Jerky

I found some remaining ground lamb in the freezer a couple of weeks back. I decided it'd be good to use to try making some jerky. Again, I've never really had a strong sense of need to make jerky in the past because I thought it was complicated or something. But Carson absolutely loves jerky and even though I always buy local stuff from some farmers nearby, I figured I should try making some at home. So, I decided to give it a try with this meat. So I went searching for a recipe. Recipes using ground meat are hard to come by! I finally found one on GNOWFGLINS. It sounded very simple and easy. So I gave it a go. It was very easy to make and didn't take much active time at all. I only used 2 pounds of meat and adjusted the recipe below accordingly for my quantities. But here is the recipe as posted on GNOWFGLINS.

I'll update with pictures and how it tastes later. I just turned the dehydrator off, so we'll try it later on today.

UPDATE: This tastes pretty good. Lamb, especially ground lamb, has a unique taste. If you like lamb, you'd like this. We like lamb, so we like it. Carson will chow this down at home, but he won't eat it when we send it to the sitter's... I haven't figured that one out yet...

Jerky (with ground meat)

3 pounds grass-fed ground beef, venison, lamb, or buffalo (I used lamb)
2 teaspoons unrefined sea salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper... the original recipe calls for 8 times this amount, which is too peppery for me (I agreed...)
2 teaspoons garlic powder or granulated garlic
2 teaspoons ground cumin (I used a little more)
pinch of cayenne pepper

Blend all the ingredients together in a big bowl. You may as well use clean hands. (I mixed my meat up the night before and let it sort of marinate together overnight in the fridge to fully absorb the flavors.)

Taking a portion at a time, press the meat mixture into about 1/8" thickness on a piece of natural parchment paper that is the same size as your dehydrator tray. Or use the ParaFlexx sheets that go with your dehydrator. You could also use a rolling pin to spread it out, or a jerky gun, or a cookie press with the proper tip. (I just used my hands to flatten it.)

When a sheet is full, square up the edges to your liking, using your fingers. Then use a butter knife (or a Baker's Edge) to score the meat into jerky-size pieces. Transfer the whole shebang to a dehydrator tray and put the tray in/on your dehydrator. Repeat until you've spread out all your meat mixture. This recipe fills 4 to 5 trays of a 9-tray Excalibur dehydrator, depending on the thickness achieved. (I filled 3 trays in my Nesco with 2 pounds of meat instead of 3 in this recipe.)

Set the dehydrator's temperature to 145 or 150 degrees Fahrenheit. Depending on thickness, expect total drying time to be 12 to 18 hours. Flip over mid-way, which is usually when the jerky is curling up from the bottom and not sticking to the tray's liner any more.

You have to play with how much it "cooks" - and keep in mind that coming out of the dehydrator it is going to be much softer than it will be when it cools. Look for there to be no more pink and try to get it out of the dehydrator while it is still really soft. It is always surprising how much it hardens up once it is out.

Tear apart the pieces and put them in a bowl or tray to cool fully. Then store in a cool, dark place in an airtight container. Or in the refrigerator if not using up within two weeks.

Stuffed Pepper Soup

I made stuffed pepper soup the other night for dinner. I found the recipe on RecipeZaar and made a few changes so I could do it in the crockpot. I'll post the original recipe below with my changes in parentheses. This was a very good soup - it smelled so good when we came home from work! It tasted very much like a stuffed pepper - delicious! All three of us loved it!

Stuffed Pepper Soup

1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef (I used 1 pound ground lamb)
3 large green peppers, chopped (I used 4)
1 large onion, chopped
2 (14 ounce) cans beef broth (I used Organic BTB and water... and added about 3 cups extra water for the rice)
2 (10 ounce) cans tomato soup, undiluted (I just used a pint of my home-canned)
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes, undrained (I used organic, fire-roasted, diced)
1 (4 ounce) can mushroom pieces, drained (I used a pint of home-canned)
1 1/2 cups cooked rice (I used 3/4 cup uncooked organic short brown rice)

In a dutch oven or large saucepan, cook beef, peppers, and onions over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the broth, soup, tomatoes, and mushrooms. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the rice, heat through and serve.

(I cooked the meat and then just threw everything into the crockpot and let it cook on low for 9 hours).

Crockpot Philly Cheesesteak Soup

I tried out another recipe from A Year of Slow Cooking last night for Philly Cheesesteak Soup... only I used leftover lamb since we have quite a bit leftover from our NYD dinner. This was really good! We all really liked it a lot. The broth had an awesome flavor (and I normally don't like the broth of soups). I added some carrots for some extra veggies and I cut the recipe in half, which was enough for our dinner last night with a small amount leftover for a lunch for Carson (Kevin was super hungry though and had two huge bowls).

Crockpot Philly Cheesesteak Soup

1 pound thinly cut beef strips (I used leftover lamb)
4 cups beef broth
2 cups skim or 2% milk
1 T butter (I left this out)
1 yellow onion, cut in chunks
2 bell peppers
2 t gluten free Worcestershire sauce
3 cloves chopped garlic
1/2 t black pepper
1 t kosher salt
8oz provolone cheese (to add at the very end)

Add the 1 tablespoon of butter to your crockpot and turn it on high to melt. Cut up your meat and add it to the crock, swirling it into the butter to coat. Add the chopped peppers, onion, and garlic. Add the Worcestershire, salt and pepper. Stir in the beef broth and milk.

Cover and cook on low for 7-9 hours, or on high for 5-6. The soup is done when the meat has reached the desired tenderness.

Before serving, stir in the provolone cheese. It will melt in stringy chunks---yum. (I just shredded up some provolone to sprinkle on top of our bowls.)

Crockpot Leg of Lamb

I made another leg of lamb for our New Years Day dinner this year, like I did last year. I think this may become our tradition - making a leg of lamb and having our friends over for dinner on NYD every year - its a lot of fun! :) I used the method on the A Year of Slow Cooking blog for making it this time. This was sooooo good! Super tender, super moist, super delicious!! Everyone loved it! This is definitely going to be my go-to way for making any future legs of lamb! Its good roasted in the oven, but it seriously doesn't even compare to being cooked in the crockpot all day! Stephanie from A Year of Slowcooking uses the frozen leg of lamb from Trader Joe's - I might have to try that sometime since this was our last leg of lamb (cut into two halves) from the lamb we bought last year. We're running very low on our lamb supply - only a few more things to use up. I'll have to make sure we get a lamb again this year since I missed the timing for them last year.

Crockpot Leg of Lamb

leg of lamb
rosemary
salt
pepper
1/2 cup of water

If you are using a frozen leg of lamb, run hot water over the frozen lamb package, just so it thaws enough that you can cut open the package and peel it away from the meat. Plop it into your crockpot. Add a half cup of water. Cover and cook on low for 7-9 hours.

If you are using fresh (or thawed, as was my case) leg of lamb, mix the rosemary, salt, and pepper together to make a dry rub. Cover the lamb with the dry rub, patting it in well. Place lamb in the crockpot. Pour in 1/2 cup of water and cook on high for 4-6 hours. (Mine cooked for 5 hours)

** You can also add your favorite veggies right into the crockpot, as well. I didn't do that this time, I just roasted some red potatoes, asparagus, and brussels sprouts in the oven.

Crockpot Lamb Chops

We had my in-laws over for dinner last night. Kevin's brother had planned to come over to help Kevin work on some of the north fence - fixing some problems so that Jet doesn't get out anymore... I had some very scary nights last week with Jet getting out and disappearing for 10-45 minutes at a time... thankfully he wasn't hit in the busy road we live on! Since we found out Friday that Kevin would be gone for a while now, I figured it'd be a good opportunity to have his parents over to eat with us after the boys were done working on the fence. So I just threw some lamb (rib) chops and potatoes into the crockpot and let it cook all day. They turned out sooooo good! Super tender, falling off the bone, and such great flavor. Every time we eat any of our natural, grass-fed lamb, we think how much better it is than any other lamb we've bought at the grocery store. I missed out on ordering another lamb this fall, so we'll have to wait till next year to replenish our stock of lamb in the freezer... and the stock is dwindling... we just have a few packages left that will need to be used up soon. Anyway, this was the first time my in-laws had knowlingly eaten lamb - my mother-in-law loved it, but I think my father-in-law may have raided the refrigerator when he got home. :) Lamb has a unique flavor and you either love it or hate it. Kevin, Carson, Danny, and I all loved it, too. This really isn't a recipe, but here's what I did.

Crockpot Lamb Chops with Potatoes

potatoes
lamb chops
seasoning
1 cup water

Layer the potatoes in the bottom of the crock. I used some red and yellow potatoes from our garden, didn't peel them and just cut them in half. Pour the water over the potatoes. Season your chops with whatever seasoning you prefer - I used a grill seasoning. Mid-eastern seasonings would be awesome, and I almost used them, but figured I'd play it safer with the in-laws coming over and knowing they don't really eat mid-eastern food. Layer your chops over top of the potatoes. Cover and cook on low all day. Mine cooked on low for about 9 1/2 hours and it was awesome!

Green Bean Stew

Tonight I made an arabic green bean stew. I've been looking for a good, authentic recipe for awhile now, and this is definitely a great one! Its from Jaime's Aunt Pati and it is DELISH!! Definitely a keeper recipe and something we'll have again and again. Its very easy to throw together, but it does take some cook time... but its effortless cook time. I used fresh yellow beans from our garden since that is what I'd picked this morning. It'd look nice with a mix of green and yellow beans, which is probably how I'll make it next time (using the frozen beans from the garden next time). If you don't like or have lamb, this would be very good with beef, or even with potatoes to make it vegetarian. Also, a note... you can find the mixed spices at your local arabic grocery store... almost all of the decent sized cities have them nowadays. If I can find it in Flint... anyone can find it! :)

Arabic Green Bean Stew

2 lbs green beans
1 to 1.5 lbs lamb meat, cubed
1 onion chopped
3 tbs butter or olive oil
1 to 2 cloves garlic minced (to taste)
2 C water (approx)
1 small can tomato paste
1.5 to 2 tsp allspice or mixed spices
1.5 tsp salt (to taste)
.5 tsp pepper (to taste)

In a 6 quart (or larger) stock pot, brown lamb meat, onions and garlic in oil or butter. When meat is evenly browned on all sides and onions are becoming transparent add allspice or mixed spices to the pot. Stir until evenly distributed. If using fresh green beans, add now and sauté for 10 mins. In a separate bowl, combine tomato paste and water stirring with a whisk to combine thoroughly. Add tomato mixture to meat along with salt and pepper. Simmer over low heat for approx 55 mins. If using canned or frozen beans, add approx 20 to 25 mins after simmering starts. Serve with rice.

Honey Balsamic Lamb Chops

Last night, I tried a new Giada DeLaurentiis recipes for honey balsamic lamb chops. Very simple, very tasty! I used some of the hormone-free lamb I bought a few months back - they are rib chops, I just forgot to ask the processor to french them. These were very good! Definitely a recipe I'll make again. Even Kevin didn't mind the honey balsamic sauce - and he doesn't generally like balsamic-based things. I just grilled these on my grill pan on the stove top, but soon enough, we'll be grilling outside - can't wait! We had these with some roasted asparagus. It was a great spring-time meal!

Honey Balsamic Lamb Chops

1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1 garlic clove
2 tablespoons honey
3/4 cup vegetable or canola oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
8 small lamb chops
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves

Place a grill pan over medium-high heat or preheat a gas or charcoal grill.

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the balsamic vinegar, garlic, and honey. Pulse until blended. With the machine running, slowly pour in the vegetable oil until the mixture is smooth and forms a thick sauce. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Season the lamb chops with salt and pepper. Drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle with rosemary. Grill the lamb chops for 2 to 3 minutes each side until medium-rare.

Arrange the lamb chops on a platter. Spoon the sauce over the top or serve the sauce on the side.

Lamb Stock

After I cut off most of the lamb meat from the bones before making the Irish Lamb Stew, I decided I couldn't just throw them away. So I decided to throw the bones with the bits of meat left on them that I couldn't get off into my smaller crockpot with the trinity of veggies - celery, carrots, and onion - along with two bay leaves. I cooked it on low overnight (about 8 hours) and have a wonderful stock now. I'll be pressure canning it tonight after Carson goes to bed.

Irish Lamb Stew

With a little one now, Kevin and I aren't able to celebrate St. Patrick's Day the way we usually do - by going out and drinking green beer. In college, we used to start at the crack of dawn (literally at 6am) by eating green eggs and ham and drinking green beer at one of the East Lansing bars. Now that doesn't even sound appetizing. So this year, I decided to make an irish-themed dinner to celebrate the day. Kevin has absolutely no irish heritage (he's pretty much 100% dutch), but Carson and I have some irish in us, albeit just a smidgen. I found some recipes on AllRecipes that sounded pretty good. Since I don't like corned beef, I was limited in my choices, so I decided to try out an irish lamb stew. It was sooooo good! I only made a portion of the recipe, but now wish I'd have made more. All three of us loved it! I modified it a lot because I wanted to make it in the crockpot so it would be ready when we got home from work. I'll post the original recipe and then my changes.

Irish Lamb Stew

1 1/2 pounds thickly sliced bacon, diced (I left this out since I can't eat bacon)
6 pounds boneless lamb shoulder, cut into 2 inch pieces
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup all-purpose flour (I didn't use this since I just threw the lamb in raw)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 cup water (left this out)
4 cups beef stock
2 teaspoons white sugar (left this out)
4 cups diced carrots
2 large onions, cut into bite-size pieces
3 potatoes
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 bay leaves
1 cup white wine (left this out)

Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble, and set aside. (I skipped this step since I can't eat bacon)

Put lamb, salt, pepper, and flour in large mixing bowl. Toss to coat meat evenly. Brown meat in frying pan with bacon fat. (I skipped this step and just threw the lamb into the crockpot raw)

Place meat into stock pot (leave 1/4 cup of fat in frying pan). Add the garlic and yellow onion and saute till onion begins to become golden. Deglaze frying pan with 1/2 cup water and add the garlic-onion mixture to the stock pot with bacon pieces, beef stock, and sugar. Cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours.

Add carrots, onions, potatoes, thyme, bay leaves, and wine to pot. Reduce heat, and simmer covered for 20 minutes until vegetables are tender.

(I just threw everything into the crockpot raw and cooked on low for 10 hours, when it was programmed to switch to keep warm. It was on this setting for about an hour.)

Herb Roasted Lamb with Roasted Veggies

Our good friends, Jeff and Jaime, came over for dinner tonight. I made a roasted leg of lamb and roasted veggies. It was all soooo good! I think we all went back for seconds (and some even for thirds and fourths!). I used a Barefoot Contessa recipe for Herb Roasted Lamb. It was very tasty and definitely a keeper for future legs of lamb. I just roasted veggies in the same pan as the lamb - potatoes, carrots, parsnips, and garlic. I had been a little nervous about making a leg of lamb for the first time - and making it for guests - but it was actually very easy and turned out very well! I cooked it a little longer than the recipe says to - none of us like our meat bloody. This was a little pink in the middle still, probably would be considered medium-well. It was so tender and flavorful - so yummy! I also should note that the lamb is all-natural, hormone-free, grass-fed. I also used organic carrots, parsnips, and garlic (not potatoes, though).

Herb-Roasted Leg of Lamb with Roasted Vegetables

12 large unpeeled garlic cloves, divided
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves (I just used my home-dried rosemary from my garden)
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (I totally forgot this part!)
1 (6-pound) boneless leg of lamb, trimmed and tied
4 to 5 pounds small unpeeled potatoes (I used probably 8-9 medium-sized russet potatoes)
2 tablespoons good olive oil
(I also added 5 parsnips, peeled and chopped into 2-inch pieces and about 8 carrots, peeled and chopped into 2-inch pieces.)

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Place the oven rack in the lower third of the oven so the lamb will sit in the middle of the oven.

Peel 6 of the cloves of garlic and place them in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Add the rosemary, 1 tablespoon salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, and butter. Process until the garlic and rosemary are finely minced. Thoroughly coat the top and sides of the lamb with the rosemary mixture. Allow to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Toss the potatoes and remaining unpeeled garlic in a bowl with the olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Place in the bottom of a large roasting pan. Place the lamb on top of the potatoes and roast for 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours, or until the internal temperature of the lamb is 135 degrees (rare) or 145 degrees (medium). (I cooked mine for just about 2 hours total and it registered a heat of about 154 degrees for medium-well.) Remove from the oven and put the lamb on a platter; cover tightly with aluminum foil. Allow the lamb to rest for about 20 minutes. Slice and serve with the potatoes.