EARLIER in the year, I visited Abingdon's country market one Friday morning, where I met a group of very enterprising cooks and gardeners, including Veronica Webster, who makes and sells a delicious mint jelly from mint harvested in her own garden. I vowed to create a recipe that would incorporate this jelly, which I have used whenever I've served roast lamb.

Because of its vibrant green colour, I suddenly realised that it would make a perfect garnish for a festive dish of lamb noisettes. Lamb noisettes are little rounds of supersweet lamb boned and rolled from a single lamb chop. They are small but tender, and very, very tasty. The perfect meat for a treat, especially if you buy Little Wittenham lamb from a farmers' market.

To serve two, you will need: 4 lamb noisettes Oil to fry noisettes Flour to dust noisettes and thicken sauce 2 tbspns redcurrant jelly 2 tbspns Veronica's mint jelly Handful of cranberries Small bunch spring onions - trimmed and chopped Parsley or mint to garnish Salt and freshly-ground black peppercorns to season Method: Dust the noisettes with seasoned flour and fry gently in a little oil. They will not take long to cook - two or three minutes each side is usually enough When the noisettes are a delicious golden brown and cooked, remove from the pan, cover and keep warm while you make the sauce Add about two teaspoons of flour to the oil left in the pan and stir in well, stirring until it begins to brown Add the redcurrant jelly, stir in and then thin the sauce with a little water Add the spring onions and the cranberries to the sauce and cook gently until the cranberries begin to burst Taste, adjust seasoning, adding a little vegetable bouillon powder if you wish, though it shouldn't be necessary Place two noisettes on each plate, pour on the sauce, then decorate with small spoonfuls of Veronica's mint jelly to give it a festive look Garnish with parsley or mint and serve with diced roasted root vegetables or spinach.