Part 56

(_h_) Stewed.--Cut them (after carefully skinning them) into halves, or, if large, into quarters, and simmer them gently in rich stock for 2-3 hours at least. The slower they are done the better, as they should be quite tender. Then take as much of the stock as is required for the dish in which they are to be served, thicken it with a little flour, add a little seasoning and a flavouring of mushroom ketchup, a dash of Worcester sauce and a teaspoonful of sugar, and let it just boil up. Then add a large wineglass of claret, and pour over the kidneys. There should be plenty of gravy, but not so much that the kidneys swim in it. If only a small dish is required, a wall of mashed potatoes may be put round the dish, with the kidneys in the middle; otherwise a great many are required to make it look nice. A garnish of fried sippets is an improvement.

(_i_) Toast.--Chop very fine some kidneys and a little of the surrounding fat; season with salt, pepper, a little cayenne pepper, and grated lemon peel; warm this mixture with a little butter, then place on thin slices of toast, first beating up and adding one egg to the kidneys, place the toast in a dish with a little butter; brown them in an oven, and serve very hot. This is a very appetising little dish.

Kromeskies.--Cut some pieces of fat bacon as thinly as possible, in size 1½ in. by 2 in., lay them flat, place a small piece of mince on each; roll up tightly, taking care that the mince does not escape; put aside in a cold place, dip each in batter, and fry a light brown colour. Serve with fried parsley.

Lamb Pie (Agneau).--Cut your lamb in thin slices, and season it with cloves, mace, nutmeg, sugar, salt, and a little small pepper, and lay it in your coffin (pie crust), and lay on it and between it a few raisins of the sun stoned, and a few currants, and a few skirret roots boiled and blanched, and the marrow of 2 or 3 bones, candied lemon, dates, and dried citron, preserved barberries, and candied lettuce, and sliced lemon, and some butter. Close your pie, and when it is baked let the caudle be white wine verjuice and sugar beaten up with the yolks of 3 or 4 eggs, and set it on the fire, and keep stirring it till it begins to be thick; then put it in the pie, shake it together, scrape on plenty of sugar, and send it up.

Lambs’ Tails.--Trim the tails. Place some slices of bacon in a saucepan, over them a layer of onions and carrots sliced, then the tails; then a clove of garlic, a sprig of thyme, a bay leaf, and some parsley tied up in a bundle, salt to taste, a few cloves, and some whole pepper. Place the saucepan over the fire for 10 minutes, then add 1 glass sherry and about 1 pint stock or water, and let the whole simmer gently for 2-3 hours. Take out the tails, strain the liquor; let it reduce almost to a glaze, put back the tails in it to get warm, and serve with a purée of spinach or sorrel.

Leg of Mutton. (_a_) Boiled.--Cut the leg of mutton cleanly across the meat and bone from the shank down, with as much meat as will suffice for the meal. Rub it and flour it all over, but specially the cut meat surface. Plunge it at once into a saucepan or pot of boiling water to cover it, together with some salt, a few grains of pepper, and a bunch of parsley. Draw away from the fire, and allow the water to cool almost completely; then put once more on the fire, and cook slowly according to weight, till quite done to taste. Serve with parsley, onions, caper, sorrel, or any sauce preferred; garnish with meat or potato rissoles. The flour and the plunging into boiling water will prevent the juice from escaping, and the meat will cut just as finely as from a whole boiled leg of mutton.

(_b_) Braised.--Take a small leg of mutton, trim it close of all superfluous fat, saw the shank bone short off, make an incision where it joins the other bone, bend it in, and tie up the leg with string. Line the bottom of a braising pan, just large enough to hold all the ingredients, with slices of fat bacon; place the leg on this, add 2 onions stuck with 6 cloves, 3 carrots cut in pieces, a bundle of sweet herbs, whole pepper and salt to taste; pack all these things round the leg, put 2 slices bacon on the top of all, and set the pan with the lid on the fire for about 15 minutes. Be careful it does not catch, then pour in enough common cold stock or water just to cover over the contents, put a piece of buttered paper on the top, then the lid, and, having placed some hot embers on that, set the whole to braise on a gentle fire for about 3½ hours. Strain off a small portion of the liquor, free it from fat, reduce it on the fire not quite to a glaze, place the leg in the dish, pour the reduced liquor over it, and round it a stiff purée of dried haricot beans.

(_c_) Roast.--For a 7 o’clock dinner, hang your mutton before the fire, but 3 yd. distance from it, by 3 o’clock in the afternoon. Wind up the jack, and let it just be under the influence of the fire, but no nearer, for 1 hour; then edge it a little nearer, until it is time really to begin roasting it, and then pay it constant attention until it goes to table. Dredge it well, so as to froth it, and preserve the juices, and baste it incessantly. Continue to dredge and baste it, until within 10 minutes of serving; then roll a piece of butter the size of a walnut in flour, and make it into a rich paste, and pick little bits off and stick them all over the leg of mutton, and let them melt over it for 10 minutes. Do not touch it with the basting ladle again. Then dish it on a really hot dish, not one that has been so hastily heated that it as quickly cools, but let dish and plates be heated well through. Never pour the gravy over the joint; if you do, you wash off all the brown and frothy appearance and taste that proper care in roasting should and does produce.

Loin. (_a_) Braised.--Bone and trim off from a loin of mutton all superfluous fat, lard the thin part, and roll it round; lay the joint in a stewpan over some slices of fat bacon, add whole pepper and salt to taste, an onion stuck with cloves, 2 sliced carrots, and a bunch of sweet herbs; moisten with stock, and let it braise gently for an hour or so. When done, strain the gravy, free it from fat, pour it over the joint in the dish, and serve garnished with vegetables plainly boiled.

(_b_) Stewed.--Select a loin with the flap on; it must not be a fat loin. Take off some of the fat, carefully remove the bones, which requires a very sharp knife; see that none of the lean meat is taken off at the same time. When boned, roll it up tightly, tie it round with broad tape, and skewer it also. Before serving, remove the tape; but it will be necessary to keep it skewered together. Place it in a stewpan with ¼ pint port or claret, and something less than 1 qt. stock or water. If the meat is fried a light-brown before stewing it is a great improvement. Add a small bouquet of sweet herbs, a carrot, turnip, an onion, a blade of mace, a tablespoonful of ketchup, a dessertspoonful of anchovy sauce, a teaspoonful of salt, and ½ teaspoonful pepper. Simmer all for 3 hours as gently as possible. Pour the gravy away from the meat, skim off all the fat, add a glass more wine and a tablespoonful of red currant jelly, thicken with a ball of flour and butter, rewarm the meat, and pour the gravy over when it is served. Garnish with carrot, neatly shaped with a vegetable cutter, and sliced lemon.

Minced Mutton.--Take some meat from a joint of roast, boiled, or braised mutton; remove the skin and outside parts, mince it very fine; put a small piece of butter into a stewpan, when melted add ½ tablespoonful flour; stir 2-3 minutes over the fire; add 1 gill well-flavoured stock; when boiling put in the mince; add salt, pepper, a little grated nutmeg, chopped parsley, a few leaves of thyme, also finely minced, and the yolk of 1 egg; stir all on the fire for some minutes; then serve with bread sippets or croquettes of potatoes. If put aside until cold this mince can be used in various ways.

Neck of Mutton.--(_a_) A la Duchesse.--Procure a whole neck of mutton, that is, the neck not divided down the middle, but cut entire from the sheep. This will be the scrags united, and will weigh about 3 lb. It must be perfectly fresh. Having well washed the neck, dry, flour, and fry it, turning it about until nicely browned, then place it in a deep stewpan or in the soup kettle. Cover it with nicely seasoned stock, and put in 6 onions, 2 turnips, and 1 carrot. Cover the pot close, and let it simmer until the vegetables are tender, as they will be in 1½-2 hours; take them out and set them aside to garnish the neck, which will take 4-5 hours’ gentle simmering. When done it should be as tender as chicken, and sufficient time for cooking should always be allowed, as it is rather improved than otherwise by standing at a low heat when finished. When the neck is done take it out of the gravy, which set aside to cool in a pan of cold water, in order that all the fat may be readily removed. Keep the neck hot in the meantime, by covering it close in the pot in which it was cooked. Having taken the fat off the gravy put it into a stewpan, and let it boil rapidly without the lid, until reduced to about a pint. If it is not then thick enough, add a teaspoonful of Brown and Polson’s corn flour and one of flour, mixed smooth in 2 tablespoonfuls of cold water or stock. This done, return the neck to its gravy, and let it simmer gently for ½ hour. Mince the vegetables cooked with the meat, place them in a stewpan with a little piece of butter, shake them over the fire until thoroughly hot; arrange them neatly in little heaps on the dish round the neck. Peas, asparagus tops, or sprigs of cauliflower, cooked separately, may be added to the above vegetables. They not only make an improvement, but look pretty. The carver will cut the meat from the bone longitudinally in large handsome slices. A whole neck of mutton gently boiled for 4-5 hours in salted water, with 2 carrots, 2 onions, and 3 turnips, and served with caper is very good.

(_b_) Boiled.--Prepare, trim, and tie it back in the same way, but entirely removing the skin, and paring off nearly all the fat; in boiling there is no waste, on the contrary, the fat swells; ¼ in. is therefore quite a sufficient thickness to leave. Put it into a stewpan on the fire with just enough cold water, salted to taste, to cover it. The instant it boils draw it to the side, and let it gently simmer until done, when it should be as tender and delicate as chicken. Allow ¼ hour to the lb. after simmering begins. Serve with plain melted butter, stirring a tablespoonful of slightly chopped capers, and a spoonful or two of milk into it, just before pouring the sauce over the mutton.

(_c_) Braised.--Take a piece of the best end of a neck of mutton, trim off all superfluous fat, lay the joint in a stewpan over a slice of fat bacon; add whole pepper and salt to taste, an onion stuck with cloves, 2 sliced carrots, and a bundle of sweet herbs; moisten with a little stock, and let it braise gently for about 1 hour. When done strain the gravy, free it from fat, pour it over the joint in the dish, and serve garnished with carrots cut as for Julienne, and cooked by being tossed in butter till done.

(_d_) Roast.--Take a piece of the best end of a neck, trim off all superfluous fat, saw off the chine, wrap up the joint in a piece of oiled paper. Roast it at a brisk fire, basting frequently. When it has roasted ½ hour remove the paper, sprinkle the joint freely with salt, and put it nearer the fire, and as soon as it has taken a good colour it is ready. Time of roasting must necessarily vary according to the nature of the fire, the size of the joint, and the taste of those for whom it is cooked for eating meat overdone or underdone. No hard and fast rule can be given for the time of roasting.

(_e_) Rolled.--Take a piece of the best end of a neck of mutton, with a sharp knife remove the skin, taking with it as much meat as possible from the bones except the fillet, which is to form the cutlets; saw off the bones, divide the cutlets, trim them, and gather all the meat from the trimmings and the bones. Lay the best pieces on the skin with a few pieces of bacon, pound the rest in a mortar with any other trimmings of raw or cooked meat that may be at hand, a small piece of butter, half an onion, some sweet herbs, pepper and salt. Pass this through a sieve, and spread it on the skin, fold up ½ inch of both the long sides, then roll up the skin tight from one of the narrow sides, tie it up with thread several times round. Fry an onion with a little bacon fat, put in the meat, turn it round once or twice, and when it has taken colour moisten with a very little stock, and let it simmer till done. Remove the string, and serve with the sauce strained over it. With the cutlets another dish can be made in the ordinary way.

(_f_) Scrag of Mutton à la Russe.--Take about 1½ lb. scrag of mutton in one piece, boil it gently for about 3 hours in 1 qt. water with 1 teaspoonful salt, 2 onions, 1 turnip, 1 carrot, and a pinch of pepper. When the meat is perfectly tender, so that the bones can easily be taken out, brush it over well with yolk of egg, then sprinkle over it a mixture of finely sifted breadcrumbs, raspings, a shake of flower, a little dried and sifted parsley, and sufficient pepper and salt to season it highly. Put the meat into the Dutch oven, baste it until brown with 1 oz. butter, and serve with good gravy or brown caper sauce. The broth may be served with the vegetables minced in it, a little celery being added, and for those who like it a small quantity of chopped parsley put into the tureen and the broth poured boiling on it. Take care to remove all fat from the broth; it will rise very quickly if the basin is set in a larger one containing cold water changed frequently.

(_g_) Scrag of Mutton may be used for yet another dish, either by simmering it gently (after flouring and seasoning it with pepper and salt, using only rice and an onion sliced in rings, and letting it stew in water), or it may be made into an Irish stew, for which it will require to be cut into small pieces, floured and seasoned, and stewed with potatoes and onions in just enough water to cover it for about 2 hours. Half the potatoes to be sent up with it should be cut into quarters, and should not be put in until the stew is half cooked.

Pasty.--The undercut of a shoulder is best for this purpose. With a sharp knife cut the lean meat away from an uncooked shoulder of mutton; let the slices be thin. This will not in the least interfere with the upper side, which may be hung as long as required after the undercut is removed. Lay the slices of meat in a pie-dish, sprinkle pepper and salt over them, and nearly fill the dish with a gravy that will jelly, made from mutton shanks and a little gravy beef, 2 nicely fried onions, a few pepper-corns, and a very small bit of mace. If for eating cold cover the pasty with a good puff paste, and bake in a quick oven. If to be served hot a cover of mashed potatoes, or a crust as for Devonshire pie, is suitable.

Patties.--Make ¼ lb. paste, roll thin, and line with it 4, 6, or 9 patty pans; the pans must be previously buttered, and the paste cut with a crimped cutter; fill them with rice. When baked remove the rice, fill the patties with mince made a little more moist with gravy. Serve on a napkin, arranging them nicely on the dish. Serve very hot. The patties can be ornamented with fried parsley, or in any way you please.

Pudding.--Get 1½ to 2 lb. scrag of mutton, take off all the fat, boil it gently for 2 hours, meat downwards, in 1 qt. water, with 2 onions and a good seasoning of pepper and salt. Take up the meat; set the broth aside to cool, in order that you may take off the fat. Carefully remove the meat from the bones. Make a crust with the fat from the scrag of mutton or beef suet, in the proportion of 2 oz. fat to 4 oz. flour; line a pudding basin with this, slice in 2 cooked potatoes, lightly pepper and salt them, then the onions cooked with the mutton, then the meat of the scrag, and, as a great improvement to the pudding, a sheep’s kidney sliced, or half an ox kidney; sprinkle pepper and salt over, and put on the top 2 more sliced potatoes. Fill up the basin with some of the broth, put on a lid of paste, and boil the pudding for 2 hours. Return the bones to the remainder of the broth, with an onion; let them boil until the pudding is ready, then serve the broth in a sauce-boat. All meat puddings should be served in the basins in which they are boiled, a napkin being neatly folded round. The carver should remove a round piece from the lid of the pudding, and pour in enough of the broth from the sauce boat to fill it up; this will ensure each person getting the same kind of gravy. This pudding may be made of sheep’s head after it has been boiled. To make the crust for a richer pudding, use equal quantities of suet and flour. Mix a pinch of salt with the flour and suet, make into a paste with cold water in the proportion of ½ pint to 1 lb. of flour. Flour the paste board, and roll out the crust ¼ in. thick. Dissolve a little butter, and brush the inside of a basin thickly with it, then line with the paste.

Rissoles.--Make a short paste with 6 oz. flour, 3 oz. butter, a pinch of salt, 1 whole egg, and 1 yolk; mix all into a paste, roll it out to the thickness of a penny piece; place the mince at equal distances, say 1½ in.; egg lightly, cover with paste of a similar thickness, press the paste around each piece of mince, and cut it out with a crimped cutter. Egg each rissole, and pass it in bread crumbs; fry in hot lard, and serve.

Roast Quarter of Lamb.--Let the fire be clear, but not too fierce. Cover the joint with greased paper, and baste it frequently; ½ hour before serving remove the paper and base the joint with butter and lemon juice, lastly sprinkle a little flour and salt over it. Time of roasting 2-2½ hours.

Roast Saddle of Mutton.--Trim the joint carefully, roast it at a brisk clear fire; baste frequently, and when done dredge it plentifully with salt, and serve with the gravy well freed from fat.

Saddle of Lamb, venison fashion.--Hang a saddle of lamb as long as it will keep, having previously dusted it all over with black pepper. After it has hung, chop together some shallots, a good-sized sprig of green rosemary, a small one of tarragon, or only a few small leaves of tarragon, and a sprig of marjoram. Pound together 6 cloves, 6 juniper berries, and 1 teaspoonful black pepper; mix these with the herbs. Rub the mixture well into the lamb all over, and lay it in a deep dish; sprinkle over any remains of the seasoning; mix a glass of red wine with a glass of vinegar, pour it over the meat, and let it lie in this marinade 2-3 days, turning and basting it every day. Before cooking, wipe off the herbs. Lard the joint if preferred. Put it in an earthen baking-pan and cover it with pieces of butter. Add a little broth or boiling water to the marinade in the picking dish. Put this on the fire to simmer a minute in a little saucepan; then strain and add some by degrees to baste the meat with, and when this is nicely browned, put the rest of the marinade in the baking dish with a good sprinkling of salt in the sauce and over the meat. The latter must be frequently basted to prevent its drying; 1½ hour is long enough to bake it. Pour a cup of cream or good milk over it a few minutes before serving it; stir this well round the crusting of the dish. Skim the fat off the sauce. Put the yolk of an egg in the same tureen, and stir the gravy boiling hot into it. Garnish the meat with slices of lemon.

Sausages.--Prick them lightly with a fork or trussing needle, and fry them in butter or lard, turning them frequently until thoroughly cooked.

Scollops.--Trim the mutton in the same way as for mince, but it must not be cut so small. It should be as thin as possible, about the size of threepenny pieces; make a sauce as for mince, and place it in scallop shells; sprinkle with baked breadcrumbs, pour a little warm butter over; arrange them on a napkin, and serve hot.

Sheep’s brains.--(_a_) Prepare the brains as directed in (_b_); when cold cut them into dice, and dip them into a batter made as follows:--Mix 2 large tablespoonfuls flour with 4 of water, a tablespoonful of dissolved butter or oil, the yolk of an egg and a pinch of salt and pepper. Let it stand for 2 hours. When ready to use beat the white of the egg to a froth, and mix with the batter. Fry in oil or other good fat, taking care that it boils when you drop in the _beignets_ one by one.

(_b_) Wash them thoroughly and boil them very fast so as to harden them, either in water highly seasoned and flavoured with onion or in stock. When done (they will take about 20 minutes), take them up and allow them to stand until cold, then cut them into thin slices, dip them in egg, and afterwards in very finely sifted breadcrumbs with an equal proportion of raspings, a pinch of flour, and enough pepper and salt to season highly. Fry in a little butter, first on one side, until brown and crisp, then on the other until finished. Serve on a hot dish with a little thick rich gravy.

(_c_) Take some lambs’ or sheeps’ brains, and first boil them in milk; then chop them finely, and mix with them a few bread crumbs, a small quantity of cream, seasoning of salt and pepper, and the yolk of an egg to bind the ingredients. Roll this mixture into small round balls, cover them with egg and breadcrumbs, and fry them a light brown. To be served on a napkin, with fried parsley, like rissoles.

(_d_) Well wash the brains and soak them in cold water till white. Parboil them till tender in a small saucepan for about ¼ hour; then thoroughly drain them, and place them on a board. Divide them into small pieces with a knife. Dip each piece into flour, and then roll them in egg and bread crumbs, and fry in butter or well clarified dripping. Serve very hot with gravy. Another way of doing brains is to prepare them as above, and then stew them gently in rich stock, like stewed sweetbreads. They are also nice plainly boiled and served with parsley and butter sauce.

(_e_) Take off the skin, and let them soak for 2 hours in lukewarm water; when white blanch them in boiling water, to which salt and a little vinegar have been added; when quite firm lay them in cold water. Line a stewpan just large enough to hold the brains, with bacon, a very small onion stuck with a clove, a sprig or two of parsley, and a slice or two of lemon; cover with more bacon, and pour in a little broth. 15-20 minutes are quite enough to cook them, but they should be cooked an hour or two before dinner to be properly flavoured. When wanted, have ready some fried sippets of bread, and dish with a piece of bread and brains alternately, and in the centre pour some good white sauce, with mushrooms, or truffles if you have them, a tiny onion or two, or any rich flavouring, and serve very hot; or, having dished the brains and the sippets, work a couple of spoonfuls of rich white sauce with a little fresh butter, salt, cayenne, a sprig or two of parsley finely chopped, and the juice of half a lemon, till quite hot over the fire; pour this over the brains and serve quickly. Calves’ brains are very good in the same way, or served with tomato sauce, or brown butter, as follows: Fry some parsley, but keep it as green as possible; also fry some butter till it is a good dark brown; add to this a spoonful of vinegar and a little salt and pepper. Dish the brains, with the fried parsley in the centre, and pour the butter sauce carefully round them (not over), and serve.