How to use up those almost finished bottles and jars of jams, chutneys, etc., that clutter the fridge?
Lamb can be the answer – it is possibly the most robust of all the meats!
An acquaintance once told me about a method for cooking a whole leg of lamb smothered in a bottle of …… More on that in a later post!
It was unexpectedly yummy, and the experience showed that lamb can be marinated and cooked in lots of things. Lamb chops are particularly versatile and they can be slow-cooked just as easily – if not more easily – that a whole leg or shoulder. We won’t give a recipe, just an idea of what we did.
Slow-cooked marinated lamb chops
In the fridge we had:
- Some commercial Thai curry paste that is edible but uninteresting
- A couple of tablespoons of mango chutney in the bottom of its jar
- A couple of tablespoons of preserved lemon juice
- A couple of tablespoons of leftover dill pickling liquid
We decided that two tablespoons of the curry paste added to the other three ingredients could make a great marinade for lamb chops, being mindful of the saltiness of the preserved lemon juice.
One of our local butchers – yes, we still have three independent butchers in Hampton Street – has a type of lamb chop they call a ‘bone chop’ that they recommend for slow-cooking. It is like a chump chop but it is a thickly cut. So we bought a kilo of those, cut each in two and rolled them through the marinade.
If we had time we would have marinated them for some hours or overnight, but in this case everything went straight into a slow oven – 150oC for four hours. We turned them over a few times and also dropped the oven temperature to 130oC after a while to stop the marinade from disappearing totally or burning. The end result was tender lamb pieces in a yummy, sticky sauce. (See update note below for shorter cooking times.)
This method is great for an informal meal and entertaining a crowd: it is not expensive, quick to put together and the timing of the cooking is not overly critical.
Make plenty as the leftover chops might taste even better the next day, and they reheat easily. Even think about cooking the chops the day before you need them.
Other types of lamb chops or lamb pieces would work well too, but adjust the cooking time or heat if they are thinly cut. Cut off excessive fat. Experiment with your marinades, for example, try some Indian curry paste instead of Thai, try to make a Chinese version (though soya sauce and honey burn easily), try a French version to use up that leftover mustard, ….
Serve the lamb with whatever takes your fancy – some slices of lovely fresh baguette or similar do not go astray.
Update: July 2017
This is another marinade of items we had in the fridge.
- Leftover pickled onion liquid drained, 1/3 cup
- Some commercial Indian Rogan Josh curry paste, one heaped tablespoon
- Some green chilli jam, one heaped teaspoon
- An almost empty vegemite jar into which we poured two tablespoons of very hot water, and gave it a good shake to dislodge the remaining black bits
- Three over-ripe tomatoes, diced
We combined everything well and poured it over a kilogram of thickly cut chops (see photo). You can marinate them for a long while or pop them straight in the oven. The longer you cook them, the drier the sauce. However, after two hours or so you will have tender lamb and plenty of juicy sauce.
Contributions welcomed!
If you have any inspirational moments based on what’s in the fridge or on the shelves, we are happy to hear about them, including the ingredients, (good quality photos if you have any) and why it turned out so well.