Throw me a Bone

So finally after 3 years of living on West Broadway a new butcher shop opened called The Honest Butcher....its been there quite a few months now, and I have popped by various times just to check things out as I love the concept.  You would think the store was closed if you walked by because there is nothing to it...it looks like a bare shop, until you enter and lay your eyes on meat meat meat.  They say they are the only butcher shop in Van that does tip to tail...so they buy the whole animal and butcher it right there in the shop, and they use every last bit.  All local, hormone free and just the good stuff.

We are used to going to Market Meats on West 4th, where the service is amazing and they always have great tips and they are just so friendly.  Ivan and I don't eat much meat...maybe once or twice a week, so we don't mind buying the good stuff when we do....yeh it costs an arm and a leg (hahaha) but I can feel good about what I am eating. 

Anyway, we are having company for dinner tomorrow, and I know they love meat, so I thought I would make things easy on myself and just do some bbq skewers.  I went to a cooking class and watched the chef do this with marinated lamb and it was so quick/easy/delish I thought it was a great idea.

So off I zipped to The Honest Butcher to buy me some lamb.  The guy who is always there (I think the owner) who is a really LOW talker (pardon...hu??? say again??) asked if I needed help and yes I certainly did.  Behind the counter at the back of the shop is their meat locker...you can see the animals hanging from the top....kinda creepy but cool.  And today on the huge table behind the counter lay several unrecognizable animals....I was fascinated.  Usually something like this would totally gross me out....kinda reminded me of a horror movie....but I guess because I love cooking so much, I felt intrigued.

So I told the low talker that I have never made lamb before and my recipe said I needed 2lbs of cubed lamb to make skewers.  He asked if I wanted shoulder or leg....no idea....so he said, Ill see what I have.  He walked over to the table full of random animal parts and grabbed a bony, meaty mass of what turns out to be lamb shoulder and literally plops it on a band saw and cuts it clean in half....I have never seen anything like this before.....too real.  I guess I am used to all of the pretty, perfectly cubed pieces of meat at Market Meats.....of course they too have a room where all the magic happens down at the end of the store...but this was really right in your face. 

Low talker shows me the shoulder of lamb and asks me if I want him to cube it, but the prices goes up an extra $2.00/lb.  I say no (being a good wifey trying to save money)...I will do it at home.....WTF Heather....really, WTF were you thinking...that you would just take this expensive hunk of shoulder home and cut it into perfect cubes of meat.  OMG, an HOUR later I have totally massacred the lamb shoulder....it now looks like a lamb foot...I don't have any of the proper knives and have zero idea how to even cook lamb, let alone debone it.  There is such a skill to this...my cubes were not cubes at all...I don't know what shape they were...not cube.....the worst part is, I left so much meat on the bones that I barely have enough for dinner tomorrow.  That 2lb shoulder gave me about .5 lbs of meat.....see what happens when I try to save money honey....it ends in disaster and will now cost more as I need more meat!!!

What a lesson this has been....never try to save money...always pay people to do things for you hehehehe....I am not crazy about this honest butcher....tomorrow morning I will be going back to Market Meats where I will pay the extra $$$  to save me hours of my time...where the meat is top quality, and is already perfectly cut...all pretty and waiting for me to just throw on the grill.

Either way, you can't go wrong...grab a side of animal and enjoy!