A Whole Lotta Lamb

My friend Lauren has a friend who raises a lot of her own livestock. Lauren got a whole bunch of fresh lamb, and she shared some with me too. She shared about 20 lbs of lamb meat, ranging from ground lamb to lamb steaks. Most of it I have put in the freezer for another time, but I did cook up some of the lamb steaks. Boy were they good.

I marinated the lamb in a citrus vinaigrette for about 4-5 hours before grilling it up. It was full of flavor and so tender.

I made my marinade with orange juice, garlic, pepper, my new citrus rub Pickling Class , orange olive oil, basil and lemon verbena, from my backyard’s lemon verbena forest. I didn’t measure anything. But then, I never do when I cook. I just added and poured until it looked and “felt” right”. Most of us “old school” cooks cook by “feel” and sight much more so than we do by measurements.

The best way to cook lamb is rare to medium rare at the most, but of course this is a both a personal preference (rare and medium rare are the most popular choices) and cultural preferences. For instance, The French prefer their lamb rare and the Greeks prefer their lamb well done. The Australians like it well done too, but then again, Australia has the largest Greek population outside of Greece, so that might have something to do with their preference. I am in the rare to medium rare category myself.

No matter how you like your lamb cooked, the best way to gauge when it has reached your desired doneness is with a meat thermometer.

• Rare: 115-120°F.
• Medium-Rare: 125°F.
• Medium: 130°F.
• Medium-Well: 145°F.
• Well Done: 150°F.

Once my lamb was cooked, I concocted a Mediterranean white bean and vegetable dish that I served with my lamb, as well as some grilled pita bread and one of my new favorite red blends. Lamb is a red meat, so red wines go best with it.

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.