Spring lamb is the meat of lambs from six weeks to three months old. It is obtainable in March and throughout the spring. Yearling is lamb one year old. The flesh of lamb is lighter in colour than that of mutton and the bones are pinker. It may be distinguished from mutton, also, by the smaller size of the cuts, which are otherwise the same in mutton and lamb. Mutton, as all dark meats, may be served rare; but lamb, being lighter, is classed with white meats in this respect, and should be thoroughly cooked. The rank flavour of mutton is greatly reduced if the pink membrane, which surrounds the animal, is pulled off before cooking. The fat of mutton has a strong, disagreeable flavour, and most of it should be removed. It will not be good for any cooking purposes as veal, beef, and pork fat are.

Cuts of Mutton. The favourite cuts are the rib and loin chops and the leg, but as other parts of the sheep are much cheaper, it is well to know their possibilities. Shoulder, boned and tied into shape, will, when cooked in the hay-box or cooker, make a very good substitute for the leg, while shoulder of lamb makes a good roast for small families who grow tired of perpetual steak and chops.

TABLE SHOWING THE WAYS IN WHICH THE VARIOUS CUTS OF MUTTON AND LAMB MAY BE COOKED IN THE HAY-BOX OR COOKER

• 1. Neck, stews and broth.
• 2. Chuck, stews, broth, meat pie, casserole of rice and meat, hash.
• 3. Shoulder, braising, plain or boned and stuffed, casserole of rice and meat, hash.
• 4 and 5. Loin chops, cooked as veal cutlets, breaded or plain.
• 6. Flank, soups, stews.
• 7. Leg, braised or boiled.

OTHER PARTS OF THE ANIMAL, USED FOR FOOD, WHICH MAY BE COOKED IN THE HAY-BOX OR COOKER

• Heart, braised, plain or stuffed.
• Liver, braised, or breaded as veal cutlets.
• Tongue, boiled.
• Kidneys, stewed.

In the chapter on the Insulated Oven directions are also given for roasting some cuts of mutton and lamb. They are not included in this list, since the oven is not an accompaniment of every cooker.

Boiled Leg or Shoulder of Mutton

Wipe the meat with a damp cloth, put it into a cooker-pail with boiling salted water enough to cover it, and to permit of at least three or four quarts of water being used, the amount depending upon the size of the leg. Boil it for half an hour and cook it in the cooker for six hours or more. The broth should be saved for soup stock and gravy. Serve it with brown gravy or with caper sauce. Shoulder will not require more than twenty minutes boiling, but will take the full time in the cooker. Lamb may be treated in the same manner.

Braised Leg or Shoulder of Mutton

Wipe the meat with a damp cloth, roast it in a hot oven till brown, or dredge it with salt, pepper, and flour, and brown it in a frying-pan; put it, while still hot, into a cooker-pail with enough boiling water to half cover it, or more. Bring it to a hard boil, while tightly covered, put it at once into a cooker for six hours or more. Serve it with brown gravy, saving the remaining broth for soup stock. Lamb may be treated in the same manner.

Mutton Stew

• 2 cups meat
• ²/₃ cup tomato
• 1 onion
• 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
• 2 cups potatoes
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ¹/₈ teaspoon pepper
• 1¹/₂ cups water, or more
• ¹/₄ cup butter, lard or beef fat
• ¹/₃ cup flour

Wipe the meat with a damp cloth, cut it into three-quarter-inch cubes, put it into a cooker-pail with all the other ingredients, except the fat and flour. The potatoes should be pared and cut into one and one-half-inch cubes. Bring all to a boil, boil it for five minutes and put it into a cooker for from four to six hours. Make a brown sauce, using the fat, flour, and liquor from the stew. Heat the stew in this till boiling. Or the meat may be dredged with the flour and fried in the fat until meat and flour are brown, before being put into the cooker. If cooked meat is used, one and one-half hours in the cooker will be enough, unless the meat is very tough, in which case it may be cooked as long as raw meat. The addition of one green pepper makes a good variation of this stew.

Serves five or six persons.

Chestnut Stew

• 2 cups raw mutton
• 2 onions
• 2 tablespoons fat
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 3 cups blanched nuts
• 2 teaspoons salt
• ¹/₄ teaspoon pepper
• Water

Wipe the meat with a damp cloth, cut it into three-quarter-inch cubes; peel and slice the onions. Dredge the meat with the flour, brown it and the onions in a frying-pan with any fat suitable for cooking. Put all the ingredients into a cooker-pail, barely cover them with boiling water, and let the stew boil five minutes before putting it into a cooker for four hours or more.

Serves six or eight persons.

Syrian Stew (Yakhni)

• 2 cups raw mutton
• 2 tablespoons fat
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 2 cups string beans
• 2 onions
• 2 cups tomatoes
• 1¹/₂ teaspoons salt
• ¹/₆ teaspoon pepper
• Water

Wipe the meat with a damp cloth, cut it into cubes, dredge it with the flour, and brown it in the fat. Put all the ingredients together, scraping from the frying-pan all of the flour and fat. Add enough water to barely cover them, let them boil for five minutes, and put them into the cooker for six hours or more, depending upon the beans. If they are old and tough they may require more than six hours to cook.

In Syria this stew is always served with boiled or steamed rice.

Serves six or eight persons.

Okra Stew

• 2 cups raw mutton
• 2 tablespoons fat
• ¹/₈ cup flour
• 2 onions
• 2 cups tomatoes
• 2 cups okra
• 1¹/₂ teaspoons salt
• ¹/₆ teaspoon pepper
• Water

Wipe the meat with a damp cloth, cut it into cubes. Wash and cut the okra in pieces, dredge it and the meat with the flour and fry them, till brown, in the fat. Put all the ingredients into a cooker-pail, add enough water to barely cover them, boil them for five minutes, and put them into a cooker for four hours, or more.

Serves six or eight persons.

Syrian Stuffed Cabbage

• 1 cup raw chopped meat
• 2 tablespoons fat
• ¹/₃ cup raw rice
• 2 teaspoons salt
• ¹/₄ teaspoon pepper
• 1 head cabbage
• ¹/₂ lemon

Strip off the leaves from a head of cabbage, throw them into boiling water, and let them stand till they are wilted. Mix the remaining ingredients, except the lemon, using for the meat either mutton or beef. Lay a cabbage leaf on a plate, remove the thickest part of the midrib, so that it will roll. Spread on it a rounded teaspoonful of the mixture and roll it like a cigarette. Do the same with the other leaves, packing each one, as it is finished, into a pan which will fit over a cooker-pail, unless a pail is used which will be nearly filled by the cabbage. The rolls must be carefully packed or they will float and unroll when the water is added. Cover them with boiling water, bring all to a boil, and boil it for five minutes, then put it directly into a cooker, if the pail is full, or over boiling water if not, and leave it for from four to six hours. Take the rolls out carefully with a cake turner or skimmer, lay them in a platter, and squeeze the juice of half a lemon over them. They are usually served as the meat dish for luncheon.

Serves six or eight persons.

Casserole of Rice and Meat

• 4 cups cooked rice (1 cup raw)
• 2 cups cooked mutton
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ¹/₄ teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon grated onion
• 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
• ¹/₄ cup breadcrumbs
• 1 egg
• Stock or water

Line a greased mould of one and one-half quarts’ capacity with three cups of the rice. Remove all the fat from the meat, chop it fine, and mix it with the other ingredients, adding enough stock or water to barely keep it from crumbling. Pack the meat into the mould and cover it with the remaining cupful of rice. Grease the cover and put it on. Stand the mould in a large cooker-pail of water to two-thirds of its depth, or, if it is shallow, prop it on a rack, so that the water will reach half its depth; boil it for fifteen minutes, and cook it for one hour or more in the cooker. Turn it out carefully on to a hot platter, and pour tomato sauce around, but not over it.

Serves six or eight persons.

Ragout of Cold Mutton

• 2 cups cold mutton
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1 cup mutton stock
• 2 tablespoons butter
• ¹/₂ can peas
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ¹/₄ teaspoon pepper
• 1 head of lettuce
• Farina balls

Cut the mutton into one-inch cubes. Put all the ingredients except the lettuce and farina balls into a cooker-pail together, cover it closely, and when boiling put it into a cooker for one hour. Serve it on a platter garnished with lettuce leaves and farina balls.

Serves four to six persons.

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