Testing - Mutton Hotpot

I'm trying this in the slow cooker, although the original recipe in Dorothy Hartley's book calls for a slow wood stove. Adapted from Food in England, p 156.

http://www.food.com/recipe/leg-of-lamb-in-the-crock-pot-55600

1 - Alright, it worked and was pretty good. I cooked it on 'high' and it seemed perfectly ready 6 hours later. I didn't have kidneys, so that's an experiment to try. I did use vegetable broth instead of just water.

1 bay leaf
1⁄2 leg of mutton (or lamb), rolled
2 Tbsps Oil or Bacon fat
2 Tbsps flour
1⁄4 tsp pepper
1 Tbsp butter
Kidney
2 onions, chopped
3 carrots, sliced into 1" pieces
1 Tbsp flour
1 1⁄2 lbs potatoes, sliced 1⁄2"
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp flour
1 3⁄4 cups broth 1 3/4 cups water?
Salt
1 tsp sugar
Anchovy sauce

1. Place a bay leaf and the bacon fat in the bottom of the slow cooker.
2. Heat the butter in a skillet. Mix the flour and pepper together, and dust the meat with it. Brown the meat in the hot butter to seal in the juices. Arrange on the bottom of the cooker. (If you have a kidney from the mutton, put this in next) Sprinkle with salt.
3. Dust the carrots with 1 Tbsp flour and in the remains of the oil, fry with the onion in the pan used to brown the mutton, until the carrots brown. Arrange on top of the mutton and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
4. Arrange the potatoes on top like slates on a roof and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
5. With the remaining fat in the skillet, add a Tbsp of butter and an equal amount of flour and cook to brown, then add water hot from the kettle and stir to make a gravy. Season with salt and pepper and add the sugar and, if you so choose, a dash or two of anchovy sauce.
6. Pour in the gravy. 
7. Put on the lid and cook on high for 8 5-7 hours.

Test 1 - Neck of Beef

Food in England, Dorothy Hartley, pg 75

I've already started experimenting with this in the Experimental Mouffette page. Please see:

http://experimentalmouffette.blogspot.ca/2016/01/test-1-neck-of-beef.html

Food in England by Dorothy Hartley

I don't have the habit of reading cookery books from cover-to-cover. However, exception to the rule, I've devoured Dorothy Hartley's classic Food in England, and I will be transcribing loads of recipes into this blog so that I can work out how I can make them on the farm, using what equipment we have.

Test 1 - Galettes de Memère

This is a brand new blog, dedicated to heritage recipes and working through how to translate them into modern cookery language. I am pleased and honoured to add my Memère Maurice's molasses cookie recipe as my very first entry. These cookies are an intrinsic part of my childhood, one of the fondest memories I have of coming to my grand-parents' home after school and sitting at the kitchen table to a collation, a snack, of these cookies and a glass of milk as I chatted with my grandmother as she started to make dinner. Her instructions are, like all good heritage recipes (my little joke), a little vague, essentially: refrigerate overnight. Roll into little balls and lightly flatten. Cook in 350F oven for 10-12 minutes. I've tried to flesh that out a bit. Je t'aime, Memère, et tu me manques.
1-First attempt, an unparalleled success!

1 tasse mélasse verte / 1 cup Blackstrap molasses

1 tasse cassonade / 1 cup brown or golden sugar

1 tasse saindoux ou beurre / 1 cup lard or butter

1 c. à thé pleine soda / 1 generous tsp baking soda

1 c. à thé plate gingembre / 1 tsp ginger powder

1 c. à thé sel / 1 tsp salt

une demi tasse eau bouillante / 1⁄2 cup boiling water

3 et trois quarts tasse farine / 3 3⁄4 cups flour

Mettre au réfrigérateur pour la nuit. Rouler en petite boule et aplatir un peu. Cuire à 350F pour 10-12 minutes.

1. In a mixer bowl, whip together the molasses, brown sugar and butter until it turns pale.
2. In a separate bowl, combine the baking soda, the dry ginger, salt and flour.
3. When the butter mixture starts to go pale, slow the speed and add the boiling water. Mix thoroughly, then slowly add the dry mixture until combined.
4. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
5. Roll into balls (1 oz each), set on cookie sheets and flatten slightly.
6. Cook in 350F oven for 10-12 minutes.
7. NOTE: can divide the dough and freeze a portion for future use.