The Book of Household Management Part 81

BONED LEG OF MUTTON STUFFED.

706. INGREDIENTS.--A small leg of mutton, weighing 6 or 7 lbs., forcemeat, No. 417, 2 shalots finely minced.

_Mode_.--Make a forcemeat by recipe No. 417, to which add 2 finely-minced shalots. Bone the leg of mutton, without spoiling the skin, and cut off a great deal of the fat. Fill the hole up whence the bone was taken, with the forcemeat, and sew it up underneath, to prevent its falling out. Bind and tie it up compactly, and roast it before a nice clear fire for about 2-1/2 hours or rather longer; remove the tape and send it to table with a good gravy. It may be glazed or not, as preferred.

_Time_.--2-1/2 hours, or rather longer. _Average cost_, 4s. 8d.

_Sufficient_ for 6 or 7 persons.

_Seasonable_ at any time.

BRAISED FILLET OF MUTTON, with French Beans.

707. INGREDIENTS.--The chump end of a loin of mutton, b.u.t.tered paper, French beans, a little glaze, 1 pint of gravy.

_Mode_.--Roll up the mutton in a piece of b.u.t.tered paper, roast it for 2 hours, and do not allow it to acquire the least colour. Have ready some French beans, boiled, and drained on a sieve; remove the paper from the mutton, glaze it; just heat up the beans in the gravy, and lay them on the dish with the meat over them. The remainder of the gravy may be strained, and sent to table in a tureen.

_Time_.--2 hours. _Average cost_, 8-1/2d. per lb.

_Sufficient_ for 4 or 5 persons.

_Seasonable_ at any time.

VARIOUS QUALITIES OF MUTTON--Mutton is, undoubtedly, the meat most generally used in families; and, both by connoisseurs and medical men, it stands first in favour, whether its the favour, digestible qualifications, or general wholesomeness, be considered. Of all mutton, that furnished by South-Down sheep is the most highly esteemed; it is also the dearest, on account of its scarcity, and the great demand of it. Therefore, if the housekeeper is told by the butcher that he has not any in his shop, it should not occasion disappointment to the purchaser.

The London and other markets are chiefly supplied with sheep called half-breeds, which are a cross between the Down and Lincoln or Leicester. These half-breeds make a greater weight of mutton than the true South-Downs, and, for this very desirable qualification, they are preferred by the great sheep-masters.

The legs of this mutton range from 7 to 11 lbs. in weight; the shoulders, necks, or loins, about 6 to 9 lbs.; and if care is taken not to purchase it; the shoulders, necks, or loins, about 8 to 9 lbs.; and it cure is taken not to purchase it too fat, it will be found the most satisfactory and economical mutton that can be bought.

BRAISED LEG OF MUTTON.

708. INGREDIENTS.--1 small leg of mutton, 4 carrots, 3 onions, 1 f.a.ggot of savoury herbs, a bunch of parsley, seasoning to taste of pepper and salt, a few slices of bacon, a few veal tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs, 1/2 pint of gravy or water.

_Mode_.--Line the bottom of a braising-pan with a few slices of bacon, put in the carrots, onions, herbs, parsley, and seasoning, and over these place the mutton. Cover the whole with a few more slices of bacon and the veal tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs, pour in the gravy or water, and stew very gently for 4 hours. Strain the gravy, reduce it to a glaze over a sharp fire, glaze the mutton with it, and send it to table, placed on a dish of white haricot beans boiled tender, or garnished with glazed onions.

_Time_.--4 hours. Average cost, 5s.

_Sufficient_ for 6 or 7 persons.

_Seasonable_ at any time.

THE ORDER OF THE GOLDEN FLEECE.--This order of knighthood was founded by Philip the Good, duke of Burgundy, in 1429, on the day of his marriage with the Princess Isabella of Portugal. The number of the members was originally fixed at thirty-one, including the sovereign, as the head and chief of the inst.i.tution. In 1516, Pope Leo X. consented to increase the number to fifty-two, including the head. In 1700 the German emperor Charles VI. and King Philip of Spain both laid claim to the order. The former, however, on leaving Spain, which he could not maintain by force of arms, took with him, to Vienna, the archives of the order, the inauguration of which he solemnized there in 1713, with great magnificence; but Philip V. of Spain declared himself Grand Master, and formally protested, at the congress of Cambrai (1721), against the pretensions of the emperor. The dispute, though subsequently settled by the intercession of France, England, and Holland, was frequently renewed, until the order was tacitly introduced into both countries, and it now pa.s.ses by the respective names of the Spanish or Austrian "Order of the Golden Fleece," according to the country where it is issued.

AN EXCELLENT WAY TO COOK A BREAST OF MUTTON.

709. INGREDIENTS.--Breast of mutton, 2 onions, salt and pepper to taste, flour, a bunch of savoury herbs, green peas.

_Mode_.--Cut the mutton into pieces about 2 inches square, and let it be tolerably lean; put it into a stewpan, with a little fat or b.u.t.ter, and fry it of a nice brown; then dredge in a little flour, slice the onions, and put it with the herbs in the stewpan; pour in sufficient water _just_ to cover the meat, and simmer the whole gently until the mutton is tender. Take out the meat, strain, and skim off all the fat from the gravy, and put both the meat and gravy back into the stewpan; add about a quart of young green peas, and let them boil gently until done. 2 or 3 slices of bacon added and stewed with the mutton give additional flavour; and, to insure the peas being a beautiful green colour, they may be boiled in water separately, and added to the stew at the moment of serving.

_Time_.--2-1/2 hours.

_Average cost_, 6d. per lb.

_Sufficient_ for 4 or 5 persons.

_Seasonable_ from June to August.

NAMES OF ANIMALS SAXON, AND OF THEIR FLESH NORMAN.--The names of all our domestic animals are of Saxon origin; but it is curious to observe that Norman names have been given to the different sorts of flesh which these animals yield. How beautifully this ill.u.s.trates the relative position of Saxon and Norman after the Conquest. The Saxon hind had the charge of tending and feeding the domestic animals, but only that they might appear on the table of his Norman lord. Thus 'ox,' 'steer,' 'cow,' are Saxon, but 'beef' is Norman; 'calf' is Saxon, but 'veal' Norman; 'sheep' is Saxon, but 'mutton' Norman; so it is severally with 'deer' and 'venison,' 'swine' and 'pork,' 'fowl' and 'pullet.'

'Bacon,' the only flesh which, perhaps, ever came within his reach, is the single exception.

BROILED MUTTON AND TOMATO SAUCE (Cold Meat Cookery).

710. INGREDIENTS.--A few slices of cold mutton, tomato sauce, No. 529.

_Mode_.--Cut some nice slices from a cold leg or shoulder of mutton; season them with pepper and salt, and broil over a clear fire. Make some tomato sauce by recipe No. 529, pour it over the mutton, and serve. This makes an excellent dish, and must be served very hot.

_Time_.--About 5 minutes to broil the mutton.

_Seasonable_ in September and October, when tomatoes are plentiful and seasonable.

SHEPHERDS AND THEIR FLOCKS.--The shepherd's crook is older than either the husbandman's plough or the warrior's sword. We are told that Abel was a keeper of sheep. Many pa.s.sages in holy writ enable us to appreciate the pastoral riches of the first eastern nations; and we can form an idea of the number of their flocks, when we read that Jacob gave the children of Hamor a hundred sheep for the price of a field, and that the king of Israel received a hundred thousand every year from the king of Moab, his tributary, and a like number of rams covered with their fleece. The tendency which most sheep have to ramble, renders it necessary for them to be attended by a shepherd. To keep a flock within bounds, is no easy task; but the watchful shepherd manages to accomplish it without hara.s.sing the sheep. In the Highlands of Scotland, where the herbage is scanty, the sheep-farm requires to be very large, and to be watched over by many shepherds. The farms of some of the great Scottish landowners are of enormous extent. "How many sheep have you on your estate?" asked Prince Esterhazy of the duke of Argyll. "I have not the most remote idea," replied the duke; "but I know the shepherds number several thousands."

BROILED MUTTON CHOPS.

711. INGREDIENTS.--Loin of mutton, pepper and salt, a small piece of b.u.t.ter.

_Mode_.--Cut the chops from a well-hung tender loin of mutton, remove a portion of the fat, and trim them into a nice shape; slightly beat and level them; place the gridiron over a bright clear fire, rub the bars with a little fat, and lay on the chops. Whilst broiling, frequently turn them, and in about 8 minutes they will be done. Season with pepper and salt, dish them on a very hot dish, rub a small piece of b.u.t.ter on each chop, and serve very hot and expeditiously.

_Time_.--About 8 minutes. _Average cost_, 10d. per lb.

_Sufficient_.--Allow 1 chop to each person.

_Seasonable_ at any time.

CHINA CHILO.

712. INGREDIENTS.--1-1/2 lb. of leg, loin, or neck of mutton, 2 onions, 2 lettuces, 1 pint of green peas, 1 teaspoonful of salt, 1 teaspoonful of pepper, 1/4 pint of water, 1/4 lb. of clarified b.u.t.ter; when liked, a little cayenne.

_Mode_.--Mince the above quant.i.ty of undressed leg, loin, or neck of mutton, adding a little of the fat, also minced; put it into a stewpan with the remaining ingredients, previously shredding the lettuce and onion rather fine; closely cover the stewpan, after the ingredients have been well stirred, and simmer gently for rather more than 2 hours. Serve in a dish, with a border of rice round, the same as for curry.

_Time_.--Rather more than 2 hours. _Average cost_, 1s. 6d.

_Sufficient_ for 3 or 4 persons.

_Seasonable_ from June to August.

CURRIED MUTTON (Cold Meat Cookery).