Mutton, Dressed as Lamb, Served at Chambers Steakhouse

What do you get when you have no sheep? Mutton. Most people are under the impression that sheep meat better known as mutton tastes baaad, but at Chambers Steakhouse in Farmington, it's more like mutton dressed as lamb. The slightly bolder, richer taste works well with their spicy sauces, long braises, and velvety rich stews. You're watching the "Local News Network", brought to you by Service Master Restore and Boone's Family Thai Barbecue. I'm Wendy Graham Settle. Most diners think of beef when they hear the word steakhouse. And while he does offer beef steak on the menu, Alexander Chambers, a native of Kirtland, wanted to tap into a sizable, underserved market with his decision to specialize in USDA certified mutton steaks, ribs, and chops. Mutton is harvested at about three years old, deep, rich in color, and much fattier than lamb. The leg and shoulder are most commonly prepared.

The hind leg of the sheep... that's the quarter, what we use that. On our menu, you'll see that's what we use, part of the mutton steak is some parts of that. So you can have that medium rare, medium or well done. It's a very soft tender meat. Yeah.

Navajo native culinary tradition has many preparations for mutton. Alexander's mother, Barbara Chambers, learned to prepare mutton from her grandmother, and mother, mostly in the form of stew. I am the one that makes the mutton stew, which is one of them is the dumpling stew. And then the other one is steamed corn, and then special like beef stew, are either the vegetable stew, or the green chili stew, and other mutton vegetable stew. That's what I make here.

But some people think mutton stew would be nothing without its savory, crispy companion, frybread.

The recipe for frybread is flour, some baking powder, a little bit of salt, and a little bit of love.

Other side dishes include traditional blue corn mush, and seasoned squash and corn. Chamber's Steakhouse is located at 2010 East Main Street in Farmington. To order online or for more information, go to chamberssteakhouse.com. Thanks for watching this edition of the Local News Network. I'm Wendy Graham Settle.

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