Morgan Valley Lamb on the Menu
Photography: Timothy Thimmes
Savvy travelers and cooks know that almost anywhere you wander, the best meals are made with local ingredients and enjoyed with local wines. While northern Utah may not lay claim to any great vintages, we do have our Morgan Valley Lamb. Sometimes, when biting into a perfectly grilled little loin chop, I think that’s all we need. Of course, as luscious as it is on its own, discerning chefs around the state like to add their own flourishes to Jamie and Linda Gillmor’s free-roaming, pasture-fed, hormone and antibiotic-free lamb.
The distinctively sweet flavor and tender texture of their Morgan Valley Lamb is the result of allowing the wooly little creatures to roam free on idyllic hillsides, nibbling cherry grass, bluebells, delphinium, goldenrod, chamomile, willows, sagebrush and a wealth of other good “browse,” as Jamie Gillmor likes to call it. His 10,000-plus Morgan Valley acres (just to the north, as the crow flies, over the hills from Park City) have been in his family for three generations. “My granddad used to shoot and pluck ducks up here, freeze them and deliver them to the old Hotel Utah, for twenty-five cents each,” he recounts. “He started buying property and sheep before the Depression, so I grew up ranching.” Today, Jamie and his wife, Linda, are still ranching and their lamb is the culinary talk of the town.
Here’s what some of Park City and Heber’s most discerning chefs are doing with Morgan Valley lamb this summer. Their lamb entrées may change from day to day, but all feature the Gillmor’s product:
Jean Louis Montecot of Park City’s Goldener Hirsch serves up roasted rack of lamb with lamb jus, ratatouille, and fine herbs; lamb shank with fresh tomato sauce and polenta; and lamb carpaccio with shaved asiago and olive oil.
Barb Hill of Snake Creek Grill in Heber puts Moroccan spiced Morgan Valley lamb kebabs with a fresh mint/yogurt sauce on her summer menu.
At Deer Valley’s Stein Eriksen Lodge, chef Zane Holmquist dazzles diners with the occasional loin of Morgan Valley lamb with a salad of Chef’s Garden pea tendrils and micro mint. He also serves braised lamb shank with port wine gelee, spring pea risotto and roasted sun chokes with Utah goat cheese fondue and lamb reduction.
Blind Dog Grill’s Penny Lehman-Kinsey’s lamb delights include lamb spare ribs, a coffee-smoked lamb shoulder, rack of lamb and a succulent lamb burger with goat cheese and caramelized onions.
Seth Adams at the Riverhorse has conjured up two delectable specials. One is a roulade of lamb wrapped in prosciutto and filled with arugula and red peppers, topped with apricot glaze and balsamic jus. The other is rack of lamb over roasted garlic polenta and shiitake mushroom demi-glace.
Virginia Rainey is a regular contributor to Park City Magazine.
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