LCBO Food & Drink Spring 2020

FORCES OF NATURE

Woolleys’ Lamb

This Norfolk County farm is home to some of the finest, and woolliest, lawn mowers you’ll ever see.

NIKU FARMS Online ordering with direct delivery from Ontario farms to select areas. Grass-fed and/or pasture-raised lamb, beef, bison, pork and chicken. Order one type of meat or mixed boxes. nikufarms.com

Sheep peacefully graze through the long grasses among fruit trees: an idyllic scene. And even more so when you know they are there to enhance the environmental sustainability of a farm. At Woolleys’ Lamb in Norfolk County, that’s just what Carrie Woolley (her real name!) and Brett Schuyler are doing at their family farm. The vegetation among the cherry and apple trees and in other pastures is maintained by the sheep, reducing the need to mow with fuel-powered equipment. Letting the grass and weeds grow for the sheep to eat, instead of mowing them, also creates pollinator habitat in the orchards, plus the manure from the sheep naturally fertilizes the crops. The sheep graze outdoors year-round, making the meat produced 100-percent grass-fed.     Keeping to the sustainability theme, all butchering is done five minutes away from the farm and from there the meat is delivered di- rectly to local shops and to customers through a delivery company, Niku Farms (this page), keeping transportation to a minimum.

Seared lamb chops & pearl onions with mashed peas & mint tahini

LAMB LOINCHOPS REIGNAS THEMOST POPULAR CUT, SAYS CARRIEWOOLLEY, WITHLEG STEAKS AND ROASTS NEXT. THEMOST UNDER- APPRECIATED CUT, SHE SAYS, IS LAMB RIBS. AVOIDING OVERCOOKING IS THEMOST IMPOR­ TANT TIP FOR PREPARING LAMB.

We’ve curated a roundup of recipes using various cuts of lamb at lcbo.com/fdspring20.

FOOD IMAGE BY VINCE NOGUCHI; PORTRAIT BY JEFF TRIBE

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SPRING 2020 FOOD & DRINK