How To Make Lamb Bacon Recipes

LAMB BACON

Steps:

• Make the rub: Combine the salts, brown sugar, bay leaves, and pepper in a bowl and transfer to a large plate or a baking dish. Dredge the lamb breast in the rub and massage it into the surface of the lamb. (You'll probably have some rub left over.) Shake off any excess rub and let the meat sit, covered, in the refrigerator for 5 days, turning the lamb over once a day.
• Rinse the lamb breast thoroughly, pat it dry with paper towels, and allow it to sit uncovered in the refrigerator overnight.
• Cook the lamb bacon: Soak the wood chips in water for 30 minutes, then drain and them pat dry. Prepare your smoker. When the temperature inside the smoker has reached 200°F and the wood chips are smoking steadily, add the lamb, and let smoke. Maintain the temperature at 200°F at least until a thermometer inserted into the center of the meat reads 160°F. This will take about 2 hours, but we recommend smoking for 3, as longer cooking enhances the quality of the bacon. Allow the bacon to cool completely in the fridge and store, wrapped, for up to 1 month.
• Tip: The size of lamb breasts can vary quite a bit, so be sure to buy yours deboned or boneless. A bone-in breast will lose 30 to 35 percent of its weight upon deboning.

HOMEMADE BACON

Steps:

• Rinse the pork belly and pat dry. Transfer to a resealable 2-gallon plastic bag. To make the spice rub, mix the kosher salt, pink salt, brown sugar, honey, red pepper flakes, paprika and cumin in a bowl. Coat the pork belly all over with the mixture.
• Close the bag and refrigerate 7 to 10 days, flipping once a day, until the pork belly feels firm. It should take 7 days for a thin belly that is about 11/2 inches thick, longer for a belly that's 2 to 3 inches thick.
• Remove the pork belly from the bag, rinse thoroughly and pat dry. Refrigerate the belly on a rack, uncovered, 48 hours.
• Set up your smoker according to the manufacturer's instructions using applewood chips, and set to 200 degrees F. Smoke the pork belly 3 hours, or until the bacon reaches an internal temperature of 150 degrees F.
• Remove the rind (optional), then slice and cook as desired. To store, wrap the bacon in plastic wrap and refrigerate up to 1 week or freeze up to 2 months.
• Pink curing salt is a mix of salt and sodium nitrite. It keeps the meat pink and protects it from bacteria. You can find it at specialty food stores or online.

LAMB'S FRY AND BACON

Steps:

• Place lamb liver in a small bowl, sprinkle with sea salt, cover with water and refrigerate for a few hours.
• Peel skin off lamb's fry and remove any other pieces of tissue, slice and lightly coat with the flour. I normally like to cut any long strips in half again so they're bite size.
• Remove excess fat and rind from the bacon and chop coarsely. Leave a bit of streaky fat on the bacon, it adds to the flavour.
• Melt butter in a frypan, add bacon and onion and fry around 8-10 minutes over medium to high temperature until onion is soft and bacon is fairly well cooked but not crisp.
• Add lamb's fry and lightly fry a few minutes turning often to brown evenly, you don't need to cook it through at this stage.
• Blend water, vegemite and cornflour and add to the pan and mix through well.
• Bring to a gentle boil, reduce temperature to a simmer and continue to cook for 20 minutes stirring every 5 minutes or so. It may take a little more time but you want a fairly thick gravy runs a little slowly off a spoon.
• Serve with mashed potatoes or it's also good re-heated and served on toast for breakfast.

ROAST LAMB WITH GARLIC

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Trim lamb of any visible fat or skin. Peel garlic cloves and slice. Then, using the point of a sharp knife, prick the flesh of the lamb and insert a slice of garlic in each incision, using all garlic. Rub lamb with salt, pepper and sugar (the sugar helps give it a caramel-brown color) and place on a rack in a pan and put in the hot oven. Let brown 15 minutes; turn over and brown 15 minutes more. Remove from oven.
• While lamb is cooking, cut rind from bacon and slice into small lardons, about 1/2 inch long. Bring small pot of water to boil. Add bacon pieces, return to boil and drain immediately.
• Heat olive oil in a braising pot large enough to hold the lamb leg. Saute bacon lardons in the oil until brown. Remove and set aside. In the bacon fat, saute sliced onions over medium-low heat until soft and a golden color; this will take 15 to 20 minutes. When onions are done, remove, draining well, and set aside. Discard remaining fat. Wipe pot with paper towel to remove all traces of grease.
• Place lamb in braising pot. Deglaze pan in which lamb was cooked by adding wine and, over high heat, scraping the brown bits from the bottom. Add resulting wine gravy to the braising pot. Decrease oven heat to 300 degrees.
• Add onions, bacon, bay leaves and thyme to lamb. Add water if necessary - the liquid should barely cover the onions and bacon. Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat, cover and place in 300-degree oven. Cook 2 to 2 1/2 hours. If you wish to add sage-flavored beans (see recipe), do so after 1 1/2 hours of cooking time. When done, the lamb may be served immediately or set aside, Mediterranean fashion, to cool to just above room temperature before serving. Serve with onions, bacon and, if used, sage-flavored beans.

BACON-WRAPPED LEG OF LAMB WITH RED WINE REDUCTION

Steps:

• Trim excess fat and thin membrane from leg of lamb; place into roasting pan. Cut slits in the meat and insert garlic slivers into slits. Mix olive oil, lemon juice, and rosemary in a small bowl; brush mixture over lamb. Lay bacon slices onto the meat. Let roast stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
• Roast lamb in the preheated oven until an instant-read meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the leg, not touching bone, reads 145 degrees F (65 degrees C) for medium-rare or 160 degrees F (70 degrees C) for medium, 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 hours. Transfer lamb to a serving platter, cover loosely with aluminum foil, and let stand while you make the sauce.
• Skim and discard excess grease from pan drippings left in roasting pan; place roasting pan over medium heat. Cook and stir onion in drippings until translucent, about 5 minutes; pour in wine. Stir wine and pan drippings, scraping up and dissolving brown bits of food stuck on the bottom of the pan. Pour in stock, bring sauce to a boil, and reduce heat to low. Stir tomato paste into sauce, bring to a simmer, and cook until sauce has reduced to about 1 cup. Season with salt and black pepper. For a smoother sauce, strain before serving.