Hogget flaps for economy

Press, 16 August 1978, Page 18

Hogget flaps for economy

ALISON HOLST KITCHEN DIARY

I could do without many kitchen gadgets if I had to, but I would hate to work without good sharp knives. I am sure that my thinbladed, slightly curved knife that I use for boning, has saved me a great deal of money over the years. (These knives are called boning or filleting knives and are worth looking at). One wet day during the week I noticed hogget flaps in the supermarket, and I decided to experiment with them. I bought two 50c packs of hogget flaps. At home J unwrapped

the four flaps and suggested to my 11-year-old son that he and his friend might like to test Out their newly-sharpened scout knives and try their hands at boning. I demonstrated with the first one, then left the boys to it. They did a good job, too. It’s easy to see the rib bones on a flap, because they are close to the surface. It is merely a matter of cutting between and under them, then lifting them away from the layers of streaky meat underneath. Near the middle of the flap is a strip of meat which is part of the diaphragm. Underneath this

are several long pieces of cartilage .which should also be cut out. Once the flaps are boned, trim off any easilyremoved pieces of fat, and spore the outer fell (or skin). We weighed, the trimmed, boned flaps and found we had a little more than two kilograms of meat altogether — good value for $l. The bones went into a large soup pot, together with a 30c bag of beef bones. I covered these with three or four litres of water and simmered them for three to four hours for stock four soup and gravy. I spread the flaps on

the bench, boned side up, and spread them with mild, mixed mustard, soy sauce, garlic salt and my three most-used dried herbs, thyme, basil, and marjoram. Then I arranged the flaps so they overlapped and rolled them up to form a long, thinnish roll. I tied this in four place with string, put it in a turkey-sized roasting bag, tied the bag loosely and cooked it at 150 deg C (300 deg F) for three and a half hours. After two hours I undid the bag and poured off the fat. I used this to roast pumpkin, potatoes and parsnips. T poured away

more fat 13 minutes before serving. Hogget flaps cooked like this are very tender and surprisingly meaty, since most of the fat is removed during the long slow cooking. This is not a recipe for those who eat only pink, underdone lean meat, but it is an economical family meal. I serve it with wellflavoured brown gravy, roast root vegetables, a green leafy vegetable and crabapple jelly. Leftovers may be used for cold meat, or minced for a shepherd’s pie, and of course the stock from the bones is useful for soup.