LAMB CUTLETS

_Ingredients._—Loin of lamb, pepper and salt to taste. _Mode._—Trim off the flap from a fine loin of lamb, and cut it into cutlets about ¾ inch in thickness. Have ready a bright clear fire; lay the cutlets on a gridiron, and broil them of a nice pale brown, turning them when required. Season them with pepper and salt; serve very hot and quickly, and garnish with crisped parsley, or place them on mashed potatoes. Asparagus, spinach, or peas are the favourite accompaniments to lamb chops. _Time._—About 8 or 10 minutes. _Average cost_, 1_s._ per lb. _Sufficient._—Allow 2 cutlets to each person. _Seasonable_ from Easter to Michaelmas.

LAMB, Cutlets and Spinach (an Entrée).

_Ingredients._—8 cutlets, egg and bread-crumbs, salt and pepper to taste, a little clarified butter. _Mode._—Cut the cutlets from a neck of lamb, and shape them by cutting off the thick part of the chine-bone. Trim off most of the fat and all the skin, and scrape the top part of the bones quite clean. Brush the cutlets over with egg, sprinkle them with bread-crumbs, and season with pepper and salt. Now dip them into clarified butter, sprinkle over a few more bread-crumbs, and fry them over a sharp fire, turning them when required. Lay them before the fire to drain, and arrange them on a dish with spinach in the centre, which should be previously well boiled, drained, chopped, and seasoned. _Time._—About 7 or 8 minutes. _Average cost_, 10_d._ per lb. _Sufficient_ for 4 persons. _Seasonable_ from Easter to Michaelmas.

_Note._—Peas, asparagus, or French beans, may be substituted for the spinach; or lamb cutlets may be served with stewed cucumbers, Soubise sauce, &c., &c.

LAMB, Roast Fore-quarter of.

_Ingredients._—Lamb, a little salt. _Mode._—To obtain the flavour of lamb in perfection, it should not be long kept; time to cool is all that it requires; and though the meat may be somewhat thready, the juices and flavour will be infinitely superior to that of lamb that has been killed 2 or 3 days. Make up the fire in good time, that it may be clear and brisk when the joint is put down. Place it at a sufficient distance to prevent the fat from burning, and baste it constantly till the moment of serving. Lamb should be very _thoroughly_ done without being dried up, and not the slightest appearance of red gravy should be visible, as in roast mutton: this rule is applicable to all young white meats. Serve with a little gravy made in the dripping-pan, the same as for other roasts, and send to table with it a tureen of mint sauce, and a fresh salad. A cut lemon, a small piece of fresh butter, and a little cayenne, should also be placed on the table, so that when the carver separates the shoulder from the ribs, they may be ready for his use; if, however, he should not be very expert, we would recommend that the cook should divide these joints nicely before coming to table. _Time._—Fore-quarter of lamb weighing 10 lbs., 1¾ to 2 hours. _Average cost_, 10_d._ to 1_s._ per lb. _Sufficient_ for 7 or 8 persons. _Seasonable._—Grass lamb, from Easter to Michaelmas.

LAMB’S FRY.

_Ingredients._—1 lb. of lamb’s fry, 3 pints of water, egg and bread-crumbs, 1 teaspoonful of chopped parsley, salt and pepper to taste. _Mode._—Boil the fry for ¼ hour in the above proportion of water, take it out and dry it in a cloth; grate some bread down finely, mix with it a teaspoonful of chopped parsley and a high seasoning of pepper and salt. Brush the fry lightly over with the yolk of an egg, sprinkle over the bread-crumbs, and fry for 5 minutes. Serve very hot on a napkin in a dish, and garnish with plenty of crisped parsley. _Time._—¼ hour to simmer the fry, 5 minutes to fry it. _Average cost_, 10_d._ per lb. _Sufficient_ for 2 or 3 persons. _Seasonable_ from Easter to Michaelmas.

LAMB, Hashed, and Broiled Blade-Bone.

[COLD MEAT COOKERY.] _Ingredients._—The remains of a cold shoulder of lamb, pepper and salt to taste, 2 oz. of butter, about ½ pint of stock or gravy, 1 tablespoonful of shalot vinegar, 3 or 4 pickled gherkins. _Mode._—Take the blade-bone from the shoulder, and cut the meat into collops as neatly as possible. Season the bone with pepper and salt, pour a little oiled butter over it, and place it in the oven to warm through. Put the stock into a stewpan, add the ketchup and shalot vinegar, and lay in the pieces of lamb. Let these heat gradually through, but do not allow them to boil. Take the blade-bone out of the oven, and place it on a gridiron over a sharp fire to brown. Slice the gherkins, put them into the hash, and dish it with the blade-bone in the centre. It may be garnished with croûtons or sippets of toasted bread. _Time._—Altogether ½ hour. _Average cost_, exclusive of the meat, 4_d._ _Seasonable._—Houselamb, from Christmas to March; grass lamb, from Easter to Michaelmas.

LAMB, Boiled Leg of, à la Béchamel.

_Ingredients._—Leg of lamb, Béchamel sauce. _Mode._—Do not choose a very large joint, but one weighing about 5 lbs. Have ready a saucepan of boiling water, into which plunge the lamb, and when it boils up again, draw it to the side of the fire, and let the water cool a little. Then stew very gently for about 1¼ hour, reckoning from the time that the water begins to simmer. Make some Béchamel, dish the lamb, pour the sauce over it, and garnish with tufts of boiled cauliflower or carrots. When liked, melted butter may be substituted for the Béchamel: this is a more simple method, but not nearly so nice. Send to table with it some of the sauce in a tureen, and boiled cauliflowers or spinach, with whichever vegetable the dish is garnished. _Time._—1¼ hour after the water simmers. _Average cost_, 10_d._ to 1_s._ per lb. _Sufficient_ for 4 or 5 persons. _Seasonable_ from Easter to Michaelmas.

LAMB, Roast Leg of.

_Ingredients._—Lamb, a little salt. _Mode._—Place the joint at a good distance from the fire at first, and baste well the whole time it is cooking. When nearly done, draw it nearer the fire to acquire a nice brown colour. Sprinkle a little fine salt over the meat, empty the dripping-pan of its contents; pour in a little boiling water, and strain this over the meat. Serve with mint sauce and a fresh salad, and for vegetables send peas, spinach, or cauliflowers to table with it. _Time._—A leg of lamb weighing 5 lbs., 1½ hour. _Average cost_, 10_d._ to 1_s._ a pound. _Sufficient_ for 4 or 5 persons. _Seasonable_ from Easter to Michaelmas.

LAMB, Braised Loin of.

_Ingredients._—1 loin of lamb, a few slices of bacon, 1 bunch of green onions, 5 or 6 young carrots, a bunch of savoury herbs, 2 blades of pounded mace, 1 pint of stock, salt to taste. _Mode._—Bone a loin of lamb, and line the bottom of a stewpan just capable of holding it, with a few thin slices of fat bacon; add the remaining ingredients, cover the meat with a few more slices of bacon, pour in the stock, and simmer very _gently_ for 2 hours; take it up, dry it, strain and reduce the gravy to a glaze, with which glaze the meat, and serve it either on stewed peas, spinach, or stewed cucumbers. _Time._—2 hours. _Average cost_, 11_d._ per lb. _Sufficient_ for 4 or 5 persons. _Seasonable_ from Easter to Michaelmas.

LAMB, Roast Saddle of.

_Ingredients._—Lamb; a little salt. _Mode._—This joint is now very much in vogue, and is generally considered a nice one for a small party. Have ready a clear brisk fire; put down the joint at a little distance, to prevent the fat from scorching, and keep it well basted all the time it is cooking. Serve with mint sauce and a fresh salad, and send to table with it either peas, cauliflowers, or spinach. _Time._—A small saddle, 1½ hour; a large one, 2 hours. _Average cost_, 10_d._ to 1_s._ per lb. _Sufficient_ for 5 or 6 persons. _Seasonable_ from Easter to Michaelmas.

_Note._—Loin and ribs of lamb are roasted in the same manner, and served with the same sauces as the above. A loin will take about 1¼ hour; ribs, from 1 to 1¼ hour.

LAMB, Roast Shoulder of.

_Ingredients._—Lamb; a little salt. _Mode._—Have ready a clear brisk fire, and put down the joint at a sufficient distance from it, that the fat may not burn. Keep constantly basting until done, and serve with a little gravy made in the dripping-pan, and send mint sauce to table with it. Peas, spinach, or cauliflowers are the usual vegetables served with lamb, and also a fresh salad. _Time._—A shoulder of lamb rather more than 1 hour. _Average cost_, 10_d._ to 1_s._ per lb. _Sufficient_ for 4 or 5 persons. _Seasonable_ from Easter to Michaelmas.

LAMB, Shoulder of, Stuffed.

_Ingredients._—Shoulder of lamb, forcemeat, trimmings of veal or beef, 2 onions, ½ head of celery, 1 faggot of savoury herbs, a few slices of fat bacon, 1 quart of stock. _Mode._—Take the blade-bone out of a shoulder of lamb, fill up its place with forcemeat, and sew it up with coarse thread. Put it into a stewpan with a few slices of bacon under and over the lamb, and add the remaining ingredients. Stew very gently for rather more than 2 hours. Reduce the gravy, with which glaze the meat, and serve with peas, stewed cucumbers, or sorrel sauce. _Time._—Rather more than 2 hours. _Average cost_, 10_d._ to 1_s._ per lb. _Sufficient_ for 4 or 5 persons. _Seasonable_ from Easter to Michaelmas.

LANDRAIL, Roast, or Corn-Crake.

_Ingredients._—3 or 4 birds, butter, fried bread-crumbs. _Mode._—Pluck and draw the birds, wipe them inside and out with damp cloths, and truss them in the following manner: Bring the head round under the wing, and the thighs close to the sides; pass a skewer through them and the body, and keep the legs straight. Roast them before a clear fire, keep them well basted, and serve on fried bread-crumbs, with a tureen of brown gravy. When liked, bread-sauce may also be sent to table with them. _Time._—12 to 20 minutes. _Average cost._—Seldom bought. _Sufficient._—Allow 4 for a dish. _Seasonable_ from August 12th to the middle of September.

LANDRAIL, to Carve.

Landrail, being trussed like Snipe, with the exception of its being drawn, may be carved in the same manner.

LARD, to Melt.

Melt the inner fat of the pig, by putting it in a stone jar, and placing this in a saucepan of boiling water, previously stripping off the skin. Let it simmer gently over a bright fire, and, as it melts, pour it carefully from the sediment. Put it into small jars or bladders for use, and keep it in a cool place. The flead or inside fat of the pig, before it is melted, makes exceedingly light crust, and is particularly wholesome. It may be preserved a length of time by salting it well, and occasionally changing the brine. When wanted for use, wash and wipe it, and it will answer for making into paste as well as fresh lard. _Average cost_, 10_d._ per lb.

_Ingredients._—Bacon and larding-needle. _Mode._—Bacon for larding should be firm and fat, and ought to be cured without any saltpetre, as this reddens white meats. Lay it on a table, the rinds downwards; trim off any rusty part, and cut it into slices of an equal thickness. Place the slices one on the top of another, and cut them evenly into narrow strips, so arranging it that every piece of bacon is of the same size. Bacon for fricandeaux, poultry, and game, should be about 2 inches in length, and rather more than one-eighth of an inch in width. If for larding fillets of beef or loin of veal, the pieces of bacon must be thicker. The following recipe of Soyer is, we think, very explicit; and any cook, by following the directions here given, may be able to lard, if not well, sufficiently for general use:—

“Have the fricandeau trimmed; lay it, lengthwise, upon a clean napkin across your hand, forming a kind of bridge with your thumb at the part where you are about to commence; then with the point of the larding-needle make three distinct lines across, ½ inch apart; run the needle into the third line, at the farther side of the fricandeau, and bring it out at the first, placing one of the lardoons in it; draw the needle through, leaving out ¼ inch of the bacon at each line; proceed thus to the end of the row; then make another line, ½ inch distant, stick in another row of lardoons, bringing them out at the second line, leaving the ends of the bacon out all the same length; make the next row again at the same distance, bringing the ends out between the lardoons of the first row, proceeding in this manner until the whole surface is larded in chequered rows. Everything else is larded in a similar way; and, in the case of poultry, hold the breast over a charcoal fire for one minute, or dip it into boiling water, in order to make the flesh firm.”

LARK PIE (an Entrée).

_Ingredients._—A few thin slices of beef, the same of bacon, 9 larks, flour; for stuffing, 1 teacupful of bread-crumbs, ½ teaspoonful of minced lemon-peel, 1 teaspoonful of minced parsley, 1 egg, salt and pepper to taste, 1 teaspoonful of chopped shalot, ½ pint of weak stock or water, puff-paste. _Mode._—Make a stuffing of bread-crumbs, minced lemon-peel, parsley, and the yolk of an egg, all of which should be well mixed together; roll the larks in flour, and stuff them. Line the bottom of a pie-dish with a few slices of beef and bacon; over these place the larks, and season with salt, pepper, minced parsley, and chopped shalot, in the above proportion. Pour in the stock or water, cover with crust, and bake for an hour in a moderate oven. During the time the pie is baking, shake it 2 or 3 times, to assist in thickening the gravy, and serve very hot. Time.—1 hour. _Average cost_, 1_s._ 6_d._ per dozen. _Sufficient_ for 5 or 6 persons. _Seasonable._—In full season in November.

LARKS, Roast.

_Ingredients._—Larks, egg and bread-crumbs, fresh butter. _Mode._—These birds are by many persons esteemed a great delicacy, and may be either roasted or broiled. Pick, gut, and clean them; when they are trussed, brush them over with the yolk of an egg; sprinkle with bread-crumbs, and roast them before a quick fire; baste them continually with fresh butter, and keep sprinkling with the bread-crumbs until the birds are well covered. Dish them on bread-crumbs fried in clarified butter, and garnish the dish with slices of lemon. Broiled larks are also very excellent: they should be cooked over a clear fire, and would take about 10 minutes or ¼ hour. _Time._—¼ hour to roast; 10 minutes to broil. _Seasonable._—In full season in November.

_Note._—Larks may also be plainly roasted, without covering them with egg and bread-crumbs; they should be dished on fried crumbs.