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Boiled Leg of Mutton
Trim off the outer skin and fat, wipe and put the leg into boiling salted water. When the scum begins to form, skim it.
Boil slowly or simmer ten minutes to each pound of meat if it is mutton; fifteen minutes for lamb.
Serve with caper sauce and currant jelly. Garnish the joint with parsley.
A plain boiled joint of the sort that anchored British and American Sunday dinners. The method is simple, so the outcome rests almost entirely on keeping the water below a true boil.
- Never let it boil hardDespite the name, the water should sit at a bare shiver, around 180-190F, with only occasional bubbles breaking. A rolling boil tightens the muscle fibres and squeezes out juices, giving grey, stringy meat.
- Starting in boiling waterThe leg goes into water already at a boil. The traditional reasoning was that this sets the surface proteins and keeps the meat's flavour in rather than drawing it out into the broth, though the sealing effect is more limited than once believed. Bring the pot back down to a simmer as soon as the meat is in.
- SkimmingThe grey scum that rises in the first ten minutes is coagulated blood and protein. Take it off with a shallow spoon before it breaks up and clouds the liquid, which you will want for the caper sauce.
- The timingsThe recipe gives ten minutes per pound for mutton and fifteen for lamb, the reverse of what one might expect of older and younger meat. Treat either figure as a starting point and go by an instant-read thermometer at the thickest part away from the bone: 145F for pink, 160F and above for fully cooked.
- Buying the jointTrue mutton, sheep over two years old, is rarely stocked in American supermarkets; look to halal butchers or order it. A bone-in leg of lamb of 5-7 lb substitutes directly and will serve six to eight.
- A pot large enoughThe leg must be fully covered by water throughout, so a tall stockpot or a preserving pan is needed. If nothing fits, have the butcher saw the shank short or divide the leg at the joint.
- Caper sauceThe traditional accompaniment is a white sauce made with some of the cooking liquid rather than milk alone, finished with drained capers and a little of their vinegar. The sharpness is the whole point against fatty mutton; the currant jelly plays the same role from the sweet side.
- Resting and carvingLift the joint out, let it stand ten to fifteen minutes under foil, then carve in thin slices across the grain. Serve on a warmed platter, as boiled mutton fat sets quickly and unpleasantly on a cold plate.