Those of you who have been following me for a while know how intolerant I am about American lamb. I prefer to pay a premium for imported, frozen New Zealand lamb than to allow any of the American, factory produced, tasteless meat called lamb disgrace my table. I have never eaten any U.S. lamb that I have more than just chewed and swallowed. Until today.
Quails R Us, an organic farm about 10 miles from Honesdale, has educated me and changed my mind about American lamb. What did I learn? Buy your lamb from a farm with a farmer on it who has personal knowledge of the animal you are about to eat. Yes, I know that other bloggers have told me this but I didn’t need to search for good tasting, reliable meat in France and, until now, didn’t have access to or know how to find “normal” farms.
Like many of the regional, local farms, Quails R Us takes their meats to Larry’s Custom Meats in Hartwick, New York for slaughter, butchering and packaging. The downside of this is that ole Larry butchers and cuts the meat the way he prefers to butcher and cut the meat. Apparently, he likes to package his racks without the long, elegant chop bone which the lack of makes these packaged racks look like ribs until you open them. Thanks Larry.
With low expectations, I decided to roast the racks with a fresh herb rub, seeing as how I had a lot of parsley, some rosemary and thyme. Fresh herbs are such a compliment to the flavor of good tasting, succulent lamb, and this was good tasting lamb! Eureka! Thank you Quails R Us 🙂
I bought some fresh angel hair pasta at Wegmans and a Mexican tomato from Super Duper. Here in the U.S. we laugh in the face of salmonella and slave labor. Ha, Ha, Ha.
A plate of pasta that includes heavy garlic, basil and olive oil is a satisfying stand alone meal for vegetarians and carnivores alike. Delicious.
But it’s not a law or anything 😀
Herb Crusted Lamb Rib Rack
1 large rosemary sprig, leaves removed and finely chopped
5 thyme sprigs, leaves removed and finely chopped
1 large handful of parsley leaves, finely chopped
3-4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
3 tbsp olive oil
2 lamb rib racks
Mix the herbs together with the garlic, salt, pepper and 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Take one tablespoon of the mixture and place in a separate bowl with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil, then set this aside for basting.
Rub the lamb racks with the large amount of herb mixture, then place in a roasting pan, on a rack, cover with aluminum foil and roast at 325 F for 1 1/2 hours. Remove the aluminum foil, increase the oven temperature to 425 F, continue to roast for another 30 minutes, basting occasionally with the reserved olive oil.
Angel Hair Pasta with Basil
3 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, coarsely diced
1 red bell pepper, coarsely diced
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 large tomato, seeded and diced
1/4 cup red wine
1 package cooked angel hair pasta
1/4 cup basil, cut into strips (chiffonade)
1/4 cup grated parmesan
Salt and pepper
Heat the olive oil in a skillet and saute the onion and red bell pepper until the onion is just translucent. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, then add the tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes stirring. Pour in the wine and boil for 2 minutes.
Toss the sauce with the pasta, basil, parmesan, salt and pepper.
I’m glad you found some good lamb in the end. You’ve done it justice with your recipe too 😉
Thank you Dog. I didn’t think it was possible but I guess you really do have to “consider the source” 🙂
I think it could depend on the breed of sheep, what it eats and how it’s farmed. I believe New Zealand sheep originated in the UK and have been bred to be hardy and tender. I think they literally turn them out to graze at the beginning of the season and then round them up at the end, without much intervention in between. I saw a documentary on Welsh sheep farming, where they were looking at the way things are done in New Zealand, in order to breed and manage their sheep in a similar way. Welsh lamb is excellent, but they were exploring ways to produce good quality with a lower overhead.
Their grazing method is interesting, though it doesn’t surprise me. New Zealand is lamb is my favorite. But at least I’ve found something edible.
Grazing plays a big part – there’s some amazing salt marsh lamb here (from a few regions in the UK), where sheep graze on tidal marshland – it’s almost ready salted 😉
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/foodanddrinkadvice/8579172/Tried-and-tested-salt-marsh-lamb.html
I tried to get some pre-sale lamb from Mont St. Michel but the traiteur didn’t come through. Something to look forward to.
Definitely – it’s good stuff 😉
Beautiful, Rosemary. Being Welsh I’m a sucker for good, well-produced lamb. As you can imagine, it isn’t hard to find here. I get the impression that the meat “scene” in Britain is generally healthier than in America.
Thank you Frugal. You are probably right about meat in Britain but unfortunately I think they are starting to follow our bad example.
We have the same problem here. There are lots of farmers doing a wonderful job, but the few abattoirs in the region are light years behind. I keep hoping that the trend toward hip, young, tattooed butchers will someday trickle down to the hinterlands. 🙂
Yes, I hope those young butchers look closely at Wayne County PA!
Hurrah for lamb that finally tastes good! On the south coast of England we are lucky to have access to Salt Marsh Lamb – truly wonderful and in Spain they’re running past our front door along the track and we pick out the one we fancy!
I have got to try the salt marsh taste! But I also like the idea of choosing them on the hoof 🙂
Reblogged this on Ngoiri Migwi.
Do you have a link? I searched and all I got was a basic site talking about quails only and I’m interested in the other stuff as well. Glad you found a great source!
Did you see this facebook page? https://www.facebook.com/QuailsRUSPlus
I hadn’t, thanks!