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Saddle of Lamb, a LA Dauphine

A stuffed lamb saddle braised with veal or fowl forcemeat, tongue fillets, truffles, and aromatics.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 14 ingredients
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Why it works: Carrot and celery match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,173 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓

Saddle of Lamb, a LA Dauphine

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the saddle

  1. Bone the saddle of lamb and season the inside with pepper and coarse sea salt.

  2. Line the inside with quenelle forcemeat, then add fillets of tongue and truffles.

  3. Fold the skirts of the saddle over the forcemeat to encase it, giving it a plump appearance.

  4. Spread butter on a napkin.

  5. Bind the saddle tightly in the buttered napkin.

  6. Tie the ends with twine.

Braise

  1. Place the saddle in an oval braising pan on a drainer.

  2. Cover the saddle with bones and trimmings.

  3. Garnish with carrot, onion, celery, a faggot of parsley, cloves, and mace.

  4. Moisten with enough good stock to cover the lamb and braise gently on moderate heat for about 2.5 hours.

Press and serve

  1. Once done, place the lamb on a dish.

  2. Untie the napkin.

  3. Fold the saddle tightly again.

  4. Press between two dishes until nearly cold.

  5. Trim neatly and cover with reduced Allemande sauce.

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. Carrot + celerytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together10,173 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  2. Pepper + celerytop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together16,012 recipes

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

  3. Pepper + carrottop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,555 recipes

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

  4. Carrot + oniontop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together21,601 recipes

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

  5. Onion + celerytop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,518 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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 body of the dish, becoming tender and moist as it braises slowly in stock.
Quenelle forcemeat of veal or fowl
Forms a soft, delicate filling that sets as it cooks and stays moist inside the lamb.
Butter
Adds richness and moisture to the napkin, helping the wrapping keep the saddle's shape.
Fillets of tongue
Adds a tender, rich texture to the filling inside the saddle.
Truffles
Adds a rich, earthy aroma to the filling.
Good stock
Provides moisture and savoury flavour as the saddle braises gently.

The step that matters

Braise gently on moderate heat. Stock held at a gentle simmer keeps the lamb tender and moist. Too much heat can toughen the meat and dry out the forcemeat inside.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lamb, pepper, veal, truffle, butter, carrot, celery):

  1. Potatofits better
  2. Asparagusfits better
  3. Tomatofits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against lamb, pepper, veal, truffle, butter, carrot, celery. 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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