Polish Easter Butter Lamb Food

WOOLLY BUTTER LAMB

Steps:

• Cut a third from the end of one stick of butter. Place larger piece on a serving dish for lamb's body. Spread some of the softened butter on cut side of smaller piece; position vertically on left side of larger piece for neck and head. Trim edges., Cut a 1/4-in. slice from the second stick of butter; cut diagonally in half. Spread softened butter on cut edge of one triangle; secure to front of head/neck piece for nose. Set remaining triangle aside., Cut a diagonal slice from each end of the second butter stick. Spread softened butter on cut long sides; secure to back of head for ears., Cut remaining butter and reserved triangle to fit into a garlic press. Squeeze butter through press in batches. Use toothpicks to curl pieces. Beginning at the top and working down, place curls on body. (If butter softens while assembling, place in refrigerator for 10 minutes or until firm.), Insert cloves for eyes; add two dots of cinnamon on nose for nostrils. Refrigerate until serving. Garnish plate with parsley and pansies if desired.

POLISH EASTER BUTTER LAMB

Steps:

• Try to get one solid block of butter. If you'll look closely at this one, I had 2 half pounders, and had to let them get real soft so I could put it together. I then trimmed a little off the top of where the body would be and added that piece to the end to make it a little longer. I've also started the process directly on the plate I'm going to serve on. That's because it would be impossible to slide off the finished product to a different plate.
• This shows how much butter was taken off, as well as how the base (sheared) lamb looks.
• A better picture of the lamb prior to putting any wool on him. One thing about the neck. Over the years there have been many funny disagreements about my Mother's lamb telling her that it looked like a dog instead of a lamb. I finally figured it out, by accident, that if you make the neck too tall, it looks more like a dog than a lamb. Be sure to make a very short neck, so it'll look like a lamb.
• To make the fur, work with the butter you've shaved off the block. Be careful of the temperature. It should be quite cold and a little hard. While you're working with it, you will probably have to put it in the freezer for a couple of minutes every once in a while. If this butter gets too warm, it will come through the mesh and not be separated. For 2005, I probably placed it back in the freezer 5 - 6 times, for the length of time it took me to take the fur off the strainer.
• Pushing the butter through the strainer.
• A picture of when the butter was too soft. If you look closely, you can see where the butter is a little shiny and smooth where it was too soft (warm).
• The first of the fur around the neck. This illustrates how thick the fur should be.
• Taking the fur off the strainer with a thin, pointed knife.
• On the larger areas you can slide the fur off with your finger. However, if you're working around the neck of the base, you might want to slide it off with another knife.
• Last, but not least, place the cloves for the eyes, nose, and one rear hoof.

EASTER LAMB

Steps:

• crush the fennel seeds in a baggie.
• in a small bowl combine fennel, butter, rosemary, garlic, salt and pepper.
• preheat oven to 450 with rack in the middle of the oven.
• pat lamb dry and place in roasting pan.
• sprinkle lamb generously with salt and pepper.
• rub half of butter mixture on and refridgerate the rest of the mix.
• roast the lamb till its golden brown on the outside about 30 minutes.
• decrease heat to 350 and continue till internal temp of 135 is reached about 45 minutes.
• transfer lamb to large platter keeping the juices and cover with tin foil to keep warm.
• skim fat from the juices and add broth and wine to the juices.
• place the roaster on medium high heat and stir to get scrapings cirulating simmer till reduced by 1/2 or about 12 minutes.
• remove from pan and whisk in remaining butter mix.
• season to taste with salt and pepper.
• suggested serving cut lamb and platter with a spoon of sauce.