Garlic Butter Shrimp was tonight's experiment recipe. Lily and @AussieT don't care for shrimp, so Noah and I feasted. All of that butter was so rich though!
Current fads are making it easier to find, but most of the lamb in the USA comes from New Zealand. If you want, say, a crown roast, you have to order it ahead of time.
--Patrick
Bah. Just grab two racks and tie them together yourself. They're small enough it's not hard at all.
And here's the Alton secret: use a bundt pan to roast it in. Cooks more evenly, and juicier. I've done it. It works awesome.
I think ATK said that on average lamb consumption per person is <3lb per year.
Persian/Mediterranean braised lamb shank is delightful!
Both Wegmans and Walmart(?!) have lamb near my house. We eat it as often as my wife allows it.
My wife doesn't like the lamby taste of large cuts like the shank, but she does like lamb chops, which are milder in flavor. I'll have to see if she likes a crown roast soon.
My wife doesn't like the lamby taste of large cuts like the shank, but she does like lamb chops, which are milder in flavor. I'll have to see if she likes a crown roast soon.
I live in a very strange area where about half the population is the redneckingest rednecks you've ever seen (yes, even those of you from Texas, Florida and WV), and the other half is middle-class to upper-middle-class suburbanites. This means that I can either find the cheapest cuts of meat known to man, or the most expensive, and nothing in between which for some reason includes lamb.
You just described the whole state of Oklahoma. Except it's more of a 1:1000 ratio of upper-middle-class to redneck. I sympathize sir. Weren't you going to move once upon a time?
Yeah, we were going to move to Wisconsin, but thankfully stopped before finalizing plans. Now we're hoping to move to a place where it should be even more difficult to get lamb - the central Oregon coast. The reason it's so crazy where we live now is because we're way out in the x-burbs south of the nearest major city (Tacoma), where all of the old logging, mining, and farming jobs have dried up (hence the rednecks), the major industry is Boeing (so they've had a fair number of strikes over the last 5 to 10 years), and the majority of the people living the suburbanite dream are military families from Joint Base Lewis McChord (so they move every 12 to 18 months). But then, there's also a big lake a few miles away where all of the Boeing engineers built massive lake-front houses.
Regardless, to get back to the matter of dinner, lamb would have been wasted in the curry I made. It sucked and was bland. I might be able to re-combobulate it some with some acid and salt, or maybe some green olives and dried apricots. It needs something briny and some sweet to balance the flavors out.
Because of this thread, went out for Greek food yesterday. Lamb shank, lamb chop, lamb fillet. Well, ad a bunch of other stuff, obviously.
Tin: is it the lamby taste, or the muttony taste she doesn't like? I'm not that huge a fan of mutton, and older lamb can start getting that taste as well. It shouldn't really, but I've heard before some people in the world (you know, barbarians, like probably most of the US
). Best lamb's under 3 months old 
Tin: is it the lamby taste, or the muttony taste she doesn't like? I'm not that huge a fan of mutton, and older lamb can start getting that taste as well. It shouldn't really, but I've heard before some people in the world (you know, barbarians, like probably most of the US
). Best lamb's under 3 months old the muttony taste. Which I like a lot, personally 
I got an Instant Pot during Amazon's Prime Day sale. I've never used a pressure cooker before, but I like it. Last night I put sweet potatoes in it. Tonight I made Mexican rice. I'm going to have to try a roast or a whole chicken eventually.
I can see what you mean. Mine has a saute feature. You can make yogurt in it. It even doubles as a slow cooker.
As much as I can see the convenience of the electronic pressure cookers, I'm leery for one reason: cleaning. My "manual" one (Ikea!) I have to use my stove for, but I can dunk the whole thing in water to clean it (not dishwasher, but still). I can scrub, etc, and not worry about a drip of water in the wrong spot.
The electronic ones, that's not the case. I'd be worried about permanently screwing the thing up. It's the reason why we ultimately got rid of our waffle iron, since cleaning was just such a PITA because it didn't have removable "grill" plates. Our slow cooker is also good because the crock is removable, both for serving and cleaning purposes.
Either way, yay pressure cookers, no matter what kind you have!
The electronic ones, that's not the case. I'd be worried about permanently screwing the thing up. It's the reason why we ultimately got rid of our waffle iron, since cleaning was just such a PITA because it didn't have removable "grill" plates. Our slow cooker is also good because the crock is removable, both for serving and cleaning purposes.
Either way, yay pressure cookers, no matter what kind you have!
We have a Fagor 8 Qt pressure cooker. We use it nearly every week. It's a real time-saver for sure. Beans and rice in about 45 min., braised beef/pork in about 25 min., great chicken stock in about 15 min., etc
This one has a removable inner metal pot. You just take it out and wash it like with the slow cooker.
Brand? I'm interested!
It's an InstantPot Duo 60. The company is Canadian, FYI, so I assume you'd be able to find them.
I like Epicurious, but AllRecipes is the most used statistically. I've heard The Kitchn is pretty good too.
Cooking well is very satisfying.
Unfortunately if other people find out, then they always want you to cook.
Get the fundamentals down (boil an egg, boil rice, boil potatoes, boil vegetables), learn the vocabulary (sauté v. braise v. fry), try keeping it simple. The rest will follow.
Cooking is NOT THAT HARD. It's just a lot to learn. Fortunately you can eat all the mistakes and nobody need know.
--Patrick
I would also recommend learning to make simple, easy meal items as these meals are often building blocks to large, more complicated items. I've honestly surprised by the number of people I know who don't know to do something as basic as grilled cheese or scrambled eggs.
I have had a lot of luck with America's Test Kitchen/Cook's Country recipes. And, I'd second Allrecipes.com (although you do have to sift through them for the gems). There are a lot of good blogs out there too; probably better than the mega-recipe sites.
http://smittenkitchen.com/recipes/
-eclectic mix
http://www.bongcookbook.com/2008/12/recipe-index.html
-good resource of authentic northern Indian food
Here's a bunch more:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/best-food-blogs/
I was going to suggest these, but while Cook's Country is geared more towards middle America, the ATK/Cook's Illustrated can be daunting to someone who is just starting out, no matter how informative and useful the articles might be.
--Patrick
I bounce around on Pinterest for recipes. Yes, it can be hit or miss, but I find good recipes more often than not. Damn Delicious is one of the sites I found through Pinterest. She has easy instructions, dishes ranging from breakfast through cocktails, and a pretty wide variety of cuisines.
Now that I'm looking, she has more stuff on Pinterest than on her actual site.
However, like taking care of your body, sports, and doing crosswords, while it's something everyone can do (up to a point) and everyone probably should do at least a bit, it's not everyone's idea of entertainment. Some people love cooking as an art or a social happening; others have to do it functionally because, ya know, food. Figure out which you are. If you don't like cooking, don't feel pressurized to do so more than necessary. Do give it a chance, though, as it only gets to be fun when you're at least somewhat good at it.
-Grilled Mozzarella & Red Bell Pepper Sandwiches with Green Olive Paste
-Tomato & Tuna Salad with Capers and Black Olives
-Red Raspberry & Coriander Ice Cream over Grilled Peaches
-Rodenbach Grand Cru red ale
...all of it homemade (except for the ale)
MMMmmmMmmMMmmMMmmmmm...
--Patrick
-Tomato & Tuna Salad with Capers and Black Olives
-Red Raspberry & Coriander Ice Cream over Grilled Peaches
-Rodenbach Grand Cru red ale
...all of it homemade (except for the ale)
MMMmmmMmmMMmmMMmmmmm...
--Patrick
I think I'm going to try this for dessert one night soon... Why have I never thought of this before?
Pasta al limone
