Côtelettes en Chaudfroid

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Wide 6 to 7-quart cocotte or covered braiser
• •Shallow nonreactive dish for cooling the cutlets
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Narrow 1-quart bowl or measuring jug for dipping
• •Rimmed cold tray
• •2-cup mold for the vegetable macédoine
• •Small sharp knife

Instructions

1. 1

   Trim and brown

   Heat the oven to 325°F / 160°C. Pat the neck cutlets dry, trim away loose fragments and excessive surface fat, then season them with the salt and pepper. Heat the clarified butter in a wide, heavy cocotte and brown the cutlets in batches until both faces are a deep hazelnut color. Do not crowd them. Lift the cutlets out, add the diced carrot, onion, and celery, and cook until their edges color. The brown film on the pot floor is the fond, and it must stay in the dish.

   Ask the butcher to saw the neck straight across into equal cutlets. Regular shape matters here because every piece must braise evenly and carry an unbroken coat of sauce.
2. 2

   Braise without collapse

   Pour in a little of the stock and scrape the pot floor until every browned trace dissolves. Return the cutlets in one snug layer, add the remaining stock and bouquet garni, and bring the liquid just to a simmer. Cover and braise in the oven for 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours 15 minutes, turning once, until a thin knife enters the meat easily but the cutlets still hold firmly around their bones. Begin checking early. This is not a stew to cook until it falls apart; the cold glaze needs a complete piece beneath it.

3. 3

   Cool in the liquor

   Let the cutlets settle in their braising liquor for 20 minutes. Transfer them in one layer to a shallow metal or glass dish, pour the liquor and vegetables over them, and set the dish over an ice bath until no longer hot. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2½ hours, until the meat is cold and the fat has solidified on the liquor. Cooling in the liquor keeps the neck succulent; chilling it bare would dry and darken the surface.

4. 4

   Reduce the liquor

   Lift out the cold cutlets and keep them refrigerated. Remove every trace of hardened fat from the braising liquor, discard the bouquet garni, and strain the liquor through a fine sieve into a wide saucepan. Boil steadily until reduced to ¾ cup / 180 ml, about 25 to 40 minutes. It should taste concentrated and lamb-rich without becoming salty. If the seasoning reaches its limit before the volume does, stop reducing and measure out ¾ cup / 180 ml; salt cannot be reduced away. Cool the liquor until barely lukewarm.

5. 5

   Mold the macédoine

   Blanch the diced carrot and turnip in salted water until tender but still neat, about 4 minutes. Add the beans for the final 2 minutes and the peas for the final minute. Drain, chill in cold water, and dry thoroughly. Melt 2 tablespoons / 30 ml of the aspic over very gentle heat, then cool it until fluid but no longer warm. Stir it into the mayonnaise, fold in the vegetables, and pack the macédoine firmly into a cold-water-rinsed 2-cup mold. Cover and refrigerate until set.

6. 6

   Temper the coating

   Combine the reduced braising liquor with the prepared Brown Chaud-froid Sauce (No. 34) over the lowest heat, stirring only until the two become smooth and fluid. Do not boil. Strain the mixture into a narrow bowl, then stir it occasionally as it cools to about 68°F / 20°C, when it should coat a cold spoon in an even, opaque film. If it runs off transparently, set the bowl over ice and keep stirring. If it becomes ropey or begins setting at the rim, place the bowl over lukewarm water for a few seconds. Ça se rattrape.

   The spoon test saves the first cutlet. The coating should level itself slowly, cover completely, and stop moving before it reaches the spoon's edge.
7. 7

   Coat and decorate

   Dry the chilled cutlets carefully. Holding each by its bone, dip the meat completely into the almost-cold chaud-froid coating, let the excess fall back into the bowl, and set it on a cold tray. Place one fine truffle slice over the kernel of meat while the coating is still tacky. Melt the remaining aspic gently, cool it until cold but still liquid, then spoon or brush a thin clear veil over every cutlet. If a truffle slice slides, the coating is too loose; chill that cutlet for 3 minutes, reset the truffle, and cover it with aspic.

8. 8

   Trim and serve

   Refrigerate the coated cutlets for 45 minutes, until both the chaud-froid and aspic are fully set. Pass the point of a small sharp knife around each cutlet and lift away the skirt of surplus sauce, leaving a clean outline. Unmold the macédoine in the center of a cold platter and arrange the cutlets around it in a close circle, bones pointing outward. Let the platter stand for 10 minutes before serving so the lamb loses its refrigerator chill without softening the glaze. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Use neck, not loin or rib chops. Neck carries enough connective tissue and fat to remain succulent after braising and chilling; a lean chop becomes dry beneath the glaze.
• •The original allows mutton as well as lamb. Mutton gives a deeper, more savory result and may need another 30 minutes of braising, but begin checking before the meat loosens from the bone.
• •Prepare the Brown Chaud-froid Sauce (No. 34) and aspic before beginning the cutlets. They are foundations, not incidental garnishes, and the coating cannot be improvised once the cold meat is waiting.
• •Fresh truffle is splendid when available, but a good preserved whole truffle is the classical pantry's honest answer. Drain it carefully and slice it thin. Truffle oil cannot make the same gesture and has no place under the aspic.
• •Serve with a cellar-cool red Burgundy or a restrained northern Rhône. The wine needs enough freshness for the cold glaze and enough depth for lamb, without bullying the truffle.

Advance Preparation

• •Braise the cutlets up to two days ahead and refrigerate them in their liquor. The cold fat then lifts away cleanly, and the meat firms enough to coat without damage.
• •The macédoine can be molded the day before serving. Keep it covered and cold so its surface does not dry.
• •The complete platter can be assembled up to one day ahead. Cover it without touching the glaze and refrigerate; do not freeze, because freezing clouds the aspic and damages the sauce's smooth finish.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 460g)