Braised Leg of Mutton

Ingredients

• 1 leg of mutton
• bacon
• mixed spice
• savoury herbs
• forcemeat
• 2 or 3 onions
• 4 or 5 carrots
• 2 bay leaves
• a few bones or bits of undressed mutton or veal
• 3/4 pint gravy
• white beans (haricots blancs)
• mild ragout of garlic or eschalots

Instructions

1. Bone the leg of mutton as far as the first joint.
2. Roll large strips of bacon in a seasoning of mixed spice and finely minced or powdered savoury herbs.
3. Use the seasoned bacon strips to lard the inside of the boned portion, or alternatively fill the cavity with highly seasoned forcemeat using eschalot or garlic.
4. Sew up the meat.
5. Place the meat in a braising-pan or ham-kettle of nearly its size, with slices of bacon arranged under and over it.
6. Arrange two or three onions, four or five carrots, two bay leaves, a large bunch of savoury herbs, a few bones or bits of undressed mutton or veal around the meat, and pour in about three quarters of a pint of gravy.
7. Stew the meat as gently as possible for four to five hours, keeping live embers on the pan.
8. If live coals are not practical, seal the edges of the braising vessel with coarse paste and place it in a moderately heated oven instead.
9. Lift out the meat and strain the gravy.
10. Reduce the gravy quickly to a glaze and brush the meat with it, or simply strain it free of fat and pour it over the mutton.
11. Serve the joint with white beans boiled tender and well drained, or with a mild ragout of garlic or eschalots laid in the dish beneath it.