require about five minutes, and should be served the last thing
directly from the gridiron, placed on a warm platter, with a little
butter and a sprinkle of pepper on the top of each slice. If ham or
bacon is allowed to stand by the fire after it has been broiled or
fried, it will speedily toughen, loosing all its grateful juices.
Cold boiled ham is very nice for broiling, and many prefer it to using
the raw ham.
POTTED HAM.
To TWO pounds of lean ham allow one pound of fat, two teaspoonfuls of
powdered mace, half a nutmeg, grated, rather more than half a
teaspoonful of cayenne.
_Mode._--Mince the ham, fat and lean together, in the above
proportion, and pound it well in a mortar, seasoning it with cayenne
pepper, pounded mace and nutmeg; put the mixture into a deep
baking-dish, and bake for half an hour; then press it well into a
stone jar, fill up the jar with clarified lard, cover it closely, and
paste over it a piece of thick paper. If well seasoned, it will keep a
long time in winter, and will be found very convenient for sandwiches,
etc.
BOLOGNA SAUSAGE. (Cooked.)
Two POUNDS of lean pork, two pounds of lean veal, two pounds of fresh
lean beef, two pounds of fat salt pork, one pound of beef suet, ten
tablespoonfuls of powdered sage, one ounce each of parsley, savory,
marjoram and thyme mixed. Two teaspoonfuls of cayenne pepper, the same
of black, one grated nutmeg, one teaspoonful of cloves, one minced
onion, salt to taste. Chop or grind the meat and suet; season, and
stuff into beef skins; tie these up, prick each in several places to
allow the escape of steam; put into hot, not boiling, water, and heat
gradually to the boiling point. Cook slowly for one hour; take out the
skins and lay them to dry in the sun, upon clean sweet straw or hay.
Rub the outside of the skins with oil or melted butter, and place in a
cool, dry cellar. If you wish to keep them more than a week, rub
ginger or pepper on the outside, then wash it off before using. This
is eaten without further cooking. Cut in round slices and lay sliced
lemons around the edge of the dish, as many like to squeeze a few
drops upon the sausage before eating. These are very nice smoked like
hams.
COUNTRY PORK SAUSAGES.
Six pounds lean fresh pork, three pounds of chine fat, three
tablespoonfuls of salt, two of black pepper, four tablespoonfuls of
pounded and sifted sage, two of summer savory. Chop the lean and fat
pork finely, mix the seasoning in with your hands, taste to see that
it has the right flavor, then put them into cases, either the cleaned
intestines of the hog, or make long, narrow bags of stout muslin,
large enough to contain each enough sausage for a family dish. Fill
these with the meat, dip in melted lard, and hang them in a cool, dry,
dark place. Some prefer to pack the meat in jars, pouring melted lard
over it, covering the top, to be taken out as wanted and made into
small round cakes with the hands, then fried brown. Many like spices
added to the seasoning--cloves, mace and nutmeg. This is a matter of
taste.
_Marion Harland_.
TO FRY SAUSAGES.
Put a small piece of lard or butter into the frying pan. Prick the
sausages with a fork, lay them in the melted grease, keep moving them
about, turning them frequently to prevent bursting; in ten or twelve
minutes they will be sufficiently browned and cooked. Another sure way
to prevent the cases from bursting is to cover them with cold water
and let it come to the boiling point; turn off the water and fry them.
Sausages are nicely cooked by putting them in a baking-pan them in the
oven, turning them once or twice. In this way you avoid all smoke and
disagreeable odor. A pound will cook brown in ten minutes in a hot
oven.
HEAD CHEESE.
Boil the forehead, ears and feet, and nice scraps trimmed from the
hams of a fresh pig, until the meat will almost drop from the bones.
Then separate the meat from the bones, put in a large chopping-bowl,
and season with pepper, salt, sage and summer savory. Chop it rather
coarsely; put it back in the same kettle it was boiled in, with just
enough of the liquor in which it was boiled to prevent its burning;
warm it through thoroughly, mixing it well together. Now pour it into
a strong muslin bag, press the bag between two flat surfaces, with a
heavy weight on top; when cold and solid it can be cut in slices. Good
cold, or warmed up in vinegar.
TO CURE HAMS AND BACON. (A Prize Recipe.)
For each hundred pounds of hams, make a pickle of ten pounds of salt,
two pounds of brown sugar, two ounces of saltpetre, one ounce of red
pepper, and from four to four and a half gallons of water, or just
enough to cover the hams, after being packed in a water-tight vessel,
or enough salt to make a brine to float a fresh egg high enough, that
is to say, out of water. First rub the hams with common salt and lay
them into a tub. Take the above ingredients, put them into a vessel
over the fire, and heat it hot, stirring it frequently; remove all the
scum, allow it to boil ten minutes, let it cool and pour over the
meat. After laying in this brine five or six weeks, take out, drain
and wipe, and smoke from two to three weeks. Small pieces of bacon may
remain in this pickle two weeks, which would be sufficient.
TO SMOKE HAMS AND FISH AT HOME.
Take an old hogshead, stop up all the crevices, and fix a place to put
a cross-stick near the bottom, to hang the article to be smoked on.
Next, in the side, cut a hole near the top, to introduce an iron pan
filled with hickory wood sawdust and small pieces of green wood.
Having turned the hogshead upside down, hang the articles upon the
cross-stick, introduce the iron pan in the opening, and place a piece
of red-hot iron in the pan, cover it with sawdust, and all will be
complete. Let a large ham remain ten days, and keep up a good smoke.
The best way for keeping hams is to sew them in coarse cloths,
white-washed on the outside.
TO CURE ENGLISH BACON.
This process is called the "dry cure," and is considered far
preferable to the New England or Yankee style of putting prepared
brine or pickle over the meat. First the hog should not be too large
or too fat, weighing not over two hundred pounds, then after it is
dressed and cooled cut it up into proper pieces; allow to every
hundred pounds a mixture of four quarts of common salt, one quarter of
a pound of saltpetre and four pounds of sugar. Rub this preparation
thoroughly over and into each piece, then place them into a tight tub
or suitable cask; there will a brine form of itself from the juices of
the meat, enough at least to baste it with, which should be done two
or three times a week; turning each piece every time.
In smoking this bacon, the sweetest flavor is derived from black birch
chips, but if these are not to be had, the next best wood is hickory;
the smoking with corn-cobs imparts a rank flavor to this bacon, which
is very distasteful to English people visiting this country. It
requires three weeks or a month to smoke this bacon properly.
_Berkshire Recipe_.
TO TRY OUT LARD.
Skin the leaf lard carefully, cut it into small pieces, and put it
into a kettle or saucepan; pour in a cupful of water to prevent
burning; set it over the fire where it will melt slowly. Stir it
frequently and let it simmer until nothing remains but brown scraps.
Remove the scraps with a perforated skimmer, throw in a little salt to
settle the fat, and, when clear, strain through a coarse cloth into
jars. Remember to watch it constantly, stirring it from the bottom
until the salt is thrown in to settle it; then set it back on the
range until clear. If it scorches it gives it a very bad flavor.
SAUCES AND DRESSINGS.
DRAWN BUTTER.
Melted butter is the foundation of most of the common sauces. Have a
covered saucepan for this purpose. One lined with porcelain will be
best. Take a quarter of a pound of the best fresh butter, cut it up,
and mix with it about one tablespoonful of flour. When it is
thoroughly mixed, put it into the saucepan, and add to it half a
teacupful of hot water. Cover the saucepan and set it in a large tin
pan of boiling water. Shake it round continually (always moving it the
same way) till it is entirely melted and begins to simmer. Then let it
rest till it boils up.
If you set it on too hot a fire it will be oily.
If the butter and flour are not well mixed, it will be lumpy.
If you put in too much water, it will be thin and poor. All these
defects are to be carefully avoided.
In melting butter for sweet or pudding sauce, you may use milk instead
of water.
TARTARE SAUCE.
The raw yolks of two eggs, half a teacupful of pure olive oil, three
tablespoonfuls of vinegar, one of made mustard, one teaspoonful of
sugar, a quarter of a teaspoonful of pepper, one teaspoonful of salt,
one of onion juice, one tablespoonful of chopped capers, one of
chopped cucumber pickle. Put together the same as mayonnaise dressing,
adding the chopped ingredients the last thing.
This sauce is good for fried or boiled fish, boiled tongue, fish
salad, and may be used with fried and broiled meats.
EGG SAUCE, OR WHITE SAUCE.
Mix two tablespoonfuls of sifted flour with half a teacup of warm
butter. Place over the fire a saucepan containing a pint of sweet milk
and a saltspoon of salt, and a dash of white pepper; when it reaches
the boiling point, add the butter and flour, stirring briskly until it
thickens and becomes like cream. Have ready three cold hard-boiled
eggs, sliced and chopped, add them to the sauce; let them heat through
thoroughly, and serve in a boat. If you have plenty of cream, use it
and omit the butter. By omitting the eggs, you have the same as "White
Sauce."
OYSTER SAUCE.
Take a pint of oysters and heat them in their own liquor long enough
to come to a boil, or until they begin to ruffle. Skim out the oysters
into a warm dish, put into the liquor a teacup of milk or cream, two
tablespoonfuls of cold butter, a pinch of cayenne and salt; thicken
with a tablespoonful of flour stirred to a paste, boil up and then add
the oysters.
Oyster sauce is used for fish, boiled turkey, chickens and boiled
white meats of most kinds.
LOBSTER SAUCE.
Put the coral and spawn of a boiled lobster into a mortar with a
tablespoonful of butter; pound it to a smooth mass, then rub it
through a sieve; melt nearly a quarter of a pound of sweet butter,
with a wine-glass of water or vinegar; add a teaspoonful of made
mustard, stir in the coral and spawn, and a little salt and pepper;
stir it until it is smooth and serve. Some of the meat of the lobster
may be chopped fine and stirred into it.
SAUCE FOR SALMON AND OTHER FISH.
One cupful of milk heated to a boil and thickened with a tablespoonful
of cornstarch previously wet up with cold water, the liquor from the
salmon, one great spoonful of butter, one raw egg beaten light, the
juice of half a lemon, mace and cayenne pepper to taste. Add the egg
to thickened milk when you have stirred in the butter and liquor; take
from the fire, season and let it stand in hot water three minutes,
covered. Lastly put in lemon juice and turn out immediately. Pour it
all over and around the salmon.
SAUCE FOR BOILED COD.
To one gill of boiling water add as much milk; stir into this while
boiling two tablespoonfuls of butter gradually, one tablespoonful of
flour wet up with cold water; as it thickens, the chopped yolk of one
boiled egg, and one raw egg beaten light. Take directly from the fire,
season with pepper, salt, a little chopped parsley and the juice of
one lemon, and set covered in boiling water (but not over fire) five
minutes, stirring occasionally. Pour part of the sauce over fish when
dished; the rest in a boat. Serve mashed potatoes with it.
FISH SAUCE. No. 1.
Make a pint of drawn butter, add one tablespoonful of pepper sauce or
Worcestershire sauce, a little salt and six hard-boiled eggs chopped
fine. Pour over boiled fish and garnish with sliced lemon.
Very nice.
FISH SAUCE. No. 2.
Half a cupful of melted butter, half a cupful of vinegar, two
tablespoonfuls of tomato catsup, salt, and a tablespoonful of made
mustard. Boil ten minutes.
CELERY SAUCE.
Mix two tablespoonfuls of flour with half a teacupful of butter; have
ready a pint of boiling milk; stir the flour and butter into the milk;
take three heads of celery, cut into small bits, and boil for a few
minutes in water, which strain off; put the celery into the melted
butter, and keep it stirred over the fire for five or ten minutes.
This is very nice with boiled fowl or turkey. Another way to make
celery sauce is: Boil a head of celery until quite tender, then put it
through a sieve; put the yolk of an egg in a basin, and beat it well
with the strained juice of a lemon; add the celery and a couple of
spoonfuls of liquor in which the turkey was boiled; salt and pepper to
taste.
CAPER SAUCE.
Chop the capers a very little, unless quite small; make half a pint of
drawn butter, to which add the capers, with a large spoonful of the
juice from the bottle in which they are sold; let it just simmer and
serve in a tureen. Nasturtiums much resemble capers in taste, though
larger, and may be used, and, in fact, are preferred by many. They are
grown on a climbing vine, and are cultivated for their blossom and for
pickling. When used as capers they should be chopped more. If
neither capers nor nasturtiums are at hand, some pickles chopped up
form a very good substitute in the sauce.
[Illustration]
BREAD SAUCE.
One cup of stale bread crumbs, one onion, two ounces of butter, pepper
and salt, a little mace. Cut the onion fine, and boil it in milk till
quite soft; then strain the milk on to the stale bread crumbs, and let
it stand an hour. Put it in a saucepan with the boiled onion, pepper,
salt and mace. Give it a boil, and serve in sauce tureen. This sauce
can also be used for grouse, and is very nice. Roast partridges are
nice served with bread crumbs, fried brown in butter, with cranberry
or currant jelly laid beside them in the platter.
TOMATO SAUCE.
Take a quart can of tomatoes, put it over the fire in a stewpan, put
in one slice of onion and two cloves, a little pepper and salt; boil
about twenty minutes; then remove from the fire and strain it through
a sieve. Now melt in another pan an ounce of butter, and as it melts,
sprinkle in a tablespoonful of flour; stir it until it browns and
froths a little. Mix the tomato pulp with it, and it is ready for the
table.
Excellent for mutton, chops, roast beef, etc.
ONION SAUCE.
Work together until light a heaping tablespoonful of flour and half a
cupful of butter, and gradually add two cups of boiling milk; stir
constantly until it come to a boil; then stir into that four tender
boiled onions that have been chopped fine. Salt and pepper to taste.
Serve with boiled veal, poultry of mutton.
CHILI SAUCE.
Boil together two dozen ripe tomatoes, three small green peppers, or a
half teaspoonful of cayenne pepper, one onion cut fine, half a cup of
sugar. Boil until thick; then add two cups of vinegar; then strain the
whole, set back on the fire and add a tablespoonful of salt, and a
teaspoonful each of ginger, allspice, cloves and cinnamon; boil all
five minutes, remove and seal in glass bottles. This is very nice.
MINT SAUCE.
Take fresh young spearmint leaves stripped from the stems; wash and
drain them, or dry on a cloth. Chop very fine, put in a gravy boat,
and to three tablespoonfuls of mint put two of white sugar; mix and
let it stand a few minutes, then pour over it six tablespoonfuls of
good cider or white-wine vinegar. The sauce should be made some time
before it is to be used, so that the flavor of the mint may be well
extracted. Fine with roast lamb.
SHARP BROWN SAUCE.
Put in a saucepan one tablespoonful of chopped onion, three
tablespoonfuls of good cider vinegar, six tablespoonfuls of water,
three of tomato catsup, a little pepper and salt, half a cup of melted
butter, in which stir a tablespoonful of sifted flour; put all
together and boil until it thickens. This is most excellent with
boiled meats, fish and poultry.
BECHAMEL SAUCE.
Put three tablespoonfuls of butter in a saucepan; add three
tablespoonfuls of sifted flour, quarter of a teaspoonful of nutmeg,
ten peppercorns, a teaspoonful of salt; beat all well together; then
add to this three slices of onion, two slices of carrot, two sprigs of
parsley, two of thyme, a bay leaf and half a dozen mushrooms cut up.
Moisten the whole with a pint of stock or water and a cup of sweet
cream. Set it on the stove and cook slowly for half an hour, watching
closely that it does not burn; then strain through a sieve. Most
excellent with roast veal, meats and fish. _St. Charles Hotel, New
Orleans_.
MAITRE D'HOTEL SAUCE.
Make a teacupful of drawn butter; add to it the juice of a lemon, two
tablespoonfuls of minced onion, three tablespoonfuls of chopped
parsley, a teaspoonful of powdered thyme or summer savory, a pinch of
cayenne and salt. Simmer over the fire and stir well. Excellent with
all kinds of fish.
WINE SAUCE FOR GAME.
Half a glass of currant jelly, half a glass of port wine, half a glass
of water, a tablespoonful of cold butter, a teaspoonful of salt, the
juice of half a lemon, a pinch of cayenne pepper and three cloves.
Simmer all together a few minutes, adding the wine after it is
strained. A few spoonfuls of the gravy from the game may be added to
it. This sauce is especially nice with venison. _Taber House, Denver_.
HOLLANDAISE SAUCE.
Half a teacupful of butter, the juice of half a lemon, the yolk of two
eggs, a speck of cayenne pepper, half a cupful of boiling water, half
a teaspoonful of salt; beat the butter to a cream, add the yolks of
eggs one by one; then the lemon juice, pepper and salt, beating all
thoroughly; place the bowl in which is the mixture in a saucepan of
boiling water; beat with an egg-beater until it begins to thicken
which will be in about a minute; then add the boiling water, beating
all the time; stir until it begins to thicken like soft custard; stir
a few minutes after taking from the fire; be careful not to cook it
too long. This is very nice with baked fish.
CURRANT JELLY SAUCE.
Three tablespoonfuls of butter, one onion, one bay leaf, one sprig of
celery, two tablespoonfuls of vinegar, half a cupful of currant jelly,
one tablespoonful of flour, one pint of stock, salt, pepper. Cook the
butter and onion until the latter begins to color. Add the flour and
herbs. Stir until brown; add the stock, and simmer twenty minutes.
Strain and skim off all the fat. Add the jelly and stir over the fire
until it is melted. Serve with game.
BROWN SAUCE.
Delicious sauce for meats is made in this way: Slice a large onion and
fry in butter till it is brown; then cover the onion with rich brown
gravy, which is left from roast beef; add mustard, salt and pepper,
and if you choose a tablespoonful of Worcestershire sauce; let this
boil up, and if too thick, thin it with a little stock or gravy, or
even a little hot water with butter. Pour this when done through a
fine sieve. Of course a larger quantity can be prepared at once than
is mentioned here.
MUSHROOM SAUCE.
Wash a pint of small button mushrooms, remove the stems and outside
skins, stew them slowly in veal gravy or milk or cream, adding an
onion, and seasoning with pepper, salt and a little butter rolled in
flour. Their flavor will be heightened by salting a few the night
before, to extract the juice. In dressing mushrooms only those of a
dull pearl color on the outside and the under part tinged with pale
pink should be selected. If there is a poisonous one among them, the
onion in the sauce will turn black. In such a case throw the whole
away. Used for poultry, beef or fish.
APPLE SAUCE.
When you wish to serve apple sauce with meat prepare it in this way:
Cook the apples until they are very tender, then stir them thoroughly
so there will be no lumps at all; add the sugar and a little gelatine
dissolved in warm water, a tablespoonful in a pint of sauce; pour the
sauce into bowls, and when cold it will be stiff like jelly, and can
be turned out on a plate. Cranberry sauce can be treated in the same
way. Many prefer this to plain stewing.
Apples cooked in the following way look very pretty on a tea-table,
and are appreciated by the palate. Select firm, round greenings; pare
neatly and cut in halves; place in a shallow stewpan with sufficient
boiling water to cover them, and a cupful of sugar to every six
apples. Each half should cook on the bottom of the pan, and be removed
from the others so as not to injure its shape. Stew slowly until the
pieces are very tender; remove to a dish carefully; boil the syrup
half an hour longer; pour it over the apples and eat cold. A few
pieces of lemon boiled in the syrup adds to the flavor. These sauces
are a fine accompaniment to roast pork or roast goose.
CIDER APPLE SAUCE.
Boil four quarts of new cider until it is reduced to two quarts; then
put into it enough pared and quartered apples to fill the kettle; let
the whole stew over a moderate fire four hours; add cinnamon if liked.
This sauce is very fine with almost any kind of meat.
OLD-FASHIONED APPLE SAUCE.
Pare and chop a dozen medium-sized apples, put them in a deep
pudding-dish; sprinkle over them a heaping coffeecupful of sugar and
one of water. Place them in the oven and bake slowly two hours or
more, or until they are a deep red brown; quite as nice as preserves.
CRANBERRY SAUCE.
One quart of cranberries, two cupfuls of sugar and a pint of water.
Wash the cranberries, then put them on the fire with the water, but in
a covered saucepan. Let them simmer until each cranberry bursts open;
then remove the cover of the saucepan, add the sugar and let them all
boil twenty minutes without the cover. The cranberries must never be
stirred from the time they are placed on the fire. This is an
unfailing recipe for a most delicious preparation of cranberries. Very
fine with turkey and game.
APPLE OMELET.
Apple omelet, to be served with broiled sparerib or roast pork, is
very delicate. Take nine large, tart apples, four, eggs, one cup of
sugar, one tablespoonful of butter; add cinnamon or other spices to
suit your taste; stew the apples till they are very soft; mash them so
that there will be no lumps; add the butter and sugar while they are
still warm; but let them cool before putting in the beaten eggs; bake
this till it is brown; you may put it all in a shallow pudding-dish or
in two tin plates to bake. Very good.
FLAVORED VINEGARS.
Almost all the flavorings used for meats and salads may be prepared in
vinegar with little trouble and expense, and will be found useful to
impart an acid to flavors when lemons are not at hand.
Tarragon, sweet basil, burnet, green mint, sage, thyme, sweet
marjoram, etc., may be prepared by putting three ounces of either of
these herbs, when in blossom, into one gallon of sharp vinegar, let
stand ten days, strain off clear, and bottle for use.
Celery and cayenne may be prepared, using three ounces of the seed as
above.
CUCUMBER VINEGAR.
_Ingredients_.--Ten large cucumbers, or twelve smaller ones, one quart
of vinegar, two onions, two shallots, one tablespoonful of salt, two
tablespoonfuls of pepper, a quarter of a teaspoonful of cayenne.
_Mode_.--Pare and slice the cucumbers, put them in a stone jar, or
wide-mouthed bottle, with the vinegar; slice the onions and shallots,
and add them, with all the other ingredients, to the cucumbers. Let it
stand four or five days; boil it all up, and when cold, strain the
liquor through a piece of muslin, and store it away in small bottles
well sealed. This vinegar is a very nice addition to gravies, hashes,
etc., as well as a great improvement to salads, or to eat with cold
meat.
CURRY POWDER.
To make curry powder, take one ounce of ginger, one ounce of mustard,
one ounce of pepper, three ounces of coriander seed, three ounces of
turmeric, half an ounce of cardamoms, one-quarter ounce of cayenne
pepper, one-quarter ounce of cinnamon, and one-quarter ounce of cumin
seed. Pound all these ingredients very fine in a mortar; sift them and
cork tight in a bottle.
This can be had ready prepared at most druggists, and it is much less
trouble to purchase it than to make it at home.
CURRY SAUCE.