My families favourite meat is lamb.
Lamb roast is what we grew up on.
However lamb is not an economy option anymore.Even the shanks are about $9 a kilo now that they're trendy, and lets face it, they're mostly bone anyway! so when I saw the price of these lamb breasts I just couldn't pass them by. $2 a kilo! That is completely ridiculous.
Are you unfamiliar with this particular cut of meat? It's a budget cut, part of the forequarter and is the flappy bit containing the ribs with a layer of fat and meat. Also know as lamb flap or belly. Sometimes just sold for dog meat. Woollies has been cleverly selling them off cut into pieces as lamb riblets, for only about $4 a kilo, but they are still fairly fatty.
The secret is that the meat is so delicious. You just need to remove the fat. You can cook the whole thing long and slow, and render most of it out that way, or cook it on the BBQ high and crispy and just cut it off, but it's still there. The best thing to do is just remove it.
You need good knife and a little bit of time.
Slide your knife in between the rib bones and the meat. Cut as close as you can to the bone to not waste any meat.
Next cut along the layer of fat that rests on this meat. Sometimes you can actually pull it off by prising the two parts apart.
I really like the papery sort of skin on the outside, so I next trim that off as thinly as possible from the fat as well.
Now, lets put the jigsaw back together!
Place the meat down on the board and patch any bits that are thin or even a bit empty, with other pieces of meat.
Scatter on some gfree bread crumbs or feel free to make a real stuffing. I just didn't have any handy. I also sprinkled on some spice powder.
Lay on some blanched vegetables. I do this by just trimming up the veggies then pouring boiling water over them in a bowl. Sit for about 30 seconds then drain. Easy peasy.
I had also grilled a capsicum to lay on the meat first, but forgot it! It sure would have looked pretty though.
Now roll the whole thing up.
Wrap the little bundle in the saved skin as that will protect the meat and go nice and crispy. Tie with some string to keep a good shape.
Bake at about 180* until nice and brown and crispy.
Rest for a bit then remove string and cut into rounds, so you can see the pretty layers of meat and veggies. You can see that there is really hardly any fat in the roll at all now. Just enough to baste the meat while it cooked.
This whole exercise cost less than $1 a serve. That's pretty darn good for decent protein. It also looks really pretty and I would be happy to serve that to company. Served with a big pile of mashed potatoes and some gravy I still think it would come in at less than $1.50 per head. For a whole main course. Not too bad don't you think?
So Reader, what's your best budget beater recipe or tip?
Wow!! Its lamb week, must be something in the air. Your recipe is quite the stunner and I like it. I also have vague memories of my Gran creating something like this when I was a kid, although she used stuffing. I really think your version is very chic and I agree, I'd absolutely prepare it when company came a-knockin' :)
ReplyDeleteI keep hearing that lamb used to be very inexpensive. We never ate it growing up and I really enjoy it if it's true lamb (and not hogget).
ReplyDeleteWow - what a great post! I have never even heard of lamb breasts - let alone know how to cook with them! Thanks for the step by step info!
ReplyDeleteInteresting post and I love your description of yourself and name of your blog. Thanks for sharing
ReplyDeletePlan B
Brilliant! I love finding bargains like that, and those are always invariably the bits with the most flavour. Thanks for the tutorial!
ReplyDeleteNever ever seen lamb breast! I will have to try it out- I think omitting meat from recipes- i.e pumpkin soup etc etc is healthy and budget friendly!!
ReplyDeleteHi Readers, you really should give this cut of meat a chance, it's well worth it.
ReplyDeleteI actually don't mind hogget, the flavour is stronger and such a change from the insipid taste of normal supermarket fare, but I understand it wouldn't be to everyones taste. That's also why I like goat meat, it's like very tasty lamb. I gave my parents a blind tasting of lamb and goat, and they both picked the goat as their favourite!
Hope you have a nice week!
Looks great - thanks for the detailed instructions. I will have to give this a try. I love lamb - my meat of choice too. Goat as well - and it fares really well in the nutrition stakes.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the details on how to trim the lamb breast! Received many miscellaneous lamb cuts from a friend when they butchered their sheep. I haven't been able to find info on how to prepare a lamb breast that still has all the bone, etc. Most recipes say "have the butcher remove the bone" which is no help! Have the lamb breast thawing and looking forward to trying this out!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome! Now days I'd make sure there were step by step photos as well, I'll have to re-do all my old posts one day. Let me know how you go with the lamb, I'd love to hear what you think!
DeleteI don't know how I missed this post! Looks really good but I'm wondering if I can master that cutting-away-the-fat business - and then there's the tying! xx
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