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APRIL 2011

Leg of American Lamb Wrapped in Leeks
Shoulder Chops with Chipotle Cherry Sauce
Servings: 8 with leftovers for salad

Ingredients:

  
  • 1 6-8 lb bone in American leg of lamb
  • 10-15 leeks – chop off tops
  • 1 cup olive oil
  • 1/2 cup of roasted garlic, chopped
  • 1/2 cup kosher salt
  • 1/2 cup coarse pepper
  • 1/4 cup fresh, chopped oregano
  • 1/4 cup fresh, chopped thyme
  • 1 cup red wine

Instructions:

Pre-heat over to 250 degrees.

Combine the garlic, salt, pepper, oregano, thyme and olive oil and make into a paste using a mortar & pestle. Rub the whole leg of lamb with the paste.

Blanch the leeks in boiling water for 2-3 minutes. Wrap the leg of lamb in the leek tops, using olive oil to help the leeks adhere to the meat.

Set the lamb on a baking dish. Add the red wine to the pan and put lamb into oven. Cook until the internal temperature of the meat is 135-140 degrees for medium rare – approximately two and half hours.

Remove from the oven and let sit for 10 minutes before carving. The internal temperature will rise another 5-10 degrees. Shave the lamb and serve.

What to do with the leftovers?

Take a look at the American Lamb Arugula Salad with Blackberry Vinaigrette recipe online in our Lamb Kitchen.

Be sure to rate this recipe online! »

A Day's Shearing

Story by Peter Marcouillier with Photo by Michelle Garibay

  

It's 7:30am and a beautiful, sunny morning at Gill and Sons Farm in Solano County, California. Robert and Justin, professional sheep shearers, have already unpacked their mobile workshop and I've only just arrived.  In the background, I hear American Sheep and Goat Center Chairman, Greg Ahart, laugh and warn me I'm in for a long day.

Shearing is physically demanding, tough work. One part barber, another wrestler, shearers must trim the wool coat from sheep in one piece, while holding them steady. This process is just as difficult as it sounds, with most of the sheep weighting over 100 lbs and according to Greg, as "passively resistant" to the process as possible, usually refusing to budge. Luckily this isn't the case today  as the crew can gets to work. With their clippers buzzing both shearers take long, clean strokes, trimming the wool without harming the ewe. When I ask Robert where he learned to work so quickly, he tells me shearers are paid by the head and very proud of what they do. Later I find out that Robert is a third generation rancher and shearer himself and has been part of the sheep industry his entire life.

Around 7PM, the shearing draws to a close, and I start to wonder what will be done with today's wool. Greg informs me that, "Modern sheep ranching is all about sustainability, nothing goes to waste here. Today's wool will be collected, bailed, and sold in a lot with other small rancher's wool to produce carpets, paint rollers, and a variety of other products. This enables small, family owned ranches to stay competitive in a global market. It's really quite amazing." By the end of the day, all 200 sheep have been shorn and returned to pasture, ready to take on the summer's heat.

See more of Michelle's shearing photos on our FaceBook page »

 Wool & Boots

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