No. 1622

Leg of Mutton a la Bordelaise

Gigot de Mouton a la Bordelaise

Bone a leg of mutton without opening it, lard the inside of the meat with medium shreds of raw ham seasoned with salt, pepper and fine spices; fill in the hollow space with a few spoonfuls of veal and fat pork chopped up with fine herbs; sew up the opening. Saw the handle bone off short and lay the leg in a braziere with melted salt pork and let fry on a slow fire for fifteen minutes, turning it so that it acquires a good color all over. Moisten with a pint of stock (No. 194a), then cover the saucepan and let the liquid fall slowly to a glaze; remoisten to about the heighth of the meat and continue cooking on a slow fire for an hour and a half, add to the meat a half pound of blanched bacon cut in half inch squares, and boil moderately for an hour longer, then surround the meat with a garnishing of large carrots and turnips cut in three-quarter inch balls; twelve medium white onions browned in a pan with lard, salt and a pinch of sugar, two cloves of garlic and a bunch of parsley garnished with thyme and bay leaf--the meat and vegetables must both be done at the same time. Drain the leg, dress and range around the vegetables; strain and free the gravy from fat, thicken it with a little tomato sauce (No. 549) and serve in a sauce-boat.

← No. 1621 Mutton Kidneys Sauted with Fleurons Mutton No. 1623 Leg of Mutton a la Bourdaloue →

For the Modern Kitchen

A stuffed, larded braise from Ranhofer's Delmonico's kitchen, written for cooks who had a stock pot always going and a butcher who would tunnel-bone a leg for them. The whole thing hangs on the two-stage braise: a small amount of liquid reduced to a sticky glaze, then remoistened and held at a bare simmer.

Get mutton, or accept lambTrue mutton -- sheep over two years -- is sold in the US mainly by halal butchers and small farms; a leg runs 6-8 lb. A leg of lamb, 5-6 lb, works but is leaner and sweeter, and will be done well before the two and a half hours of braising the original specifies. Start checking early.
Bone it without opening itThis is tunnel boning: the bone comes out through the wide end, leaving a closed pocket for the forcemeat. Ask the butcher for it by name, or work a boning knife around the femur from the hip end. Sew the opening with butcher's twine and a trussing needle.
"Fine spices"Ranhofer's epices fines is a house blend along the lines of what is now sold as quatre epices -- pepper, nutmeg, clove, ginger or cinnamon. A quarter teaspoon total in the ham shreds and the forcemeat is plenty.
BraziereA brazier is simply a heavy lidded braising pan. A large oval Dutch oven does the job; the leg should fit with a little room for the vegetables later.
Stock No. 194aOne of Ranhofer's basic numbered stocks. A good low-sodium beef or veal stock is the substitute -- avoid anything salted, since the pan liquid gets reduced twice and the salt pork and bacon add plenty.
Falling to a glazeThe first pint is meant to reduce almost dry so the sugars in it catch on the meat and the pan. Watch it at that stage; once it glazes, it burns quickly. Deglaze with the second addition of stock, which the original brings up to about the height of the meat.
Heat and total time"Slow fire" means a bare simmer, barely a bubble. Easiest done in a 325F oven with the lid on. Two and a half hours' braising is the original's arithmetic for mutton; lamb will be fork-tender sooner and should not be pushed to three.
Blanched baconSalt pork and bacon of the period were far saltier than today's. Simmer the bacon lardons five minutes in water and drain, as directed -- it still matters, and it also keeps them from tightening into cracklings during the long braise.
VegetablesThe original only stipulates that meat and vegetables be done at the same time. Turn or cut the carrot and turnip balls, brown the onions separately as written, and add everything in the last 30-40 minutes so they finish with the meat rather than collapsing.
YieldA whole stuffed leg with garnish serves ten to twelve. The gravy, degreased and lightly thickened with tomato sauce, is passed separately rather than poured over the platter.

A Little History

A la bordelaise is one of the loosest terms in nineteenth-century French cookery: at Delmonico's it could mean the red-wine and marrow sauce that the name usually carries today, but the name was also attached to quite different garnishes without explanation. Charles Ranhofer's The Epicurean (1894) is the record of thirty-odd years running the Delmonico's kitchens in New York, and the mutton chapter is a reminder of how central mature sheep was to American restaurant menus before the trade shifted almost entirely to spring lamb in the twentieth century. The tunnel-boned, larded and stuffed leg belongs to a tradition of making a large cut carveable and impressive at table -- the ham shreds driven through the flesh season it from within, and the veal-and-pork forcemeat fills the cavity so that each slice comes off as meat and stuffing together.