Skip to main content
Main

Cutlets with Endive

Mutton cutlets simmered with onions, carrots, parsley, and stock, finished in a reduced chicory roux and served with onion puree.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Carrot and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,053 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Cutlets with Endive

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Prepare the cutlets by trimming and flattening them.

  2. Lard the cutlets with small pieces of lard and ham.

Braise

  1. In a stewpan, combine the trimmings, onions, carrots, parsley, and season well.

  2. Add the cutlets and enough stock to nearly cover them.

  3. Cover with bacon slices and a buttered paper, then boil.

  4. Place on a paillasse with heat from above and below until cooked.

  5. Drain and trim the cutlets again, removing excess lard.

Glaze and serve

  1. Strain the stock and reduce it to a glaze.

  2. Return the cutlets to the glaze, turning to coat both sides.

  3. Serve with a puree of onions in the center and border with cooked small onions.

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 + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,053 recipes

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

  2. Chicory + parsleytop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together41 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

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

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

  4. Onion + parsleytop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,843 recipes

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

  5. Chicory + carrottop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together24 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

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

What each ingredient does

Mutton cutlets
The main meat, which becomes tender and savory during the long braise.
Lard (in the method)
Adds fat that keeps the lean mutton moist as it cooks.
Bacon
Releases fat and smoky, salty flavor into the braising liquid and cutlets.
Stock
Provides moisture and body, and reduces to a concentrated glaze.
Onions
Build sweetness and aroma in the braise and in the puree.
Butter
Adds richness and helps the paper and cutlets brown and carry flavor.

The step that matters

Return the cutlets to the glaze, turning to coat both sides.. The stock must be reduced until syrupy so it clings to the meat. Turning the cutlets coats both faces evenly, giving a glossy, well-flavored surface.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mutton, chicory, carrot, parsley, butter):

  1. Shallotfits better
  2. Turnipfits better
  3. Chivefits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, chicory, carrot, parsley, butter. 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.

You might also like

Mutton BrothMutton Broth292 recipesCarrot SoupCarrot Soup134 recipesHaricot MuttonHaricot Mutton59 recipesMutton SoupMutton Soup56 recipes