Ris d’Agneau

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •4-quart nonreactive bowl
• •4-quart heavy saucepan
• •Two rimmed trays and a 1 to 2 lb weight
• •12-inch ovenproof sauté pan with lid
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Instant-read thermometer

Instructions

1. 1

   Clear the sweetbreads

   Begin Blanchings (No. 273) by setting the sweetbreads in a large nonreactive bowl and covering them by 2 inches with very cold water. Refrigerate for 2 hours, changing the water every 30 minutes, until the final water is nearly clear rather than red. This replaces the old running tap without changing the purpose of the soak. If the water remains strongly rosy, give it another change; do not try to make up for an incomplete soak by boiling longer.

2. 2

   Blanch at the boil

   Transfer the sweetbreads to a saucepan, cover generously with fresh cold water, and bring the temperature up gradually over medium heat. Watch closely. The instant a true boil breaks across the surface, drain them and lower them into the ice water for 10 minutes. This completes Blanchings (No. 273): the brief heat firms the outer tissue so it can be trimmed, while the cold stops the cooking. If the water rolled for less than a minute, drain and chill at once. Ça se rattrape: shorten the later braise by about 5 minutes and begin checking early.

   Have the colander and ice water ready before the saucepan goes on the heat. Lamb sweetbreads wait for nobody once the boil arrives.
3. 3

   Trim and press

   Drain and pat the sweetbreads dry. With a small sharp knife, pull away the tough outer membrane, blood vessels, loose fat, and any ragged tissue while keeping the plump lobes intact. Set them between two clean towel-lined trays, place a 1 to 2 lb weight on top, and refrigerate for 45 to 60 minutes. Pressing gives the soft lobes an even thickness, so they brown and braise at the same pace; crush them flat and you lose the generous texture.

4. 4

   Brown without crowding

   Heat the oven to 325°F (165°C). Pat the pressed sweetbreads completely dry and season them with half the salt and the pepper. Heat the clarified butter in a wide ovenproof sauté pan over medium-high heat, then brown the sweetbreads in two batches, about 2 minutes per broad face, until deeply golden. If they shed liquid and begin to stew, lift them out, let the liquid boil away, add a little more clarified butter if needed, and continue in smaller batches. Pale sweetbreads give nothing to the sauce; the browned fond on the pan floor is its foundation.

5. 5

   Build the braising fond

   Lower the heat to medium and add the onion, carrot, and celery. This mirepoix, the diced aromatic vegetables, should cook for 7 to 9 minutes until softened and well colored, not scorched. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes, until it darkens to brick red. Pour in 1 cup of the stock and scrape every browned speck from the pan floor. Let it simmer for 2 minutes so the fond dissolves completely into the braising liquor.

6. 6

   Braise at a tremble

   Nestle the browned sweetbreads over the mirepoix, add the bouquet garni, and pour in enough remaining stock to come halfway up their sides. Bring the liquid just to a bare simmer, cover the pan, and transfer it to the oven. Braise for 20 to 25 minutes, turning the lobes once, until they feel tender with a slight resilience and reach 160°F (71°C) at the center. A hard boil tightens them, so if the liquid is bubbling aggressively, lower the oven by 25°F (15°C).

7. 7

   Reduce and glaze

   Lift the sweetbreads onto a warm plate and discard the bouquet garni. Strain the braising liquor through a fine sieve into a clean skillet, pressing the mirepoix only gently, then boil until reduced to about 3/4 cup and glossy enough to coat the back of a spoon. Taste before adding the remaining salt, because reduction concentrates everything. Remove the skillet from the heat and whisk in the cold butter a few cubes at a time, then return the sweetbreads and baste until lacquered. If the glaze looks oily, stop adding butter and whisk in 1 tbsp of cold stock off the heat. Ça se rattrape. Return it to the gentlest heat only after it comes smooth.

   Reduce first, mount with butter second. Boiling after the butter goes in can split the glaze and dull the clean stock flavor.
8. 8

   Choose the service

   For the brown-braised main, arrange the ris d’agneau on a warmed platter and spoon the glaze over and around them. The source keeps its other applications separate: for the skewer branch, reach for the finished Attereaux de Ris de Veau à la Villeroy (No. 1219); for pastry-shell service, reach for the finished Croûtes et Croustades (No. 2393). Their methods live in their own preparations and are not rebuilt here. Choose one branch rather than piling all three onto a plate. Tonight, the burnished sweetbreads and their glaze are enough. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Order lamb sweetbreads from a butcher several days ahead. Look for plump, pale cream lobes with a clean, faint smell and no grey drying at the edges; their small size is their delicacy, but it also leaves little margin for careless heat.
• •Use strong, gelatin-rich lamb or veal stock with restrained salt. A thin boxed broth reduces to salt before it gains body, while proper stock tightens naturally into the glaze the dish requires.
• •The white-braised version belongs beside poached poultry and should remain pale, with no hard browning or tomato in its braising base. That is a distinct classical treatment, not a lighter variation of this brown braise.
• •Serve with pommes purée or plainly buttered noodles to catch the glaze. A cru Beaujolais or restrained Pinot Noir has enough freshness for the sweetbreads and enough fruit for their browned exterior.

Advance Preparation

• •The sweetbreads can be soaked, blanched, trimmed, and pressed up to 24 hours ahead. Keep them covered on a towel-lined tray in the cold, then dry them again before browning.
• •They may be braised up to 3 hours before dinner. Hold the sweetbreads and strained liquor separately in the cold, rewarm the meat gently in the liquor, then reduce and mount the glaze with butter just before serving.
• •Refrigerate leftovers promptly and use within 2 days. Reheat in a covered skillet over low heat with a spoonful of stock; vigorous reheating makes the sweetbreads firm and splits the glaze.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 220g)