*Irish Stew—1 pound middle neck mutton, 2 pounds potatoes, 4 onions, 1 tablespoon Crisco, bunch of herbs, pepper and salt, 1 tablespoon flour, 1 teaspoon chopped parsley, and cold water.
Put Crisco into saucepan with mutton which should be cut into small pieces. Peel and quarter onions, and put them in saucepan, add herbs and barely cover with cold water. Peel potatoes, choose small ones and do not cut them up, and lay over meat, sprinkle little salt and pepper on potatoes and bring to boil. Then add flour and stand saucepan where it will stew gently 2 hours. Take out herbs, season to taste with salt and pepper. Dish up meat in circle on flat dish, put potatoes and onions in center, leaving 1 potato in saucepan, to mash and thicken the gravy a little, pour gravy over stew, and sprinkle with parsley. Inferior cuts of mutton can be used advantageously for this dish, such as scrag-end or breast of mutton; the bones and gristle with long stewing give a nice flavor to the dish.
February 1
*Braised Loin of Mutton with
Mushrooms
Boiled Potatoes
Spinach Garnished with Hard-Cooked
Eggs
Spiced Currants
Carrot Salad Coffee Jelly
Coffee
*Braised Loin of Mutton with Mushrooms—3 pounds loin mutton, 1 stalk celery, 1/2 teaspoon whole peppers, 1 bunch of sweet herbs, 2 tablespoons Crisco, pepper, salt, red pepper, 1 turnip, 1 carrot, 2 or 3 cloves, sprig of parsley, and 2 tablespoons flour.
Remove bone from mutton, thoroughly rub it with salt, pepper, and red pepper; roll up and tie into roll; cut up celery, onion, carrot, and turnip, and lay them at bottom of stewpan with sweet herbs and parsley; lay mutton on top of these, and pour round enough water to 3 parts cover it, simmer slowly 1-1/2 to 2 hours; lift mutton into dripping tin with few tablespoons gravy; set in brisk oven until brown; strain gravy and skim off fat, put Crisco into saucepan, and when brown, add flour, and brown also; then add gravy gradually, little pepper and salt, and 1 dozen button mushrooms, skinned; boil 8 minutes; dish mutton with mushrooms round, and gravy strained over.
February 2
*Artichoke Soup
Fried Fillets of Fish, Sauce Tartare
Riced Potatoes
Onions Stuffed with Nuts
Egg Salad Toasted Cheese
Russian Charlotte
Coffee
*Artichoke Soup—2 pints white stock or water, 1 pint milk, 2 pounds Jerusalem artichokes, 2 onions, 1 bay leaf, 1 strip celery, 2 tablespoons Crisco, pepper and salt to taste.
Wash artichokes, put 1 tablespoon vinegar into basin of water and keep artichokes in it as much as possible while paring them, to preserve their whiteness. Cut onions, bay leaf, celery, and artichokes into slices, melt Crisco in stewpan, fry vegetables 10 or 15 minutes without browning; then pour in stock and boil until tender. Rub through fine sieve, return to saucepan, add milk and seasoning, bring to boil and serve.