Lamb Cutlets with Reform Sauce
Reform sauce is piquant and deliciously seasoned with herbs and spices and is one of Soyer's most famous recipes. The recipe has been changed over time but this is as close to the original as possible.
Reform sauce is piquant and deliciously seasoned with herbs and spices and is one of Soyer's most famous recipes. The recipe has been changed over time but this is as close to the original as possible.
- 1 clove garlic peeled and crushed
- 2 eggs beaten
- 1 tablespoon parsley chopped
- 2 teaspoon plain flour
- 8 4-oz lamb cutlets
- 2 ounces cooked ham cooked ham, very finely chopped
- 3 ounces fresh white bread crumbs
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil for frying
- 1 knob unsalted butter make it a generous knob of butter
- salt & freshly ground black pepper
- -- for the reform sauce --
- 2 large shallots peeled and finely chopped
- 1 pinch cayenne make it a generous pinch
- 2 ounces butter
- 1/2 teaspoon tomato puree
- 2 tablespoons tarragon vinegar
- 1 tablespoon redcurrant jelly though we do like to use rown jelly
- 1/2 pint beef stock a good strong beef stock, i now use a knorr beef stockpot (you k
- 1 ounce ox tongue sliced, or ham, or both, cut into thin 1-inch strips
- 3 ounces beet peeled and cut into strips like the tongue
- 2 meduim gherkins cut into strips
- 1 large hard boiled egg white only cut into strips
- Carbohydrate 24.9022477657314 g
- Cholesterol 1312.6275 mg
- Fat 168.00253252885 g
- Fiber 1.44251980655871 g
- Protein 59.280335409113 g
- Saturated Fat 90.4669039594413 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (682g)
- Sodium 1595.16159513162 mg
- Sugar 23.4597279591727 g
- Trans Fat 14.8025324023615 g
- Calories 1840 calories
Step-by-step
- To make the sauce gently cook the shallots, garlic, and cayenne pepper in half of the butter for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the flour and tomato pur?e and stir well, add the vinegar and redcurrant jelly and simmer for about one minute, then add the stock, bring to a boil, and simmer gently for 15 minutes season to taste, and whisk in the remaining butter.
- Trim the cutlets to remove most of the surrounding fat this is known as frenching. Scrape the bone absolutely clean to within 1 inch of the 'eye' of the meat.
- Mix the chopped ham, chopped parsley and breadcrumbs together. Season the lamb cutlets and coat with the beaten egg and then cover with the ham and breadcrumb mixture. Cover and chill until required.
- Heat a couple of tablespoons of the vegetable oil in a frying pan on a medium heat and cook the cutlets for 3-4 minutes on each side until golden, adding the butter towards the end.
- Arrange the cutlets on a warmed serving dish and garnish each one with a cutlet frill.
- To serve, combine the julienne of tongue, beetroot, gherkin, and egg white in a serving dish, pour the sauce into a sauceboat and serve separately.
Crumbing lamb cutlets requires a dry surface to ensure adhesion, so flouring the meat lightly before dipping it into beaten egg creates a mechanical anchor for the ham and breadcrumb mixture. When frying breaded proteins, maintaining the oil at medium heat prevents the fine breadcrumbs and minced ham from scorching before the interior reaches a safe temperature. Reform sauce derives its complex piquant profile from acidic tarragon vinegar cutting through rich beef stock, balanced by the sweetness of redcurrant jelly.
Adapting the Classic Garnish
Traditional service incorporates a julienne of tongue, beetroot, gherkins, and hard-boiled egg whites folded into the sauce just before plating, adding distinct textural variance and sharp lactic acidity. Home cooks managing dietary restrictions can easily omit the ox tongue and substitute additional cured ham or roasted mushrooms without altering the underlying reduction technique. Because this reduction relies on flour as a thickening agent combined with a final whisking of cold butter, simmering the stock for precisely fifteen minutes is essential to cook out any raw starch flavor.
Technique and Preparation
Frenching the bone by scraping it completely clean exposes clean white bone for traditional paper frills, though this step is purely aesthetic and does not impact cooking physics. Chilling the breaded cutlets for at least thirty minutes prior to pan-frying firms the exterior coating, preventing the crust from sloughing off when introduced to the hot vegetable oil and butter mixture.
