Friends With Ruminants

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We went to see a guy about a lamb.  He has a few on his property and one was sent off for our family.  Lunch today: lamb chops, sweet pots and mushies ‘n’ onions.

Chops: fried in duck fat and a bit of tallow, then salted an pepped

Sweet Potatoes: oven baked with the oven fan on … in duck fat.  The fan cooks them quickly and give a crunchy outer and sweet mooshy inner.  lovely.

Mushies ‘n’ onions: bubbled away slowly in butter until they shimmer and shine.  a little salt and pep.

I had a feline friend join me for lunch.  He’s a big fan of lamb.  Reminds him of the time he spent in Siam.

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Then some cheese with walnut pieces.  Counter-clockwise:

Cantal entre deux, Saint-Nectaire, Roquefort.

Though this Roquefort is welfare Roquefort.  Similar to Champagne, Roquefort can only be called Roquefort if it is actually from Roquefort.  That means the generics are lovely and half the price.  Though a non-mass-produced Roquefort will be worth the money.  Don’t tell Société or Papillon that.

Walnut pieces were local and in pieces because my son deconstructed the nutcracker.

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We use a meat tenderiser to access the nut meat.

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Cat finished his lamb fat.  After a kitty Purell, he snugged in for an afternoon snooze by the fire.  Today was the magic day the metal box of warm went on.

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The dogs got their bone.  Not cold enough to sit by the fire, they retired outside to finish their treat.

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New Zealand Lamb

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France has some LOVELY lamb. In these parts of the Southwest, it’s quite pricey. I cook for six, so I don’t cook lamb much. When we’re after grass fed meat, we stick to our own beef.

Every once in awhile, the shops advertise New Zealand Lamb for 6 – 7 Euros a kilo. I’m always too late to grab some. But there they were, three lovely lamb roasts. I bought all of them.

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I’ve never done a lamb leg roast, but I’ve roasted my share of meat.

Smothered in

duck fat
thyme
salt
pepper

Cooked with garlicy friends and thyme sprigs. I did high oven for about fifteen minutes, then lowered to 200 C for another forty minutes. My oven runs high.

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Served with roasted pots, buttery asparagus, smothered in gravy and washed down with a lovely Madiran.

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See!? and I even managed to take an after photo. Usually I tuck in and forgo the result shot. I do and I do for you.

Melon Farcie (lamb)

Every time I go to the butcher, I find myself staring at “the brain.” The sign says, “melon farcie,” but what does that MEAN? Yes, it looks like a melon as well as a brain. Is their melon or brain involved in the making of this farcie? So I bought one. M. Butcher said it was lamb with sausage-like stuff in the middle. I’m not sure if it’s lamb sausage or pork. If I ever get around to making my own melon farcie, I will use lamb sausage. He said to cook it at 160C for about an hour and a half

… so I did

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… and it was delicious!

For whatever reason, lamb is a bit ‘spense here in Southwest France, so I enjoy getting my lamb fix in with a little melon farcie. I’m a cattle farmer ( in training. it’s my husband who does the real deal ). I have plenty of room for lamb and sheep … it’s very tempting. I think I’ll take it one species at a time for the moment.

Tamra On Lamb

Tamra Grilling

This was a straightforward, simple concoction. A little protein and a little after sweet. We didn’t even use a full chimney. However, a hotter grill would have been quicker and slightly tastier.

Menu:

Lamb Burgerettes
Grilled Pear

Lamb, Pear on the grill

Shopping List:

Ground Lamb
Fresh Parsley
Pears
Onion
Egg
Chevre
Salt and Pepper
Walnuts
Balsamic Vinegar
Ketchup
Mini Pita, Whole Wheat
Champagne, please don’t go cheap (or something non-alc, fizzy and fancy)

Some Ingredients
Girl On Grill:

Tamra Myers, Girl On Grill Action

A quick scrub of the grill. It was a happy August barbecue when last this beast was used, so it needed a little clean. This girl hadn’t scrubbed before, but with a little pep talk, manage to persevere.

Pretty Please, clean the grill Thank You

Cleaning grill after pep talk Light that fire

We had this puppy prepped, hot and cooking within an hour. Chop some parsley, light the chimney, have some champagne, make some burgers and it’s grill time. Once the little burgers achieve shrinkage and get all brown and firm, you can eat them many ways.

And we wait

Tamra popped them in a warmed mini pita with some red leaf lettuce and chevre. Or some prefer to say it with ketchup. The parsley, onion, egg thing unites the ground lamb to take on any vehicle.

Tamra Myers, Girl On Grill Action

The pears were even easier. Of the three we tried, the whole pear was by far the best. Sweet, juicy with texture like buttah. Nothing says fall like snuggling in to a warm pear after your friend made you barbeque in sub fifty Fahrenheit.

Chew, crunch, munch Munch, crunch, chew

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