Spring Comes to The Table

New Zealand Listener, Volume 31, Issue 794, 8 October 1954, Page 32

Spring Comes to The Table

a new interest in mealtime. One thinks first of lamb, which is expensive, but it can be eked out with spring vegetables; and, anyhow, there is no waste, for every little bit is tender and eatable. Fresh spring mint is here, too, for mintsauce and for giving a delicate flavour to the cooking of new potatoes and green peas; and don’t forget some mint in the spring salads, with fresh young lettuce and radishes, spring onions and cold sliced new potatoes, young carrots, hard-boiled eggs and a little parsley. Asparagus, too, is more plentiful and popular every spring, so that dinners really won't be difficult to plan for. Oye il certainly brings Forequarter of Lamb Just roast it "as is." Delicious hot or cold, all the little bony bits are the tastiest. of all-no waste really. But you may also have it boned and filled with mint stuffing, rolled and baked. A halfcup of dry white wine added before _putting the stuffed breast in the oven, and spooned over it while cooking, makes it a special delicacy. Mint Stuffing Two cups soft breadcrumbs, 1% cup butter, 2 cup minced onion, 4% cup finely-minced mint, 44 teaspoon pepper, 34 teaspoon salt. Combine and moisten to a paste with about 1 cup hot water, or a beaten egg. Dust meat with a little pepper and salt and lay stuffing on flat end, and roll it up, fasten with skewers, dust with a little flour, and put in roasting pan, preferably on a rack, with a little fat smeared on, and fat in the pan and a little hot water. Have the oven hot (regulo 7 or 8, or 400 degrees) for the first 10 minutes, then reduce heat and cook more slowly, about 20 minutes to the pound. Make gravy as usual.

Pot-roast Shoulder of Lamb Have the shoulder boned and rolled; brown it in beef dripping in suitable saucepan. Add 2 or 3 sliced onions, 11/2 cups sliced carrots, 3 or 4 cloves, 1/2 teaspoon peppercorns, 2 teaspoons salt, Y% teaspoon pepper, 2 cups boiling water. Cover and cook gently until meat is tender (212 to 3 hours). Thicken the gravy as usual, being sure to pour off most of the fat. . Devilled Lamb Neck Cook 1% Ib. neck of lamb, cut in slices about 34 inch thick, with a cupful of sliced onions in 2 tablespoons fat or salad oil over low heat, for about 20 minutes. Add 2 teaspoons salt, 1 tablespoon vinegar, 2 teaspoon dry mustard and 2 cups water. Cover and simmer slowly till tender (about an _ hour). Thicken gravy and serve with mashed or new potatoes, and sprinkle when serving with a little. finely-chopped parsley. A little curry powder may be added if liked. Lamb and Carrot Cakes Boned lamb-shoulder, 34 1lb., 3 small pared carrots, a small, peeled onion, a teaspoon salt, 4% teaspoon pepper, a beaten. egg, 2 tablespoons (about) of flour, 2 tablespoons fat (or salad oil),

a tin of soup. Put lamb, carrots and onion through medium blade of mincer.

Add salt, pepper and beaten egg. Mix thoroughly, shape into small cakes; roll them in a little flour. Heat the fat or oil in stewpan, and saute the cakes until brown on all sides. Add 1% cup of the tinned soup, put on lid, and simmer very slowly for 10 minutes, Remove the lamb cakes to heated dish and keep hot. Add 2 tablespoons flour to the fat in the pan, and cook until brown and smooth. Then add remaining soup slowly, stirring constantly, Cook until gravy thickens, then pour it over the cakes. Serves 4. Lamb Croquettes Combine a cupful ot: thick white sauce with a teaspoon each of minced parsley and onion, 42 teaspoon lemon juice, and 2 cups of minced cooked

lamb. Add pepper and salt to taste, and a pinch of dried sage if desired. Chill all this overnight or all day. Divide into 8 portions, shape into balls or cylinders, and roll first in breadcrumbs, then in egg (beaten slightly on a plate with a little water), then in crumbs again, making sure they are well-coated. Chill. Then fry, a few at a time, in hot fat (about 14% inches deep) 2-3 minutes, till golden brown, turning occasionally. Drain on soft paper and serve very hot, with tomato sauce or horse-radish sauce. Instead of making the mixture into croquettes, you may form flat patties and brown on both sides in only a little fat or salad oil. Ragout of Lamb This is the basic recipe for stewing lamb in the Greek way. Take 2 lb. or more breast of lamb. If you can have cutlets, too, the "eye" of these is particularly good. Cut meat into pieces, fry them lightly in butter or substitute, and put them in saucepan. In the ‘same frying pan, fry 2 or 3 sliced onions, and add these to meat in the saucepan, with salt, pepper, a little stock, and a squeeze of lemon juice. Some fresh tomato puree may be added, but this is optional. Cover saucepan and simmer gently till lamb is tender (about an hour). Very young and tender broad beans may be added, in their shells, when lamb is put into saucepan, or young French beans, topped and tailed, and just broken in two, or young peas and mint leaves, or even spinach which has been steamed for a few minutes,