Recipes

We are keen to teach the benefit of eating more of the animal than the expensive better known cuts. On a farm, when you process an animal for meat, you eat all the cuts and when that is finished, you process another. We believe in nose to tail useage of an animal. There is no wastage.

These days, as consumers, we are so disconnected with the source of our meat that cooking skills using the entire animal have been lost. No longer do we see the majority of families passing these skills down to the next generation.

Our magazines focus on using the expensive cuts and ingredients, but there are some wonderful, simple and nutritious meals to be made from the lesser known/cheaper cuts of meat.

I am very happy to pass on easy recipes for you. Just simple nutritious meals that I have learnt in my years of cooking with lamb, mutton and beef. I have been cooking all parts the animal since learning to cook alongside my mother at the age of seven. She continues to be a great source of knowledge and inspiration in my cooking and she has been pouring through her recipes to share with you too.

Marianated Baked Riblets

I bake the ribblets in a casserole dish. I always cook them when I have a heap of hungry people coming in for lunch – there is never many left over – if any! Great to have with salad. You can vary to flavour with the following glazes. If you have time, marianate them for a few hours before cooking. Or coat the riblets in the glaze just before cooking if you are in a hurry. You can cook any of the rib, neck or loin chops the same way.

I place the glazed riblets on a rack in a casserole dish that has a good lid. Put enough water in the bottom of the dish so it is just lower than the rack of ribblets. Bake for 2hours – remove the lid and brown for last half hour. Enjoy!

I double/triple the following quantities depending how many I am cooking for.

Honey Glaze

  • ½ cup of honey
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • ¼ teaspoon of curry powder
  • sea salt and pepper to taste
  • Mix together and coat the meat.

BBQ Glaze

  • 2 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoon of honey
  • 2 tablespoon of a naturally sweetened red jam
  • 2 teaspoons white vinegar
  • 1 teaspooon worchestershire sauce
  • ½ teaspoon mustard powder
  • 1 tablespoon tomato sauce
  • 2 cloves of cushed garlic
  • squeeze of lemon juice
  • Mix together and coat meat.

Lemon & Ginger Glaze

  • 4 tablespoon of olive oil
  • Grated rind of one lemon
  • 2 tablespoons of lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon of grated fresh ginger or 1 teaspoon of ground ginger
  • 1 tablespoon of honey
  • Fresh rosemary leaves
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Mix together and coat meat.

Baked Lamb’s Heart

For those of you who are adventurous, here is recipe for using the lambs heart.

Wash the heart thoroughly. Remove the internal pipes and any really fiborous material so that the heart is quite hollow.

Mix together: 1 cup of mince, ½ cup breacrumbs or cooked brown rice, 1 teaspoon finely chopped parsely, ½ teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, ½ small onion – grated or finely chopped, ½ teaspoon grated lemon rind, 1 tablespoon of melted butter, salt and pepper to taste.

Fill up the heart with the stuffing and sew up with a strong cotton. Roll the heart in flour of your preference. Fry in butter and a little olive oil until brown all over. Make a gravy out of pan drippings and some stock. Pour over heart in a casserole dish and bake for 2 – 2 ½ hours.

Alternative: You could make a tomato sauce with fresh tomatoes, onions, garlic, a little honey and fresh herbs to use in place of gravy in cassorole if desired. Lightly toss onions and garlic in butter/olive oil till just cooked, add chopped tomatoes, ½ cup water and cook until soft, flavour with honey, salt pepper and herbs. Pour over heart and bake.

 

Anna’s Lamb Roast

We all have different ways of cooking our roasts. Here is mine.

  • 1 leg of lamb
  • Olive oil
  • Salt
  • Fresh herbs
  • Garlic cloves

Take a leg of lamb and place in baking dish that has a lid. Add about 2cm of water to the baking dish so the roast is sitting in water. Pour a little olive oil over the meat and then rub on some coarse sea salt (about one tablespoon pver the whole leg) Sprinkle fresh or dried herbs over the meat. Or slice some holes in the meat and insert some peeled garlic cloves. Cover and bake for two hours in a hot oven. Take lid off and place the meat on a oven proof serving dish. Return to the oven, oncovered and brown the meat for another 30min to an hour. Make a gravy with the juices in the bottom of the pan by adding a little arrowroot flour. Serve with fresh vegetables and enjoy!

(Note cooking times may need to be a little less for the smaller roasts.)

Anna’s Lamb Neck Chops

Our children call this meal “Soft chops” and is a great favourite of their’s. Very easy to prepare and a wonderful aroma fills the whole house while its cooking!

  • Lamb neck chops
  • Fresh herbs
  • Onions

Method: Lay enough lamb neck chops for your family flat in a casserole dish. (I work on about 2 each for the children and 3 each for George and I). Fill the casserole dish with about 2 cm of water. Slice a couple of onions and sprinkle on top of the meat.
Lay chopped fresh herbs on top of the onions. (I grab what I can from the garden – sage, rosemary, thyme, chives – what ever is handy). Place the lid on the casserole dish and bake in hot oven for about 2hrs. Remove lid and bake another half hour. Serve with brown rice and fresh vegetables. Yum! Don’t forget to enjoy the broth that the water and meat juices make – full of goodness.

Italian Lamb Shanks

  • 4 Lamb shanks
  • Half a cup of seasoned flour(any flour you like – arrowroot, spelt, oat, buckwheat, rice)
  • 2 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 2 onions
  • 1 cup celery chopped
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon honey
  • 1 and half cups of stock or water
  • 1 cup tomato puree or tomato sauce
  • Half a cup of white wine
  • 1 teaspoon of rosemary
  • 1 cup fresh mushrooms
  • 1 Tablespoons chopped parsely

Method: Toss the lamb shanks in the flour. Slice onions. Heat oil in pan and saute shanks with the crushed garlic, onions and celery until meat is well browned. Add salt, sugar, boiling stock tomato puree, white wine and rosemary. Bring the boil, cover, reduce heat, simmer for one and a half hours or until tender. Add sliced mushrooms and cook a further 10 mins. Serve hot sprinkled with chopped parsely.

Auntie Betty’s Liver Casserole

My Auntie Betty is responsible for this very delicious liver recipe which has been used by my mother all my life and can be eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

  • 1 lamb liver
  • 6 bacon rashers (organic bacon if possible) cut into about 6cm pieces
  • 2 onions sliced
  • Flour seasoned with salt & pepper( I use organic spelt, arrowroot, oat or rice flours)
  • 2 cups of water or stock (more or less as required to make gravy)
  • Butter and a little olive oil for frying

Method: Cover liver with some boiling water, remove from water quickly, dry with paper towel. (This helps to removes the membrane and gristle but don’t leave in hot water for very long as the heat will leach the goodness from the liver before you get it into the casserole) Remove the thin skin from the liver and discard. Slice the liver thinly, remove any gristle or membranes and toss in the flour to coat the slices well. Fry bacon rashers and put aside. Fry onions and put aside. Fry liver quickly, browning on boht sides but do not overcook as it will become tough. Remove from pan, drain off any fat and make a gravy with some of the flour, pan drippings and the stock. Place the liver in a greased casserole dish, place on top the cooked bacon, onion and gravy. Cook covered at 180 degrees (moderate oven) for 35 to 45 minutes.