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.
Sheep’s heads.--(_a_) Clean the head well, boil it 2 hours, remove
the bones; egg and breadcrumb the meat; boil the brains in a piece of
muslin ¼ hour, chop with a little parsley and onion, serve round the
head; the tongue boiled and served in the dish or separately; or the
tongue and brains may be sent in one dish, and the meat served with
gravy.
(_b_) Get a perfectly fresh sheep’s head, and having taken out the
tongue and brains soak it in tepid water. With a blunt knife break
all the soft bones inside the head, and take care most thoroughly
to cleanse it. Put it into a saucepan, with enough water to cover
it and a tablespoonful of salt. To ensure perfect cleanliness, when
it has boiled 5 minutes take the head out and pour away this water.
Put the head on again to boil with 2 qts. water, and 6 onions, 2
turnips and carrots, pepper and salt. Let it boil gently for 3-4
hours, or until so tender the meat will readily slip from the bones;
having taken them all out carefully, place the meat of the head on
a hot dish, and pour over it either a good onion, parsley, or caper
sauce. Or take all the vegetables cooked with the head, rub them to
a _purée_ through a sieve, have ready a little good butter sauce
made with milk, nicely season it, mix the _purée_, pour over the
meat, and serve. The broth is very good with the addition of a little
celery and chopped parsley, and may be served either with or without
the vegetables cooked with it. A slight thickening of corn flour is
liked by most persons. Excellent soup of any kind may be made of this
broth, and an economical one by merely boiling a few bacon bones
in it with any other bones or scraps. Chapman’s wheat flour makes
a cheap thickening for plain soups, and tapioca is very good and
nourishing.
(_c_) Steep the head for 2-3 hours, then split it, take out the
brains and tongue, boil the head gently for 3 hours with a few
carrots, onions, a stick of celery, a bundle of sweet herbs, a few
cloves, whole pepper and salt to taste, then breadcrumb, and brown
the head slightly in front of the fire. Mince the lights, cut the
liver in slices, and fry them; boil the brains in a piece of muslin.
In dishing up, put the mince on a dish, then the head opened out, the
tongue cut in slices, the brains divided into four, and the slices of
liver ranged artistically all round; judicious seasoning is essential.
(_d_) To singe.--The way in which this is done in Scotland is by
heating an iron bar of any kind red hot (a poker would do quite
well), and singeing all the wool off the head with it; 2 pieces of
iron would save time, one to replace the other as it cools, but the
operation does not take long. A piece of stick is put up the nostrils
to hold the head steady by. When there is a smith’s forge convenient,
the singeing is generally done there, as it would make an unpleasant
smell in a house; but if there is none near, any outhouse would do.
The head must be soaked and washed in cold water before boiling.
Sheep’s heart.--(_a_) Place them in boiling water for a few minutes,
as it prevents the greasy taste after eating them, stuff with
ordinary veal stuffing (suet, herbs, breadcrumbs, lemon, and an egg),
place in a pan and bake for 1 hour, and serve on toast with gravy.
(_b_) Make a forcemeat with 2 oz. beef suet and 2 oz. fat bacon
finely minced, add ¼ lb. breadcrumbs, pepper, salt, a little chopped
parsley and thyme, and a little grated lemon peel; if liked, the
very faintest _soupçon_ of onion; this quantity will stuff 2
sheep’s hearts. Let the hearts lie in warm salt and water for ½
hour to disgorge the blood; then cut away as much as possible of
the windpipe, and see that no clots of blood remain in the cavities
of the heart. Mix your forcemeat with sufficient beaten egg to bind
it--one should be sufficient for this quantity. Stuff the hearts with
it, pressing it well down into the holes. Secure the flaps of skin
over the top with a needle and thread, tie on a spit, and roast,
basting constantly. Serve with plain gravy and red currant jelly. A
sheep’s heart will take ½ hour.
(_c_) Having washed the hearts, stuff each with an onion parboiled,
and then minced fine; add to it 2 tablespoonfuls of breadcrumbs, ½
teaspoonful chopped and dried sage, and sufficient black pepper and
salt to season highly. Press the stuffing well into the hearts, and,
if necessary, fasten a little muslin over the top to keep it in.
Whilst roasting baste very frequently. Sheep’s hearts may be baked
stuffed in this manner, but care must be taken not to let them get
dry. Any heart that may be left is excellent hashed.
Sheep’s Liver.--(_a_) A fresh liver to be steeped in milk 12 hours,
cut in slices, brown with dripping or butter and a dust of flour,
onion and pepper. Make a sauce with flour and water, cold, and pour
over the liver after it is brown. Let it simmer for an hour, or
longer, until quite tender. This is a Polish recipe, and no salt used.
(_b_) À la Française.--Cut some slices of liver ½ in. thick, and lay
them neatly in a stewpan slightly buttered, sprinkle pepper and salt
over the upper sides. Slice 2 oz. fat bacon as fine as possible, chop
a teaspoonful of parsley and a small shallot very fine, and spread
them evenly over the liver, cover the stewpan closely, and set it
on a fire so moderate that it will draw out all the juices without
simmering--the least approach to this hardens the liver and spoils
it. If the range is too hot, set the stewpan on an iron stand. When
the liver has thus stood for 1½ hour it will be done. Take it up, put
it on a hot dish, and cover it close whilst you boil the bacon and
the gravy together for 2 minutes, then pour over the liver and serve
immediately. Liver cooked in this manner is digestible, and can be
eaten by persons who could not venture to do so when it is fried.
(_c_) Pudding.--Take 1 lb. boiled sheep’s liver, grate it, and mix
with ½ lb. fat bacon or suet, ½ lb. breadcrusts soaked in water, or
breadcrumbs, ¼ lb. flour, pepper and salt, and enough water or milk
to make a paste. Grease a pudding basin, put in the mixture, cover
with greased paper, and steam 1½ hour. Serve with brown gravy.
Sheep’s pluck.--Cut the liver and lights in thin slices, and put
them in a pie-dish or jar with layers of sliced potatoes and onion,
chopped sage and herbs, pepper and salt. A few slices of bacon may
be added. Cover with a thin piece of suet or with greased paper, and
bake 1½ hours. When there is no oven this may be stewed.
Sheep’s tongues.--(_a_) These are very good cooked fresh, with the
addition to the water of a little common salt, a pinch of saltpetre,
allspice, and black pepper. Boil gently until perfectly tender,
and when skinned split them down the middle, dip them in dissolved
butter, and then in raspings, and let them brown nicely on the
gridiron. When ready to serve pour a little good gravy round them.
For eating cold, after skinning, glaze the tongues.
(_b_) Wash and scald the tongues, and stew in some nicely flavoured
stock till very tender, drain them on a sieve; then put each tongue
in an oiled or buttered paper, with a seasoning over it of sweet
herbs and mushrooms chopped finely, and mixed with a good piece of
butter, and pepper and salt to taste. Boil or fry them, and serve the
papers on a napkin. Great care should be taken that the papers are
thoroughly greased, and that each end and side is securely folded
twice to prevent the juices and butter from escaping; if this is not
attended to, the tongues will be like pieces of indiarubber.
(_c_) Strew salt over the tongues, and let them lie until the next
day, then drain off all that has run from them, and put them into a
pickle made of a tablespoonful of salt, half a one of bay salt, a
tablespoonful of saltpetre, a pinch of allspice and black pepper. Two
days afterwards put a teaspoonful of coarse sugar. This quantity will
salt 3 or 4 tongues, and can be used many times with the addition of
a little common salt. Cook them as directed in (_a_).
Sheep’s trotters.--(_a_) Clean, scald, and skin 4 trotters, boil them
in salted water until the large bone can be easily removed. Next put
them in a saucepan with fresh water, and salt, and let them boil away
till quite tender and glutinous: pour off the water, leaving just
enough to make the sauce, add a piece of butter rolled in flour, 1
doz. button mushrooms sliced, and some white pepper, then stir in the
yolks of 2 or 3 eggs beaten up with the juice of half a lemon, and
strained. Let the whole simmer away gently until wanted, but on no
account boil.
(_b_) Stew the trotters for about 3 hours. Take out the bones, so
as not to injure the skin, and fill up the places from which the
bones have been removed with forcemeat. Put them into a stewpan with
sufficient of the water in which they were boiled to cover them, and
add a spoonful of ketchup or Harvey’s sauce, and a little pepper and
salt. Allow them to stew gently for ½ hour, take them out, strain
the gravy, and boil it down to a glaze. With this glaze the trotters.
Serve with croutons of fried bread round the dish.
Shoulder of Mutton.--(_a_) Rub it over with salt and pepper, fill
the inside with a savoury forcemeat of herbs, with plenty of parsley
and no eggs; roll it up and skewer it into a neat oval form, or bind
it with a tape; lay it in a stewpan with 2 onions, 2 carrots, some
herbs, a bay leaf, pepper, salt and a little broth or water; stew it
gently over a slow fire or in the oven, basting it often. When nearly
done, take off the cover, and let the meat brown in the oven. Before
serving, take up the meat carefully, remove the binding, and place it
on a dish to keep warm while you strain the gravy; take all the fat
off, and boil it down to a strong glazing. Pour this over the meat.
Tomato or sorrel sauce may be put round the dish, or cucumber sauce
served with it.
(_b_) First take out the blade bone. Have a pointed knife, a French
boning knife is best; make an incision all round the thin end of the
bone, keep the knife close to it, and mark all round the bone first
one way and then the other, being careful not to go through the flesh
or skin. When you get to the joint, take hold of the bone with a
cloth and twist it round, and it will come out. The sinews may want
cutting here and there. It is much more difficult to take the bone
out entire, but it can be done; yet it is seldom needful to take out
more than the bladebone. Now make a forcemeat with the following
ingredients: 3 oz. breadcrumbs, 1 tablespoonful chopped parsley,
1 teaspoonful chopped onion, 1 teaspoonful lemon thyme (green, if
possible), a slice or two of lean ham chopped fine, 2 oz. butter, 2
yolks of eggs, a little grated nutmeg, a little salt and pepper; make
this into forcemeat or stuffing. Use this forcemeat to fill the place
of the bone; fasten the end with 2 small skewers. Now put the mutton
before a sharp fire or in a brisk oven to brown without cooking
through. When done, take from the fire, lay the joint in a shallow
pot that will take it, pour off the fat from the dripping-pan, and
put into it a little hot water; stir the gravy, and put it in with
the joint, and a little water if necessary; the stock should reach
half-way up the joint. Add an onion, a blade of mace, a carrot, and
a little lemon rind pared thin. Let it stew about two hours, basting
it now and then. When the joint has stewed about an hour, turn it
over on the other side, and, when done, take it up on the dish in
which it is to be served; take a little of the stock in which the
mutton has been cooked, and thicken it with a little butter rolled
in flour, adding 1 tablespoonful mushroom ketchup, a little lemon
juice, pepper, and salt; pour this over the mutton, and serve. The
stock would make a very good soup the next day, with the addition of
a little sago or vermicelli. (E. A. Robbins.)
(_c_) Boned.--Take a shoulder of mutton not too fat, remove the bone
as far as the first joint from the knuckle, sprinkle the incision
with pepper and salt. Make a stuffing the same as for veal, with
½ lb. breadcrumbs, 4 oz. beef suet chopped fine, a little chopped
parsley and thyme, a little onion minced, salt and pepper, also a
little grated nutmeg, and one egg; place the stuffing into the above
incision, fold over the meat into its former place, and tie it up
tightly with string. Shoulder of mutton done in this way may be
roasted, but should properly be braised--that is, first fried of a
golden colour in oil or clarified butter, and then put into a stewpan
with 1½ pint stock, and any trimmings of vegetables at hand; 4 or 5
cloves, 6 peppercorns, salt, thyme, parsley, and bay leaf. Leave it
to boil gently for 2 hours, strain off the stock, remove the fat,
let it reduce on the fire until it becomes like glaze poured over
the mutton, and serve. Another very nice stuffing can be made by
putting butter instead of suet; a little shallot and garlic may also
be used. Another way of doing a shoulder of mutton when boned and
stuffed as above is to tie it tightly in a cloth before putting it to
braise, care being taken to arrange the shank bone and first joint
so as to appear like a duck’s head, the shank bone making the beak.
This is more appropriate for a cold dish, as it can be very prettily
ornamented with white of eggs and beetroot, aspic and parsley. The
shoulder should be glazed before being ornamented. (Jane Burtenshaw.)
(_d_) Cavalier’s Broil.--Half roast, or stew, or parboil a
moderate-sized shoulder of mutton, lift it into a hot dish, score it
on both sides down to the bone, season it well with fine salt and
cayenne or pepper, and finish cooking it upon the gridiron over a
brisk fire. Skim the fat from any gravy that may have flowed from it,
and keep the dish which contains it quite hot to receive the joint
again. Warm a cupful of pickled mushrooms, let a part of them be
minced, and strew them over the broil; when it is ready to be served
arrange the remainder round it, and send it to table instantly.
Squab Pie.--(_a_) Season mutton chops (those from the neck are best)
pretty highly with pepper and salt, and place them in dish in layers,
with plenty of sliced apples sweetened, and chopped onions; cover
with a good suet crust and bake. When done pour out all the gravy at
the side, take off the fat, and add a spoonful of mushroom ketchup,
then return it to the pie.
(_b_) The quantities depend on the size of the pie. The following
are the ingredients: Take the best end of the neck of mutton, cut it
into chops, trim the fat; pare, core, and slice as for a tart 6 or
8 apples; chop up a small onion; put a layer of apples and a little
onion at the bottom of the dish, then a layer of chops, next a layer
of apples and onions, and so on till the dish is full. Scatter among
the apples ½ teacupful moist sugar, and shake a very little pepper
and salt over the meat. Put on a crust and bake as an ordinary meat
pie. It may be eaten with either sugar or salt.
(_c_) Take 1½ lb. scrag of mutton, cut it up into convenient pieces,
and put it into a stewpan with ½ pint water, 2 large pinches of salt
and 1 of pepper, and 2 large onions sliced. Let it simmer for 2 hours
or until perfectly tender, then set the gravy to cool. Draw all the
bones out of the meat, and arrange it neatly in a pie dish, place
on the top the onions cooked with it, sprinkle lightly with pepper
and salt, and spread over a thin layer of nicely sweetened apple
sauce or marmalade, and having removed the fat from the gravy pour
it over the whole. Make a crust as follows: use suet finely shred,
not chopped, in the proportion of 3 oz. to 5 oz. flour, and water in
that of ½ pint to 1 lb. flour. Having mixed these ingredients with a
pinch of salt into a smooth paste, roll it out and beat it until the
suet and flour are thoroughly incorporated. Then roll it out in the
usual manner and put it on the pie. This crust is very good eaten
hot, and is wholesome and digestible. If a richer crust is desired, 1
oz. butter or lard may be added to the given proportions, which are
about sufficient to make a crust for 1½ lb. mutton. If pie-crust is
objected to, a layer of well mashed potatoes may be substituted, or
slices of bread fried a light brown and laid on as a cover are very
good. The whole of the contents of the pie having been thoroughly
cooked it will be ready so soon as the crust, of whatever kind, is
nicely baked.
_Pork, &c._ Bacon. With cabbage.--Take equal quantities of onion and
bacon (fat and lean), chopped finely; fry the onion in butter, and
before it takes colour add the bacon; when this is cooked, add some
cabbage, parboiled and shredded; then put in pepper to taste, and
toss the whole on the fire till quite done. Serve as a garnish, more
particularly to goose or duck.
With potatoes.--(_a_) Mash some cold (previously boiled) potatoes
roughly (not too fine) with a lump of butter and a little pepper,
form them into a flat round cake about 2 in. thick; fry it in a
frying-pan to a rich brown, turning both sides, and place slices of
fried bacon round it in the dish. Serve hot; a little beef gravy put
into it when done will give a good flavour. The bacon may be inserted
into the mass of potato as in a pie, instead of being set round the
edges.
(_b_) Slice up raw potatoes into round slices ¼ in. thick (or chop
them into moderately sized dice), fry with butter, and serve hot with
bacon, in same way as (_a_).
Boiled.--Take a square piece of bacon, scrape the rind quite clean,
and cut off any part that is the least tainted or rusty. Soak the
bacon for 2 hours in water, then turn it, and set it on the fire in
a saucepan with plenty of cold water. Let it boil very slowly by the
side of the fire, removing any scum as it rises. When thoroughly done
drain it, remove the skin (to be preserved to flavour the stock
pot), and cover the bacon with baked breadcrumbs.
Broiled.--(_a_) Cut thin slices from a piece of streaky bacon, trim
them carefully, put them in a double gridiron, and broil them a few
minutes on or in front of a clear fire, turning them frequently.
(_b_) Cut the slices all of a size, roll them up one by one on a thin
skewer; then either broil them before the fire, or put them in a tin
in the oven for a few minutes.
Fat.--The fat of cold boiled bacon is much better than anything else
in which to fry onions for making curry. It should be cut into small
pieces, and when melted in the frying-pan the slices of onions should
be added and fried in the usual way. The flavour is much better for
curry than when dripping or even butter is used. If there be not
enough bacon to do the entire frying, whatever there may be should
be added to the fat used. Cold bacon fat is also much better than
when uncooked for wrapping round oyster or small balls of mince for
frying, it is so much more delicate, and less greasy. It should be
cut as thin as possible. The fat in which bacon has been fried is
the best thing in which to fry liver, veal cutlets, or anything
with which bacon is to be served. Slices of bread fried in it are
excellent for breakfast, served quite hot with a slight shake of
pepper over each; and if neatly cut and dished up, and garnished with
a little parsley, they look as appetising as they taste.
Fried.--(_a_) Trim some slices of bacon, dip them in hot water,
dry them in a cloth, then put them in a frying-pan, and turn them
frequently till done.
(_b_) Slices from a piece of boiled bacon can be cooked as in (_a_),
or broiled, and are better than those cut from raw bacon.