Lobster Cutlets is a traditional British recipe, based on Mrs Beeton's recipe of 1861, for a classic blend of lobster meat, butter, spices and thick bechamel sauce that are shaped into cutlets, egged, breaded and fried until golden and cooked through. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Lobster Cutlets.
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This is a traditional British recipe redacted from the redoubtable Mrs Beeton's 1861 volume Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management, the classic Victorian cookbook.
Original Recipe
275. INGREDIENTS.—1 large hen lobster, 1 oz. fresh butter, 1/2 saltspoonful of salt, pounded mace, grated nutmeg, cayenne and white pepper to taste, egg, and bread crumbs.
Mode.—Pick the meat from the shell, and pound it in a mortar with the butter, and gradually add the mace and seasoning, well mixing the ingredients; beat all to a smooth paste, and add a little of the spawn; divide the mixture into pieces of an equal size, and shape them like cutlets. They should not be very thick. Brush them over with egg, and sprinkle with bread crumbs, and stick a short piece of the small claw in the top of each; fry them of a nice brown in boiling lard, and drain them before the fire, on a sieve reversed; arrange them nicely on a dish, and pour béchamel in the middle, but not over the cutlets.
Time.—About 8 minutes after the cutlets are made.
Average cost for this dish, 2s. 9d.
Seasonable all the year. Sufficient for 5 or 6 persons.
Modern Redaction
Ingredients:
1 large hen lobster, cooked
30g fresh butter
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground mace
freshly-grated nutmeg, cayenne pepper and salt, to taste
1 egg, beaten
250g breadcrumbs
200ml thickened béchamel sauce (add a little flour and butter mix and heat through)
Method:
Pick all the meat from the shell then pound with the butter in a mortar (or pulse in a food processor) until smooth then gradually work in the mace, nutmeg, cayenne pepper and salt. Add a little of the lobster spawn and mix thoroughly.
Divide the resultant mixture into pieces of equal size and shape into thin cutlets. Brush them with beaten egg then coat evenly with breadcrumbs. Stick a small lobster claw in the top of each then heat oil in a pan, add the cutlets and fry the cutlets until golden brown. Drain on kitchen paper, arrange on a dish and pour warmed béchamel sauce in the centre.
