Lamb shoulder steak

I didn't know there was such things as shoulder steaks...but then I saw some in the lamb section of the local Asian grocery...and it was cheaper than normal steaks so I gave them a try. A lot of recipes I looked at called for braising shoulder cuts, but since this steak was pretty thing, I just put a rub/marinade on and pan seared it.

Lamb shoulder steak
Balsamic vinegar
Garlic
Rosemary

And this was the side dish:
Spaghetti squash
Spinach
Shallots
Cumin
Garlic salt

The steak was quite tasty and not as chew as I feared it might be. The spaghetti squash was also quite nice. It'll make it onto the repeat roster. =)

Lamb Shank

I've always wanted to try cooking lamb shank...so when I saw it go on sale at T&T I picked up a package of three shanks. When I opened the package, I found the shanks were covered in silverskin. From watching cooking shows, I remember chefs always had to cut this chewy stuff off before cooking it...so I proceeded to wrestle with cutting/shaving/ripping/tearing the skins off. I got the shanks about 85% clean before giving up....I needed to get these cooking else we wouldn't have dinner on time.

Lamb shanks
Onion, Shallots
Garlic
Carrots
Tomatoes
Potato
Cumin
Rosemary
Thyme
Basil
Chicken Stock
Rice Wine

I rubbed cornstarch on the shanks and then started to sear them in a big pot with onions. Once browned, I deglazed with rice wine, threw everything else in, added chicken stock and covered the pot for a good simmer. Once the carrots were soft, I moved the shanks to one side, stuck in my immersion blender and pureed some of the veggies to make a thicker sauce.

 

 

It was only cooking for about 50 min before we had to eat....so though it was cooked...and tasty...it was not fall-off-the-bone soft. Resimmering the leftover shank for an hour the next day did the trick however. Will definitely be making something like this again!

Rosemary Lamb Chops

I love lamb....rack of lamp, lamb shank, lamb chops. This is a super simple marinade I used for a pack of chops we had:

Rosemary
Balsamic vinegar
Garlic
Caraway seeds
Olive Oil



Crowding seven chops onto a pan isn't the greatest idea. It traps moisture and kind of prevents the meat from searing very well to keep the juices in. I probably should've also used the cast iron pan instead...but was too lazy to have to also work with an oven mitt since the handle would get too hot on a gas range stove. But you can see a nice char on the chops. Yums!