The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
19,000 people fit into the new Barclays Center to see Jay-Z perform. This blog was viewed about 110,000 times in 2012. If it were a concert at the Barclays Center, it would take about 6 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.
While butchering out a lovely young lamb (about eight months in age) we were left with two nice peices of side belly, now most folks either a)throw it to the hounds or b) cut and cube and grind it with the minx..
But I on the other hand was excited to see it as I knew that just like my Rabbit Jerky and Rabbit Bacon, that I was going to be making Lamb Bacon and Lamb Bacon Jerky..
Now there are a few differences, one of course being that its much bigger in size, but the second is more tricky, the much bigger fully attached on both sides silver skin that needs to come off either most of the way or all the way ideally.
Now I did look at it before I cured it and after make a few slits and tugs I decided to wait, as I know what the cure does to other meat cuts I have made in the past I was pretty sure that while the red muscle meat which was very soft and wanted to rip when I pulled before the cure, would in fact be nicely firm and I would be able to carefully get most of it off afterwards, this indeed proved the case.. Its worth noting that it took me more time to de-silver the cured lamb, then it it did to cut it off , prepare it, and even get it ready and use it in different dishes, which will include Lamb Bacon bits, Boston Baked Beans with Lamb Bacon, and Lamb Bacon Jerky, so just relax and don’t get in a hurry when it comes to peeling off your prepared cured meat. DH gave the finished Lamb Bacon two thumbs up, combined to regular homemade bacon (pig) its got more of a meaty texture then a tradional bacon does, flavour is excellent..
My cure was ultra easy and very tradional, and very free flowing (if you want purest measurements and I highly recommend you do so when starting, consider getting a good book on the subject), I put in four cups of water, 1 tea cup of sugar, 1 tbs of molassies, 1/4th cup of premixed salt/pink salt, pepper and minx’d garlic/dried chopped basil, I figured 3 to 4 days but was a touch surprised to find that while I started checking it on day 4 that it was not ready till day 5, while the thin parts could have been removed a day early the thicker peices needed that extra day..
The pictures show the raw peices, the peices in the glass bowl, they were weighted down with plate and the other one shows it cleaned up, trimmed and in ready to use peices, two of the thicker peices where used to make bacon bits, the cubed pile is what is being used for the Boston Baked Beans with Lamb Bacon and the three thinnest peices are being turned into Lamb Bacon Jerky.
The little piglets are doing well, they are growing lots of thick hair on their bodies to help with the winter cold, they still like to come out of their stalls and root around in the main way of the big barn and explore when allowed by the doors and up in the hay feeding area’s.. They love their warm water, feed, and hay that they get, they raise a big old grunting, ruckus when they hear us coming.
We are working on their herding manners and working them to go from place to place with the boards, as they need to learn to move around the farm and also to follow us when we call pig, pig and shake a bucket at them..
Bright Eyes the little Eastern Painted Turtle continues to drive me a tiny bit crazy as unless its raw fresh meat that is waved in front of her little snapping jaws, she will not eat in front of me, but the other day I did get her to have bite of a blueberry, so slow, very slow progress is being made, most of the time, its a matter of placing it, leaving it, and then scooping and cleaning her tank.. I also have invested in a water conditioner that helps create the right Ph balance in her water.
Let me tell ya, even for sure a little wee turtle she surely does require a goodly amount of tank care, I found by the time I had her big dry sleeping spot, and her floating pad and the floating stick that allowed her to pull herself up on the lily and then onto the big rock, we were losing a great deal of swimming space in her tank..
So her Xmas present besides dried shimp (which she does not like that much yet, I really need to get her some minnows or guppies and or a red wiggler or two to munch on) was this awesome floating turtle island, its held in place with magnets on the outside and so fits snuggly in one corner of her tank with a underwater enter place..
She is growing and looks very healthy, so I must be doing something right..
Well, first its just healthy for them, second it gives them something to do during their day, but of equal importance to me is what it does to their eggs.. These are no pale winter eggs.. That color says it all! So full of flavour and goodness!
So simple, so good, use on a salad for a full meal or use in a wrap or sandwhich.. even dh best way he has ever had heart to date.. Trim your heart well, stuff with favorite stuffing or with dried dates or chopped dates mixed with feta cheese, wrap with bacon, wrap in tinfoil, bake at 350 till done, approx half hour depending on heart sizes, allow to chill well before slicing.
Here is the recipe..
Blend till course ground or smooth ground, I went med ground, layer pan with fatty bacon and pour in an bake in a slow oven in a half pan of water that comes up the dishes side by half way.. After baking, weight down as cooling/chilling to help firm up and increase the odds of a nice slice.
From my own notes, I would consider trying this again with duck liver to go with duck meat, and I would consider making it with lamb liver with either lamb or pork meat, but I can’t say that I would ever do duck and lamb together, for me at least the flavours fought each other, instead of blending and helping each other..
Well, it does not happen that often but this is one of them, I researched and found this awesome french recipe for a mix of duck meat with lamb liver pate wrapped in bacon, and I founded it fairly close and spent the time doing all the steps, I even pressed it to get it to slice nicely (not) while it got cold, it looks good and it smells good but the flavour combo’s do NOTHING for me.. I know its not the duck or the liver, I made a different dish with half the duck and it was excellend, I made a breaded fried liver dish and it was amazing!
This was not, I did make myself eat some of it to give it a fair shake, It was really not good on its own, so I sliced thinly, and made it into a sandwhich with garlicly crunchy dill pickle and lots of greens, and it was barely ok.. While I would like to say that I will do this again with different spices to see if I like it better the truth is, I won’t, it was such a waste of high quality meat.. but my old girl lily the lab is going to really enjoy it for her supper..
None the less the process on how to make it is worth noting, as I will make another one like this but with liver combo’s that I know I like..
Just another Day on the Farm 