Celebrating American Lamb

Lamb may seem like a spring ingredient, but it is produced in nearly every state. That means fresh, American lamb is available year-round for an amazing variety of delicious recipes.

There is a story behind every bite of American lamb you take. Before it ever makes it to your table, American lamb is raised by skilled farmers across the country from pastoral grasslands, to high country meadows.

This class is nothing short of a celebration of American lamb. Many home cooks love lamb when they go out, but remain intimidated to try their hand with this versatile protein at home. That’s why we designed this class.

In a first-ever partnership with Sur La Table, the American Lamb Board’s “Shepherd-to-Chef” campaign will join us to host a cooking class series sharing the basics of lamb cuts, butchery, prep tips and cooking techniques with easy but elegant recipes featuring local lamb.

For this class, Shepherd Craig Rogers of Border Springs Farm will join Chef Nick Stefanelli of Bibiana, to help students prepare a menu that will introduce them to the unlimited possibilities available to them with lamb.

After traveling in Italy, Maryland native Nicholas Stefanelli fell in love with the food. Stefanelli graduated from L’Academie de Cuisine in Maryland and began his career at Galileo. He quickly rose to chef de partie, and then went on to become the chef de partie of Laboratorio del Galileo. Next he accepted the position of chef de partie at Maestro, the AAA Five Diamond, Mobil Four-Star Italian restaurant in McLean, Virginia where he remained until 2007. Working under Maestro’s James Beard award-winning chef Fabio Trabocchi, Stefanelli cultivated a talent for cooking and expanded his knowledge of the nuances of Italian cuisine.

After four years at Maestro, Stefanelli followed his famous mentor to New York City in 2007, where he was promoted to chef de cuisine at Trabocchi’s Fiamma restaurant. Fiamma earned a three-star rating from the New York Times during his tenure in the kitchen. Stefanelli returned to Washington in early 2008 to cook and eventually lead the kitchen at Mio Restaurant downtown. In July 2009, Ashok Bajaj tapped him as the new executive chef to help develop the menu for Bibiana Osteria-Enoteca. Upon opening in September 2009, Bibiana instantly became one of Washington’s most popular hot spots. His cuisine helped earn Bibiana a glowing review and two-and-a-half stars from food critic Tom Sietsema of The Washington Post. In October 2010, Stefanelli was also announced as the winner of StarChefs.com “Rising Star” award and Bibiana was named to Esquire’s list of “Best New Restaurants 2010.”