You may want to make every single recipe in the new John Whaite cookbook: Comfort, Food to Soothe the Soul. Suzi and I do. I’ve been collecting the ideas we will test first and this one pops to the top. Roasting meat with veggies is a technique that does, truly, produce comfort food. The veggies gain flavor from the meat juices and the tenderizing effects of high heat.
Here, the meat is not a “hunk” but individual lamb chops. The veggies are a combination of potatoes and beet [beetroot if you are British]. You can, of course, feel free to augment the veggies: carrots, onion, garlic, even diced celery.
This very British recipe uses one ingredient you may find uncommon: Rhubarb and Ginger Jam. Roasted meat and veggies seems to be the ideal autumn dish, but that rhubarb is a spring treat, so making the jam yourself now is unlikely. You can go online and find different products that will work in this recipe. At Amazon, the products are not labeled “jam” but instead “preserve” and “conserve.” I’m sure any of those products would serve you well here.
This dish takes an hour of cooking, so it is feasible to make on a weeknight. It certainly is something that would grace a Sunday dinner table. Deep red wine should be served. Smiles will be automatic.
Oh, one correction. This recipe did not pop to the top top of our test list. We’ve already made the Caramelized Shallot, Honey, and Roquefort Cornbread. The post will come later this week. You may want to go out now and get those ingredients. As I said, you want to make everything in Comfort.
Rhubarb and Ginger Jam Lamb Chops with Roasted Potatoes and Beets
Yield: serves 2
Ingredients:
- ½ pound new potatoes cut into 1-inch dice
- 1 purple beet, peeled and cut into 1-inch dice
- 1 golden beet, peeled and cut into 1-inch dice
- 3 dried bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 4 lamb chops
- 3 tablespoons rhubarb and ginger jam
- Sea salt flakes
- Coarsely ground black pepper
Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan/gas mark 7.
Put the potatoes, beetroot and bay leaves into a large roasting dish and toss with the oil and a generous pinch of salt and pepper. Roast for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile rub the lamb chops with the jam, covering the chops completely.
After the vegetables have roasted for 30 minutes, place the lamb chops on top and roast for a further 20 minutes. Remove the dish from the oven, cover it loosely and allow the meat to rest (still on top of everything is fine), for 5 minutes before serving.
Source: Comfort, Food to Soothe the Soul by John Whaite [Kyle, 2018]