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Lava Lake – Sustainably Grown Lamb from Idaho

January 13th, 2010

My cousin Lisa and her husband Steve virtually introduced me to the folks at Lava Lake. Passionate about land conservation, Kathleen and Brian Bean bought the property in Hailey, Idaho.  Over the years they have preserved  not only hundreds of thousands of acres of  unique terrain along the Oregon trail, but they are also producing some of the best grass fed lamb this flavorista has ever had. I love Colorado lamb too and have basically given up on imported lamb as I don’t like the flavor as much.

Lava Lake’s website is replete with information on the benefits of grass fed lamb as well as on their conservation efforts. You can order the lamb off their website and they offer up some recipes as well.  They even have a blog.

I decided to use my tagine for the leg. Inspired by one of my favorites books by Paula Wolfert, The Slow Mediterranean Kitchen, I created a very flavorful lamb.  Stay tuned for a brillant mini lamb burger recipe.

Clay pot cooking is truly easy. As the original slow cookers, they trap the heat in and as a result are perfect for infusing flavors into meats and vegetables. Usually inexpensive cuts of meat are used in a tagine but the Lava Lake boneless leg of lamb was perfect. You can purchase fancy tagines that are twice as expensive as the authentic clay ones, but there is really no reason to as these have worked fine for centuries.

Leg of Lamb Prepared in a Tangine

This is a recipe that doesn’t take much work, but needs lots of time. You can make this a day ahead, store the meat and juices separately and then reheat the next day. This allows time to slice the lamb and reheat it in the sauce. This recipe will work with  5 pounds of lamb shanks as well.

1 (12-oz) can Muir Glenn Organic fire roasted tomatoes with green chilies
     (These are spicy so if you don’t like spicy food just use 2 cans of regular chopped tomatoes)
1 (12-oz) can Muir Glenn Organic chopped Tomatoes
     (The fire roasted ones work really well)
1/4 cup candied (or crystilized) ginger, chopped
     (or you can use freshly grated ginger)
1 large onion, grated on the large holes of a box grater
1 1/2 cups of water
1 cups dried plums (aka prunes), halved 
1 cinnamon stick
3 Tbsp. brown sugar
2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. saffron threads

Finishing:
2 Tbsp. butter
1 medium onion, sliced

1.  Early in the day, place the lamb leg in the tagine pot and sprinkle with the salt, place the tomatoes, ginger and grated onion on top and toss it all together to coat well. Allow to sit covered until the meat gets to room temperature for about 2 hours. You can do this in the tagine. Do not place a cold tagine on an open flame. They are designed to be used at room temperature. So if you are wary of leaving meat at room temperature (which you really don’t need to be as long as it is not for more that 2 hours) marinated the lamb in something else.

2.  Add the water, ginger, cinnamon, prunes, brown sugar, salt and saffron to the tangine and stir to combine with the tomatoes.  Place the tagine on the stove and heat over a medium/high heat and bring it to a boil. You should be able to smell the spices. Cover and lower the heat and cook for 3 to 4 hours. The juices might bubble up ou over the tagine so check it from time to time and make sure there is enough liquid in your tagine as it cooks. You might need to add more water as it cooks.  Remove from heat.

3.  If you want to brown your lamb to crisp it up, them remove it from the tagine and place into a roasting pan and broil for a few minutes or simply transfer it to a cutting board and let it rest while you finsih the sauce.  Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large saute pan. Add the onions and cook until soft and golden. Add the sauce from the tagine and blend well. Adjust seasonings. Pour sauce over lamb pieces as serve.

We enjoyed this with a simple salad as it was very hearty and flavorful.  This lamb really didn’t need much but a great loaf of bread and perhaps a nice bottle of red wine.

PS from Kimberly: If you do not own a tangine but would like to try to this recipe, marinate the lamb in a dutch oven and then bring everything to a boil.  Once boiling transfer to a slow cooker and cover.  Cook on High for 3 hours or on Low for 6 hours.  Pick up the recipe again at step 3.

Entry Filed under: Mail Order,Savory Recipes,Websites/Blogosphere