Matt Preston's tasty lamb chop ideas

Try lamb chops with a variety of sauces for a refreshing take on the

Aussie favourite dish. Picture: Thinkstock

Yet just as lamb was the logical flag bearer for a young country whose wealth was built on the sheep's back so it was also the hero protein of many other nationalities - whether it was the lamb rogan josh and "saag gosht" of the Indians, lamb tagines from North Africa, the celebratory whole roast lamb of Greek migrants or even barbecued lamb cubes rubbed with Sichuan pepper - a signature of China's most Western province.

Rising prices have moved better cuts of lamb out of the realm of a cheap feed for many cash-strapped Australians. This means that if you are going to spend your hard-earned on Larry Lamb you want to make it a bit flasher than grilling it with peas, boiled peas and carrots.

Olive Tapenade
If you are looking for a simple but perfect partnership serve chops with a dollop of black or green olive tapenade. I use black olives, and it's as simple as making a coarse paste by blitzing a cup of pitted black olives with half a dozen capers, an anchovy and a drizzle of olive oil.

Anchovy Butter
If you can find those fancy, strangely sweet but rather expensive Cantabrian anchovies then make an anchovy butter. Roughly chop 50g of anchovies. Scrape them into 80g of room-temperature butter. Mash together with a tablespoon of finely snipped chives and shape into a rough log. Using plastic wrap, roll up and twist both ends tightly. Refrigerate to harden. Serve chops with a cut, cold round of the butter. 

Mint Sauce
The classic English way to serve lamb chops is with a sweet vinegary mint sauce. To make this, dissolve a tablespoon caster sugar with a good splash of hot water. Stir until sugar has dissolved and then add half a cup of very finely chopped mint leaves and half a cup of malt vinegar. Taste it and if it is too intense, then mix in water a little by little. If the vinegar dominates, stir in a sprinkling of sugar to balance it out. 

English Onion Sauce
The classic English accompaniment, other than quince, redcurrant or medlar jelly, is an onion sauce. Fry a couple of finely sliced brown onions in 40g butter until they start to look brown and caramelly. Stir in 60g butter and keep cooking for a couple of minutes. Add 1-2 tablespoons of flour and cook out any floury taste. When everything is suitably tanned, stir in 100ml milk. When combined, stir in another 200ml and bring to the boil. The sauce will bubble and thicken. Add more milk if the sauce is getting too thick. Pour over the chops.

French Onion Sauce
For a classic French onion sauce, aka sauce soubise, slice onions very thinly and then fry them in butter for about 20 minutes very slowly. This is so they soften but stay pale and don't colour; next puree the onions before adding to the bechamel or white sauce. Once combined, pass the sauce through a sieve to keep it smooth.

Balsamic Sauce
My current favourite sauce for chops is something that I stumbled across while playing around with balsamic syrup. I love the sweet and sour combo of balsamic syrup and I wondered what would happen if you added a third element  - salt - to create a great flavour triangle of sweet, sour and salt. Just adding salt didn't cut it but adding a cup of kalamata olives gave that delicious salty hit as well as fleshy fruitiness. 

Lamb Chops with Black Olives

Serves 6
Preparation time: 15 minutes (+ marinating time)
Cooking time: 12 minutes
Skills needed: Intermediate

Ingredients

• 12 lamb chops
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 12 rosemary leaves
• 1 cup plump kalamata olives
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 cup caster sugar
• Potato mash and broccoli, to serve

Method

• Marinate the chops: Sprinkle chops with a pinch of salt on each side and massage in.
• Place in a large zip-lock bag or a plastic container.
• Crush garlic and oil together. Strip the rosemary leaves from the stem, then roll over them with a rolling pin to bruise and bring out their perfume. Add to the oil and then pour into the container or bag.
• Toss to coat the chops. Refrigerate for an hour to let the flavour infuse.
• Pit the olives: Take the olives and press each one under a clean beer bottle.
• The olive flesh will split and the pit will be easy to remove.
• Make sure you pit all the olives and discard all the pits. Cook the chops: Remove the chops from the bag or container, knock off any rosemary or marinade attached and pan fry or grill for between three and five minutes each side, depending on their thickness.
• The thicker they are, the longer they will take to cook to medium rare.
• After cooking, remove chops from the pan, cover and let rest for five minutes before serving.
• Make the syrup: Drain any lamb fat from the pan. Now deglaze the pan over the heat with red wine.
• Cook to reduce by half.
• Add balsamic vinegar and sugar to the pan.
• Throw in the pitted olives. Simmer, but do not boil.
• Cook until the sauce starts to thicken but not so it is too thick or syrupy.
• To serve: Serve the chops on a hot platter drizzled with the olive-balsamic syrup and with buttery potato mash and steamed broccoli on the side.
• Feeling crazy, skittish or a little wild? Then why not throw a handful of blueberries into the syrup with the olives.
• You just want the blueberries to warm and plump up, not cook and split.
• They will act as a fresh juicy shock while eating this sweet, salty, sour sauce.