English and French cookery

Minced Mutton, with Poached Eggs. — Mince some cold mutton or lamb, well season with pepper, salt, and a little mint. Put a cup of gravy into a saucepan, and let it get hot ; then stir in the mince, and let all become very hot, but do not let it boil, thicken with a little browned flour, and pile on a flat dish. Have ready a few slices of buttered toast, cut into neat squares, lay a poached egg on each, place these around or upon the mince, and serve. French Ragout of Mutton.— Take about 2 pounds of the scrag or any other part, with as little fat as possible, cut into pieces about 2 inches square ; put into a pan 2 ounces of butter, or good fat, when melted, add 2 tablespoonfuls of flour, stir with a wooden spoon till forming a brownish roux, add the meat, and stir it round for 20 minutes, add a little water, but not enough to cover, 1 saltspoonful of pepper, 4 ditto of salt, and 4 ditto of sugar, 6 sprigs of parsley, stir till boiling, set it to simmer. Peel a few turnips, cut in large dice of 1 inch square G8 about 30 pieces, put some fat in a frying-pan, and fry the turnips until rather brown, take them out, and put them in a stewpan with the meat when it is done, which will be in about an hour from the time it was put on ; when ready to serve, take out the meat and turnips, squeeze the parsley, which throw away, skim off the fat, add a little broth or water, or, if too thin, boil it a little more, dish it up by placing the pieces in a circle, and the turnips in the centre, sauce over, and serve very hot. Onions, carrots, peas, etc., may be used in place of turnips. Mutton Saute. — Put a little butter or bacon fat in the frying-pan, sprinkle pepper and salt over slices of cold mutton, and let them get hot very slowly. Turn the mutton frequently, and do not allow it to fry. When turned in the pan for the last time, sprinkle a little chopped parsley on the upper side ; remove the slices carefully on to a hot dish, pour the fat in the pan over, and serve. New Zealand Mutton. — The large amount of this meat which finds its way into the English markets is probably not even suspected by the general public, who purchase, cook, and eat it without the slightest suspicion of its origin. From New Zealand we are receiving steadily increasing supplies. The meat is kept frozen hard as stone the whole voyage, and arrives in England in that state. But when the artificial frost is thawed out the meat is as tender, nutritious, and wholesome as any brought to the English market. Messrs. Fitter and Son, of Leadenhall Market, were the first to introduce these meats to private consumers, and at prices which bring them within reach of practically every household. They have an elaborate system of storage by refrigeration, which keeps the meat in its original frozen condition until the time it is removed for sale. They remind their customers that frozen meat, like English meat, improves by hanging. The hindquarters will keep quite a week in cool weather ; the forequarters may be cooked sooner. As there is a tendency for the juice to run from the mutton while thawing, in consequence of the fibres being slightly broken by the expansion of the juice in the process of freezing, it should be hung in such a way as to check this.