Lamb And Mutton

1. Lamb comes from a young sheep about one year old; spring lamb, from six weeks to seven and eight months old.

2. Sheep, between three and five years old, is sold as mutton.

3. The meat of the mutton should be fine-grained, a rich red and juicy; the fat, firm and white.

4. The meat of the lamb should be pink and the fat white and delicate.

5. Lamb and mutton are divided into leg, loin, shoulder, neck and flank.

6. A very young lamb is simply divided into fore and hind quarters.

Lamb Stew

Breast of lamb, 1 1/2 lbs.

Boiling water, about 1 pint.

Potatoes, 4, medium-sized, quartered and parboiled.

Onion, 1, about 1 1/2 inches in diameter, sliced.

Rice, 2 tablespoonfuls.

Tomato, strained, 1 cupful, or tomato catsup, 1 tablespoonful.

Salt and pepper.

Brown the onions in a little of the fat in a saucepan; put with them the meat cut roughly into cube-shaped pieces about one and one-half inches thick, and sprinkled with salt and pepper. Cover them with boiling water; heat this to the boiling point again, then let it simmer directly over the heat for two hours; or cook it over hot water for three hours, or until the meat is tender. After one hour of simmering, add the rice; half an hour before dishing the stew add the potatoes; when they are done, remove the bones and pieces of fat, stir in the tomato or catsup, add salt and pepper, if needed, and serve.

Braised Lamb

(Mrs. M. C. Crawley.)

Two pounds of lamb from shoulder, cut in three-inch pieces, trim and wipe carefully; dip in beaten egg and bread crumbs. Season with salt and pepper. Place meat in an iron skillet and put in a very hot oven for about ten minutes, then cover meat with boiling water. Bake in a slow oven for three hours. The water must be renewed and all the pieces of meat turned over. When done, the meat should be a nice brown, and the gravy will be lovely and rich.

If this is carefully done, it will be as good as chicken, and cost far less.

Leg Of Mutton, Stuffed And Roasted

Remove the bone; wipe inside and out with a wet cloth; sprinkle the inside with salt; stuff and sew. Put it on a rack in a dripping pan, with some of the kidney suet. Dredge with salt, pepper and flour, and bake in a hot oven. Baste as soon as the flour is brown, and baste often. Bake two hours.

Stuffing: One cup of stale bread crumbs. Season with one saltspoonful each, of salt, pepper, thyme or marjoram, and moisten with a quarter of a cut of melted butter. Add hot water, if a moist stuffing is desired.

The bone may be left in the leg, in which case the stuffing would be omitted. Serve with mint sauce or caper sauce.

Curry Of Mutton

Fry one large onion, cut fine, in one heaping tablespoonful of butter. Mix one tablespoonful of curry powder and one teaspoonful of salt, and stir it into the butter and onion. Add gradually one pint of hot water or stock. Cut two pounds of lean mutton into small pieces, and brown them in hot fat: add them to the sauce, and simmer until tender. Place the meat on a hot dish, and arrange a border of boiled rice around the meat. Slices of cold cooked mutton may be used instead of the fresh meat. Curry is prepared in the same manner.

Crown Roast Of Lamb

A crown roast is fashioned from one loin or the two loins sewed together. The bones must be trimmed the same as for French chops, removing the trimmings to make the meat on the chops of uniform height. When the ends of the loin are joined, a circle of crown meat is formed. The ends of the ribs should be the same length. Cover the ends of the bones with salt pork: this will keep them from burning, at the same time improving the flavor of the meat. The center of the roast may be filled with bread stuffing or sausage meat, or mashed sweet potatoes and nuts. Another method is to place a cup in the cavity, and when roast is cooked the cup is removed and opening filled with peas. Set the roast in hot oven for 15 minutes, then reduce heat and bake for one hour. Baste frequently; a little boiling water added occasionally will keep juices from burning.