Hello All! Welcome back to another discussion on The Big Yellow Pot Forum.
I want to share many successful stories and experiences with my food journey with you all. However, I want to share the not-so-successful stories as well. Don't judge me y'all. I tried my best!
In my hometown, a new grocery store called Wegmans was opened in the midst of the pandemic (circa March or April 2020). I was super excited to visit and see if this place could hold its own to Trader Joes, Fresh Market or Lidl. Boy oh boy, it held its weight and then some.
Long story short, I went into the meat department and there was a section for fresh lamb. LAMB y'all! I have never been anywhere in my town and saw a whole lamb section in the meat department. Im talking rack of lamb, ground lamb, lamb shank, neck... YOU NAME IT! I decided that I wanted to make Braised Lamb Shank with creamy Parmesan Polenta and Fried Eggplant. Sounds gorgeous no? Well, let me tell you, it was beautifully executed.... MOSTLY.
As an idea, the dish was fantastic but the LAMB just fell short. It was way too gamey and extremely tough, despite braising it for 4 hours. I believe I used the hind-shank. Granted, I never worked with lamb before but it was a major fail. I haven't made lamb since attempting this because truthfully, everything I have ever tried for the first time has been successful. When I made oxtails, they were amazing. When I made whole steamed snapper, it was amazing. The only two fails I have under my belt was Jerk Chicken (only because I didn't have a blender to make the paste) and this lamb (because i lacked the knowledge of how to treat the protein).
I spent all day cooking and ended up just eating friend eggplant with my polenta and the sauce from my braise. It can be frustrating to fail but next time I will do more research and carefully plan out my recipe. I included pictures below... Tell me about a time you were excited to try something new and it fell short of your expectations or failed miserably? Include pictures if you can!
