Lamb scrumpets

Serves 4

Not exactly leftovers, but an old-fashioned, economical recipe - my favourite type. I found this in an old Reader's Digest book called The Cook's Scrapbook from a secondhand book shop. Like most old-fashioned meat recipes, it calls for a cut that's not much used in modern cookery. It's a shame these cuts are neglected because the flavour after long cooking is far superior to most of the expensive prime cuts.

My grandmother would traditionally buy a whole lamb in early December that the butcher would break down into various cuts. The breast I remember well, rolled and slowly pot-roasted for hours in its own juices.

Serve the scrumpets with a good tartare sauce or even some mayonnaise mixed with mint sauce. Serve with salad, or potatoes, boiled or mashed, and a green vegetable.

700-800g boneless breast of lamb
A few sprigs of rosemary
A few sprigs of thyme
1 bay leaf
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
1tbsp salt
10 black peppercorns

To serve

Flour for dusting
2 eggs, beaten
60-70g fresh white breadcrumbs
1tbsp Dijon mustard
Vegetable oil for deep-frying

Put the lamb in a large saucepan, add the herbs and spices and salt and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 2 hours. Remove from the heat and leave to cool in the liquid. If you remove the fat at this stage you can use the liquid as the base for a lamb and vegetable broth.

When the lamb is cool, remove it from the liquid and cut it into two-bite chunks or rough 5-6cm x 2cm strips.

Whisk the mustard into the eggs, then pass the pieces of lamb through the flour, shaking off any excess, then the egg mixture and finally the breadcrumbs.

Pre-heat about 8cm-deep of vegetable oil to 160-180ºC/320-360ºF in a deep-fat fryer or heavy-based saucepan. Fry the pieces of lamb, 6 or 7 pieces at a time, for 2-3 minutes until golden, then drain on some kitchen paper.