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Lamb chops pie . A Dutch recipe from the eighteenth century.
(Printout version recipe March/April 2004. 2 pages A4)
| ingredients: 900 gram (2 pounds) puff pastry 12 lamb chops, the protruding rib chopped off butter 10 gram (about 1/3 cup) dried morels, soaked in hot water stuffing: 400 gram (14 ounces) minced veal 2 eggs pepper, salt, nutmeg to taste 2 Tbsp. chopped parsley toasted breadcrumbs or crushed rusk |
breading: equal quantities of flour and rusk or toasted breadcrumbs salt sauce: 30 gram (4 Tbsp.) flour 30 gram (2 Tbsp.) dripping of the lamb chops, or butter 3 deciliter (1 1/4 cup) broth, or the soaking liquid of the morels (strained) 2 shallots, finely chopped pepper, salt, powdered cloves, lemon juice to taste |
Preparation in advance:
Form a neat pastry shell: Cut a round sheet
of dough that fits exactly on the bottom of a springform. Then cut a strip of
dough, as wide as the sides of the springform are high. Butter the springform,
line it with the sheets of pastry dough. Save some dough for the cover and
decorations.
Make the stuffing by mixing everything well together. The stuffing should be
slightly creamy/moist.
Strain the soaking liquid of the mushrooms through a coffee filter. (Before
soaking the morels, rinse them thoroughly. Then soak them first for five minutes
in hot water, throw this water away, take fresh hot water to let them soak for
at least an hour. This second soaking water will be used for the sauce). Pat the
morels thoroughly dry after soaking.
When using a large springform you can leave the ribs on, but when you use a
smaller one, it is best to chop off the ribs from the lamb chops. Flatten
the lamb chops with the flat side of a heavy cleaver.
Mix the ingredients for the breading. Coat the lamb chops with the breading, and
fry them in butter until they are a golden brown. Let the chops cool and drain
on kitchen paper.
Make the sauce: Fry the shallots in butter or the drippings of the lamb chops.
Prepare a roux using butter or dripping and flour, and meat broth or the
strained soaking liquid of the mushrooms. Finish it off with spices and lemon
juice to taste.
Preparation:
Prehaet the oven to 190 degr.Celsius.
Lay the stuffing on the bottem of the pastry shell. Press the lamb chops
slightly in the stuffing, sprinkel the morels on top.
Cover the pie with a round sheet of dough. Make sure the sides of cover and
sides are pressed well together. If you want to you can decorate the cover with
the remaining dough. If you want to, you can make a hole in the centre of the
cover (a chimney), to allow steam to escape.
Place the pie in the oven, the second rack from the bottom (below the middle of
the oven). Bake during 50 minutes. When the pie is done, take it out of the
oven, and let it rest for at least five minutes before removing it from the
baking form.
To serve:
The cover of the pie was cut loose from the shell. This indicates how such pies
were being eaten: the stuffing is scooped out of the shell, just as if it were a
serving dish. If you want to, you can always eat the shell afterwards. The cover
was cut in wedges. The wedges were stuck along the shell, to form a decorative
crown. When the cover is not hard enough because of the meat juices, just put it
back in the oven after cutting it loose for another ten minutes, to let it dry
before cutting in wedges.
Reheat the sauce. According to the original recipe, it should be poured over the
stuffing in the pie. You can serve it like that, but you can also serve it in a
sauce boat, to allow every one to take or leave the sauce.
Per portion you take one or two lamb chops and some of the stuffing. Then pour
some of the sauce over.
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