MUTTON OR LAMB STEAKS

Leg of lamb, cut into steaks

Have the leg cut into steaks at the market, or by the butcher. If this has not been done, you can do it yourself with a sharp knife. Cut through the largest part first; have the slices about the thickness of your finger; separate them from the bone neatly. Broil exactly like beef steak. The bone and fragments which are left will make a good broth.

The Young Housekeeper's Friend by Mrs. [M. H.] Cornelius, Boston, 1863

Comment: Lamb is rarely eaten in the US these days, outside of certain ethnic communities and times of year surrounding some major religious holidays. The even stronger flavored mutton, from the grown sheep, is even less likely to be encountered in your average supermarket meat case. A whole leg, if obtained, is more likely to be roasted in that form than to be cut up for steaks. We entirely agree with Mrs. Cornelius, though, that if you prefer it in the form of steaks that you have it cut beforehand. The process of cutting all the way around the leg, then sticking the knife down between the meat and bone to free it from the limb, tends to produce a very raggedy looking steak, so professional assistance (and professional quality meatcutting machines) should not be scorned.

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