Coffee Rubbed Lamb Ribs and Butternut Soup

I've said it before, but I'm gonna say it again.  It's not me, it's the lamb.  I promise.  If you think you don't like lamb, it's because you've never had this lamb.  Meaning, katahdin lamb grassfed out in the Sequatchie Cove.  It's just so different than the "other stuff"-whatever you've had before that you think you don't like.  It's mild, it's tender, it was raised correctly under the sunshine with love, it wasn't shipped from all the way around the world (not that there's anything wrong with New Zealand as a place, it's just an awfully long way to ship something that is also raised almost in your back yard).  And best of all, it is literally almost impossible to mess up.  I don't know what it is, but I have yet to ruin any lamb dish.  You could burn it, but I bet it would still be good underneath.  It stays tender and succulent no matter what- even if you forget and overcook it.  Try it.  It will change your life.  O, and PS, they aren't itty bitty and cute when you eat them- they look like sheep.  Which makes us all feel better somehow.

Ribs with the Rub

I pretty much took this directly from Barbecue! Bible by Steven Raichlen, plus or minus a few things (cardamom).  It was meant for a brisket in the book, but works on lamb just fine.  I bet it would work on about anything.

• 1/2 cup finely ground good coffee- may I suggest anything from Velo?
• 1/2 cup (but I'd use a tad bit less next time) kosher or sea salt
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup Hungarian paprika
• 2 T ground ginger
• 1/3 cup chopped garlic

This should be about 2 cups- enough for 6-8 pounds of meat.  Rub this (the recipe makes it "wet" by including oil, but you don't need this on a fatty meat) all over the ribs, fold them up in a baking dish and set them in the refrigerator from a few hours to as long as overnight.  

Preheat the oven to very low- around 275 or 300 degrees F.  Cover the ribs tightly with aluminum foil.   I had so many ribs that they were all stacked on top of each other in the dish.  This turned out to be fine.  Place them in a single layer if you desire, unrolled.  If not, just unroll them and stack them on top pf each other.   Cook til the ribs are done and tender and pulling away from the bones at the ends- about 2-3 hours, depending on the size and how hot the oven is.    Take the ribs out of the pan (they should be sitting in a nice fatty paprika colored liquid), put them on a platter and clean your baking dish.  Place the ribs back in the clean dish and pour a touch of white wine and tomato juice on top.  You can let these cool and put them in the fridge now until you are ready to eat, and reheat them later OR heat the oven to 350 degrees and cook them, uncovered, til slightly more crispy- about 25 or 30 minutes.  Slice into portions of about 3 ribs and serve warm.    If you have chilled them, let ribs come to room temp before reheating.

Butternut Soup

For about four-six people. 

• 1 medium butternut squash- halved
• 1 t cinnamon
• 1 t nutmeg
• 1/2 t garam masala
• 1 T oil, butter, lard
• 1 potato, washed and cubed
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 t minced chile, or 1/2 t dried cayenne
• 2 T finely chopped fresh ginger root
• 2 lime leaves, or 1 stalk lemongrass
• 4 cups chicken or veggie broth, or just water
• Salt to taste

Bake the butternut, cut side down, on a pan with a small amount of water at 350, til the thickest part is soft when poked (about 45 minutes, maybe less).  Let cool just a smidge, if you'd like.  Then scoop out the flesh and put it in a bowl- compost the skin.  Stir in the cinnamon, nutmeg, masala, and a touch of salt into the squash and let sit while you prepare the rest.

Heat the oil in a heavy soup pot til warm, then throw in the garlic, ginger, and hot pepper,  followed by the potato.  Add a touch of salt and saute til fragrant.  Add the broth and cook til the potatoes are done- about 15 minutes.  Let cool slightly, then blend briefly til smooth.

This is the way I do it, so I don't have to juggle between the blender and pots and bowls:  I blend the liquid with whatever else goes in the soup, then I blend the squash separately til smooth, then I dump it all together and stir to combine.  

When everything is smooth and combined, add the lemongrass or lime leaves, taste for salt and add as needed (but remember the leaves will help add depth as it cooks, so don't over salt it at this point).  Simmer for about 30 minutes more.  Or, better yet, simmer about 15 minutes, let cool, refrigerate, and reheat and eat it the next day (soup's always better the next day).  

Serve warm.

Little Bitty Lambburger

My brother Kelsey raises the best lamb I've ever eaten.  The (heritage) breed is Katahdin and it is bred to withstand our hot and humid climate.  The sheep shed their wool instead of having it sheared and are much more resistant to the pests of some wool sheep (of which I'll just not mention as they are only interesting to shepherds).  Kelsey's sheep are shepherded merrily around the farm with rotational grazing so they are always munching on some good green grass under the hot sun, which, as I said, they tolerate.  The result  is tender, mildly flavorful, and completely delicious.  I always tell people who think they don't like lamb that they've just never eaten this lamb before.  The cuts are smaller so it is eaten more delicately and I always feel so healthy and vibrant after consuming it.  It seems to dance lighter on my pallet than heavier meats like beef or pork and is a wonderful summer time meat.

Here are two lamb chop recipes I have posted before: a simpler version from this past spring including now out-of-season asparagus and some of my thoughts on meat eating;  and the longer version written about the same time, but the spring before.

And here's the other fast-food lamb favorite:

Itty Bitty Lamb Burger

These are amazing on Niedlov's brochen.  Those are the little rolls that are in the basket by the cookies at the cash register.  I like them because they are small and the crust is ever so chewy and crunchy and wonderful.  They certainly aren't for the faint-of-teeth, but they are fabulous teeny burger buns for the rest of us.  

The nice thing about burgers is that they are always in season and can be topped with whatever else is in season and never get boring because the seasons always shift.  Of course the summertime is rich with tomatoes and those are a given when it comes to burgers (or any other aspect of summer).  I used quick cucumber pickles (cukes sliced thin and marinated with some onions, vinegar, and honey for several hours) this time as well as some yogurt cheese for tanginess.  On top of the burger I melted a little slice of Coppinger cheese as well (can't have too much cheese when you're an assistant cheesemaker!).  I also threw on some of my hot pink kraut made with red cabbage.  

How I make my burgers in an oven:

for 3 or four people- depending on what side dishes are on hand

• 1 pound ground lamb
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• a pinch of cumin 
• a pinch of salt
• a touch of prepared mustard

Mix the meat with the rest of the ingredients.  They can be changed or omitted at your taste.  Meat is usually just fine the way it is- if you bought the right stuff- so if you don't feel like gathering up seasoning just add a dash of salt and leave it at that.  Divide the meat three or four ways, depending on how hungry you are.  I usually do it four ways if I'm feeding two people, that way you can have seconds if you want but don't have to eat too much if you don't.  I am always satisfied completely by a quarter pound, but some fellas out there might need more.  

Pat the meat out into patties that are larger than your bun by about an inch.  Try to make the middle of the disk a little thinner than the edges- this helps keep an even thickness while cooking.  They will shrink up a lot and lose moisture and a little fat as they cook so you want them both thinner and wider than you think you do.  

Preheat the oven to broil and set a rack close to the broiler.  Put the patties on a grate over a roasting pan.  Broil them til they are browning, beginning to shrink up, and sizzling (about 5-7 minutes), take them from the oven if you need to while flipping them.  Broil for a little less time than the first side, add the cheese, and cook til melted.  Drain on a paper towel or bag (such as the Harvested Here bag my cucumbers came in at the market, pictured below under draining burgers) if needed.  Serve with toasted buns and seasonal accompaniments of your choice.

Back to the Heat (and a little bit of meat)

Well it was nice the first two days.  But now it sure feels like summer.

Although I am practically a vegetarian most of the time (I just don't end up eating that much meat), I have been eating nothing but meat since I've been back.  Sometimes it's the easiest fast food there is.  Especially if you have some Link 41 sausages stowed away in the freezer or maybe a few lamb chops.  I just get tired of lentils when I'm in a hurry.

(On a side note- I DO eat "vegetarian" often at restaurants.  It's a lot easier to explain than I-only-eat-meat-that-I've-met.  Given that a lot of non-vegetarian places in the south tend to have fairly unremarkable vegetarian options we end up eating at strictly vegetarian spots.  But that poses a whole new problem- soy products and "fake meat".  I honestly don't have a problem with a little tempeh and tofu but there ARE other ways to make really great healthy, wholesome food without using meat.  We went to a vegan place in San Fransisco and there was not one single soy product or processed protein item on the menu.  Not even fake cheese (well there was a kind of fake cheese but it was made with cashews).   It just doesn't count if it's some over processed slab of soy, mushrooms, and factory sawdust).

ANYWAY, that being said, it's really nice to come back home and eat some grassfed lamb.  We ate meat out there of course.  There are plenty of grassfed farmers doing the right thing.  But nothing tastes quite as good as an animal raised on home soil.

Katahdin Lamb Chops 

with Asparagus and Soba Noodles

This might sound fancy but it's not really- and it took me about 20 minutes from start to clean up to make.  Even if the lamb is frozen.  I threw it in a bowl of cold water and the chops were thawed by the time the water for the noodles was boiling.  

for two people

the noodles:

• 2 bundles soba noodles
• 1/4 cup tamari
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar or lemon juice
• drizzle of sorghum syrup
• thinly sliced ginger to taste
• 1/2 bunch chopped herbs (mint, cilantro, basil, oregano, and parsley all work nice.  Use whatever you have growing in your herb garden or get to the farmer's market early and try to snag some nice looking bundles of herbs)

Boil about 5 cups of water.  Throw in the noodles and cook about 10 minutes- til done.  Drain the noodles and wash them with cold water til cool to the touch.  Don't be too vigilant about draining them now; some of the water will be nice to dilute the sauce.  Toss the wet noddles with all the other ingredients and let sit while you prepare the chops.

the chops:

I sort of got this recipe from The River Cottage MEAT Cookbook, a book definitely worth having.  It tells you to brown the chops and cook them with garlic and wine.  The recipe is a wonderful one but this short-cut tastes just as good and is really easy.  I  like it because I can just throw the chops in the oven while I finish other stuff.

• 4 pastured katahdin lamb chops
• a touch of oil or pan drippings
• salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Heat a cast iron skillet with the oil til hot.  Brown the chops on each side for a minute, salting and peppering each side after they are browned.  Put the skillet in the oven and let the chops cook for about 10 minutes, or until desired done-ness.  For a different version, more like the cookbook recipe, here are my lamb chops I made last May.  It is a tiny bit more time consuming, but delicious and also a little more explanatory.

the asparagus:

• 1 bunch of very fresh asparagus
• juice of 1 lemon
• a touch of butter (about 1 T or less)
• salt

Steam the asparagus til just done in a small amount of water (you can save this water and sip on it when you're done).  Dab with butter, drizzle with lemon juice and sprinkle with salt- very lightly on all fronts.  Serve warm or at room temp.

Waiting for Wednesday (and the proverbial Asparagus)

So, it's Tuesday night and I'm down to the last few spinach leaves, and scrounging for any radishes that might have rolled under the produce drawer.   Every week I load up on produce, thinking that I never could possibly eat half of what I can't stop myself from buying, and end up getting so excited about it that I use most of it in the first meal.  Spring is the best because I feel like I have been starving myself for the past four months- scraping by on potatoes and frozen and canned goods from the summer before.  (of course this winter I spent eating avocados and mangoes in a tropical paradise, but that market story is another tale altogether).  So when the time comes I try to eat as much greenery as a grass-fed cow.  Lacking the extra stomachs, I end up eating about half the greenery.  But I make sure those morning grits or fried egg are topped with kale, or collards, or something that tastes like it's been alive in the past few days.

The Main Street Farmer's Market is officially opening (I think) this Wednesday, but it has been going on all winter.  I have been living from lamb chop to lamb chop, duck eggs to overwintered collards, and finally to glory be!- all the produce my heart desires.  Arugula, spinach, asparagus (to supplement my own growing in my yard- don't tell Suzanna, or she won't sell me any), kale, sausages, radishes, beets, carrots, lettuce, herbs, grits and cornmeal,  shittake, and even bamboo shoots have been blessing my every meal for the past few weeks.  I feel like I have come out of a desert and fallen into an oasis.  I no longer look longingly at the various produce on the grocery shelf, knowing that even if I buy it it won't have the same wonderful taste as in-season, locally grown stuff will.    I HAVE the in-season locally grown stuff all the time now, right at the edge of my knife and the tip of my tongue.  And I could not be more content, not even if I were a pig in a waller....

 Lamb Chops with Grits and Greens

for two- four people

I like this meal because it is what any busy home-cook wants.  It is quick, easy, and impressively delicious.

• 1 cup Riverview Farm grits
• 1 large handful chopped or torn kale, collards, chard, or any other green thing you like- from any or all farms that have them
• 1 bunch chopped scallions, or other herb of your choice
• 4 cups water, or chicken broth made with River Ridge Farms chicken
• Salt and Pepper to taste

• 1 packet Williams Island Farm lamb chops (there are usually four to a pack- they are so tiny that I like to give one person two apiece)
• Salt and Pepper 
• 1/2 cup red wine or dark beer
• 4-6 cloves garlic, peeled but whole- optional

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F

Start the grits first- they should take about twenty minutes.  Bring the water to a boil, then whisk grits in gradually.  Lower heat to a simmer.  Add salt and cook, stirring now and then, til thickly bubbling.  Add the greens and stir til wilted.  Stir in half the herbs and pepper to taste, and serve topped with remaining half herbs.

Start lamb chops when grits are about 10 minutes from finished.   Heat a cast iron skillet til very hot.  Sprinkle chops generously with salt and pepper.  Sear lamb chops briefly on either side and set aside on a plate.  Pour wine or beer into skillet to "deglaze", or take off any bits sticking to the pan and to get the yummy lamb juices up and mingling with the wine or beer.   Add the chops back to the skillet, throw in the garlic, and cook in oven for about seven minutes.  If they are firm-ish when poked with a brave finger, the chops are done.  The katahdin lamb that Williams Island Farm raises is almost impossible to mess up- it seems to be tender and moist even if well-done.  But I would recommend medium-rare (which is when the meat is still has a little give when poked, but not too soft).  


Serve with warm grits and a fresh lettuce, arugula, spinach, or combination of all, salad.