Required: A pound or more best end of neck of mutton. One egg

Veal cutlets

Breadcrumbs.

Two ounces of butter or dripping. Peas or mixed vegetables. Tomato or brown sauce.

Wipe the mutton with a damp cloth and saw off the chine, or spine-bone, which connects all the bones together; it will then be quite easy to cut the cutlets; also saw off the ends of the rib-bones altogether; they should not be more than three inches long. Next cut the meat into neat cutlets, allowing one bone for each; scrape the ends of the bones free from skin or fat. Trim off all except a narrow rim of fat from each cutlet. Flatten each slightly with a heavy knife, dipped in cold water to prevent it from sticking. All pieces of bone and trimmings that are removed should be saved for the stockpot.

Beat up the egg, season it with salt and pepper. Hold the cutlets by the end of the bone, dip each in the crumbs, brush each over with beaten egg, and again cover them with crumbs, pressing them firmly on with a knife. Heat the butter or dripping in a frying-pan. When it stops bubbling, put in two or three cutlets, and fry them a pretty brown on both sides. This will probably take about ten minutes, but the length of time will depend on the thickness of the cutlets and if they are preferred wel or slightly under-cooked. After they are fried scrape the ends of the bones quite clean and put a little cutlet frill on each.

Arrange them in a half circle on a hot dish, and garnish them with some preserved peas or mixed vegetables, which have first been heated in butter. Or, if preferred, arrange the cutlets on a bed of mashed potatoes or spinach, and pour some tomato or brown sauce round.

Mutton cutlets