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Haricot of Mutton
397. Take a loin or neck of mutton, cut it in thin steaks, and take away part of the fåt. Then butter a stewpan; flour the meat, dredge a little pepper and salt over it, lay the best pieces into the pan, and set it over the fire to brown; turn them one at a time; then put in some onions and celery, some sliced carrots and turnips (first boiled and then fried), and lay them on the mutton with just water enough to cover the meat. Put a layer of mutton, and then carrots. This will take three hours to stew. Add a little ketchup, or anchovy, or Worcestershire sauce to the gravy before serving.
Another Receipt. - Take the middle of a neck or loin of mutton, cut it into thin steaks, season them with pepper and salt, and brown them in a pan with butter; when brown, pour off the butter, and put in three pints of boiling water, one anchovy, one onion, a few turnips and carrots, cut into shapes. Stew it gently for two hours, or more. Thicken with flour and butter just as you send it up. The haricot is richer if the carrots and turnips are browned in the pan after the steaks are taken out, before being stewed.
STEWED MUTTON CUTLETS (FRENCH). 398. Skin a loin of mutton, and cut it into steaks. Make a force meat with lean of veal, beef suet, thyme, sweet marjoram, and one onion, all cut small; essence of anchovy, nutmeg, pepper and salt, and the yolks of two eggs, with some grated bread. Insert some of the forcemeat in the lean of the steaks, and cover all thickly with it. Stew till tender in a little gravy. Then put each steak in a buttered piece of writing-paper; turn in the corners of the paper to keep in the moisture, and finish them on the gridiron; or they may be baked from the first in the oven. Serve in the papers.
STEWED MUTTON CUTLETS (AMERICAN).
Hot-Pot. 299. Take some fine chops from a neck of mutton, and trim them nicely, taking off most of the fat. Lay them at the bottom of a deep and rather wide dish, and season them with pepper and salt. Lay a . Lay a few slices of an onion in the middle at the bottom of the dish, if the flavour is approved, and pour a quarter of a pint of cold water upon the whole. Then cover it with a layer of sliced potatoes, on the top of which lay a few more small chops, well-seasoned, and cover all with another layer of sliced potatoes. Bake from an hour to an hour and a half, or more, according to the size of the dish; in a very moderate oven.
Two versions of the same braise, followed on the page by related mutton entries. Both are straightforward layered stews; the differences are in the liquid and the thickening.
- The cutLoin or neck of mutton cut into thin steaks means bone-in chops. Lamb neck or shoulder chops are the closest thing available now; true mutton is older sheep and will want the longer end of the stewing time.
- Brown properly, then layerThe hinge of the first version is browning the meat in the dry floured state before any liquid goes in. Once water is added the surface will not colour, and the gravy stays pale and thin.
- Water to cover, not moreThe first receipt says just enough water to cover; the second calls for three pints, which is generous and gives a thinner broth to be thickened at the end. Three hours of gentle stewing with the lid on will reduce either, so check partway.
- Vegetables cut into shapesCarrots and turnips cut or turned into even shapes, probably so they cook uniformly and look neat. Any even dice does the same job. Browning them in the pan after the meat comes out, as the second receipt says, genuinely deepens the flavour.
- One anchovyA whole salted anchovy, or roughly a teaspoon of anchovy paste. It dissolves into the gravy and reads as savoury depth rather than fish. Salt the dish only after it has gone in.
- KetchupIn this period ketchup usually meant mushroom or walnut ketchup, a thin dark savoury condiment, not the sweet tomato sauce. A dash of mushroom ketchup or Worcestershire sauce is the intended effect.
- ThickeningFlour and butter worked to a paste and whisked into the simmering gravy at the last moment. About an ounce of each will thicken three pints lightly; cook it a couple of minutes so the flour loses its raw taste.
- YieldA loin or middle neck cut into steaks, with the root vegetables, serves four to five as a main course with bread or plain potatoes.