JOINTS IN GENERAL.
How to divide a sheep is most useful to every one to know, and the different names of the cuts of the sheep. Split a sheep straight down the back; cut off the legs, and hang up in the larder. There is the chump, that will roast or boil; then the loin chops. Cut off the flap and roll it up, and make a force-meat stuffing, and have it braised. The loin chops are best for broiling. Then raise the shoulder, and there will be nine cutlets under the shoulder. Those are best for dressed cutlets. Choose the mutton that is white in the colour, and not too heavy, as when it is too fat there is great waste. Yet not too lean, because it is a sign of poor mutton. All meat is tender if it be kept for a few days before using. It is the most economical way to get half a sheep from the butcher at once, if there is a large family, because it is got so much cheaper.
TO ROAST A LEG OF MUTTON.
To every pound of mutton allow fifteen minutes to roast. The oven must not be too hot when it first goes in, else it will burn on the outside, and not cook in the heart. Dish on a hot dish. It is an improvement to shake a little salt on the outside before pouring gravy over. To make the gravy: pour all the grease off, and add a little stock to the dripping pan, and pour over the roast.
BOILED LEG OF MUTTON.
Place a trimmed leg of mutton in a pot with plenty of water to cover, and set it to boil. After skimming, add a handful of salt, two carrots and turnips, one parsnip; and when the leg has boiled two hours and a-half, it is done. Make a paper frill for the shank, and garnish with vegetables.
SERPENT OF MUTTON.
Take a large neck of mutton; take away all the bones, and flatten with a rolling-pin wet in cold water; make a stuffing of five ounces of bread-crumbs, one ounce of suet, one egg, pepper and salt, a few leaves of chopped parsley. Lay the meat out flat, place the force-meat stuffing in the centre, and roll it up in the form of the letter S; set it in a sauce-pan with one ounce of dripping, and brown. Dredge the mutton with flour; put one quart of cold water on it, six drops of Worcestershire sauce, a bay leaf, cut carrots and turnips, with a vegetable cutting in fancy shapes, and boil in hot water in a separate sauce-pan. When done, garnish round the serpent of mutton.
STEW OF RUMP BEEF.
Rump beef is the best part for stewing or braising. It should be of a fine quality, a deep red colour, rich grained, and covered with fat. When done, garnish it with some vegetables cut out with a round vegetable-cutter the size of marbles, and braise the same as braised leg of mutton.
ROAST CHICKEN.
Singe, and truss a chicken by cutting the legs off at the first joint. Make an incision in the wings, and put the gizzard under the left wing, and the liver under the right. Make a stuffing of three ounces of bread-crumbs, two ounces of suet, a few leaves of chopped parsley, pepper and salt, and one egg. Draw up the legs under the wings, and stuff the chicken in the breast. Grease a buttered paper, and lay over the baste frequently. Serve bread sauce in a boat. Time to cook, one hour.
ROAST BEEF.
The English cut is the best for roasting. Choose one with a nice under cut, and it is an economical way to take out the under cut and hang it up in a cold larder till required for use, as it will make very good steaks or entrées. Roast the beef in a moderately hot oven, allowing fifteen minutes to the pound. If preferred, roast beef should be under-done. Make a Yorkshire pudding in the following manner:—Put three table-spoonfuls of flour into a basin, mix into a smooth batter with milk, and add a pinch of salt, switch the yolk and whites of two eggs separately to a stiff froth; pour into the batter. Bake under the beef in a greased tin, when the beef is done. Dish a few minutes before wanted, and sprinkle a little salt on the top of the beef. Pour the grease off the pan, and put a tea-cupful of stock over the beef. Dish the Yorkshire pudding round the beef, with horse-radish sauce or in a separate dish.
BRAISED LEG OF MUTTON.
Put a small leg of mutton on the fire in a flat sauce-pan, with plenty of room, and brown it slowly on both sides; then add one quart of cold water, and let it simmer, one spoonful of browning, one of Worcestershire sauce. Boil three ounces of macaroni in cold water, and garnish round the mutton when about to serve.
TO BOIL A ROUND OF BEEF.
Put on a large pot with plenty of cold water, tie the meat up in a nice round shape, and secure it tightly with skewers. It must never be allowed to boil too fast, as that spoils salt meat. Garnish round the base with nice-shaped carrots, and a cup of its liquor coloured with browning over a few Brussels sprouts in four bunches round the dish. Boil the beef fifteen minutes to the pound.
ROAST LOIN OF VEAL.
Take six pounds of the loin of veal; make an incision in the flap, and place some veal stuffing in it; wrap it round the kidney fat so as to secure it tightly. Envelop the loin in well-greased sheets of paper. Roast before a moderate fire for two hours. Baste it very often. Dish and pour some good brown gravy over it. Garnish with some nice fried potatoes.
LOIN OF VEAL BRAISED.
Bone about four pounds of a loin, by taking away all the bones, and flatten it out with a mallet wet in cold water. Make a veal stuffing of six ounces of bread-crumbs, three ounces of suet, one egg, and a few sweet herbs; lay this mixture into the centre of the veal, fold it over in a roll, and tie it tightly. Put on a sauce-pan with three slices of bacon, sliced carrot and turnip, and half an onion. Lay the roll of veal on the top of the vegetables till browned. Cover with a tight cover, and let it braise gently on a slow fire. About a cupful of hot water may be added when the veal is browned. When cooked, dish it up, and reduce the gravy it has been stewed in to a half cup. Time for cooking, two hours. Garnish with tomatoes or glazed onions.
BOILED HAM.
Soak a ham in cold water, and, before putting it on to boil, scrape all the grit and dirt off it. Boil from four to five hours, according to size. When the skin easily peels off, it is done. Plunge it in cold water, and remove the skin; make a glaze, and garnish in the following manner:—Put one half-ounce of gelatine to soak in as much water as will soak it to the thickness of cream. When it is melted, colour with a few drops of browning, and glaze the ham. Make an icing with two tea-spoonfuls of corn-flour, and one ounce fresh butter. Ornament with a paper coronet. Garnish with bunches of parsley and paper frill. This glaze will do for all kinds of meat requiring to be glazed.
BOILED LEG OF PORK.
Put a leg of pork on to boil. When it has boiled one hour, have two carrots, half a turnip, and one parsnip tied in a cotton cloth, and boil with pork for garnishing. Have half-a-pint of split pease soaked over night. Tie the pease up loosely in a napkin, and boil in the same pot with the pork. A leg of pork weighing eight pounds will take two hours and a-half. Dish, and garnish with the vegetables. Serve the pease pudding in a separate dish.
ROAST LEG OF PORK.
Make an incision between the skin and flesh; fill it with a stuffing of bread-crumbs, one egg, flavoured with onion and sage; sew the crevice with twine. Score the pork by cutting the rhind with a sharp knife in strips, an inch apart. Roast for three hours; keep well basted. Serve with apple sauce in a boat, and brown gravy.
PILLAU AU RIZ.
Boil a tea-cupful of rice in cold water for ten minutes, then take a roast chicken from a previous day’s dinner; set it into a stew-pan with the rice over, and one ounce of butter, half of an onion, a piece of mace, pepper and salt, and a cup of stock. Simmer slowly for three-quarters of an hour. Dish with the rice all over the chicken.
BOILED CHICKEN.
Truss a chicken by cutting the legs off at the second joint. Stick the legs into the body, make a parsley sauce, and pour over the chicken. Time to cook, one hour. Serve with streaky boiled bacon in a separate dish. Garnish with a few nice-shaped vegetables.
ROAST GROUSE.
This bird must be roasted with great care, before a clear fire, for twenty minutes. Some persons like all things well done, but the proper way is to be under-done. Baste well, and dish on a buttered toast. Serve with potato chips, bread sauce, and bread-crumbs.
ROAST HARE.
Hare should be kept for a week before roasting. Soak and wash in cold water, and dry on a clean towel. Make a stuffing of bread-crumbs, chopped parsley, one ounce of beef suet, part of the liver boiled and finely chopped, pepper and salt, one egg and a little ketchup. Stuff the hare; truss by placing the hind and fore legs flat against the sides; set the head back to rest on the shoulders; stick a trussing needle through the head of the hare, to keep back the head; baste with butter and sweet milk. Cook for two hours; serve with a gravy and red currant jelly.
ROAST RABBIT
Is cooked in the same manner as roast hare.
TO BOIL RABBITS WHOLE.
Truss same as a roast hare; boil gently for one hour and a-half; serve with onion sauce. If there is a pair of rabbits, dish them in a reversed way, and pour the onion sauce over.
FRIGEDEL OF RABBIT.
Pick the meat from the legs of the rabbits that the fillets have been taken from; chop fine with a little parsley, a small onion, pepper, and salt. Soak two slices of bread in sweet milk; press out the milk; and add to the minced rabbit one egg, and form into an oval shape and fry for fifteen minutes a light-brown colour. Serve with a brown sauce with capers in it.
BEEFSTEAK PIE.
One pound of the best beefsteak beaten and sprinkled with pepper and salt. Cut in square pieces, dredge with flour and roll up in neat rolls, with a little chopped onions. Place at the bottom of the dish two sheep’s kidneys, cut in slices, and two hard-boiled eggs laid through the pie, and cover with puff paste. A few drops of sauce and two glasses of stock may be added to the pie.
ROAST PARTRIDGES.
Pick and draw and clean these birds the same as fowls. Do not cut off the heads; twist the neck round the wing; bring the head to the breast. The legs and wings may be trussed the same as a fowl’s. The feet are left on and crossed one over the other. Baste well with butter before a clear fire. A partridge will take from twenty minutes to half-an-hour, and a pheasant three-quarters of an hour. Serve on toasted bread, with gravy and bread sauce.
Blackcock should be served in the same way.
RABBIT PIE.
Cut up a rabbit into joints, each leg in two, the back in three pieces, the breast in two pieces. Pepper and salt, dust with flour; boil two eggs hard, and cut them in quarters, cut a small onion in small pieces; place some onions at the bottom of the dish, then a layer of rabbit and some slices of bacon and hard-boiled eggs. Fill the dish with rabbit, add a few drops of Worcestershire sauce, two glasses of stock or water. Cover with American paste.