No. 722 Of Cotelettes braised.
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.