Lamb Time

It's Time for Lamb! 

This week I'll be picking up our lamb from Jordandal Farms.  Each year we order a full lamb and it never lasts as long as you think it would.  It's fantastic, local, pasture raised, antibiotic free Icelandic lamb.   We've tried lamb from all the local producers and believe the lamb raised at Jordandal is the best available locally.

Beast and I will start posting lamb recipes as we cook.  If you've never had lamb, you really ought to try it.  We got hooked when in Australia and learned some basic ways to prepare lamb as they do in Oz.

I always ask for all the bones so I can make stock.  It's super easy and very healthy.

Lamb Stock:

Roast 3-5 lbs lamb bones in the oven at 325° for about 3 hours.  Allow bones to cool and discard any excess fat.  Place roasted bones in a stock pot with cold water and bring to a boil over medium heat.  Once the water boils, strain off the water to remove excess grease, then cover with cold water once again, add approximately 3 Tbsp Kosher salt and bring to a boil once again over medium heat.  Simmer over medium-low heat for about 3 hours, or until bones are clean.  Strain broth 3 times to remove any excess sediment, then add 1 large onion, chopped, 2 carrots, chopped and 2-3 stalks celerey chopped, season with salt and pepper, add 1-2 bay leaves and then bring to a boil over medium heat and continue to simmer over medium-low heat for 45 minutes.  Strain broth and cool.  Broth can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 7 days or frozen for up to 6 months...if you can resist it that long!  Use the lamb broth as you would beef broth in recipes, or use it as a base for scrumptious soups, like Vegetable Barley Soup. 

Farm Photos and Signs

One of the things I love best is taking photos of very ordinary things. Early this summer I went out to Jordandal Farm and photographed the animals on a beautiful, sunny day between the rains. I've finally just now found the time to sort through the photos, edit them and post them, here on the website. It's a somewhat daunting task to go through 400 pictures and decide which are worth keeping, and then crop them, adjust lighting and save them for web use. I would guess that many digital photographers never get around to doing anything with all those photos they collect. I actually enjoy the entire process, from the experience taking the photos through the editing and to the printing or digital posting. Unfortunately time is like money and it doesn't grow on trees, so sometimes I don't get to my collections as quickly as I would like. In any case, Many Thanks to Eric and Carrie Johnson at Jordandal Farm for allowing me the opportunity to take up some of their precious time in order to photograph their wonderful farm in the rolling hills of Southwestern Wisconsin. When I was there Eric asked if I was going to "pick out my lamb", as I had recently ordered a lamb for fall slaughter. The thought of photographing the little darling that would later feed us so well was a bit more than I could swallow, and thankfully Eric explained that it would be nearly impossible to ensure that the one I selected would be the one that came in my packaged bundles--WHEW! They are all adorable and I had great fun chasing them about the field trying to get them to stand still long enough to photograph them. I never knew how many variations of "BLEET" there were. I suppose it's just like humans...we all have our distinct voices too.
On the way back to Madison from the farm I came across something else I enjoy photographing...signs. I'm particularly enamored with old neon signs, and I'm working on that collection to add to the website as well. In any case, I came across the one at the top of this BLOG entry and drove back around the block to photograph it...I couldn't pass it up, nor could Beast's Kitchen! Until next time...