Mutton chops with potato and turnip gratin
Mutton, potatoes and turnips are given a bit of flair with sauce gribiche and lashings of cream.
Ingredients
For the mutton
- plain flour, for dusting
- 4 free-range eggs, beaten
- 150g/5oz Japanese panko breadcrumbs, crushed
- 12 mutton chops, French-trimmed (ask your butcher to do this for you, and keep the mutton trimmings)
- vegetable oil, for frying
- knob of unsalted butter
- squeeze lemon juice
- sea salt flakes, to taste
- 2 onions, sliced
- 1 pointed cabbage (such as hispi cabbage), root removed, leaves thinly sliced
For the potato and turnip gratin
- 600ml/20 fl oz double cream
- 600g/1lb 5oz floury potatoes, such as Maris Piper, peeled, sliced into 2mm-thick slices using a mandoline
- 600g/1lb 5oz large turnips, sliced into 2mm-thick slices using a mandoline
- 3 garlic cloves, grated
For the sauce gribiche
- 1 duck egg, hard-boiled and grated
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp English mustard powder
- ¼ tsp smoked paprika
- 100ml/3½fl oz olive oil
- 2 tbsp chopped cornichons
- 2 tbsp fine capers
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh flatleaf parsley
- salt and freshly ground white pepper
Method
For the mutton, sprinkle the flour onto a plate. Beat the eggs in a bowl. Sprinkle the panko breadcrumbs onto a separate plate.
Dust each mutton chop first in the flour, then dip it in the egg, then roll it in the breadcrumbs until completely coated. Set aside, covered, until needed.
For the potato and turnip gratin, bring the cream to the boil in a saucepan and season, to taste with salt and freshly ground white pepper. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside.
Arrange alternate layers of the potato slices and turnip slices into a large ovenproof dish, sprinkling each layer with a little of the grated garlic. Make sure you slightly overlap the slices of potato and turnip in each layer.
Pour over the warm cream, then transfer the dish to the oven and cook for 18-20 minutes.
Remove the dish from the oven and press the potato and turnip layers down using a fish slice. Return the dish to the oven and continue to cook for a further 10 minutes.
Repeat this process until the vegetables are tender, the cream has thickened and the top is golden-brown. Remove the dish from the oven and set aside to cool slightly.
Meanwhile, for the sauce gribiche, in a bowl, mix together the grated duck egg, Dijon mustard, red wine vinegar, salt, sugar, English mustard powder and smoked paprika until well combined.
Gradually add the olive oil in a thin stream, stirring it into the mixture until the mixture emulsifies to a paste. Stir in the cornichons, capers and parsley and season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Set aside.
To cook the chops, heat the vegetable oil in a large, non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Add the breaded mutton chops, in batches if necessary, and shallow fry for 2-3 minutes on each side, or until golden-brown on both sides. Halfway through cooking, add a knob of butter and a squeeze of lemon juice to the pan and baste the chops with the mixture.
When the mutton chops are cooked to your liking, remove them from the pan and set aside to drain on an ovenproof plate lined with kitchen paper. Sprinkle with sea salt flakes and keep warm in an oven set to its lowest setting.
Chop the mutton trimmings into tiny pieces, then heat a lidded saucepan over a medium heat, add the chopped mutton trimmings and dry-fry until the fat has melted and the mutton trimmings are crisp and browned.
Add the onion and a pinch of salt, then cover the pan with the lid and fry for 3-4 minutes, or until the onions have softened.
Add the sliced cabbage, cover again with the lid and cook for 3-4 minutes, or until the cabbage is wilted and tender.
To serve, place two breaded mutton chops onto each serving plate with some cabbage. Spoon over a little of the sauce gribiche. Serve the potato and turnip gratin alongside.
Wines
Château les Arqueys 2008 Bordeaux, Chateau Bois Pertuis Bordeaux 2011 and Taste the Difference St. Emilion 2011.