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Lamb Chops, Fried
Cut a loin or neck of lamb into chops from half to three-quarters of an inch in thickness. Dip each one into beaten egg, and afterwards into bread-crumbs, flavored as follows. Mix three ounces of finely-grated bread-crumbs with a salt-spoonful of salt, half a salt-spoonful of pepper, a table-spoonful of finely-chopped parsley, and a quarter of a tea-spoonful of finely-minced lemon-rind. Fry the chops in good dripping until lightly browned on both sides. Serve on a hot dish, and garnish with slices of lemon or crisped parsley. Time to fry, ten to fifteen minutes. Probable cost, 1s. per pound. Sufficient, half a dozen chops for two or three persons.
A straightforward egg-and-crumb cutlet, with the only real difficulty being the frying time, which reflects thicker chops and cooler pans than most cooks use now.
- SaltspoonfulA saltspoon is a quarter teaspoon, so the seasoning works out to about 1/4 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper for 3 oz of dry crumbs (well under a cup). Taste the crumb mixture and add salt if it seems flat.
- The frying timeTen to fifteen minutes will overcook a half-inch chop badly. Chops that thin need about 3 minutes a side over medium-high heat, to an internal 145F with a short rest; the longer end of the original range only makes sense for a thick loin chop in a moderately hot pan.
- Loin or neckLoin chops are tender and suit frying. 'Neck' covers several cuts: best end of neck gives the classic tender cutlet, while scrag and middle neck carry more connective tissue and are happier braised; if you use those, expect a chewier result.
- DrippingBeef or lamb dripping was the standard frying fat and gives the best flavour here. Clarified butter, or a neutral oil with a knob of butter added near the end, does the same job at similar heat.
- CrumbsUse dry, finely grated crumbs rather than soft fresh ones — soft crumbs absorb fat and slump. Press the coating on firmly and let the chops sit 10 minutes before frying so it adheres.
- Crisped parsleyThe garnish means parsley sprigs dropped into the hot frying fat for 15 to 20 seconds until they stop hissing and turn dark and brittle. Dry the parsley thoroughly first, as wet sprigs will spit.
- Yield and costSix chops for two or three people is still about right if they are loin chops of this thickness. The "probable cost, 1s. per pound" is a period price note with no modern use.
An egg-and-crumb coating was the standard way to dress up a cheap chop and keep its juices in. The seasoned crumb here — parsley, pepper, and a scrape of lemon rind — is essentially the same mixture used for veal cutlets and croquettes throughout Victorian cookery books, and the lemon slices and fried parsley on the dish were the conventional garnish for anything crumbed and fried. The recipe calls for cutting from "a loin or neck," and includes a price note per pound.