Lamb neck fillets, was I lucky?

[227bhp]

They caught my eye as they'd been knocked down to a couple of quid, so I bunged 'em in the trolley and off we went.
I got back home late and hungry, only just enough time to make a quick meal, so looked online for some recipes which mostly advised they were tough and needed a long time in a casserole pot. Bugger
I then found another that said sear them in a cast iron griddle pan then bung 'em in the oven for a few minutes. So I took a risk on that, but fearing the worst whilst taking a file to my teeth
Well almost that recipe. I just seasoned and cooked on full heat until the house was filled with smoke and the fillets pink just in the centre. They were great, tender, tasty, just like a couple of lamb chops really.
Are they usually tough?

[21TonyK]

I used to use neck fillets for kebabs, like you say, quick sear and serve medium-rare. Always tender and decent flavour.

Where you got lucky was the price... £18 a kilo for neck in Sainsburys!!

Lunacy.

[Brads67]

Ishot a few sheep a while back and used the mutton necks for broth soup.

Food of the gods, I was gutted when it ran out. Mutton is far nicer then lamb imo

[227bhp]

21TonyK said:

I used to use neck fillets for kebabs, like you say, quick sear and serve medium-rare. Always tender and decent flavour.

Where you got lucky was the price... £18 a kilo for neck in Sainsburys!!

Lunacy.

It was knocked down to roughly £10 per kg due to its date, I find the knock down stuff is good in that it gets me to try cuts I normally wouldn't!
BBC chef Nigel Slater (used to be on Simon Mayo's show) says "Lamb neck is a fabulously underrated and inexpensive cut of lamb. It is a tough cut that needs very long, slow cooking."
How wrong could he be?
What i'm not really understanding is why quite a few recipes say cook in the pan then put in the oven, I just leave it in the pan.

[VAGLover]

Love lamb neck
I marrinade with yogurt and Middle East spices. Then bbq. Really hot to sear, then lower temp to get middle pink. Then rest.

slice like a steak, beautiful .

Glad you enjoyed

[21TonyK]

227bhp said:

It was knocked down to roughly £10 per kg due to its date, I find the knock down stuff is good in that it gets me to try cuts I normally wouldn't!
BBC chef Nigel Slater (used to be on Simon Mayo's show) says "Lamb neck is a fabulously underrated and inexpensive cut of lamb. It is a tough cut that needs very long, slow cooking."
How wrong could he be?
What i'm not really understanding is why quite a few recipes say cook in the pan then put in the oven, I just leave it in the pan.

How you cook it is going to depend on the dish, I use neck fillet in curry sometimes, cooks down wonderfully. The pan/oven thing is to colour first then cook more evenly.

And... even at £10 its still mad when you can buy boneless lamb rumps for £9 a kilo. But all it takes is a few TV chefs to use them and like everything else the price suddenly doubles or trebles.

[Electro1980]

Lots of food needs either very fast and hot or very long and slow. Lamb neck is one of them, along with squid, bavette steak and many more I’m sure. It’s trying to cook it “normally” that makes them tough, but too many people fear pink meat.

[Zirconia]

Lamb neck fillet used to be a dirt cheap cut then it got all foodie expensive. I don't buy it anymore.

But herbed and roasted with onions and garlic, just right. Never had a tough one.

[Cotty]

I just slow roasted mine they were lovely.
Lamb breast used to be cheap but not any more

[mickk]

Needs more potatoes

[Mobile Chicane]

Lamb neck and lamb neck fillet are not the same thing.

Lamb neck is a cut for long and low stewing only.

Neck fillet makes great kebabs, and can also be casseroled. Try it with thyme and flageolet beans.