FoodNet

Little French dinners

1898

Page 59 · 1 recipe record on this page

Presented as published in 1898. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
The art of making a good hash is a useful gift to possess, especially where a large family is concerned, for when the cold joint has done duty on one or two occasions, and one has not time to go in for elaborate entrees, a dish of hashed mutton or any other meat prepared in the French style will be found preferable to the dish that always goes by that name, and which generally consists of hard lumps of meat swimming in a pale, sickly-looking, thin broth, strongly flavoured with onions. It is uninviting, to say the least of it, but now let us hope that with the aid of the following directions we may look forward to something better : — A great point to be remembered is that on account of cold mutton having rather an insipid taste, a much more highly flavoured and tasty sauce is necessary than is generally the case. Begin by frying an onion, finely chopped, in one ounce of butter till a golden brown, add one ounce of flour, stir well together for five minutes, then add half a pint of Hashed Mutton. 107 stock well flavoured with vegetables, two or three cloves, salt if necessary, and four tablespoonfuls of tomato ketchup ; stir a few minutes on the fire, then proceed to further flavour the sauce by adding a teaspoonful or more, according to taste, of Worcester sauce, and mushroom and walnut catsupsHashed Mutton. Let the sauce boil fast over the fire, so as to reduce a little, then add a little colouring, strain the sauce into a small shallow stewpan, and put it on one side to get cold. In the meantime cut from the leg of mutton some neat slices not too small, letting them be all as much as possible of the same size, and remove every particle of skin, fat, gristle, or burned portion, as it is this latter which gives the " wai-med-up " taste to a dish of this description. When the sauce is cold lay in it the pieces of mutton, cover up the saucepan, and in about an hour's time put it at the corner of the stove, warming the meat very, very gradually. If the sauce boils, the meat will sure to be tough. Directly it has got thoroughly hot, it is ready to be dished up, with the sauce poured over it, and it should be surrounded with sippets of bread, not toasted, but fried a golden colour. The addition of a little finely-chopped parsley is a great improvement. If there is no stock for the sauce, water can be used with a teaspoonful of meat extract, but some vegetable must be boiled in it to give it the necessary flavour. A nice accompaniment to hashed mutton is macaroni cooked with tomato sauce, and cheese, served i*ound the meat, or a border of mashed potatoes looks very well ; but, after all, when the dish is really well made, it is best to serve it in as simple a foi-m as possible, so as to be able to appreciate the goodness of the sauce. When the remains of the leg of mutton do not admit of nice slices being cut from it for a hash, a good substitute will be found in a dish of Minced Mutton with Poached Eggs. Remove every particle of fat, skin, and gristle from io8 Hashed Mutton.