I just bought a leg of lamb this morning, brand is Ovation free range NZ lamb. Nice!, anyone tasted it, shall I cook as normal - slivers of garlic inserted in skin on a bed of rosemary stalks
village.green,
Nov 3, 7:18pm
I think you'll find all lamb in NZ is 'free range' so if they are using that on their packaging it is a bit of a joke. Anyhow back to your question, yes just cook it as normal, that way sounds lovely and what I would do, although I always add lots of lemon juice.
marblicious,
Nov 3, 7:21pm
I saw a sign at a kindergarten the other day advising people to beware as there were free range children about.
vintagekitty,
Nov 3, 7:21pm
Lemon juice!, do you mean basting it with lemon juice!, that sounds nice
Although it did cross my mind that the brand Ovation did sound similar to ovulation.
vintagekitty,
Nov 3, 7:22pm
haha, all children should be free range
fifie,
Nov 3, 7:56pm
Always cook my lamb legs like this, as they are a treat for me these days.Just slit skin here and there a poke garlic in, S/Play it on the rosemaryit flavours up beautiful when cooking.
vintagekitty,
Nov 3, 8:12pm
It's the cheapest meat here atm, never been cheaper!
elliehen,
Nov 3, 9:22pm
I think they should have had a focus group going before they settled on that brand name.it's a bit off-putting ;)
vintagekitty,
Nov 3, 9:23pm
I know!, sack the marketing team:)
village.green,
Nov 4, 3:12am
No just stick the garlic in and also rosemary or underneath, then pour a good amount of olive oil over and the juice of 1-2 lemons, making sure it is well coated which you can do with hands. You can baste during cooking. My mother is Greek and lemon always goes with lamb (and fish). Actually if you are feeling really keen maybe next time, get a pestle and mortar or food processor and mash up garlic, rosemary, olive oil, lemon juice and lemon zest, smear all over the lamb and leave to marinate for 2 days, then just before cooking season with salt and pepper.You can also make some slits and push the mixture inside for added flavour. Fantastic. Even better on a rotisserie bbq.
creeky1,
Nov 4, 9:39pm
Check out their website, they claim the lamb is free range and grass feed. Must be targeting people overseas who can't get free ranging and grass feed sheep.
riggal,
Nov 4, 11:03pm
It still got stressed with being chased into a truck then to the works which smell like death. the best lamb is homekill no stress at all. Tastes so good you don't want to add anything. Yumm
uli,
Nov 4, 11:14pm
Very stressed indeed. Lots of lovely adrenalin in the meat to keep you awake :)
rainrain1,
Nov 4, 11:26pm
Where does it keep you!
kay141,
Nov 5, 12:24am
And where do you suggest the majority of the city populations get homekill!
uli,
Nov 5, 4:52pm
Nobody in the city gets homekill. You have to eat what the supermarkets or butchers offer you. Homekill is only for farmers and anybody that lives there - not their children who live in town and not their b&b guests either. The law is very clear on that.
You can however "help care" for an animal together with your farmer friends and then later have it home killed by a certified butcher. That is the only legal way to get home kill if you live on the city fringes. Remember however that only you can eat it - because you "helped care for it" on the farm. No-one else in the city household.
samsnan,
Nov 5, 7:09pm
So if my son on a farm decides to give his lovely mother a nice leg of lamb for a nice Sunday dinner the law is going to knock on his door and chastise him for doing so. So I guess I need to go to his place once a week and feed it a few handfuls of grass and all will be hunky dory. How stupid the law is. And anyway how would anyone know.if I shared it. Again too stupid.
kay141,
Nov 5, 8:35pm
Interestingly, 2 websites give different opinions on the definition of family. www.lifestyleblock.co.nz says family includes extended family living elsewhere and www.foodsafety.govt.nz says the definition doe snot include family living elsewhere. And both say you must be involved in the day-to-day maintenance of the animal for at least 28 days before slaughter. So going every now and then to feed it, does not meet the requirements. That counts out any agreement with a local farmer as the nearest are too far away for that to be feasible.
village.green,
Nov 5, 11:09pm
Really, I've bought homekill off a friend before. It was very nice too.
village.green,
Nov 5, 11:09pm
Really, I've bought homekill off a friend before. It was very nice too. I've got another friend who grows sheep for meat and I've had that offered to me too, unfortunately I didn't have the space in my freezer.
And that is different from the food safety website I quoted, which was the MAF site!
uli,
Nov 6, 1:39am
This is the official guide updated February 2012 - and yes it is from MAF. It details all you need to know about legal homekill.
beaker59,
Nov 6, 8:36am
I am nowhere near up to date with homekill legislation though I do know its pretty draconian though not that well policed. However the best free range is wild and that I do enjoy allot a nice young wild goat or venison (Yay this spring I have shot plenty of venison) and soon I will go sort out some lambs as I now have access to an area with feral sheep :) But the best free range roast is a leg of wild goat a young Nanny preferably.
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