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Shoulder of Mutton Stuffed

A braised stuffed mutton shoulder with bacon, turkey stuffing, and a wine and brandy gravy.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 22 ingredients
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Why it works: Mutton and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and 5,442 recipes mention both. Both carry ethyl 2-methylbutyrate, which smells fruity, apple. The science ↓

The recipe

Ingredients

Contains: milk (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Prepare the mutton

  1. Bone the shoulder of mutton carefully, wash and dry it.

  2. Flatten it on a clean board, dust with spiced pepper and salt.

  3. Layer thin slices of bacon over the meat.

  4. Spread turkey stuffing evenly over the bacon, roll the meat, and secure with tapes.

Braise

  1. Melt butter in a stew-pan and brown the roll of mutton.

  2. Add broth, chopped onions, garlic, sliced carrot, peppercorns, mace, celery, sugar, salt, wine, and brandy.

  3. Braise the mutton until cooked through.

Finish and serve

  1. Serve on a hot dish, brown the surface with a hot iron.

  2. Strain the gravy, remove fat, and flavor with Madeira, red currant jelly, lime juice, and chili vinegar.

  3. Let the gravy boil, pour around the mutton, and garnish with small white onions.

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

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Mutton + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together5,442 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  2. Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together29,030 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  3. Pepper + carrottop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together14,555 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Onion + carrottop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together21,599 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Pepper + garlictop 5% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together27,044 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Mutton shoulder
Forms the main body of the dish, becoming tender and rich as it braises slowly.
Butter
Browns the outside of the meat roll and adds richness to the cooking fat.
Turkey stuffing
Adds a moist, seasoned filling that flavors the meat as it cooks inside the roll.
Bacon
Adds fat and savory flavor that bastes the lean mutton during braising.
Broth
Provides the liquid for braising, keeping the meat moist and building the gravy.
Red currant jelly
Adds sweetness and body to the gravy, balancing its savory and sharp notes.

The step that matters

Braise the mutton until cooked through. Slow, moist heat breaks down the connective tissue in the shoulder. Stopping too early leaves it tough, while overcooking dries the lean meat.

Flavor stand-ins for the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mutton, pepper, turkey, butter, onion, garlic, carrot):

  1. Parsleybetter flavor fit
  2. Thymebetter flavor fit
  3. Celerybetter flavor fit
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, pepper, turkey, butter, onion, garlic, carrot. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).

“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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