Recently, Justin Stevenson has been out in the field looking for unidentified sage grouse leks. Due to the unusually warm weather and the subsequent runoff, right now is the perfect time to survey potential leks. Below are some great photos he took of male sage grouse displaying and a photo of pronghorn running through the lek without disturbing the sage grouse.

Bird’s eye view of Lava Lake

photo by Glenn Oakley

Brunch is one of my favorite meals. There is something about the time of the day when you prepare and consume brunch that is relaxed. In college a group of girlfriends and I would get together every Sunday to make brunch and enjoy the pace of the day. Our menus were created from our left over farmer’s market goods and were prepared with many helping hands. That kind of random mix of ingredients lead to wonderful creations like frittatas, savory waffles and more.

I was preparing brunch recently and thinking of the fun Sunday brunches with college friends. I channeled those creative menu ideas and gathered simple goods that I had in my kitchen. Luckily, I always have my freezer stocked with Lava Lake Lamb sausage and my kitchen is never without onions and garlic. I compiled sweet potato, garlic, onion, rosemary and Rosemary Garlic Lamb sausage, a combination destined to be a turned into a hash.

My original thought was to cook the sausage up and then slice it to incorporate with the sweet potato, but I have been looking for new ways to use sausage rather then grilling or cooking it in a cast iron. I decided to take the sausage out of its casing and try cooking and chopping it into pieces. The sausage was amazing that way! It was able to blend with the rest of the hash ingredients better and add even more flavor to the dish. Try this recipe for your next brunch gathering or possibly for Mother’s Day this weekend! Enjoy!

Sweet Potato Hash with Rosemary Garlic Sausage

Ingredients

• 2 Lava Lake Lamb Rosemary Garlic Sausage, casing removed
• 1 onion, sliced thinly
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 large sweet potato, cut in 1/2 inch cubes
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon rosemary, minced
• olive oil
• salt and pepper

Procedure

1) Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. In a skillet heat the butter until it foams and then add the onions. Cook until onions are brown adjusting the heat as necessary.

2) In a separate skillet cook the sausage removed from its casing. Chop into smaller pieces with the spatula as you cook.

3) While the onions and sausage are cooking prep the sweet potato by peeling and cutting it into 1/2 inch cubes. Mix sweet potato with minced garlic and rosemary and coat with olive oil.

4) When the onions are dark brown and the sausage is cooked and crispy, stir them into the sweet potatoes.

5) Transfer the entire mixture to a baking sheet and roast for 20 -30 minutes.

6) Serve with fresh basil and top with an over easy egg.

Students from The Community School participating in restoration work at Lava Lake Ranch

When searching for creative Cinco de Mayo recipes I got inspired to try something new with lamb. One of my favorite dishes is shredded pork carnitas. I love the texture and the tenderness of carnitas, not to mention the flavor slow cooked into the meat.

Lamb shoulder is the perfect cut to experiment with for a carnitas style dish because it shreds well when cooked for lengthy amounts of time. I was unable to find a recipe that was exactly the combo of spices and cooking style that I was looking for. So instead I used inspiration from some different sources and came up with my own recipe for Shredded Lamb with Pasilla Sauce. The pasilla sauce I created is not spicy but contains the strong essence of the pepper. It has a very fresh taste that can be used is a variety of ways and I would definitely make it in the future.

After this adventure in slow cooking and shredding the shoulder, this is my new favorite way to prepare this cut. I used the meat and sauce for tacos in the evening and with two fried eggs in the morning. I could see myself using this recipe in the future for tamales, nachos, sandwiches, enchiladas, etc. This is an all purpose delicious shredded lamb recipe! Enjoy!

Shredded Lamb with Pasilla Sauce

All that was missing with this meal was the perfect margarita.

Shredded Lamb with Pasilla Sauce

Ingredients

• Lava Lake Lamb Shoulder
• 1 Onion, chopped
• 6 cloves garlic, crushed and peeled(reserve 2 cloves for the sauce)
• 4 cups water
• salt
• 2 fresh pasilla peppers, seeded and stemmed
• 1 14 oz can diced tomatoes
• fresh cilantro
• 1 tbsp chipolte sauce
• freshly ground black pepper

Procedure

1) Place chopped onion, 4 cloves of garlic and 4 cups of water in a slow cooker. Salt all sides of the lamb shoulder and place it in the slow cooks. Cook for 6 – 8 hours or until tender to the point of shredding.

2) Remove meat from the slow cooker and discard any visible fat. Separate the meat into large chunks and let it rest while you make the pasilla sauce.

3) Soak the seeded and stemmed pasilla peppers in warm water for 20 minutes. Remove the peppers from water and pat dry. Place in an oiled skillet and cook on each side for 2 minutes turning every 30 seconds.

4) Transfer the peppers to the blender and pour in the diced tomatoes. Add 1 tbsp of chipotle sauce and 2 garlic cloves. Blend until smooth. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

5) Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Shred the lamb meat using two forks, discarding any fat as you go. Once all the meat is shredded place it in a baking dish. Toss in the pasilla sauce so the meat is coated but not over sauced. Reserve some sauce for serving with the meat.

6) Cook the meat until it starts to crisp up, about 20 – 30minutes, stirring occasionally.

7) Serve the shredded lamb and additional sauce with taco fixings or as desired.

Mother’s Day is right around the corner. If you haven’t found the perfect gift to surprise mom with, look no further. Just for Mother’s Day we are offering our Loin Chop Lover’s Package for $99.95 – that’s $45 off! The package includes 16 delicious, grass-fed loin chops, one of our favorite cuts and the filet mignon of lamb. She will love this cut and the abundance of chops to share or use for meals to come!

Order by Sunday, May 6th to ensure delivery before Mother’s Day. Click here to order now.

A few weeks ago, Lava Lake owner, Brian Bean presented at an IACP event in New York. While he was there he met Jaden Hair, a well know professional recipe developer, food columnist, food photographer and author of the food website/blog Steamy Kitchen. Brian suggested I check out her site and all the wonderful things she has going on. Of course when I go to the website the first thing I saw was a delicious lamb burger photo in the homepage slider. Any lamb (and cheese) lover who sees Jaden Hair’s photo of a lamb burger with brie and quick pickled onions can not help but salivate at the thought of testing this recipe out at home.

So that is what I did. The other night I had a few friends over for dinner for a recipe testing. The only adjustment I made to the recipe was pickling the red onions a bit longer than mentioned in the recipe. I pickled the onions for about 30 minutes being conscious to make sure they maintained their crunch.

This recipe was a hit! There were endless sounds of delight while consuming the burgers. The sweet tartness of the pickled onions perfectly compliments the richness of the brie and lamb while the brie smooths out the sharpness of the pickled onion. This is the kind of burger where you can taste each flavorful layer as you bite down. I fully recommend preparing this recipe for your next dinner party. It is sure to be a hit! Enjoy!

Lamb Burgers with Brie and Quick Pickled Onions

from Steamy Kitchen

Ingredients:

Directions:

Last Monday was an incredible day at the ranch. We harnessed the power of 23 9^th graders and two augers to plant shrubs along two streams we have transformed from ditches into meandering and natural streams.  In the dry areas, we planted 700 bare root bitterbrush plants (thanks to Mary Dudley for donating them from the Idaho Department of Fish and Game). The “antelope bitterbrush” plant is a great species for wildlife; it is very nutritious, available all year long, and a favorite plant of many species.  Along the stream, we planted 280 willows (cut from existing willows just up and down stream of where we were working), 30 black hawthorn, 30 chokecherry, 10 Wood’s rose, 15 serviceberry, 20 golden currant, 19 red-osier dogwood, and 5 waterbirch purchased from North Fork Native Plants and Buffalo-berry Farm.

In addition to all of our hard work, we were able to go for a hike up a small hill to get a view of the Pioneer Mountains – Craters of the Moon landscape. We gazed out at the vast lava flows of the Craters of the Moon National Monument, relished the first wildflower sighting of the season (desert parsley), and talked about the work we’ve been doing to make the Lava Lake Headquarters an excellent spot for raising grass-fed lamb and wildlife.

Thanks to everyone who made this day happen, especially: Melissa Elkins (The Community School); Brett Stevenson (Idaho Conservation League); Ed Papenburg (IDFG); Alan Sands (Sage Wildlife Consulting); and Tim Bennett, Optaciano Vilcapoma, and Edwin Vilchez (Lava Lake).