On 12/30/2014 11:12 PM, sf wrote:
>
> Tonight's meal: (thick) lamb shoulder chops, "semi-roasted" potato,
> broccolini and tossed green salad.
>
> I'm not taking back any derogatory thing I've said in the past about
> Australian lamb, but do you remember I said that NZ lamb is almost
> indistinguishable from American? I bought thick cut shoulder chops
> from Safeway the other day and cooked them tonight. OMG - they were
> great! Tender and delicious, no odd mutton/gamey flavor. I wouldn't
> be able to tell them from NZ and I'm not sure if I could tell either
> from American at this point (remembering what a big difference there
> was between ranches with grass fed beef when ChrisD and I did that
> tasting together). If this continues, I won't need to go to a
> different store to buy lamb anymore!
>
Sounds like a win-win all around.

> Added benefit: you sure can't argue with the price! Don't
> know/remember what you paid, but mine was $4.99 lb which is a mere
> shadow of the $11.99 I pay for lamb T-bone chops.
>
I don't recall the exact price of the lamb chops I bought but yeah,
somewhere around $4.99/lb.

> I still haven't found a shoulder roast (the lamb equivalent of pork
> butt), but I hope they become more available. I think I'll ask the
> butcher next time I'm in and see if I can buy one whole. I've seen
> recipes that use a (boned) shoulder roast whole that I'm interested in
> - but of course their lamb was from la-tee-da from a stand alone
> butcher shop (or even more rarified) instead of the grocery store
> butcher counter.
>
I would consider buying a small lamb shoulder roast. I simply don't
think to look for or ask about them when I'm at the meat counter.

Jill