TO ROAST A LEG OF MUTTON.
In a cool and airy larder a leg of mutton will hang many days with advantage, if the kernel be taken out, and the flap wiped very dry when it is first brought in; and it is never tender when freshly killed: in warm weather it should be well dredged with pepper to preserve it from the flies. If washed before it is put upon the spit, it should be wiped as dry as possible afterwards, and well floured soon after it is laid to the fire. When the excellence of the joint is more regarded than the expense of fuel, it should be roasted by what we have denominated the slow method; that is to say, it should be kept at a considerable distance from the fire, and remain at it four hours instead of two: it may be drawn nearer for the last twenty or thirty minutes to give it colour. The gravy will flow from it in great abundance when it is cut, and the meat will be very superior to that roasted in the usual way. When this plan is not pursued, the mutton should still be kept quite a foot from the fire until it is heated through, and never brought sufficiently near to scorch or to harden any part. It should be constantly basted with its own fat, for if this be neglected, all other precautions will fail to ensure a good roast; and after it is dished a little fine salt should be sprinkled lightly on it, and a spoonful or two of boiling water ladled over. This is the most palatable mode of serving it, but it may be frothed when it is preferred so, though we would rather recommend that the flour should be dredged on in the first instance, as it then prevents the juices of the meat from escaping, and forms a savoury coating to it; while the raw taste which it so often retains with mere frothing is to many eaters especially objectionable.
Leg of mutton, 7 to 8 lbs.: slow method 4 hours, common method 1-3/4 to 2 hours.
Obs.—Many common cooks injure their roasts exceedingly by pouring abundance of hot water over them, “to make gravy” as they call it. This should never be done. The use of any portion may, perhaps, be rationally objected to; but when the joint is not carefully cooked it is sometimes very dry without it. A few spoonsful of Liebeg’s extract of meat will supply excellent gravy for this, or for any other dish of roasted meat.
BRAISED LEG OF MUTTON.
Take out the bone as far as the first joint by the directions of the following receipt; roll some large strips of bacon in a seasoning of mixed spice, and of savoury herbs minced extremely fine or dried and reduced to powder, and with these lard the inside of the boned portion of the joint; or fill the cavity with forcemeat highly seasoned with eschalot or garlic. Sew up the meat, and place it in a braising-pan or ham-kettle nearly of its size, with slices of bacon under and over it, two or three onions, four or five carrots, two bay leaves, a large bunch of savoury herbs, a few bones, or bits of undressed mutton or veal, and about three quarters of a pint of gravy. Stew the meat as softly as possible from four to five hours, and keep live embers on the pan (or, as this mode of cooking is not general in England, set the mutton, if it can be done conveniently, into a moderately-heated oven, after having luted the edges of the vessel in which it is arranged with a bit of coarse paste); lift it out, strain the gravy, reduce it quickly to glaze, and brush the meat with it; or merely strain, free it from fat, and pour it over the mutton. White beans (haricots blancs), boiled tender and well drained, or a mild ragout of garlic or eschalots, may be laid in the dish under it. The joint can be braised equally well without any part of it being boned.
3 to 5 hours.
LEG OF MUTTON BONED AND FORCED.
Select for this dish a joint of South Down or of any other delicate-sized mutton, which has been kept sufficiently long to render it very tender. Lay it on a clean cloth spread upon a table, and turn the underside upwards. With a sharp-edged boning-knife cut through the middle of the skin, from the knuckle to the first joint, and raise it from the flesh on the side along which the bone runs, until the knife is just above it, then cut through the flesh down to the bone; work the knife round it in every part till you reach the socket; next remove the flat bone from the large end of the joint, and pass the knife freely round the remaining one, as it is not needful to take it out clear of the meat; when you again reach the middle joint, loosen the skin round it with great care, and the two bones can then be drawn out without being divided. This being done, fill the cavities with the forcemeat, No. 1. (Chapter [VIII.]), adding to it a somewhat high seasoning of eschalot, garlic, or onion; or cut out with the bone, nearly a pound of the inside of the mutton, chop it fine with six ounces of delicate striped bacon, and mix with it thoroughly three quarters of an ounce of parsley, and half as much of thyme and winter savoury, all minced extremely small; a half teaspoonful of pepper (or a third as much of cayenne); the same of mace, salt, and nutmeg, and either the grated rind of a small lemon, or four eschalots finely shred. When the lower part of the leg is filled, sew the skin neatly together where it has been cut open, and tie the knuckle round tightly, to prevent the escape of the gravy. Replace the flat bone at the large end, and with a long needle and twine, draw the edges of the meat together over it. If it can be done conveniently, it is better to roast the mutton thus prepared in a cradle spit or upon a bottle-jack, with the knuckle downwards. Place it at first far from the fire, and keep it constantly basted. It will require nearly or quite three hours’ roasting. Remove the twine before it is served, and send it very hot to table with some rich brown gravy.