When my twenty pounds of chocolate from the Bloomers Sale disappeared in a corner of my coffin freezer, it occurred to me that you might like to see what else is in there. Heck, I’d like to see what else is in there.
Some of it is recent. In addition to the chocolate, there is
- 2 gallons of cider left over from cider pressing last fall,
- 2 organic turkeys (80% off the day after Thanksgiving), and
- 25 pounds of buffalo that was just recently added. There’s
- 15 pounds of fish and
- 7 pounds of butter from 1/2 price sales. From last summer, we still have about
- 10 pounds of lamb and sadly, about
- 7 pounds of lamb ribs that are getting old. We get a few lambs for the freezer every spring, which includes many packets of lamb ribs. Do you know what to do with lamb ribs? I don’t. There’s not a shred of pork, which makes me wonder about getting piglets this spring.
The fruits and vegetables are less manageable. There are are at least
- 30 pounds of tomatoes (a few pounds dehydrated, 10 pounds peeled, and 20 pounds frozen whole like little baseballs). I was glad to find
- a bag of raspberries, of blueberries and some applesauce. I was less excited by the
- 15 pounds of peeled and pitted peaches from 2 years ago. And the freezer item that absolutely has to go is
- 20 pounds of apricots.
There are a lot of roadside apricot trees around here, and apricots are easier to freeze than they are to use up. So in honor of the weekend, I’m processing apricots Sunday: one batch with raspberries, one with habaneros, and maybe another with ginger juice. If anyone has a good apricot recipe, please, pass it along.
I didn’t realize I had so much food downstairs (and I’m not the only one; most of my neighbors have coffin freezers too). I pretend that it’s rational, but I think that deep freeze satisfies some ancient imperative. I’m talking primal satisfaction. I mean, this Anasazi granary and my deep freeze would qualify as things that don’t look alike, but are.
Lamb ribs :). We raise sheep, so we know lamb ribs. I recommend boiling them — for a while. Often we let them boil for a couple of hours. Toss em in frozen, we do (though I am sure SOME food safety expert would shudder at this!). Boil till cooked through, and REALLY tender.
LAmb ribs tend to be (as I am sure you know) a bit fatty, so this precooks and gets some of the fat off.
Then, put on your bbq sauce of choice (we mix our own with Annies Organic Ketchup, organic prepared yellow mustard, and maple syrup), and grill them, or put them under the broiler to grill them — I’d recommend putting them on a rack so the fat can drain below, if you go that route (we have a ceramic broiler in our gas oven, so we are spoiled ;).
There WILL be layers of fat to peel off between the layers of meat — I am afraid I don’t have a solution to that, but this is still a yummy use for the ribs.
In the alternative (and I am brainstorming here, not speaking from experience, because our Pyrs get raw meat, and any really old ribs get given to them au naturel), what about precooking the ribs as per above, and then going through the process of peeling the fat layers — it DOES come off pretty easily, and pulling the meat off, then chop it up and make a stew or curry? Labor intensive, but also potentially yummy.
Do let me know what you try — I’m always curious about new ideas!
Wow. Do I ever have coffin freezers. Is yours always this orderly or just now after going through it?! Man, I dream of having mine look like that, but I can’t reach the bottom of my big one (it’s a 7-footer ~ truly a coffin!) because it’s up on blocks for some reason (we believe the house was actually built around it because we can’t figure out how else the heck the original owners would have been able to get it down into the basement!). And my meat freezer (about half the size) is now almost empty because hubby no longer works on a pig farm and we don’t get free meat anymore. That one’s pretty easy to keep track of, but the other one….. maybe someday.
Sorry, I would have absolutely no idea what to do with apricots or lamb ribs. What do you make with apricots and habaneros? That recipe interests me.
That is the most organized freezer I have ever seen.
We raise & sell Beltie meat…www.beltie.org…
Recently had one processed & while researching prices I came across a buffalo beef site. It seemed expensive. What price do you pay for it in Colorado ?
Dear Jackie, I love Belted Galloways! Our buffalo meat averaged $5/pound, less for burger, more for fancy cuts. Alice
Jackie and Alice,
The last time we purchased a side of Buffalo, it was $5 a pound — though I can’t remember if that is dressed and cut, or hanging…. And this was not certified organic meat, but it had been raised without chemical wormers or antibiotics.
This was a couple of years ago, though, and feed prices have gone up, so I am sure prices are higher.
Shoot! I wasn’t paying attention and left a comment on the previous
post. It’s about the lamb chops.
sorry
Those are reasonable prices.
The online Kansas site was way more than that.
Alice,
Will trade Beltie meat for some chocolate !