Lamb, what do I do with it?

[ChristieB]

The people we get our beef from also sell lamb. Recently they sent us some "samples" of their most popular/personal favorite cuts (they're very kind folks!). We used to eat lamb, years ago, but mostly cooked it very simply, because it was for a special diet my dr. wanted me on during a treatment. And if I remember right, I think it was just ground and chops that we ate. Anyway, when I was pg with my first, I just couldn't stomach the smell or taste of it. I haven't really tried it since.

So, now I have:
ground lamb
stew meat
shanks
loin chops
leg steaks

So, what do I do with it all? What are your favorite ways of cooking lamb? And what are you favorite ways of flavoring it (no mint, please, I'm allergic)? Oh, and which pieces should add seasonings to and which should I leave "plain"?

[425lisamarie]

I make a curry sauce by sauteeing onion, garlic in a little butter/oil, add curry paste/powder, some chicken stock, can of coconut milk and reduce down to very thick.

Pour over any meat in slow cooker

[spughy]

Rosemary and garlic are *always* good with lamb. So is a quick glaze of balsamic vinegar. Mmmmm....

Stews: I like to put red wine and chicken stock in my lamb stews (along with the aforementioned rosemary, garlic, and splash of balsamic.) Barley is always good in lamb stew too, and thickens it nicely.

Ground lamb = lamburgers! Crumble a bit of feta in, add some minced garlic, rosemary, salt and an egg, mix and grill or fry like a normal burger.

Greek meatloaf... make a pastry (the yogurt pastry in NT would actually work really well here). Combine the ground lamb, half a diced onion, a good amount of minced garlic, plus oregano and thyme and some good ketchup (trust me), and half a green and half a red bell pepper, diced small. Salt to taste (yes I taste my meat raw... one little nibble is not going to hurt you), throw in some pepper. Now spread the meat mix onto the pastry (which should be rectangular, btw) and roll it up, pinching the ends under so you end up with what looks like a pastry log. Bake for about an hour or so at 375 (use a meat thermometer to tell if it's done).

Chops? Combine dijon mustard, olive oil, salt, paprika (smoked if you've got it), rosemary and sage. Rub this over the chops and grill or put under the broiler.

Shanks? See here.

Leg steaks? Marinade in lemon juice, olive oil, rosemary, sage, thyme, garlic overnight, salt well and grill/broil.

[claras_mom]

What spughy said!

I'd add that sometimes I make a meatloaf with half lamb and half beef, seasoning as I normally would.

I like lamb pretty plain--roasted or grilled with garlic, salt and pepper, and maybe some rosemary.

[ChristieB]

Thanks for all the ideas. I love rosemary and garlic! I forgot to mention that we are dairy-free and grain-free . But I don't see anything here that can't be adapted pretty easily.

Spughy, if I left the feta out of the lamb burgers (as painful as that would be ), would I still need the egg?

Thanks again everyone! Any more ideas are welcome.

[ChristieB]

Oh, I forgot to ask. Spughy (or Clara) do you saute the veggies before adding them to the meatloaf?

Thanks!

[spughy]

No to cooking the veggies, yes to the egg - you CAN get by without it if necessary, but it does make the burgers that much more stable and easy to cook, as egg is a binder and helps them hold together. Lamb is typically more tender and apt to fall apart than beef.

[griffin2004]

use the ground lamb to make stuffed grape leaves; they're surprisingly easy to assemble and super duper scrummy!

[ChristieB]

Originally Posted by spughy

No to cooking the veggies, yes to the egg - you CAN get by without it if necessary, but it does make the burgers that much more stable and easy to cook, as egg is a binder and helps them hold together. Lamb is typically more tender and apt to fall apart than beef.

Well, I'm much more likely to make a meatloaf if I don't need to cook the veggies.

The egg makes sense if the ground lamb falls apart more than beef. I was just curious about burgers having an egg. But I would have been very disappointed if our burgers crumbled apart into the grill.


Stuffed grape leaves sound really good! I think that could easily be done without rice, with just ground lamb, spices and pine nuts. I might try it out first with zucchini, as I've eaten that stuffed in the same way as grape leaves (ds has a lot of sensitivities, and I know he can eat zucchini, but for some reason we haven't tested grape leaves ).

[covertlycrunchy]

My favorite, favorite, favorite thing to do with ground lamb is to make stuffed grape leaves with them. I add chopped toasted pine nuts, lots of cumin, sauted onion, salt, pepper and usually rice that has been mostly cooked and an egg to bind it all together then wrap in the leaves. Put them on a pan with a good drizzle of olive oil, more salt and lemon slices and some lemon juice. I add a little more water if I think I'll need it since the rice absorbs a lot of water even partially cooked. Cover then pop into the over till the leaves are where I like them, about 30 minutes maybe.

I know you said you were grain free, but I don't see why you couldn't do this without the rice. They are great cold/warm/hot and fabulous reheated over a campfire!

Mint sauce & garlic go good with lamb too. Mint sauce: minced mint, white wine vinegar, salt & olive oil. Don't get that awful mint jelly in the stores.

[ChristieB]

Thank you for the ideas for how to make the grape leaves (or in my case zucchini). I don't think I would have thought to use egg, but I think it would really help when not using rice.

And don't worry, I wouldn't think of buying the mint jelly. Besides the sugar and dye, I kind of prefer being able to breathe .

I think I'll make lamb burgers with the 2 lb. ground they sent (it's thawing now, and hopefully will be ready on Wed.). But assuming we all like it and I order some more from them, I'm definitely going to try the stuffed zucchini, and probably the meatloaf, too. You've got me all excited about the possibilities!

[Rainbow2911]

Lamb burgers are fabulous with chopped apricot and a few sweet spices (like cumin, cinnamon, corriander) added. :

Hope you enjoy it! I just started loving lamb (a few weeks ago) after years of gagging if I even smelled it. No idea why but its great!

[memory maker]

we do lamb burgers like mentioned above with feta cheese

We have also done the stew meat. I brown the meat and then add some mushrooms and make a gravy to go over the top of it

[ChristieB]

Thanks again everyone. We made burgers with the ground lamb. I added garlic and rosemary, and an egg. They were fabulous! We all loved them. Unfortunately, I wasn't thinking about them having egg, and I fed some to my 14 mo. old. : And my older son, who has a lot of food sensitivities may have had a reaction. We're really surprised, and we're puzzling over it. We're going to try the next cut totally plain to remove any variables. I really hope it's OK, because we really loved it.

[quietserena]

Lamburgers!

At least that's what my BIL and sis call them.

Seriously though, I use lamb same as I would beef in curries and stews and such. Good stuff.