Nov 17th, 2011
There’s been a lot of talk lately about how much people enjoy lamb at home, although some people have been concerned about lamb being expensive at the moment.
Here at simplybeefandlamb.co.uk we love lamb and know just how versatile it can be so we thought we’d give you a quick guide to lamb and look at some of the perceptions that people have about one of our favourite meats.
Lovely lamb
Lamb has long been popular in the UK and its popularity is well deserved. Lamb is a versatile and flavoursome meat whatever time of the year. Autumn lamb is delicious in heavy wintery dishes like hot pots and stews and it’s robust enough to take on spice and flavour in curries. The perfume and delicate flavour of spring lamb adds a light, fragrant touch to springtime meals and tastes great on the barbecue.
Choose the right cut
Our research[1] suggests that many people are put off buying lamb because they perceive it to be expensive but there are many ways to enjoy lamb that don’t mean breaking the bank. In a recent poll conducted on our facebook page, it came out that most people (a huge 56%) bought lamb legs most often when shopping for lamb.
This means that many superb cuts of lamb are being overlooked at meal times that could provide a variation even to a working week’s recipe repertoire.
A new perspective
While lamb leg is undoubtedly a tasty choice for an impressive roast, there is so much more to lamb than legs. Shoulder of lamb, whether bone-in or boneless, offers a real alternative to leg and offers great value for money. Bone-in shoulder is around 10% cheaper than leg but savvy shoppers can pick up a whole shoulder on promotion for around £8 which will easily feed a family of four.
If cooked long and slow, shoulder makes a superb succulent, tender and tasty alternative. Here at Simplybeefandlamb.co.uk most of our leg recipes suggest that you can use shoulder as an alternative and no modifications to the cooking time are even necessary, but try a slow cooked shoulder recipe to get that melt-off-the-bone succulence.
It’s all about the taste
In our facebook poll only 1% of respondents said that they frequently bought lamb mince but, lamb mince offers a flavoursome option for simple dishes that can be cooked quickly. With lamb mince you can make burgers, tagines, moussaka and koftas – but use your imagination there are so many different ways to use mince that you are only limited by your imagination!
We’ve got stack of lamb information for you if you’d like to know more. Take a look at the below links to get you started.
If there’s anything that you can’t find on the site – email us at getintouch@simplybeefandlamb.co.uk, we’ll be happy to answer your questions.