Friday, February 25, 2022

Friday Food: The One With the Sheep's Head

Friday 

Short version: Sheep's head, roasted potatoes, raw tomatoes

Long version: A. decided to get a new ram this year, which meant the old one had to go. So he killed, skinned, and gutted it this day.

When he dresses out a sheep, he always cuts the head off along with the hide. He has always disposed of the head with the innards and hooves, but Rafael told A. that when he was a boy, they always roasted the head.

And that is how I ended up with a flayed ram's head in my oven.

It was just as gruesome as it sounds. The teeth are very noticeable when the skin is gone, giving the effect of a ghoulishly grinning head. And the eyes are just . . . there. When it's raw, they stare. When it's cooked, they collapse into the skull and turn white and opaque.

It is, in a word, gross.

However!

A. took care of the cooking of it, which entailed roasting it at 425 degrees for about an hour. He also prepared potatoes to roast along with it by slicing whole potatoes in many thin slices most of the way but not all the way through, and then dousing them in olive oil.

There isn't a whole lot of meat on a sheep's head, apart from the cheeks. But there was enough meat on the cheeks for the four that ate it.

Cubby's throat hurt, so he just had chicken stock. And I was frankly repelled by the sheep's head, so I just had a salad with some leftover pork in it.

A. said the cheek meat was good, though. And the three children eating all tried the eyeballs. So there you go.

Saturday

Short version: Leftover tacos, split pea soup, fresh bread, ice cream or chocolate milkshake

Long version: I had a ham bone in the freezer and Cubby's favorite soup is split pea, so since his throat was still hurting him, I made him the soup. 

The children who didn't want the soup had tacos with the leftover meat. Everyone had bread, and everyone had either ice cream or a milkshake with the ice cream A. had picked up for Cubby.

Pause for a random dog photo!


If you're wondering why almost all the pictures are of Jasper, it's because Odin the Neurotic Runt is usually hiding under the bunk bed in the porch. Weird dog, Odin.

Sunday

Short version: Cheese omelets, bread and butter, raw radishes or frozen green beans, chocolate milkshakes

Long version: I was really, really not into cooking, and we had a rather ridiculous quantity of eggs on hand, so I asked A. to make the omelets.

I made the milkshakes for our Sunday dessert because there wasn't quite enough ice cream for everyone to have a bowl of it, but blending it with a bunch of milk makes it stretch quite a bit further.

Monday

Short version: Turkey and potato soup, cheese

Long version: The last container of turkey soup I made and froze the day after Thanksgiving. Starches get too mushy when frozen and thawed, so I left that part out and just added whatever was around when I thawed the containers.

This time I had some potatoes left from Friday, so I chopped those and added them to the soup.

Tuesday

Short version: Taco meat and potato skillet, frozen peas

Long version: Two big nuked potatoes sliced and fried with the leftover meat, more spices, and some shredded cheese.

Why yes, I DID have to work this day! How ever could you tell?

Wednesday

Short version: Tacos, raw radishes and cucumbers, german chocolate cake

Long version: And there's that same meat, this time originally presented in corn tortillas with cheese. It was a really big pan of taco meat.

Jack's teacher made the cake. She made it for an event that didn't happen and brought it as a treat for her class, but then only a few of the kids actually had any. Jack had two pieces and was so vocal in his appreciation that she sent the rest of it home with him.

He was pleased by this. So were his siblings.

Thursday

Short version: Breakfast sausage links, rice, cucumber, more cake

Long version: For some reason, I can never find sausage links at the stores we go to. 

A. got these in Santa Fe when he got the Italian sausage. They were definitely not as good as the Italian sausage, but the children enjoyed them anyway.

Okay, your turn! What'd you eat this week?


16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh my, I would have had nightmares if that head was roasting in my oven. :)
takeout
chicken cottage pie, broccoli
salmon patties, sweet potatoes, broccoli
hot chicken salad, roasted potatoes/garlic, broccoli AGAIN
chicken quesadillas with greens, corn chips
ditto
And for tonight tortilla pizzas, zucchini
Linda

me said...

You deserve a medal for letting a head roast in your oven.

We had a very light meal week.
Fri= maybe grilled cheese? Friday is often grilled cheese when I am tired after a week of school and work, and the kids at home actually like grilled cheese.
Sat= homemade pizza. cookies
Sun= this was the day I was in a car accident, so I curled up on the couch and husband made pasta and broccoli and teen daughter (who was in the accident too but was fine - youth!) made garlic bread-sticks
Mon =instapot beef stew meat, leftover veggies, instant potatoes, biscuits.
Tues = taco Tuesday! minimal effort. some kids just have tortilla with melted cheese.
Wed = adult daughter came and made pasta and Italian bread ( we ate three loaves. we like our warm bread!). Brownies from a box.
Thurs = chicken strips, french fries, and pineapple. And home made brownies.
Given that I didn't go shopping this week and we were eating whatever was on hand, I don't think we did too badly. We did run out of bread for toast for breakfast, but I made coffee cake for breakfast twice to get through.

Kristin @ Going Country said...

Yikes. So glad you and your daughter are okay. I hope you didn't lose an essential vehicle, given the difficulty in getting cars these days.

mbmom11 said...

We can live without this car (it was an old one with tons of miles that my daughter was going to drive to school), but cars are addictive. It's nice to have a backup, and I can't drive my husband's truck. (I can't do stick shift, despite his efforts to teach me. I think I need a different teacher for it to work.) We have another old minivan that she'll use instead once my husband fixes it. (He loves working on cars and keeps our ancient fleet going.) It would be nice to have a car with less than 120K miles on it though!

Kit said...

Friday-leftover lentil soup, sourdough biscuits
Saturday-barbecued pork in a bun, coleslaw, chocolate chip cookies. 6 year old had yogurt. Again.
Sunday-hamburger skillet with leftover stew gravy, noodles, coleslaw...and the 6 year old had yogurt.
Monday-leftover spaghetti with cheese, broccoli
Tuesday-leftover barbecued pork, coleslaw
Wednesday-cabbage and bean soup, cornbread. Both leftovers. Can you tell I've been cleaning out the freezer?
Thursday-last bit of pork stirfried with green beans to stretch it out, baked potatoes

Anonymous said...

I've eaten many a odd thing but never a rams head. Having something gnarly like that in my oven.... yoiks!

Me: glad your ok!

Anyway, this week we ate:

Monday - Chuck roast with tomatoes and onions, roasted potatoes, glazed carrots

Tuesday - Leftover roast that I divided, shredded and mixed up with fajita seasonings, sauted peppers and onions to go with, buttered tortillas

Wendsday - Had a bit of roast still left so I ground it up in my food processor with some onion...mixed it with mayo and a bit of horseradish to make a sandwich spread...ate on toasted rye...roast potatoes

Thursday - Baked yams, green salad with nuts and seeds, toast

Friday - Made a mess of red beans in the crockpot so we'll have that with some sauted jalapeno bratwurst and rice

Happy weekend everyone!

mil said...

FRIDAY: baked haddock, mashed potatoes, green beans
SATURDAY: the leftover green beans, brown rice, a smoked trout that the neighbors brought me from NYC
SUNDAY: sauted chopped vegetables (celery, carrots, onion, green pepper) with brown rice (not quite fried rice, but close enough) and a small burger, bunless
MONDAY: salad with apples, almonds, blueberries.
TUESDAY: cauliflower with cheese sauce, a small bunless burger, an apple
WEDNESDAY: the remains of the cauliflower with cheese sauce, which was overkill on the cauliflower, but I didn't have to cook anything else.
THURSDAY: roasted sweet potatoes, onions, and peeled, chopped broccoli stems with brown rice and chili sauce. Maple yogurt and blueberries.
Note: I would have given the sheep's head to Raphael. Note # 2: Misfits Market makes me eat more vegetables, which is good. I am loving the fresh green beans

Claire said...

@mbmom11 yikes, sorry about your accident and glad to hear you and your daughter are ok!
@kristin I agree with all other commenters, I would have freaked out with a ram's head in my oven. Good thing my BF doesn't like anything too offal-y
This week was all birthdays
Sunday - spaghetti al ragu at my mums for my niece' birthday (3 yo)
Monday - baked ravioli with spinach and cheese
Tuesday - indian food at my mumks for my brother and sisterks birthday (yes they're twins)
Wed - nibbles and bits and pieces from the fridge, actually including caviar with blini and foie gras toasts
Thu - dinner out with my colleagues, we went to a really good tartare place. I love raw meat :-)
Fri - dinner out for my brother in law's birthday
Tonight, not sure I might make homemade pizza

Claire said...

Also I am completely freaking out about the possibility of a nuclear war and will stock on water, dog food and canned food 😣

Pam said...

@Claire - I'm envious that you have a tartare place near you. I love raw meat too.

Friday - had a dinner meeting at work but dinner was pizza so it was all good
Saturday - my homemade pizza with red sauce, Italian sausage, mushrooms, yellow pepper
Sunday - dumpling noodle soup
Monday - gnocchi with swiss chard and mushrooms
Tuesday - beef and bean tacos. Our granddaughter ate with us and even though she loves beans, I had to make her taco with meat only.
Wednesday - another batch of dumpling noodle soup. I was cooking for myself on Sunday night and knew my husband would like the soup so I made another larger batch. The daughter stopped by so I fed her too and then had to send her the recipe
Thursday - leftover dumpling noodle soup, it was a big batch and I love having leftovers.
Pam in Maine

Kristin @ Going Country said...

Claire: Yes, I should imagine it all seems much closer and more frightening for you on the same continent. Do what you can to calm your mind.

Claire said...

@Pam in Maine: I'm curious about your dumpling noodle soup, are these stuffed dumpling ? Do you make them yourself?

@Kristin: thanks for the kind words, it's indeed frightening, not sure what the russian madman will be up to... the European Union and NATO's response is weak, they're afraid of starting a nuclear war. The Ukrainians are defending themselves, they're really brave. Oh well, there's little I can do from Switzerland except keep informed, make sure we are ready in case we need to shelter and donate to ukrainian civil help organisations

Pam said...

@Claire - the dumplings are stuffed. I bought a box of 60 frozen stuffed dumplings at Sam's Club and followed a recipe from the NY Times with a few minor modifications. Do you have giant warehouse stores like Sam's Club in Switzerland?
Pam

Claire said...

@Pam - thanks for the precision, it looks delicious! We don't have quite the same as Sam's club, but we do have large food stores for professionals, which might be similar. You need a special card to access that they only give if your company is active in the food business. I'm lucky that I can borrow my sister's card, who runs a Peruvian foodtruck with her husband. I'll have to stock on frozen dumplings next time I go 😋

Kay said...

Way back 40 some years ago when we were first married I had a pig's head in my freezer. MIL made "Oatmeal Sausage." Boil the head, cut off the meat, add oatmeal and allspice. She made this while I was pregno with #2. To this day I cannot stand the smell or sight of it. Dh & his sister love it. This along with lima beans and bran muffins are really the only 3 things I cannot eat. (All made by my MIL... hmmm... *wink*)

What we ate this week
S: Philly Cheese Steaks (I have never made them before. Turned out poorly.)
M: Takeout Pizza
T: French Toast (him) & Leftover Pizza (me)
W: Tacos, Rice and Beans
Th: Omelets, Hashbrowns & Toast
F: Date Night: Burger & Nachos
S: Grilled hot dogs, beans & chips.

Tu mere said...

Totally agree on the too gross to eat or even look at cooked factor, unless you’re starving that is. Lillian should be featured in the children’s version of “breaking out of the stereotype females”.Guess when you’re the youngest of three, you get on board with whatever your brothers, and dad as well, are doing/trying. Sounds like a meal y’all can plan to eat on Halloween before going trick or treat.