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Breaded Mutton Chops

Breaded mutton chops are fried or seared after coating with butter, pepper, salt, and breadcrumbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Breaded Mutton Chops

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the chops

  1. Clean the rib chops and trim the edges.

  2. Beat the chops with a rolling pin.

  3. Dip the chops in melted butter, then sprinkle with pepper and coarse sea salt.

  4. Coat the chops in fine bread crumbs and refrigerate for 1 hour to dry.

Fry and serve

  1. Heat lard in a deep pan until boiling.

  2. Fry the chops in the hot lard until golden brown and firm, about 6 to 8 minutes, turning once.

  3. Alternatively, sear the chops in a hot pan with a little butter for 2 minutes on each side.

  4. Let the seared chops cool, then dip them in egg and coat with fine bread crumbs.

  5. Refrigerate the coated chops for 1 hour, then fry in boiling hot lard until golden brown.

  6. Serve the chops arranged in a circle with fresh green peas in the center and parsley around.

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 + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Bread + peastop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together804 recipes

    Shared aroma: hexyl acetate (fruity, apple).

  4. Peas + parsleytop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,885 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

  5. Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together22,662 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Rib chops
Main protein that becomes tender and juicy when cooked through without overbrowning.
Fine bread crumbs
Form a crisp, golden crust that protects the meat during frying.
Melted butter
Helps the seasoning and crumbs adhere and adds richness and browning.
Egg
Acts as a binder so the bread crumb coating sticks to the chops.
Lard for frying
Conducts high, even heat for quick browning and a crisp crust.

The step that matters

Refrigerating the breaded chops for 1 hour. Chilling lets the coating dry and set so it adheres during frying instead of sliding off or absorbing excess oil. Skipping this rest leads to a loose, greasy crust.

Swap the peas

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, pepper, bread, egg, parsley):

  1. Walnutfits about as well
  2. Peasthe original
  3. Chickpeafits about as well
  4. Chestnutfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, pepper, bread, egg, parsley. 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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