Lamb Burgers

Last weekend we brought our sheep home and I started to research recipes. I had a couple of favorite lamb chop recipes and have grilled legs of lamb with great success, but what to do with all the ground lamb in the freezer?

I pulled out my favorite grilling cookbook, Weber's Charcoal Grilling: The Art of Cooking with Live Fire, by Jamie Purviance, and found a recipe for lamb burgers. The recipe appealed to me because it called for four kinds of fresh herbs: parsley, oregano, basil and rosemary, all of which were plentiful in my backyard herb garden. I pulled a one-pound bag of ground lamb out of the freezer and on the way up the basement stairs, tripped and dropped it on the floor. It looked okay, so I washed it off and set it to soak in a bowl of cool water. Unfortunately, the bag must have gotten a small tear when I dropped it because when I checked the lamb, the bag had started to fill up with water. Once it was mostly thawed, I squeezed out as much water as possible and added in the seasonings: fresh herbs, garlic, red onion, kosher salt, pepper, cumin and olive oil. I formed the patties and stuck them in the fridge to chill.

I must not have squeezed out enough water because when I stuck them on grill, they started to fall apart. I pulled out our grill sheet to keep them from falling between the grates and cooked them for about ten minutes. I served them on fresh rolls with arugula and feta cheese. Surprisingly, the flavor was pretty flat - not enough flavor, even with all the herbs. I couldn't blame the lamb, though - the meat was tender, flavorful without being gamey, with great texture. I think I'll try lamb burgers again, but next time I'll look for a different recipe. The grilled asparagus that I served on the side outshined the burgers at this meal.