A “Two Story.”—A genuine farmer’s dish, but fit to set before a king,—so we are assured by one who knows.
Peel and slice thin potatoes and onions (five potatoes to one small onion); cut half a pound of sweet salt pork in thin slices to a pound of beef, mutton, or veal; cut the meat in small pieces; take some nice bread dough and shorten a little, and line the bottom of the stewpan with slices of pork; then a layer of meat, potatoes, and onions; dust over a little pepper, and cover with a layer of crust; then more pork, meat, and vegetables; then more crust. Repeat this till the stew-pot is full,—the size of the pot will depend on the number of the family; pour in sufficient water to cover; finish with crust. Let it simmer till meat, vegetables, etc., are done, but do not let it boil hard. Serve hot.
MUTTON AND LAMB.
Shoulder of Mutton Boiled.—All mutton should hang in a cool place till quite tender before being used, but be careful that it does not hang long enough to acquire the least rust or taint. When the shoulder has hung till tender, bone it; rub a little salt over it, and let it lie in a deep dish for two days, turning it over each day and rubbing in a little more salt,—half a table-spoonful each time. Meat to boil requires more salt than for roasting. On the third day, sprinkle over the inside one teaspoonful of pepper and half a teaspoonful of powdered mace. Spread twenty oysters over the inside; roll the meat up tightly and tie securely; put it into the stewpan or boiler with just enough boiling water to cover it; throw in six peppercorns, or seeds of the red pepper, and one onion chopped; shut the cover over very closely, and stew; twenty minutes’ cooking for each pound of meat is the proper time. Stew twenty-four oysters in a pint of good stock or gravy; add a table-spoonful of butter and enough flour to thicken it. When the meat is done, lay it in a good-sized platter and pour the gravy over it.
Shoulder of Mutton Spiced.—Bone carefully a shoulder of mutton, after it has hung till tender. For every pound of meat mix two ounces of brown sugar, one salt-spoonful of cloves, one teaspoonful each of mace and pepper, and half a salt-spoonful of ginger; rub these spices thoroughly into the meat; lay it into a deep dish, and the next day rub in two teaspoonfuls of salt for every pound of meat, and add one pint and a half of good beef gravy for the whole joint. Turn the meat over; rub it well with this pickle every day for a week or ten days, letting it remain in the pickle all the time after each rubbing. At the end of the week or ten days, roll it up tightly, bind with a string, and stew gently in beef broth four hours. Serve hot in its own gravy, and eat with any piquant sauce or catsup.
Mutton Stew.—Take such scraps of mutton or lamb as are not fit for chops or cutlets; just cover with water; add a little onion and parsley, if not disagreeable, and season well with black and red pepper; boil two eggs hard, or, if making a good-sized stew, use more (two are plenty for five persons); mash or grate the yelks fine, and stir them into a table-spoonful of butter and the same amount of browned flour. Stir this into the stew just before dishing, to season and thicken the gravy. Let it boil up once after adding this, and serve as soon as it thickens.
Roasting a Leg of Lamb.—Slice salt pork very thin, cutting two slices down to the rind, leaving the rind on to make the piece as large as possible; make as many of these thin slices as will cover the whole leg; then wrap the whole in grape-leaves; pass a string round to keep them on, and roast. It is said the lamb will be exceedingly juicy and of delicious flavor. Never baste meat with butter, but with rich soup stock.
To use Cold Lamb.—When lamb or mutton is left in good shape,—and it is the fault of the carver if it is not always left neatly,—cut off some chops; trim off the greater portion of fat, and saw or cut off the end of the bone. Heat a platter, and pour into the centre some nicely cooked fresh green peas, or in winter canned peas. Heap them in the centre in the shape of a pyramid; brown the chops quickly over a bright fire, season in a hot plate with pepper, salt, and butter, and then arrange them around the peas, the small end laid upon the pyramid of peas. Garnish the edge of the dish with slices of hard-boiled eggs, each circled in a fringe of curled parsley. Serve hot.
Mint Sauce.—Three table-spoonfuls of fresh mint finely chopped, five table-spoonfuls of vinegar and two of sugar, dissolved in the vinegar. To be used with roast lamb or chops.
If so much vinegar is disagreeable, use one third water and a little more sugar.