Braised cotelettes are much more in vogue in France than in England, for
in the former they prefer meat stewed, whilst in the latter the meat is
more succulent and tender, and even for Soubise or Provençale the
cotelette sauté is preferred, although properly they ought to be
braised; I shall, therefore, describe the manner of braising them and
leave the choice to my readers.
Prepare a neck of mutton by cutting off the chine-bone, and cut the
cotelettes as before, but let them remain nearly of the same thickness
you cut them from the neck, which will be nearly an inch, then stick
five or six pieces of fat bacon about the size of a quill through the
lean of each cotelette, cutting off the ends, then cover the bottom of a
stewpan with thin slices of fat bacon and lay twelve cotelettes over,
all laying on the same side, just cover them with stock, to which add an
onion, three cloves, and a bunch of parsley, place a sheet of buttered
paper over them, and place them over a slow fire to simmer between two
and three hours, try them and if very tender place them upon an oval
dish, with a little of their stock, place another dish over them upon
which put a seven pounds weight; when quite cold trim nicely of equal
sizes and put them in a sauté-pan with their stock to warm, dress them
in crown on a border of mashed potatoes, and serve with a sauce Soubise
(No. 47), or any other sauce as directed for the cotelettes sautés.
Although these cotelettes are required to be tender they must not be too
much done or the bones would fall from them.