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Stuffed Shoulder of Mutton
Have the bones taken out of a shoulder of mutton. Rub it all over with salt and dust it with pepper. Make a dressing of 1 cupful bread crumbs, 1 cupful finely chopped raw potatoes, 1 onion chopped fine and cooked five minutes in a tablespoonful of butter, and 1/4 cupful of finely minced boiled ham. Mix all thoroughly together; season with salt, pepper, a teaspoonful of mixed sweet herbs, and if any moistening is needed, add sufficient hot water to moisten the bread crumbs. Put this dressing in the inside of the shoulder, roll up compactly, and stitch or tie it securely.
Put it in the basting-pan, pour around it a cupful of good broth, and roast one and a half hours in a moderately hot oven, basting often with the broth. Serve all mutton on very hot dishes.
A boned, stuffed and rolled shoulder, roasted with broth in the pan rather than in a pastry crust. The main adjustments are the meat itself, the oven number, and a stuffing that contains raw potato.
- Mutton or lambMutton is meat from a mature sheep, usually reckoned over a year old (some sources say two), strong-flavoured and firm; it is sold in Britain and at halal and Caribbean butchers but is harder to find elsewhere. A boned lamb shoulder of 4 to 5 lb behaves much the same way in this recipe and tastes milder.
- Oven temperature"Moderately hot" in books of this period is usually taken as somewhere around 375 to 400F. Anything hotter risks setting the outside of the roll before the stuffing is cooked.
- The raw potatoThe finely chopped raw potato in the dressing is the hinge. It must be cut fine, near a coarse grate, or it will still be crunchy when the meat is done. It also absorbs juices, which may be why the recipe calls for moistening the crumbs only if needed.
- Timing and donenessAn hour and a half suits a compact roll of roughly 4 lb. Judge by a thermometer pushed into the meat, not the stuffing: 145F for pink lamb, 160F and up for the well-done result period cooks generally preferred. A stuffed roll will usually take longer than an unstuffed joint of the same weight.
- Basting-pan and brothThe basting-pan is simply a roasting pan with sides deep enough to hold liquid. One cup of broth will reduce; top it up so the pan never runs dry and scorches, and use what is left as the sauce.
- Mixed sweet herbsA period blend of dried thyme, marjoram, savory and parsley, sometimes with a little sage. A teaspoon of dried mixed herbs, or equal parts thyme and marjoram, gives the intended effect.
- Tying the rollStitching with a trussing needle is neat but not essential. Butcher's twine at one-inch intervals holds the shape well and comes off cleanly at the table.
- Resting and servingRest the roll fifteen minutes before slicing or the stuffing will fall out. Serves six to eight. The instruction to serve mutton on very hot plates is sound advice, not a flourish: sheep fat congeals quickly on a cool plate.