Little hands love holding onto a crunchy-crumbed cutlet while running around wildly at a picnic. Take the tomato sauce for the kids, while the adults dunk their cutlets into the dips.

Ingredients

• 12 lamb cutlets, Frenched (neatly trim the meat from the bone)
• ½ cup flour
• 2 eggs, well beaten
• 2 cups dry breadcrumbs or 3 cups fresh breadcrumbs
• ½ cup finely grated Parmesan
• basil pesto mayo dip (see recipe for homemade mayonnaise - variation)
• mint jelly dip (see recipe on our website)

Method

1. Trim the fat from the lamb cutlets, if necessary. Season the cutlets with salt and pepper.
2. Place the flour, eggs and breadcrumbs in three separate shallow bowls. Mix the Parmesan into the breadcrumbs.
3. Dust each cutlet in the flour and shake off the excess. Turn to coat the cutlets in the beaten egg and then toss in the breadcrumbs, patting the crumbs on firmly.
4. Place the cutlets in a single layer on a baking paper-lined plate or tray. Refrigerate until required.
5. Heat sufficient oil to cover the base of a large frying pan to about 0.5cm deep.
6. When hot, pan-fry the cutlets for 3-4 minutes on each side, turning only once. For best results, pan-fry only a few cutlets at a time and add more oil as necessary.
7. Place the cooked cutlets on paper towels to absorb excess oil. Cover and cool.
8. Refrigerate until required. These cutlets can be served hot or cold on a platter with cherry tomatoes along with summer dips.

Cooks Tips

- Good flavourless oils for shallow - or pan-frying include canola oil, grapseed oil, corn oil, rice bran oil and light olive oils. - If you wish to add a rich flavour from the oil try avocado oil, virgin olive oils or clarified butter. - For a crunchier crumb coating, use panko crumbs. The dried Japanese breadcrumbs are flakier and, as they are made from a sweeter-style bread, will crispen to a deep golden colour with a toasty flavour when cooked.