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Pan-broiled Mutton Chops
Prepare the chops the same as for broiling over coals. Have a frying-pan at a blue heat. Put the chops in without any fat, cook one minute, then turn and cook the other side, turn again and finish a little more slowly. Stand them up in such a way as to cook the edges, but do not let them get overdone. Just before taking them up sprinkle with salt and pepper. Put them on a very hot serving-dish, turn melted butter or parsley butter over them, and serve plain or with a border of green peas.
A dry-pan technique from the era when "broiling" meant coals and most kitchens had a heavy iron skillet always at hand. The whole method rests on the pan being hotter than you would normally dare.
- "A blue heat"Read as a bare cast-iron or carbon-steel pan heated until it hazes and smokes; period writers used the phrase loosely for iron heated past the point of comfort, so treat any figure as approximate. A film of oil is optional, and the original is right that mutton and lamb chops render enough of their own fat to keep from sticking.
- MuttonTrue mutton, from a sheep over a year old, is rarely sold in the United States now; look for it at halal butchers or substitute lamb loin or rib chops. Mutton is stronger and tougher than lamb, and benefits from a chop cut a good inch thick.
- Fat cap and edgesStanding the chops on their fatty edge, held together in a row or braced against the pan side with tongs, renders that strip and crisps it. Do this first if the fat cap is thick — it also greases the pan for the flat sides.
- The timingOne minute a side then "a little more slowly" gives roughly 5-7 minutes total for a 1-inch chop, landing at medium-rare to medium. Use an instant-read thermometer: 130-135F for lamb, a little higher for mutton, which is more palatable cooked to medium.
- Salting lastThe recipe seasons just before serving; the usual rationale offered for this is that surface salt draws moisture and can hinder browning in a dry pan, though the point is debated. Pepper added early in a smoking pan can scorch.
- Parsley butterWhat the book calls parsley butter is maître d'hôtel butter: softened butter worked with chopped parsley, lemon juice, salt and pepper, then chilled. A slice set on each hot chop melts into a sauce without any pan work.
- SmokeA bare pan at this heat will fill a kitchen quickly. Run the extractor before the chops go in and open a window; this is a technique that suits a grill pan outdoors as readily as a stove.
- YieldFigure two rib or loin chops per person, and cook in batches rather than crowding — a full pan drops the heat and the chops steam instead of searing.