I have always
maintained that Mutton was much more tasty than Lamb. Unless you are
lucky enough to be able to access Salt Marsh Lamb or Lamb reared on
the Welsh mountains Lamb is Lamb is Lamb
Mutton. The taste is
richer the colour darker and the fat more mellow. Roasted or stewed
it simply cannot be beaten on a clod winters night, served with
Dauphin potatoes and a selection of root vegetables,not forgetting
of course the most delectable gravy,it's a show stopper!
Recently we learned to
our delight that a farm shop had opened in a nearby town and my son
was dispatched to investigate. He returned with a pound of diced
Mutton,a kilo chunk of wild boar and the news that the shop had an
online presence, The meat was excellent and on Friday last we took
delivery of a large box of goodies from the new butcher.
We had ordered two
whole shoulders of Mutton,incidentally do not let any one try and
persuade you that Mutton shoulder is full of fat,well reared Mutton
is no more fatty than Lamb.
Next we unpacked
another kilo piece of wild boar belly, 4 lovely medallions of free
range organic pork escalopes, a 2 rib piece of Fore rib roast,two
kilos of mutton dice and two dozen beautiful new laid eggs.
The Mutton shoulders
were huge and cost...wait for it...£13.00 each. Over the weekend we
roasted on of these joints and on the first night we ate it served as
I mentioned earlier. The next night I heated some slices of the
remaining meat in a dish of rich gravy and this served with mashed
potatoes and peas proved every bit as popular. Tonight the remains
of this delicious joint made a lovely dinner served with hot mashed
potato, home made slaw, sliced beetroot and a salad of diced celery
and shredded lettuce, a real winter salad and very good it was.
In all nine good sized
servings were provided by the joint with the added bonus of 2 litres
of good mutton stock ,made by boiling up the bones for an couple of
hours. Add to this for several sumptuous meals for two adored cats
and you can see that this kind of meat is far from extravagant.
All the meat in our box
was organic and free range and the whole lot cost just £75.00!
A very ordinary piece
of Lamb shoulder purchased from a supermarket will set you back
around £ 19.00 or £20.00 pounds, will fill your drip tray with fat
and is calculated to shrink by about a third. It will not have been
hung sufficiently nor will you be able to determine what it has been
given as feed. It is the fat content of many feeds used in factory
production to make the animals grow faster which cause such havoc
when eaten by we poor unsuspecting humans!!
It really is a no
contest.
Do not rule out organic
meat because of it,s price, try a farm shop, you might be surprised.
Of course you have to pick and choose according to what is the best
value week by week when you make your purchase as some cuts can be
expensive.
I recently paid almost
£30.00 for a piece of mutton much smaller than the one we had on the
weekend so I know it can be expensive but search around on line ,and
give your family a wonderful change from the ordinary.
Incidentally if you
cook the meat fresh you may freeze any left over meat for another
time.
A small amount. Finely
chopped makes the best Cornish pasties ever, and of course you can
mince some to make a real Shepherds pie. In this way the meat can be
made to go even further if your budget is tight.
One more thing any last
scraps of cooked mutton are terrific hashed with potato and onion and
served with hot tomato sauce.
