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Mutton, Fillet Of, to Dress

A fillet of mutton stuffed with veal forcemeat, seasoned with salt and pepper, then cooked by boiling, braising, roasting, or baking.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Mutton and veal are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,394 recipes. Both carry 1-nonanal, which smells fatty, waxy. The science ↓

Mutton, Fillet Of, to Dress

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the leg

  1. Cut off the knuckle part of the leg for braising or boiling later.

  2. From the other end, cut a roasting piece, leaving the fillet 3 inches thick.

  3. Remove the bone and flatten the meat with a rolling pin.

Stuff and tie

  1. Season well with coarse sea salt and black pepper, then spread on the forcemeat.

  2. Roll up tightly and bind securely with string.

Cook

  1. Boil, braise, roast, or bake according to your preference.

  2. Alternatively, grill or roast in a Dutch oven without the forcemeat.

  3. For a different flavor, lightly fry and then stew slowly, serving with tomatoes or mushrooms.

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 their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Mutton + vealtop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,394 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-nonanal (fatty, waxy).

  2. Mutton + peppertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together5,442 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  3. Veal + peppertop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,049 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  4. Mutton + saucetop 25% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,087 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanoic acid (soapy, waxy).

  5. Sauce + peppertop 27% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together15,303 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Sauce and pepper barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 15,303 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Mutton leg
Forms the main meat, which becomes tender and juicy when cooked slowly.
Veal forcemeat
Adds moisture and a soft, rich texture inside the rolled fillet.
Gravy or brown sauce
Adds moisture and savory depth to the finished meat.

The step that matters

Rolling and tying the fillet. The meat must be rolled tightly and bound securely so the forcemeat stays inside during cooking. Loose rolls can open and let the filling fall out, and an even roll cooks more evenly.

“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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