No. 1594

Mutton Cutlets a la Macedoine

Cotelettes de Mouton a la Macedoine

Cut off fine cutlets from a fine rack; pare them the same as if cooked plain (No. 1590), and ten minutes before serving, put them on the fire in a sautoir with clarified butter; when they are done, drain off the butter and replace it by a little clear gravy (No. 404), and white wine; reduce, then roll the cutlets in this glaze to give them a nice gloss; dress in a circle and garnish the center with a macedoine (No. 680). Detach the sauce with a little broth and white wine, and strain it through a tammy over the cutlets.

← No. 1593 Mutton Cutlets a la Bouchere Mutton No. 1595 Mutton Cutlets a la Marechale →

For the Modern Kitchen

A plain sauté of rib chops finished in a pan glaze, with diced vegetables in the middle of the ring. The whole dish hinges on the reduction: the butter is discarded and the pan is deglazed twice, first to glaze the cutlets and again to make the thin sauce poured over them.

Cross-referencesThis entry is not self-contained. No. 1590 is the plain sauteed cutlet, No. 404 is the clear gravy, and No. 680 is the macedoine garnish; look them up before starting. Have a strong veal or beef stock or good brown gravy ready before you begin.
SautoirA straight-sided shallow sauté pan, not a saucepan and not a deep pot. Any wide heavy skillet works, provided the chops sit in a single layer with room for the liquid to reduce quickly.
MacédoineMacedoine -- Here a small even dice of vegetables -- usually carrot, turnip, green beans and peas -- cooked separately, drained, and bound with butter; the same word was also used in this period for a mixed dice of fruit. Cut everything to roughly a quarter-inch so it holds its shape in the centre of the ring.
Timing"Ten minutes before serving" is the total window, not a cooking time per side. Rib chops an inch thick need about three to four minutes a side in hot clarified butter for pink at the bone; the glazing that follows adds another minute of heat, so pull them slightly under.
Clarified butterUsed because whole butter would burn and the milk solids would cloud the glaze. Clarified butter or ghee is worth the trouble here since the fat is poured off and only the fond is kept.
The glazeAfter draining the fat, add the reduced gravy and a splash of dry white wine and let it fall to a coating consistency, then turn the cutlets in it. Overreduce and it turns tacky and salty; it should just cling.
TammyA tammy is a fine woollen or linen straining cloth. A chinois or a fine-mesh sieve lined with muslin does the same job for the second, thinner deglazing liquid.
YieldThe original gives none. Two cutlets per person from an eight-bone rack serves four.

A Little History

Charles Ranhofer's The Epicurean (1894) records the kitchen of Delmonico's in New York, and this is a characteristic Delmonico plate: a small cut of meat, a glaze made from the house stock pot, and a vegetable garnish set in the middle of a ring of chops. The service style is what French cookbooks of the period call en couronne, arranged in a crown. Macedoine, a dice of several vegetables served together, is generally said to take its name from the mixed peoples of Macedonia under Alexander -- a nineteenth-century culinary pun rather than a documented etymology. The recipe's terse cross-referencing is typical of the book: Ranhofer wrote for professional cooks who already had the gravy and the garnish standing ready, and who needed only to be told the assembly.