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Entries in Lamb (7)

Sunday
Sep112011

Gateway Charcuterie

As proscuittos and sausages are most people's introduction to dry cured foods, rillettes are the gateway to spread-able meats. Three years ago, I had my first charcuterie plate, and while I didn't realize it at the time, it was a life changing experience. It was then I had my first batch of rillettes and was hooked into charcuterie, seeking and consuming all offerings in Chicago. Shortly after going down that porcine road, I attended my first butchering demo and learned the ways of various cured meats and old preservation techniques. Today, after much practice, I have a decent approach to the art.

Luckily for me, for the second week in a row, I got the one lamb neck in stock at my local butcher. This is a great piece of meat for making rillettes, since it's very flavorful and tender. Due to the uniqueness of the cut of meat, I salted the neck then slow roasted it in a 200 Dg oven over-night while I slept. This allowed for the fat to slowly seep out of the meat and essentially baste itself while roasting. Once morning came, the meat was easily shreddable. Traditionally, the cooking process for rillettes would take place in a covered pot with simmering liquid, but that's another post.

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Sunday
Aug282011

The Hangover

Sunday
Mar202011

Spring

It's spring now, so go take this time to clean the fridge.  We can check back with each other in a week.

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Friday
Dec032010

Leftovers' Leftovers

After so many lamb head dinners, there is now a need to make a lamb head breakfast.  This isn't a problem since last night's insanely rich risotto wasn't finished, as it only takes a few bites to enter a carbatose state of bliss.  It's no good to dwell on the amazing past; people are hungry now, and need to be fed more head.

The most popular dish made from leftover risotto is arancini, which is a fried, battered ball of risotto filled with mozzarella cheese.  Though it's very delicious, it's also a pain to make.  The easier, and still very delicious remaining option is to make risotto al salto, which is essentially a pan fried risotto pancake.

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Thursday
Dec022010

Leftovers

After yesterday's post, I know there is one thing that everyone is wondering--what else can I do with a lamb's head?  The simple answer is to make stock.  This stock won't be similar to anything available in stores either.  Only homemade stocks can be this dark, rich, and gamey.

There's so much flavor in lamb head, that mise isn't really required for lamb stock.  Roast the head, cover with water, add salt, and cook at a lazy boil for six hours.  Any remaining flesh will fall off the bone during this time, and should be allowed to stay in the pool after the clean bones are extracted.  Don't worry about skimming fat off the top either, as that would be wasting flavor.  Once the stock is ready, call that special someone up for another round of tasty head.

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