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Cutlets and Steaks
582. Mutton Steaks, with the bones shortened and the fat taken off, may be arranged over a mould of mashed potatoes, or placed round the dish with tomato sauce in the centre. 583. PORK STEAKS, with apple sauce in the centre; or arranged round a mould of spinach, well boiled and mashed with a little butter and salt. 584. VEAL CUTLETS, dressed with egg and crumbs.
These are three garnishing and serving formulas from a run of numbered entries; the grilling or frying is assumed, and only the accompaniment and arrangement are specified. Treat them as plating instructions with the cooking left to the cook.
- The cooking is taken for grantedEach entry presumes chops cooked over a clear fire or in a hot pan, which today means a heavy skillet or grill pan preheated until it just smokes. Mutton and pork steaks take roughly 4-5 minutes a side for a 1-inch cut; rest them 5 minutes before arranging.
- A "mould" of potato or spinachThis is mashed potato or chopped spinach pressed into a plain buttered mould or basin, then turned out onto the centre of a hot serving dish with the cutlets leaning against it. Pack it firmly and turn it out while very hot or it will slump.
- Mutton steaksThe entry's mention of shortening the bones suggests chops on the bone rather than boneless leg steaks; the nearest modern equivalent is a lamb chop. Mutton is usually taken to mean sheep over two years old and is a specialist butcher's order. Lamb behaves the same way here but cooks a shade faster.
- Shortening the bonesTrimming the rib bone back an inch or two and scraping it clean is what a butcher calls Frenching. Shortened bones make it easier to stand the chops in a ring around the dish.
- Pork steaks and internal temperatureModern pork is cooked to 145F with a short rest, not the grey-through doneness of the period. Loin steaks around 3/4 inch are done in about 8 minutes total.
- Egg and crumbs for vealDip the trimmed cutlet in seasoned flour, then beaten egg, then fine dry breadcrumbs, pressing them on and leaving the crumbed cutlet 15 minutes to set before frying in clarified butter or oil. Veal is lean and dries quickly: 3 minutes a side for a thin cutlet is enough.
- Sauces in the centreTomato sauce here is likely the plain cooked-and-sieved kind, often thickened with a little roux, rather than a long-simmered pasta sauce. Apple sauce is stewed cooking apples with butter and a spoonful of sugar, served warm and thick enough to sit in the well of the dish.
- YieldThe entries give no quantities. As a working guide, allow two cutlets per person and about 1 1/2 lb potatoes for the central mould for four; spinach shrinks drastically in cooking, so allow considerably more than 2 lb if the mould is to hold its shape.