After soaking and blanching, stew them in veal gravy, and season with celery, pepper, salt, nutmeg, a little mace, and a piece of lemon peel, they should be served with a fine white sauce, the gravy in which they are stewed will form the basis for it, with the addition of yolks of eggs and mushroom essence; French cooks would adopt the _veloute_ or _bechamel_ sauce; Jerusalem artichokes cut the size of b.u.t.ton mushrooms, are a suitable accompaniment as a garnish.

SWEETBREADS STEWED BROWN.

After soaking and blanching, fry them till brown, then simmer gently in beef gravy seasoned highly with smoked meat, nutmeg, pepper, salt, a small onion stuck with cloves, and a very little whole allspice; the gravy must be slightly thickened, and morels and truffles are generally added; small b.a.l.l.s of delicate forcemeat are also an improvement. The above receipts are adapted for sweetbreads frica.s.seed, except that they must be cut in pieces for frica.s.sees, and pieces of meat or poultry are added to them; sweetbreads when dressed whole look better _piques_.

A DELICATE RECEIPT FOR ROAST MUTTON.

Put the joint in a saucepan, cover it with cold water, let it boil for half an hour, have the spit and fire quite ready, and remove the meat from the saucepan, and place it immediately down to roast, baste it well, dredge it repeatedly with flour, and sprinkle with salt; this mode of roasting mutton removes the strong flavor that is so disagreeable to some tastes.

MUTTON STEWED WITH CELERY.

Take the best end of a neck of mutton, or a fillet taken from the leg or shoulder, place it in a stewpan with just enough water to cover it, throw in a carrot and turnip, and season, but not too highly; when nearly done remove the meat and strain off the gravy, then return both to the stewpan with forcemeat b.a.l.l.s and some fine celery cut in small pieces; let all stew gently till perfectly done, then stir in the yolks of two eggs, a little flour, and the juice of half a lemon, which must be mixed with a little of the gravy before pouring in the stewpan, and care must be taken to prevent curdling.

A SIMPLE WAY OF DRESSING MUTTON.

Take the fillet off a small leg or shoulder of mutton, rub it well over with egg and seasoning, and partly roast it, then place it in a stewpan with a little strong gravy, and stew gently till thoroughly done; this dish is simple, but exceedingly nice; a few b.a.l.l.s or fritters to garnish will improve it.

MAINTENON CUTLETS.

This is merely broiling or frying cutlets in a greased paper, after having spread on them a seasoning prepared as follows: make a paste of bread crumbs, chopped parsley, nutmeg, pepper, salt, grated lemon peel, and thyme, with a couple of beaten eggs; a piquante sauce should be served in a tureen.

A HARRICOT.

Cut off the best end of a neck of mutton into chops, flour and partly fry them, then lay them in a stewpan with carrots, sliced turnips cut in small round b.a.l.l.s, some b.u.t.ton onions, and cover with water; skim frequently, season with pepper and salt to taste, color the gravy with a little browning and a spoonful of mushroom powder.

IRISH STEW.

Is the same as above, excepting that the meat is not previously fried, and that potatoes are used instead of turnips and carrots.

MUTTON A L'HISPANIOLA.

Take a small piece of mutton, either part of a shoulder or a fillet of the leg, partly roast it, then put it in a stewpan with beef gravy enough to cover it, previously seasoned with herbs, a carrot and turnip; cut in quarters three large Spanish onions, and place in the stewpan round the meat; a stuffing will improve it, and care must be taken to free the gravy from every particle of fat.

MUTTON COLLOPS.

Take from a fine knuckle a couple of slices, cut and trim them in collops the size of a tea cup, flatten them and spread over each side a forcemeat for cutlets, and fry them; potatoe or Jerusalem artichokes cut in slices of the same size and thickness, or pieces of bread cut with a fluted cutter, prepared as the collops and fried, must be placed alternately in the dish with them; they may be served with a pure simple gravy, or very hot and dry on a napkin, garnished with fried parsley and slices of lemon.

The knuckle may be used in the following manner: put it on with sufficient water to cover it, season it and simmer till thoroughly done, thicken the gravy with prepared barley, and flavor it with lemon pickle, or capers; it should be slightly colored with saffron, and celery sauce may be served as an accompaniment, or the mutton may be served on a fine _puree_ of turnips.

MUTTON CUTLETS.

Have a neck of mutton, cut the bones short, and remove the chine bone completely; cut chops off so thin that every other one shall be without bone, trim them carefully, that all the chops shall bear the same appearance, then flatten them well; cover them with a cutlet preparation, and fry of a delicate brown; a fine _puree_ of any vegetable that may be approved, or any sauce that may be selected, should be served with them; they may be arranged in various ways in the dish, either round the dish or in a circle in the centre, so that the small part of the cutlets shall almost meet; if the latter, the _puree_ should garnish round them instead of being in the centre of the dish.

MUTTON HAM.

Choose a fine leg of mutton, rub it in daily with a mixture of three ounces of brown sugar, two ounces of common salt, and half an ounce of saltpetre, continue this process for a fortnight, then hang it to dry in wood smoke for ten days longer.

LAMB AND SPREW.

Take a fine neck or breast of lamb, put it in stewpan with as much water as will cover it, add to it a bundle of sprew cut in pieces of two inches in length, a small head of celery cut small, and one onion, pepper, salt, and a sprig of parsley, let it simmer gently till the meat and sprew are tender; a couple of lumps of sugar improves the flavor; there should not be too much liquor, and all fat must be removed; the sprew should surround the meat when served, and also be thickly laid over it.

LAMB AND PEAS.

Take the best end of a neck of lamb, either keep it whole or divide it into chops as may be preferred, put it into a saucepan with a little chopped onion, pepper, salt, and a small quant.i.ty of water; when half done add half a peck of peas, half a lettuce cut fine, a little mint, and a few lumps of sugar, and let it stew thoroughly; when done, there must not be too much liquor; cutlets of veal or beef are also excellent dressed as above. Although this is a spring dish it may be almost equally well dressed in winter, by subst.i.tuting small mutton cutlets and preserved peas, which may be met with at any of the best Italian warehouses; a breast or neck of lamb may also be stewed whole in the same manner.

LAMB CUTLETS WITH CUc.u.mBERS.

Take two fine cuc.u.mbers, peel and cut them lengthways, lay them in vinegar for an hour, then stew them in good stock till tender, when stir in the yolks of two or three eggs, a little flour and essence of lemon, which must all be first mixed up together with a little of the stock, have ready some cutlets trimmed and fried a light brown, arrange them round the dish and pour the cuc.u.mbers in the centre.

A NICE RECEIPT FOR SHOULDER OF LAMB.

Half boil it, score it and squeeze over lemon juice, and cover with grated bread crumbs, egg and parsley, broil it over a clear fire and put it to brown in a Dutch oven, or grill and serve with a sauce seasoned with lemon pickle and chopped mint.

A Ca.s.sEREET, AN EAST INDIA DISH.

Take two pounds of lamb chops, or mutton may be subst.i.tuted, place them in a stewpan, cover with water or gravy, season only with pepper and salt, when the chops are half done, carefully skim off the fat and add two table spoonsful of ca.s.sereet, stir it in the gravy which should not be thickened, and finish stewing gently till done enough; rice should accompany this dish.