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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, served with reduced Allemande sauce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 15 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 salt and pepper.

  3. Line the inside with quenelle or forcemeat.

  4. Add fillets of tongue and truffles.

  5. Fold the skirts of the saddle over the filling to encase it.

  6. Spread butter on a napkin. Place the saddle on the buttered napkin.

  7. Tie the ends of the saddle with twine.

Braise

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

  2. Cover 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. Fold the saddle tightly again.

  2. Press between two dishes until nearly cold.

  3. Trim neatly.

  4. 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, cooked slowly until tender.
Quenelle or forcemeat of veal or fowl
Adds a soft, moist, delicate filling that cushions the lean meat.
Truffles
Contribute a deep, earthy aroma to the filling.
Butter
Adds richness and helps the napkin keep the saddle from sticking.
Good stock
Braising liquid that keeps the lamb moist and adds savoury depth.
Reduced allemande sauce
Provides a smooth, rich, velvety coating that adds moisture and flavour.

The step that matters

Press between two dishes until nearly cold. Pressing while the meat cools firms the rolled saddle so it holds its shape for slicing. Pressing too early, while still hot, can squeeze out juices and crumble the filling.

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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