuts of lamb is breast. You can either bone it out yourself or, if you buy your meat from a proper butcher , he might do it for you. You then roll it, stuff it with sage and onion, and then slowly roast it.

My favourite recipe for leg of lamb is to piece the skin and insert small pieces of garlic and rosemary before roasting. Then, about 30 before it is ready, pour over a glass of white wine. Lovely gravy, and it takes some of the fatty taste away from it.

As for lamb's hearts , delicious !

[Rayne Man]

Of course I meant pierce. :smack:

[don't ask]

As much as I can get.

Last night I had lamb.rosemary and chili sausages with broken vegetables and mango/chipotle sauce for dinner.

Last week when I shopped at the same place I had Frenched cutlets (they were cheap) with a honey mustard marinade. I served them with broad beans, pumpkin puree and sweet onion jam.

I am pretty sure that Americans have been tricked by marketting when it comes to lamb consumption - it is more versatile than beef, more reliable to cook (it is generally served rare even by people who don't eat rare beef), and in Australia at least comes in a huge variety of cuts that siut lots of purposes.

[Trunk]

I'm Australian, but I went the first fifteen years of my life without ever tasting lamb. My country-born father was force-fed lamb for much of his life, so he refused to eat it in adulthood. ( Our dog, OTOH, was fed with lamb so the smell of lamb chops frying makes me think of pet food.)


You hear stuff like that a lot.

My grandfather wouldn't eat beans because it's all he ate during the depression.

I heard a story once that "indentured servants" (slaves, kind of, but with more rights) in New England were fed so much lobster that they protested.

Chicken definitely used to be a sort of delicacy, special occasions only.

I thought the folk down under ate more of it -- it's pricey, all right, but not unreasonable. A leg is maybe $4 per pound, more than ground beef, but less than most any cut of steak. The price of lamb chops is in line with the price of pork chops.

A few good lamb recipes can be found in Stephen Raichlen's "The Barbeque Bible" including a good one for kofta. You can get that used at Amazon for like $8. It's totally worth that. It's worth full price for that matter -- tons of recipes and tons of great grilling tips.

[Trunk]

I am pretty sure that Americans have been tricked by marketting when it comes to lamb consumption - it is more versatile than beef, more reliable to cook (it is generally served rare even by people who don't eat rare beef), and in Australia at least comes in a huge variety of cuts that siut lots of purposes.
I agree.

For starters, a lot of people just don't cook, and you don't get lamb at Chili's or McDonalds or Olive Garden.

But, I think there tends to be a mental barrier for people who do cook because none of our classic dishes (think beef stew, chicken pot pie, pork roast) are lamb.

[Rayne Man]

I agree.

For starters, a lot of people just don't cook, and you don't get lamb at Chili's or McDonalds or Olive Garden.

But, I think there tends to be a mental barrier for people who do cook because none of our classic dishes (think beef stew, chicken pot pie, pork roast) are lamb.

Irish stew is the lamb equivalent of these.

Irish Stew HT MC Irish 150mins

Serve 4-6 Hot Lamb Main Course British Ireland Europe Dairy Gluten Wheat Free

Ingredients:

900g/2lb Best End Neck of Lamb you can also use mutton which is more traditional or lamb chops

2 Large Onions, sliced

2 large Carrots, thickly sliced

675g/1-1/2lb Potatoes, peeled and thickly sliced

450ml/15 fl.oz. Good Fresh Stock

Salt and Pepper

A sprig each of Parsley and Thyme (optional)

Instructions

1. Cut the meat into even sized pieces and put into a large saucepan with the sliced onions, carrots and half the sliced potatoes. Add the stock, herbs (is using) salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, remove any scum which surfaces, then cover and simmer for 1 hour 20 minutes. If using mutton, cook for 2 hours.

2. Add the remaining potatoes and continue to cook for a further 40 minutes.

3. To serve - taste and re-season if necessary, transfer to a hot serving dish and serve very hot.

This dish can also be cooked in the oven 150C, 300F, Gas mark 2 for 3 hours, but then it wouldn't be a stew it would be a casserole!

[DougC]

- - - Where I work the floor cleaning service employs lots of Eastern-European people on visas of various types, Bulgarians right now. Lamb seems to be the primary "holiday" meal with them, apparently. They don't earn much money but for Christmas and New Years they said they would splurge on a home-cooked lamb meal.
~

[tarragon918]

I love lamb! I don't have it very often, though, because not only is it expensive as all get out, I'm the only one in my family that likes to eat it. Growing up, we would usually have leg of lamb at Easter (with mint jelly - and to this day, I like to have my lamb with the stuff, though it's only good for that, imo). I also love the tiny lamb chops (OMG do I love them! I just can't think of where they come from when I got to eat them ... :D)m, which I usually 0prepare by simply browning them with a bit of garlic then serve it up with rice or couscous.

Once I was visiting my Dad - I got there late in the afternoon and he had somewhere to go that evening, so I was on my own for dinner. I rummaged around in the fridge and didn't see anything I liked (LOL he had s lot of stuff, just nothing I wanted to eat right then), then I started looking in the freezer, and found a couple of lamb chops. Oh boy! I thawed em out in the microwave, fired up the small saute pana, and cooked them right on up. Thjey were deliciouis! I heard some months later, however, that my Dad was really -ticked- off that I had eaten his lamb chops. :p Cause I didn't tell him that I'd had them for supper.

Now my mouth is watering ... geesch... wonder if I can get some souvlaki or a gyro for dinner tonight?!

[Malacandra]

Mmm... roast lamb. Right about the fat content, you have to watch it, and it needs to be kept warm while you're eating it, but it is indeed melt-in-the-mouth delicious and full-flavoured. It seems to be a little pricier than other meats though, which is probably why Mrs M and I eat more beef, chicken and pork even though we're not what you'd call cash-strapped.

Haven't eaten stuffed breast of lamb in years, I must look some out - I'm sure our local butcher, who's very good, would be delighted to help.

[Odinoneeye]

I eat it every couple of months or so.

I only eat lamp chops. Just because that's what I've always done.

It's usually just me eating it, so I don't spend the money on a large piece of it.

I just fry mine up with some pepper, garlic, oregano and basil.

[Sinusoidal Saurus]

Mmmm, lamb. Two recipes for y'all:

Butterfly a nice leg of lamb...that is, slice down to the bone, then cut close to the bone all the way around so that the bone comes out, and you have a relatively flat, spread-eagled slab of meat. Chop several (6 or more) cloves of garlic, add a couple teaspoons of kosher salt, and mince/smash until it's pasty. Add minced fresh rosemary and thyme and black pepper. Rub half of this mixture all over the inside surface of the leg. Drizzle with olive oil, and roll back up as tightly as possible. Tie with kitchen twine, then rub the rest of the paste on the outside and drizzle with more olive oil. Roast till done to your liking.

My other favorite recipe uses ground lamb: Persian Meatballs with Green Beans.
Combine 1.5 lbs. ground lamb, 1 med. onion, chopped, 1 T. lemon juice, 1 t. dried parsley, 1/2 t. oregano, 1/4 t. allspice, 1/2 t. cumin, 1 egg, 1/4 c. breadcrumbs, salt and pepper to taste. Form into meatballs and fry in a mixture of 2 T. butter + 2 T. olive oil. Remove when done. To the same skillet, add and saute 1 med. onion, sliced, and 2 cl. garlic. After a few minutes, add salt and pepper, 1/4 t. oregano, 1/4 t. allspice, 1/4 t. cumin, 1/4 t. cayenne, 1 T. lemon juice. Add 1 can diced tomatoes and 1 lb. green beans (blanch them if they're big). Add meatballs back into the skillet, mix well, and turn into a casserole. Cover and bake at 375 for 30 - 45 minutes.

SS

[keturah]

My all time favorite lamb recipe:

Season rack of lamb with salt and pepper. Soften 2 T butteradd 1 t brown sugar and 1 T chopped capers. Roll into a log and chill. In a sauce pan melt 2T butter, 1 T honey and 1 T white wine vinegar. Brush lamb with glaze and grill, brushing frequently with the glaze. When done to your liking transfer to plate and top with coins of chilled butter/caper mixture. Heaven.

[kanicbird]

I love lamb and would eat more if I could find a better price for it. Around here is is about the most expensive 'normal' meat.

[don't ask]

For any US Dopers who bemoan how expensive it is, blame your government. Australia started exporting lamb to the US (all the best lamb comes either from here or New Zealand) and managed to increase sales in the US. As soon as this happened the US sheep farmers insisted on import quotas so that Australia and New Zealand couldn't exploit the market they had created. I doubt that your local suppliers can match the quality of southern hemisphere lamb. When I was living in England I was surprised that their lamb is inferior, although I would kill for their pork products (British and European).

[Caprese]

I like lamb. Husband and sons love lamb. We eat it about twice a month.
We get New Zealand lamb from Costco; it tastes great and is not too expensive.
Favorite is loin chops rubbed with garlic, rosemary, and other spices, grilled.

[Trigonal Planar]

I actually eat it fairly often due to the fact that my roommate is from a farm, so he's always bringing various odd and unsual cuts of meat to the house. We eat horse all the time as well.

[LVBoPeep]

Hi all,

For those concerned with fatty chops- look into hair sheep lambs. In many places, esp. if you can find hobby farms with Kathadin or Dorper crosses, you could buy & process a hair sheep lamb for under $150-$200 and have a year's worth of lean, very tender and flavorful (not at all gamey though) lamb. I raise Kathadin/Dorper cross sheep and I love it! Size-wise, not as big as a wool breed but it makes up for it in flavor and lack of huge globs of fat. I fix lamb for myself maybe 1-2 times per month (just have two legs and some stew meat left- next freezer lamb (almost purebred Kathadin) is currently at my friends house getting the fat farm treatment). My primary reason for keeping my sheep is to train my dogs (border collies), but the cheap and excellent meat source is definite perk :). I do eat gyro meat greek salads (great low carb fare) about 2-3 times a week.

My favorite chops recipe is grilled chops rubbed with sea salt, lemon and thyme leaves...MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!

[tarragon918]

Just to clarify a few things in my earlier post ... which was made from work (heh), hence the mis-spellings, which is a whole nother post.

My SO and my kids are the ones who don't like/won't eat lamb - my Mom, Dad, brothers and I all ate lamb when I was growing up though. I'd love to have leg of lamb, but if I'm the only one who will eat it, it's just too expensive to get. So I take my lamb any way I can get it, which is usually via chops or in gyros or souvlaki. I have been known, on occasion, to sneak some ground lamb into meatloaf - they -never- know when I do that! :D

[mhendo]

For any US Dopers who bemoan how expensive it is, blame your government. Australia started exporting lamb to the US (all the best lamb comes either from here or New Zealand) and managed to increase sales in the US. As soon as this happened the US sheep farmers insisted on import quotas so that Australia and New Zealand couldn't exploit the market they had created.This is exactly right. Despite all the American rhetoric about free trade, this is just another area where US politicians cave in to domestic lobby groups and perpetuate the hypocrisy of US trade policy.

My best friend in Australia used to work in a policy position for the New South Wales Farmer's Association, and was then a research manager for Meat and Livestock Australia, and one of the biggest concerns faced by Australia's lamb producers was US protectionism.

[Blue Ruin]

How often do you eat lamb?

I think it tends to be the forgotten red meat for Americans.

It's really great stuff, though. A meaty texture, but more "melt in your mouth" than beef. The slightest gamey flavor, but not like goat.

Most of the lamb I buy tends to come from Australia and New Zealand. I suspect our G'Dopers eat their fair share of the creature with the wooly hair.

Things I've done with lamb (no, not those kinds of "Mississippi things". . .):

Ground lamb can be made into "lamburgers" with some spices and grilled. Afghani's might call that "Kofta". I serve it with yogurt sauce on a pita and eat it with french fries.

I use a big leg of lamb to make chili or lamb stew with.

A think lamb loin chop makes a delicious meal served with rice/potatoes and a green vegetable (that's what I had for supper last night and lunch today).

Lamb shanks can make you a version of "osso buco" if you don't want to use veal.

I've used a type of chop (shoulder or blade or something, a fattier, thinner chop than the loin) for types of Indian stew.

Not to mention the classic roasted rack of lamb. Ah. so crisp on the outside, so red on the inside. But, pricey for the amount of meat you get.

Any favorite lamb dishes from the dope?

I bet we eat Lamb about twice a month, probably almost as much as we eat beef.

Lamb lamb wonderful lamb.
Better than jamb!
Better than yambs!
Even better than hamb!

I've eaten lamb three times in my life. I had lamb chops in an Outback Steakhouse once, lamb fall in an Indian restaurant, and once my wife cooked a leg of lamb.

I don't care for the taste - I'll eat it, but I'd prefer beef, pork, or chicken.