Bill Telepan, chef of the Judson Grill in New York, likes to make a cassoulet of braised shanks, white beans, confit of shoulder cooked in duck fat and homemade lamb sausage. Despite its popularity with chefs, however, American annual per capita consumption of lamb is still only .7 pounds. We ate a lot more lamb before World War II, according to Bill Blake, a consultant to the American lamb industry. As a result, inventories dwindled and prices rose. While imports from New Zealand and Australia are on the rise, most lamb eaten in the United States is produced here-largely in Texas, California and Colorado.
Big ranches dominate the market, but small producers dot the landscape.
And many chefs have no compunction about serving it year-round. Lamb is no more difficult to cook than beef. For the legs, two roasting methods yielded excellent results. For both methods, I took the meat out of the refrigerator an hour before putting it into the oven, and after cooking allowed it to rest, loosely covered with foil, for 15 to 20 minutes. After Syrah, I'd go for a Pinot Noir, especially if it's from France.