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Breaded Chops and Cutlets
The meat must be tender and lean. At least the fat should not be eaten. They are prepared by dipping the chop into melted butter, or better , the beaten yolk of egg, to which is added a very little melted butter. Sprinkle with fine crumbs of stale bread, and fry. If broiled, dip into melted butter instead of into the egg.
A method rather than a measured recipe: the book assumes you know how to cook a chop and only tells you how to coat it. Fill in the quantities and the finishing temperature yourself.
- QuantitiesNothing is specified. For four chops or cutlets, allow 1 egg yolk, about 1 teaspoon melted butter, and roughly 1 cup fine dry crumbs. Serves one per chop.
- "Fine crumbs of stale bread"Genuinely dry bread ground fine, not fresh soft crumbs and not coarse panko. Stale crumbs absorb less fat and brown evenly; fresh ones go soggy and slide off in the pan.
- The hinge: dry the meat firstThe coating only holds if the surface of the chop is dry. Pat it with a towel before the egg or butter goes on, and press the crumbs firmly, then let the breaded chop rest ten minutes so the coating sets.
- "Fry" hereShallow-frying in butter or a butter-and-oil mix in a heavy pan over medium heat, not deep-frying. Butter alone browns fast; adding a little neutral oil keeps the crumbs from scorching before the middle is done.
- Cook to temperature, not to the clockNo time is given in the original. Pork and veal want 145F at the centre with a short rest; lamb chops are usually taken to 130-135F for medium-rare to medium. A breaded chop about 3/4 inch thick needs roughly 4 minutes a side.
- If broilingThe recipe substitutes a plain butter dip for the egg, without saying why; egg coatings do colour hard under direct heat. Set the rack 4-5 inches from the element and turn once; crumbs colour quickly, so watch it rather than timing it.
The technique itself is ordinary breading, the English and American cousin of the Continental cutlet. Books of this period often gave no times or temperatures for such things, since the cook was judging a range by hand and eye.