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Saddle of Lamb, a LA Dauphine

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

  1. Bone the saddle of lamb.

  2. Season the inside with coarse sea salt and black pepper.

  3. Line the inside with quenelle forcemeat of veal or fowl.

  4. Add fillets of tongue and truffles to the filling.

  5. Fold the skirts of the saddle over the filling to encase it, giving it a plump appearance.

  6. Spread butter on a napkin.

  7. Place the saddle in the buttered napkin.

  8. Tie the ends of the saddle 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, parsley, cloves, and mace.

  4. Moisten with enough stock to cover the lamb.

  5. Braise gently on moderate heat for about 2.5 hours.

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

Finish and serve

  1. Untie the napkin.

  2. Fold the saddle tightly again.

  3. Press between two dishes until nearly cold.

  4. Trim neatly.

  5. 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

Saddle of lamb
Forms the main body of the dish and carries the filling, becoming tender through slow braising.
Quenelle forcemeat of veal or fowl
Forms a soft, delicate lining that adds moisture and a tender texture to the filling.
Truffles
Adds a rich, earthy aroma to the filling.
Fillets of tongue
Adds a tender, rich meat texture to the filling.
Butter
Adds richness and helps the napkin keep the saddle moist and shaped.
Good stock
Provides liquid for gentle braising, adding moisture and savoury flavour to the lamb.

The step that matters

Braise gently on moderate heat for about 2.5 hours. Gentle, moderate heat lets collagen in the lamb break down slowly into gelatin, giving tender meat. Too much heat can toughen the meat and dry the stock out.

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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