The name of the game

Strange how often we are enticed to eat a dish by its given name. Reading 'Crushed potatoes' - a new arrival to a restaurant menus- always makes me smile. Maybe some chef found that mashing potatoes correctly would take too long and had to find a reason to serve them partly prepared.. So, wearing a chef's hat I offer my favourite cheapie under a French name, and apologies if it isn't a correct translation. This is such a tasty dish that makes the most of the least interesting of meat cuts, but please try this, and you will be - as they say - well impressed. Just don't tell anyone that it is Breast of Lamb with Cabbage.
Poitrine d'Agneau au Chou
One small cabbage, finely shredded, 1 large onion, finely chopped
2 oz (50g) bacon scraps, 4 oz (110g) porridge oats
1 breast of lamb, zest and juice of 1 or two lemons
black pepper, fresh parsley, chopped
Steam the cabbage until tender. Fry the onion and bacon in a very little oil. Stir in the cabbage, until coated with the bacon flavoured oil, then stir in the oats, lemon zest and juice.
Place this mixture on the base of a greased shallow heatproof dish. Separate the lamb into ribs and place on top of the cabbage mixture, fat side up.
Season with pepper and bake at 200C, 400F, gas 6 until the meat is tender. Sprinkle with parsley, and serve with rice or jacket potatoes.
Tip: There are many very interesting cuts of meat which are really inexpensive. Mutton is cheaper than lamb and has better flavour for curries and casseroles. Normally, the cheaper the cut the longer it takes to cook. One exception is lamb's liver, my husband's favourite, this is cut into 'gougons' (finger-shaped strips), dusted with flour and fried in a large pan with bacon, stirring steamed cabbage and small cooked potatoes in the pan juices just before serving.