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Haricot Mutton
Take 3 pounds of the neck of mutton, divide it into cutlets, trim them neatly, and fry them in a little dripping till nicely browned, and with them 3 carrots, 2 turnips, and an onion, all sliced. Drain them from the fat, and put them into a saucepan. Pour over them a quart of water, which has been boiled in the pan in which the meat, etc., was fried, and thicken with a tablespoonful of flour, mixed smoothly with a little cold water. Skim carefully, and season with salt and pepper according to taste, and a little catsup. Simmer for an hour. Serve with the meat in the middle of the dish, the vegetables round it, and the gravy poured over all. A few sippets of toasted bread may be placed at the bottom of the dish, or served as a garnish. A garniture of beans is a great improvement. Sufficient for five or six persons.
A plain braise of neck cutlets and root vegetables, the sort of dish that carried a Victorian family through a weekday. Two things need attention: the cut, which is harder to find than it was, and the simmering time, which is short for neck.
- The cutNeck of mutton means the scrag and best end, cut across the bone into small chops. Butchers now sell lamb neck rather than mutton; ask for neck chops or bone-in neck slices, or use boneless neck fillet cut into thick rounds. Three pounds bone-in gives roughly the stated five or six servings.
- Simmering timeAn hour will not soften neck. Give it 1½ to 2 hours at a bare simmer, covered, until the meat pulls easily from the bone. Older mutton may well have needed longer still, though the recipe itself simply specifies an hour.
- Vegetables go in laterCarrots and turnips browned at the start will collapse over two hours. Brown them for colour and flavour, then hold them back and return them for the last 35 to 40 minutes so they keep their shape for the ring around the dish.
- DrippingBeef or lamb dripping was the standard frying fat and gives the right flavour. Any neutral oil or clarified butter works; the browning matters more than the fat.
- DeglazingBoiling the quart of water in the frying pan lifts the fond, which carries much of the flavour. Scrape the pan as you do it, before the liquid goes over the meat. Note that this is an imperial quart, 40 fl oz — about 1.1 litres, or 5 US cups.
- CatsupIn this period catsup usually meant mushroom or walnut ketchup, a thin dark savoury sauce, not the sweet tomato kind. Use mushroom ketchup if you have it, or a teaspoon of Worcestershire; sweet tomato ketchup pulls the gravy in the wrong direction.
- The thickeningOne tablespoon of flour slaked in cold water is a light hand for a quart of liquid — expect a thin gravy that will reduce and tighten over the long simmer. If you want it heavier, whisk in a second spoonful near the end rather than at the start, where flour can catch.
- SippetsSmall triangles or fingers of toasted or fried bread, set under the meat to soak the gravy or stood round the rim. They soften quickly, so toast them while the dish rests.
- The garniture of beansWhole cooked haricot or flageolet beans, dressed in a little of the gravy. Dried beans need soaking and cooking separately; drained canned cannellini warmed through do the same job.