Hand-Book of Practical Cookery for Ladies and Professional Cooks Part 32

A piece of mutton to roast must not be too fresh, it is much more tender when the meat is rather seasoned, but not tainted, or what is sometimes called "high." When on the spit, place it near the fire, baste immediately with a little melted b.u.t.ter, and then with the drippings. As soon as you notice that a kind of crust or coating has formed around the piece of meat, remove it a little from the fire by degrees; and continue basting till done. The quicker the crust is formed, though without burning the meat, the more juicy and tender it will be.

Roast mutton, like roast beef, is better served rather underdone, but should be a little more done than beef. When properly roasted, the meat, whatever piece it may be, either a loin or saddle, a leg, shoulder, or a breast, may be served with its gravy only; that is, with what is in the dripping-pan after having removed all the fat, also on a _soubise_ or on a _puree_ of sorrel. The above pieces may also be served in the following ways:

_With Potatoes._--When dished, surround the meat with potatoes, either fried, mashed, or in _croquettes_.

_With Quenelles._--Dish the meat, place half a dozen _quenelles_ around it, and decorate it with skewers which you have run through a _quenelle_ and then through a craw-fish and stuck in the meat.

_With Carrots._--When dished, put all around the meat carrots _au jus_, or glazed and cut with a vegetable spoon.

_With Spinach._--Spinach _au jus_ when done is spread on the dish, the meat is put on it, and served warm. Do the same with a _puree_ of cauliflowers.

BAKED.

All the above pieces are baked as well as roasted; and when done, served exactly in the same and every way as when roasted.

Put the meat in a baking-pan with a little b.u.t.ter spread over it; cover the bottom of the pan with cold water, then put in a quick oven. After it has been in the oven for about fifteen minutes, baste and place a piece of b.u.t.tered paper on the top of the meat. If the bottom of the pan is getting dry, add a little more water, but it is seldom the case except with inferior meat. When you see rather too much fat in the pan, take from the oven, turn the fat off, put cold water instead, and put back in the oven to finish the cooking. If the paper burns, put on another piece; but by basting often over the paper, it will remain pretty long before burning.

With a small knife or a skewer you ascertain when done enough or to your liking; never cook by guess or by hearsay; the oven may be quicker one day than another, or slower; the meat may be more tender, or more hard; remember that if you cook by guess (we mean, to put down, as a matter of course, that it takes so many hours, or so many minutes, to bake this or that), and stick to it, you will fail nine times out of ten. When done, serve as directed above.

_In Croquettes._--Make and serve as chicken _croquettes_.

_In Haricot or Ragout._--Take a neck or breast piece of mutton, which cut in pieces about two inches long and one broad. Put them in a saucepan (say three pounds) with two ounces of b.u.t.ter, set on the fire and stir occasionally till turning rather brown, then add a tablespoonful of flour, stir for one minute, cover with cold water, add one onion whole, salt, a bunch of seasonings composed of four sprigs of parsley, one of thyme, a bay-leaf, and a clove, one clove of garlic, chopped fine. Boil gently till about two-thirds done, stirring now and then; add potatoes, peeled, quartered, and cut, as far as possible, of the shape of a carpel of orange. The proportion is, about as many pieces of potatoes as of meat. Boil again gently till done, place the pieces of meat in the middle of the dish, the potatoes around, the juice or sauce over the whole, and serve. Skim off the fat, if any, before turning the sauce over the rest.

BREAST BOILED.

Put the breast entire in a saucepan, with a sprig of thyme, two of parsley, a bay-leaf, a clove, salt, and pepper, cover with water, set on the fire, boil gently till cooked, and then drain. Put in a frying-pan three tablespoonfuls of sweet-oil, a teaspoonful of chopped parsley, salt, and pepper; when hot lay the breast in and fry it all around for five minutes; then take it off, roll it in bread-crumbs, place it on a gridiron, and set on a good fire for five minutes; turn it over once only, then serve it with a _piquante_, _poivrade_, or tomato sauce. It may also be served on a _puree_ of sorrel.

NECK BROILED.

Prepare and serve exactly the same as a breast broiled.

A breast or a neck piece broiled may be served on a _soubise_. It may also be served with a _maitre d'hotel_ or mushroom sauce, also with a _piquante_ or any other sharp sauce.

CHOPS.

_Broiled._--Trim and flatten the chops with a chopper, sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides, dip them in melted b.u.t.ter, place them on a gridiron, and set on a sharp fire, turn over two or three times to broil properly, and when done, serve them around a dish, one lapping over the other, etc., and serve with the gravy. It takes about twelve minutes to cook with a good fire.

_Another way._--When trimmed and flattened, dip them in beaten egg, roll them in bread-crumbs and broil, either as they are, or enveloped in b.u.t.tered paper, and serve them with a _maitre d'hotel_ sauce.

_Sautes._--When trimmed and flattened, fry them with a little b.u.t.ter on both sides; then take the chops from the pan and put them in a warm place. Leave in the pan only a tablespoonful of fat, add to it three times as much broth, a teaspoonful of parsley and green onions, two shallots, two pickled cuc.u.mbers, all chopped fine, and a pinch of allspice; give one boil, pour the whole on the chops, also the juice of half a lemon, and serve.

_The same, with Vegetables._--Put in a frying-pan a piece of b.u.t.ter the size of two walnuts for four chops, set on a good fire, and when hot lay the chops in, after having flattened them with a chopper, and having sprinkled salt and pepper on both sides; add a clove, and a teaspoonful of chopped parsley and green onions; leave thus five minutes, turn over once or twice; then add also half a wine-gla.s.s of broth, same of white wine, and finish the cooking. Take the chops off the pan and put them in a warm place. Boil the sauce in the pan ten minutes, turn it on the chops, put a garniture of vegetables around, and serve. Throw away the clove just before serving.

_Another way._--Have a piece of b.u.t.ter the size of an egg for eight chops in a crockery vessel, and set it on a good fire; when melted take from the fire, lay the chops in, after having flattened them; then cover them with a sheet of b.u.t.tered paper; place the vessel in a rather hot oven, and when cooked serve them on a _maitre d'hotel_, _provencale_, or tomato sauce. They may also be served on a _puree_ of sorrel, or one of potatoes.

_The same, in Papillote._--Cut the chops rather thin, beat them gently and flatten them; then proceed as for veal cutlets in _papillotes_ in every particular.

_Financiere._--Broil the chops, either with or without egg and crumbs, and serve them with a _financiere_ garniture.

_Soubise._--The chops are either broiled or fried; either broiled only dipped in lukewarm b.u.t.ter or in beaten egg and crumbs and then served on a _soubise_. A little lemon-juice may be added when they are on the dish.

_Jardiniere._--Cut two carrots and two turnips with a vegetable spoon and set on the fire with cold water and salt; boil gently till tender, and drain. Boil also in the same way, in another pan and till tender, two tablespoonfuls of green peas, or string-beans cut in pieces, and drain also. Then put carrots, turnips, peas, or beans, back on the fire, in the same pan with a little gravy and broth, enough to cover them, salt, and pepper; boil gently five minutes; then put the chops in after being fried as directed below; boil another five minutes; take from the fire, place the chops around the dish, one lapping over the other, and so that an empty place is left in the middle; turn the carrots, turnips, and peas, with the sauce in that empty place, and serve. Salt and pepper the chops on both sides; fry them in a little b.u.t.ter till about three-quarters done; then take off and put with the vegetables as directed above. They may be broiled instead of fried, which is better.

_A la Princesse._--Trim the chops as usual and salt and pepper both sides. Chop very fine a piece of lean veal about half a pound for six or eight chops, according to size, then pound it and mix it with half a teaspoonful of flour, a pinch of nutmeg, salt, pepper, a yolk of egg, two tablespoonfuls of bread-crumbs and one ounce of b.u.t.ter. If too firm the b.u.t.ter must be melted so as to mix better. Put the mixture in a saucepan, set on a good fire, stir for ten minutes, and take off. Then grease the paste-board slightly with b.u.t.ter, put a teaspoonful of the mixture here and there on it, roll and make small b.a.l.l.s of it, drop them in boiling broth or water, boiling about fifteen minutes, and take off with a skimmer. Dip the chops in melted b.u.t.ter, then in beaten eggs, and roll in bread-crumbs; fry them with a little b.u.t.ter. Fry the b.a.l.l.s also.

Place the chops on the dish, the bones toward the edge, and the b.a.l.l.s between the chops; serve warm. A few b.a.l.l.s may be placed in the middle.

_With Mushrooms._--Broil and serve them with a _puree_ of mushrooms, or with a mushroom garniture.

Mutton chops, broiled, may be served with every kind of b.u.t.ter, every garniture, and every sauce, according to taste; they may also be served with every _puree_.

A French cook once said he could serve mutton _chops_ in three hundred ways, _apples_ in two hundred ways, and _eggs_ in four hundred ways. The culinary science and art is advanced enough to-day to double the above figures, and have plenty to spare.

LEG.

Besides being prepared as directed for roast mutton, a leg of mutton, roasted or baked, may be served in the following ways:

Boil white beans and drain them as directed, then put them on the fire with the drippings of the leg of mutton for ten minutes, stirring now and then, and serve them with it. They may also be kept in the dripping-pan for ten minutes, when boiled and drained, before the leg is done. If the leg of mutton is baked, set them on the fire for about ten minutes, with the gravy, stirring occasionally. Serve either on the same or on a separate dish.

_With Currant Jelly._--Roast or bake the leg of mutton, and serve it with currant jelly or with a _puree_.

_Provencale._--With a sharp-pointed knife, make a small cut in the leg of mutton here and there, and large enough to stick into the cut a clove of garlic. Make as many cuts as you please, from six to twenty, according to taste, and in each cut stick a clove of garlic. When prepared thus, roast or bake, and serve it with either of the following sauces: _piquante_, _poivrade_, _ravigote_, _remolade_, Robert, shallot, Tartar, tomato, and in _vinaigrette_.

_Decorated._--A leg of mutton may be decorated the same as a fillet of beef.

_Stewed._--Take the large bone out, leaving the bone at the smaller end as a handle; cut off also the bone below the knuckle, and fix it with skewers; then put it in a stewpan with a pinch of allspice, four onions, two cloves, two carrots cut in four pieces each, a small bunch of parsley, two bay-leaves, three sprigs of thyme, salt, pepper, two ounces of bacon cut in slices, a quarter of a pint of broth, and water enough just to cover it; set on a good fire, and after one hour of boiling add a liquor-gla.s.s of French brandy. Let simmer then for about five hours, in all about six hours; then dish it, strain the sauce on it, and serve.

We would advise those who have never tasted of a leg of mutton cooked as above, to try it.

It may be served also with white beans cooked in water and fried in b.u.t.ter, or on fried potatoes.

_The next day._--If you have a piece left for the next day, cut it in thin slices after dinner, place the slices on a dish, with parsley under, in the middle, and above, and keep in a cold place.

A while before dinner you put in a stewpan a piece of b.u.t.ter (the quant.i.ty to be according to the quant.i.ty of meat), and set it on a good fire; when melted, sprinkle in, gradually, a little flour, stirring with a wooden spoon; when of a proper thickness, and of a brownish color, add a gla.s.s of broth, salt, pepper, a few pickled cuc.u.mbers cut in slices, and two or three mushrooms; boil ten minutes; lay the slices of meat in, subdue the fire, simmer twenty minutes, and serve.

_The same, in another way._--Chop fine the slices of leg of mutton, put a piece of b.u.t.ter in a stewpan, and set it on the fire; when melted, place the chopped meat in, keep stirring with a wooden spoon for about ten minutes; then add two or three tablespoonfuls of broth, salt, pepper, and a pinch of allspice; simmer fifteen minutes, and serve with fried eggs all around the dish.

_Boiled._--Set a saucepan on the fire with cold water enough to cover the leg of mutton, add salt; at the first boil put the leg of mutton in, wrapped up in a towel. Boil gently till done. For a middling-sized one, it takes about two hours. Remove the towel, dish the leg of mutton, spread a caper-sauce over it, and serve hot. The sauce may also be served in a boat or saucer.

_Cold._--What is left of it may be prepared like cold mutton in vinaigrette.

SHOULDER.