Clearing out the freezer

[mrsbrown]

In December 2009, I bought a sheep.  It was butchered and shared with a group of friends. Most of it was delicious, but a bit tough.

I need to do something with the flap that I have left in my freezer. So I started to research it this morning.

Lamb flap is described as " a food so fatty that most of Papua New Guinea subsists almost solely upon it and then hilariously die of heart disease".  It's so unhealthy that PNG has banned the sale of it. (Note: internet research).

I found a forum called Destitute Gourmet.  I don't think they're as destitute as they like to think they are - they recommended feeding it to the dog.

The concensus seems to be that I should roll it with salt and herbs, tie it with string and slow roast it on a rack to drain as much fat as possible.  If I leave out any onion I might be able to find a dog to eat it when we sit down and decide it's too fatty.

OTOH, the flap is from a free range lamb.  This might be the best bit.

Comments

[quatrefoil]

Perhaps you should consider this less as a cut of meat than a source of tallow? If you use the method that drains the fat out at a relatively low temperature so that it doesn't burn, you ought to be able to salvage it for either candle or soap making.

[tangent_woman]

The rolled roasted version is customary. A layer of stuffing rolled up in it works well, too. The stuffing should be quite dry as it will absorb more of the fat and flavour, and sharper flavoured herbs help counter the 'ulgh' over-greasy mutton flavour.

The flaps can also be cut into strips/chunks (so they sit in the tray) and roasted, then the meat can be more easily separated from the fat. Eating it like that is more fiddly than the rolled roast where the "fiddly" is in the preparation, but you ingest less of the solid fat. The meat itself is, in my experience, rather flavoursome, but clearly not everyone finds it to be worth the effort.

[montjoye]

Ya, I rolled mine with a stuffing of herbs, breadcrumbs and rind+zest of lemon. Slow roasted as you say, in a covered iron pot. It was fantastic.