Goat or Lamb Breast (Brisket) Rice Bowl
Lamb and goat breast is a cut I’d never worked with. Once I hear about a cut of meat I haven’t prepared, I’m never really satisfied until I know how it functions and what I can do with it. It’s easy to see why they’re not as popular as the luxury cuts: they’re fatty, and have irregular pieces of bone. Fatty, bony hunks of meat are usually some of the best tasting cuts on the animal, but they can require some special treatment to turn them into something great.
As I worked with a couple different batches with both lamb and goat over the last few weeks, I made a simple tutorial that follows here. If you can get your hands on some lamb or goat breasts, they make a great tasting, thrifty alternative to more expensive loin chops, legs and racks.
Here’s a little tutorial on how I cook them. It works well with either lamb or goat breasts.
This recipe is by chef Alan Bergo. A chef from Minnesota, Alan is a 15 year veteran of the culinary industry, former executive chef of Acclaimed Lucia’s Restaurant, and the Salt Cellar. Founder of the website Forager Chef, he’s best known as a respected authority on Midwestern foraging. Learn more about Alan and his hunt for mushrooms, wild and obscure foods at Forager Chef.
Looking to buy lamb or goat online? Shepherd Song Farm: Grass to table. We raise lambs & goats traditionally, humanely and sustainably. 100% Grass Fed, Pasture Raised, Never Confined, no Hormones, Grains or Animal Byproducts. Born, raised and processed in the U.S.A. Good for you and good for the environment.
Trim and Portion
Trim the breasts to fit into a baking dish by cutting them in half and cracking the bone with your hand or a cleaver.
Season and Bake Wet, Low and Slow
Season the breasts with some salt to taste, allow to sit for 30 minutes or up to overnight, then put in a baking dish with a couple inches of water and cook at 325 for 1.5-2 hours. This is where you can really get creative with adding flavors, especially if you cure it overnight with some seasonings. This is basically my method for making confit, typically I add bruised garlic and herbs like thyme, rosemary or sage, but the sky’s the limit here.
Cumin or a spicy rub would be awesome, but remember that the more spices you put on the lamb, the better they will be the longer they sit on it (I shoot for 24 hrs) You also need to make sure that there isn’t so much water in the baking pan that it would remove the seasoning since it can make a nice crust.
Cook Until Fork-Tender, Then Cool
Remove the Meat
Render the Fat (Optional)
The fat can be combined with water and simmered until the lard renders out. There’s a caveat though: lamb fat is strong tasting, has a kind of waxy texture, and gets very firm as it cools, it won’t be soft and mild like duck, chicken or pork fat. Sometimes I save it for baking where liquid fat can be added (rye bread), or use it for frying up some hash browns, the big prize here is the meat, but I was able to get about 3 solid cups of fat and 1/2 cup of gelatin-rich stock from each 4 lb batch of breasts I cooked.
Chill, Cut, Portion, and Serve
Chill the lamb breast to make it easier to handle, then cut into roughly bite-sized pieces. Cook the meat over medium high heat to crisp some of the fatty edges a bit, then serve. I really liked it as a little wild rice bowl with turnips and their greens, a little yogurt, serrano chili and basil. Want more ideas? See How to Cook Lamb Breast / Brisket + Recipes.
