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Mutton Cutlets

Mutton cutlets braised in stock or gravy with bacon, onions, carrots, herbs, and a mushroom shallot mixture.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 15 ingredients
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Why it works: Shallot and mushroom are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,982 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Mutton Cutlets

Ingredients

Directions

Braise the cutlets

  1. Melt some butter in a stewpan.

  2. Add the mutton cutlets and turn them until well coated.

  3. Add a small amount of stock or gravy and let the cutlets simmer until cooked through.

  4. If needed, thicken the gravy with a little flour before serving.

  5. For braising, place cutlets over bacon slices with onions, carrots, herbs, pepper, salt, and spices. Moisten with a small amount of stock or water and braise gently until done.

  6. Once cooked, place cutlets between two plates with a weight until cool, then trim neatly.

  7. Strain the braising gravy, remove fat, and set aside.

Make the mince

  1. Mince equal parts shallots and mushrooms.

  2. Fry the shallots in butter until golden.

  3. Add the mushrooms, pepper, salt, spices, and parsley. Moisten with some gravy.

  4. Add a squeeze of lemon.

  5. Let cool.

Coat and finish

  1. Cover the cutlets with a thin layer of the mince.

  2. Wrap in oiled paper.

  3. Broil until hot, or heat in the 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. Shallot + mushroomtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,982 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  2. Carrot + peppertop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,555 recipes

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

  3. Flour + shallottop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,081 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

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

  5. Butter + mushroomtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,525 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

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

What each ingredient does

Mutton cutlets
Provide the meat that is cooked and then coated for the final dish.
Butter
Adds richness and helps brown the cutlets and shallots.
Stock or gravy
Moistens the cutlets during cooking and forms the savoury sauce.
Flour
Thickens the gravy if needed for a fuller body.
Shallots
Add a mild sweetness and aroma to the minced coating once fried golden.
Mushrooms
Add savoury body and moisture to the minced coating.

The step that matters

Let the cutlets cool under a weight. Pressing the cooked cutlets while they cool helps them set into a flat, even shape so they can be trimmed neatly and coated evenly.

Swap the onion

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

  1. Leekfits better
  2. Chivefits better
  3. Spinachfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, butter, flour, carrot, pepper, shallot, mushroom. 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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