The Book of Household Management Part 82

713. INGREDIENTS.--The remains of any joint of cold mutton, 2 onions, 1/4 lb. of b.u.t.ter, 1 dessertspoonful of curry powder, 1 dessertspoonful of flour, salt to taste, 1/4 pint of stock or water.

_Mode_.--Slice the onions in thin rings, and put them into a stewpan with the b.u.t.ter, and fry of a light brown; stir in the curry powder, flour, and salt, and mix all well together. Cut the meat into nice thin slices (if there is not sufficient to do this, it may be minced), and add it to the other ingredients; when well browned, add the stock or gravy, and stew gently for about 1/2 hour. Serve in a dish with a border of boiled rice, the same as for other curries.

_Time_.--1/2 hour.

_Average cost_, exclusive of the meat, 6d.

_Seasonable_ in winter.

CUTLETS OF COLD MUTTON (Cold Meat Cookery).

714. INGREDIENTS.--The remains of cold loin or neck of mutton, 1 egg, bread crumbs, brown gravy (No. 436), or tomato sauce (No. 529).

_Mode_.--Cut the remains of cold loin or neck of mutton into cutlets, trim them, and take away a portion of the fat, should there be too much; dip them in beaten egg, and sprinkle with bread crumbs, and fry them a nice brown in hot dripping. Arrange them on a dish, and pour round them either a good gravy or hot tomato sauce.

_Time_.--About 7 minutes.

_Seasonable_.--Tomatoes to be had most reasonably in September and October.

DORMERS.

715. INGREDIENTS.--1/2 lb. of cold mutton, 2 oz. of beef suet, pepper and salt to taste, 3 oz. of boiled rice, 1 egg, bread crumbs, made gravy.

_Mode_.--Chop the meat, suet, and rice finely; mix well together, and add a high seasoning of pepper and salt, and roll into sausages; cover them with egg and bread crumbs, and fry in hot dripping of a nice brown.

Serve in a dish with made gravy poured round them, and a little in a tureen.

_Time_.--1/2 hour to fry the sausages.

_Average cost_, exclusive of the meat, 6d.

_Seasonable_ at any time.

THE GOLDEN FLEECE.--The ancient fable of the Golden Fleece may be thus briefly told:--Phryxus, a son of Athamus, king of Thebes, to escape the persecutions of his stepmother Ino, paid a visit to his friend Aeetes, king of Colchis. A ram, whose fleece was of pure gold, carried the youth through the air in a most obliging manner to the court of his friend. When safe At Colchis, Phryxus offered the ram on the altars of Mars, and pocketed the fleece. The king received him with great kindness, and gave him his daughter Chalciope in marriage; but, some time after, he murdered him in order to obtain possession of the precious fleece. The murder of Phryxus was amply revenged by the Greeks. It gave rise to the famous Argonautic expedition, undertaken by Jason and fifty of the most celebrated heroes of Greece. The Argonauts recovered the fleece by the help of the celebrated sorceress Medea, daughter of Aeetes, who fell desperately in love with the gallant but faithless Jason. In the story of the voyage of the Argo, a substratum of truth probably exists, though overlaid by a ma.s.s of fiction. The ram which carried Phryxus to Colchis is by some supposed to have been the name of the ship in which he embarked. The fleece of gold is thought to represent the immense treasures he bore away from Thebes. The alchemists of the fifteenth century were firmly convinced that the Golden Fleece was a treatise on the trans.m.u.tation of metals, written on sheepskin.

HARICOT MUTTON.

I.

716. INGREDIENTS.--4 lbs. of the middle or best end of the neck of mutton, 3 carrots, 3 turnips, 3 onions, popper and salt to taste, 1 tablespoonful of ketchup or Harvey's sauce.

_Mode_.--Trim off some of the fat, cut the mutton into rather thin chops, and put them into a frying-pan with the fat tr.i.m.m.i.n.gs. Fry of a pale brown, but do not cook them enough for eating. Cut the carrots and turnips into dice, and the onions into slices, and slightly fry them in the same fat that the mutton was browned in, but do not allow them to take any colour. Now lay the mutton at the bottom of a stewpan, then the vegetables, and pour over them just sufficient boiling water to cover the whole. Give one boil, skim well, and then set the pan on the side of the fire to simmer gently until the meat is tender. Skim off every particle of fat, add a seasoning of pepper and salt, and a little ketchup, and serve. This dish is very much better if made the day before it is wanted for table, as the fat can be so much more easily removed when the gravy is cold. This should be particularly attended to, as it is apt to be rather rich and greasy if eaten the same day it is made. It should be served in rather a deep dish.

_Time_.--2-1/2 hours to simmer gently.

_Average cost_, for this quant.i.ty, 3s.

_Sufficient_ for 6 or 7 persons.

_Seasonable_ at any time.

II.

717. INGREDIENTS.--Breast or scrag of mutton, flour, pepper and salt to taste, 1 large onion, 3 cloves, a bunch of savoury herbs, 1 blade of mace, carrots and turnips, sugar.

_Mode_.--Cut the mutton into square pieces, and fry them a nice colour; then dredge over them a little flour and a seasoning of pepper and salt.

Put all into a stewpan, and moisten with boiling water, adding the onion, stuck with 3 cloves, the mace, and herbs. Simmer gently till the meat is nearly done, skim off all the fat, and then add the carrots and turnips, which should previously be cut in dice and fried in a little sugar to colour them. Let the whole simmer again for 10 minutes; take out the onion and bunch of herbs, and serve.

_Time_.--About 3 hours to simmer.

_Average cost_, 6d. per lb.

_Sufficient_ for 4 or 5 persons.

_Seasonable_ at any time.

HARICOT MUTTON (Cold Meat Cookery).

718. INGREDIENTS.--The remains of cold neck or loin of mutton, 2 oz. of b.u.t.ter, 3 onions, 1 dessertspoonful of flour, 1/2 pint of good gravy, pepper and salt to taste, 2 tablespoonfuls of port wine, 1 tablespoonful of mushroom ketchup, 2 carrots, 2 turnips, 1 head of celery.

_Mode_.--Cut the cold mutton into moderate-sized chops, and take off the fat; slice the onions, and fry them with the chops, in a little b.u.t.ter, of a nice brown colour; stir in the flour, add the gravy, and let it stew gently nearly an hour. In the mean time boil the vegetables until _nearly_ tender, slice them, and add them to the mutton about 1/4 hour before it is to be served. Season with pepper and salt, add the ketchup and port wine, give one boil, and serve.

_Time_.--1 hour.

_Average cost_, exclusive of the cold meat, 9d.

_Seasonable_ at any time.

HASHED MUTTON.

719. INGREDIENTS.--The remains of cold roast shoulder or leg of mutton, 6 whole peppers, 6 whole allspice, a f.a.ggot of savoury herbs, 1/2 head of celery, 1 onion, 2 oz. of b.u.t.ter, flour.

_Mode_.--Cut the meat in nice even slices from the bones, tr.i.m.m.i.n.g off all superfluous fat and gristle; chop the bones and fragments of the joint, put them into a stewpan with the pepper, spice, herbs, and celery; cover with water, and simmer for 1 hour. Slice and fry the onion of a nice pale-brown colour, dredge in a little flour to make it thick, and add this to the bones, &c. Stew for 1/4 hour, strain the gravy, and let it cool; then skim off every particle of fat, and put it, with the meat, into a stewpan. Flavour with ketchup, Harvey's sauce; tomato sauce, or any flavouring that may be preferred, and let the meat gradually warm through, but not boil, or it will harden. To hash meat properly, it should be laid in cold gravy, and only left on the fire just long enough to warm through.

_Time_.--1-1/2 hour to simmer the gravy.

_Average cost_, exclusive of the meat, 4d.

_Seasonable_ at any time.

HASHED MUTTON.--Many persons express a decided aversion to hashed mutton; and, doubtless, this dislike has arisen from the fact that they have unfortunately never been properly served with this dish. If properly done, however, the meat tender (it ought to be as tender as when first roasted), the gravy abundant and well flavoured, and the sippets nicely toasted, and the whole served neatly; then, hashed mutton is by no means to be despised, and is infinitely more wholesome and appetizing than the cold leg or shoulder, of which fathers and husbands, and their bachelor friends, stand in such natural awe.

HODGE-PODGE (Cold Meat Cookery).