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A Leg of Lamb, for Luncheon

A lamb leg coated with egg and cracker crumbs, then baked until browned.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Lamb and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,165 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

A Leg of Lamb, for Luncheon

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare

  1. Boil the leg of lamb in a very small amount of water with salt and pepper until well cooked.

  2. In a bowl, mix the egg and sifted cracker crumbs.

  3. Spread the mixture over the cooked meat.

Brown and serve

  1. Brown the lamb in a 400°F (200°C) oven.

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. Lamb + peppertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,165 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  2. Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  3. Lamb + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  4. Pepper + buttertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  5. Lamb + eggtop 27% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,204 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Leg of lamb
Is the main cooked meat that the crumb coating is spread over.
Egg
Binds the cracker crumbs so the coating holds together on the meat.
Cracker crumbs
Form the crust that browns in the oven, adding texture to the surface.
Butter
Adds fat and richness to the crust, aiding browning and flavor.

The step that matters

Spread the mixture over the cooked meat. The coating needs to be spread evenly on the cooked lamb so the crust bakes and browns uniformly. Uneven coverage leads to bare patches that brown unevenly or dry out.

“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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