Cooking Grass Fed Lamb Texas Style!

 Thank ya'll for all the questions over the last year or so! One that keeps popping up is, how do I grill different cuts of lamb? Well today is the day we start talking about how to just that! You can also visit our website Kalosfarms.com for recipes, great health related info, and place your order to begin your grilling journey!

 To begin with, steer clear of using lighter fluid or any quickstart charcoal. Yes they are a breeze to start your grill, but the fumes you send off from them are very harmful to you and your family, plus they greatly effect the quality and taste of your lamb. My choice is to use straight charcoal or a variety of natural woods. So get the chainsaw out and get your stockpile going!

Now that we have all that covered, seasonings... I personally like to use chipotle , or a number of other Texas Style seasonings.First I take the meat out of the freezer and let it thaw to room temp. Afterwards I'll start a little marinade with some Texas Style secrets! After letting the marinade and the meat sit for about 12 hours, I'll fire up the smoker and get the temp up to 225. If I'm smoking a leg of Lamb, I'll butterfly the leg prior to the marinade and place it on the smoker fat side up. Be sure to close the lid for around an hour and a half to two hours. After a few glasses of wine, (or beers) go back to your smoker and check your creation! It should be about ready to flip! So flip it! :) Now go back to what you were doing but be sure to maintain 200 to 225 temp on the smoker. after a few more glasses, go back and check on the leg. It should be ready to serve! So take the leg off the smoker, wrap in foil and let rest for thirty minutes. Get the plates ready and enjoy your dinner!

Kalos Farms Lamb Meat Texas Style

!!!Kalos Farms!!!

Here's a pretty cool selection of videos that will give you an idea of what you will find here at Kalos Farms! We hope you enjoy them!

Say YES to Grass Fed Lamb! No more Grain,Soy, or Other Supplements!

It's Time to Treat You Like Kings and Queens!

Good morning you guys! Listen, I am really grateful for all the support from you! I started Kalos Farms with the idea of being able to provide you with great quality Grass Fed Lamb Meat that you cant get anywhere locally. I put a lot of care and consideration in everything that goes on here. Now that I'm at the Collin County Farmers Market on Saturdays, and our Lamb is in some five star restaurants and food stores across the U S, I sincerely want to treat all of you like kings and queens! Kalos Farms is now opening our own restaurant with the sole purpose of treating you the way you deserve.

How would you like to come into my place and enjoy an elegant rustic ambiance coupled with personal service, an awesome grass fed steak or lamb dinner, wine and entertainment? We'll have your dinner prepared in front of you by a real chef and served to you by myself or my assistant.

We're going to open within the next two months. It will be by reservation only. There will be great food, wine and cigars for the guys and any ladies that enjoy a great smoke! I look forward to seeing you soon!

David

Ground Lamb Wraps

Lettuce leaves offer a light, fresh alternative to pita or flatbread. If you can't find red pepper hummus, plain hummus is a welcome substitute.

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons canola oil $
• 1 cup finely chopped onion $
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh garlic $
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 6 ounces lean ground lamb
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1/2 cup chopped tomato $
• 1/2 cup chopped cucumber $
• 1/4 cup plain fat-free Greek yogurt $
• 1/4 cup red pepper hummus (such as Tribe) $
• 8 Boston lettuce leaves $
• 2 tablespoons torn mint leaves
• 1 tablespoon pine nuts, toasted

Preparation

1. 1. Heat a large skillet over high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add onion and next 5 ingredients (through lamb) to pan; sauté 5 minutes or until lamb is done. Combine parsley, tomato, and cucumber in a medium bowl. Stir in lamb mixture. Combine yogurt and hummus in a small bowl. Place about 1/4 cup lamb mixture in each lettuce leaf. Top each wrap with 1 tablespoon hummus mixture. Divide mint and pine nuts evenly among wraps.

 

 

 

Lamb Wraps with Smoked German Sausage!

Morning ya'll! So, I woke up this morning with an idea to start making all sorts of lamb wraps for the spring and summer! With the temps starting to rise, the wraps would be a great and "cool" meal to have! There's a wide variety of wraps to be made! And I have a lot of smoked german sausage on hand! So I started out with some fresh lettuce, tomatoes,  some flat bread and some cuccumber and red onion! Here's the recipe I'm using! I hope you enjoy it! If you would like to stop by and pick up some lamb or simply hang out, just let me know!!!!!

Ingredients 

• 1 cup unpeeled cubed cucumber (about 1/2) 
• 1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream
• 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
• 1/3 cup (1.3-ounces) crumbled feta cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon dried mint flakes
• Cooking spray 
• 1 pound smoked german sausage, cut into 1/4-inch slices
• 1 onion, cut into quarters and thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoon Greek seasoning
• 4 (8-inch) flour tortillas 
• 1 large tomato, thinly sliced 
• 1 cup packed baby spinach leaves

Preparation

1. Combine first 6 ingredients in a small bowl; stir well. Cover and chill.
2. Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray; add lamb and onion, and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, 6 to 7 minutes or until lamb is done. Remove from heat; stir in Greek seasoning.
3. Divide lamb mixture evenly among 4 tortillas; top each evenly with cucumber sauce, tomato, and spinach. Roll up tortillas, and cut each wrap in half; secure with wooden picks, if necessary.

The benefits of eating wild at Kalos Farms!

Grass-Fed Basics

 

Back to Pasture. Since the late 1990s, a growing number of ranchers have stopped sending their animals to the feedlots to be fattened on grain, soy and other supplements.  Instead, they are keeping their animals home on the range where they forage on pasture, their native diet. These new-age ranchers do not treat their livestock with hormones or feed them growth-promoting additives. As a result, the animals grow at a natural pace. For these reasons and more, grass-fed animals live low-stress lives and are so healthy there is no reason to treat them with antibiotics or other drugs.

More Nutritious. A major benefit of raising animals on pasture is that their products are healthier for you. For example, compared with feedlot meat, meat from grass-fed beef, bison, lamb and goats has less total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and calories. It also has more vitamin E, beta-carotene, vitamin C, and a number of health-promoting fats, including omega-3 fatty acids and “conjugated linoleic acid,” or CLA.  Read more about the nutritional benefits of raising animals on pasture.

The Art and Science of Grassfarming. Raising animals on pasture requires more knowledge and skill than sending them to a feedlot. For example, in order for grass-fed beef to be succulent and tender, the cattle need to forage on high-quality grasses and legumes, especially in the months prior to slaughter. Providing this nutritious and natural diet requires healthy soil and careful pasture management so that the plants are maintained at an optimal stage of growth. Because high-quality pasture is the key to high-quality animal products, many pasture-based ranchers refer to themselves as "grassfarmers" rather than “ranchers.”  They raise great grass; the animals do all the rest.

Factory Farming. Raising animals on pasture is dramatically different from the status quo. Virtually all the meat, eggs, and dairy products that you find in the supermarket come from animals raised in confinement in large facilities called CAFOs or “Confined Animal Feeding Operations.”  These highly mechanized operations provide a year-round supply of food at a reasonable price. Although the food is cheap and convenient, there is growing recognition that factory farming creates a host of problems, including:
• Animal stress and abuse
• Air, land, and water pollution
• The unnecessary use of hormones, antibiotics, and other drugs
• Low-paid, stressful farm work
• The loss of small family farms
• Food with less nutritional value.

Unnatural Diets. Animals raised in factory farms are given diets designed to boost their productivity and lower costs. The main ingredients are genetically modified grain and soy that are kept at artificially low prices by government subsidies. To further cut costs, the feed may also contain “by-product feedstuff” such as municipal garbage, stale pastry, chicken feathers, and candy. Until 1997, U.S. cattle were also being fed meat that had been trimmed from other cattle, in effect turning herbivores into carnivores. This unnatural practice is believed to be the underlying cause of BSE or “mad cow disease.”

Animal Stress. A high-grain diet can cause physical problems for ruminants—cud-chewing animals such as cattle, dairy cows, goats, bison, and sheep. Ruminants are designed to eat fibrous grasses, plants, and shrubs—not starchy, low-fiber grain. When they are switched from pasture to grain, they can become afflicted with a number of disorders, including a common but painful condition called “subacute acidosis.” Cattle with subacute acidosis kick at their bellies, go off their feed, and eat dirt. To prevent more serious and sometimes fatal reactions, the animals are given chemical additives along with a constant, low-level dose of antibiotics. Some of these antibiotics are the same ones used in human medicine. When medications are overused in the feedlots, bacteria become resistant to them. When people become infected with these new, disease-resistant bacteria, there are fewer medications available to treat them.

Caged Pigs, Chickens, Ducks and Geese.  Most of the nation’s chickens, turkeys, and pigs are also being raised in confinement. Typically, they suffer an even worse fate than the grazing animals. Tightly packed into cages, sheds, or pens, they cannot practice their normal behaviors, such as rooting, grazing, and roosting. Laying hens are crowded into cages that are so small that there is not enough room for all of the birds to sit down at one time. An added insult is that they cannot escape the stench of their own manure. Meat and eggs from these animals are lower in a number of key vitamins and omega-3 fatty acids.

Environmental Degradation. When animals are raised in feedlots or cages, they deposit large amounts of manure in a small amount of space. The manure must be collected and transported away from the area, an expensive proposition. To cut costs, it is dumped as close to the feedlot as possible. As a result, the surrounding soil is overloaded with nutrients, which can cause ground and water pollution. When animals are raised outdoors on pasture, their manure is spread over a wide area of land, making it a welcome source of organic fertilizer, not a “waste management problem.” Read more about the environmental differences between factory farming and grass-based production.

The Healthiest Choice. When you choose to eat meat, eggs, and dairy products from animals raised on pasture, you are improving the welfare of the animals, helping to put an end to environmental degradation, helping small-scale ranchers and farmers make a living from the land, helping to sustain rural communities, and giving your family the healthiest possible food. It’s a win-win-win-win situation.

Great Spring Recipe!

                                                     Kalos Farms Spring time Recipe

Here's an awesome recipe for spring time here at Kalos Farms in Whitewright Texas! If you're looking for something that's fun and easy to cook, well here it is! I hope you enjoy it!

Ingredients

• 2¼lb leg of lamb, bone in
• 75ml olive oil
• 1 tbsp chopped rosemary
• 2 large carrots, roughly chopped
• 1 onion, roughly chopped
• 3 sticks celery, roughly chopped
• small sprigs of bay, rosemary and thyme
• pared zest and juice of 1 orange (use a potato peeler for the zest)
• 1 tsp plain flour
• ½ bottle rosé wine
• 500ml lamb, chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 tbsp redcurrant jelly

1. Preheat the oven to fan 180C/ conventional 200C/gas 6. Using a small knife, trim away any excess fat from the lamb and place the fat in the roasting tin. Then criss-cross the top and sides of the lamb with the knife, making shallow incisions. Mix half the olive oil with the rosemary, salt and pepper and set aside.
2. Place the roasting tin over a medium heat and warm the lamb fat with the remaining olive oil for a few seconds. Add the lamb and rub the rosemary oil over the top and into the slashes. Keep turning the lamb over in the hot oil until it begins to colour all over.
3. Tip the vegetables and sprigs of herbs into the tin, sprinkle the lamb with a little extra salt and roast in the oven for 50 minutes or until the outside fat starts to brown. Remove the tin from the oven and turn the temperature down to fan 140C/ conventional 160C/gas 4.
4. Scrape the vegetables away from the bottom of the tin and turn the lamb over. Baste with a little of the fat, then continue to roast for 45-50 minutes. Test by inserting a metal skewer into the thickest part of the leg: for medium-rare meat, the tip should feel warm to the touch and the juices that run out of the meat should be fairly pink.
5. Remove the lamb to a warmed serving dish and cover with a loose tent of foil. This will prevent heat escaping and will allow the lamb to relax while the gravy is made.
6. Blanch the orange zest in boiling water for 1 minute until soft, then drain and set aside. Remove the vegetables from the roasting tin (reserve any that aren’t too dark for tucking round the roast), then put the tin on a medium heat and skim away all but 1 tbsp of the fat. Sprinkle the flour in and stir constantly. Add the wine, orange juice and zest and stock and boil rapidly for about 10 minutes until the gravy thickens, colours and is reduced by about half. Taste and add salt and pepper if necessary. Finally, stir in the redcurrant jelly and simmer until melted, then strain. Serve the lamb surrounded by any reserved vegetables, with the hot gravy.