Nothing is more fresh than hunting and processing your own meat. I have never been hunting before though it’s something I’d like to do at some point. I do have to say, I was pretty excited to get the chance to butcher cut & wrap my first lamb recently! And I cooked the first cut of lamb ribs shortly after processing and served it along with this paleo roasted red pepper relish.
Around the same time I arrived in Missoula, Montana to visit my sister Amanda, my friend Ryan was planning to process a local, grass-fed lamb he had purchased. He was heading out to pick up the meat and asked if I wanted to tag along. He knew how excited I would be. :)
Ryan, his girlfriend Mariah and I drove south to Hamilton to meet up with Mariah’s parents and then we went directly to the kitchen. I shared some photos and video on my Snapchat through the entire experience and saved it to share with you here. You can watch that video above.
All About Butchering Lamb
We had two females so the first was our hands-on tutorial and the second was when we took over completely. Needless to say the first was a little cleaner cut but that doesn’t really matter once you go to cook the meat as a meal at home. No one is paying attention to the ragged edges because they’re too busy stuffing their face with lamb-y goodness. ;)
We were provided several sharp knives and three chef’s bowls to separate the meat as we cut it up. The bowls were used for fat that we trimmed off the cuts, meat set aside to be ground and then scraps (although it was our first time processing a lamb we made sure we didn’t have too many scraps…don’t want to waste all the good stuff!).
We were talking about uses for the leftover fat and I had mentioned that I was just talking to my sister about learning to make soap! Since the processing of the lamb took a few hours, including cleanup, that wasn’t something we would do that night but definitely something to consider for sometime in the future.
Preparing Lamb Ribs
Once we got all the cuts packaged and safely home to Ryan & Mariah’s freezer, we found a few days when we were all free so I could come over and cook some cuts and play some board games.
It had been a while since I had done a long cooking marathon but I decided to make two different recipes on the same night. I used the lamb shanks and prepared my Eggplant Lamb Paleo Soup. And while that was going I cooked the lamb ribs in the pressure cooker so we had something to eat while we were waiting for the soup to finish.
I wanted to highlight the flavor of the lamb and not slather it in BBQ sauce or serve it with something heavy, so I decided to make a quick roasted red pepper relish and serve the ribs over a simple organic baby green salad.
Lamb Not Required
You, by no means, need to prepare grass-fed lamb ribs to prepare and serve this roasted red pepper relish.
It would be a delicious condiment for many dishes. Off the top of my head pork tenderloin and chicken breast are the first that come to mind. You could serve it over sautéed zoodles or even boiled/roasted broccoli. Even if you want to mix it in with some hard boiled eggs, that would make for a tasty egg salad!
To Buy Roasted Red Peppers Or Not?
If you’re looking for a way to make this quick recipe even quicker, you could always purchase roasted red peppers. They come in a glass jar, are located in one of the center isles at the grocery store, and usually come stored in some kind of oil (olive oil if you’re lucky).
The thing is, it’s super simple to roast your own red peppers! You can choose to put the bell pepper in the oven and allow it to roast until the skin wrinkles up. Or, if you have a gas burner on your stovetop, you can char the peppers by holding them over the open flame. Bonus points if you own a handheld kitchen torch – those will be just as helpful.
It’s typically cheaper and much less waste to just purchase a whole pepper and roast it yourself. Plus it’s fun playing with fire, just don’t get distracted. ;)
