A Love Letter to Lamb

When it comes to holidays many of us quickly associate them with certain food traditions, like turkey on Thanksgiving and prime rib for Christmas. But as Easter fast approaches, we wanted to encourage you to think a bit outside the box and consider a new but equally delicious alternative to ham: lamb.

Truthfully, lamb as a protein could use a lot more love. Many folks tell us that they’re fearful of an overly gamey flavor with lamb which is why it all too often gets overlooked. Fortunately, we can easily “debunk” this by sharing a bit more about what goes into getting our organic grass-fed lamb from our fields to your table. 

As ruminants, sheep are naturally attuned to grasses and forage, such as they would eat in the wild. By introducing grain into their diet it produces an added and unnecessary strain on their digestive system which can lead to metabolic issues and a lower quality meat. That’s why when we say grass-fed we really mean it; our flock grazes on fresh grass and after a certain number of days when the grass has been eaten down, they’re rotated out of that paddock to another one. This ensures healthier animals, pastures and meat, plus it’s a whole lot tastier without a whiff of grain in sight. 

Lamb raised this way has a clean yet delicate flavor otherwise unfound in red meat. It’s the perfect canvas for punches of bright, herby accompaniments or simply salt and pepper. Roasted, grilled, made into burgers, stew or even an Easter showpiece there’s really no wrong way to enjoy lamb.

We invite you to give lamb a try this season and taste the difference that 100% organic, grass-fed American-raised lamb can make. As a bonus, here’s our family’s favorite leg of lamb recipe, perfect for your Easter celebrations:

Elmwood Roast Leg of Lamb

Ingredients

1 boneless leg of lamb (around 4 lbs or so) trimmed and tied

6 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary leaves

2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme

2 tablespoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and make sure the rack is in the middle position.

Combine the garlic, rosemary, thyme, salt, pepper and olive oil in a small bowl. Rub all over the lamb.

Put lamb in a roasting pan and roast for 1 ½ to 2 hours, until the lamb is medium rare. It’s helpful to have an instant read thermometer handy to temp the lamb in the center – you’re looking for it to read 135 degrees F. 

Remove the lamb from the oven and let rest for 20 minutes. Serve with your favorite sides. We like to serve leg of lamb with fingerling potatoes, polenta or even mac and cheese!