No. 1686

Lamb Cutlets a la Signora

Cotelettes d'Agneau a la Signora

Pare twelve lamb cutlets leaving on only the kernel and the bone; spilt them in two through their thickness, season and stuff each one with a slice of truffle an eighth of an inch thick; substitute quenelle forcemeat (No. 92) for the fat that has been removed so as to give the chop its original shape. Dip them in beaten eggs, roll in bread-crumbs, smooth the surfaces with the blade of a knife, then fry the cutlets in clarified butter (No. 16); drain and place paper frills (No. 10) on the handles. Dress in a circle and pour into the center a well buttered supreme sauce (No. 547) into which chopped truffles have been added.

← No. 1685 Lamb Cutlets a la Robinson Cotelettes d'Agne Lamb No. 1687 Lamb Cutlets a la Talma →

For the Modern Kitchen

Ranhofer assumes you have his forcemeat, sauce and clarified butter already on hand, and that you can bone a rack of lamb down to the eye. Everything else is straightforward.

"Only the kernel and the bone"The kernel is the eye of meat on a rib chop. Twelve single-bone chops will take more than one rack, since a rack carries only seven or eight ribs; trim away the fat cap, the outer flap and the meat between the bones, leaving a neat medallion on a scraped rib. Ask for racks that have been chined; the rest is knife work.
Splitting and stuffingButterfly each medallion horizontally almost through, open it flat, lay in the truffle slice, then rebuild the chop's original thickness with a layer of quenelle forcemeat where the fat used to be. Press the edges firmly so the filling does not escape into the butter.
Quenelle forcemeat (No. 92)Ranhofer's quenelle forcemeats are pale mousseline-style mixtures, generally lean veal or chicken pounded with panada and butter, sieved, then worked with egg and cream over ice. A modern food processor does it in a minute, but keep everything cold or it will break.
Supreme sauce (No. 547)Chicken veloute reduced with mushroom cooking liquor and cream, finished off the heat with butter. Add the chopped truffle at the end and do not let it boil after the butter goes in, or the sauce will separate.
TruffleA fresh black winter truffle at an eighth of an inch is the intent. Preserved truffle peelings are the usual modern stand-in; truffle oil is not, as its aroma is synthetic and largely cooks off in the pan. Thin-sliced sauteed mushroom or a duxelles layer is a more honest substitute if truffle is out of reach.
Clarified butterButter with the milk solids and water removed, so it will take frying heat without browning. Hold it around 340F: hot enough to set the crumb, cool enough that the forcemeat cooks through before the outside darkens. Ghee works.
DonenessA stuffed cutlet is thicker than it looks and contains raw forcemeat. Give it roughly 3 to 4 minutes a side and take the centre of the filling to at least 165F; the lamb itself will be pink to medium. Finishing them in a moderate oven for a few minutes is easier than pushing the pan, though the recipe itself calls only for frying.
Frills and serviceThe paper frills are decorative cuffs for the bone ends, still sold as cutlet frills. Arrange the cutlets standing in a ring, bones outward, and pour the sauce into the well at the centre rather than over the crumbs. Twelve cutlets serve four to six.

A Little History

Charles Ranhofer's The Epicurean (1894) records the kitchen of Delmonico's in New York, where a rack of lamb was routinely broken down into small medallions and then rebuilt with forcemeat — labour that only made sense in a brigade with a dedicated garde-manger and a saucier. Dishes titled "à la Signora" belong to the nineteenth-century restaurant habit of naming plates for patrons, singers and visiting celebrities, and Ranhofer gives dozens of such names in the lamb chapter alone (Robinson and Talma sit on either side of this one); the specific lady behind this title is not identified in the book and should not be guessed at. What the recipe really documents is the period's taste for truffle used as a seasoning layer rather than a garnish, and for the pale, buttery supreme sauce that accompanies the dish.