Lamb Ribs

Karen Dunham • Mar 28, 2019

Lamb Ribs are one of my new favs. After sufficiently destroying 2 attempts at them (one was totally inedible - user error for sure!), I resorted to asking our grower, Justin, how he cooks ribs because he told me that they are a family and guest favorite at his house. Not that you need it or that you are in the same boat as I am, but I thought that maybe there is someone out there who might need some lamb rib help. Here is his reply:

We grill them over an apple wood fire, which gives good smoke flavor. Baste with your sauce and grill until most fat is cooked off and ribs are caramelized. Finish in the oven on low heat, basting with sauce. Keep ribs on an elevated rack while in the oven so the fatty drippings are falling below the ribs (which should be done with most cuts). Cook till totally tender. I basically watch them like a hawk through the process. I start with a hotter fire under them, but try to let the fire go down and just have coals under them with more smoke when on the grill, so that it's not intense heat the whole time. I mainly want the sear and the smoke. The basting is important -pull them off and bast them so they don’t get dry .

So….my first disclaimer is that I am the worst at actually following recipes exactly. Sometimes that comes back to bite me (refer to above failed lamb rib attempts). My second disclaimer is that my photos are not foodie worthy - sorry. With that out of the way, here’s how I cooked them:

I used a homemade Teriyaki sauce (Whole 30 compliant, from this justjessieb.com recipe). I placed the ribs on a broiling pan so that fat drippings would drop below the ribs, brushed with teriyaki sauce, and broiled them for about 10 minutes - until they were carmelized and some fat had burned off (Justin says that is a key element - burning off the fat). Then, I turned them over and broiled for a bit more. I LOVE my industrial stove, but HATE my broiler - watch the ribs carefully - your broiler is probably better than mine and I’d hate for you to burn these. I then turned the heat down to 300 and let the ribs cook for about 45 minutes, basting every little while (how’s that for accuracy?). They were deliciously crispy and tender and I didn't want to share them with anyone else - but I would have felt bad about that, so I did! But, I did manage to eat all the leftovers myself the next day….while everyone else was out of the room! I felt kind of bad, but not bad enough to not do it! There weren’t very many left anyway. I’m now out of ribs….and I’m thinking that maybe I should break open a lamb that’s in the freezer and decide that we need a whole ‘nother lamb (instead of eating the remaining cuts that are left of our lamb that’s already in the freezer first - I know, that’s sort of ridiculous, so I won’t do it, but I want to….exercising self-control).

Teriyaki Sauce - Paleo & Whole 30 Compliant
1/3 cup coconut aminos**

2 T balsamic vinegar

2 T avocado oil

2 t minced garlic

1/2 T Dijon Mustard

1/2 t dried ginger

pinch of red pepper flakes (I omitted because I was out)

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a simmer. Continue to cook, stirring often, allowing the sauce to reduce and thicken. Turn the heat off once it reaches desired consistency. MAKE A DOUBLE BATCH AND USE ON EVERYTHING!!! It is awesome. Store in the fridge.

** as far as coconut aminos go, I used to hate these darn things - I am a serious Tamari fan (pretty sure I could drink it…maybe I have, no admission though). Everyone recommends Coconut Secret brand, but…..have you tried Big Tree Farms Coco Aminos?? If not, it is a game changer….get yourself some and thank me. I found it by chance at Costco in San Diego - $8.99 for a really big bottle - and I was excited. Once I tasted it I was addicted. I have looked at Costco in Salt Lake City and Phoenix with no luck….and there’s no way that our Costco in po-dunk no where, Kalispell, MT will have these until about the year 2030 - we are a little behind the times. So, I resorted to buying it at the local health food store for a bottle about the size of a thimble for $5.99. But, desperate times call for desperate measures…..not kidding. Try this stuff - the teriyaki AND the Big Tree Farms Coco Aminos. You can buy the Costco size bottle here on Amazon , but it’s about double the price - but better than the thimble size price (duh on me).

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Wonderful Things about Raw Honey

By Karen Dunham • 03 May, 2024

Raw Honey is one truly amazing substance. We all know that it tastes fantastic, but did you know that it also provides a myriad of health benefits for us both internally and externally? First, let’s talk about what defines Raw Honey as opposed to conventional honey. Raw honey is not filtered, but instead is strained, often gravitationally, in order to remove bits of beeswax, bee parts, dead bees, and other impurities that are in the hives and honey frames. To be considered raw, honey isn't heat extracted from the hives or ever heated above the temperature that bees keep their hives (around 95-105 degrees) in order to strain or pour it. This careful process allows the honey to keep all of the beneficial nutrients that are naturally present in the hive, including pollen and propolis. According to Dr. Josh Axe, raw Honey is a “functional food” containing 22 amino acids, 27 minerals, 5000 enzymes, and at least 16 known antioxidants. Raw Honey is also anti-fungal, antibacterial, antiviral, anti-inflammatory and antiseptic. These properties make Raw Honey perfect for applying to wounds and killing infections as well taking internally for digestive and gut issues. Personally, we have used raw honey to heal a staph infection, and it also worked wonders for me when I had a case of food poisoning. This fabulous substance is full of phytonutrients, phytochemicals, and polyphenols that act as antioxidants, hunting down free radicals within the body, boosting our immune systems and unlocking neuroprotective functions that aid in brain performance. Raw Honey does all of the above, and it even tastes fantastic too! Isn’t that crazy? I mean, we all know how great liver is for you, but it definitely does NOT taste anything like honey. There are some other very interesting aspects about Raw Honey as well. For instance, Raw Honey never goes bad. It can freeze with no change in properties, and if you happen to stash a container in your storage room and find it years later (that'd be me!), it will still be perfectly fine - just hardened or crystallized. And speaking of crystallizing and hardening, honey does one or the other depending on the climate, water content, and conditions during the year in which it was made. Personally, I LOVE hardened honey, but most years, honey tends to crystallize rather than harden. Honey is harvested once a year, and so over the course of that year, it crystallizes (or hardens); some years it crystallizes quickly and other years more slowly. Our bee keeper says that honey is alive and can change in color and texture from year to year, even within the same hives that are in the exact location. It is a truly miraculous product. We LOVE our Raw Honey. We’ve never tasted anything like it. I never particularly liked honey, and I NEVER would have licked the honey spoon, until I tried the honey we sell at Glacier Grown. That super dark stuff that the grocery stores call honey is a far inferior product. I’ve even had some honeys that are called raw, but are pretty terrible. You don’t have to sacrifice taste for quality and nutritional benefit - you can have both!! If you haven’t tried our honey yet, do yourself a favor and give it a shot . We have some in stock now, from last fall’s harvest, but with the summer farm stand season starting in May, I’m expecting that we will sell it all prior to the 2024 honey being ready at the end of September. Running out of Glacier Grown Raw Honey is never a good thing.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and just HELLO!

By Karen Dunham • 21 Jan, 2022

It's been a while since we've been in touch. The last 6 months have been a wild and woolly ride over at the Dunham household, but we've finally come up for air. We hope that you and yours enjoyed a lovely holiday season and that you have headed into the New Year full of hope and enthusiasm. Those of you who have been with us for years, undoubtedly, see a different group of people in the above photo than when we made deliveries to Southern California in the past. All of those previously little people have grown up - the baby started college this past year, and the oldest has a baby of his own. All in the blink of an eye. We wanted to say THANK YOU to all of you - we appreciate you and your continued support. It is a privilege to provide the very best 100% grass fed, grass finished, pasture raised, chemical-free, humanely raised meats that our northwest corner has to offer. If you are looking to stock your freezer for the next few months, before spring deliveries begin (we will start taking orders in March and deliveries will start in late May/early June), we still have some items remaining from the Fall Harvest ready to ship.