Côtelettes à la Provençale

Côtelettes à la Provençale (lamb cutlets with garlic Béchamel, mushrooms, olives, and anchovy) teach a lovely classical discipline: cook the meat from one side, then let the garnish and oven finish the other. The one true thing to know before touching the pan is that the Béchamel must be reduced to one third before the yolk goes in. Leave it loose and the crown slides off; take it to a thick, spoon-holding cream and the whole construction stays put.

The entry assumed a saucier had finished the Béchamel, a stockpot never went cold at the sauce station, and a salamander stood ready to glaze ten cutlets while another pair of hands grilled ten mushrooms. At home, a scant half cup of finished sauce, one ovenproof skillet, and the broiler do the same work for four. I have kept the one-sided frying, yolk-bound garlic sauce, grilled mushroom, and poached olive girded with anchovy because those steps are the dish. The brigade simultaneity, service tray, and production of four bespoke filled olives are scaffolding, so ready-stuffed green olives and an ovenproof skillet take their place. One cook, one stove, one evening.

The result is generous rather than delicate: bronzed lamb under an ivory-gold glaze, a butter-dark mushroom cap, then the briny snap of olive and anchovy. Reduce the sauce by volume, not by guesswork, and temper the yolk off the heat. If it tightens too sharply, ça se rattrape, and the method tells you how.