No. 1730

Noisettes of Shoulder of Lamb, Epicurean

Noisettes d'Epaule d'Agneau Epicurienne

These noisettes or glands are found in the fatty part of the shoulder near the shoulder blade; remove all the skin which envelops them. Fill the bottom of a flat saucepan with thin slices of fat pork, lay the noisettes on top, and moisten with a mirepoix stock (No. 419); cover over with more slices of the pork, and let cook in a slow oven from three-quarters to one hour according to their size. When the noisettes are done, strain the stock through a fine tammy and skim well the fat. Decorate a low border mold (Fig. 139) with fanciful cuts of truffles, fill it with chicken and cream forcemeat (No. 75), and poach in a bain-marie, the same as a timbale; then unmold it on a dish and garnish the interior of the border with mushrooms stewed and moistened with reduced cream and a little bechamel (No. 409). Range on top the noisettes from which the fat has been removed and then glazed in their own stock after it has been thoroughly reduced.

← No. 1729 Neck of Lamb with Cabbage Lamb No. 1731 Fore Quarter of Lamb with Stuffed Tomatoes—o →

For the Modern Kitchen

Ranhofer assumes you have the rest of The Epicurean at your elbow, so the numbered cross-references do most of the work. Here is what the page leaves unsaid.

What a noisette is hereNot the neat loin medallion the word means today. Ranhofer means the small, rounded muscles buried in the fat over the shoulder blade, each wrapped in a tough membrane that must be peeled off. Boning out a whole lamb shoulder yields only a few, so small medallions cut from the boned shoulder or from neck fillet can be substituted.
Fat porkUnsmoked fatback or thinly sliced fresh pork fat, not bacon. If only salt pork is available, blanch it a few minutes and pat dry, or the finished glaze will be too salty once reduced.
Mirepoix stock, No. 419Ranhofer's mirepoix stock is a stock cooked with diced root vegetables, ham or pork trimmings and herbs, then strained; see No. 419 for his exact formula. A well-made brown lamb or veal stock with similar aromatics simmered in it stands in.
Slow ovenRoughly 300 to 325F. Three-quarters of an hour to an hour at that heat leaves the noisettes tender; the pork above and below is there to keep them from drying.
TammyA tammy is a worsted straining cloth. A fine chinois lined with damp muslin does the same job. Skim the fat thoroughly before reducing, or the glaze will break rather than coat.
Forcemeat No. 75A chicken mousseline: raw breast pounded, sieved, then beaten with cream over ice. A food processor and a fine sieve give the same texture in minutes. Keep everything cold and add the cream in stages.
Poaching the borderButter the ring mold, press the truffle cuts against the sides, fill, cover, and set in a water bath in a moderate oven (about 325F) until the mousseline is just set, roughly 30 to 40 minutes for a standard ring; the centre should be firm and read at least 165F. Let it settle five minutes before unmolding.
The hingeThe dish stands or falls on the glaze. Reduce the strained, defatted cooking stock until it is syrupy and coats a spoon, then roll the noisettes in it off the heat. Reduce too far and it turns bitter and tacky; not far enough and the border goes soggy.
YieldRanhofer gives no yield; as a composed course, a standard ring mold with the noisettes and mushrooms would serve roughly six to eight. The border can be poached ahead and reheated gently in its mold in a warm water bath.

A Little History

Charles Ranhofer ran the kitchens at Delmonico's in New York, and The Epicurean (1894) is essentially that restaurant's working repertoire set down at full length. This recipe shows the house method in miniature: an obscure, labour-intensive cut is coaxed into tenderness, then presented inside an architectural garnish of poached forcemeat decorated with truffle cutouts. Names like epicurienne do not appear to have carried a fixed formula; here the label attaches to a lavish treatment involving truffle and cream.