Oven Baked Lamb Chops

Britsh sheep have an ability to thrive on fairly marginal land. They are therefore much less likely to be subjected to intensive farming. Lamb is a distinctive and flavoursome meat. There are some regional variations in taste and flavour which is the result of different breads and the variable quality and character of the grazing land.

Just the other day I bought some lamb chops from my local butcher. I was assured by him that these sheep were locally reared and had spent their days running about on a Dorset hillside. Once I got them home I had to decide how to cook and serve them. Normally I just grill them but I fancied something a bit different. I spent a good couple of hours flicking through my cookery books and in the end I decided to oven bake them.

I hadn't cooked lamb chops like this before but they were truly delicious and I will definately be doing them this way again. I made an onion and rosemary sauce to go with them and served my lamb with some buttery new potatoes and steamed vegetables. It was so easy to just pop the chops in the oven. While they were baking I made the sauce and cooked the potatoes and vegetables.



This recipe serves 2.

4 lamb chops (or more if you fancy it)
1 small onion peeled and chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 6, 200C.
Firstly place the lamb chops in a shallow roasting tin and pop the chopped onion around them. Season with salt and paper and then place on a high shelf in the oven to bake. I like my lamb a little pink so cooked them for about 30 minutes. If you like yours more well done then increase the cooking time.

While the lamb chops are baking you can whip up the sauce easily. For that you will need:

1 small onion peeled and finely chopped
1 rounded teaspoon of rosemary leaves
15g butter
15g plain flour
85ml milk
85ml vegetable stock
1 tablespoon double cream
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Melt the butter and sweat the onions over a gentle heat for five minutes. Meanwhile bruise the rosemary leaves in a pestle and mortar to release their oil and then chop them finely. Add them to the onion and cook gently uncovered for about 15 minutes. Now using a wooden spoon stir in the flour until smooth. Gradually stir in the milk followed by the stock and stir vigorously with a balloon whisk. Season with salt and pepper and then simmer for 2 minutes. Then remove from the heat and liquidise in the pan with a stick blender. If you don't have one then pour the sauce into a conventional blender and liquidise. Then stir in the cream.

Once cooked remove the chops from the oven. The onion will have roasted and caramelised too which is lovely so dish these up along with the chops. Serve the chops with with the sauce poured over and enjoy.