Flicker’s Lair Blog

Towards the end of December we took our first ‘lambs’ to be processed. Two of them were in fact what is known as ‘long yearlings’ or hoggets (between 1 & 2 years old). We had waited as Shetland sheep are so small that it can be better to let them gain a little more size. The third was a lamb from this year, but whereas we would have liked to wait he was already a very good size and one of his horns would have proved fatal.

Shetland ‘lamb’ is far leaner meat than modern breeds, because, as with other primitive breeds, Shetlands tend to store much of their body fat around the organs rather than solely in the muscle. It is also very tasty and tender.

We wanted one for us and the other two had sale arrangements in place before they left the farm. Sadly our first experience of taking our lambs for processing was not so good as we are both very unhappy with the abattoir we used. As I have mentioned before we believe in a ‘no waste’ approach, and told them this. We had also told them we wanted the hides for tanning when we made the appointment.

They gave us bad advice about the hides and then before we were able to collect and without any notification they threw away one of the hides! We had also wanted the horns, as I have read you can make buttons, and of course the bones for the dogs – none of which we got. To add insult to injury, on opening packets of stew meat, it is full of bone. Needless to say we will not be going back to Chesterville.

But the lamb is VERY good. Our first taste of it was as ‘lamb with spinach’ for our curry night which was absolutely divine. Last night we had chops, just cooked plain in a frying pan, and they were tender and tasty.

RECIPES

Lamb with Spinach

A Punjabi dish from our Indian cook book.

• 1 tsp grated fresh ginger
• 1 tsp crushed garlic
• 1 ½ tsp chilli powder
• 1tsp salt
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 6 tbsp corn oil
• 2 medium onions, sliced
• 1 ½ lbs lean lamb, cut into 2in cubes
• 2½ – 3¾ cups water
• 14 oz fresh spinach
• 3 tbsp chopped fresh coriander

1. Mix together the ginger, garlic, chilli powder, salt and garam masala in a bowl. Set to one side.
2. Heat the oil in a medium pan. Add the onions and fry for 10-12 minutes or until well browned. Add the cubed lamb to the sizzling onion slices and fry for about 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the spice mixture and stir thoroughly until the meat pieces are well coated.
3. Pour in the water and bring to the boil. As soon as it is boiling, cover the pan and lower the heat. Cook gently for 25-35 minutes without letting the contents of the pan burn. If there is still a lot of water in the pan when the meat has become tender; remove the lid and boil briskly to eveaporate any excess.
4. Meanwhile, wash and chop the spinach roughly, then blanch it for about 1 minute in a pan of boiling water; drain well. Add the spinach to the lamb as soon as the water has evaporated. Fry over a medium heat for 7-10 minutes, using a wooden spoon in a semi-circular motion.
5. Add the fresh coriander to the pan and stir over a medium heat for 2 minutes. Serve & enjoy.

The recipe in the book calls for 1 large red bell pepper, seeded and chopped, and 3 fresh green chillies, chopped. To be added at the same time as the coriander. Steve didn’t as peppers don’t agree with me. He also used frozen spinach as we don’t have any growing at the moment but we had put some in the freezer in the summer.

Tags: fight back fridays, recipe, shetland sheep

This entry was posted on Friday, January 22nd, 2010 at 8:37 am and is filed under Food & Drink, Homesteading. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.