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Lamb Saute, German Style
Cut meat from leg of lamb left over from yesterday in half-inch pieces. Place in a frying pan two finely sliced white onions with two tablespoons melted lard and fry for five minutes, tossing once in a while, then add the lamb. Season with half teaspoon salt and three saltspoons pepper, toss a little, then cook ten minutes, occasionally tossing meanwhile. Add two tablespoons good vinegar, two gills demi-glace, twelve medium, sliced vinegar pickles and a half teaspoon chopped chives, mix well and slowly cook for ten minutes, frequently mixing, transfer stew to a deep dish, arrange spatzeles around lamb and serve.
A leftover-lamb saute in the German manner, sharpened with vinegar and pickles and served with spatzle. The whole dish takes about half an hour once the meat is already cooked.
- GillsTwo gills is one cup. The recipe does not say how much lamb is involved, so judge the sauce against the meat you have.
- SaltspoonsA saltspoon is about a quarter teaspoon, so three saltspoons is roughly three-quarters of a teaspoon of pepper. That is assertive by modern habit; start with half and adjust.
- Demi-glaceIf you have no demi-glace, a cup of strong brown stock reduced by half, or a good commercial demi-glace paste diluted per the packet, will serve. Thin canned broth will not thicken and the sauce stays watery.
- Vinegar picklesThese are sour dill or gherkin-style cucumbers in vinegar, not sweet pickles. Twelve medium pickles, sliced, is a generous amount and is meant to be tasted as clearly as the meat.
- LardTwo tablespoons of lard gives the right flavour, but butter or a neutral oil works. The onions should soften and take a little colour in five minutes, not brown hard.
- Cooked meat, gentle heatThe lamb is already cooked, so all the simmering does is warm it through and let it take up the sauce. Keep the pan at a bare simmer once the demi-glace goes in or the meat tightens and dries.
- SpatzelesSpatzle, the soft flour-and-egg dumpling scraped or pressed into boiling salted water. Boil, drain, and toss in butter before ringing them around the lamb.
- YieldThe recipe states no yield; scale the sauce to the meat you actually have rather than the reverse.
Recipes like this one exist because a roast leg of lamb was a Sunday centrepiece and Monday was a problem to be solved. The German treatment here is essentially a sour direction, leaning on vinegar and pickle: acid and gherkins cut the flatness that reheated roast meat always has. Spatzle belongs to the same Swabian and southern German tradition, a homemade noodle made from ingredients any kitchen kept on hand, and it is here to catch the sauce. Books of this era often organised themselves by national style, offering the same cut of meat "German style," "French style," "Italian style," partly as instruction and partly as a way for an American household to eat abroad without leaving the dining room.