Soyer's standard cookery

Melt two ounces of dripping in a large stewpan, and put in a small leg of lamb and fry it for ten minutes, letting it brown lightly on both sides. Then pour in sufficient water to partly cover the meat, and add two onions, a turnip, and two carrots (cut into slices), a sprig of mint, a small bunch of parsley and a little muslin bag containing twelve peppercorns, a blade of mace, and two cloves. Place a piece of buttered paper over the meat, then cover the pan and let it simmer in a moderately hot oven for three hours. The meat should be basted from time to time and turned after it has been cooking for an hour and a half. When it is done, remove it from the pan and keep it hot while the sauce is made. Pour off as much of the fat as possible from the liquor in which the lamb was cooked, then thicken it with cornflour, which has been mixed with a small quantity of cold water; season it with salt and a little pepper if necessary, and color the sauce a rich brown with Parisian essence. Strain it through a pointed strainer over the meat, and garnish the dish either with peas which have been cooked separately or with the vegetables with which it was braised. Stewed Neck of Lamb. Take two to three pounds of the neck of lamb, which may either be cut up or jointed and left whole. After washing it put it into a stewpan with some cold vegetable stock (water in which a large onion, a carrot, and a turnip have been boiled with a bunch of parsley and a few sweet herbs). When it boils up skim the stock, add a teaspoonful of salt and as long as the scum rises remove it; then draw the pan to the side of the stove where the meat can only simmer, and leave for half an hour. At the end of the time add the peas, or if these are not procurable some very young carrots and turnips may be used instead; cover the pan and let the meat simmer for another half hour. Mix the flour until it is quite smooth with a little milk, pour this into the stewpan and stir the sauce quickly until it thickens, then season it with black pepper and salt and add the mint and the parsley and let the contents of the pan continue to cook gently for half an hour longer. Place the meat on a hot dish and surround it with peas (or other vegetables) and the sauce. Mutton may be substitued for lamb. Lamb Chops a la Maintenon. Cover each chop thickly with a mixture of minced ham, marjoram, and breadcrumbs, blended with butter, onion juice, and parsley. Wrap each chop in a well-buttered Soyer paperbag and bake in a hot oven (350° Fahr.). Stewed Lamb's Heart (Mutton). Wash and slice three lamb's hearts, being careful to cut across the grain of the flesh. Brown these well in a stewpan with three tablespoonfuls of butter. Then add sufficient hot water to almost cover the meat. Season with a little pepper and salt, a couple of bay leaves, and two or three slices of lemon. Cover and simmer gently for one hour, frequently stirring, and if necessary, adding a little more water. When quite done remove the meat to a hot dish, thicken the gravy with a little flour, and pour it over. This dish should be eaten as hot as possible, as the meat is less palatable when cold. Bredee (Mutton). Cut two pounds of lean neck of mutton into small pieces.