Taken from the neck, mutton cutlets are expensive, but those from the
loin will be found not only convenient, but to answer well at a smaller
cost.
First remove the under-cut or fillet from about two pounds of the best
end of a loin of mutton, cut off the flap, which will be useful for
stewing, and it is especially good eaten cold, and then remove the meat
from the bones in one piece, which divide with the fillet into cutlets
about half-an-inch thick. Egg them over and dip them in well-seasoned
bread-crumbs, fry them until a nice brown, and serve with gravy made
from the bones and an onion.
This way of cooking the loin is much more economical than in chops,
because with them the bones and flap are wasted, whereas in cutlets all
is used up.
To stew the flap, put it in a stewpan, the fat downwards, sprinkle
pepper and salt, and slice an onion or two over, and set it to fry
gently in its own fat for an hour. Take up the meat, and put half-a-pint
of cold water to the fat, which, when it has risen in a solid cake, take
off, mix a little flour with the gravy which will be found beneath the
fat, add pepper, salt, and some cooked potatoes cut in slices. Cut the
meat into neat squares; let it simmer gently in the gravy with the
potatoes for an hour.