Class on Lamb

[shroomgirl]

Here's the scenerio.....I got asked to teach a cooking demo in a small town <essentially in the boonies> to a "gourmet" group...the monies come from lamb farmers. They want to teach people how to cook different parts of the lamb....cus they sell the lambs in 1/2s. Again, this town is an hour away from a college town....in rural Mo.
I went with ground, chops, leg.
North African ground lamb in fillo
Chops with garlic and rosemary
Boneless stuffed leg with spinach, garlic and feta

I went out on a limb with the spices, but plan on taking Penzy's catalogs along with me.
thought of Eggplant 1/2 stuffed with lamb....ala mousaka
Leg is good just marinated and grilled, but the classes are the first part of March.
I've seen the lamb thread just wondered what you guys think.....what would you do?

[Suzanne]

You didn't mention shanks, which might be good to include, mainly because they are easy, cheap, tasty, and versatile:

Provencal Braised Lamb Shanks with Olives and Tomatoes

in fact, braised lamb shanks can be flavored in a zillion ways, whatever "ethnic" touches you want. Is this group of any particular ethnicity? Maybe you could do it "their" way?

[Pongi]

May I add the most typical recipes of my country, Liguria?

FRIED LAMB CHOPS WITH ARTICHOKES
Divide some fresh artichokes in segments, then dip them and the lamb chops in salted beaten egg and coat with breadcrumbs (I usually add to the breadcrumbs plenty of dried aromatic herbs like oregano and thyme, and a few dried minced onion). Fry in good olive oil and serve with lemon slices.
This is a traditional Easter recipe.

BIANCO E NERO
In Genoa, the entrails of young lambs (heart, lungs, liver and kidneys) are called "black and white". I cut them in thin slices, coat with flour and fry them in butter with a "fricassea"...the Italian version of avgolemono, a sauce made of egg yolks, lemon, meat stock, garlic and chopped parsley. Sometimes I also add sliced artichokes.

Pongi

[shroomgirl]

I thought of shanks, they are one of my favs....the draw back is: this class is 3 1/2 hour drive from here....I don't know if I can access product before hand (in time for shanks to cook) the demo is 1.5-1.75 hours....The premise of the demo is to teach customers and potential customers how to cook 1/2 lambs....they are mainly sold in 1/2s, you can have the half butchered anyway you like but it is still 1 shoulder, 1 leg, 2 shanks, etc....
Pongi~great ideas, rural America (especially Mo.) does not eat entrails. Though I do.
Baby artichokes are available now, sounds good with lamb.

[Suzanne]

Okay, I realize that you're limited in time. But there are so many good things to do with lamb ...

Since you might have shoulder: how about a Navarin Printanier, with early spring veg? (you could bring the veg already prepped) It'll give them something to look forward to!

Or some other kind of lamb stew? "Irish Stew" with lamb and potatoes.

BTW: as Exec Chef at The Putney Inn, Ann Cooper put on her menu "Lamb Three Ways" (or something like that), because when she asked her farmers for just chops, they insisted she take the whole animal! As I recall, it included house-made merguez, braised shoulder, and a grilled chop. For lamb lovers, it was GREAT!

[brreynolds]

You can show them how to make the sausage (excellent in itself and it can use up the miscellaneous pieces from the lamb half). Then if it fits within your time and budget, you can spin off several recipes using the sausage.

And don't overlook just basic moussaka. A good one of those is hard to beat.

[cape chef]

Kebobs,marinated in yogurt, tahini, mint, garlic and lemon..skewered with turned baby artichokes and baby onions.

Or stout braised with toasted barley pilof.

Roasted garlic and rosemary and cajun mustard rub on the leg, stuff with chorizo or (lamb sausage).

ask if the farmers can perhapes ban saw some osso bucco for you, maybe you then can do something with the shank.

Seared loin, wrapped with grilled eggplant and phyllo, chive gremolata,

a twist on vittela tonnata, us the roast lamb leg..and instead of tuna make a white anchovy, garlic and olive sauce.sundried tomatoes, toasted pignoles, fruity EVOO.

I'll try to think of some more shroom, sounds like a great gig
cc

[Pete]

I wouldn't forget about a lamb stew of some sort. With the butchering of a 1/2 lamb, there will be numerous scrapes and tougher pieces that will need the time and moisture of a braised dish. At home, I do a spicy lamb stew flavored with cumin, cinnamon, hot pepper, etc. and serve it in half a roasted acorn squash. Wanda loves it.

Going off of the sausage idea, bone out the rack (loin), butterfly it open and roll it around some homemade sausage.

[shroomgirl]

Let's take it a notch higher.....customers are buying half lambs and having them cut up by the processor....how would you have a half cut up...use American public meat terms....ie, shanks, sirloin chops, lamb chops, ground lamb, shoulder ????

I buy mine whole and grill um, but that is for parties, when I buy lamb at the market I buy pieces. These farmer's have a different gig going with selling 1/2 lambs.
Piggies I have broken down into hams, shoulder,boneless loin whole,rack of ribs, bacon whole, all the lard, and innards, I don't get chops or cut up pieces per se I'm abby normal on that front.
I'd love to do more charcuterie, with my handy dandy 6Qt kitchenaid.....Caul fat is gorgeous off a great pig.

[Athenaeus]

Shroom, since you are going to teach I did a small research for you about Lamb in antiquity in order to have some anecdotes to narrate while you cooking.
People seem to enjoy these things especially to culinary classes.

The lamb was first" introduced" in literrature by Homer in Odyssey.
If you remember, Ulysses and fellows were prisoned by Cyclop Polyphymus who was a shepard.
In Odyssey Homer describes how Polyphemous and the other fellow Cyclops slaughter a lamb into pieces and barbecue it all

Later on in Classical Antiquity , lamb was a dish that was considered expensive and it was served to honor VIP guests.

In the gastronomical poem of Filoxenus ( One of these days I am gonna talk to you about this faboulous man) where he describes a luxurious banquet, he mentions a recipe of lamb that is cooked with its entrails in a casserole.

My friend Athenaeus, in "Depnosophists", mentions a recipe of a certain Nikandros, a farmer, who composed a book about the secrets of farming " On Farming".

This is the "recipe" of Nikandros as Athenaeus describes it :
"When you want to prepare lamb, put it in a pan with scented olive oil and seed of wheat. This must be cooked for some time . When it's ready and still warm sprinkle all over some wine and serve it with fresh bread "

Go figure...

Good luck to your classes

[kuan]

Break it down into the normal cuts you can find at the supermarket. Leg, loin and rib chops, neck slices, shank, rack, leg steaks, kidneys, and "fries." Provide each with the appropriate treatment. ie., braise, roast, saute, grill, fry. Simple but it leaves a lot of room for creativity. Hrm, gonna have to search for a meat buyer's guide online.

Kuan

[cape chef]

Shroom, Kuan really filled you in on the cuts, I thought I would try to add to his post.

I will give you the primals followed by the subs.
Shoulder
Shoulder chop
Blade chop
Shoulder roast
Neck slices

Ribs
Whole rack
Rack Chops
Loin
Lamb chops = Porterhouse cut (the best)
Loin roast
Sirloin chop
Leg
Leg chop
Upper sirloin
Breast
Denver ribs
Shank (Trotters)
Spare ribs.

Ofcourse ground lamb and stew meat...
Shroom, If you would like what I think is the best way to cook these cuts let me know (Not recipes,just heat application)
cc

[shroomgirl]

Thanks guys!!!
Kuan we don't have fries in our stores.... some of our meat farmers do ship, if your interested....
CC- I think I'm ok on the what to do with them.....it seems that alot of my farmers grind up cool cuts of meat into sausage. I'm still doubfounded that the beef guy grinds up his flank steak.

[cape chef]

Really, He grinds his flanks? Wow...What a waste.
Man I can do a million dishes with flanks, sells well, and guest love it.
There is enough misc trimmings to grind, or I use clods and knuckles
cc

[Mezzaluna]

Shroom, sure wish I could be there! Some ideas:

Couscous
I flavor ground lamb like it's gyros and use it in pitas or flour tortillas with yogurt/cucumber sauce, tomatoes, etc.
Kibbee (cooked!)

I love the idea of bringing the Penzey's catalogs! Makes the world's flavors more accessible when all you have otherwise is the Piggly Wiggly with dusty spices that probably aren't fresh.