Braised cotelettes are much more in vogue in France than in England, for in the former they prefer meat stewed, whilst in the latter the meat is more succulent and tender, and even for Soubise or Provençale the cotelette sauté is preferred, although properly they ought to be braised; I shall, therefore, describe the manner of braising them and leave the choice to my readers.
Prepare a neck of mutton by cutting off the chine-bone, and cut the cotelettes as before, but let them remain nearly of the same thickness you cut them from the neck, which will be nearly an inch, then stick five or six pieces of fat bacon about the size of a quill through the lean of each cotelette, cutting off the ends, then cover the bottom of a stewpan with thin slices of fat bacon and lay twelve cotelettes over, all laying on the same side, just cover them with stock, to which add an onion, three cloves, and a bunch of parsley, place a sheet of buttered paper over them, and place them over a slow fire to simmer between two and three hours, try them and if very tender place them upon an oval dish, with a little of their stock, place another dish over them upon which put a seven pounds weight; when quite cold trim nicely of equal sizes and put them in a sauté-pan with their stock to warm, dress them in crown on a border of mashed potatoes, and serve with a sauce Soubise (No. 47), or any other sauce as directed for the cotelettes sautés. Although these cotelettes are required to be tender they must not be too much done or the bones would fall from them.
No. 723. Cotelettes de Mouton braisé à la Marseillaise.
Cook your cotelettes as directed in the last, but cut them rather small; when cold cover all over with the preparation of onion as for cotelettes à la Provençale, egg and bread-crumb all over and place them in the oven for a quarter of an hour, dress in crown, previously giving them a nice colour with a salamander, and serve with a sauce Soubise (No. 47) much thinned, with cream under them.
No. 724. Carbonade of Mutton.
Prepare a loin of mutton as a carbonade (see flancs No. 577), and when cold cut it in slices rather more than half an inch in thickness, reduce the stock the carbonade was boiled in to a thin glaze, put the slices in a sauté-pan and pour it over them, place them over a slow fire till quite hot, dress them in crown on a border of mashed potatoes, and serve with any of the sauces named for cotelettes.
No. 725. Poitrine de Mouton sauce piquante.
Braise and press a breast of mutton as directed (No. 487), and when cold cut ten pieces out of it in the shape of cotelettes, one third fat and two thirds lean, but not too large, egg, bread-crumb, and broil as for cotelettes panées grillées (No. 721), dress in crown on a border of mashed potatoes, glaze and serve with sauce piquante (No. 27) in the centre. They may also be served with sauce Soubise (No. 47), poivrade (No. 32), jus d’échalotte (No. 16), or fines herbes (No. 26).
No. 726. Rognons de Mouton à la brochette.
Mutton kidneys dressed in this manner are usually served for breakfast or luncheon, but they may be served as an entrée for dinner. Procure nine fresh kidneys, cut them open and run silver or wooden skewers through to keep them open, season well, egg over with a paste-brush, and dip them into a dish of bread-crumbs, broil over a moderate fire, about ten minutes will be sufficient; when done dress them on your dish in pyramid, place a piece of maître d’hôtel butter (No. 79) in each, half the size of a walnut, place them in the oven two minutes, glaze lightly and serve very hot.