I have a lamb in my freezer...

[twoluvlykids]

in bits. Can I please have best ways to cook it. It's in - 2 legs, 2 shoulders, 2 breasts, lots of chops and a couple of strange unlabelled bits. No mince.

DC's won't eat it, so each time I cook a bit, it'll proabably stretch DH & I over at least 3 meals.

I'm not a bad cook, but have only made lamb shanks before.

TIA

Love lamb. There are loads of nice recipes around. Check out the BBC Good Food website. Also Delia on line.

lamb stew?
have you got a slow cooker?

yes, have one of those

do you reckon it'd take the best part of a day, or longer, to defrost a leg?

With a leg I usually try to remember to take it out the night before and put it in the fridge then take it out in the morning. Jamie Oliver has a nice recipe for a leg of lamb - might be on his website. Although my fave has to being basic roast lamb with roast potatoes and all the trimmings.

Moroccan lamb tagine is nice. Could be done in a slow cooker I am sure.

Lam curry also good.

From Jamie's Naked Chef book
Slow cooked leg of lamb

Serves 6.

1 large leg of lamb
salt and feshly ground black pepper
olive oil
6 rashers of thick streaky bacon
3 red onions peeled and quartered
3 cloves of garlic peeled and sliced
2 good handfuls of mixed fresh herbs, thyme, rosemary, bay
4 large potatoes peeled and cut into chunks
1 celariac peeled and cut into chunks
6 large carrots peeled and halved
3 parsnips scrubbed and halved
1 bottle white wine

Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/Gas 3. In a large pot or a deep sided roasting tray, fry your well seasoned lamb in a couple of good lugs of olive oil until brown on all sides. Add the bacon, onions and garlic and continue fry for 3 more minutes, throw in your herbs and veg. Pour in your wine plus an equivalent amount of water, bring to the boil and tightly cover with kitchen foil. Bake in the preheated oven for 5 hours until tender, seasoning the cooking liquor to taste. To serve, pull away a nice portion of meat, take a selection of veg and serve with some crusty bread to mop up the gravy.

I cant believe your dc dont like lamb - my dc love it, in fact I am lucky if I get any!

We're half way through a lamb. It seems to be going on forever as only myself DH and DD2 are eating it. DDs1 and 3 are conscientious objectors due to the fact that we hand reared the mother of the lamb so technically it is their step brother.

I wish I'd labeled the cuts as the butcher handed them over. It's turned into a game of lamb roulette now as the meat got squished when I crammed it in the freezer and it's hard to identify most things.

It is beautiful though. We eat most of it just plain roasted. It would seem sacrilege to taint it's simple gorgeousness with too many other tastes.

Ohh Stirling your recipe sounds delish. Might just go take a randon chunk of lamb out and give it a try tomorrow.