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Stewed Leg of Mutton

A slow‑cooked leg of mutton with water, gravy, carrots, onions, turnips, tomatoes, and marjoram.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Eliza Leslie · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 4 ingredients
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Stewed Leg of Mutton

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Take a leg of mutton and trim it nicely.

  2. Put it into a pot with three pints of water; or with two pints of water and one quart of gravy drawn from bones, trimmings, and coarse pieces of meat.

Stew

  1. Add some slices of carrots, and a little salt.

  2. Stew it slowly for three hours.

  3. Then put in small onions, small turnips, tomatoes or tomato catchup, and shredded or powdered sweet marjoram to your taste.

  4. Let it stew for three hours longer.

  5. If using a large leg, total stewing time will be six and a half to seven hours.

  6. Do not allow it to stew to rags.

Serve

  1. Serve it up with the vegetables and gravy around it.

  2. Serve mashed potatoes in another dish.

By Eliza Leslie. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Mutton leg (in the method)
Provides the main meat, which becomes tender and flavorful during slow stewing.
Gravy drawn from bones
Adds meaty richness and moisture to the stewing liquid.
Carrots (in the method)
Add natural sweetness and body to the stew's vegetables and gravy.
Onions (in the method)
Soften during stewing and add savory sweetness to the gravy.
Tomatoes (in the method)
Add acidity and brightness that balance the rich meat and gravy.

The step that matters

Do not allow it to stew to rags. Long, slow simmering breaks down collagen until the meat becomes tender, but overcooking lets the fibers separate fully so the leg loses its shape and texture.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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