Quarantine Cooking: Smoked Lamb Shoulder Tacos

Photo by Patrick Jones. Smoked lamb shoulder tacos, 4 Apr 2020.

Yesterday I took advantage of the nice weather to try a new cut of meat on the smoker. I followed the recipe for Matthew Jennings' braised lamb shoulder tacos, and included some fresh pico de gallo, shredded Oaxacan cheese, Cuban black beans, on corn tortillas from nearby El Paisa Grocery. I used 3.5 lbs of lamb shoulder from our local butcher shop, Let's Meat on the Avenue.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Unwrapping the meat.

Once thoroughly rubbed with spices, I let the meat sit at room temperature for two hours wrapped in butcher paper & foil before putting it on the grill in a roasting pan. I cooked it a little lower and slower than the recipe calls for, but the end results were pretty amazing.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Adding the spice rub.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Taking off the grill.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Pulled lamb.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Fresh pico de gallo.

Photo by Patrick Jones. Dinner. 4 Apr 2020.

I don't take photos of food very often, but I thought I should document some of the more creative things we're doing to make the most of the shelter-in-place situation. We've been better about reaching out to friends and family through FaceTime Happy Hours and video chats, which helps stay social even though we're not able to see them. One day we'll look back at this as a historic time.