Take a butcher's

Unorthodox cuts to look out for

It is interesting for me to know which joints of meat others cook. Whenever I go into my local butcher in west London, I always have a chat with Sid and Rosie (the brother and sister team, who quite naturally and charmingly bicker with each other) as to what, for instance, another customer will do with the beautiful fresh chicken livers, well-hung bavette or trays of glistening sweetbreads that arrive in the early spring, along with the new season's lamb.

I buy chicken wings here to make stock; they're a rarity these days, though still astonishingly cheap (the meat pulled from the bones afterwards makes the best chicken pie). Do others purchase for the same reason, I wonder? Then there are neatly cut slabs of bony beef brisket, which sit in rows on the shelf above the window display and beg to be slowly braised. Sid says they are wonderful when grilled very slowly and lovingly over charcoal, having been marinated in olive oil, herbs and garlic. And in case you are wondering where this real family butcher is, the name and address is Olympia Butchers, 70 Blythe Road, London W14 (0171-602 4843).

But even good butchers such as Sid and Rosie have noticed a decreasing demand for breasts of lamb. They wouldn't have when I was a nipper. Perhaps it has something to do with our present revulsion at fatty meats. Well, it's a joke, isn't it? There you all are, wolfing down black pudding (fat content as high as 50 per cent in some cases), endless fatty duck breasts, their legs poached for confit. And when did you ever turn your nose up at a plate of wonderfully crisp slices of roasted belly pork in a Cantonese?

Perhaps it is the smell of lamb fat that puts people off. I can sort of understand that, although I love it wafting off the surface of an Irish stew, then soaked up by bobbing dumplings delicately crusted by the waning heat of the oven. Breast of lamb is a fatty cut, I know, but no more so than pork belly.

What it needs is a gentle poach in a well-flavoured vegetable stock so that excess fat can be rendered off. A good idea is to poach it the day before you intend doing something to it. The fat solidifies on the surface of the cooking liquor, and the meat will have become soft and luscious, making removal of bones easier.

I may have mentioned a favourite recipe of mine the other week - breast of lamb Sainte Menehould. Here, the cooked breast of lamb is cut into thick strips, dusted with flour, dipped in mustard and coated with breadcrumbs. These are then baked in a light oven until crisp and crumbly and served with some sort of sharp sauce or dressing such as tartare or a mustardy ravigote. However, for a more British way with breast of lamb, it might be suitable to serve some sort of pulse which has been cooked in the resultant lamb broth.

When learning to cook in the early 1970s, I was lucky enough to secure a post at one of the most respected restaurants in the land. It was the Hat and Feather restaurant in Knutsford, Cheshire. Joan and Arthur Stirling, who opened the place in the mid-1960s, were very influenced by Elizabeth David and, later, by the writings of Robert Carrier. One of the dishes that I remember well from that time was the curious-sounding Breaded Lamb Fingers Saint Germain, taken from The Robert Carrier Cookbook (1965, six guineas). As any good cook knows, Saint Germain always refers to peas, as in potage Saint Germain - "Puree of fresh pea soup called Saint-Germain", to quote Larousse.

"Breaded lamb fingers" is not, how shall we say, a winning description of a dish, even though it may accurately describe the digital dimensions of a strip of boned lamb breast, rolled in flour, dipped in beaten egg, coated in breadcrumbs and fried. So I'll be perverse and call it goujons of lamb, but with all due respect to Robert Carrier.

Goujons of lamb with bearnaise sauce and a puree of peas, serves 4

For the poaching liquid

2 small onions, peeled and sliced

2 carrots, peeled and sliced

2 sticks celery, chopped

2 leeks, trimmed, sliced and washed

3-4 sprigs thyme

2 bay leaves

3 cloves

1 lamb stock cube (optional)

salt and 8 peppercorns

2 breasts of lamb, excess fat removed

For the puree of peas:

450g/1lb frozen peas, or even better, the equivalent weight of podded fresh peas, as they will not be so sweet

1 medium potato, peeled and diced

40g/112oz butter

salt, pepper and nutmeg

For the bearnaise sauce 2 tbsp tarragon vinegar

1 shallot, peeled and finely chopped

12 tsp dried tarragon

2 large egg yolks

150g/5oz butter, melted, frothy scum removed

2 tsp freshly chopped tarragon

salt and pepper

2tbsp flour

2 small eggs, beaten

110g/4oz fresh white breadcrumbs

olive oil or clarified butter

Put all ingredients for the poaching liquor into a large pan and cover with plenty of water. Simmer for 30 minutes. Now slip in the breasts of lamb (add more water to cover if necessary) and poach for about 112 hours, or until very tender when pierced with a skewer.

Lift carefully out and lay on a large tray. Strain the cooking liquor, discard the vegetables and keep a couple of ladles back in which to later cook the peas (the rest can make a good scotch broth, perhaps). Carefully remove the breast bones by simply pulling them out from the meat with your fingers (some of the smaller, softer ribs can stay behind). Lay another tray onto the breasts of lamb and weigh it down with a few tins. Leave to cool for a couple of hours - this makes the meat easier to cut into strips.

To make the puree of peas, cook the potatoes until tender in the lamb stock, then add the peas. Simmer for a further five minutes and strain. Puree through a mouli-legumes (vegetable mill or food processor), until a coarse texture is achieved. Beat in the butter and season with salt, pepper and a little nutmeg.

To make the bearnaise sauce, boil the vinegar, shallot and dried tarragon in a small stainless steel or enamelled saucepan until almost all the liquid has evaporated. Remove from the heat, cool for a few moments and add the egg yolks. Whisk until thick, over a thread of heat, and then add the melted butter in a thin stream until thick and glossy, but leave most of the butter's milky residue behind. Pass the sauce through a fine sieve and stir in the fresh tarragon. Adjust seasoning and keep warm over a pan of hand-hot water.

Cut the pressed and cooled lamb into 2cm strips, roll in the flour, then in the egg and, finally, in the breadcrumbs. Heat a good depth of the olive oil or clarified butter in a roomy frying pan and gently fry these goujons in batches until golden and crisp. Keep warm in a low oven while you re-heat the pea puree.

Serve on a large hot platter with the puree in the centre and the lamb surrounding it. Garnish with sprigs of watercress and lemon wedges, and serve the bearnaise sauce separately.

Braised beef brisket with pickled walnuts, serves 3-4

The meat from this stew emerges melting and very tender. As the meat is better cooked in these two pieces, and on the bone, all that is needed is a spoon to break it up into manageable pieces.

2 x 500g pieces fresh beef brisket

salt and pepper

3tbsp flour

2tbsp dripping or lard

350g/12oz small onions, peeled and quartered

150g/5oz leeks, trimmed, thickly sliced on the diagonal and washed

l50g/5oz celery, peeled and thickly sliced

150g small turnips, peeled and quartered

1tbsp mushroom ketchup

1tbsp anchovy essence

6 pickled walnuts, quartered lengthways, plus 3tbsp of their liquor

570ml/pint water or stock

2 bay leaves

Pre-heat the oven to 275oF/140oC/gas mark 1. Season the beef all over with salt and pepper, then dredge with flour. Melt the dripping in a deep cast-iron, lidded casserole dish until very hot. Sear the meat on all surfaces and remove to a plate. Tip off most of the fat and add the vegetables. Stir to colour lightly and add the ketchup, anchovy essence, walnuts and their liquor and, finally, the water or stock.

Return the meat to the pot and add the bay leaves. Bring the whole lot up to a gentle simmer, skimming off any froth that generates, and then allow to bubble gently away for 10 minutes. Put a lid on and place in the oven. Cook for 112 to 2 hours, or until completely tender when poked with a skewer. Serve straight from the pot, accompanied by boiled or mashed potatoes, and some extra pickled walnuts as a tracklement