Home › The Principles of Cookery › Sheep's Head, Baked, with Mashed Potatoes

Sheep's Head, Baked, with Mashed Potatoes

This is an inexpensive and wholesome dish-Clean the head thoroughly, and let it soak in lukewarm water for a couple of hours to get rid of the blood. Put it into a stewpan with a carrot, a turnip, two onions, and a leek, all cut into dice, and add a bunch of parsley, a sprig of thyme, and a sprig of marjoram, all tied together, a little pepper and salt, a small lump of sugar, and two ounces of pearl barley. Pour two quarts of water into the pan, and simmer all gently together for a couple of hours. Skim the liquor carefully, and stir the soup occasionally to keep the barley from burning to the bottom of the pan. Take a pint-basinful of well-washed potatoes, and spread them on a dish in a small mound about two inches deep. Take up the head, drain it, place it upon the potatoes, and sprinkle over it two table-spoonfuls of nicely-seasoned bread-crumbs. Lay little pieces of butter or dripping here and there upon it, and bake in a quick oven till both the head and the potatoes are brightly browned. Take the bunch of herbs from the soup, skim the latter carefully, boil it up once more, and serve in a tureen. Time to bake the head, half an hour. Probable cost, 2s. Sufficient for three or four persons.