CHOPS.
Broiled.—Trim and flatten the chops with a chopper, sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides, dip them in melted butter, place them on a gridiron, and set on a sharp fire, turn over two or three times to broil properly, and when done, serve them around a dish, one lapping over the other, etc., and serve with the gravy. It takes about twelve minutes to cook with a good fire.
Another way.—When trimmed and flattened, dip them in beaten egg, roll them in bread-crumbs and broil, either as they are, or enveloped in buttered paper, and serve them with a maître d'hôtel sauce.
Sautés.—When trimmed and flattened, fry them with a little butter on both sides; then take the chops from the pan and put them in a warm place. Leave in the pan only a tablespoonful of fat, add to it three times as much broth, a teaspoonful of parsley and green onions, two shallots, two pickled cucumbers, all chopped fine, and a pinch of allspice; give one boil, pour the whole on the chops, also the juice of half a lemon, and serve.
The same, with Vegetables.—Put in a frying-pan a piece of butter the size of two walnuts for four chops, set on a good fire, and when hot lay the chops in, after having flattened them with a chopper, and having sprinkled salt and pepper on both sides; add a clove, and a teaspoonful of chopped parsley and green onions; leave thus five minutes, turn over once or twice; then add also half a wine-glass of broth, same of white wine, and finish the cooking. Take the chops off the pan and put them in a warm place. Boil the sauce in the pan ten minutes, turn it on the chops, put a garniture of vegetables around, and serve. Throw away the clove just before serving.
Another way.—Have a piece of butter the size of an egg for eight chops in a crockery vessel, and set it on a good fire; when melted take from the fire, lay the chops in, after having flattened them; then cover them with a sheet of buttered paper; place the vessel in a rather hot oven, and when cooked serve them on a maître d'hôtel, provençale, or tomato sauce. They may also be served on a purée of sorrel, or one of potatoes.
The same, in Papillote.—Cut the chops rather thin, beat them gently and flatten them; then proceed as for veal cutlets in papillotes in every particular.
Financière.—Broil the chops, either with or without egg and crumbs, and serve them with a financière garniture.
Soubise.—The chops are either broiled or fried; either broiled only dipped in lukewarm butter or in beaten egg and crumbs and then served on a soubise. A little lemon-juice may be added when they are on the dish.
Jardinière.—Cut two carrots and two turnips with a vegetable spoon and set on the fire with cold water and salt; boil gently till tender, and drain. Boil also in the same way, in another pan and till tender, two tablespoonfuls of green peas, or string-beans cut in pieces, and drain also. Then put carrots, turnips, peas, or beans, back on the fire, in the same pan with a little gravy and broth, enough to cover them, salt, and pepper; boil gently five minutes; then put the chops in after being fried as directed below; boil another five minutes; take from the fire, place the chops around the dish, one lapping over the other, and so that an empty place is left in the middle; turn the carrots, turnips, and peas, with the sauce in that empty place, and serve. Salt and pepper the chops on both sides; fry them in a little butter till about three-quarters done; then take off and put with the vegetables as directed above. They may be broiled instead of fried, which is better.
A la Princesse.—Trim the chops as usual and salt and pepper both sides. Chop very fine a piece of lean veal about half a pound for six or eight chops, according to size, then pound it and mix it with half a teaspoonful of flour, a pinch of nutmeg, salt, pepper, a yolk of egg, two tablespoonfuls of bread-crumbs and one ounce of butter. If too firm the butter must be melted so as to mix better. Put the mixture in a saucepan, set on a good fire, stir for ten minutes, and take off. Then grease the paste-board slightly with butter, put a teaspoonful of the mixture here and there on it, roll and make small balls of it, drop them in boiling broth or water, boiling about fifteen minutes, and take off with a skimmer. Dip the chops in melted butter, then in beaten eggs, and roll in bread-crumbs; fry them with a little butter. Fry the balls also. Place the chops on the dish, the bones toward the edge, and the balls between the chops; serve warm. A few balls may be placed in the middle.
With Mushrooms.—Broil and serve them with a purée of mushrooms, or with a mushroom garniture.
Mutton chops, broiled, may be served with every kind of butter, every garniture, and every sauce, according to taste; they may also be served with every purée.
A French cook once said he could serve mutton chops in three hundred ways, apples in two hundred ways, and eggs in four hundred ways. The culinary science and art is advanced enough to-day to double the above figures, and have plenty to spare.