Prepare the day before it is to be eaten; clean the cheek and put it into soft water, just warm; let it lie for three or four hours, then put it into cold water, to soak all night; next day wipe it clean, put it into a stewpan, and just cover it with water; skim it well when it is coming to a boil, then add two whole onions with two or three cloves stuck into each, three turnips quartered, a couple of carrots sliced, two bay-leaves, and twenty-four corns of allspice, a head of celery, and a bundle of sweet herbs, pepper, and salt; lastly, add a little cayenne and garlic, if liked.
Let it stew gently till perfectly tender, about three hours; then take out the cheek, divide into pieces fit to help at table; skim and strain the gravy; melt an ounce and a half of butter in a stewpan; stir into it as much flour as it will take up; mix with it by degrees a pint and a half of the gravy; add a tablespoonful of mushroom or walnut ketchup, or port wine, and boil a short time. Serve up in a soup or ragoût dish, or make it into barley broth. This is a very economical, nourishing, and savoury meal.
1161. Hashed Mutton or Beef
Slice the meat small, trim off the brown edges, and stew down the trimmings with the bones, well broken, an onion, a bunch of thyme and parsley, a carrot cut into slices, a few peppercorns, cloves, salt, and a pint and a half of water or stock. When this is reduced to little more than three quarters of a pint, strain it, clear it from the fat, thicken it with a large dessertspoonful of flour or arrowroot, add salt and pepper, boil the whole for a few minutes, then lay in the meat and heat it well. Boiled potatoes are sometimes sliced hot into the hash.
1162. Irish Stew
Take two pounds of potatoes; peel and slice them; cut rather more than two pounds of mutton chops, either from the loin or neck; part of the fat should he taken off; beef, two pounds, six large onions sliced, a slice of ham, or lean bacon, a spoonful of pepper, and two of salt. This stew may be done in a stewpan over the fire, or in a baker's oven, or in a close-covered earthen pot. First put a layer of potatoes, then a layer of meat and onions, sprinkle the seasoning, then a layer of potatoes, and again the meat and onions and seasoning; the top layer should be potatoes, and the vessel should be quite full. Then put in half a pint of good gravy, and a spoonful of mushroom ketchup. Let the whole stew for an hour and a half; be very careful it does not burn.
Second Trials Often Succeed.