Mrs. J. L. Lane’s breast of lamb with orange stuffing

The bfia alternative to Mrs. J. L. Lane’s breast of lamb with orange stuffing from her 365 Orange Recipes. The eccentric book appeared in 1909, and while the culinary influences of many nations are apparent, the British tradition may be the most prominent. British recipes that flavor lamb, or more accurately mutton, go back earlier than 1985, when Robert May included a slew of them in his landmark Accomplisht Cook. In one recipe he lards a roast with long strips of bitter orange peel, a technique lost to most of us. Mrs. Lane’s is the easier technique but no less appealing for that.

• a semi-boneless breast of lamb, usually of 2-3 lb

For the stuffing:

• an orange
• about 2 cups breadcrumbs
• about 2 Tablespoons minced scallion greens
• about ½ teaspoon
• about ½ teaspoon mace
• salt and pepper

For gravy:

• flour (preferably Wondra)
• hot lamb stock if you have it, chicken or beef stock, or water, if you do not

1. Pound the meat as thin as you can between sheets of plastic wrap without launching lamb shrapnel across your kitchen.
2. Zest the orange, remove as much pith as possible and cut it into chunks about ¾ inch square.

Preheat the oven to 425°.

3. Combine the remaining stuffing ingredients with the orange zest and chunks.
4. Smear the stuffing evenly across the inside of the breast, then roll and tie it.
5. Season the outside of the rolled breast lavishly with salt and pepper
6. Roast the lamb on a rack for about 20 minutes per pound for pinkish meat, more or less done as you like it.
7. Let the meat rest tented with foil covered by a couple of dish (that is, tea) towels for at least 10 minutes.
8. Meanwhile make a gravy by straining the pan drippings into a heavy skillet and whisking an equal amount of flour into the strained dripping until the roux takes on the faintest shape of taupe.
9. Slowly whisk hot stock into the roux until the gravy becomes smoth and thickens as much as you want. Check the seasoning (you may not need any) and serve it up hot with thick chunks of lamb. 

Notes:

-Mrs. Lane adds half a cup of blanched almonds to her stuffing but omits the seasonings and scallions.

-She also bastes the lamb “for the first half-hour with 1 cupful of hot water in which 1 sliced orange is steeping.” We did not notice that it made any difference.

-Mrs. Lane flavors her gravy with orange ketchup , an excellent idea. The problem there is finding any: You will need to put some up yourself. Perversely enough she has a recipe, but does not refer to the ketchup in connection with this dish and only recommends serving it with game. Our version of her ketchup also appears in the practical.