Lamb Recipes

Email your favorite lamb recipes to Justin.Luther@ndsu.edu and they will be added to this list.

How about Lamb for Easter Dinner?

The two most popular days for eating lamb in the United States are Easter and Mother’s Day. 

Here are some ideas if you decide to try some lamb for one of these occasions or any time! 

I discovered brining lamb chops and have also tried it with roasts, it is a terrific way to tenderize the meat and tame down some of the strong “lamb” taste.  We think the lamb taste is terrific so we will probably not brine our roasts anymore but for the chops- it is the only way to go.  It helps even up the cooking and does reduce the cooking time slightly.

If you want to cook a lamb roast for Easter:

·         Get good American lamb from a known supplier.  No mutton!

·         Think about how you would cook a beef prime rib roast, lower heat and more slowly than other cuts of meat.

·         If you wish to brine the roast, here are my suggestions:

o       Dissolve  2/3 cup kosher salt, 2 T. sugar in one gallon of cold water

o       Use a plastic or glass container (non-reactive container-  do not use aluminum)

o       Brine (soak) lamb roast 4-8 hours, make sure brine solution completely covers roast.

o       Food safety tip:  Keep the brine and the meat cold while brining, in the fridge, discard the brine when you take the meat out.

·         When you take the roast out of the brine, pat dry with paper towels, trim fat off roast if needed, you can also trim it after cooking.

·         Season with salt, pepper & other herbs as desired. (garlic & thyme)

·         Cook normally as you would a prime rib of beef. 

o       I brown my seasoned roasts on all sides in cast iron skillet   

o       Put lid on the cast iron.  Keep roast covered while cooking.

o       Cook at 325° until meat thermometer shows meat is 140°(rare) -160°(medium-rare).  You will need to check the size of your roast and a cooking chart to see how long this will take.  Our roasts are about 3-4 lbs and it usually takes about 2 hours.

Serve hot with gravy or mint jelly.  Many side dishes go well with lamb- mashed potatoes are the favorite at our house.

·         Get your recipe ready &  you can enter the ND Lamb and Wool Producer’s Lamb Cook off.  We are developing this contest for 2008, it will be in late Nov. or early December in conjunction with our annual conference in Mandan, ND.