Directions for Cookery, in its Various Branches
by
Eliza Leslie

Part 2 out of 9



Take half a dozen fine lobsters. Put them into boiling salt and
water, and when they are all done, take them out and extract all
the meat from the shells, leaving that of the claws as whole as
possible, and cutting the flesh of the body into large pieces
nearly of the same size. Season a sufficient quantity of vinegar
very highly with whole pepper-corns, whole cloves, and whole
blades of mace. Put the pieces of lobster into a stew-pan, and
pour on just sufficient vinegar to keep them well covered. Set it
over a moderate fire; and when it has boiled hard about five
minutes, take out the lobster, and let the pickle boil by itself
for a quarter of an hour. When the pickle and lobster are both
cold, put them together into a broad flat stone jar. Cover it
closely, and set it away in a cool place.

Eat the pickled lobster with oil, mustard, and vinegar, and have
bread and butter with it.




DIRECTIONS FOR COOKING MEAT.


BEEF.

GENERAL REMARKS.

When beef is good, it will have a fine smooth open grain, and it
will feel tender when squeezed or pinched in your fingers. The
lean should be of a bright carnation red, and the fat white rather
than yellow--the suet should be perfectly white. If the lean looks
dark or purplish, and the fat very yellow, do not buy the meat.

See that the butcher has properly jointed the meat before it goes
home. For good tables, the pieces generally roasted are the
sirloin and the fore and middle ribs. In genteel houses other
parts are seldom served up as _roast-beef_. In small families
the ribs are the most convenient pieces. A whole sirloin is too
large, except for a numerous company, but it is the piece most
esteemed.

The best beef-steaks are those cut from the ribs, or from the
inner part of the sirloin. All other pieces are, for this purpose,
comparatively hard and tough.

The round is generally corned or salted, and boiled. It is also
used for the dish called beef à-la-mode.

The legs make excellent soup; the head and tail are also used for
that purpose.

The tongue when fresh is never cooked except for mince-pies.
Corned or salted it is seldom liked, as in that state it has a
faint sickly taste that few persons can relish. But when pickled
and afterwards smoked (the only good way of preparing a tongue) it
is highly and deservedly esteemed.

The other pieces of the animal are generally salted and boiled. Or
when fresh they may be used for soup or stews, if not too fat.

If the state of the weather will allow you to keep fresh beef two
or three days, rub it with salt, and wrap it in a cloth.

In summer do not attempt to keep it more than twenty-four hours;
and not then unless you can conveniently lay it in ice, or in a
spring-house.

In winter if the beef is brought from market frozen, do not cook
it that day unless you dine very late, as it will be impossible to
get it sufficiently done--meat that has been frozen requiring
double the usual time. To thaw it, lay it in cold water, which is
the only way to extract the frost without injuring the meat. It
should remain in the water three hours, or more.


TO ROAST BEEF.

The fire should be prepared at least half an hour before the beef
is put down, and it should be large, steady, clear, and bright,
with plenty of fine hot coals at the bottom.

The best apparatus for the purpose is the well-known roaster
frequently called a tin-kitchen.

Wash the meat in cold water, and then wipe it dry, and rub it with
salt. Take care not to run the spit through the best parts of it.
It is customary with some cooks to tie blank paper over the fat,
to prevent it from melting and wasting too fast.

Put it evenly into the roaster, and do not set it too near the
fire, lest the outside of the meat should be burned before the
inside is heated.

Put some nice beef-dripping or some lard into the pan or bottom of
the roaster, and as soon as it melts begin to baste the beef with
it; taking up the liquid with a long spoon, and pouring it over
the meat so as to let it trickle down again, into the pan. Repeat
this frequently while it is roasting; after a while you can baste
it with its own fat. Turn the spit often, so that the meat may be
equally done on all sides.

Once or twice draw back the roaster, and improve the fire by
clearing away the ashes, bringing forward the hot coals, and
putting on fresh fuel at the back. Should a coal fall into the
dripping-pan take it out immediately. An allowance of about twenty
minutes to each pound of meat is the time commonly given for
roasting; but this rule, like most others, admits of exceptions
according to circumstances. Also, some persons like their meat
very much done; others prefer it rare, as it is called. In summer,
meat will roast in a shorter time than in winter.

When the beef is nearly done, and the steam draws towards the
fire, remove the paper that has covered the fat part, sprinkle on
a little salt, and having basted the meat well with the dripping,
pour off nicely (through the spout of the roaster) all the liquid
fat from the top of the gravy.

Lastly, dredge the meat very lightly with a little flour, and
baste it with fresh butter. This will give it a delicate froth. To
the gravy that is now running from the meat add nothing but a tea-cup
of boiling water. Skim it, and send it to table in a boat.
Serve up with the beef in a small deep plate, scraped horseradish
moistened with vinegar.

Fat meat requires more roasting than lean, and meat that has been
frozen will take nearly double the usual time.

Basting the meat continually with flour and water is a bad
practice, as it gives it a coddled parboiled appearance, and
diminishes the flavour.

These directions for roasting beef will apply equally to mutton.

Pickles are generally eaten with roast beef. French mustard is an
excellent condiment for it. In carving begin by cutting a slice
from the side.


TO SAVE BEEF-DRIPPING.

Pour off through the spout of the roaster or tin-kitchen, all the
fat from the top of the gravy, after you have done basting the
meat with it. Hold a little sieve under the spout, and strain the
dripping through it into a pan. Set it away in a cool place; and
next day when it is cold and congealed, turn the cake of fat, and
scrape with a knife the sediment from the bottom. Pat the dripping
into a jar; cover it tightly, and set it away in the refrigerator,
or in the coldest place you have. It will be found useful for
frying, and for many other purposes.

Mutton-dripping cannot be used for any sort of cooking, as it
communicates to every thing the taste of tallow.


BAKED BEEF.

This is a plain family dish, and is never provided for company.

Take a nice but not a fat piece of fresh beef. Wash it, rub it
with salt, and place it on a trivet in a deep block tin or iron
pan. Pour a little water into the bottom, and put under and round
the trivet a sufficiency of pared potatoes, either white or sweet
ones. Put it into a hot oven, and let it bake till thoroughly
done, basting it frequently with its own gravy. Then transfer it
to a hot dish, and serve up the potatoes in another. Skim the
gravy, and send it to table in a boat.

Or you may boil the potatoes, mash them with milk, and put them
into the bottom of the pan about half an hour before the meat is
done baking. Press down the mashed potatoes hard with the back of
a spoon, score them in cross lines over the top, and let them,
brown under the meat, serving them up laid round it.

Instead of potatoes, you may put in the bottom of the pan what is
called a Yorkshire pudding, to be baked under the meat.

To make this pudding,--stir gradually four table-spoonfuls of
flour into a pint of milk, adding a salt-spoon of salt. Beat three
eggs very light, and mix them gradually with the milk and flour.
See that the batter is not lumpy. Do not put the pudding under the
meat at first, as if baked too long it will be hard and solid.
After the meat has baked till the pan is quite hot and well
greased with the drippings, you may put in the batter; having
continued stirring it till the last moment.

If the pudding is so spread over the pan as to be but an inch
thick, it will require about two hours baking, and need not be
turned. If it is thicker than an inch, you must (after it is brown
on the top) loosen it in the pan, by inserting a knife beneath it,
and having cut it across into four pieces, turn them all nicely
that the other side may be equally done. But this pudding is
lighter and better if laid so thin as not to require turning.

When you serve up the beef lay the pieces of pudding round it, to
be eaten with the meat.

Veal may be baked in this manner with potatoes or a pudding. Also
fresh pork.


TO BOIL CORNED OR SALTED BEEF.

The best piece is the round. You may either boil it whole, or
divide it into two, or even three pieces if it is large, taking
care that each piece shall have a portion of the fat. Wash it
well; and, if very salt, soak it in two waters. Skewer it up
tightly and in a good compact shape, wrapping the flap piece
firmly round it. Tie it round with broad strong tape, or with a
strip of coarse linen. Put it into a large pot, and cover it well
with water. It will be found a convenience to lay it on a fish
drainer.

Hang it over a moderate fire that it may heat gradually all
through. Carefully take off the scum as it rises, and when no more
appears, keep the pot closely covered, and let it boil slowly and
regularly, with the fire at an equal temperature. Allow three
hours and a half to a piece weighing about twelve pounds, and from
that to four or five hours in proportion to the size. Turn the
meat twice in the pot while it is boiling. Put in some carrots and
turnips about two hours after the meat. Many persons boil cabbage
in the same pot with the beef, but it is a much nicer way to do
the greens in a separate vessel, lest they become saturated with
the liquid fat. Cauliflower or brocoli (which are frequent
accompaniments to corned beef) should never be boiled with it.

Wash the cabbage in cold water, removing the outside leaves, and
cutting the stalk close. Examine all the leaves carefully, lest
insects should be lodged among them. If the cabbage is large,
divide it into quarters. Put it into a pot of boiling water with a
handful of salt, and boil it till the stalk is quite tender. Half
an hour will generally be sufficient for a small young cabbage; an
hour for a large full-grown one. Drain it well before you dish it.
If boiled separately from the meat, have ready some melted butter
to eat with it.

Should you find the beef under-done, you may reboil it next day;
putting it into boiling-water and letting it simmer for half an
hour or more, according to its size.

Cold corned beef will keep very well for some days wrapped in
several folds of a thick linen cloth, and set away in a cool dry
place.

In carving a round of beef, slice it horizontally and very thin.
Do not help any one to the outside pieces, as they are generally
too hard and salt. French mustard is very nice with corned beef.
[Footnote: French mustard is made of the very best mustard powder,
diluted with vinegar, and flavoured with minced tarragon leaves,
and a minced clove of garlic; all mixed with a wooden spoon.]

This receipt will apply equally to any piece of corned beef,
except that being less solid than the round, they will, in
proportion to their weight, require rather less time to boil.

In dishing the meat, remove the wooden skewers and substitute
plated or silver ones.

Many persons think it best (and they are most probably right) to
stew corned beef rather than to boil it. If you intend to stew it,
put no more water in the pot than will barely cover the meat, and
keep it gently simmering over a slow fire for four, five, or six
hours, according to the size of the piece.


TO BROIL BEEF-STEAKS.

The best beef-steaks are those cut from the ribs or from the
inside of the sirloin. All other parts are for this purpose
comparatively hard and tough.

They should be cut about three quarters of an inch thick, and,
unless the beef is remarkably fine and tender, the steaks will be
much improved by beating them on both sides with a steak mallet,
or with a rolling-pin. Do not season them till you take them from
the fire.

Have ready on your hearth a fine bed of clear bright coals,
entirely free from smoke and ashes. Set the gridiron over the
coals in a slanting direction, that the meat may not be smoked by
the fat dropping into the fire directly under it. When the
gridiron is quite hot, rub the bars with suet, sprinkle a little
salt over the coals, and lay on the steaks. Turn them frequently
with a pair of steak-tongs, or with a knife and fork. A quarter of
an hour is generally sufficient time to broil & beef-steak. For
those who like them under-done or rare, ten or twelve minutes will
be enough.

When the fat blazes and smokes very much as it drips into the
fire, quickly remove the gridiron for a moment, till the blaze has
subsided. After they are browned, cover the upper side of the
steaks with an inverted plate or dish to prevent the flavour from
evaporating. Rub a dish with a shalot, or small onion, and place
it near the gridiron and close to the fire, that it may be well
heated. In turning the steak drop the gravy that may be standing
on it into this dish, to save it from being lost. When the steaks
are done, sprinkle them with a little salt and pepper, and lay
them in a hot dish, putting on each a piece of fresh butter. Then,
if it is liked, season them with, a very little raw shalot, minced
as finely as possible, and moistened with a spoonful of water; and
stir a tea-spoonful of catchup into the gravy. Send the steaks to
table very hot, in a covered dish. You may serve up with them
onion sauce in a small tureen.

Pickles are frequently eaten with beef-steaks.

Mutton chops may be broiled in the same manner.


TO FRY BEEF-STEAKS.

Beef-steaks for frying should be cut thinner than for broiling.
Take them from the ribs or sirloin, and remove the bone. Beat them
to make them tender. Season them with salt and pepper.

Put some fresh butter, or nice beef-dripping into a frying pan,
and hold it over a clear bright fire till it boils and has done
hissing. Then put in the steaks, and (if you like them) some
sliced onions. Fry them about a quarter of an hour, turning them
frequently. Steaks, when fried, should be thoroughly done. After
they are browned, cover them with a large plate to keep in the
juices,

Have ready a hot dish, and when they are done, take out the steaks
and onions and lay them in it with another dish on the top, to
keep them hot while you give the gravy in the pan another boil up
over the fire. You may add to it a spoonful of mushroom catchup.
Pour the gravy over the steakes, and send them to table as hot as
possible.

Mutton chops may be fried in this manner.


BEEF-STEAK PUDDING.

For a small pudding take a pound of fresh beef suet. Clear it from
the skin and the stringy fibres, and mince it as finely as
possible. Sift into a large pan two pounds of fine flour, and add
the suet gradually, rubbing it fine with your hands and mixing it
thoroughly. Then pour in, by degrees, enough of cold water to make
a stiff dough. Roll it out into a large even sheet. Have ready
about a pound and a half of the best beef-steak, omitting the bone
and fat which should be all cut off. Divide the steak into small
thin pieces, and beat them well to make them tender. Season them
with pepper and salt, and, if convenient, add some mushrooms. Lay
the beef in the middle of the sheet of paste, and put on the top a
bit of butter rolled in flour. Close the paste nicely over the
meat as if you were making a large dumpling. Dredge with flour a
thick square cloth, and tie the pudding up in it, leaving space
for it to swell. Fasten the string very firmly, and stop up with
flour the little gap at the tying-place so that no water can get
in. Have ready a large pot of boiling water. Put the pudding into
it, and let it boil fast three hours or more. Keep up a good fire
under it, as if it stops boiling a minute the crust will be heavy.
Have a kettle of boiling water at the fire to replenish the pot if
it wastes too much. Do not take up the pudding till the moment
before it goes to table. Mix some catchup with the gravy on your
plate.

For a large pudding you must have two pounds of suet, three pounds
of flour, and two pounds and a half of meat. It must boil at least
five hours.

All the fat must be removed from the meat before it goes into the
pudding, as the gravy cannot be skimmed when enclosed in the
crust.

You may boil in the pudding some potatoes cut into slices.

A pudding of the lean of mutton chops may be made in the same
manner; also of venison steaks.


A BEEF-STEAK PIE.

Make a good paste in the proportion of a pound of butter to two
pounds of sifted flour. Divide it in half, and line with one sheet
of it the bottom and sides of a deep dish, which must first be
well buttered. Have ready two pounds of the best beef-steak, cut
thin, and well beaten; the bone and fat being omitted. Season it
with pepper and salt. Spread a layer of the steak at the bottom of
the pie, and on it a layer of sliced potato, and a few small bits
of butter rolled in flour. Then another layer of meat, potato,
&c., till the dish is full. You may greatly improve the flavour by
adding mushrooms, or chopped clams or oysters, leaving out the
hard parts. If you use clams or oysters, moisten the other
ingredients with a little of their liquor. If not, pour in, at the
last, half a pint of cold water, or less if the pie is small.
Cover the pie with the other sheet of paste as a lid, and notch
the edges handsomely, having reserved a little of the paste to
make a flower or tulip to stick in the slit at the top. Bake it in
a quick oven an hour and a quarter, or longer, in proportion to
its size. Send it to table hot.

You may make a similar pie of mutton chops, or veal cutlets, or
venison steaks, always leaving out the bone and fat.

Many persons in making pies stew the meat slowly in a little water
till about half done, and they then put it with its gravy into the
paste and finish by baking. In this case add no water to the pie,
as there will be already sufficient liquid If you half-stew the
meat, do the potatoes with it.


A-LA-MODE BEEF.

Take the bone out of a round of fresh beef, and beat the meat well
all over to make it tender. Chop and mix together equal quantities
of sweet marjoram and sweet basil, the leaves picked from the
stalks and rubbed fine. Chop also some small onions or shalots,
and some parsley; the marrow from the bone of the beef; and a
quarter of a pound, or more of suet. Add two penny rolls of stale
bread grated; and pepper, salt, and nutmeg to your taste. Mix all
these ingredients well, and bind them together with the beaten
yolks of four eggs. Fill with this seasoning the place from whence
you took out the bone; and rub what is left of it all over the
outside of the meat. You must, of course, proportion the quantity
of stuffing to the size of the round of beef. Fasten it well with
skewers, and tie it round firmly with a piece of tape, so as to
keep it compact and in good shape. It is best to prepare the meat
the day before it is to be cooked.

Cover the bottom of a stew-pan with slices of bacon. Lay the beef
upon them, and cover the top of the meat with more slices of
bacon. Place round it four large onions, four carrots, and four
turnips, all cut in thick slices. Pour in from half a pint to a
pint of water, and if convenient, add two calves' feet cut in
half. Cover the pan closely, set it in an oven and let it bake for
at least six hours; or seven or eight, according to the size.

When it is thoroughly done, take out the beef and lay it on a dish
with the vegetables round it. Remove the bacon and calves' feet,
and (having skimmed the fat from the gravy carefully) strain it
into a small sauce-pan; set it on hot coals, and stir into it a
tea-cupful of port wine, and the same quantity of pickled
mushrooms. Let it just come to a boil, and then send it to table
in a sauce-tureen.

If the beef is to be eaten cold, you may ornament it as follows:--
Glaze it all over with beaten white of egg. Then cover it with a
coat of boiled potato grated finely. Have ready some slices of
cold boiled carrot, and also of beet-root. Cut them into the form
of stars or flowers, and arrange them handsomely over the top of
the meat by sticking them on the grated potato. In the centre
place a large bunch of double parsley, interspersed with flowers
cut out of raw turnips, beets, and carrots, somewhat in imitation
of white and red roses, and marygolds. Fix the flowers on wooden
skewers concealed with parsley.

Cold à-la-mode beef prepared in this manner will at a little
distance look like a large iced cake decorated with sugar flowers.

You may dress a fillet of veal according to this receipt. Of
course it will require less time to stew.


TO STEW BEEF.

Take a good piece of fresh beef. It must not be too fat. Wash it,
rub it with salt, and put it into a pot with barely sufficient
water to cover it. Set it over a slow fire, and after it has
stewed an hour, put in some potatoes pared and cut in half, and
some parsnips, scraped and split. Let them stew with the beef till
quite tender. Turn the meat several times in the pot. When all is
done, serve up the meat and vegetables together, and the gravy in
a boat, having first skimmed it.

This is a good family dish.

You may add turnips (pared and sliced) to the other vegetables.

Fresh pork may be stewed in this manner, or with sweet potatoes.


TO STEW A ROUND OF BEEF.

Trim off some pieces from a round of fresh beef--take out the bone
and break it. Put the bone and the trimmings into a pan with some
cold water, and add an onion, a carrot, and a turnip all cut in
pieces, and a bunch, of sweet herbs. Simmer them for an hour, and
having skimmed it well, strain off the liquid. Season the meat
highly with what is called kitchen pepper, that is, a mixture, in
equal quantities, of black or white pepper, allspice, cinnamon,
cloves, ginger and nutmeg, all finely powdered. Fasten it with
skewers, and tie it firmly round with tape. Lay skewers in the
bottom of the stew-pan; place the beef upon them, and then pour
over it the gravy you have prepared from the bone and trimmings.
Simmer it about an hour and a half, and then turn the meat over,
and add to it three carrots, three turnips, and two onions all
sliced, and a glass of tarragon vinegar. Keep the lid close,
except when you are skimming off the fat. Let the meat stew till
it is thoroughly done and tender throughout. The time will depend
on the size of the round. It may require from five or six to eight
hours.

Just before you take it up, stir into the gravy a table-spoonful
or two of mushroom catchup, a little made mustard, and a piece of
butter rolled in flour.

Send it to table hot, with the gravy poured round it.


ANOTHER WAY TO STEW A ROUND OF BEEF,

Take a round of fresh beef (or the half of one if it is very
large) and remove the bone. The day before you cook it, lay it in
a pickle made of equal proportions of water and vinegar with salt
to your taste. Next morning take it out of the pickle, put it into
a large pot or stew-pan, and just cover it with water. Put in with
it two or three large onion a few cloves, a little whole black
pepper, and a large glass of port or claret. If it is a whole
round of beef allow two glasses of wine. Stew it slowly for at
least four hours or more, in proportion to its size. It must be
thoroughly done, and tender all through. An hour before you send
it to table take the meat out of the pot, and pour the gravy into
a pan. Put a large lump of butter into the pot, dredge the beef
with flour, and return it to the pot to brown, turning it often to
prevent its burning. Or it will be better to put it into a Dutch
oven. Cover the lid with hot coals, renewing them as they go out.
Take the gravy that you poured from the meat, and skim off all the
fat. Put it into a sauce-pan, and mix with it a little butter
rolled in flour, and add some more cloves and wine. Give it a boil
up. If it is not well browned, burn some sugar on a hot shovel,
and stir it in.

If you like it stuffed, have ready when you take the meat out of
the pickle, a force-meat of grated bread crumbs, sweet herbs,
butter, spice, pepper and salt, and minced parsley, mixed with
beaten yolk of egg. Fill with this the opening from whence you
took the bone, and bind a tape firmly round the meat.


BEEF BOUILLI.

Take part of a round of fresh beef (or if you prefer it a piece of
the flank or brisket) and rub it with salt. Place skewers in the
bottom of the stew-pot, and lay the meat upon them with barely
water enough to cover it. To enrich the gravy you may add the
necks and other trimmings of whatever poultry you may happen to
have; also the root of a tongue, if convenient. Cover the pot, and
set it over a quick fire. When it boils and the scum has risen,
skim it well, and then diminish the fire so that the meat shall
only simmer; or you may set the pot on hot coals. Then put in four
or five carrots sliced thin, a head of celery cut up, and four or
fire sliced turnips. Add a bunch of sweet herbs, and a small
table-spoonful of black pepper-corns tied in a thin muslin rag. Let
it stew slowly for four or fire hours, and then add a dozen very
small onions roasted and peeled, and a large table-spoonful of
capers or nasturtians. You may, if you choose, stick a clove in
each onion. Simmer it half an hour longer, then take up the meat,
and place-it in a dish, laying the vegetables round it. Skim and
strain the gravy; season it with catchup, and made mustard, and
serve it up in a boat. Mutton may be cooked in this manner.


HASHED BEEF.

Take some roast beef that has been very much under-done,
and having cut off the fat and skin, put the trimmings
with the bones broken up into a stew-pan with two large
onions sliced, a few sliced potatoes, and a bunch of sweet
herbs. Add about a pint of warm water, or broth if you have
it. This is to make the gravy. Cover it closely, and let it
simmer for about an hour. Then skim and strain it, carefully
removing every particle of fat.

Take another stew-pot, and melt in it a piece of butter,
about the size of a large walnut. When it has melted, shake
in a spoonful of flour. Stir it a few minutes, and then add
to it the strained gravy. Let it come to a boil, and then put
to it a table-spoonful of catchup, and the beef cut either in
thin small slices or in mouthfuls. Let it simmer from five to
ten minutes, but do not allow it to boil, lest (having been
cooked already) it should become tasteless and insipid.
Serve it up in a deep dish with thin slices of toast cut into
triangular or pointed pieces, the crust omitted. Dip the toast in
the gravy, and lay the pieces in regular order round the sides of
the dish.

You may hash mutton or veal in the same manner, adding sliced
carrots, turnips, potatoes, or any vegetables you please. Tomatas
are an improvement.

To hash cold meat is an economical way of using it; but there is
little or no nutriment in it after being twice cooked, and the
natural flavour is much impaired by the process.

Hashed meat would always be much better if the slices were cut
from the joint or large piece as soon as it leaves the table, and
soaked in the gravy till next day.


BEEF CAKES.

Take some cold roast beef that has been under-done, and mince it
very fine. Mix with it grated bread crumbs, and a little chopped
onion and parsley. Season it with pepper and salt, and moisten it
with some beef-dripping and a little walnut or onion pickle. Some
scraped cold tongue or ham will be found an improvement. Make it
into broad flat cakes, and spread a coat of mashed potato thinly
on the top and bottom of each. Lay a small bit of butter on the
top of every cake, and set them in an oven to warm and brown.

Beef cakes are frequently a breakfast dish.

Any other cold fresh meat may be prepared in the same manner.

Cold roast beef may be cut into slices, seasoned with salt and
pepper, broiled a few minutes over a clear fire, and served up hot
with a little butter spread on them.


TO ROAST A BEEF'S HEART.

Cut open the heart, and (having removed the ventricles) soak it in
cold water to free it from the blood, Parboil it about ten
minutes. Prepare, a force-meat of grated bread crumbs, butter or
minced suet, sweet marjoram and parsley chopped fine, a little
grated lemon-peel, nutmeg, pepper, and salt to your taste, and
some yolk of egg to bind the ingredients. Stuff the heart with the
force-meat, and secure the opening by tying a string around it.
Put it on a spit, and roast it till it is tender throughout.

Add to the gravy a piece of butter rolled in flour, and a glass of
red wine. Serve up the heart very hot in a covered dish. It chills
immediately.

Eat currant jelly with it.

Boiled beef's heart is frequently used in mince pies.


TO STEW A BEEF'S HEART.

Clean the heart, and cut it lengthways into large pieces. Put them
into a pot with a little salt and pepper, and cover them with cold
water. Parboil them for a quarter of an hour, carefully skimming
off the blood that rises to the top. Then take them out, cut them,
into mouthfuls, and having strained the liquid, return them to it,
adding a head or two of chopped celery, a few sliced onions, a
dozen potatoes pared and quartered, and a piece of butter rolled
in flour. Season with whole pepper, and a few cloves if you like.
Let it stew slowly till all the pieces of heart and the vegetables
are quite tender.

You may stew a beef's kidney in the same manner.

The heart and liver of a calf make a good dish cooked as above.


TO DRESS BEEF KIDNEY.

Having soaked a fresh kidney in cold water and dried it in a
cloth, cut it into mouthfuls, and then mince it fine. Dust it with
flour. Put some butter into a stew-pan over a moderate fire, and
when it boils put in the minced kidney. When you have browned it
in the butter, sprinkle on a little salt and cayenne pepper, and
pour in a very little boiling water. Add a glass of champagne or
other wine, or a large tea-spoonful of mushroom catchup, or of
walnut pickle. Cover the pan closely, and let it stew till the
kidney is tender. Send it to table hot in a covered dish. It is
eaten generally at breakfast.


TO BOIL TRIPE.

Wash it well in warm water, and trim it nicely, taking off all the
fat. Cut it into small pieces, and put it on to boil five hours
before dinner, in water enough to cover it very well. After it has
boiled four hours, pour off the water, season the tripe with
pepper and salt, and put it into a pot with milk and water mixed
in equal quantities. Boil it an hour in the milk and water.

Boil in a sauce-pan ten or a dozen onions. When they are quite
soft, drain them in a cullender, and mash them. Wipe out your
sauce-pan and put them on again, with a bit of butter rolled in
flour, and a wine-glass of cream or milk. Let them boil up, and
add them to the tripe just before you send it to table. Eat it
with pepper, vinegar, and mustard.


TRIPE AND OYSTERS.

Having boiled the tripe in milk and water, for four or five hours
till it is quite tender, gut it up into small pieces. Put it into
a stew-pan with just milk enough to cover it, and a few blades of
mace. Let it stew about five minutes, and then put in the oysters,
adding a large piece of butter rolled-in flour, and salt and
cayenne pepper to your taste. Let it stew five minutes longer, and
then send it to table in a tureen; first skimming off whatever fat
may float on the surface.


TO FRY TRIPE.

Boil the tripe the day before, till it is quite tender, which it
will not be in less than four or five hours. Then cover it and set
it away. Next day cut it into long slips, and dip each piece into
beaten yolk of egg, and afterwards roll them in grated bread
crumbs. Have ready in a frying-pan over the fire, some good beef-dripping.
When it is boiling hot put in the tripe, and fry it
about ten minutes, till of a light brown.

You may serve it up with onion sauce.

Boiled tripe that has been left from the dinner of the preceding
day may be fried in this manner.


PEPPER POT.

Take four pounds of tripe, and four ox feet. Put them into a large
pot with as much water as will cover them, some whole pepper, and
a little salt. Hang them over the fire early in the morning. Let
them boil slowly, keeping the pot closely covered. When the tripe
is quite tender, and the ox feet boiled to pieces, take them out,
and skim the liquid and strain it. Then cut the tripe into small
pieces; put it back into the pot, and pour the soup or liquor over
it. Have ready some sweet herbs chopped fine, some sliced onions,
and some sliced potatoes. Make some small dumplings with flour and
batter. Season the vegetables well with pepper and salt, and put
them into the pot. Have ready a kettle of boiling water, and pour
on as much as will keep the ingredients covered while boiling, but
take care not to weaken the taste by putting too much water. Add a
large piece of butter rolled in flour, and lastly put in the
dumplings. Let it boil till all the things are thoroughly done,
and then serve it up in the tureen.


TO BOIL A SMOKED TONGUE.

In buying dried tongues, choose those that are thick and plump,
and that have the smoothest skins. They are the most likely to be
young and tender.

A smoked tongue should soak in cold water at least all night. One
that is very hard and dry will require twenty-four hours' soaking.
When you boil it put it into a pot full of cold water. Set it over
a slow fire that it may heat gradually for an hour before it comes
to a boil. Then keep it simmering from three and a half to four
hours, according to its size and age. Probe it with a fork, and do
not take it up till it is tender throughout. Send it to table with
mashed potato laid round it, and garnish with parsley. Do not
split it in half when you dish it, as is the practice with some
cooks. Cutting it lengthways spoils the flavour, and renders it
comparatively insipid.

If you wish to serve up the tongue very handsomely, rub it with
yolk of egg after you take it from the pot, and strew over it
grated bread crumbs; baste it with butter, and set it before the
fire till it becomes of a light brown. Cover the root (which is
always an unsightly object) with thick sprigs of double parsley;
and (instead of mashed potato) lay slices of currant jelly all
round the tongue.


TO BOIL A SALTED OR PICKLED TONGUE.

Put it into boiling water, and let it boil three hours or more,
according to its size. When you take it out peel and trim it, and
send it to table surrounded with mashed potato, and garnished with
sliced carrot.


TO CORN BEEF.

Wash the beef well, after it has lain awhile in cold water. Then
drain and examine it, take out all the kernels, and rub it
plentifully with salt. It will imbibe the salt more readily after
being washed. In cold weather warm the salt by placing it before
the fire. This will cause it to penetrate the meat more
thoroughly.

In summer do not attempt to corn any beef that has not been fresh
killed, and even then it will not keep more than a day and a half
or two days. Wash and dry it, and rub a great deal of salt well
into it. Cover it carefully, and keep it in a cold dry cellar.

Pork is corned in the same manner.


TO PICKLE BEEF OR TONGUES.

The beef must be fresh killed, and of the best kind. You must wipe
every piece well, to dry it from the blood and moisture. To fifty
pounds of meat allow two pounds and a quarter of coarse salt, two
pounds and a quarter of fine salt, one ounce and a half of
saltpetre, one pound and a half of brown sugar, and one quart of
molasses. Mix all these ingredients well together, boil and skim
it for about twenty minutes, and when no more scum rises, take it
from the fire. Have ready the beef in a large tub, or in a barrel;
pour the brine gradually upon it with a ladle, and as it cools rub
it well into every part of the meat. A molasses hogshead sawed in
two is a good receptacle for pickled meat. Cover it well with a
thick cloth, and look at it frequently, skimming off whatever may
float on the top, and basting the meat with the brine. In about a
fortnight the beef will be fit for use.

Tongues may be put into the same cask with the beef, one or two at
a time, as you procure them from the butcher. None of them will be
ready for smoking in less than six weeks; but they had best remain
in pickle two or three months. They should not be sent to the
smoke-house later than March. If you do them at home, they will
require three weeks' smoking over a wood fire. Hang them with the
root or large end upwards. When done, sew up each tongue tightly
in coarse linen, and hang them up in a dark dry cellar.

Pickled tongues without smoking are seldom liked.

The last of October is a good time for putting meat into pickle.
If the weather is too warm or too cold, it will not take the salt
well.

In the course of the winter the pickle may probably require a
second boiling with additional ingredients.

Half an ounce of pearl-ash added to the other articles will make
the meat more tender, but many persons thinks it injures the
taste.

The meat must always be kept completely immersed in the brine. To
effect this a heavy board should be laid upon it.


DRIED OR SMOKED BEEF.

The best part for this purpose is the round, which you must desire
the butcher to cut into four pieces. Wash the meat and dry it well
in a cloth. Grind or beat to powder an equal quantity of cloves
and allspice, and having mixed them together, rub them well into
the beef with your hand. The spice will be found a great
improvement both to the taste and smell of the meat. Have ready a
pickle made precisely as that in the preceding article. Boil and
skim it, and (the meat having been thoroughly rubbed all over with
the spice) pour on the pickle, as before directed. Keep the beef
in the pickle at least six weeks, and then smoke it about three
weeks.

Smoked beef is brought on the tea-table either shaved into thin
chips without cooking, or chipped and fried with a little butter
in a skillet, and served up hot.

This receipt for dried or smoked beef will answer equally well for
venison ham, which is also used as a relish at the tea-table.

Mutton hams may be prepared in the same way.


POTTED BEEF.

Take a good piece of a round of beef, and cut off all the fat. Rub
the lean well with salt, and let it lie two days. Then put it into
a jar, and add to it a little water in the proportion of half a
pint to three pounds of meat. Cover the jar as closely as
possible, (the best cover will be a coarse paste or dough) and set
it in a slow oven, or in a vessel of boiling water for about four
hours. Then drain off all the gravy and set the meat before the
fire that all the moisture may be drawn out. Pull or cut it to
pieces and pound it for a long time in a mortar with pepper,
allspice, cloves, mace, nutmeg, and oiled fresh butter, adding
these ingredients gradually, and moistening it with a little of
the gravy. You must pound it to a fine paste, or till it becomes
of the consistence of cream, cheese.

Put it into potting cans, and cover it an inch thick with fresh
butter that has been melted, skimmed, and strained. Tie a leather
over each pot, and keep them closely covered. Set them in a dry
place.

Game and poultry may be potted in this manner




VEAL.


GENERAL REMARKS.

The fore-quarter of a calf comprises the neck, breast, and
shoulder: the hind-quarter consists of the loin, fillet, and
knuckle. Separate dishes are made of the head, heart, liver, and
sweet-bread. The flesh of good veal is firm and dry, and the joints
stiff. The lean is of a very light delicate red, and the fat quite
white. In buying the head see that the eyes look full, plump, and
lively; if they are dull and sunk the calf has been killed too
long. In buying calves' feet for jelly or soup, endeavour to get
those that have been singed only and not skinned; as a great deal
of gelatinous substance is contained in the skin. Veal should
always be thoroughly cooked, and never brought to table rare or
under-done, like beef or mutton. The least redness in the meat or
gravy is disgusting.

Veal suet may be used as a substitute for that of beef; also veal-dripping.


TO ROAST A LOIN OF VEAL.

The loin is the best part of the calf. It is always roasted. See
that your fire is clear and hot, and broad enough to brown both
ends. Cover the fat of the kidney and the back with paper to
prevent it from scorching. A large loin of veal will require _at
least_ four hours and a half to roast it sufficiently. At first
set the roaster at a tolerable distance from the fire that the
meat may heat gradually in the beginning; afterwards place it
nearer. Put a little salt and water into the dripping-pan and
baste the meat with it till the gravy begins to drop. Then baste
with the gravy. When the meat is nearly done, move it close to the
fire, dredge it with a very little flour, and baste it with
butter. Skim the fat from the gravy, which should be thickened by
shaking in a very small quantify of flour. Put it into a small
sauce-pan, and set it on hot coals. Let it just come to a boil,
and then send it to table in a boat. If the gravy is not in
sufficient quantity, add to it about half a jill or a large wine-glass
of boiling water.

In carving a loin of veal help every one to a piece of the kidney
as far as it will go.


TO ROAST A BREAST OF VEAL.

A breast of veal will require about three hours and a half to
roast. In preparing it for the spit, cover it with the caul, and
skewer the sweet-bread to the back. Take off the caul when the meat
is nearly done. The breast, being comparatively tough and coarse,
is less esteemed than the loin and the fillet.


TO ROAST A FILLET OF VEAL.

Take out the bone, and secure with skewers the fat flap to the
outside of the meat. Prepare a stuffing of fresh butter or suet
minced fine, and an equal quantity of grated bread-crumbs, a large
table-spoonful of grated lemon-peel, a table-spoonful of sweet
marjoram chopped or rubbed to powder, a nutmeg grated, and a
little pepper and salt, with a sprig of chopped parsley. Mix all
these ingredients with beaten yolk of egg, and stuff the place
from whence the bone was taken. Make deep cuts or incisions all
over the top of the veal, and fill them with some of the stuffing.
You may stick into each hole an inch of fat ham or salt pork, cut
very thin.

Having papered the fat, spit the veal and put it into the roaster,
keeping it at first not too near the fire. Put a little salt and
water into the dripping-pan, and for awhile baste the meat with
it. Then baste it with its own gravy. A fillet of veal will
require four hours roasting. As it proceeds, place it nearer to
the fire. Half an hour before it is done, remove the paper, and
baste the meat with butter, having first dredged it very lightly
with flour. Having skimmed the gravy, mix some thin melted butter
with it.

If convenient, you may in making the stuffing, use a large
proportion of chopped mushrooms that have been preserved in sweet
oil, or of chopped pickled oysters. Cold ham shred fine will
improve it.

You may stuff a fillet of veal entirely with sausage meat.

To accompany a fillet of veal, the usual dish is boiled ham or
bacon.

A shoulder of veal may be stuffed and roasted in a similar manner.


TO STEW A BREAST OF VEAL.

Divide the breast into pieces according to the position of the
bones. Put them into a stew-pan with a few slices of ham, some
whole pepper, a bunch of parsley, and a large onion quartered. Add
sufficient water to keep it from burning, and let it stew slowly
till the meat is quite tender. Then put to it a quart or more of
green peas that have boiled twenty minutes in another pot, and a
piece of butter rolled in flour. Let all stew together a quarter
of an hour longer. Serve it up, with the veal in the middle, the
peas round it, and the ham laid on the peas.

You may stew a breast of veal with tomatas.


TO STEW A FILLET OF VEAL.

Take a fillet of veal, rub it with salt, and then with a sharp
knife make deep incisions all over the surface, the bottom as well
as the top and sides. Make a stuffing of grated stale bread,
butter, chopped sweet marjoram, grated lemon-peel, nutmeg, pepper
and salt, mixed up with beaten yolk of egg to bind and give it
consistency. Fill the holes or incisions with the stuffing,
pressing it down well with your fingers. Reserve some of the
stuffing to rub all over the outside of the meat. Have ready some
very thin slices of cold boiled ham, the fatter the better. Cover
the veal with them, fastening them on with skewers. Put it into a
pot, and stew it slowly in a very little water, just enough to
cover it. It will take at least five hours to stew; or more, in
proportion to its size. When done, take off the ham, and lay it
round the veal in a dish.

You may stew with it a quart or three pints of young green peas,
put in about an hour before dinner; add to them a little butter
and pepper while they are stewing. Serve them up in the dish with
the veal, laying the slices of ham upon them.

If you omit the ham, stew the veal entirely in lard.


TO STEW A KNUCKLE OF VEAL.

Lay four wooden skewers across the bottom of your stew-pan, and
place the meat upon them; having first carefully washed it, and
rubbed it with salt. Add a table-spoonful of whole pepper, the
leaves from a bunch of sweet marjoram, a bunch of parsley leaves
chopped, two onions peeled and sliced, and a piece of butter
rolled in flour. Pour in two quarts of water. Cover it closely,
and after it has come to a boil, lessen the fire, and let the meat
only simmer for two hours or more. Before you serve it up, pour
the liquid over it.

This dish will be greatly improved by stewing with it a few slices
of ham, or the remains of a cold ham.

Veal when simply boiled is too insipid. To stew it is much better.


VEAL CUTLETS.

The best cutlets are those taken from the leg or fillet. Cut them
about half an inch thick, and as large as the palm of your hand.
Season them with pepper and salt. Grate some stale bread, and rub
it through a cullender, adding to it chopped sweet marjoram,
grated lemon-peel, and some powdered mace or nutmeg. Spread the
mixture on a large flat dish. Have ready in a pan some beaten egg.
First dip each cutlet into the egg, and then into the seasoning on
the dish, seeing that a sufficient quantity adheres to both sides
of the meat. Melt in your frying-pan, over a quick fire, some
beef-dripping, lard, or fresh butter, and when it boils lay your
cutlets in it, and fry them thoroughly; turning them on both
sides, and taking care that they do not burn. Place them in a
covered dish near the fire, while you finish the gravy in the pan,
by first skimming it, and then shaking in a little flour and
stirring it round. Pour the gravy hot round the cutlets, and
garnish with little bunches of curled parsley.

You may mix with the bread crumbs a little saffron.


VEAL STEAKS.

Cut a neck of veal into thin steaks, and beat them to make them
tender. For seasoning, mix together some finely chopped onion
sprinkled with pepper and salt, and a little chopped parsley. Add
some butter, and put it with the parsley and onion into a small
sauce-pan, and set it on hot coals to stew till brown. In the
mean, time, put the steaks on a hot gridiron (the bars of which
have been rubbed with suet) and broil them well, over a bed of
bright clear coals. When sufficiently done on one side turn them
on the other. After the last turning, cover each steak with some
of the seasoning from the sauce-pan, and let all broil together
till thoroughly done.

Instead of the onions and parsley, you may season the veal steaks
with chopped mushrooms, or with chopped oysters, browned in
butter.

Have ready a gravy made of the scraps and trimmings of the veal,
seasoned with pepper and salt, and boiled in a little hot water in
the same sauce-pan in which the parsley and onions have been
previously stewed. Strain the gravy when it has boiled long
enough, and flavour it with catchup.


MINCED VEAL.

Take some cold veal, cut it into slices, and mince it very finely
with a chopping-knife. Season it to your taste with pepper, salt,
sweet marjoram rubbed fine, grated lemon-peel and nutmeg. Put the
bones and trimmings into a sauce-pan with a little water, and
simmer them over hot coals to extract the gravy from them. Then
put the minced veal into a stew-pan, strain the gravy over it, add
a piece of butter rolled in flour, and a little milk or cream. Let
it all simmer together till thoroughly warmed, but do not allow it
to boil lest the meat having been once cooked already, should
become tasteless. When you serve it up, have ready some three-cornered
pieces of bread toasted and buttered; place them all
round the inside of the dish.

Or you may cover the mince with a thick layer of grated bread,
moistened with a little butter, and browned on the top with a
salamander, or a red hot shovel.


VEAL PATTIES.

Mince very fine a pound of the lean of cold roast veal, and half a
pound of cold boiled ham, (fat and lean equally mixed.) Put it
into a stew-pan with three ounces of butter divided into bits and
rolled in flour, a jill of cream, and a jill of veal gravy. Season
it to your taste with cayenne pepper and nutmeg, grated lemon-peel,
and lemon-juice. Set the pan on hot coals, and let the
ingredients simmer till well warmed, stirring them well to prevent
their burning.

Have ready baked some small shells of puff-paste. Fill them with
the mixture, and eat the patties either warm or cold.


VEAL PIE.

Take two pounds of veal cut from the loin, fillet, or the best end
of the neck. Remove the bone, fat, and skin, and put them into a
sauce-pan with half a pint of water to stew for the gravy. Make a
good paste, allowing a pound of butter to two pounds of flour.
Divide it into two pieces, roll it out rather thick and cover with
one piece the sides and bottom of a deep dish. Put in a layer of
veal, seasoned with pepper and salt, then a layer of cold ham
sliced thin, then more veal, more ham, and so on till the dish is
full; interspersing the meat with yolks of eggs boiled hard. If
you can procure some small button mushrooms they will be found an
improvement. Pour in, at the last, the gravy you have drawn from
the trimmings, and put on the lid of the pie, notching the edge
handsomely, and ornamenting the centre with a flower made of
paste. Bake the pie at least two hours and a half.

You may make a very plain veal pie simply of veal chops, sliced
onions, and potatoes pared and quartered. Season with pepper and
salt, and fill up the dish with water.


CALF'S HEAD DREST PLAIN

Wash the head in warm water. Then lay it in clean hot water and
let it soak awhile. This will blanch it. Take out the brains and
the black part of the eyes. Tie the head in a cloth, and put it
into a large fish-kettle, with plenty of cold water, and add some
salt to throw up the scum, which must be taken off as it rises.
Let the head boil gently about three hours.

Put eight or ten sage leaves, and as much parsley, into a small
sauce-pan with a little water, and boil them half an hour. Then
chop them fine, and set them ready on a plate. Wash the brains
well in two warm waters, and then soak them for an hour in a basin
of cold water with a little salt in it. Remove the skin and
strings, and then put the brains into a stew-pan with plenty of
cold water, and let them boil gently for a quarter of an hour,
skimming them well. Take them out, chop them, and mix them with
the sage and parsley leaves, two table-spoonfuls of melted butter,
and the yolks of four hard-boiled eggs, and pepper and salt to
your taste. Then put the mixture into a sauce-pan and set it on
coals to warm.

Take up the head when it is sufficiently boiled, score it in
diamonds, brush it all over with beaten egg, and strew it with a
mixture of grated bread-crumbs, and chopped sage and parsley.
Stick a few bits of butter over it, and set it in a Dutch oven to
brown. Serve it up with the brains laid round it. Or you may send
to table the brains and the tongue in a small separate dish,
having first trimmed the tongue and cut off the roots. Have also
parsley-sauce in a boat. You may garnish with very thin small
slices of broiled ham, curled up.

If you get a calf's head with the hair on, sprinkle it all over
with pounded rosin, and dip it into boiling water. This will make
the hairs scrape off easily.


CALF'S HEAD HASHED.

Take a calf's head and a set of feet, and boil them until tender,
having first removed the brains. Then cut the flesh off the head
and feet in slices from the bone, and put both meat and bones into
a stew-pan with a bunch of sweet herbs, some sliced onions, and
pepper and salt to your taste; also a large piece of butter rolled
in flour, and a little water. After it has stewed awhile slowly
till the flavour is well extracted from the herbs and onions, take
out the meat, season it a little with cayenne pepper, and lay it
in a dish. Strain the gravy in which it was stewed, and stir into
it two glasses of madeira, and the juice and grated peel of a
lemon. Having poured some of the gravy over the meat, lay a piece
of butter on the top, set it in an oven and bake it brown.

In the mean time, having cleaned and washed the brains (skinning
them and removing the strings) parboil them in a sauce-pan, and
then make them into balls with chopped sweet herbs, grated bread-crumbs,
grated lemon-peel, nutmeg, and beaten yolk of egg. Fry
them in lard and butter mixed; and send them to table laid round
the meat (which should have the tongue placed on the top) and
garnish with sliced lemon. Warm the remaining gravy in a small
sauce-pan on hot coals, and stir into it the beaten yolk of an egg
a minute before you take it from the fire. Send it to table in a
boat.


CHITTERLINGS OR CALF'S TRIPE.

See that the chitterlings are very nice and white. Wash them, cut
them into pieces, and put them into a stew-pan with pepper and
salt to your taste, and about two quarts of water. Boil them two
hours or more. In the mean time, peel eight or ten white onions,
and throw them whole into a sauce-pan with plenty of water. Boil
them slowly till quite soft; then drain them in a cullender, and
mash them. Wipe out your sauce-pan, and put in the mashed onions
with a piece of butter, two table-spoonfuls of cream or rich milk,
some nutmeg, and a very little salt. Sprinkle in a little flour,
set the pan on hot coals (keeping it well covered) and give it one
boil up.

When the chitterlings are quite tender all through, take them up
and drain them. Place in the bottom of a dish a slice or two of
buttered toast with all the crust cut off. Lay the chitterlings on
the toast, and send them to table with the stewed onions in a
sauce-boat. When you take the chitterlings on your plate season
them with pepper and vinegar.

This, if properly prepared, is a very nice dish.


TO FRY CALF'S FEET.

Having first boiled them till tender, cut them in two, and (having
taken out the large bones) season the feet with pepper and salt,
and dredge them well with flour. Strew some chopped parsley or
sweet marjoram over them, and fry them of a light brown in lard or
butter. Serve them up with parsley-sauce.


TO FRY CALF'S LIVER.

Cut the liver into thin slices. Season it with pepper, salt,
chopped sweet herbs, and parsley. Dredge it with flour, and fry it
brown in lard or dripping. See that it is thoroughly done before
you send it to table. Serve it up with its own gravy.

Some slices of cold boiled ham fried with it will be found an
improvement.

You may dress a calf's heart in the same manner.


LARDED CALF'S LIVER.

Take a calf's liver and wash it well. Cut into long slips the fat
of some bacon or salt pork, and insert it all through the surface
of the liver by means of a larding-pin. Put the liver into a pot
with a table-spoonful of lard, a little water, and a few tomatas,
or some tomata catchup; adding one large or two small onions
minced fine, and some sweet marjoram leaves rubbed very fine. The
sweet marjoram will crumble more easily if you first dry it before
the fire on a plate.

Having put in all these ingredients, set the pot on hot coals in
the corner of the fire-place, and keep it stewing, regularly and
slowly, for four hours. Send the liver to table with the gravy
round it.


TO ROAST SWEET-BREADS.

Take four fine sweet-breads, and having trimmed them nicely,
parboil them, and then lay them in a pan of cold water till they
become cool. Afterwards dry them in a cloth. Put some butter into
a sauce-pan, set it on hot coals, and melt and skim it. When it is
quite clear, take it off. Have ready some beaten egg in one dish,
and some grated bread-crumbs in another. Skewer each sweet-bread,
and fasten them on a spit. Then glaze them all over with egg, and
sprinkle them with bread-crumbs. Spread on some of the clarified
butter, and then another coat of crumbs. Roast them before a clear
fire, at least a quarter of an hour. Have ready some nice veal
gravy flavoured with lemon-juice, and pour it round the sweet-breads
before you send them to table.


LARDED SWEET-BREADS.

Parboil three or four of the largest sweet-breads you can get.
This should be done as soon as they are brought in, as few things
spoil more rapidly if not cooked at once. When half boiled, lay
them in cold water. Prepare a force-meat of grated bread, lemon-peel,
butter, salt, pepper, and nutmeg mixed with beaten yolk of
egg. Cut open the sweet-breads and stuff them with it, fastening
them afterwards with a skewer, or tying them round with
packthread. Have ready some slips of bacon-fat, and some slips of
lemon-peel cut about the thickness of very small straws. Lard the
sweet-breads with them in alternate rows of bacon and lemon-peel,
drawing them through with a larding-needle. Do it regularly and
handsomely. Then put the sweet-breads into a Dutch oven, and bake
them brown. Serve them up with veal gravy flavoured with a glass
of Madeira, and enriched with beaten yolk of egg stirred in at the
last.


MARBLED VEAL.

Having boiled and skinned two fine smoked tongues, cut them to
pieces and pound them to a paste in a mortar, moistening them with
plenty of butter as you proceed. Have ready an equal quantity of
the lean of veal stewed and cut into very small pieces. Pound the
veal also in a mortar, adding butter to it by degrees. The tongue
and veal must be kept separate till both have been pounded. Then
fill your potting cans with lumps of the veal and tongue, pressed
down hard, and so placed, that when cut, the mixture will look
variegated or marbled. Close the cans with veal; again press it
down very hard, and finish by pouring on clarified butter. Cover
the cans closely, and keep them in a dry place. It maybe eaten at
tea or supper. Send it to table cut in slices.

You may use it for sandwiches.




MUTTON AND LAMB.


GENERAL REMARKS.

The fore-quarter of a sheep contains the neck, breast, and
shoulder; and the hind-quarter the loin and leg. The two loins
together are called the chine or saddle. The flesh of good mutton
is of a bright red, and a close grain, and the fat firm and quite
white. The meat will feel tender and springy when you squeeze it
with your fingers. The vein in the neck of the fore-quarter should
be of a fine blue.

Lamb is always roasted; generally a whole quarter at once. In
carving lamb, the first thing done is to separate the shoulder
from the breast, or the leg from the loin.

If the weather is cold enough to allow it, mutton is more tender
after being kept a few days.


TO ROAST MUTTON.

Mutton should be roasted with a quick brisk fire. Every part
should be trimmed off that cannot be eaten. Wash the meat well.
The skin should be taken off and skewered on again before the meat
is put on the spit; this will make it more juicy. Otherwise tie
paper over the fat, having soaked the twine in water to prevent
the string from burning. Put a little salt and water into the
dripping-pan, to baste the meat at first, then use its own gravy
for that purpose. A quarter of an hour before you think it will be
done, take off the skin or paper, dredge the meat very lightly
with flour, and baste it with butter. Skim the gravy and send it
to table in a boat. A leg of mutton will require from two hours
roasting to two hours and a half in proportion to its size. A
chine or saddle, from two hours and a half, to three hours. A
shoulder, from an hour and a half, to two hours. A loin, from an
hour and three quarters, to two hours. A haunch (that is a leg
with, part of the loin) cannot be well roasted in less than four
hours.

Always have some currant jelly on the table to eat with roast
mutton. It should also be accompanied by mashed turnips.

Slices cut from a cold leg of mutton that has been under-done, are
very nice broiled or warmed on a gridiron, and sent to the
breakfast table covered with currant jelly.

Pickles are always eaten with mutton.

In preparing a leg of mutton for roasting, you may make deep
incisions in it, and stuff them with chopped oysters, or with a
force-meat made in the usual manner; or with chestnuts parboiled
and peeled. The gravy will be improved by stirring into it a glass
of port wine.


TO BOIL MUTTON.

To prepare a leg of mutton for boiling, wash it clean, cut a small
piece off the shank bone, and trim the knuckle. Put it into a pot
with water enough to cover it, and boil it gently for three hours,
skimming it well. Then take it from the fire, and keeping the pot
well covered, let it finish by remaining in the steam for ten or
fifteen minutes. Serve it up with a sauce-boat of melted butter
into which a tea-cup full of capers or nasturtians have been
stirred.

Have mashed turnips to eat with it.

A few small onions boiled in the water with the mutton are thought
by some to improve the flavour of the meat. It is much better when
sufficient time is allowed to boil or simmer it slowly.

A neck or a loin of mutton will require also about three hours
slow boiling. These pieces should on no account be sent to table
the least under-done. Serve up with them carrots and whole
turnips. You may add a dish of suet dumplings to eat with the
meat, made of finely chopped suet mixed with double its quantity
of flour, and a little cold water.


MUTTON CHOPS.

Take chops or steaks from a loin of mutton, cut off the bone close
to the meat, and trim off the skin, and part of the fat. Beat them
to make them tender, and season them with pepper and salt. Make
your gridiron hot over a bed of clear bright coals; rub the bars
with suet, and lay on the chops. Turn them frequently; and if the
fat that falls from them causes a blaze and smoke, remove the
gridiron for a moment till it is over. When they are thoroughly
done, put them into a warm dish and butter them. Keep them covered
till a moment before they are to be eaten.

When the chops have been turned for the last time, you may strew
over them some finely minced onion moistened with boiling water,
and seasoned with pepper.

Some like them flavoured with mushroom catchup.

Another way of dressing mutton chops is, after trimming them
nicely and seasoning them with pepper and salt, to lay them for
awhile in melted butter. When they have imbibed a sufficient
quantity, take them out, and cover them all over with grated
bread-crumbs. Broil them over a clear fire, and see that the bread
does not burn.


CUTLETS À LA MAINTENON.

Cut a neck of mutton into steaks with a bone in each; trim them
nicely, and scrape clean the end of the bone. Flatten them with a
rolling pin, or a meat beetle, and lay them in oiled butter. Make
a seasoning of hard-boiled yolk of egg and sweet-herbs minced
small, grated bread, pepper, salt, and nutmeg; and, if you choose,
a little minced onion. Take the chops out of the butter, and cover
them with the seasoning. Butter some half sheets of white paper,
and put the cutlets into them, so as to be entirely covered,
securing the paper with pins or strings; and twisting them nicely
round the bone. Heat your gridiron over some bright lively coals.
Lay the cutlets on it, and broil them about twenty minutes. The
custom of sending them to table in the papers had best be omitted,
as (unless managed by a French cook) these envelopes, after being
on the gridiron, make a very bad appearance.

Serve them up hot, with mushroom sauce in a boat, or with a brown
gravy, flavoured with red wine. You may make the gravy of the
bones and trimmings, stewed in a little water, skimmed well, and
strained when sufficiently stewed. Thicken it with flour browned
in a Dutch oven, and add a glass of red wine.

You may bake these cutlets in a Dutch oven without the papers.
Moisten them frequently with a little oiled butter.


STEWED MUTTON CHOPS.

Cut a loin or neck of mutton into chops, and trim away the fat and
bones. Beat and flatten them. Season them with pepper and salt,
and put them into a stew-pan, with barely sufficient water to
cover them, and some sliced carrots, turnips, onions, potatoes,
and a bunch of sweet herbs, or a few tomatas. Let the whole stew
slowly about three hours, or till every thing is tender. Keep the
pan closely covered, except when you are skimming it.

Send it to table with sippets or three-cornered pieces of toasted
bread, lain all round the dish.


HASHED MUTTON.

Cut into small pieces the lean of some cold mutton that has been
under-done, and season it with pepper and salt. Take the bones and
other trimmings, put them into a sauce-pan with as much water as
will cover them, and some sliced onions, and let them stew till
you have drawn from them a good gravy. Having skimmed it well,
strain the gravy into a stew-pan, and put the mutton into it. Have
ready-boiled some carrots, turnips, potatoes and onions. Slice
them, and add them to the meat and gravy. Set the pan on hot
coals, and let it simmer till the meat is warmed through, but do
not allow it to boil, as it has been once cooked already. Cover
the bottom of a dish with slices of buttered toast. Lay the meat
and vegetables upon it, and pour over them the gravy.

Tomatas will be found an improvement.

If green peas, or Lima beans are in season, you may boil them, and
put them to the hashed mutton; leaving out the other vegetables,
or serving them up separately.


A CASSEROLE OF MUTTON.

Butter a deep dish or mould, and line it with potatoes mashed with
milk or putter, and seasoned with pepper and salt. Fill it with
slices of the lean of cold mutton, or lamb, seasoned also. Cover
the whole with more mashed potatoes. Put it into an oven, and bake
it till the meat is thoroughly warmed, and the potatoes brown.
Then carefully turn it out on a large dish; or you may, if more
convenient, send it to table in the dish it was baked in.


MUTTON HARICO.

Take a neck of mutton, cut it into chops, and fry them brown. Then
put them into a stew-pan with a bunch of sweet herbs, two or three
cloves, a little mace, and pepper and salt to your taste. Cover
them with boiling water, and let them stew slowly for about an
hour. Then cut some carrots and turnips into dice; slice some
onions, and cut up a head of celery; put them all into the stew-pan,
and keep it closely covered except when you are skimming off
the fat. Let the whole stew gently for an hour longer, and then
send it to table in a deep dish, with the gravy about it.

You may make a similar harico of veal steaks, or of beef cut very
thin.


STEWED LEG OF MUTTON.

Take a leg of mutton and trim it nicely. Put it into a pot with
three pints of water; or with two pints of water and one quart of
gravy drawn from bones, trimmings, and coarse pieces of meat. Add
some slices of carrots, and a little salt. Stew it slowly three
hours. Then put in small onions, small turnips, tomatas or tomata
catchup, and shred or powdered sweet marjoram to your taste, and
let it stew three hours longer. A large leg will require from
first to last from six hours and a half to seven hours stewing.
But though it must be tender and well done all through, do not
allow it to stew to rags. Serve it up with the vegetables and
gravy round it. Have mashed potatoes in another dish.


TO ROAST LAMB.

The best way of cooking lamb is to roast it; when drest otherwise
it is insipid, and not so good as mutton. A hind-quarter of eight
pounds will be done in about two hours; a fore-quarter of ten
pounds, in two hours and a half; a leg of five pounds will take
from an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half; a loin about an
hour and a half. Lamb, like veal and pork, is not eatable unless
thoroughly done; no one preferring it rare, as is frequently the
case with beef and mutton.

Wash the meat, wipe it dry, spit it, and cover the fat with paper.
Place it before a clear brisk fire. Baste it at first with a
little salt and water, and then with its own drippings. Remove the
paper when the meat is nearly done, and dredge the lamb with a
little flour. Afterwards baste it with butter. Do not take it off
the spit till you see it drop white gravy.

Prepare some mint sauce by stripping from the stalks the leaves of
young green mint, mincing them very fine, and mixing them with
vinegar and sugar. There must be just sufficient vinegar to
moisten the mint, but not enough to make the sauce liquid. Send it
to table in a boat, and the gravy in another boat. Garnish with
sliced lemon.

In carving a quarter of lamb, separate the shoulder from the
breast, or the leg from the ribs, sprinkle a little salt and
pepper, and squeeze on some lemon juice.

It should be accompanied by asparagus, green peas, and lettuce.




PORK, HAM, &c.


GENERAL REMARKS.

In cutting up pork, you have the spare-rib, shoulder, griskin or
chine, the loin, middlings and leg; the head, feet, heart and
liver. On the spare-rib and chine there is but little meat, and
the pieces called middlings consist almost entirely of fat. The
best parts are the loin, and the leg or hind-quarter. Hogs make
the best pork when from two and a half to four years old. They
should be kept up and fed with corn at least six weeks before they
are killed, or their flesh will acquire a disagreeable taste from
the trash and offal which they eat when running at large. The
Portuguese pork, which is fed on chestnuts, is perhaps the finest
in the world.

If the meat is young, the lean will break on being pinched, and
the skin will dent by nipping it with the fingers; the fat will be
white, soft, and pulpy. If the skin or rind is rough, and cannot
he nipped, it is old.

Hams that have short shank-bones, are generally preferred. If you
put a knife under the bone of a ham, and it comes out clean, the
meat is good; but quite the contrary if the knife appears smeared
and slimy. In good bacon the fat is white, and the lean sticks
close to the bone; if it is streaked with yellow, the meat is
rusty, and unfit to eat.

Pork in every form should be thoroughly cooked. If the least
under-done, it is disgusting and unwholesome.


TO ROAST A PIG.

Begin your preparations by making the stuffing. Take a sufficient
quantity of grated stale bread, and mix it with sage and sweet
marjoram rubbed fine or powdered; also some grated lemon-peel.
Season it with pepper, salt, powdered nutmeg and mace; mix in
butter enough to moisten it, and some beaten yolk of egg to bind
it. Let the whole be very well incorporated.

The pig should be newly killed, (that morning if possible,) nicely
cleaned, fat, and not too large. Wash it well in cold water, and
cut off the feet close to the joints, leaving some skin all round
to fold over the ends. Take out the liver and heart, and reserve
them, with the feet, to make the gravy. Truss back the legs. Fill
the body with the stuffing (it must be quite full) and then sew it
up, or tie it round with a buttered twine. Put the pig on the
spit, and place it before a clear brisk fire, but not too near
lest it scorch. The fire should be largest at the ends, that the
middle of the pig may not be done before the extremities. If you
find the heat too great in the centre, you may diminish it by
placing a flat-iron before the fire. When you first put it down,
wash the pig all over with salt and water; afterwards rub it
frequently with a feather dipped in sweet oil, or with fresh
butter tied in a rag. If you baste it with any thing else, or with
its own dripping, the skin will not be crisp. Take care not to
blister or burn the outside by keeping it too near the fire. A
good sized pig will require at least three hours' roasting.

Unless a pig is very small it is seldom sent to table whole. Take
the spit from the fire, and place it across a large dish: then,
having cut off the head with a sharp knife, and cut down the back,
slip the spit out. Lay the two halves of the body close together
in the dish, and place half the head on each side. Garnish with
sliced lemon.

For the gravy,--take, that from the dripping-pan and skim it well.
Having boiled the heart, liver, and feet, with some minced sage in
a very little water, cut the meat from the feet, and chop it. Chop
also the liver and heart. Put all into a small sauce-pan, adding a
little of the water that they were boiled in, and some bits of
butter rolled in flour. Flavour it with a glass of Madeira, and
some grated nutmeg. Give it a boil up, and send it to table in a
gravy-boat.

You may serve up with the pig, apple-sauce, cranberry sauce, or
bread-sauce in a small tureen; or currant jelly.

If you bake the pig instead of roasting it, rub it from time to
time with fresh butter tied in a rag.


TO ROAST A LEG OF PORK.

Take a sharp knife and score the skin across in narrow stripes
(you may cross it again so as to form diamonds) and rub in some
powdered sage. Raise the skin at the knuckle, and put in a
stuffing of minced onion and sage, bread-crumbs, pepper, salt, and
beaten yolk of egg. Fasten it down with a buttered string, or with
skewers. You may make deep incisions in the meat of the large end
of the leg, and stuff them also; pressing in the filling very
hard. Rub a little sweet oil all over the skin with a brush or a
goose feather, to make it crisp and of a handsome brown. Do not
place the spit too near the fire, lest the skin should burn and
blister. A leg of pork will require from three to four hours to
roast. Moisten it all the time by brushing it with sweet oil, or
with fresh butter tied in a rag. To baste it with its own dripping
will make the skin tough and hard. Skim the fat carefully from the
gravy, which should be thickened with a little flour.

A roast leg of pork should always be accompanied by apple-sauce,
and by mashed potato and mashed turnips.


TO ROAST A LOIN OF PORK.

Score the skin in narrow strips, and rub it all over with a
mixture of powdered sage leaves, pepper and salt. Have ready a
force-meat or stuffing of minced onions and sage, mixed with a
little grated bread and beaten yolk of egg, and seasoned with
pepper and salt. Make deep incisions between the ribs and fill
them with this stuffing. Put it on the spit before a clear fire
and moisten it with butter or sweet oil, rubbed lightly over it.
It will require three hours to roast.

Having skimmed the gravy well, thicken it with a little flour, and
serve it up in a boat. Have ready some apple-sauce to eat with the
pork. Also mashed turnips and mashed potatoes.

You may roast in the same manner, a shoulder, spare-rib, or chine
of pork; seasoning it with sage and onion.


TO ROAST A MIDDLING OR SPRING PIECE OF PORK.

Make a force-meat of grated bread, and minced onion and sage,
pepper, salt, and beaten yolk of egg; mix it well, and spread it
all over the inside of the pork. Then roll up the meat, and with a
sharp knife score it round in circles, rubbing powdered sage into
the cuts. Tie a buttered twine round the roll of meat so as to
keep it together in every direction. Put a hook through one end,
and roast the pork before a clear brisk fire, moistening the skin
occasionally with butter. Or you may bake it in a Dutch oven. It
is a good side dish. Thicken the gravy with a little flour, and
flavour it with a glass of wine. Have currant jelly to eat with
it.

It should be delicate young pork.


TO STEW PORK.

Take a nice piece of the fillet or leg of fresh pork; rub it with
a little salt, and score the skin. Put it into a pot with
sufficient water to cover it, and stew it gently for two hours or
more, in proportion to its size. Then put into the same pot a
dozen or more sweet potatoes, scraped, split, and cut in pieces.
Let the whole stew gently together for an hour and a half, or till
all is thoroughly done, skimming it frequently. Serve up all
together in a large dish.

This stew will be found very good. For sweet potatoes you may
substitute white ones mixed with sliced turnips, or parsnips
scraped or split.


TO BOIL CORNED PORK.

Take a nice piece of fresh pork, (the leg is the best,) rub it
with salt, and let it lie in the salt two days. Boil it slowly in
plenty of water, skimming it well. When the meat is about half
done, you may put into the same pot a fine cabbage, washed clean
and quartered. The pork and the cabbage should be thoroughly done,
and tender throughout. Send them to table in separate dishes,
having drained and squeezed all the water out of the cabbage. Take
off the skin of the pork, and touch the outside at intervals with
spots of cayenne pepper. Eat mustard with it.

Pork is never boiled unless corned or salted.


PICKLED PORK AND PEASE PUDDING.

Soak the pork all night in cold water, and wash and scrape it
clean. Put it on early in the day, as it will take a long time to
boil, and must boil slowly. Skim it frequently. Boil in a separate
pot greens or cabbage to eat with it; also parsnips and potatoes.

Pease pudding is a frequent accompaniment to pickled pork, and is
very generally liked. To make a small pudding, you must have ready
a quart of dried split pease, which have been soaked all night in
cold water. Tie them in a cloth, (leaving room for them to swell,)
and boil them slowly till they are tender. Drain them, and rub
them through a cullender or a sieve into a deep dish; season them
with pepper and salt, and mix with them an ounce of butter, and
two beaten eggs. Beat all well together till thoroughly mixed. Dip
a clean cloth in hot water, sprinkle it with flour, and put the
pudding into it. Tie it up very tightly, leaving a small space
between the mixture and the tying, (as the pudding will still
swell a little,) and boil it an hour longer. Send it to table and
eat it with the pork.

You may make a pease pudding in a plain and less delicate way, by
simply seasoning the pease with pepper and salt, (having first
soaked them well,) tying them in a cloth, and putting them to boil
in the same pot with the pork, taking care to make the string very
tight, so that the water may not get in. When all is done, and you
turn out the pudding, cut it into thick slices and lay it round
the pork.

Pickled pork is frequently accompanied by dried beans and hominy.


PORK AND BEANS.

Allow two pounds of pickled pork to two quarts of dried beans. If
the meat is very salt put it in soak over night. Put the beans
into a pot with cold water, and let them hang all night over the
embers of the fire, or set them in the chimney corner, that they
may warm as well as soak. Early in the morning rinse them through
a cullender. Score the rind of the pork, (which should not be a
very fat piece,) and put the meat into a clean pot with the beans,
which must be seasoned with pepper. Let them boil slowly together
for about two hours, and carefully remove all the scum and fat
that rises to the top. Then take them out; lay the pork in a tin
pan, and cover the meat with the beans, adding a very little
water. Put it into an oven, and bake it four hours.

This is a homely dish, but is by many persons much liked. It is
customary to bring it to table in the pan in which it is baked.


PORK STEAKS.

Pork steaks or chops should be taken from the neck, or the loin.
Cut them about half an inch thick, remove the skin, trim them
neatly, and beat them. Season them with pepper, salt, and powdered
sage-leaves or sweet marjoram, and broil them over a clear fire
till quite done all through, turning them once. They require much
longer broiling than beef-steaks of mutton chops. When you think
they are nearly done, take up one on a plate and try it. If it is
the least red inside, return it to the gridiron. Have ready a
gravy made of the trimmings, or any coarse pieces of pork stewed
in a little water with chopped onions and sage, and skimmed
carefully. When all the essence is extracted, take out the bits of
meat, &c., and serve up the gravy in a boat to eat with the
steaks.

They should be accompanied with apple-sauce.


PORK CUTLETS.

Cut them from the leg, and remove the skin; trim them and beat
them, and sprinkle on salt and pepper. Prepare some beaten egg in
a pan; and on a flat dish a mixture of bread-crumbs, minced onion,
and sage. Put some lard or drippings into a frying-pan over the
fire; and when it boils, put in the cutlets; having dipped every
one first in the egg, and then in the seasoning. Fry them twenty
or thirty minutes, turning them often. After you have taken them
out of the frying-pan, skim the gravy, dredge in a little flour,
give it one boil, and then pour it on the dish round the cutlets.

Have apple-sauce to eat with them.

Pork cutlets prepared in this manner may be stewed instead of
being fried. Add to them a little water, and stew them slowly till
thoroughly done, keeping them closely covered except when you
remove the lid to skim them.


PORK PIE.

Take the lean of a leg or loin of fresh pork, and season it with
pepper, salt, and nutmeg. Cover the bottom and sides of a deep
dish, with, a good paste, made with a pound of butter to two
pounds of flour, and rolled out thick. Put in a layer of pork, and
then a layer of pippin apples, pared, cored, and cut small. Strew
over the apples sufficient sugar to make them very sweet. Then
place another layer of pork, and so on till the dish is full. Pour
in half a pint or more of water, or of white wine. Cover the pie
with a thick lid of paste, and notch and ornament it according to
your taste.

Set it in a brisk oven, and bake it well.


HAM PIE.

Cover the sides and bottom of a dish with a good pasts rolled out
thick. Have ready some slices of cold boiled ham, about half an
inch thick, some eggs boiled hard and sliced, and a large young
fowl cleaned and Cut up. Put a layer of ham at the bottom, then
the fowl, then the eggs, and then another layer of ham. Shake on
some pepper, and pour in some water, or what will be much better,
some veal gravy. Cover the pie with a crust, notch and ornament
it, and bake it well.

Some mushrooms will greatly improve it.

Small button mushrooms will keep very well in a bottle of sweet
oil--first peeling the skin, and cutting off the stalks.


HAM SANDWICHES

Cut some thin slices of bread very neatly, having slightly
buttered them; and, if you choose, spread on a very little
mustard. Have ready some very thin slices of cold boiled ham, and
lay one between two slices of bread. You may either roll them up,
or lay them flat on the plates. They are used at supper, or at
luncheon.

You may substitute for the ham, cold smoked tongue, shred or
grated.


BROILED HAM.

Cut the ham into very thin slices, (the thinner the better.) Soak
them in hot water at least half an hour, (a whole hour is better,)
to draw out some of the salt; changing the water several times,
and always pouring it on scalding hot. This process will not only
extract the superfluous salt (which would otherwise ooze out in
broiling and remain sticking about the surface of the meat) but it
makes the ham more tender and mellow. After soaking, dry the
slices in a cloth, and then heat your gridiron, and broil them
over a clear fire.

If you have cold boiled ham, it is better for broiling than that
which is raw; and being boiled, will require no soaking before you
put it on the gridiron.

If you wish to serve up eggs with the ham, put some lard into a
very clean frying-pan, and make it boiling hot. Break the eggs
separately into a saucer, that in case a bad one should be among
them it may not mix with the rest. Slip each egg gently into the
frying-pan. Do not turn them while they are frying, but keep
pouring some of the hot lard over them with an iron spoon; this
will do them sufficiently on the upper side. They will be done
enough in about three minutes; the white must retain its
transparency so that the yolk will be seen through it. When done,
take them up with a tin slice, drain off the lard, and if any part
of the white is discoloured or ragged, trim it off. Lay a fried
egg upon each slice of the broiled ham, and send them to table
hot.

This is a much nicer way than the common practice of frying the
ham or bacon with the eggs. Some persons broil or fry the ham
without eggs, and send it to table cut into little slips or
mouthfuls.

To curl small pieces of ham for garnishing, slice as thin as
possible some that has been boiled or parboiled. The pieces should
be about two inches square. Roll it up round little wooden
skewers, and put it into a cheese toaster, or into a tin oven, and
set it before the fire for eight or ten minutes. When it is done,
slip out the skewers.


TO BOIL A HAM.

Hams should always be soaked in water previous to boiling, to draw
out a portion of the salt, and to make them tender. They will
soften more easily if soaked in lukewarm water. If it is a new
ham, and not very salt or hard, you need not put it in water till
the evening before you intend to cook it. An older one will
require twenty-four hours' soaking; and one that is very old and
hard should be kept in soak two or three days, frequently changing
the water, which must be soft. Soak it in a tub, and keep it well
covered. When you take it out of the water to prepare it for
boiling, scrape and trim it nicely, and pare off all the bad
looking parts.

Early in the morning put it into a large pot or kettle with plenty
of cold water. Place it over a slow fire that it may heat
gradually; it should not come to a boil in less than an hour and a
half, or two hours. When it boils, quicken the fire, and skim the
pot carefully. Then simmer it gently four or fire hours or more,
according to its size. A ham weighing fifteen pounds should simmer
five hours after it has come to a boil. Keep the pot well skimmed.

When it is done, take it up, carefully strip off the skin, and
reserve it to cover the ham when it is put away cold. Rub the ham
all over with some beaten egg, and strew on it fine bread-raspings
shaken through the lid of a dredging box. Then place it in an oven
to brown and crisp, or on a hot dish set over the pot before the
fire. Cut some writing paper into a handsome fringe, and twist it
round the shank-bone before you send the ham to table. Garnish the
edge of the dish with little piles or spots of rasped crust of
bread.

In carving a ham, begin not quite in the centre, but a little
nearer to the hock. Cut the slices very thin. It is not only a
most ungenteel practice to cut ham in thick slices, but it much
impairs the flavour.

When you put it away after dinner, skewer on again the skin. This
will make it keep the better.

Ham should always be accompanied by green vegetables, such as
asparagus, peas, beans, spinach, cauliflower, brocoli, &c.

Bacon also should be well soaked before it is cooked; and it
should be boiled very slowly, and for a long time. The greens may
be boiled with the meat. Take care to skim the pot carefully, and
to drain and squeeze the greens very well before you send them to
table. If there are yellow streaks in the lean of the bacon, it is
rusty, and unfit to eat.


TO ROAST A HAM.

Take a very fine ham (a Westphalia one if you can procure it) and
soak it in lukewarm water for a day or two, changing the water
frequently. The day before you intend cooking it, take the ham out
of the water, and (having removed the skin) trim it nicely, and
pour over it a bottle of Madeira or sherry. Let it steep till next
morning, frequently during the day washing the wine over it. Put
it on the spit in time to allow at least six hours for slowly
roasting it. Baste it continually with hot water. When it is done,
dredge it all over with fine bread-raspings shaken on through the
top of the dredging box; and set it before the fire to brown.

For gravy, take the wine in which the ham was steeped, and add to
it the essence or juice which flowed from the meat when taken from
the spit. Squeeze in the juice of two lemons. Put it into a sauce-pan,
and boil and skim it. Send it to table in a boat. Cover the
shank of the ham (which should have been sawed short) with bunches
of double parsley, and ornament it with a cluster of flowers cut
out with a penknife from raw carrots, beets, and turnips; and made
to imitate marygolds, and red and white roses.


DIRECTIONS FOR CURING HAM OR BACON.

Ham or bacon, however well cured, will never be good unless the
pork of which it is made has been properly fed. The hogs should be
well fattened on corn, and fed with it about eight weeks, allowing
ten bushels to each hog. They are best for curing when from two to
four years old, and should not weigh more than one hundred and
fifty or one hundred and sixty pounds. The first four weeks they
may be fed on mush, or on Indian meal moistened with water; the
remaining four on corn unground; giving them always as much as
they will eat. Soap-suds may be given to them three or four times
a week; or oftener if convenient.

When killed and cut up, begin immediately to salt them. Rub the
outside of each ham with a tea-spoonful of powdered saltpetre, and
the inside with a tea-spoonful of cayenne pepper. Having mixed
together brown sugar and fine salt, in the proportion of a pound
and a half of brown sugar to a quart of salt, rub the pork well


 


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