[Sca-cooks] Mutton

[David Friedman]

>I have a co-worker who raises sheep to breed for lamb.  I told him  that if
>he ever needed to put one of his older sheep down..I'd take  it.   He just
>butchered and packaged a 7 year old ewe..and she is now  in my freezer!  Our
>cook's guild is going to be doing mutton this  month!  
>    Do you have any medieval recipes (that can be cooked over an  open fire,
>if possible)?


16th c., not medieval.

Boiled Meats Ordinary
The English Huswife p. 47

You shall take a racke of mutton cut into peeces, or a leg of mutton 
cut in peeces: for this meat and these joints, are the best, Although 
any other joint, or any fresh beefe will likewise make good pottage: 
and having washt your meat well, put it into a cleane pot with faire 
water, and set it on the fire: then take violet leaves, endive, 
succory (chiccory?), strawberie leaves, spinage, langdebeefe, 
marygold flowers, Scallions, and a little persly, and chop them very 
small together, then take halfe so much oatmeale well beaten as there 
is herbes, and mix it with the herbes, and chop all very wel 
together: then when the pot is ready to boile, skumme it very wel and 
then put in your herbes: And so let it boil with a quicke fire, 
stirring the meat oft in the pot, till the meat be boild enough, and 
that the hearbes and water mixt together without any separation, 
which will be after the consumption of more then a third part: then 
season them with salt, and serve them up with the meat either with 
sippets or without.

2 lb boned lamb	1 _ lb mixed greens = 6 c
5 c water	3 c oatmeal
1 _ t salt
(Greens: scallions, endive lettuce, Belgian endive, parsley, spinach, 
and mustard greens)

Note: we used rolled oats in this recipe, which were invented out of 
period; Irish/steel cut oats would be more appropriate.
Cut up lamb into bite-sized pieces. Put in a pot with water, bring to 
a boil. Chop greens fine, mix with oatmeal and add. Simmer about 1 
hour.
Variants: If you want the pottage green but without visible herbs, 
beat the oatmeal and herbs in a stone mortar with a wooden pestle. 
Strain it, using some warm water from the pot. If you want it without 
herbs, use lots of onions and more oatmeal than before.

We've now done it with steel cut oats, half the weight of the greens, 
which seems to work fine.

>
>Etain
>
>
>In a message dated 4/28/2011 11:01:45 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, 
>ddfr at daviddfriedman.com writes:
>
>I  thought I remembered a discussion here recently on mutton and where
>to  find it, but I'm not finding the messages so perhaps it was
>somewhere  else.
>Today I stopped at a different halal butcher, after calling to check 
>that they did have mutton (sheep not goat? yes. Leg? yes.). After a 
>brief conversation it became clear that what they meant by "mutton" 
>was lamb. I was told that they could special order meat from an adult 
>sheep, it would cost less, but I would have to be ordering a lot of 
>it.
>
>Anyone else had better luck finding mutton?
>-- 
>David/Cariadoc
>www.daviddfriedman.com
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-- 
David Friedman
www.daviddfriedman.com
daviddfriedman.blogspot.com/