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Roast Stuffed Loin of Mutton
Bone a loin of mutton and then beat it with a rolling pin to flatten it as much as possible. Mix together one-half ounce of sweet almonds blanched, boiled for ten minutes, and pounded to a paste, one-fourth pound of mutton suet, chopped fine, one ounce of sifted breadcrumbs, one teaspoonful of chopped parsley, one-half teaspoonful of mixed herbs, powdered or chopped fine, a seasoning of pepper and salt, a very little cayenne, a little grated nutmeg and grated lemon peel, the yolks of two eggs and the white of one. When this stuffing is thoroughly mixed, spread it evenly over the inner side of the mutton, roll it neatly, skewer, tie and then roast it in a warm oven, keeping it well basted; put the bones in a pan over the fire, with half a head of celery, half a carrot, an onion, a shallot and a very small piece of garlic; pour over them about one pint of water and let them stew for three hours. Strain the liquor and add to it a little salt, one teaspoonful of soy, one dessertspoonful of mushroom catsup, and one tablespoonful of flour, blended smooth with a little of the liquor, before mixing it with the whole quantity. Stir it till it boils and boil for ten minutes, stirring occasionally, then mix in one glass of sherry wine. When the mutton is dished pour the gravy over it, and serve very hot.
A boned, stuffed and rolled loin with a made gravy from the bones — an English-style joint as served in an American hotel dining room. Two things decide the result: keeping the roast from drying out, and not letting the bone liquor boil dry.
- Mutton, and what to buy insteadMutton is sheep over two years old, strongly flavored and much less tender than lamb. Butchers rarely stock it; a boned lamb loin of 3–4 lb behaves the same way in this recipe, cooks faster, and tastes milder.
- "A warm oven"Period oven language puts "warm" at or below moderate; something in the region of 300-325F is a reasonable reading. A rolled joint of this size takes roughly 20 minutes per pound at 325F, but go by an instant-read thermometer: 145F with a 15-minute rest for lamb itself, and because the spiral encloses an egg-bound stuffing, take the center of the stuffing to 165F.
- The stuffing is smallHalf an ounce of almonds, one ounce of breadcrumbs and a quarter pound of suet make only a cup or so of forcemeat — enough for a thin layer, which is the point. If you scale the meat up, scale this up with it or the spiral will be all meat.
- SuetBeef suet from a butcher is the usual substitute and is easier to chop than mutton fat; freeze it for twenty minutes first. It melts during roasting and keeps the lean loin from drying.
- Sweet almonds"Sweet" simply distinguishes ordinary almonds from bitter almonds, which were still sold then. Any blanched almond is what is meant; the ten-minute boil is to soften them for pounding, and a small food processor does the same work.
- Soy and mushroom catsup"Soy" here is bottled soy sauce, used in the period as a browning and savory agent rather than as an Asian seasoning. Mushroom catsup is a thin, dark, salty mushroom extract — still sold by British grocers; Worcestershire plus a little mushroom-soaking liquid is the usual stand-in. Both are salty, so hold back on salt until the gravy has boiled.
- Old measuresA dessertspoonful is two teaspoons. A "glass" of sherry in recipes of this period is generally reckoned as a wineglass, about 2 fl oz. Use a dry sherry, not cream sherry.
- The bone stockOne pint of water over bones and vegetables for three hours will reduce to very little; keep the pan barely at a simmer, cover it, and add water as needed so you finish with roughly a pint of strained liquor to thicken.
- YieldA 3–4 lb boned loin serves six, with gravy to spare.
Oscar Tschirky was never actually the chef of the Waldorf — he was the maître d'hôtel, the public face of its dining rooms — but the 1896 book that carries his name gathers the hotel's working repertoire, and a great deal of it is straight English cookery of the sort New York's wealthy diners expected. A boned loin spread with forcemeat, rolled and roasted is an English butcher's joint of long standing, and the stuffing here, with its pounded almonds, nutmeg and grated lemon peel, belongs to an older tradition still: sweet spicing in savory meat dishes persisted in British forcemeats well after it had vanished from the rest of the plate. Mutton was ordinary hotel fare in the 1890s, when American flocks were kept as much for wool as for meat and older carcasses came to market as a matter of course. The gravy is a period signature — bones stewed down with aromatics, then sharpened with two bottled sauces, soy and mushroom catsup, that sat on every well-stocked pantry shelf of the era and did the work now done by stock concentrate and Worcestershire.