River Oaks Farm & Studio
Shetland & Bluefaced Leicester Sheep, Fleece , and Heritage Crafts
All text and images copyright Becky Utecht, Mora, MN USA.
We are Stan & Becky Utecht. We have lived in Mora over 30 years.
After years of raising poultry, we got our first two sheep in 2001.
The Shetlands have proven to be hardy and prolific so we added
Bluefaced Leicesters in 2006.
We now have a small flock of purebred Shetland and Bluefaced Leicester Sheep, four Shetland geese, several laying hens, two cats, an Australian Shepherd, and a livestock guardian dog. We live on just under 5 acres, but we have 40
acres of hay and pasture land in Ogilvie, MN.
Lamb Stew
This is our favorite! We never seem to get enough stew meat, so I use ¾ to 1 pound rather than 1 12/ pounds. I add more garlic and a little Lowry’s seasoning salt too. Taken from the 1979 revised edition of the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book.
1 ½ pounds boneless lamb, cut in 1-inch cubes
1 clove garlic, minced
4 medium carrots, cut in 2-inch lengths
6 tiny onions
3 small potatoes, pared and cubed
½ teaspoon dried basil, crushed
1 10-ounce package frozen peas
2 tablespoons snipped parsley
Coat meat with flour. In large saucepan, brown meat in small amount of hot shortening. Add 3 cups water, garlic,
2 teaspoons salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Cover; simmer 1 hour, or till meat is almost tender. Add carrots, onions, potatoes, and basil; cook, uncovered, 20 minutes, or till done. Add peas and parsley. Cook 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Serves 6.
We have found that we love the taste of lamb, especially grilled lamb chops and steaks (just sprinkle with Lawry’s Seasoning Salt and Garlic pepper), and lamb stew. For older animals, we marinade the cuts in milk for an hour or more. This works well to tenderize the meat and eliminate any gamey flavor.
Marinade for Lamb
This recipe is enough for a 5 pound leg of lamb. Halve the recipe for smaller amounts such as chops or steaks. Tastes great!
3 T Dijon mustard
2 T soy sauce
1 T lemon juice
2 cloves minced garlic
Mix all together and smear it all over the meat. Marinate for at least 1 hour or as long as overnight.
When ready to grill or bake lamb, remove meat from marinade and pat dry with paper towel to remove excess marinade.
