Warning - you will need the following:
* A large open fireplace, or several electric.gas ovens side-by-side
* a small cannibals’ pot, or medium-large witchs’ cauldron; and
* a small forklift to shift the bulk hogget and get the pot around the kitchen and on/off the fire (err, stoves).
PS: If unable to afford, a forklift, try a small engine crane from your local auto supplier.
Extract from Isabella Beeton’s Book of Household Management c~1861
BOILED BREAST OF MUTTON AND CAPER SAUCE
Ingredients: Breast of mutton, bread crumbs, 2 tablespoonfuls of minced savoury herbs (put a large proportion of parsley), pepper and salt to taste.
Mode: Cut off the superfluous fat; bone it; sprinkle over a layer of bread crumbs, minced herbs, and seasoning; roll, and bind it up firmly. Boil gently for 2 hours, remove the tape, and serve with caper sauce, No. 382, a little of which should be poured over the meat.
Time: 2 hours. Average cost, 6d. per lb.
Sufficient for 4 or 6 persons.
Seasonable all the year.
BOILED LEG OF MUTTON
Ingredients: Mutton, water, salt.
Mode: A. leg of mutton for boiling should not hang too long, as it will not look a good colour when dressed. Cut off the shank-bone, trim the knuckle, and wash and wipe it very clean; plunge it into sufficient boiling water to cover it; let it boil up, then draw the saucepan to the side of the fire, where it should remain till the finger can be borne in the water. Then place it sufficiently near the fire, that the water may gently simmer, and be very careful that it does not boil fast, or the meat will be hard. Skim well, add a little salt, and in about 2-1/4 hours after the water begins to simmer, a moderate-sized leg of mutton will be done. Serve with carrots and mashed turnips, which may be boiled with the meat, and send caper sauce to table with it in a tureen.
Time: A moderate-sized leg of mutton of 9 lbs., 2-1/4 hours after the water boils; one of 12 lbs., 3 hours. Average cost, 8-1/2d. per lb.
Sufficient: A moderate-sized leg of mutton for 6 or 8 persons.
Seasonable nearly all the year, but not so good in June, July, and August.
Note: When meat is liked very thoroughly cooked, allow more time than stated above. The liquor this joint was boiled in should be converted into soup.
BROILED MUTTON AND TOMATO SAUCE
(Cold Meat Cookery)
Ingredients: A few slices of cold mutton, tomato sauce.
Mode: Cut some nice slices from a cold leg or shoulder of mutton; season them with pepper and salt, and broil over a clear fire. Make some tomato sauce by recipe No. 529, pour it over the mutton, and serve. This makes an excellent dish, and must be served very hot.
Time: About 5 minutes to broil the mutton.
Seasonable in September and October, when tomatoes are plentiful and in season.
BROILED MUTTON CHOPS
Ingredients: Loin of mutton, pepper and salt, a small piece of butter.
Mode: Cut the chops from a well-hung tender loin of mutton, remove a portion of the fat, and trim them into a nice shape; slightly beat and level them; place the gridiron over a bright clear fire, rub the bars with a little fat, and lay on the chops. Whilst broiling, frequently turn them, and in about 8 minutes they will be done. Season with pepper and salt, dish them on a very hot dish, rub a small piece of butter on each chop, and serve very hot and expeditiously.
Time: About 8 minutes. Average cost, 10d. per lb.
Sufficient: Allow 1 chop to each person.
Seasonable at any time.
BROILED KIDNEYS
(a Breakfast or Supper Dish)
Ingredients: Sheep kidneys, pepper and salt to taste.
Mode: Ascertain that the kidneys are fresh, and cut them open very evenly, lengthwise, down to the root, for should one half be thicker than the other, one would be underdone whilst the other would be dried, but do not separate them; skin them, and pass a skewer under the white part of each half to keep them flat, and broil over a nice clear fire, placing the inside downwards; turn them when done enough on one side, and cook them on the other. Remove the skewers, place the kidneys on a very hot dish, season with pepper and salt, and put a tiny piece of butter in the middle of each; serve very hot and quickly, and send very hot plates to table.
Time: 6 to 8 minutes. Average cost, 1-1/2d. each.
Sufficient: Allow 1 for each person.
Seasonable at any time.
Note: A prettier dish than the above may be made by serving the kidneys each on a piece of buttered toast out in any fanciful shape. In this case a little lemon-juice will be found an improvement.
