oven-braised lamb's breast

various dates

Do check several packages when you buy and look for the one with the least fat, the most meat. It can really make a difference!

Lamb’s breast isn’t just ‘marbled’. Sometimes it is nearly-pure marble with just a few thin veins of muscle meat in between. If not prepared correctly, it can be offensively greasy. It is important that the cooking method renders out as much of the fat as possible, and that requires long cooking times. No rare meat here.

WARNING:
Do not attempt to BBQ lamb’s breast unless you have an outdoor grill that can be set very low for many hours. High heat may ignite the melted grease and can cause dangerous grease fires.

Trust me on this, you don't want to see what I have seen.

A. lamb's breast

2018-07-20

I have other pages about braising this cut, but it can also be done partially by dry-cooking = baking. Dry-cooking will render a stronger-flavored gelatin and fat, but it also dries the meat more. I did not add any liquid, but the meat released quite a bit towards the end.

Q. Is it worth the cost, time and effort for that little meat?
A. This must have been a very young animal, with lots of baby fat, very little meat. Lucky not all of them provide such unrewarding meal.
But it did give up another reward: lamb's gelatin and fat. Just a cup of this broth can flavor 20 quarts of soup with the unmistakable aroma of lamb. The fat can be used as a very aromatic cooking oil.

Cooking this at higher temperatures (up to 400 ºF.) may help to render more fat, but it will dry the meat more.

INGREDIENTS

This is what you need for 2-4 servings:

1 rack of Lamb’s breast
S&P, spices of choice

Pic1: oven-baked lamb’s breast

Directions

2018-07-20

Pic2: cooking
Pic3: all done
Pic4: cut through

Pic5: 80% fat, 15% bones, 5% meat
Pic6: : this is all the meat I obtained from the larger rack, pitiful
Pic7: lamb fat and gelatin

Rub the lamb’s breast both sides with your preferred seasoning mix.
Preheat the oven to 300 ºF.
Place the racks in an ovenproof dish.
Cook dry for at least 3 hrs. (Pic2)
Optional:
- Separate what little meat there is from the many layers of fat. (Pic6)
  The meat itself will be fully cooked, but still quite greasy.
- Panfry the meat strips just before serving to remove some more of that excess grease.
  Do not add cooking grease, there is more than enough in the meat.
- Continue rendering fat separately for greater yield without drying the meat too much.
If you serve the cut whole: (Pic1+4)
- Increase the oven temp to 400 ºF for at least ½ hr.
  This will crisp the topmost layer and render out even more of the fat. It will also darken and dry (read: shrink) the meat, giving it a stronger flavor than you would ever get from moist-cooking. Don't worry about the top layer scorching a bit. That is all fat that will be cut away.
- Push down on the cut before carving, to squeeze out as much fat as possible.
- Cut away as much as possible from the overlying fat layer
  That way your guests won’t need to deal with that at the table.

B. Lamb's breast with ginger and papaya

2017-01-07

Lamb’s ribs requires long cooking times. That does not mean it can’t be done in the oven. I started out roasting at 350 ºF, then reduced heat, added vegetables and water and gave the dish a tin foil hat for moist cooking. It came out nicely, with the ribs fully browned, and the meat deliciously soft.

ingredients

1 package lamb’s ribs
½ cup candied ginger, chopped
S&P
Badia complete seasoning
paprika
½ papaya, diced
1 lb. mixed vegetable mix

Directions

2017-01-07

Pic8: lamb, candied ginger
Pic9: dry-cooked
Pic10: add vegetables, tinfoil hat

Preheat oven to 350 ºF.
Arrange the ribs in a shallow ovenproof dish.
Sprinkle with S&P, spices, chopped candied ginger.
Dry-cook 60 minutes.
Add vegetables, ½ cup water. Add aluminum foil.

Pic11: 60 minutes later
Pic12: this one has more meat
Pic13: nice color

Reduce heat to 300 ºF and cook 3 hrs.
Serve and enjoy.

See also: Deming, NM gardens, animals and more and avemariasongs.org

See also: Deming, NM gardens, animals and more
and avemariasongs.org