One recent weeknight, I was rushing through the grocery store, without a plan in mind. Moms, you know the routine-you’ve worked a long day, you’re tired, you haven’t got a clue what to make for dinner, and you wish you had a personal chef.
My neighborhood store has a section where you can buy meats with only a day or two until their expiration dates. And a quick peek through the selection led to me some half-price lamb chops-and this recipe.
A fricassee (spelled differently in modern times than when this recipe was created, but I have decided to go with the original spelling) is basically any meat cut into chunks and stewed in a sauce or gravy. I have done one fricassee- a Julia Child recipe for chicken-so I was ready to tackle a different cut of meat.
This recipe comes from the cookbook English Housewifery Exemplified in Above Four Hundred and Fifty Receipts Giving Directions for Most Parts of Cookery by Elizabeth Moxon. Again, those old cookbooks with the long, detailed names are so much fun!
It’s a really easy recipe-comes together quickly and makes for a great weeknight dish. It’s very tasty but the flavor is really heightened by seasoning the meat an hour before cooking and letting it set in the refrigerator. It serves three people. We spooned the lamb over french bread and garnished it with lemons.
Ingredients
• 2 six-ounce lamb chops
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 jar brown gravy
• 2 tablespoons of white wine
• ½ teaspoon nutmeg
• ½ jar green olives
Instructions
Slice the meat in to strips about an inch wide.
Sprinkle pepper and salt over meat and rub it in with your hands. Let it marinate at least an hour in your refrigerator if you have the time.
In a skillet, melt the butter and add the meat, cooking it just until it is brown. Add the gravy, wine, nutmeg, and flour. Mix thoroughly. Chop the olives and add them.
Simmer for about 10 minutes. Serve!