The Lamb Neck Post


I'm behind on posting, so let's get caught up. I purchased Lamb Necks from Canter Hill Farm at last Thursday's farmers market.

Here's their site: http://www.canterhillfarm.org/

Let's get some history and context going to build up to the lamb neck event:

I started shopping at the Downingtown farmers market this past September. I was able to be there for a month straight into the first week of October. I also made a side trip to the market in Malvern during that time, and I just returned to the Downingtown market the first week of December. On one of the first or second trips, I stopped at the Canter Hill stall and struck up a conversation with one of the owners of the farm, Wayne. After conversing, I decided to buy some South African Boerewors sausage. He's from Rhodesia, and the sausage recipe is one of his favorites to use with the animals they raise on the farm.

It was delicious. More than delicious. I think I discovered how meat was supposed to taste. Their site does a better job than I could explaining why I tasted what I tasted. They farm, I just eat.

The products they sell also cost more money than supermarket...meat. Which might put people off at first. But I read something that rang true regarding this...conundrum. The question to ask yourself is not why this farm meat I'm buying is so expensive, but why supermarket....stuff...is so cheap. And the answer to the second question is gross.

But back to the sausage. It was great. I got adventurous and ordered pork jowls and chicken livers. I don't have photos of the pork jowls, as the thought of this blog hadn't taken enough hold in my mind. But, surprise, they were incredible. And the chicken livers. Yum. Some crude pictures of the pate I made following Jacques Pepin's recipe, if I remember correctly.

The above was turned into:

It tasted a lot better than that picture looks.

So, one of the things I was looking forward to most upon my return to Downingtown was the farmers market and some delicious Canter Hill. I emailed the farm asking for some lamb neck, as the description on their web site made it sound both appetizing and economical. I had looked up some recipes online, but the one I used is the one I got from Wayne when I went to pick up the necks. With an addition of my own.

There are the ingredients. A 3 pound lamb neck, salt, pepper, carrots, onions, potatoes, and olive oil for browning. Not pictured is flour, chicken stock, 5 sprigs of thyme, and polenta.

I floured and browned the lamb:

Put it in a big pot with the stock, onions, and thyme.

 Bring to a boil, then simmer, adding carrots and potatoes as you wait. This took 3 hours. But it smelled delicious and was worth the wait. After 3 hours, this happens:

All the meat and marrow is in the pot. Only the neck bones are left.

Looking at this picture is making me hungry. The lamb, I can only describe it as, intense lamb. Lamb concentrate, how 'bout that? The broth is marrow delicious, and the polenta went really well with it (good job, me). Of anything that sticks out the most about this dish is how incredible the depth of flavor was for how little I seasoned it. Salt, pepper, and thyme. And it had at least 5 levels to it. Really simple, and just out of this damn world

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Next time more market haul. Yum.