Maggie Had A Little Lamb (More Meat Musings From Lady Pilsner)

Eating healthy is important me and my husband but when we moved to the Czech republic we had very minimal access to organic meat. Since we had a field designated for pasture behind our house, the first thing that came to mind was to raise some. The first question we had was which type of livestock requires the least maintenance? We initially thought about rabbits and sheep, but heard that rabbits were susceptible to disease while sheep were reputed to be "easy." Seeing as neither my husband nor I are serious farmers, sheep won out. We started raising sheep with a group of friends, each party having between 1 and 4 sheep, most of which were less than a year old. Our first year wasn't that successful -- losses included one of our yearlings and two of the first year's lambs. This was due largely to lack of resources and lack of experience. Then there was the time that our ram launched himself through one of the windows in the back of our house. But that’s another story. It didn't take us too long to get the hang of things, though. Lambing was unnerving but exciting. I fondly recall the first warm days in early spring when we'd let the sheep out for a while in the back yard and watch "sheep TV" through our bedroom window.

For years, I had actually been a vegetarian. I wondered whether I would be able to view these cute little lambs as food. However, it did help that even in all my meat free years I still reminisced fondly about Mom's perfect medium rare lamb chops. In the end, I was able to handle "knowing" the meat I was eating. I have always thought that there is something hypocritical about buying meat in a form where its easy to forget that it was ever a living creature. Also, by the time a lamb is ready to slaughter, the adorable factor is gone. Best of all, it has been an absolute luxury to have an abundance of lamb in the freezer.

This winter, however, my husband spent about two and a half months in Moscow for work, leaving me alone with the stamping, bah-ing, gate-kicking oat-addicts in their shed. Which is, why I'm not so sad that he wanted to give up the sheep this year. What makes this easier is that we've had to take down the fence on our field (I'm sure the EU is behind those codes...) So, the sheep are summering on a friend's field, and this year's lambs will be our last, for now, at least.....Anyone know how to raise free-range rabbits?

Here are some things I learned about lamb along the way:

Lamb ribs - cook on high to render the fat as much as possible, then braise a good long while (blackberry jam works for a sweet-and-sour touch)

Ram meat - three year old un-castrated ram meat is NOT too strong, nor are the chops too tough; eliminate as much fat as possible to make the meat milder; leg meat is good in long-cooked stews;

Sausage- 1/3 ram to 2/3 pork meat is good for sausages (with ewes, it seems to be 1/2 and 1/2)

Roasting - insert cloves of garlic and/or pieces of lemon rind into the meat, serve w/ jalapeño or garlic jelly-Yum!

Stews -- a Moroccan stew w/prunes from Nourishing Traditions (marinate overnight w/cumin, ginger, cinnamon, turmeric, olive oil, and lots of pepper; add prunes and grated lemon rind near the end of the cooking time) and a tinkered-with version of this Tuscan stew by the American lamb board were among the favorites:

And, if you plan on raising sheep- oats are to sheep as crack cocaine is to humans -- they do become addicted, and when the oat junkies hear you coming (or just opening the front door), the noise is deafening.