As I’ve mentioned before, I did not grow up with lamb as a food in the Deep South. I would have read about it books I’m sure and I suppose you could get it in the big city of Shreveport although I never heard anyone mention it. Although I did have a number of different things during my time in France, lamb was not one of them, nor did I have it when I was in my first few years in the Army. I was in Maine with my first husband’s family for Easter so of course it was roast leg of lamb with mint jelly. I was pleasantly surprised even though it wasn’t like I enjoyed it to the point of deciding we should routinely add it to the menu. It seems as if Italy was where we began to see lamb more often in restaurants and have access at the commissary (military grocery stores). Roasting was still the common way to prepare because Hubby was deprived of a grill until we were later assigned to Hawaii. Once again, lamb was not exactly a staple on the island. Being in the Washington, D.C. area was where it was plentiful and grilled lamb chops became the fall back. It really is much quicker than roasting a leg.

A few years ago, Hubby got the idea to use lamb shoulder as a substitute for veal in Osso Bucco because the store hardly ever has veal shanks. It works remarkably well and we always have broth and veggies left over as well as some lamb. That’s when I make a soup adding in another meat; often chicken, turkey, or sausage. We haven’t used ground lamb for anything, mostly because we have it often enough in other forms. When the kids come to visit, we make a point to do lamb chops since daughter-in-law loves them and son can’t bring himself to eat lamb. He acknowledges that dates back to enjoying the cute little lambs that belonged to one of the neighbors who lived close to his grandparents in Maine.