SC - period salt

[TG]

On Fri, 20 Oct 2000 10:48:45 -0400 "Philippa Alderton"
<phlip at morganco.net> writes:
> Those of you who attended my butchering class, could you send me at:
> phlip at morganco.net, the recipes you used on the various parts of the
lamb? Also, anybody  else with some good lamb recipes, preferably period,
please send them along.
> Thanks,
> Phlip

Ok, this was not so much a recipe as a technique.  It comes from Digby,
page 171, and is called "An Excellent Way of Making Mutton Steaks".

AN EXCELLENT WAY OF MAKING MUTTON STEAKS
 Cut a Rack of Mutton into tender Steaks, Rib by Rib, and beat the flesh
well with the back of a Knife.  Then have a composition ready, made of
Crumbs of stale Manchet grated small, and a little Salt (a fit proportion
to Salt the meat) and a less quantity of White-pepper.  Cover over on
both sides all the flesh with this, pretty thick, pressing it on with
your fingers and flat Knife, to make it lie on.  Then lay the Steaks upon
a Gridiron over a very quick fire (for herein consisteth the well doing)
and when the fire hath pierced in a little on the one side, turn the
other, before any juyce drop down through the Powder.  This turning the
steaks will make the juyce run back the other way; and before it run
through, and drop through this side, you must turn again the other side;
doing so till the Steaks be broiled enough.  Thus you keep all the juyce
in them, so that when you go to eat them (which must be presently, as
they are taken from the fire) abundance of juyce runneth out as soon as
your Knife entereth into the flesh. The same Person, that doth this,
rosteth a Capon so as to keep all its juyce in it.  The mystery of it is
in turning it so quick, that nothing can drop down.  This maketh it the
longer in rosting.  But when you cut it up, the juyce runneth out, as out
of a juycie leg of Mutton; and it is excellent meat. 


Notes:
I did this pretty much exactly as written.  I beat small cutlets (I made
them small because we were serving this at the Cook's dinner, and I
wanted several portions), and coated them with breadcrumbs, salt, and
white pepper.  I then put the cutlets on my gas grill, and turned them as
soon as I saw any juice start to appear on the outside of the meat. 
There was no juice drippage that I saw, and the steaks did come out very
juicy.  
	I took the racks (without the meat) and grilled them until they were
cooked through, and cut the ribs apart for hungry carnivores.  I think I
threw some salt, pepper, and rosemary on them before they went on the
grill.  
	I made a sausage (with the help of Ras' sausage grinder) from someone
else's Spanish cookbook, maybe "A Drizzle of Honey" (?), and stuffed it
into the caul, which I then roasted in my Coleman oven.  It was fabulous,
but I don't remember the recipe, and I know I didn't follow the one in
the book religiously.  (So sue me!)
Christianna

________________________________________________________________
YOU'RE PAYING TOO MUCH FOR THE INTERNET!
Juno now offers FREE Internet Access!
Try it today - there's no risk!  For your FREE software, visit:
http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj.