BBQ Brethren Throwdown - "Lamb"

Now that I have time to cook, my wife won't eat lamb.

Rick's Tropical Delight said:

that there takes a lot of pressure off me because i won't even enter this week after that! :biggrin:

Click to expand...

What?? I ain't buying that..... I posted early 'cause I was afraid of what's comming up. :biggrin:

jacob said:

I was looking at lamb today and thought of this weeks meat. But I have never eaten lamb and wife says she hates it. Lamb is very costly here and I also have never cooked lamb. So If Rick or Thirdeye would pm me and instruct me on how to best prepare so I can at least eat it if nothing else. I would be willing to make a go of it.

Click to expand...

Man, with all due respect to Mrs J, most folks that don't like lamb have never had it cooked right. Grilling smaller cuts with some smoke and a simple seasoning (salt, pepper, garlic, & rosemary) is a good place to start. Don't try to disguise the flavor, just enhance it. Try a garlic butter slather. A medium doneness works good. It's better to try a rack or some chops before tackling a leg or shoulder.

You realize this is NOT woodpile.

And the chorus from "Sheep" by The Whiskey Bards is going through my head....

http://www.rhapsody.com/the-whiskey-bards

Back to food - the sausage looks awesome - I'm slowly developing a taste for lamb... but a friend prepares and cooks, so that's a big part of it. I'll be looking at lamb prices just for this, we're up for sausage making late this month.

And the stuffed one... here's my plate...

I was waiting for the Baaaa-baaad sheep jokes to surface. :biggrin:

jocosa said:

And the chorus from "Sheep" by The Whiskey Bards is going through my head....

http://www.rhapsody.com/the-whiskey-bards

Back to food - the sausage looks awesome - I'm slowly developing a taste for lamb... but a friend prepares and cooks, so that's a big part of it. I'll be looking at lamb prices just for this, we're up for sausage making late this month.

And the stuffed one... here's my plate...

Click to expand...

The cool thing about lamb sausage is that you can cut it with ground pork using 30%, 40% or 50% depending on how you want to diffuse the lamb flavor (we do the same thing with wild game). This is also a good way for folks that either don't like (or think they don't like) lamb to try it out. You can get pretty aggressive with the seasonings, I like mine pretty spicy.

As far as flavor goes, yearlings are stronger than lamb, and mutton is the strongest. A lot of the flavor is in the fat, so a good trim job will mellow the flavor. Barbecued or grilled are my favorite methods. It's funny but I've had ranchers that have eaten lamb all their lives go nuts over it when it's barbecued correctly.

I do medieval reenacting for my other hobby obsession... lots of 'Scotsmen' gone regimental and tons of sheep jokes abound... and the more beer, the worse they get.

Thirdeye - tanks for the tips on lamb sausage, was hoping there could be a significant portion of pork. I've yet to really research it online or in my sausage books... any suggestions on seasonings?

Ron..........You wake up in the dark and hear the screaming of the lambs?



Sincerely, Dr. Lecter

Ron_L said:

Click to expand...

All natural sheep casings stuffed with Knome meat!!
or
Whole lamb on a mini rotisserie!!:shock:

Will these guys count? If I can catch em I'll smoke em!

Saving the Peacock for another Throwdown if I ever win ("Spatchcock Peacock Throwdown"):mrgreen:

Bob!! Now I have to clean spewed beer off my keyboard - Thanks!

Well, Wal-Mart ALWAYS has the small lamb chops for about 7-8 bucks for a pack of 3. Last Sunday.........nothing. They did have some lamb ribs and some small legs. The ribs were probably 90% fat and a few slivers of meat................looked like bacon actually. The legs were kinda pricey.

Maybe some "cabeza de borrego"? I'll let you guys research that one!!:wink:
Maybe some barbacoa!
Sorry bout the 'puter screen, Golf!

jocosa said:

I do medieval reenacting for my other hobby obsession... lots of 'Scotsmen' gone regimental and tons of sheep jokes abound... and the more beer, the worse they get.

Thirdeye - tanks for the tips on lamb sausage, was hoping there could be a significant portion of pork. I've yet to really research it online or in my sausage books... any suggestions on seasonings?

Click to expand...

When you search for lamb sausage recipes key the words "Armenian" "Moroccan", "French", "North African" and "Merguez" with "sausage" and you find lots to choose from. Most are spicy, but when served with a rice, couscous or pasta it's a good fit. I really like par-boiled then oven roasted potato cubes seasoned with salt, pepper, oil and rosemary as a side.

You may find some with adders like mint, currants or dried fruits....these are my least favorite. The ones I like have at least salt, black pepper, cayenne, garlic, paprika and oregano. But you can add anything else you want. You will see Spanish paprika in many recipes and it gives a traditional and distinctive red color to the meat. As you can see from the sliced picture, the onion and water make for a very juicy sausage and the paprika can give it a "bloody" appearance, so for this batch I omitted it. Lamb fat or pork fatback is sometimes called for, but I would rather substitute some ground butt for that. Most of the ones I like are spiced heavily with red pepper or cayenne....(I have a 3# recipe that calls for a very hot mix which includes 2 tablespoons of cayenne). It's always a good idea to fry a couple of test patties to check the seasoning before stuffing.


The recipe I used for this 6# Moroccan style batch was:
2 cups minced onion
2 teaspoon marjoram
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1-1/2 teaspoon coriander
2 teaspoon oregano
3 teaspoon cayenne
3 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon Dizzy Dust
1/2 cup ice water (add 1/4 cup first, and the rest if needed)

Optional things are: (remember that the more moist things you add, you may be able to cut back a little on the water or wine)

rosemary to taste
1 to 2 tablespoons Spanish paprika
1 cup chopped parsley
1 cup roasted red or yellow peppers
substitute chilled red wine for the water
substitute red pepper flakes for some of the cayenne

Here what I have Small rack of lamb. Marinated in olive oil garlic and gresh mint overnight then smoked with garlic wood pellets. No pics of the plated finish . The natives got too hungry . It was gone before I could get the camera out.
IMG]http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr311/roastntost/BBQpics-2.jpg[/IMG]

http://i495.photobucket.com/albums/rr311/roastntost/BBQpics-2.jpg

JUles

bigabyte said:

Ronelle, I'm sorry but I must DQ this because it is an...
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

ILLEGAL ENTRY!!!

Click to expand...

The rules state:
1) The item must be either Grilled, Smoked or Fire Roasted using charcoal and/or wood as fuel.
This maybe the way he smokes his meat using wood for the fuel? …. Hee Hee

bigabyte said:

Here is my humble entry for this weeks Throwdown.

These were Lamb Loin Chops from Sams. I grilled them hot for 3 minutes on one side, then 2 to 3 minutes more on the other. I had this with some great sides too, but in keeping with this weeks theme of "keeping it all about the meat", I am not posting any photos or descriptions of them so as not to impact any voting later on.

They were delicious! For everyone who has ever though Lamb tasted too strong for them, go get some "lamb" loin chops and do this yourself. You will be a quick convert.

Click to expand...

those are my favorite and i picked up a pack today. they taste like sweet beef to me.

those are a little rarer than i like to make them :biggrin:

I wish I had the time.............I'd enter one of these. Pretty good price too.
http://elpaso.en.craigslist.org/grd/1061827914.html