The Rocky Mountain Cook Book : For High Altitude Cooking. Caroline Trask Norton

BEANS.

      Soak two cups of pea beans in cold water over night. In the morning drain off the water, put on fresh cold water and parboil them on the stove until the skin breaks, or you can pierce them with a pin. Then drain them through a colander, and pour cold water over them. Place in the pot. Clean one-fourth pound of salt pork, cut the top in gashes, place on top of the beans, pressing it down in them until the rind just shows. Mix one-half teaspoonful of salt, one-fourth teaspoonful of mustard, one tablespoonful of molasses in one cup of hot water and pour over the beans. Keep water enough in them to come to the top of the beans. Bake in a slow oven for eight hours. One small onion can be baked in the beans if the flavor is liked. The bean pot should be earthen, with bulging sides and have a close cover.

      MUTTON AND LAMB.

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      Good mutton should have thick, white, hard, fat, fine-grained red meat.

      ROAST LEG OF MUTTON.

      Have the bone cut short, wipe it all over with cold water, dredge with flour, salt and pepper. Place in a hot oven for fifteen minutes, then add to the pan one cup of hot water, baste frequently, allowing ten minutes to a pound if liked rare, and fifteen minutes if liked well done. Garnish the end of the bone with a paper frill or a bunch of water cress or parsley.

      ROAST LOIN OF MUTTON.

      Remove the fat and kidney. Have the joints cracked, so as to be easily carved. Roast the same as the leg. Serve with mint sauce.

      CROWN ROAST.

      This can be prepared by your butcher and makes a very handsome and delicious roast. Cut a full loin, trim the rib bones as for French chops and chop them to a uniform length; then roll the loin backwards into a circle and tie securely. Tie around each bone a slice of salt pork so they will not burn. Baste frequently with the fat in the pan. Allow fifteen minutes to a pound. Cover each bone with a paper ruffle, fill up the center with potato chips and garnish around the roast with them, or, garnish with timbale cases filled with creamed peas, or pea timbales.

      ROAST SADDLE OF MUTTON.

      The saddle is the back; if split it is the loin. Remove the pink skin, as that contains the strong flavor, and the fat and kidneys from underneath. Roll the flank under and tie it into a good, round shape. Dredge with flour, salt and pepper. Cook in a hot oven, baste frequently, allowing ten minutes to a pound if liked rare, and fifteen minutes if liked well done. Carve slices parallel to the back bone, then slip the knife under and separate them from the ribs. After the top is carved, turn the saddle and carve the tenderloin, which lies underneath.

      ROAST LEG OF MUTTON STUFFED.

      Remove the bone, sprinkle the inside with salt and pepper, stuff and sew. Cook the same as roast leg of mutton.

      Stuffing.—One cup of stale bread crumbs, one-fourth cup melted butter, one-fourth teaspoonful each salt, pepper, marjoram and sage, a teaspoonful of onion juice if desired and hot water if not moist enough.

      BOILED LEG OF MUTTON.

      Put the mutton into boiling water to cover, boil for fifteen minutes, then set aside and simmer, allowing twenty minutes to a pound. One-half hour before removing the meat add turnip cut in half-inch slices. Remove the meat to a hot platter, garnish with the turnip, cover the top with chopped parsley or capers. Serve with caper sauce. Save the water to use with the bone and left-over pieces for soups.

      RAGOUT OF MUTTON.

      2 lbs. from the neck or flank.

      2 tablespoonfuls butter.

      1 tablespoonful flour.

      1 onion.

      1 carrot.

      1/2 can peas.

      2 cups of water or stock.

      1 clove.

      Sprig of parsley.

      Salt and pepper to taste.

      Put the butter into the frying pan. When melted add the flour and brown. Then add the carrot and onion cut in small dice and the seasonings and mutton. Cook, stirring frequently until all are brown; then add the stock or water and meat. Cover closely, let simmer for two hours, add the peas just before serving.

      NECK OF LAMB IN CASSEROLE.

      Cut small pieces for serving. Wipe with a damp cloth and roll in flour. Brown in salt pork fat. Then place in a casserole. Add hot water to cover and let cook about three hours or until tender. Add one-half dozen peeled onions that have been parboiled. Half dozen small carrots cut up in fine pieces. One-half dozen small potatoes cut in slices. Cover and let cook until the vegetables are done. Add a can of peas drained from the water. Salt and pepper. Serve very hot.

      CURRY OF MUTTON.

      Fry one large onion cut in thin slices in two tablespoonfuls of butter. Mix with two tablespoonfuls of flour, one teaspoonful of curry powder, one teaspoonful salt, one-fourth teaspoonful of pepper. Stir into the butter and onion. Add gradually two cups of stock. Cut two pounds of lean mutton in two-inch pieces, add them to the sauce and simmer until tender. Place the meat on a hot platter with a border of rice around it.

      MUTTON AND LAMB CHOPS.

      Broil the chops over hot coals, turning every ten seconds, the same as steak, thus searing over the chops and keeping the juice inside. When the meat looks puffy it is done. It requires ten minutes to broil chops one inch thick; if liked rare, eight minutes. Place on a hot platter, season with salt, pepper and butter, garnish with points of toast and a little parsley or watercress, or with peas, French-fried potatoes, potato balls or straws.

      French Chops.—Have the meat and fat scraped from the bone. When served, the bone is usually covered with a ruffle.

      CHOPS IN PAPER CASES.

      Place the chop on well-greased heavy writing paper, season with salt and pepper, fold the paper over the chop and turn the edges over twice to hold them securely. Broil over a moderate fire, turning frequently. These may be served in the paper. These are very delicate to serve to invalids.

      ROAST SPRING LAMB.

      Spring lamb is divided into fore and hind quarters, the whole of either not being too much to roast at one time. The fore quarter is less expensive than the hind. It should be fresh and thoroughly cooked. Roast in a hot oven, season with flour, salt and pepper. After fifteen minutes’ cooking add one cup of hot water, baste frequently, allowing about twenty minutes to a pound. Serve with mint sauce and green peas or asparagus and new potatoes.

      BOILED LAMB TONGUES (Mrs. Lincoln).

      Boil six tongues in salted water with the juice of half a lemon until tender. Serve cold with tartare sauce, or pickle them by covering with hot-spiced vinegar.