Plate 07 of 10

Mutton Chops with Onion Gravy

Weeknight camp cooking, done slowly. Thick mutton chops browned hard and set aside, three onions cooked in the same pan until soft and amber, flour stirred through them, then stock and Worcestershire sauce added gradually to a smooth gravy. The chops go back under the lid to braise for about seventy-five minutes, and come to the plate with mash and peas.

Prep: 15 min
Cook: 1 hr 35 min
Serves: 4
Difficulty: Medium

Researched · Kitchen testing pending

Two braised mutton chops in dark onion gravy on a plate with a mound of mashed potato and peas and carrots.

Mutton chops in onion gravy is the ordinary supper of the Falklands, the dish a camp kitchen makes on a Tuesday. The chops are browned, the onions are cooked slowly in the fat until they are sweet, and the whole thing braises under a lid until the mutton gives in.

It arrives with mash and peas and carrots, and the gravy is the point of the plate.

Ingredients

4Thick mutton chops, about 250 g each
8 gFine saltdivided
3 gBlack pepper
30 mlOil or dripping
3 mediumOnions, sliced
30 gFlour
500 mlLamb stock
15 mlWorcestershire sauce
2 sprigsThyme

Mutton chops braise

A lamb chop is grilled pink in minutes; a mutton chop is older, tougher and better flavoured, and it wants an hour under a lid in gravy. Loin or chump chops, cut thick, are the ones for this.

Amber onions

Fifteen slow minutes take the onions from raw to soft and sweet and give the gravy its colour before any flour goes in. Rushed onions make a pale, sharp gravy.

The five tastes on this plate

Salt is on the chops and in the stock. Fat is mutton fat and dripping. Acid is the Worcestershire's vinegar. Heat is black pepper. Umami is the browned chops and the long-cooked onions.

Equipment

Wide, deep skillet or sauté pan with a lid
Tongs
Wooden spoon and a whisk
Instant-read thermometer

The chops must lie flat in one layer under the gravy, so a wide pan rather than a tall pot.

Method

Brown the chops10 min
Season the chops with half the salt and the pepper. Heat the oil in the pan over medium-high and brown the chops 4 minutes a side until dark at the edges. Set aside on a plate.
Season the chops with half the salt and the pepper. Heat the oil in the pan over medium-high and brown the chops 4 minutes a side until dark at the edges. Set aside on a plate.
Cook the onions15 min
Lower the heat to medium-low, add the onions to the fat and cook 12 to 15 minutes, stirring now and then, until soft and amber.
Lower the heat to medium-low, add the onions to the fat and cook 12 to 15 minutes, stirring now and then, until soft and amber.
Make the gravy5 min
Stir the flour into the onions and cook 2 minutes. Add the stock gradually, whisking, then the Worcestershire sauce and thyme, and bring to a simmer.
Stir the flour into the onions and cook 2 minutes. Add the stock gradually, whisking, then the Worcestershire sauce and thyme, and bring to a simmer.
Braise1 hr 15 min
Return the chops and any juices, pushing them under the gravy. Cover and braise over the lowest heat 70 to 75 minutes, turning once, until a knife slides into the meat without resistance and it reads at least 80 °C.
Return the chops and any juices, pushing them under the gravy. Cover and braise over the lowest heat 70 to 75 minutes, turning once, until a knife slides into the meat without resistance and it reads at least 80 °C.
Finish5 min
Lift out the thyme stems, skim the fat, and season with the remaining salt to taste. If the gravy is thin, simmer uncovered 5 minutes.
Lift out the thyme stems, skim the fat, and season with the remaining salt to taste. If the gravy is thin, simmer uncovered 5 minutes.
Serve
A chop and plenty of onion gravy beside mashed potatoes and buttered peas and carrots.
A chop and plenty of onion gravy beside mashed potatoes and buttered peas and carrots.
07
Sensory cues of doneness
- Visual: meat shrinking from the bone, a glossy brown gravy thick with soft onion.
- Auditory: the gentlest bubbling under the lid.
- Olfactory: sweet onion, thyme and roasted mutton.
Look for meat shrinking from the bone and a glossy brown gravy thick with soft onion. Listen for the gentlest bubbling under the lid; smell sweet onion, thyme and roasted mutton.

Storing it

Keeps 3 days refrigerated and improves. Reheat covered in the gravy to a simmer, 74 °C through. Freezes for 3 months.

Troubleshooting

Chops still tough.: Braised too hot or too short. Lowest heat, lid on, and 15 minutes more.
Gravy lumpy.: Stock added all at once. A little at a time, whisking.
Pale, thin gravy.: Onions undercooked, or too much stock. Amber onions first, and reduce at the end.

Substitutions

One-to-one swaps, with the technique change each one needs.

Ingredient substitutions

Ingredient	Replace with	Culinary impact and technique adjustment
Mutton chops	Lamb shoulder chops	Milder; 50 minutes is enough
Lamb stock	Beef stock, or water and a stock cube	Beef is darker; check the salt with a cube
Worcestershire sauce	A teaspoon of vinegar and a dash of soy	The same sharp-savoury lift

Scaling

Half

Two chops in a smaller pan; the same times.

Double

Brown in two rounds and braise in a roasting tin, covered with foil, in a 160 °C oven.

What to serve it with

Mashed potatoes
Buttered peas and carrots
Pickled red cabbage on the side

Questions

What is the difference between mutton and lamb?

Age. Lamb is under a year; mutton is older, darker, stronger and needs slow cooking. On the islands it is the everyday meat.

Can I grill the chops instead?

Lamb chops, yes. Mutton chops grilled are chewy; the braise is the point.

Can this be done in the oven?

Yes, covered, at 160 °C for the same 75 minutes.