Chef Juliette
Saddle of Mutton
Selle de mouton rôtie teaches that the roast is decided before the oven: trim cleanly, fold the flanks close, tie firmly, then carve rosy slices beside vegetables glossed with real butter.
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Côtelettes à la Champvallon (10 Cutlets)
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 1312, Côtelettes à la Champvallon (10 Cutlets), from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Côtelettes à la Champvallon puts one-pot discipline to work: lamb browned in butter, onions kept pale, and potato roundels basted in white stock until the meat yields and the cooking juices reduce to a glaze.
Main Dishes
French
Comfort Food
Weeknight
One Pot
20 min
Active Time
1 hr 15 min cook•1 hr 35 min total
Yield4 servings
Côtelettes à la Champvallon (lamb cutlets baked with onions and potato roundels) teaches control through reduction. The one true thing is this: the stock must nearly disappear at the same moment the potatoes soften and the lamb yields. Too much liquid and you have soup; too little, too soon, and the potatoes never finish.
The original entry assumed ten cutlets, white stock never far from the fire, a cook free to baste repeatedly, and a separate pan and earthenware baking dish. Here, the ten cutlets become four, the onions become 90 grams, and the potatoes 270 grams, preserving the book's one-to-three proportion exactly. A good low-sodium white chicken stock stands in for the stockpot, while one shallow ovenproof braiser handles both stove and oven. One cook, one stove, one evening.
Fashioning the potatoes into corks before slicing them was brigade presentation scaffolding, so it can go without harming the dish. Cut even roundels from ordinary peeled potatoes instead. Browning the cutlets in butter, keeping the onions pale, giving the meat its twenty-minute head start, basting the potatoes, and reducing the stock almost away must stay. Those steps are the dish.
When it is right, the potato edges are butter-gold, the onions have melted beneath them, and only a glossy spoonful of cooking juices remains around the bronzed cutlets. Before touching the pan, choose a shallow vessel in which the cutlets fit snugly in one layer. That decision governs the reduction.
Côtelettes à la Champvallon belong to the Parisian classical and bourgeois table, where lamb or mutton cutlets were baked with onions, potatoes, and white stock, then carried to the table in their cooking dish. Grand kitchens formalized this domestic combination by trimming potatoes into cork shapes before slicing them into identical roundels; as the dish moved into home kitchens, the shaping could fall away while the sequence remained. What looks like a gratin is not one: the stock should reduce almost entirely, glazing the meat and potatoes rather than leaving them beneath cream or cheese.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
bone-in lamb shoulder-end cutlets or blade chops
Quantity
4 thick cutlets (about 2 lb / 900 g total)
yellow onion
Quantity
3/4 cup (180 ml / 90 g)
thinly sliced
waxy yellow potatoes
Quantity
about 2 cups (475 ml / 270 g)
peeled and cut into 1/8-inch (3 mm) roundels
unsalted butter
Quantity
3 tablespoons (45 ml / 42 g)
divided
hot low-sodium white chicken or veal stock
Quantity
2 to 2 1/2 cups (475 to 600 ml / 475 to 600 g)
garlic
Quantity
about 1/10 clove (0.3 g)
crushed to a paste
bouquet garni (herb bundle: parsley, thyme, and bay)
Quantity
1 small bouquet
fine salt
Quantity
1 1/2 teaspoons (7.5 ml / 9 g)
divided
freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml / 1 g)
divided
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| bone-in lamb shoulder-end cutlets or blade chops | 4 thick cutlets (about 2 lb / 900 g total) |
| yellow onionthinly sliced | 3/4 cup (180 ml / 90 g) |
| waxy yellow potatoespeeled and cut into 1/8-inch (3 mm) roundels | about 2 cups (475 ml / 270 g) |
| unsalted butterdivided | 3 tablespoons (45 ml / 42 g) |
| hot low-sodium white chicken or veal stock | 2 to 2 1/2 cups (475 to 600 ml / 475 to 600 g) |
| garliccrushed to a paste | about 1/10 clove (0.3 g) |
| bouquet garni (herb bundle: parsley, thyme, and bay) | 1 small bouquet |
| fine saltdivided | 1 1/2 teaspoons (7.5 ml / 9 g) |
| freshly ground black pepperdivided | 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml / 1 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •12-inch (30 cm), 3 1/2 to 4-quart shallow ovenproof braiser
- •Tongs
- •Sharp chef's knife or mandoline with hand guard
- •Wide basting spoon
Instructions
- 1
Prepare the braise
Heat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Pat the cutlets thoroughly dry, but do not french or scrape the bone ends; the source leaves their meat intact. Season them on both sides with 1 teaspoon of the salt and half the pepper. Slice the onion, tie the bouquet garni, and peel the potatoes, leaving them whole in cold water until their turn comes.
Use shoulder-end cutlets, blade chops, or the first chops adjoining the shoulder. Neat loin cutlets are too lean and tender for this long, moist cooking. - 2
Brown the cutlets
Melt 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 28 g) of the butter in a shallow 12-inch (30 cm) ovenproof braiser over medium-high heat. When the foam subsides, brown the cutlets in batches for 3 to 4 minutes per side, leaving them undisturbed long enough to form a deep butter-bronze crust. Set them aside. Preserve the brown fond on the pan floor; it is the foundation of the finished juices. If the butter solids turn black, wipe out only the burnt fat, add a little of the reserved butter, and continue. Ça se rattrape.
- 3
Suer the onions
Lower the heat to medium-low and add the remaining 1 tablespoon (15 ml / 14 g) butter. Suer the onions, meaning sweat them gently without browning, for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring until supple and translucent. If they begin to colour, lower the heat and add a spoonful of stock; browned onions would make the dish sweeter and darker than intended. Stir in the tiny scraping of garlic, then add the bouquet garni.
- 4
Begin the oven braise
Nestle the cutlets into the onions in one snug layer. Pour in enough hot white stock to almost cover the meat and onions, usually 2 to 2 1/2 cups (475 to 600 ml / 475 to 600 g), depending on the pan. Bring the liquid to a boil on the stove, then immediately transfer the uncovered braiser to the oven for 20 minutes. The brief boil starts the braise evenly; the shallow uncovered vessel begins the reduction.
- 5
Add the potato roundels
Slice the potatoes crosswise into even 1/8-inch (3 mm) roundels and pat away their surface water. Season with the remaining salt and pepper, then arrange them over and around the cutlets in loose overlapping layers. Spoon the cooking liquid over every round and return the braiser to the oven, uncovered, for 35 to 45 minutes. Baste every 10 minutes, lifting liquid from the edges and wetting the potatoes without disturbing their layers. They are ready when a knife passes through without resistance and their exposed edges are golden.
- 6
Reduce and serve
Check the cutlets for yielding tenderness and look beneath the potatoes: only a few glossy spoonfuls of liquid should remain. If the meat and potatoes are ready but the pan is still wet, lift them to a warm platter and boil the juices on the stove for 3 to 5 minutes, then return everything to the glaze. If the pan dries before the potatoes soften, add 1/4 cup (60 ml / 60 g) hot stock and continue cooking. Ça se rattrape. Discard the bouquet garni, rest the dish for 5 minutes, and serve directly from the braiser. À table!
Chef Tips
- •Ask the butcher for shoulder-end lamb cutlets, blade chops, or first-rib cutlets adjoining the shoulder, cut about 3/4 to 1 inch (2 to 2.5 cm) thick. Their connective tissue softens during the braise; loin chops would simply dry out.
- •White stock means pale chicken or veal stock, not dark beef broth. A good low-sodium carton is the honest home equivalent to a stockpot kept ready all day, and its mild flavour lets the lamb and onions remain distinct.
- •The garlic amount looks comically small because the source uses only one-quarter clove for ten cutlets. Its purpose is to disappear into the stock, not announce itself, so resist adding a whole clove.
- •Use waxy potatoes that keep clean edges, such as Yukon Gold or another yellow boiling potato. Floury baking potatoes absorb the liquid too quickly and can collapse before the lamb is tender.
- •The width of the pan matters more than its material. A deep narrow pot traps too much liquid; a shallow braiser lets the stock reduce as the potatoes cook. Cooking well is not cooking fancy.
- •Pour a supple, fresh red with the lamb, such as Loire Cabernet Franc or a modest red Burgundy. The dish already contains its starch and onions, so it needs no accompaniment beyond a sharply dressed green salad.
Advance Preparation
- •The onions may be sliced and the bouquet garni tied up to 1 day ahead; refrigerate them separately in covered containers. Peel and slice the potatoes shortly before they enter the braiser so their surfaces remain fresh and starchy.
- •The finished dish may be cooled and refrigerated within 2 hours, then kept for up to 3 days. Reheat it covered at 325°F (165°C) with 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 30 g) stock for about 20 minutes, then uncover for 10 minutes so the juices return to a glaze. The potatoes will be softer, but the flavour deepens.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 280g)
Calories
540 calories
Total Fat
40 g
Saturated Fat
18 g
Trans Fat
1 g
Unsaturated Fat
21 g
Cholesterol
130 mg
Sodium
1150 mg
Total Carbohydrates
15 g
Dietary Fiber
2 g
Sugars
2 g
Protein
30 g
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