Behold the Lamb

I took a chance about four months ago when I bought half a lamb from Metheral Meats in Dunedin.

Not only had I never cooked lamb, I wasn't completely convinced I would like it. Usually, lamb is a once-a-year meal for me, at the Royal Winter Fair on a big fat kaiser bun with lashes of mint sauce, so not exactly a representative sample.

There were sheep on the farm I grew up on, cute but horrible creatures who somehow must all crowd through the same tiny hole in a fence at the exact same time. My brother called them 'ranch maggots'. We sold our sheep to the hunters who walked our property during deer season. My dad had a bad experience with sweatery-tasting mutton as a child and simply wouldn't have it on the table.

But as of Sunday night, my sweetie and finished off our first half lamb, each and every bite absolutely fabulous, from the chops to the leg to the shoulder.

The last item in the freezer was the shanks, and I had no idea what to do with them until Friday afternoon at the liquor store when on the front cover of the booze and recipe magazine, I spied a gorgeous looking meal I longed to make. Happily, my braised shanks with cinnamon and honey on a bed of smashed potatoes turned out just as beautiful as the picture.

I really think the critter we've just finished consuming with such relish was extra delicious because it didn't come from a far away country, flash-frozen and packed onto a plane. Our sheep lived less than ten miles from here, roaming some of the same hills I loved as a child. It was butchered by people who love the land and are fighting to stay on it.

I'm putting in another order today and while I'm proud to support one of our local farmers, it's really more about the taste of the chops I will grill about three weeks from now.

Metheral Meats sells reasonably priced, pasture raised, hormone-free delicious lamb. No animal by-products are fed to the animals. 705-466-3135