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Mutton Chops En Casserole

A casserole of browned mutton chops simmered in a tomato and Worcestershire sauce-based gravy.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and carrot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,555 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Mutton Chops En Casserole

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare the chops

  1. Have the butcher cut the chops 1.5 inches thick, bone and roll them.

  2. Season the chops with salt and pepper.

  3. Dredge the chops in flour.

  4. Fry the chops in hot fat until nicely browned.

  5. Pour off the grease.

Make the sauce

  1. Melt the butter in the skillet.

  2. Add the heaping tablespoon of flour to the butter and rub the mixture until smooth.

  3. Slowly pour in the beef stock and stir until smooth and slightly thickened.

  4. Remove the skillet from heat.

  5. Add the onion, carrot, tomato ketchup, and Worcestershire sauce.

Bake and serve

  1. Arrange the chops in a casserole dish.

  2. Pour the mixture over the chops.

  3. Cover the dish closely.

  4. Cook in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 1.5 hours.

  5. Serve with the sauce left in the dish.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Pepper + carrottop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,555 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Carrot + tomatotop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,606 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Onion + carrottop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together21,601 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,092 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Pepper + tomatotop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,923 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Mutton chops
Provide the meat that becomes tender during long, covered cooking.
All-purpose flour
Dredging coats the chops for browning and thickens the sauce with the butter.
Butter
Fat that forms the roux with flour, giving the sauce body and richness.
Beef stock
Liquid base that cooks the chops and forms the savory body of the sauce.
Onion
Adds aromatic sweetness and depth to the sauce as it cooks.
Tomato ketchup
Adds sweetness, acidity and color to the sauce.

The step that matters

Fry the chops until nicely browned. Browning floured meat creates flavorful Maillard compounds and a golden crust. Pale, steamed chops produce a flatter taste and a less appealing sauce.

Swap the tomato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mutton, pepper, flour, butter, beef, onion, carrot):

  1. Leekfits better
  2. Potatofits better
  3. Turnipfits better
  4. Tomatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, pepper, flour, butter, beef, onion, carrot. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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