More stealing, and the sauce cycle begins: fonduta with mutton

Faithful readers of this blog will know of several of Annalena's habits. These include (i) stealing ruthlessly from restaurants she loves and (ii) copying what great chefs do. They will also know that, while Annalena does not abjure sauces, she is not a big fan of them.
Well, there are exceptions to every rule, and in the next three entries, you will be seeing Annalena using sauces in ways that she hopes you will.

The first of these is fonduta. If the name sounds like "fondue" to you, you are right on target. This is an Italian cheese sauce, as rich as Steve Jobs, and so good that I promise you, you will want to bathe in it. The traditional recipes all call for fontina cheese, but while I was on vacation this year, we had a version at a favorite restaurant in Oakland (which I am not going to mention because, every time I do, regardless of how favorably I speak of them, I get a nasty email) using pecorino romano. The use of pecorino was in fact a cooking pun, because pecorino is a sheep's milk cheese . The sauce was served with sheep (not lamb) chops, and the vegetable was sauteed lamb's quarters.

What can I say? Maybe it was an in joke, maybe cooks lose their sense of humor from the heat, who knows. Anyway, if you're eating for amusement, this is a mistake. Eat for taste. And this is tasty.

Let's start by making the fonduta. And I promise you, you will find this so easy you will wonder why you have not been making it every day for the last ten years.

You will need a tablespoon of butter, a half cup of milk (whole, or 2%), 2 egg yolks, and either a packed cup of grated cheese of some kind, or 1/2-3/4 cup of a soft melting cheese like... fontina.

Melt that butter in a pot and then add the milk and the cheese, together. Stir it until you get the cheese as melty as you can. You probably will have some clumps. Don't worry. Lower the heat, add the egg yolks and cook, whisking constantly, until you have a thicker consistency.

You're done. Now, taste this.

Leave some for dinner, because now we're going to make the chops.

I was fortunate to find mutton chops from Karen, the Queen of lamb, at the farmers market. I am really not at all certain this will work with lamb. It may be too light tasting. I think you need something a bit gamier, so maybe do it with something like... pork? Who knows.

First thing you need to do, is pound the chops to the point where they look a little like a cutlet on a bone. You can do this by putting the chops between a couple of sheets of plastic wrap, and pounding with a heavy object. Be firm, but be gentle. You don't want to tear apart the meat. You will want to do at least four of them. If, by some chance you have the time to salt them and leave them in the fridge overnight, please do.

Now, remember those two egg yolks? Well, you'll have some egg whites left over. Whisk them until they're foamy and then put the chops into the beaten egg white, and then into panko bread crumbs to coat. You may have to repeat this, and that's ok. IF you happen to have thrown out your egg whites, you can use just plain water, or milk. Frankly, IF you really wanted to, you could use the fonduta.

Anyway, when the chops are all coated, then heat a couple of tablespoons of oil in a big pan, and when it's hot, add the chops. It will not take more than three minutes or so per side, because the chops have been pounded so thin.

Serve them forth. I suggest putting the cheese in a little vessel and letting people take what they want. Some people recoil at the thought of sheep and cheese, others will embrace it. If you put the chops out with something green, the folks who won't combine meat with cheese, will probably put the sauce on their veggies. Maybe the meat eaters will as well.

In fact, perhaps you should make a double batch?