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Saddle of Lamb Braized

A braised saddle of lamb stuffed with forcemeat, cooked in white stock and served with truffles, cock's combs, button mushrooms, and Allemande sauce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Truffle and mushroom are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,900 recipes. Both carry 2,4-nonadienal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Saddle of Lamb Braized

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the saddle

  1. Remove all bones from the saddle of lamb without damaging the skin.

  2. Fill the cavity with forcemeat.

  3. Roll the saddle in a buttered napkin.

  4. Tie the ends with string.

Braise and press

  1. Braise the prepared saddle in white stock with stock vegetables for about 1.5 hours.

  2. Leave the saddle in the napkin.

  3. Press the saddle between two dishes with a 14-pound weight until firm.

  4. Remove the saddle from the napkin.

  5. Trim the saddle slightly.

  6. Heat the saddle gently in some stock without boiling.

Garnish and serve

  1. Place the saddle on a serving dish.

  2. Garnish the saddle with larded lamb's-breads and decorated quenelles.

  3. Add truffles, cock's combs, and button mushrooms to the saddle.

  4. Glaze the saddle.

  5. Pour Allemande sauce around the base before serving.

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. Truffle + mushroomtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,900 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).

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

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

  3. Butter + truffletop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,209 recipes

    Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

  4. Lamb + mushroomtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).

  5. Butter + saucetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together15,338 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Butter and sauce barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 15,338 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Lamb saddle
Forms the main meat; braising and pressing make it tender and firmly shaped for slicing.
Forcemeat or godiveau
Fills the cavity, adding moisture and a rich, tender texture as it cooks inside the meat.
Butter
Spread on the napkin, it adds richness and helps the saddle keep its shape and moisture.
Truffles
Add a deep, earthy aroma that makes the finished dish feel luxurious.
Allemande sauce
A creamy, enriched sauce that adds richness and moisture to the plated dish.

The step that matters

Heat the saddle gently in stock without boiling. Boiling can toughen meat proteins and break up the tender texture the braise and pressing produced, so gentle heat keeps it juicy and intact.

“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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