Modern cookery, in all its branches

In a cool and airy larder a leg of mutton will hang many days with advantage, if the kernel be taken out, and the flap wiped very dry when it is first brought in ; and it is never tender when freshly killed : in warm weather it should be well dredged with pepper to preserve it from the flies. If washed before it is put upon the spit, it should be wiped as dry as possible afterwards, and well floured soon after it is laid to the fire. When the excellence of the joint is more regarded than the expense of fuel, it should be roasted by what we have denominated the slow method ; that is to say, it should be kept at a considerable distance from the fire, and remain at it four hours instead of two : it may be drawn nearer for the last twenty or thirty minutes to give it colour. The gravy will flow from it in great abundance when it is cut, and the meat will be very superior to that roasted in the usual way. When this plan is not pursued, the mutton should still be kept quite a foot from the fire until it is heated through, and never brought sufficiently near to scorch or to harden any part. It should be constantly basted with its own fat, for if this be neglected, all other precautions will fail to ensure a good roast ; [chap. xil. and after it is dished a little fine salt should be sprinkled lightly on it, and a spoonful or two of boiling water ladled over. This is the most palatable mode of serving it, but it may be frothed when it is preferred so, though we would rather recommend that the flour should be dredged on in the first instance, as it then prevents the juices of the meat from escaping, and forms a savoury coating to it; while the raw taste which it so often retains with mere frothing is to many eaters especially objectionable. Leg of mutton, 7 to 8 lbs. : slow method 4 hours, common method 1 1 to 2 hours. Obs. — Many common cooks injure their roasts exceedingly by pouring abundance of hot water over them, “ to make gravy ” as they call it. This should never be done. The use of any portion may, perhaps, be rationally objected to ; but when the joint is not carefully cooked it is sometimes very dry without it. A few spoonsful of Liebeg’s extract of meat will supply excellent gravy for this, or for any other dish of roasted meat. BRAISED LEO OF MUTTON. Take out the bone as far as the first joint by the directions of the following receipt ; roll some large strips of bacon in a seasoning of mixed spice, and of savoury herbs minced extremely fine or dried and reduced to powder, and with these lard the inside of the boned portion of the joint ; or fill the cavity with forcemeat highly seasoned with eschalot or garlic. Sew up the meat, and place it in a braising-pan or ham-kettle nearly of its size, with slices of bacon under and over it, two or three onions, four or five carrots, two bay leaves, a large bunch of savoury herbs, a few bones, or bits of undressed mutton or veal, and about three quarters of a pint of gravy. Stew the meat as softly as possible from four to five hours, and keep live embers on the pan (or, as this mode of cooking is not general in England, set the mutton, if it can be done conveniently, into a moderately-heated oven, after having luted the edges of the vessel in which it is arranged with a bit of coarse paste) ; lift it out, strain the gravy, reduce it quickly to g