When life gives you lambs, make... um... lamb-everything!!!

I've been a huge fan of lamb since I first tried it as a kid at a fancy dinner my Mom took me to at Spiro's Greek restaurant in St Louis. It was some kind of work-related dinner for a doctor she worked with. The doctor suggested the restaurant's specialty lamb shank dish. I had never tried lamb before, but became instantly obsessed with it. From then on out, when asked, it was the restaurant I always requested for birthday dinners and other special events.

So when we moved to the land of plentiful lamb, I was unbelievably excited! Here lamb costs the same or less than beef, so we now make it 2 or 3 times a week. My favorite cut is still the shank, but roasts are also nice and cost-effective. I've never liked the chops - too fatty, or the rack - too dry, but I suppose if you make them right, they could be nice.

I'm still working on my own lamb cooking techniques myself. For the roasts, we usually do a honey mustard marinade, or just salt/pepper/rosemary combo. I've only tried cooking the shanks once, even though I love them so much. Most of the time we just forget to stop by the butchery (which is silly since there are butcheries everywhere here, even the nicest of shopping malls). When I did attempt the shanks, I followed a lovely recipe calling for basics such as garlic, white wine, tomatoes, chicken stock and orzo. Instead of orzo, I used brown rice, which was perfect really. I must have set the initial temp too high, because the lamb was a little burnt on the outside, but it was actually moist on the inside, so I nearly nailed this one. I think I'll get it right next time.



The roasts nearly always turn out awesome and since Theo is a natural curry guru, it can be the gift that keeps on giving. He'll either make one of his awesome curries with the leftovers or just throw them into a stir-fry the next day. So when one door closes (i.e. Mexican food), often another opens!