I heart Ewe.

In honor of Lamb Lovers Month I thought I would dedicate a blog post to lamb in the kitchen. Who knows maybe I'll get good at cooking lamb and make this a more regular thing. I wouldn't hold your breath.

Now don't be fooled, I wouldn't call myself a 'cook', but I have learned a few things about cooking lamb. Before I tried lamb I thought it to be a little frightening, but lamb really doesn't get the credit it deserves. Aside from tasting great lamb is quite nutritious.

I've heard two main reasons why people don't eat lamb. One reason is because lambs are just 'too cute to eat' or they simply don't know how to cook it.  In response to the first statement - it's no different than eating any other type of meat. Really, it isn't. In response to the second statement - I hope this post will encourage you to give it a go and try a recipe. It's really not rocket science.

My first lamb experience was at our town's festival. It was a few years back when J and I were just dating and I wanted to well, um, impress the in-laws so I went for it. It was a fellow sheep-rancher's lamb and it was a lambjita burrito. It was delicious! I assure you with a little knowledge you can have a great lamb experience too! 

First of all when you buy lamb I recommend buying American, all-natural, grass-fed, (if possible) pesticide-free, free range lamb. It's out there, trust me and I know this because our lamb and most Colorado lamb is all of these things. It'd be even better if you buy Colorado lamb since it is recognized for it's quality around the world.

Secondly, it's important to know that lamb needs to be cooked at a certain length of time and temperature dependent upon the cut of lamb you are cooking. A lamb cooking time guide I highly trust, use and recommend is on the American Lamb Board website, Lamb 101.

My first extravagant lamb recipe (and when I say extravagant I mean I used more than salt and pepper to flavor) was the Balsamic-Honey Glazed Lamb Chops posted by the American Lamb Board. If I can do it then you can do it ten times better! Trust me. 

So there are just a couple tips that I hope might encourage you to try a (Colorado) lamb recipe. Lamb is for lovers so eat up and be sure to tell me about it!