Chef Juliette
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Côtelettes de Mouton à la Reforme
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 1316a, Côtelettes de Mouton à la Reforme, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Ham-flecked crumbs, juicy mutton, clarified butter, and a sharp-sweet poivrade half-glaze: a clubland classic whose discipline lies in gentle frying and a julienne cut fine enough to season every spoonful.
Main Dishes
French
Dinner Party
Special Occasion
Comfort Food
35 min
Active Time
25 min cook•1 hr total
Yield4 servings
Côtelettes de Mouton à la Réforme (mutton cutlets with Reform sauce and garnish) teaches one severe and useful rule: a crumbed cutlet must cook gently enough for its coating and its center to finish together. The ham-flecked crumbs should bronze without scorching while the mutton stays juicy. Rush the pan and the outside is finished before the meat has begun.
The original kitchen assumed six cutlets, a saucier, half-glaze and Sauce Poivrade waiting beside a stock never off the fire, and a hot cupboard for the serving dish. At home, use four cutlets, the two prepared sauces as finished components, one small saucepan, one skillet, and a platter warmed briefly in a low oven. The quantities are reduced by one-third, while the original proportion of one part ham to three parts breadcrumbs remains exact. Making the component sauces during service and maintaining a hot cupboard were brigade scaffolding; the buttered ham crumb, gentle frying, sharp-sweet sauce, and precise little julienne are the dish and must stay. No salamander is wanted, because the crust takes its color entirely in clarified butter.
Done properly, the cutlets arrive deep gold, the sauce gleams darkly beside them, and every spoonful carries a little acidity from gherkin, savor from tongue and mushroom, richness from truffle, and sweetness from red-currant jelly. One cook, one stove, one evening. Before you touch the pan, remember the step that decides everything: keep the clarified butter at a quiet sizzle, never an angry one.
Despite its French title, the dish belongs to the Reform Club in London, where a French-trained club kitchen placed British mutton inside the classical grammar of crumb coating, Sauce Poivrade, half-glaze, and exact garnish. The name honors the club rather than a French region or culinary movement, and the formula traveled from clubland dining into the French-language classical repertoire. Its colored julienne was not decoration alone: egg white, red salted tongue, gherkin, mushroom, and truffle brought softness, savor, acidity, and perfume to an otherwise dense sauce.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
mutton rib or loin cutlets
Quantity
4 (about 680 g / 1½ lb total)
cut about 2.5 cm / 1 inch thick and trimmed
fine sea salt
Quantity
1 teaspoon (5 ml / 6 g)
freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
½ teaspoon (2.5 ml / 1 g)
unsalted butter
Quantity
2 tablespoons (30 ml / 28 g)
melted
fine fresh white breadcrumbs
Quantity
¾ cup (180 ml / 60 g)
cooked ham
Quantity
3 tablespoons, loosely packed (45 ml / 20 g)
finely chopped
clarified butter
Quantity
⅓ cup (80 ml / 72 g)
for gentle shallow-frying
prepared half-glaze sauce (demi-glace)
Quantity
2 tablespoons (30 ml / 32 g)
prepared Sauce Poivrade
Quantity
2 tablespoons (30 ml / 32 g)
red-currant jelly
Quantity
Scant ¾ teaspoon (3.5 ml / 5 g)
hard-boiled egg white
Quantity
Scant ¾ teaspoon (3.5 ml / 2 g)
cut in short fine julienne
red salted tongue
Quantity
Scant ¾ teaspoon (3.5 ml / 3 g)
cut in short fine julienne
gherkin
Quantity
Scant ¾ teaspoon (3.5 ml / 3 g)
cut in short fine julienne
cooked button mushroom
Quantity
Scant ¾ teaspoon (3.5 ml / 2 g)
cut in short fine julienne
preserved black truffle
Quantity
Scant ¾ teaspoon (3.5 ml / 2 g)
cut in short fine julienne
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| mutton rib or loin cutletscut about 2.5 cm / 1 inch thick and trimmed | 4 (about 680 g / 1½ lb total) |
| fine sea salt | 1 teaspoon (5 ml / 6 g) |
| freshly ground black pepper | ½ teaspoon (2.5 ml / 1 g) |
| unsalted buttermelted | 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 28 g) |
| fine fresh white breadcrumbs | ¾ cup (180 ml / 60 g) |
| cooked hamfinely chopped | 3 tablespoons, loosely packed (45 ml / 20 g) |
| clarified butterfor gentle shallow-frying | ⅓ cup (80 ml / 72 g) |
| prepared half-glaze sauce (demi-glace) | 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 32 g) |
| prepared Sauce Poivrade | 2 tablespoons (30 ml / 32 g) |
| red-currant jelly | Scant ¾ teaspoon (3.5 ml / 5 g) |
| hard-boiled egg whitecut in short fine julienne | Scant ¾ teaspoon (3.5 ml / 2 g) |
| red salted tonguecut in short fine julienne | Scant ¾ teaspoon (3.5 ml / 3 g) |
| gherkincut in short fine julienne | Scant ¾ teaspoon (3.5 ml / 3 g) |
| cooked button mushroomcut in short fine julienne | Scant ¾ teaspoon (3.5 ml / 2 g) |
| preserved black trufflecut in short fine julienne | Scant ¾ teaspoon (3.5 ml / 2 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •30 cm / 12 inch heavy skillet
- •Small heavy saucepan
- •Broad metal spatula
- •Instant-read thermometer
- •Oven-safe oval serving platter
- •Small sauceboat
Instructions
- 1
Prepare the cutlets
Set an oven-safe serving platter in a 95°C / 200°F oven to warm. Trim the cutlets neatly, leaving the meat attached to the bone, then pat them completely dry and season both sides with the salt and pepper. Dry meat holds its coating; moisture lets butter and crumbs slide away together.
Ask for cutlets of equal thickness. Their weight may vary slightly, but matching thickness matters because all four must finish at the same moment. - 2
Cut the julienne
Cut the egg white, salted tongue, gherkin, mushroom, and truffle julienne-fashion, into matchstick rods about 1 mm thick and 2 cm long. Keep each element distinct as you work, then measure a scant ¾ teaspoon of each. This short, fine cut belongs in every spoonful of sauce; coarse strips turn a composed garnish into a forkful of odds and ends.
- 3
Warm the sauce
Combine the prepared half-glaze sauce and prepared Sauce Poivrade in a small saucepan. Warm them over low heat, whisk in the red-currant jelly, and stop as soon as the jelly has dissolved and the sauce lightly coats the back of a spoon. If it reduces into a sticky glaze, ça se rattrape: whisk in hot water a teaspoon at a time until it flows in a glossy ribbon. Cover and hold it barely warm without letting it boil.
- 4
Apply the ham crumb
Mix the breadcrumbs and finely chopped ham thoroughly, rubbing any clumps apart with your fingers so the ham is evenly dispersed. Brush or dip each cutlet in the melted butter, then press it firmly into the ham crumbs on both sides and around the edges. Shake away only the loose excess and rest the coated cutlets for 5 minutes. If a patch slips, the meat was probably damp; press fresh crumbs onto that spot and give it another few minutes to settle. Don't add egg or flour, because the melted-butter coating is part of this method.
- 5
Fry them gently
Heat the clarified butter in a heavy skillet over medium-low heat until a test crumb bubbles quietly without darkening at once, about 155°C / 310°F if you use a thermometer. Lay in two cutlets, leaving space around them, and cook for 4 to 6 minutes per side. Turn each once with a broad spatula, keeping the crust intact, and baste the edges with clarified butter. The coating should deepen gradually to an even burnished gold while the center reaches at least 63°C / 145°F after resting. If the crumbs brown before the meat is ready, lift the pan off the heat, remove any blackened loose crumbs, lower the flame, and continue gently. Ça se rattrape.
- 6
Rest and repeat
Transfer the first cutlets to a rack for 3 minutes while you cook the second pair. Scoop loose crumbs from the butter before the next batch so they don't burn and mark the fresh coating. Keep the cooked cutlets near the warm oven, but don't shut them inside for long or their crust will soften.
- 7
Finish the garnish
Return the sauce to the gentlest heat and fold in the measured julienne of egg white, salted tongue, gherkin, mushroom, and truffle. Warm it only until the garnish is heated through, about 1 minute. A hard simmer muddies the colors, tightens the half-glaze, and steals the gherkin's useful edge.
- 8
Dish in a circle
Remove the warm platter from the oven and arrange the four cutlets in an open circle, bones pointing outward as the original service directs. Pour the sauce into a warm sauceboat and send it to the table beside the cutlets rather than drowning their crust. Spoon the glossy sauce and its fine julienne over each cutlet only as it is served. À table!
Chef Tips
- •The source gives six cutlets and one coffeespoonful of every garnish element. For four servings, every quantity is reduced by one-third, which makes a scant ¾ teaspoon of each julienne. The ham remains exactly one-third the weight of the breadcrumbs.
- •Mutton gives the cutlet its deep, savory character. If your butcher has only lamb, choose thick loin or rib chops and begin checking them a minute earlier; the technique remains sound, but the milder dish is properly lamb à la Réforme.
- •Treat the half-glaze sauce and Sauce Poivrade as finished preparations, just as the original kitchen did. A good prepared demi-glace is an honest home answer to the permanent stockpot, but it must taste of roasted meat rather than salt or caramel coloring.
- •A slice of cured red ox tongue from a good delicatessen supplies far more than the recipe needs, but it freezes well in small packets. Preserved black truffle is the sensible classical pantry choice here, since only a few grams are required.
- •Serve with pommes château or plainly buttered green beans, nothing that competes with the garnish. A firm red Bordeaux or northern Rhône Syrah has enough structure for the mutton and enough freshness for the poivrade.
- •The cutlets are best from the pan. Refrigerate leftovers promptly and reheat them uncovered in a moderate oven; a covered pan traps moisture and softens the ham crumb.
Advance Preparation
- •The half-glaze sauce and Sauce Poivrade can be prepared several days ahead or thawed from frozen portions. Keep them separate until the final sauce is warmed.
- •Cut the five julienne elements earlier in the day and refrigerate them separately in covered containers. Combine them with the sauce only at the finish so their colors and textures remain distinct.
- •Trim and season the mutton up to 4 hours ahead, keeping it refrigerated. Apply the butter and ham crumb shortly before frying; coating too early makes the breadcrumbs damp.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 155g)
Calories
510 calories
Total Fat
40 g
Saturated Fat
20 g
Trans Fat
1 g
Unsaturated Fat
19 g
Cholesterol
115 mg
Sodium
950 mg
Total Carbohydrates
10 g
Dietary Fiber
1 g
Sugars
2 g
Protein
28 g
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