Lamb meat is one of the sweetest, juiciest, and most tender red meats that are available. The reason why lambs taste delicious is because they are usually slaughtered between 4 and 5 months after birth. The lamb meat is very easy to cook and makes for a delicious dinner. Lamb legs are specialty dishes for special occasions and holidays. So, let’s discuss how you too can cook lamb meat the easy way.
Plenty of dishes can be prepared using lamb meat. Some take less time and effort while others involve exquisite preparation and ingredients. Some of these dishes are:
• Caramelized Lamb Chops
• Lemon Dill Sauce and Lamb chops
• Lamb Shawarma
• Lamb Shanks with herbs and Wine
• Chikpeas with Lamb Shanks
• Peach Glazed Lamb Leg
• Spring Lamb Leg
However, when it comes to cooking lambs, some general cooking procedures are followed. So, for those who want to know ‘how to cook a lamb’, the following content can be quite useful.
Selecting and Storing Fresh Lamb
While choosing lamb meat to cook, remember, dark red colored lamb meat is less tender compared to dark pink lamb meat. Select lamb shanks having white marble-colored fat accumulated on the skin. If confused, just choose deep pink colored meat to get the best results. You can also choose from USDA-graded lambs because they have finer cuts and will be extremely tender and flavorful.
If it takes you more than an hour to reach your home, do pack ice with the lamb meat to keep it fresh. Do not keep lamb meat openly with other food items in the refrigerator. Use container or plastic bag to store lamb meat. The refrigeration limit of lamb meat is five days since originally packaging.
The Preparation
Some general have to be followed while cooking any lamb recipe. You can customize these fundamental steps according to the recipe in question.
The first step involves precautions. They have to be taken while cooking a lamb because lamb’s wool contains lanolin oil and can cause unpleasant taste if it is transferred into the meat bowl. This can be removed by rubbing a lime, olive oil or lemon all over the meat. The process is known as marinating and also helps soften up and loosen the meat. In addition to this, spices such as pepper, garlic and oregano, can also be used to marinade lamb.
To begin with, you have to prepare the marinade mix. As said earlier, most marinade solutions will contain olive oil and lemon juice. If you like you can also red wine for marinating. Then proceed to rub the solution all over the lamb using a spoon. Repeat the process for the other side as well.
If you want to cook it immediately, simply wash off the solution with cold water. Or you can seal the meat in a Ziploc bag if you want to cook it after some hours. After this, you can add seasoning to the meat. Don’t use the same spices as in your marinade solution. Generally, lamb meat tastes great with a little pepper and salt sprayed on its edges.
The Cooking
Lamb meat is prepared in two steps. To begin with, the oven has to be heated to approximately 450o Fahrenheit. To provide with an initial cooking, the lamb has to be cooked solely in the oven for about 20 minutes. The meat is now ready for various dishes and can be fine tuned accordingly (for lamb recipes, visit: All Recipies: Lamb). Most of the dishes require that the oven heat be lowered to around 320o Fahrenheit. The ingredients and other spices are also added during this step.
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