To please the appetite of luxury, lambs can be procured at all seasons
Extract from Isabella Beeton’s Book of Household Management c~1861
When, however, the sheep lambs in mid-winter, or the inclemency of the weather would endanger the lives of mother and young, if exposed to its influence, it is customary to rear the lambs within-doors, and under the shelter of stables or barns, where, foddered on soft hay, and part fed on cow’s milk, the little creatures thrive rapidly. To such it is customary to give the name of "House Lamb," to distinguish it from that reared in the open air, or grass-fed.
The ewe goes five months with her young, about 152 days, or close on 22 weeks. The weaning season commences on poor lands, about the end of the third month, but on rich pasture not till the close of the fourth - sometimes longer.
The little fellows locked away for winter’s passage wile away the time making TV shows and amusing one another with puppet shows about a legendary heroine, Dolly.
BREAST OF LAMB AND GREEN PEAS
Ingredients: 1 breast of lamb, a few slices of bacon, 1/4 pint of stock No. 105, 1 lemon, 1 onion, 1 bunch of savoury herbs, green peas. Mode: Remove the skin from a breast of lamb, put it into a saucepan of boiling water, and let it simmer for 5 minutes. Take it out and lay it in cold water. Line the bottom of a stewpan with a few thin slices of bacon; lay the lamb on these; peel the lemon, cut it into slices, and put these on the meat, to keep it white and make it tender; cover with 1 or 2 more slices of bacon; add the stock, onion, and herbs, and set it on a slow fire to simmer very gently until tender. Have ready some green peas, put these on a dish, and place the lamb on the top of these. The appearance of this dish may be much improved by glazing the lamb, and spinach may be substituted for the peas when variety is desired.
Time: 1-1/2 hour. Average cost, 10d. per lb.
Sufficient for 3 persons.
Seasonable grass lamb, from Easter to Michaelmas.
STEWED BREAST OF LAMB
Ingredients: 1 breast of lamb, pepper and salt to taste,
Sufficient stock, No. 105, to cover it, 1 glass of sherry, thickening of butter and flour. Mode: Skin the lamb, cut it into pieces, and season them with pepper and salt; lay these in a stewpan, pour in sufficient stock or gravy to cover them, and stew very gently until tender, which will be in about 1-1/2 hour. Just before serving, thicken the sauce with a little butter and flour; add the sherry, give one boil, and pour it over the meat. Green peas, or stewed mushrooms, may be strewed over the meat, and will be found a very great improvement.
Time: 1-1/2 hour. Average cost, 10d. per lb.
Sufficient for 3 persons.
Seasonable grass lamb, from Easter to Michaelmas.
LAMB CHOPS
Ingredients: Loin of lamb, pepper and salt to taste. Mode: Trim off the flap from a fine loin of lamb, aid cut it into chops about 3/4 inch in thickness. Have ready a bright clear fire; lay the chops on a gridiron, and broil them of a nice pale brown, turning them when required. Season them with pepper and salt; serve very hot and quickly, and garnish with crisped parsley, or place them on mashed potatoes. Asparagus, spinach, or peas are the favorite accompaniments to lamb chops.
Time: About 8 or 10 minutes. Average cost, 1s. per lb.
Sufficient: Allow 2 chops to each person.
Seasonable from Easter to Michaelmas.
LAMB CUTLETS AND SPINACH (an Entree)
Ingredients: 8 cutlets, egg and bread crumbs, salt and pepper to taste, a little clarified butter. Mode: Cut the cutlets from a neck of lamb, and shape them by cutting off the thick part of the chine-bone. Trim off most of the fat and all the skin, and scrape the top part of the bones quite clean. Brush the cutlets over with egg, sprinkle them with bread crumbs, and season with pepper and salt. Now dip them into clarified butter, sprinkle over a few more bread crumbs, and fry them over a sharp fire, turning them when required. Lay them before the fire to drain, and arrange them on a dish with spinach in the center, which should be previously well boiled, drained, chopped, and seasoned.
Time: About 7 or 8 minutes. Average cost, 10d. per lb.
Sufficient for 4 persons.
Seasonable from Easter to Michaelmas.
Note: Peas, asparagus, or French beans, may be substituted for the spinach; or lamb cutlets may be served with stewed cucumbers, Soubise sauce, &c. &c.
ROAST FORE-QUARTER OF LAMB
Ingredients: Lamb, a little salt. Mode: To obtain the flavor of lamb in perfection, it should not be long kept; time to cool is all that it requires; and though the meat may be somewhat thready, the juices and flavor will be infinitely superior to that of lamb that has been killed 2 or 3 days. Make up the fire in good time, that it may be clear and brisk when the joint is put down. Place it at a
Sufficient distance to prevent the fat from burning, and baste it constantly till the moment of serving. Lamb should be very thoroughly done without being dried up, and not the slightest appearance of red gravy should be visible, as in roast mutton: this rule is applicable to all young white meats. Serve with a little gravy made in the dripping-pan, the same as for other roasts, and send to table with it a tureen of mint sauce, No. 469, and a fresh salad. A cut lemon, a small piece of fresh butter, and a little cayenne, should also be placed on the table, so that when the carver separates the shoulder from the ribs, they may be ready for his use; if, however, he should not be very expert, we would recommend that the cook should divide these joints nicely before coming to table.
Time: Fore-quarter of lamb weighing 10 lbs., 1-3/4 to 2 hours. Average cost, 10d. to 1s. per lb.
Sufficient for 7 or 8 persons.
Seasonable grass lamb, from Easter to Michaelmas.
SHOULDER OF LAMB STUFFED
Ingredients: Shoulder of lamb, forcemeat No. 417, trimmings of veal or beef, 2 onions, 1/2 head of celery, 1 faggot of savoury herbs, a few slices of fat bacon, 1 quart of stock No. 105. Mode: Take the blade-bone out of a shoulder of lamb, fill up its place with forcemeat, and sew it up with coarse thread. Put it into a stewpan with a few slices of bacon under and over the lamb, and add the remaining ingredients. Stew very gently for rather more than 2 hours. Reduce the gravy, with which glaze the meat, and serve with peas, stewed cucumbers, or sorrel sauce.
Time: Rather more than 2 hours. Average cost, 10d. to 1s. per lb.
Sufficient for 4 or 5 persons.
Seasonable from Easter to Michaelmas.
LAMB’S SWEETBREADS, LARDED, AND ASPARAGUS (an Entree)
Ingredients: 2 or 3 sweetbreads, 1/2 pint of veal stock, white pepper and salt to taste, a small bunch of green onions, 1 blade of pounded mace, thickening of butter and flour, 2 eggs, nearly 1/2 pint of cream, 1 teaspoonful of minced parsley, a very little grated nutmeg. Mode: Soak the sweetbreads in lukewarm water, and put them into a saucepan with sufficient boiling water to cover them, and let them simmer for 10 minutes; then take them out and put them into cold water. Now lard them, lay them in a stewpan, add the stock, seasoning, onions, mace, and a thickening of butter and flour, and stew gently for 1/4 hour or 20 minutes. Beat up the egg with the cream, to which add the minced parsley and a very little grated nutmeg. Put this to the other ingredients; stir it well till quite hot, but do not let it boil after the cream is added, or it will curdle. Have ready some asparagus-tops, boiled; add these to the sweetbreads, and serve.
Time: Altogether 1/2 hour. Average cost, 2s. 6d. to 3s. 6d. each.
Sufficient–3 sweetbreads for 1 entrée.
Seasonable from Easter to Michaelmas.
ROAST SADDLE OF LAMB
Ingredients: Lamb; a little salt. Mode: This joint is now very much in vogue, and is generally considered a nice one for a small party. Have ready a clear brisk fire; put down the joint at a little distance, to prevent the fat from scorching, and keep it well basted all the time it is cooking. Serve with mint sauce and a fresh salad, and send to table with it, either peas, cauliflowers, or spinach.
Time: A small saddle, 1-1/2 hour; a large one, 2 hours. Average cost, 10d. to 1s. per lb.
Sufficient for 5 or 6 persons.
Seasonable from Easter to Michaelmas.
Note: Loin and ribs of lamb are roasted in the same manner, and served with the same sauces as the above. A loin will take about 1-1/4 hour; ribs, from 1 to 1-1/4 hour.
