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Boused Leg of Mutton

A leg of mutton boiled with water and coarse sea salt, served with boiled carrots, mashed turnips, and caper sauce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Boused Leg of Mutton

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the mutton

  1. Cut off the shank bone and trim the knuckle of the leg of mutton.

  2. Wash and wipe the meat clean.

Boil and simmer

  1. Plunge the leg into enough boiling water to cover it.

  2. Let it boil briefly.

  3. Move the saucepan to the side of the fire.

  4. Allow the water to cool until you can bear your finger in it.

  5. Position the saucepan near the fire so the water simmers gently.

  6. Skim the surface well.

  7. Add a little coarse sea salt.

  8. Simmer for about 2 hours and 15 minutes until the mutton is done.

Serve

  1. Serve with boiled carrots and mashed turnips.

  2. Provide caper sauce in a tureen.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Leg of mutton
Is the main cut of meat, cooked gently in water until tender.

The step that matters

Keep the water at a gentle simmer. A hard boil toughens the meat's proteins and makes the outside stringy, while gentle heat cooks the meat evenly and keeps it tender and juicy.

“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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