Harper's cook book encyclopædia

The meat and vegetables cut in small pieces make a good salad served with French dressing and a little chopped parsley and new onions. Lamb Stew with Green Pease. — Procure two fat breasts or a shoulder of lamb weighing about 3 lbs., and cut in equal pieces two by three inches ; brown the meat for ten minutes in a table-spoonful of butter, then remove the meat. Put in the gravy one and one-half table-spoonfuls of flour, stirring thoroughly. Put the meat back, mix well, and pour over slowly three pints of warm water, a half tablespoonful of salt, two pinches of pepper, and a bouquet of three sprigs of parsley, half a branch of celery, half a bay-leaf, one very small sprig of thyme, and two cloves stuck in one onion. Tie the bouquet so you can remove it before serving. When the boiling-point is reached skim carefully. Cover the saucepan, cook fifteen minutes, then add one pint of Lamb, Shoulder of Mutton Kidneys freshly shelled pease, one pint of small new potatoes, and half a pint of small white onions. Cook slowly thirty minutes more. Lamb, Shoulder of, Stuffed. — Remove the bone from a shoulder of lamb, fill the space with bread stuffing, and sew up. Put into a large saucepan over two or three thin slices of fat pork, a small onion, and a bunch of sweet herbs. Dredge the meat with salt and pepper, and pour over a quart of stock. Set over the fire to stew gently for two hours. When done, take from the saucepan, set to keep warm, boil the gravy down very low, and strain over the meat. Serve with green pease. Mutton Kidneys en Brochette. — Take six lamb kidneys, cut through the centre and remove the white veins and fat ; wash well in cold water, and drop in boiling water ; let stand for five minutes, drain, and wipe dry. Cut very thin slices of fat bacon the size of the pieces of kidney ; place one piece of kidney on a skewer, then a piece of bacon, then kidney and bacon on each skewer until all are ready ; lay them on a broiler, set over a clear fire, baste with butter, broil, and turn for five minutes; dust lightly with salt and pepper, and serve on the skewers. The bacon may be omitted. One table-spoonful of chopped parsley mixed with one table-spoonful of butter and half a teaspoonful of lemon-juice can be made up in little balls, serving one of them with each kidney. Mutton Kidneys a la Francaise, Stewed. — Remove the skins from half a dozen fine mutton kidneys, and cut them lengthwise into slices a quarter of an inch in thickness. Season each piece rather highly with salt and cayenne, and dip it into some finely powdered sweet herbs — namely, parsley and thyme, two-thirds of the former and one of the latter; three or four finely minced shallots may be added, if liked. Melt a good-sized piece of butter in the frying-pan and put in the kidneys. Let them brown on both sides. When nearly cooked, dredge a little flour quickly over them, add a quarter of a pint of boiling stock or water, a table-spoonful of mushroom catsup, and the strained juice of half a lemon. When the gravy is just upon the point of boiling, lift out the kidneys, put them on a hot dish, add two table-spoonfuls of either port or claret to the sauce, let it boil for one minute, then pour it over the meat. Garnish with fried sippets. Time, six minutes to fry the kidneys.