So tell me about lamb

Cafe Society
61

[QUOTE=SmartAleq]
Envy me, for this year I will be buying a small bebeh lamb , raising it on a friend’s land then having it murdered for my eating pleasure! I expect to get 50+ lbs or so from my investment, which when you consider the price of lamb these days it should prove pretty economical. We’re figuring 50-75 bucks for the lamb, maybe another 20-30 for supplemental feed although we expect them to be primarily grass fed so that will keep the feed bill low, then slaughtering and butchering costs. My main objective is to get some of the meat I have a hard time finding, especially a whole bunch of ground lamb which I love beyond all reason–shepherd’s pie, lentil soup, burgers, curried meatballs, the list is endless.

My really scary lamb recipe requires shanks. Melt in a dutch oven a half stick of butter, add a quarter cup of olive oil, then brown the shanks all over, remove from pot. Deglaze small amount of white wine or beer, replace the shanks in the pot, add 40-100 whole, fresh, peeled cloves of garlic and several large sprigs of fresh rosemary–use dried if you really must, couple teaspoons full. Don’t use powdered, that’s nasty. Cover the pot firmly with heavy duty foil and put the lid on–you don’t want any steam to escape at all. Bake at 350-375 degrees for a couple hours.

While the lamb is cooking, in a second deep pot melt the other half stick of butter and saute a couple of onions sliced thin until wilty but not quite caramelized. Add in a whole shitload of sliced crimini mushrooms, saute a couple minutes. Add in a cup or so of rinsed barley and saute until slightly browned. Add enough beef broth to cover plus a bit, tightly cover the pot and put in oven with the lamb. Keep track on the barley and stir it and add broth as needed to make sure it doesn’t dry out–it takes a lot of broth to cook barley, you’ll probably need a quart or so for 2 cups but if you run out use plain water. You’re looking for it to be nice and tender when done, probably going to take an hour, hour and a half in the oven.

When the lamb is done cooking, carefully remove the foil, being careful of steam burns, ouch! Remove the shanks and let them rest on a plate covered in foil. With a slotted spoon remove the garlic cloves and rosemary sprigs. Throw the rosemary away, or you can strip the leaves off and just toss the twigs, depending on how much you like rosemary–I leave mine in. Gently fold the garlic cloves into the barley, then spread it out on a big platter. Over medium high heat, reduce the liquid in the lamb pot, stirring and getting all the crusty bits off the sides and bottom. When it’s reduced by half, either melt in mint sauce, mint jelly (if you have nothing else) or my favorite, coarsely chopped fresh mint leaves and a couple tablespoons of honey or sugar. Stir until it’s alll incorporated. Arrange the shanks on the bed of barley, then pour the sauce all over the whole thing and serve. Try not to dribble it all over your front as the whole room dives into the platter face first!
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This sounds absolutely marvelous. Tell me again: what is your home address?

62

[QUOTE
Right now I have 12 lambs cavorting about with a couple more due. This is a much smaller flock than we’ve had in the past and I won’t have enough for everyone who wants it. :([/QUOTE]

Border Cheviots are my favorite kind of sheep- love the face/ears! I raise hair sheep, don’t think I could keep woolies alive here but I’m always jealous of people with those damn cute Cheviots!

I am out of freezer lamb, my ram this year is not the greatest so I’m going to sell or eat everything that is born this year- not keeping any ewe lambs back. Hair sheep meat- generally- has a real nice, mild flavor. I haven’t had any “bad” lamb, US or otherwise- but I think home grown is the best, of course :).

One of my favorite recipes is for chops- rub olive oil and lemon on each chop, sprinkle with fresh thyme, salt & pepper- grill medium rare. MMMMMMM…

63

I used to have a Fijian neighbour when I was in L.A. He made really good lamb chops (or some cut with a bone in it) on the charcoal grill. And he had some kickin’ Fijian hot sauce to go with it.

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[QUOTE=Exapno Mapcase]
I can’t imagine a major supermarket that didn’t have every possible cut of lamb on hand every day of the year.
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I live in a major city, and the lamb I see in mainstream supermarkets is NASTY-looking and overpriced. There just isn’t much turnover for lamb in regular supermarkets here, I guess. That’s why I stick to ethnic groceries and halal butchers. Come to think of it, I buy a very small percentage of my groceries in mainstream supermarkets, and almost never buy meat of any kind there. When I do see lamb, it’s almost always a few sad-looking chops or shoulder steaks; I don’t ever remember seeing a whole leg or lrack in a regular supermarket.

65

[QUOTE=Sierra Indigo]
Cook it for 8-24 hours or so.

Seriously.

You need a really, really fatty piece of lamb. Shoulder is good.

You rub it with spices/herbs of your choice. Then you put your oven on the lowest setting possible with a bowl of water in the bottom, close the door on it and then leave it.

It’ll cook and cook and cook and cook and the fat will render out and it will become fork-tender after about 8 hours. The recipe I based it on (Nigella Lawson) says it can safely be left for up to 24 hours, but I haven’t been that confident yet.

But it’s the most beautiful lamb roast ever.
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Yeah, I second long, slow cooking (braising). Lamb shank is good for this too.
I like racks the best, but there’s really no getting around the fact that you have to work for a sizeable amount of meat. The larger the chops from the rack are, the older the sheep was when slaughtered.

My general rule of thumb for lamb rack is NEVER overcook it (I eat it rare to med rare) and ALWAYS sear it prior to finishing in the oven. I would also make sure the rack is seasoned with at least salt and pepper (or any assortment of dry/wet rubs) before searing to lock in those flavors.

I also avoid mint as it masks the tinge of gaminess that makes lamb so endearing to me, but a lot of people like it, so have at it if you like it too.

66

I recall a few years ago there was a TV ad campaign for Australian (or maybe it was New Zealand) lamb.

Curiously, the ads showed no sheep – only shepherds.

I guess that’s part of the problem with lamb and mutton gaining acceptance in the U.S. market. Cattle aren’t cute.

67

BrainGlutton:

I never realized there was an acceptance problem, I thought its relative rarity is just because it costs so darned much.

68

I just remembered that there is a middle-eastern store near the Trader Joe’s. I’ve seen the sign but never been inside, so I don’t know if they have lamb, but now I’m going to have to check them out. Lamb isn’t very popular around here, apparently, since I’ve never seen it at any of the chain grocery stores.

And I’ve picked up some good tips on cooking lamb from this thread. I’m looking forward to trying some of them, even if it means I’ll have lots of leftover lamb.

69

Mmmm Roast shoulder of lamb, with the fat all crispy.

Roast spuds, new spuds, carrots, peas, gravy and mint sauce.

Jebus I 'm so hungry now I could eat a dead skunk

70

You just described yesterday’s Easter dinner. Some of the leftovers are next to me, tossed with some soy sauce and pepper and reheated in the office microwave (no mint sauce, though). I picked up a baguette from a nearby bakery chain to go with it. I’m eating well today at lunch!

71

[QUOTE=Smokinjbc]
Border Cheviots are my favorite kind of sheep- love the face/ears! I raise hair sheep, don’t think I could keep woolies alive here but I’m always jealous of people with those damn cute Cheviots!

I am out of freezer lamb, my ram this year is not the greatest so I’m going to sell or eat everything that is born this year- not keeping any ewe lambs back. Hair sheep meat- generally- has a real nice, mild flavor. I haven’t had any “bad” lamb, US or otherwise- but I think home grown is the best, of course :).

One of my favorite recipes is for chops- rub olive oil and lemon on each chop, sprinkle with fresh thyme, salt & pepper- grill medium rare. MMMMMMM…
[/QUOTE]

When we got Sam and Frodo, our llamas, we also got Dexter, a Mouflon sheep. We were given the llamas - as in gratis - on the condition that we take Dexter and promise not to eat him. As if we would eat a 10 year old wether!!! He was a sweet guy, but he died over the winter. I think it was old age. One of our hired men has got the skull and is letting it bleach outdoors right now.

Our current ram is called Bubbles and he is an ugly git, but he sure throws nice lambs. Before him we had Sean. When we bought Sean our forelady said, “So, is he like Brad Pitt for the ewes?” and I said, “No, he’s more like Sean Connery”, so Sean it was and if you ever saw Wallace and Gromit in “A Close Shave” you’d know that Sean can be pronounced Shorn and there you have it.

72

[QUOTE=vison]
I have no clue about the border. I suspect, however, that it would be difficult to get live lambs across. Or dead ones, for that matter. If it proves feasible, I would gladly sell you a few, but not just yet, they are still too young to leave theyz mamas.

However. I would bet that Washington State or Oregon both have sheep breeders’ associations with websites. Surely they do!
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I’ll check on that, but so far all I’ve found is people who’re selling fancy-schmancy wool sheep for like five hundred bucks! :eek: My friend with the land says he’d be more than happy to go ahead and run a small herd of ewes in order to get lambs of our own every year–maybe 4-5 tops. So wool sheep would be smart for the ewes, then breed to a meat ram for a good cross for the lambs. It shouldn’t be too hard to find a market for wool, could probably sell it myself at farmer’s markets to yuppies! How are Cheviots for wool, any good?

Oslo O– I’m not sure where “the prairie” might be, but I suspect it would probably be easier for you just to try the recipe yourself! Of course, if you’re ever in the area…

Here’s another favorite recipe–take a whole boned leg of lamb and spread it out nice and flat. In a blender or food processor mix up either feta or bleu cheese, shallots and enough olive oil to make a nice smooth paste. Wipe this heavily all over the inside of the leg, making sure to get it down into all the interstices of the muscle tissue. Roll the leg up around the cheese mixture and tie it. Then take a whole bunch of garlic cloves and mash them up in a mortar & pestle–you may be tempted to take a shortcut on this and use a blender or processor but I’m telling you it doesn’t work nearly as well as a mortar. When it’s getting pretty well mushed up add some kosher salt and continue beating it up until you get a nice gooey paste. Then add some fresh rosemary and continue pounding. When it’s totally sticky and smooth add olive oil to make a thinner paste. Score the leg about a half inch deep, inch wide squares. Brush the garlic paste all over the leg, down in the cuts, just blanket it. Roast the leg about 20-30 min per pound and let it rest for fifteen minutes at the end of the cooking time. Make sure it’s a bit pink in the middle when it’s all done because well done lamb is an affront. The lamb leg will smell like horrible baking dirty sweat socks for about a half hour to forty five minutes, then suddenly it will smell like total ambrosia and you will be drooling like a maniac until it’s ready to eat. Serve with baked potatoes and spinach salad with raspberry vinaigrette.

I make a mean lamb stew, too!

73

SmartAleq, people who raise pedigreed sheep want you to buy breeding stock, so, yes, they are going to charge an arm and a leg. But you don’t need or want pedigreed stock, which I know you already know.

I don’t know anything about wool. We do get ours sheared, but it’s for their comfort, not for the wool. We usually burn it. A friend of mine did take a few fleeces years ago, but she said washing it and getting it clean enough to use was a real pain in the butt. I don’t know if Cheviots have good wool or not, sorry to say. Last year the shearer took it, and when I talk to him again I will ask him what he got for it, etc. But I don’t expect to see him for about 6 weeks.

The thing about Cheviots as a kind of “hobby” sheep is that they are hardy and not too big. They aren’t good flockers, though. For sheep, they are a bit independent. Many breeds of sheep are much larger than Cheviots and so you would get more meat. I think Suffolks are good eating, or so I hear.

There must be people in Oregon or Washington who raise sheep like I do and who would sell you lambs at a reasonable price. I really doubt that you could buy any from me and take them home. But who knows?

Sheep are fairly easy to look after. They don’t need a lot of fancy stuff. A barn, so they can sleep out of the rain. Good fences. No coyotes. It’s easy to overfeed sheep, particularly in our mild Cascadia winters.

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Yeah, the ease of care is what my friend is looking for–he’s got a 1500 lb steer that’s an escape artist; he annoys every neighbor around for a half mile. My friend is tired of dealing with cows and wants some critters that will keep the grass down. He used to have some goats but a cougar with cubs came through and wiped out all three nannies one night, it was a bummer. Around here if you don’t have sheep or goats you’ll be up to your ass in blackberries tout de suite.

I’ll check out that link you posted and see if somebody has munching lambs available for a reasonable price. I suspect that the border might prove impermeable to bebeh lambs because of all the hoofaraw over mad cow and how we don’t inspect our meat well enough…

I really want to give Widget some practice herding on critters that might actually be a bit intimidated by him–although he did get pretty good at chasing off the neighbor’s billy goat.

75

[QUOTE=gaffa]
Kiwis are still raising the same sheep varsities they always have.
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Yeah, we send all our sheep to university.

76

[QUOTE=LurkMeister]
I just remembered that there is a middle-eastern store near the Trader Joe’s. I’ve seen the sign but never been inside, so I don’t know if they have lamb, but now I’m going to have to check them out.
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Try a halal butchers: lamb’s pretty big in Middle Eastern cooking with the whole no pork bit and all, so they can usually set you up with some. I go to a halal butchers to get goat, which most supermarkets won’t touch. Mmmm, goat curry.

77

[QUOTE=SmartAleq]
Yeah, the ease of care is what my friend is looking for–he’s got a 1500 lb steer that’s an escape artist; he annoys every neighbor around for a half mile.>

[QUOTE]

Hair sheep are also really easy to care for and if you look for Kathadin or Dorpers especially, they will be cheaper than the woolie breeds and you will get a good size (not huge, just decent) lamb with mild flavor. No shearing, possibly parasite resistant (some debate on that). There are quite a few Dorper/Kathadin raisers in the west- WA,OR, ID all have people I can think of.

78

When I was a kid we had lamb almost every weekend. I’m kind of over it, but it’s really tasty anyway.

79

[QUOTE=vison]
There must be people in Oregon or Washington who raise sheep like I do and who would sell you lambs at a reasonable price. I really doubt that you could buy any from me and take them home. But who knows?
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http://help.cbp.gov/cgi-bin/customs.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=82

:frowning:

[QUOTE=GuanoLad]
When I was a kid we had lamb…
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Ha!

80

[QUOTE=Scissorjack]
Try a halal butchers: lamb’s pretty big in Middle Eastern cooking with the whole no pork bit and all, so they can usually set you up with some. I go to a halal butchers to get goat, which most supermarkets won’t touch. Mmmm, goat curry.
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I’ll have to see what I can find; I’m new to the area and not familiar with where I’m likely to find various speialty markets. I’m also somewhat hampered by the fact that I don’t drive, although I’m learning to get around pretty well on the various local public transit systems.