O'Sullivan's Baked Lamb Chops

"Baking lamb chops?!?!?" I hear you cry. Well yes, I had my reservations too, but these are spectacular. Credit goes to Brendan O'Sullivan who is responsible for my enlightenment.

Cooking time: 1.30 - 2 hours

Ingredients:

• 3 lamb chops per person
• Some King Edward spuds
• A few carrots
• A broccoli
• A decent full bodied red wine (mulled wine is also recommended)
• Rosemary
• Garlic

Chops Phase 1

• Find a roasting dish that accommodates your chops fairly snugly
• If using fresh rosemary put this under the chops, if not then rub some dried stuff into the meat (a bit of "Lamb Seasoning" spice mix is also nice)
• Position half a dozen bits of garlic in the spaces between chops
• Pour in half an inch of the wine - you want to almost submerge the chops (hence why you should use a snug tin)
• Cover with tin foil and bake in a preheated oven at 180C for 45mins to an hour.

Roast Potatoes

• Peel and halve the spuds
• Boil the blighters for 10 minutes - no longer or they will break up
• When ready tip them into a colander and flip them them up a bit to fluff up the outsides
• Cover a flat baking tray with foil and liberally coat with goose fat (yes, I suppose butter will do)
• Spread the fluffy tatties across the tray and drizzle a little olive oil over them.
• Season them and whack them in the oven. I find they take about an hour, maybe a bit more. If you find they are done before the chops just close up the tin foil.

Chops Phase 2

• After being in the oven for 45 mins to 1 hour take out the chops and pout the liquid and garlics into a suitable container and put it into the fridge to cool. We will later be using this for the gravy.
• Now, peel and chop the carrots into 1 inch thick segments and arrange them in the roasting tin. You then need to balance each chop on 2-3 bits of carrot and return to the oven for 30-45 minutes. This will crisp them up an absolute treat. NOTE: This may result in crunchy carrots, so if you like them soft (you know who you are) then you might want to microwave them for 2 minutes first.
• Check your chops half way through this phase and turn them.

The Gravy

• When there is about 5 minutes to go take the liquid out of the fridge and spoon off a bit of the fat that will have risen to the top.
• pour the rest into a small pan and add a bit of arrowroot to thicken it up (or cornflour mixed with water, but arrowroot is flavourless).
• Mash the roasted garlics up and then strain the liquid through a sieve.

To Serve

• Microwave the broccoli for 2 minutes 30 secs
• Arrange it on a plate with the spuds and carrots and chops
• Spoon over a bit of the gravy
• Decide never to grill chops again