Chops, recession fighting foods!

I vividly remember the first time I heard the word 'recession' spring up in conversation. It was the early nineties in the middle of June and we were living in a small rural town in the green valley like hills of south-west Victoria, which is a prime region for fat spring lambs. My mother was in the kitchen and my sister's and I were floating around as we always did when my mother was cooking, eagerly awaiting the delicious lamb roast she was busily preparing. My father's car pulled slowly into the garage and we all knew this meant dinner was close.

'What's for dinner girls?' uttered my father, exhausted from his long labourous day of sheep shearing.
'Roast lamb!' I exclaimed excitedly with a widening grin.
To my amazement my father shot a glance at my mother, who smiled sheepishly but kept on with what she was doing.
'Hmmm,' said my father, looking at my mother with a questioning gaze.
'What about all the packets of chops we have in the freezer from the last three lambs that nobody has eaten?'
'How about we give them away', said my eldest sister, mockingly.
My father, not impressed shot an instant glance at her and then proceeded.
'Right girls, I am not buying any more meat; lamb, beef or chicken until all the chops in the freezer are eaten, we are in a recession, you know!' he said in a decisive and final tone.

Nobody said a word but we all knew that when dad made a comment like this it was final and if that was the case we were going to have to come up with a few new recipes involving chops!
Growing up I never thought twice about the cost of meat as there was always an abundant supply of 'Harry's spring lamb' and prime beef cuts in the freezer. It was like magic, the over sized freezer's hearty supply would slowly dwindle over the course of a few months and then miraculously it would be full again.

So began the month of chop eating...

Looking back the chop development started out very simply and slowly. My sisters and myself were often in charge of cooking as my mother often worked along side my father.
It mostly involved the three sisters mixing up combinations of dried herbs and spices in the kitchen, which were then rubbed onto the chops and finished with a good drizzling oil.

The first 'Fancy Family Chops' recession-style
Feeds: a family of 5 in a recession
Time in the kitchen: 10 minutes prep + 10 minutes cooking

the ingredients
spice mixture
2 tablespoon rosemary, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed, finely chopped
1 tablespoon lemon zest, optional
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
8 lamb loin chops, trimmed
2 tablespoons oil

lets have some fun
Combine all the spice ingredients in a small bowl.
Sprinkle the spice mixture into the plastic bag containing the chops, tie off and shake vigorously for 10 seconds or until chops are well coated with the spice mixture, drizzle with oil.
Place chops under a hot grill and cook, turning once for 5 minutes each side.
Remove chops carefully from the grill, serve with mashed potato and steamed green beans.

Tip - Get creative with spice mixture's; Moroccan, middle eastern and even Italian-style herbs and spices can bring to life even the most boring of meats all under the budget umbrella.

• Grilled lamb chops with Nana's home-made mint sauce


• Italian-style chop casserole


• lamb chops topped with Salsa Verde

This blog is dedicated to my father; the worlds best saver and a lover of finely cooked chops. You are an inspiration to us all dad :-) even though at the time of the chop eating crusade none of us were impressed!

love amie x