Tonight's meal: (thick) lamb shoulder chops, "semi-roasted" potato,
broccolini and tossed green salad.

I'm not taking back any derogatory thing I've said in the past about
Australian lamb, but do you remember I said that NZ lamb is almost
indistinguishable from American? I bought thick cut shoulder chops
from Safeway the other day and cooked them tonight. OMG - they were
great! Tender and delicious, no odd mutton/gamey flavor. I wouldn't
be able to tell them from NZ and I'm not sure if I could tell either
from American at this point (remembering what a big difference there
was between ranches with grass fed beef when ChrisD and I did that
tasting together). If this continues, I won't need to go to a
different store to buy lamb anymore!

Added benefit: you sure can't argue with the price! Don't
know/remember what you paid, but mine was $4.99 lb which is a mere
shadow of the $11.99 I pay for lamb T-bone chops.

I still haven't found a shoulder roast (the lamb equivalent of pork
butt), but I hope they become more available. I think I'll ask the
butcher next time I'm in and see if I can buy one whole. I've seen
recipes that use a (boned) shoulder roast whole that I'm interested in
- but of course their lamb was from la-tee-da from a stand alone
butcher shop (or even more rarified) instead of the grocery store
butcher counter.

--
A kitchen without a cook is just a room

On 12/30/2014 11:12 PM, sf wrote:
>
> Tonight's meal: (thick) lamb shoulder chops, "semi-roasted" potato,
> broccolini and tossed green salad.
>
> I'm not taking back any derogatory thing I've said in the past about
> Australian lamb, but do you remember I said that NZ lamb is almost
> indistinguishable from American? I bought thick cut shoulder chops
> from Safeway the other day and cooked them tonight. OMG - they were
> great! Tender and delicious, no odd mutton/gamey flavor. I wouldn't
> be able to tell them from NZ and I'm not sure if I could tell either
> from American at this point (remembering what a big difference there
> was between ranches with grass fed beef when ChrisD and I did that
> tasting together). If this continues, I won't need to go to a
> different store to buy lamb anymore!
>
Sounds like a win-win all around.

> Added benefit: you sure can't argue with the price! Don't
> know/remember what you paid, but mine was $4.99 lb which is a mere
> shadow of the $11.99 I pay for lamb T-bone chops.
>
I don't recall the exact price of the lamb chops I bought but yeah,
somewhere around $4.99/lb.

> I still haven't found a shoulder roast (the lamb equivalent of pork
> butt), but I hope they become more available. I think I'll ask the
> butcher next time I'm in and see if I can buy one whole. I've seen
> recipes that use a (boned) shoulder roast whole that I'm interested in
> - but of course their lamb was from la-tee-da from a stand alone
> butcher shop (or even more rarified) instead of the grocery store
> butcher counter.
>
I would consider buying a small lamb shoulder roast. I simply don't
think to look for or ask about them when I'm at the meat counter.

Jill

Posted this last night, but it got mixed up with a thread that Julie
had posted with the same name. From now on, I need to remember to add
a date if I ping you so it doesn't get buried in another thread.

`````````````

Tonight's meal - 12-30-14: (thick) lamb shoulder chops,
"semi-roasted" potato (cut in half, coated with EVOO and seasoned,
then put cut side down to bake), broccolini and tossed green salad.

I'm not taking back any derogatory thing I've said in the past about
Australian lamb, but do you remember I said earlier this week that NZ
lamb being almost indistinguishable from American? I bought thick cut
Australian lamb shoulder chops from Safeway the other day and cooked
them tonight. OMG - they were wonderful and hubby loved them! Tender
and delicious, no odd mutton/gamey flavor. I wouldn't be able to tell
them from NZ and I'm not sure if I could tell either from American at
this point (remembering what a big difference there was between
ranches with grass fed beef when ChrisD and I attended a grass fed
beef tasting together). If this trend continues, I won't need to go
to a different grocery store just to buy lamb anymore and I'll even
buy it from Costco when I'm there!

Added benefit: you sure can't argue with the price! Don't
know/remember if you said what you paid, but mine cost $4.99 lb @ full
price which is a mere shadow of the $11.99-$14.99 I pay for lamb
T-bone chops.

I still haven't found a whole shoulder roast (the lamb equivalent of
pork butt), but I hope they become more available. I think I'll ask
the butcher next time I'm in and see if I can buy one whole. I've
seen recipes that use a (boned) shoulder roast whole that I'm
interested in - but of course their lamb shoulder came from la-tee-da
from a stand alone butcher shop or the grower instead of a grocery
store butcher counter. I know I can ask at the butcher counter for
cuts I don't see in the case, so I'll do that the next time I'm over
there.

--
A kitchen without a cook is just a room

On Wed, 31 Dec 2014 13:24:41 -0500, jmcquown >
wrote:

> On 12/30/2014 11:12 PM, sf wrote:
> >
> > Tonight's meal: (thick) lamb shoulder chops, "semi-roasted" potato,
> > broccolini and tossed green salad.
> >
> > I'm not taking back any derogatory thing I've said in the past about
> > Australian lamb, but do you remember I said that NZ lamb is almost
> > indistinguishable from American? I bought thick cut shoulder chops
> > from Safeway the other day and cooked them tonight. OMG - they were
> > great! Tender and delicious, no odd mutton/gamey flavor. I wouldn't
> > be able to tell them from NZ and I'm not sure if I could tell either
> > from American at this point (remembering what a big difference there
> > was between ranches with grass fed beef when ChrisD and I did that
> > tasting together). If this continues, I won't need to go to a
> > different store to buy lamb anymore!
> >
> Sounds like a win-win all around.
>
> > Added benefit: you sure can't argue with the price! Don't
> > know/remember what you paid, but mine was $4.99 lb which is a mere
> > shadow of the $11.99 I pay for lamb T-bone chops.
> >
> I don't recall the exact price of the lamb chops I bought but yeah,
> somewhere around $4.99/lb.
>
> > I still haven't found a shoulder roast (the lamb equivalent of pork
> > butt), but I hope they become more available. I think I'll ask the
> > butcher next time I'm in and see if I can buy one whole. I've seen
> > recipes that use a (boned) shoulder roast whole that I'm interested in
> > - but of course their lamb was from la-tee-da from a stand alone
> > butcher shop (or even more rarified) instead of the grocery store
> > butcher counter.
> >
> I would consider buying a small lamb shoulder roast. I simply don't
> think to look for or ask about them when I'm at the meat counter.
>
Oh, you got it! Should have read ahead but didn't even check to see
if you'd replied to the thread. My bad.




--
A kitchen without a cook is just a room

In article >,
says...
>
> I still haven't found a whole shoulder roast (the lamb equivalent of
> pork butt), but I hope they become more available. I think I'll ask
> the butcher next time I'm in and see if I can buy one whole. I've
> seen recipes that use a (boned) shoulder roast whole that I'm
> interested in - but of course their lamb shoulder came from la-tee-da
> from a stand alone butcher shop or the grower instead of a grocery
> store butcher counter. I know I can ask at the butcher counter for
> cuts I don't see in the case, so I'll do that the next time I'm over
> there.

If you order a shoulder roast of lamb I recommend you ask the butcher
to bone and roll it for you. It keeps the meat moister; and if the bone
is left in, a shoulder blade is not the easiest thing to carve round.

Janet UK

On 12/31/2014 2:42 PM, Janet wrote:
> In article >,
> says...
>>
>> I still haven't found a whole shoulder roast (the lamb equivalent of
>> pork butt), but I hope they become more available. I think I'll ask
>> the butcher next time I'm in and see if I can buy one whole. I've
>> seen recipes that use a (boned) shoulder roast whole that I'm
>> interested in - but of course their lamb shoulder came from la-tee-da
>> from a stand alone butcher shop or the grower instead of a grocery
>> store butcher counter. I know I can ask at the butcher counter for
>> cuts I don't see in the case, so I'll do that the next time I'm over
>> there.
>
> If you order a shoulder roast of lamb I recommend you ask the butcher
> to bone and roll it for you. It keeps the meat moister; and if the bone
> is left in, a shoulder blade is not the easiest thing to carve round.
>
> Janet UK
>
Good advice, thanks, Janet! I have yet to look for a lamb shoulder
roast but might give it a try if it doesn't have to be a large roast.

Jill

On Wed, 31 Dec 2014 19:42:32 -0000, Janet > wrote:

> In article >,
> says...
> >
> > I still haven't found a whole shoulder roast (the lamb equivalent of
> > pork butt), but I hope they become more available. I think I'll ask
> > the butcher next time I'm in and see if I can buy one whole. I've
> > seen recipes that use a (boned) shoulder roast whole that I'm
> > interested in - but of course their lamb shoulder came from la-tee-da
> > from a stand alone butcher shop or the grower instead of a grocery
> > store butcher counter. I know I can ask at the butcher counter for
> > cuts I don't see in the case, so I'll do that the next time I'm over
> > there.
>
> If you order a shoulder roast of lamb I recommend you ask the butcher
> to bone and roll it for you. It keeps the meat moister; and if the bone
> is left in, a shoulder blade is not the easiest thing to carve round.
>
I was going to do it myself because I've boned pork shoulder roasts
and it's easy. I also taught myself how to do butcher's "knots" via
Youtube, so I know how to do that too.


--
A kitchen without a cook is just a room

On Wednesday, December 31, 2014 2:34:44 PM UTC-5, sf wrote:
> Posted this last night, but it got mixed up with a thread that Julie
> had posted with the same name. From now on, I need to remember to add
> a date if I ping you so it doesn't get buried in another thread.
>
> `````````````
>
> Tonight's meal - 12-30-14: (thick) lamb shoulder chops,
> "semi-roasted" potato (cut in half, coated with EVOO and seasoned,
> then put cut side down to bake), broccolini and tossed green salad.
>
> I'm not taking back any derogatory thing I've said in the past about
> Australian lamb, but do you remember I said earlier this week that NZ
> lamb being almost indistinguishable from American? I bought thick cut
> Australian lamb shoulder chops from Safeway the other day and cooked
> them tonight. OMG - they were wonderful and hubby loved them! Tender
> and delicious, no odd mutton/gamey flavor. I wouldn't be able to tell
> them from NZ and I'm not sure if I could tell either from American at
> this point (remembering what a big difference there was between
> ranches with grass fed beef when ChrisD and I attended a grass fed
> beef tasting together). If this trend continues, I won't need to go
> to a different grocery store just to buy lamb anymore and I'll even
> buy it from Costco when I'm there!
>
> Added benefit: you sure can't argue with the price! Don't
> know/remember if you said what you paid, but mine cost $4.99 lb @ full
> price which is a mere shadow of the $11.99-$14.99 I pay for lamb
> T-bone chops.
>
> I still haven't found a whole shoulder roast (the lamb equivalent of
> pork butt), but I hope they become more available. I think I'll ask
> the butcher next time I'm in and see if I can buy one whole. I've
> seen recipes that use a (boned) shoulder roast whole that I'm
> interested in - but of course their lamb shoulder came from la-tee-da
> from a stand alone butcher shop or the grower instead of a grocery
> store butcher counter. I know I can ask at the butcher counter for
> cuts I don't see in the case, so I'll do that the next time I'm over
> there.
>
> --
> A kitchen without a cook is just a room

Why don't both of you half-wits just use subjects a little more descriptive?

On Wed, 31 Dec 2014 15:26:24 -0400, wrote:

>Lamb shoulder is much fattier than leg but it does make the meat
>sweeter and nicer, you don't have to eat the fat if you don't like it.

Yup. The shoulder is really, really nice. Any excess fat gets rendered
out anyway and roasts better than a leg, IMO. I generally slow cook
legs of lamb in wine and stock - after browning it, of course.

On 12/31/2014 3:31 PM, sf wrote:
> On Wed, 31 Dec 2014 19:42:32 -0000, Janet > wrote:
>
>> In article >,
>> says...
>>>
>>> I still haven't found a whole shoulder roast (the lamb equivalent of
>>> pork butt), but I hope they become more available. I think I'll ask
>>> the butcher next time I'm in and see if I can buy one whole. I've
>>> seen recipes that use a (boned) shoulder roast whole that I'm
>>> interested in - but of course their lamb shoulder came from la-tee-da
>>> from a stand alone butcher shop or the grower instead of a grocery
>>> store butcher counter. I know I can ask at the butcher counter for
>>> cuts I don't see in the case, so I'll do that the next time I'm over
>>> there.
>>
>> If you order a shoulder roast of lamb I recommend you ask the butcher
>> to bone and roll it for you. It keeps the meat moister; and if the bone
>> is left in, a shoulder blade is not the easiest thing to carve round.
>>
> I was going to do it myself because I've boned pork shoulder roasts
> and it's easy. I also taught myself how to do butcher's "knots" via
> Youtube, so I know how to do that too.
>
>
I don't plan to get that hands on when I try a lamb shoulder roast.
I'll let the butcher tie the boneless roast for me. I don't plan to buy
and cook a whole lamb shoulder (sounds pretty large) on my first attempt.

Jill