Lamb Chops, Roast Potatoes and Braised Broad Beans

Stephen very kindly cooked dinner on Saturday night since I was feeling a bit sorry for myself. In return, I offered to cook him dinner this evening. He chose lamb chops with braised green beans. I stuffed up by buying runner beans (because I love them and they won’t be around for too much longer) when I should have known he meant French beans, because he loves those. I also bought broad beans because, like the runner beans, they’re about to go out of season.

As I started to cook, I sliced the top off my thumb off on the stupid, overly-complicated bean slicer and, although I bravely soldiered on, it quickly became clear that Stephen was going to have to step in and help if we were going to eat before midnight. So, not only did I not cook him the dinner he wanted, I also had to get him to help. Rubbish.

I’m glad he did help though because, between the two of us, we ended up with a really good dinner. The lamb chops were coated in rosemary and garlic and then fried, the potatoes roasted, the broad beans braised and the runner beans simply steamed. Stephen made a really good gravy from the meat juices left in the frying pan too which we weren’t planning on originally but brought the whole dish together.

Braised Broad Beans

Bag of broad beans

3 shallots, finely sliced

1 clove garlic

1/2 small glass white wine

Salt and pepper

Lemon juice

Start by boiling the broad beans for about two minutes. Drain, rinse in cold water and remove inner shell.

Sautee shallots and garlic for about 10 minutes or until soft.

Add the broad beans, season and deglaze with the wine. Allow the alcohol to cook out, reduce and simmer for about 10 minutes. Check for seasoning, add a squeeze of lemon juice and serve.