Holy Crèp!

The store from which I purchase the vast majority of my produce and meat is very Greek, both in ownership and clientèle. Greek Easter was this past Sunday and tradition dictates the consumption of lamb in large amounts. The butchers went through an incredible amount of lamb, selling sides, whole lamb, whole legs, and assorted parts. The other "parts", at least, those which can be sold, found their way onto the shelf. Such parts included RMOs, tongue, head, sweetbreads (the tasty but quite unhealthy thymus gland), and the caul fat. I've used pork caul fat before, but for reasons previously mentioned (I think), it would not be appropriate for usage in my household. For those not in the know, caul fat is the webbing of fat surrounding the animal's internal organs. It is very flavorful and gelatinous, traditionally used to wrap sausage patties for cooking. Such a patty is called a Crèpinette. Seeing the lamb caul fat in the store, I knew that I had to purchase it and make Crèpinettes. Another nice thing about this store is that they will actually help you and get things for you that aren't on the shelf. For example, I required ground lamb for the Crèpinette but, not yet having acquired my own meat grinder, the meat guy eagerly ground up a package of lamb for me, and more for the shelf. With the ingredients for dinner, I went home to prepare.

Typically, when I make sausage, I just go with the flow. Thus, I grabbed some ingredients and threw them into the ground lamb. Sausage seasonings today included home grown sage and oregano, dried thyme and basil, paprika, and other stuff. And salt. Always salt. The lamb caul fat differs from pork in that the pork is soft, silky with narrow strands of fat forming the web, while the lamb is a firmer, larger veined fat. This makes it more difficult to work with, but still quite good.

When making sausages, they can be prepared using artificial casings, or no casings at all, but the difference is striking. Natural casings provide flavor, structure, and texture and let me tell you, tonight's Crèpinettes were rather delicious. I cooked them low and slow in a heavy bottomed pan. Well covered. They splatter a lot. Here's what they look like cooked.

On a separate note, I made quinoa to accompany dinner. It's an heirloom variety of red quinoa with a nice nutty flavor. Quinoa, when cooked, has a little tail/sprout that pops up and takes on the color of the liquid in which the grain is cooked. I used turmeric and saffron making a beautiful contrast of brick red and straw gold.