Local Nourishment » Lamb

Mediterranean Goat Kebabs

localnourishment — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 03:00:28 +0000

Don’t forget to come back Monday, June 6 for the Real Food Emergency Preparedness blog carnival!

After my success with ground goat (see How to Cook a Greek Goat and Super Bowl Sunday Food) I decided to try some cubed goat when the lamb I had planned wasn’t available. It was really delicious! It wasn’t quite as strongly flavored as lamb, so it really allowed the other flavors in the dish to shine through. This recipe started out as a Rachael Ray 30 minute meal, and I adjusted it to our tastes and what was available in season.

Mediterranean Goat Kebabs on Fried Potatoes

4 tablespoons coconut oil
1 large baking potato
Sea salt and black pepper
1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme, stripped from stems
1 large fennel bulb, quartered, cored and thinly sliced (save a few leafy fronds)
1 large onion, thinly sliced
3 large garlic cloves, chopped
Pinch red pepper flakes
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
2 pounds goat cubes (lamb works as well)
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
10 kalamata olives, pitted and coarsely chopped
10 fresh mint leaves, chopped
3/4 cup (about 15 leaves) fresh basil, chopped

Preheat the broiler with the rack about 6 inches from the heat source. Preheat a large skillet to medium high heat and add 2 tablespoons coconut oil. Quarter the potato lengthwise then slice thinly, adding to skillet as you chop. Season the potatoes with salt, pepper and thyme. Don’t shake or flip the potatoes until they get brown on the first side. Then flip and continue to cook for about 10 minutes total.

While the potatoes are cooking, warm a second skillet over medium high heat with the remaining coconut oil. Add the sliced fennel, onions, garlic and red pepper flakes. Cook 4 to 5 minutes, until tender. Add the chicken stock and bring up to a bubble, then simmer a couple minutes until the liquid has reduced to about 1/2 cup.

Make sure none of the kebabs are larger than bite size, then put them on a broiler pan. Broil for 4 to 5 minutes until medium rare. Add the vinegar and olives to the fennel skillet and stir around to combine. Reduce heat to low. When the kebabs come out of the broiler, add the mint and basil to the fennel, add the potatoes and toss it all around. Serve the kebabs on top of the potato mixture and garnish with the reserved chopped fennel fronds. Serves 4.

This post is part of Fight Back Friday, hosted by Food Renegade.

Swedish Meatballs

localnourishment — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 03:00:13 +0000

This is the single recipe in which I can bear nutmeg. I keep a single nutmeg nut in the spice cupboard just for grating into this dish. It is a warm and creamy meal, just right for a dark, cold, early winter evening. The original recipe called for ground veal, but I substituted ground lamb which added a very different flavor. You see two types of noodles here, one a grocery store wide egg noodle and one thinner whole wheat noodle from the same wonderful people who provide my grassfed meats. I hope you’ll give this delicious recipe a try!

Swedish Meatballs

2 tablespoons whole raw milk
4 pieces sourdough bread, dried
1/2 pound grassfed ground beef
1/2 pound pastured ground pork
1/2 pound grassfed ground lamb
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 pastured egg, beaten
sea salt, freshly ground pepper and nutmeg to taste
6 tablespoons butter, lard or tallow
6 tablespoons sprouted wheat flour (or regular wheat flour)
1 cup whole raw milk
whole cream

Whiz dried bread in blender until it becomes crumbs. Pour into large mixing bowl. Pour 2 tablespoons milk over the crumbs and allow the crumbs to soak it up. Add meats, onion, egg and seasonings to meat and mix with your hands until well incorporated. Form into meatballs about an inch in diameter.

Heat butter, lard or tallow over medium heat and cook meatballs, turning frequently, for about 15 minutes until well browned all over. Remove the meatballs to a platter and keep warm.

Add flour to the drippings in the pan and allow the flour to soak up the juices and brown slightly while stirring constantly. Whisk in the cup of milk gradually, allowing to thicken between additions. Season sauce with additional nutmeg, if desired. Thin sauce with whole cream, if needed. Return meatballs to the pan to warm, basting with the gravy. Serve over cooked noodles.

This post is part of Real Food Wednesday, hosted by Kelly the Kitchen Kop.

How to cook a Greek goat

localnourishment — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 03:20:45 +0000

There is some dispute whether goat is really the most eaten meat worldwide, but it wouldn’t surprise me in the least. What does surprise me is how few Americans have dished up chevre meat in their own homes. I have used cubed goat meat in chili, so when some ground goat meat turned up in my CSA order this month, I knew it would stand in just fine for lamb.

I started with a Rachel Ray recipe and messed around with it until I got it tasting like something my family would eat. And did they ever! Even the salad was a hit, thanks to its dearth of greens, most likely. So, c’mon, jump in there and grab the goat by the horns!

Photo by Kate

Greek Goatburgers and Vegetable Salad
1 1/2 pounds pastured ground goat (lamb steps in nicely if you’re not ready for the goat plunge)
2 tablespoons organic Dijon mustard
2 organic garlic cloves, peeled and cut in half
A handful of organic, fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped
1/2 pound feta cheese, half of it diced (raw milk feta if you can find it)
3 tablespoons coconut oil
2 organic vine-ripened tomatoes, diced
1/4 cup organic pitted kalamata olives, chopped
small handful of fresh organic mint leaves, chopped
1 15-ounce can organic chickpeas, drained and rinsed (or freshly cooked if not canned)
1 organic cucumber, seeded and chopped
1/2 tablespoon dried oregano
2 lemons
2 tablespoons organic olive oil
2 avocadoes, halved (I’m the only avocado eater here, so photo shows none)
pita breads

Warm the pita breads in a 300° oven wrapped in parchment. Rub a salad bowl with the open side of the halved garlic, then chop it. In a mixing bowl, combine the ground goat meat, mustard, chopped garlic, half the chopped parsley (toss the other half in your salad bowl) and a little salt and pepper. Mix well with your hands. Add the cubed feta cheese and fold the meat over the cheese gently a few times to incorporate it without breaking up the chunks too much. Form into four generous patties or six regular sized patties. Melt the coconut oil in skillet and fry patties for 4 minutes on each side. Remove the patties to a plate and put in the oven that you’ve now turned to “off.”

While the patties fry and rest, chop and combine the veggies in the salad bowl. Throw the tomatoes, olives, mint, chickpeas, cucumbers and oregano in with the parsley. Squeeze the juice of one of the lemons over, pour in the olive oil and give it a toss. Halve, pit and slice the avocadoes and sprinkle with the juice from the remaining lemon. Serve the avocadoes over the top of the salad and sprinkle with what’s left of the feta, crumbing it through your fingers. Set a burger patty next to the salad and pass the warmed pita breads for “scooping” up the salad and soaking up the delicious juices!

This post is part of Fight Back Friday, hosted by Food Renegade, that sweet lamb!

Sunday Lamb

localnourishment — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 01:01:06 +0000

I started dinner early this afternoon, cutting up a fresh pineapple for the Clafoutis for dessert. I wish I had some whey to make pineapple vinegar, but that will have to wait. A little closer to dinnertime, I finished the dessert and pan fried some lamb chops. They were on sale this week, so instead of paying $20 or more, I got six big organic arm chops for $12. I only cooked a couple at a time, removing them to my warm oven while more cooked. I chopped up some red cabbage and cooked it gently in a little water and apple pie spices. When it was tender, I tossed in a chopped apple and let the pieces soften. I found some pretty organic purple fingerling potatoes that I boiled for a few minutes, then put in the oven with some butter and rosemary. When the lamb was done, I thew some red wine and beef stock into the pan and made a reduction sauce. We have a joke at our house that you know dinner is ready when the smoke alarm goes off. It’s not true every night, but our wimpy little exhaust fan hates me to pan fry anything. The alarm never went off, but I had to open the windows in the kitchen to the 41° night. Brr!

Everyone loved the lamb, but not the fat. We’ve never eaten game, so the stronger flavor of the fat was a bit much for the kids. The reduction was delicious on the meat, and even on the potatoes. Everyone tried the cabbage, and graciously ate it, but no one went back for seconds. I’m glad I didn’t make a lot of it! The fresh pineapple Clafoutis was popular with those of us who like pineapple, but teenaged son turned up his nose at it when he saw it wasn’t all “cakey” but “custardy” as well.

We are slowly getting over the cold that’s been going around. One child never did get it (the allergic one!) and one went into bronchitis. I’m still struggling with a very low energy level, even though I haven’t coughed, sneezed or run a fever in days. The worse of my two legs acted up today while I was on the treadmill and I had to stop before my workout was completed. It wouldn’t be such a big deal, but my right-hand-lady, my oldest girl, is off visiting friends for a couple weeks. The kids are a tremendous help, except they help like, well, kids. But, better the vacuuming be done in the center of the room than not at all!