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Stuffed Leg of Mutton (Parboiled and Baked)
Take the bone out of a plump leg of mutton, wipe out the cavity and the outside with a damp cloth. Make a stuffing of 1 cup of stale bread crumbs, and a half pint of oysters, chopped or cut in 2 or 3 pieces. Moisten with the oyster liquor, and season with salt and pepper, a tablespoonful of lemon juice, a pinch of thyme, and a few crushed capers. Fill the cavity with this stuffing, sew or skewer it together securely, put the meat in a kettle with sufficient boiling water to completely cover it. Let it parboil or simmer for half an hour, then take it out into a dripping-pan, dust with salt and pepper, and dredge with flour. Pour into the pan a good 1/2 cupful of the water in which the meat was boiled, and bake in a hot oven one hour, basting frequently while baking with the liquor in the pan.
A boned leg of mutton, stuffed with oysters, briefly boiled and then roasted. The technique is sound; the ingredients need translating.
- MuttonMutton means sheep over about two years old, stronger in flavour and firmer than lamb. Butchers who carry it are few; a bone-in leg of lamb of 5-6 lb behaves the same way, with a milder taste and slightly shorter cooking.
- Boning the legAsk the butcher to tunnel-bone the leg, leaving the outer meat intact so there is a cavity to fill rather than a flat butterflied slab. Keep the bone for stock.
- Half a pint of oystersAbout a cup, or roughly 8-10 oz of shucked oysters with their liquor. Chop them coarsely as directed and use the liquor to moisten the crumbs, not water.
- Oven heat"A hot oven" is usually taken as somewhere around 400-450F. After the parboil an hour at that heat may well take a 5-6 lb leg past medium, so check with a thermometer at the thickest part rather than trusting the clock, and rest it 15 minutes before carving.
- Don't overcook the stuffingThe oysters cook through in minutes and turn rubbery with long heat. They are protected somewhat by the crumbs, but this is a reason not to extend the roasting time beyond what the meat needs.
- Sewing it shutButcher's twine and a trussing needle, or several metal skewers laced with twine. It must hold through the half-hour simmer, when the stuffing swells and the meat contracts.
- The parboilHalf an hour in boiling water firms the outside and starts the interior; it also gives you the basting liquid the recipe calls for. Skim the pot before ladling out the half cup for the pan.
- YieldA stuffed leg of this size will serve about 8. Carve across the grain so each slice shows a band of stuffing.