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To Roast Mutton
The hind quarter is the nicest part of the mutton to roast, and requires longer to cook than lamb. Put it in a pot of boiling water and let it simmer one hour. Lift into a baking-pan, rub with salt and pepper (too much salt makes the meat tough). Rub over it a little lard and then dredge with flour: skim off the top of the water and pour over it. Set it in a hot oven, basting frequently to prevent it from being hard and dry; roast till thoroughly done. This is nice to set aside for a cold dish, garnished with horseradish and eaten with currant jelly.--Mrs. P. W.
A two-stage method: the joint is part-boiled to soften it, then finished in a hot oven with a flour crust and its own skimmed fat. The parboil is the whole point of the recipe, and it tells you the meat was older and tougher than anything sold as lamb today.
- What the cut isA hind quarter of mutton is the whole leg with the loin and part of the flank attached, a large joint and bigger than most home ovens will take. A 5-7 lb bone-in leg of lamb behaves the same way; because the joint comes out of the pot already part-cooked, judge the roasting by browning and internal temperature rather than by a fixed time per pound.
- Mutton versus lambMutton is sheep past its first year, often reckoned as over two, still sold by some halal and specialty butchers but absent from most supermarkets. It is stronger in flavor and much firmer, which is why the recipe opens with an hour of simmering and says mutton takes longer than lamb.
- The simmer is not optional hereAn hour at a bare simmer, not a rolling boil, is what makes this method work on old meat. If you substitute lamb, cut the simmer to 30 minutes or skip it altogether and simply roast, since lamb does not need the help and will lose flavor to the water.
- "A hot oven"425-450F. The joint is already hot and partly cooked coming out of the pot, so the high heat is there to brown the flour dredge and set a crust rather than to cook the interior through.
- Lard and the dredgeAny solid fat works; butter browns faster and can scorch at 450F. The flour dredged over the greased surface plus the skimmed fat poured on gives the browned, slightly crusted exterior the method is aiming at.
- "Skim off the top of the water"This means the fat floating on the simmering pot, which is the basting liquid. Save the broth underneath as well; it is a good base for gravy or the next day's soup.
- "Roast till thoroughly done"Period taste ran to well-cooked mutton, around 160-170F at the thickest part of the leg. Modern lamb is better at 135-145F for pink, though a joint that has been simmered first will already be well past rare in the outer inches.
- SaltThe parenthetical warning is sound in effect if not in reasoning: heavy surface salting on a hot, wet joint draws moisture out and dries the exterior. Season moderately and let the currant jelly and horseradish carry the sharpness.
- Serving coldThe suggested cold dish is the better use of a large joint. Cool it uncovered, then refrigerate; slice thin across the grain, since cold mutton fat sets hard and thick slices eat greasy.
Roast mutton with currant jelly is one of the most English things in Housekeeping in Old Virginia, a book generally dated to 1878 though 1877 and 1879 are also cited, assembled by Marion Cabell Tyree from contributions by Virginia housekeepers, many of them credited only by initials as Mrs. P. W. is here. Sheep in Virginia were often said to be kept chiefly for wool, and the meat that reached the table was often from an animal well past its first year, which may explain the parboil. The pairing with currant jelly and horseradish is the older English service for mutton, and the recipe's closing note about setting the joint aside as a cold dish reflects a household reality of the period, when a large roast was expected to reappear cold at supper and again in hash or croquettes before it was finished.