To force a leg of lamb is a traditional British recipe, based on Hannah Glasse's recipe of 1747, for a classic dish of a tunnel boned leg of lamb stuffed with a blend of suet, eggs, herbs and spices that's roasted and served with cauliflower and gravy. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: To force a leg of lamb.
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To force a leg of lamb.
WITH a ſharp knife carefully take out all the meat, and leave the ſkin whole and the ſat on it, make the lean you cut out into force-meat thus : to two pounds of meat, add three pounds of beef-ſuet cut fine, and beat in a marble mortar till it is very fine, and take away all the ſkin of the meat and ſuet, then mix with it four ſpoonfuls of grated bread, eight or ten cloves, five or ſix large blades of mace dried and beat fine, half a large nutmeg grated, a little pepper and ſalt, a little lemon-peel cut fine, a very little thyme, ſome parſley and four eggs ; mix all together, put it into the ſkin again juſt as it was, in the ſame ſhape, ſew it up, roaſt it, baſte it with butter, cut the loin into ſteaks and fry it nicely, lay the leg in the diſh and the loin round it, with ſtewed cauliflower (as on page 17) all round upon the loin ; pour a pint of good gravy into the diſh, and ſend it to table. If you don't like the cauliflower, it may be omitted.
Modern Redaction
Ingredients
1 leg of lamb
1 lamb loin
100g butter, melted
For every 1kg of lamb meat:
1.25kg shredded beef suet
4 tbsp breadcrumbs
8 cloves, ground
1 tsp ground mace
1/2 large nutmeg, finely grated
salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
1 tbsp lemon zest
1 tsp dried thyme
2 tbsp parsley, finely chopped
4 eggs
stewed cauliflower, to garnish
600ml good gravy
Method:
Tunnel bone the leg of lamb, then using a sharp knife carefully take out all the meat, leaving the skin whole.
Remove any gristle, sinew and fat from the lamb meat then mince the meat. Weigh the meat and for every 1kg of meat add the above quantities of beef suet, breadcrumbs, cloves, mace, nutmeg, salt and black pepper, lemon zest, thyme, parsley and eggs.
Mix this stuffing thoroughly then use to stuff into the skin of the leg of lamb. Tie the ends securely to hold the stuffing inside then arrange in a roasting tin and baste with the butter. Transfer to an oven pre-heated to 200°C and roast for 20 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 180°C, baste with more butter and continue roasting for about 60 minutes, or until the leg is golden brown and cooked through.
Transfer to a warmed serving dish, cover with foil and set aside to rest for 20 minutes. In the meantime, cut the loin into steaks. Melt butter in a frying pan, add the loin steaks and fry until golden brown and just cooked through.
Arrange the loin steaks around the leg then garnish with the stewed cauliflower. Pour over the 600ml good gravy and serve.
