When we were in Maine, we used to get a weekly lamb delivered by Clayton Spinney. Clayton has many stories, but today I am interested in the young lamb, particularly the neck. One lamb, one neck. We used to braise the neck whole, then take the meat off the bone and roll it into a cylinder. We glazed the roulade with the braising liquid and served it with young marjoram, Cantal-enriched potatoes, and garlic-flavored spinach. The neck was sold as a special for two when we had it, or in some cases became my dinner.
The lamb neck is, to my taste, the most decadent and underutilized piece of lamb. These days we have a new lamb supplier, Alan Higgins of Grass Roots Lamb. He has been able to supply us with lamb of all sorts, from neck to belly to beautiful loins, and most recently a brisket—currently a product we have not used, though I foresee lamb pastrami. My thoughts wander as I think about lamb, the product, and the possibilities.
What I have begun to learn over the years is that in dealing with ingredients, do the work now. Rather than braising lamb necks whole and then unrolling them, we have taken to brining them, removing them from the bone, fusing them together, sealing them in plastic bags, slowly cooking them, pressing them, and finally portioning the finished product. I think our new process has more steps, though the end result yields an incredibly flavorful, functional, and versatile product. Once the lamb is prepared, we reseal them and freeze the prepared necks, which we may then draw upon at any time. The process involved upfront is now longer, though at the day’s end, we have tremendous gains in usability and flavor.
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