I am a total sucker for lamb chops, but sadly... nobody else in the house is a fan... so I generally make them when I am alone, or when I can make something simple for Jude and then do the lamb chops for myself - which is exactly what I did on Saturday. As many of you foodies will know, lamb is accompanied well by a few regulars...namely mint and peas. Now normally, I would just make minted peas, but I felt like doing something a little less traditional - and also... the weather on Saturday was so divine, that is somewhat dictated a lighter, more "room temperature" meal rather than something piping hot!
Sweet & Sticky Lamb Chops served with Avocado & Pea Smash and Red Salad Onion, Feta & Garlic Cous Cous
One of the things I love most about cous cous, apart from the flavour and texture itself, is how ridiculously hassle free it is to make. Many people cook their cous cous on a stove, but this is so utterly unnecessary! Cous cous will cook itself if you afford it 20 minutes to do so! Whenever I make it, I get plenty of compliments on the flavour and that is because I never serve it plain... I always add a little bit of rice spice into it. It really just makes it SO moreish!
Pour one cup of dry cous cous into a bowl and then add about a dessert spoon of rice spice to it. Mix the dry ingredients together while you boil the kettle. Once the kettle has just boiled, add a cup and a bit of the boiling hot water to the cous cous and stir quickly with a fork. Allow it a minute to absorb the water and then add a healthy swirl of olive oil. Stir again with a fork, making sure that you coat it all well in the olive oil, pat it flat with the fork so it retains the heat and then cover immediately and leave it for at least 15 minutes. Done. How simple was that! lol!
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I decided to spunk up the cous cous a little more this time around and added a little bit of sauteed red salad onions, garlic and parsley to the mix. So firstly, I heated up a small pan and chopped up the salad onions.
Once the pan was ready to go, I added a little olive oil and then threw in the onions.. to that mix, I added some chopped parsley and fresh garlic. I sauteed that for about 5 minutes. Just long enough to give the onions etc. that wilted look and then I set it one side to cool for about ten minutes (also allowing the cous cous a little more time to cook itself.
Once both the cous cous and the onion were ready, I added them to the cous cous, along with some crumbled feta cheese. Then I just mixed them up nicely together and voila! that's the cous cous done. It really is such a simple thing to prepare and I normally make it without all the extras. It is also a wonderfully versatile base, as you can add pretty much anything into cous cous and it will be a success.
Then it was time to prep the chops. Now normally I do the chops with rosemary or something like that - but I decided to coat them a little differently this time around. I put a small dollop of chutney which is a sweet and sticky peach and apricot sauce. It is the sort of sauce you can use for a million and one things and eat with pretty much everything too. My son Jude absolutely loves it and has it with almost everything haha!
When it comes to the cooking of the chops, it is something that I normally start about 30 minutes before I want to serve - and 99% of that time is simply for the oven to heat up. I place the tray right at the top of the oven and preheat the oven to 250 degrees Celsius. When it is ready, I pop the chops in and cook for exactly 5 minutes, take them out, turn them over, turn the oven off and pop them back in while I get everything else that's going onto the plate, ready. There is nothing worse than a dry, chewy, overcooked chop - which is why I do them at a high heat for a VERY short time. That gets them beautifully crispy on the fatty strips and the meat is still gorgeous and pink on the inside.
The only thing left to do at that point was the peas, which literally take 5 minutes in the microwave in a bowl, uncovered with some water and fresh mint. I only ever buy the frozen baby peas - they are FAR nicer in my opinion... then lastly, the avo - because if you do that too early it will all go brown... and even with the pip left in it, it still browns a little. I sliced the avo into cubes and then very gently tossed it in with the peas.
Originally, I wanted to add chopped mint to the avo and pea smash, but I was a little concerned that the pungent flavour of the mint, may not go down too well with my little man, so I simply scattered it on the side of my plate so that my adult palate could enjoy the flavour combination. Once that was done, everything was ready to serve. It was a really simplistic plate of food to prepare, but daaaamn was it tasty! - even if I do say so myself! Although Jude did not have any of the lamb, both the avo and pea smash and the cous cous were a hit with him that he had seconds of both... (and he hates onion lol) - And as any mother will know, when your kids give you such an enormous thumbs up, it is the BIGGEST compliment!
So there you have it @awgbibb... "Lé Lamb Chops" as promised haha ;)
Until next time...
Much Love from Cape Town, South Africa xxx
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ZOMG! Looks amazing, @jaynie. I liuurrve crispy lamb chops, yum yum
They are the bestest BESSSTESSST!!!!! :D Can you believe that my son Jude, actually PEELS the fat off!!!! lol Wont eat it! more for meeeee - EVIL MOMMY!!! haha
That look so good , i have to try to make it as well
hehehe thanks! I hope you do! it is SUPER TASTY!!!!
@jaynie I am so hungry now lol <333 :) Ty for another awesomeness recipe. Resteemed! and ty for the name drop, too hehe <333
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hehe thanks hon! Appreciate the support, and for heavens sake... eat something woman!!! lol
Wow! Looks great! Now I'm hungry :-)
....oops ;)
I would have hated you if I saw something like this when I was camping this weekend. Hopefully I can survive some delicious teasing today ^_^
Ps: I'm so honored to be in that list 😍
hahaha - Happy not to have tortured you whilst out in the "big wild" @avizor lol ;) and as for the list, its a little thing, but it all adds up yeah :)
i heared my name 😊
Yum Yum that looks so delicious and a special meal, have a wonderful day my dear
Thank you sweets xxx
Hi @jaynie, I'm @checky ! While checking the mentions made in this post I noticed that @thekittgirl doesn't exist on Steem. Did you mean to write @thekittygirl ?
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!help.I had supper just over 3 hours ago and just mere looking at the picture and the process of the meal preparation just got me salivating... I just wish to be that uninvited neighbour right now!
hahaha!!! next time gadget :)
Wow those chops look delicious!
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Thanks @blanchy :) It sure was tasty :D
It looks tasty, Greetings ...
Thanks :) Much appreciated :)
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The more I run @jaynie, the more I run into your blog... I'm crazy for lamb myself. Would eat it three times a day if I had the money. What you did here looks wonderful.
#steemitbloggers
hehehe thanks @reonlouw ;) and yeah it is bloody expensive, so its probably just as well that I am the only one who wants to eat it and only have to buy one pack hahaha!!!
Did you really have to make the Photo's look so delicious? It is 10:08 and I have not had breakfast yet! I have been riding around with Wayne getting his Bakkie sorted . Somehow the thought of Muesli and Yoghurt , just does not seem that appealing to me?
hahahaha!!! MY BAD!! :D and yeah, I can imagine Muesli would be somewhat of an anticlimax after Lé Lamb Chops haha :)
oh... it looks pretty simple to make ! even the preparation looks easy. the only thing i dont like about cooking is preparation takes longer time tha eating. lol😂
hahaha!!! so it looks like the perfect meal for you then @asianetwork :)
I love lamb chops too @jaynie and I really love the side dishes you have provided here. A great blog.
hehe yes! Lamb chops are the best!! Thank you @trudeehunter :) I had a lot of fun with this one :)
Wow! Really good! I wish to have a good same as yours... Really, I am hungry with your food...
This all looks wonderfully delicious @jaynie. You got some really pretty photos in between too :)
Simple and delicious, you have taught me how to make couscous had no idea what to do with that ingredient, nothing ventured, nothing gained, be sure to test within the next week.
Love the idea on how you prepare lamb chops (another lamb chop sucker here) using some chutney sounds great for flavour.
Thanks for some new things to try out @jaynie
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I loooovvvveeee lamb
You made that look so easy
And they look so good
I am salivating now
Yumzzzz
I will remember that 250 Degrees 5 minutes on one side, turn off the oven, and bunk it back in.... Cool :D
Thank you for the shoutout @jaynie <3
@jaynie,
Oh God, that looks good.
Question: Do you, perchance, happen to have an unmarried sister? All you South African gals are always posting these utterly delicious-looking photos of utterly delicious-looking food. One after another. What one doesn't think of, the other does. I can't take it anymore. I like a Big Mac as much as they next guy ... but it's not the same.
I'm moving to South Africa ... and I'm bringing a fork.
Quill
Aww lamb chops I'm drooling right now. It's really hard to get lamb meat in our area and the last time I recall I had good lamb is when I visited Australia. I could try to use pork chops but it still would not be the same. Now I'm really craving for it.
I’m a big fan of lamb chops!
Gimmee some darling @jaynie 🤤
Love the presentation.
So inviting
@jaynie oh that looks very nice, I want to eat it all, nice blog
Well frankly speaking I have never tried a lamb but upon looking at the dish it made me hungry <3
HOW is no one else in the house a fan?! That blows my mind. Lamb is my favorite tasting meat in the entire world!!!
Gosh, those look delicious!!! And you made it look all nice. You're like a fancy steemy chef!