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Baked Mutton Chops and Potatoes

A baked dish of mutton loin chops and sliced potatoes seasoned with salt and pepper.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Potato and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,305 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Baked Mutton Chops and Potatoes

Oven, in the book's wordsA very hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a very hot oven”. The 400°F in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Wash and peel the potatoes, then slice them into ¼-inch thick rounds.

  2. Rinse the sliced potatoes in 2 to 3 waters to clean them thoroughly.

  3. Trim excess fat from the loin chops.

  4. Shape the chops with a skewer.

Layer and start baking

  1. Layer the potatoes in a baking dish, sprinkling salt and pepper between each layer.

  2. Add enough cold water to the dish to prevent burning.

  3. Place the dish in a very hot oven (400°F / 200°C) on the top shelf to brown the potatoes.

  4. Remove the dish from the oven.

  5. Place the chops on top of the potatoes.

  6. Season the chops with salt and pepper.

Finish cooking

  1. Add water to the dish if needed.

  2. Return the dish to a cooler part of the oven.

  3. Cook for about 45 minutes.

  4. Turn the chops over to brown the other side.

  5. Add hot water gently to one corner of the dish if the potatoes are drying out.

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. Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,305 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

Potatoes
Form the base layer, absorbing seasoning and cooking through in the baking juices.
Loin chops
Provide the main meat, browning and firming as the fat renders and the surface dries in the oven.
Salt
Seasons the potatoes and chops throughout, drawing out flavour.

The step that matters

Keeping enough water in the dish. Water in the dish keeps the potatoes from scorching in the very hot oven, while the uncovered top still browns. Too little water lets the bottom burn; adding hot water gently to one corner avoids cooling the dish sharply.

“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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