Long weekend

We are recovering from a lovely long weekend.  It is a bit of a tradition that we have a houseful of friends, we eat, we drink, we do lots of farmy things and on the Sunday we go to a friend's picnic in the paddock, which seems to get bigger and bigger as the years go on. 

We had some slow roasted lamb and picked veggies from the garden to cook, chased sheep

and got so muddy the kids hung their boots in the tree to dry...

We made mulled wine to take to the picnic on Sunday.  It was, I have to say, the best brew yet.

which was pretty much the tone of the weekend.

All good fun.  But back to the usual grind and I was thinking about a conversation we had over the weekend about getting dinner on the table every night and keeping it interesting...

It can become a chore.  Here is a super easy lamb recipe that is an oldie but a goodie.  Mum used to cook this using older, tougher chops, but I used some loin chops that were left over from the weekend and they worked well.  This is perfect to stick in the oven when you are on the way out the door for afternoon sport.

SAVOURY CHOPS - Serves 4-6, depending on the size of the chops

6 chops - use any cut

2 tblsp each of the following:  brown sugar, cornflour, vinegar, tomato sauce (homemade if possible)

1/2 teasp each of ground ginger, curry powder and mustard powder

1 1/2 cups water

2 tblsp sherry

salt and pepper

Trim chops of excess fat and put in a casserole dish.  Mix all the remaining ingredients and blend well.

Pour over chops and if you have time, marinate for a few hours.  Don't worry if you can't.  

Cover with a tight lid and cook at 150c for two hours.   Good with mashed potatoes.