Wipe meat with damp cloth. Trim and tie into shape if necessary. In
the bottom of pan put some pieces of fat from meat. Arrange meat on
rack in pan. Dredge with salt, pepper, and flour. Have oven _very_
hot at first; when meat is half done reduce heat. Baste every 10 or
15 minutes. If there is danger of fat in pan being scorched add a few
spoons of boiling water. Allow from 10 to 20 minutes per pound of
meat, according as it is desired rare or well done. When done remove
to hot platter. Thicken gravy in pan with browned flour, adding more
water as necessary and add seasoning.
=Yorkshire Pudding.=-¾ pint flour, 3 eggs, 1½ pints milk, pinch salt,
1½ teaspoons Royal Baking Powder. Sift flour and powder together, add
eggs, beaten with milk, stir quickly into rather thinner batter than
for griddle cakes, pour into dripping-pan, plentifully greased with
beef-dripping, bake in hot oven 25 minutes; serve with roast beef.
=Braised Beef.=—Wipe and trim 6 pounds round or rump of beef without
bone. Sear brown on all sides in very hot frying-pan over hot fire. In
braising-pan or iron kettle put layers of sliced onions, turnips, and
carrots; add bunch of sweet herbs, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon pepper;
on this lay meat. Add 1 pint boiling water (or water and stewed
tomatoes). Cover closely and cook 4 hours in moderate oven. If water
evaporates rapidly add more. Transfer meat to hot platter. Strain,
thicken, and season gravy. The vegetables may be served separately if
desired.
=Braised Veal Shoulder.=—Have shoulder boned. Fill with stuffing (see
Stuffings). Prepare bed of vegetables as for braised beef. Lay veal on
it, add 1 pint boiling water, 1 pint stewed tomatoes, ½ teaspoon salt,
¼ teaspoon pepper. Cover and cook 4 hours in moderate oven. Uncover
and brown. Serve strained gravy separately.
=Broiled Steak.=—Trim and wipe steak, which should be at least 1 inch
thick. Rub broiler with fat, arrange steak with thickest part in
center of broiler. Have fire clear and very hot, but without blaze.
Hold steak close to fire. Turn every ½ minute, that it may sear
quickly. When ½ done season with salt and pepper. Steak 1 inch thick
will broil in 4 minutes.
=Panned Steak or Chops.=—Trim and wipe steak. Heat frying-pan until it
smokes all over. Rub bottom with a bit of fat. Lay in steak and turn
every 10 seconds. Keep pan _very_ hot. Season when ½ done.
Mutton and pork chops, ham and bacon, may be panned in same way.
If hot platter for steak is rubbed with a cut onion it will give a
delightful flavor to the meat.
=Broiled Ham and Poached Eggs.=—Cut slices of boiled ham of equal
size; broil on a gridiron over a clear fire; lay on a hot dish. Lay on
each a poached egg, neatly trimmed, and serve.
=Beefsteak Pie (French style).=—Take a nice piece of beef, rump or
sirloin, cut in small slices; slice also a little raw ham; put both
in a frying-pan, with some butter and small quantity chopped onions;
let them simmer together a short time on the fire or in the oven; add
a little flour and enough stock to make sauce; salt, pepper, chopped
parsley, and a little Worcestershire sauce as seasoning; add also a
few sliced potatoes, and cook together for about 20 minutes; put this
into a pie-dish, with a few slices of hard-boiled eggs on the top, and
cover with a layer of common paste. Bake from 15 to 20 minutes in a
well-heated oven. All dark-meat pies can be treated precisely in the
same way. If poultry, leave the potatoes out.
=To Boil a Ham.=—A blade of mace, a few cloves, a sprig of thyme, and
2 bay-leaves. Well soak ham in large quantity of water for 24 hours,
then trim and scrape very clean; put into large stewpan, with more
than sufficient water to cover it; put in mace, cloves, thyme, and
bay-leaves. Boil 4 or 5 hours, according to weight; when done, let
it become cold in liquor in which it was boiled. Then remove rind
carefully, without injuring the fat; press cloth over it to absorb as
much of the grease as possible. It is always improved by setting in
the oven for nearly an hour, till much of the fat dries out, and it
also makes it more tender. Shake some bread raspings over the fat.
Serve cold garnished with parsley.
=Boiled Mutton or Lamb.=—Trim and wipe the meat. Have ready kettle of
rapidly boiling salted water. Immerse meat, boil hard 5 minutes, then
reduce to gentle simmer. Allow 12 to 15 minutes per pound. Lamb should
always be well done; mutton may be rare. A little rice may be added to
water to keep meat white; if a few vegetables are also added the pot
liquor will make a good thick soup.
=Boiled Corned Beef and Turnips.=—Select a piece not too salt. The
brisket is a good cut for family use when not too fat. Cook beef in
plenty cold water. Bring slowly to boil. Cook 18 minutes to the pound
after it begins to simmer. When fully ¾ done put in a dozen turnips,
peeled and quartered. When both beef and turnips are thoroughly done
dish out the beef, and lay the turnips, unmashed, about it. Serve with
drawn butter, having as a base the pot liquor. Remaining liquor will
make a good soup for next day’s dinner.
=Pork Chops with Tomato Gravy.=—Trim off skin and fat; rub the chops
over with a mixture of powdered sage and onion; put small piece butter
into a frying-pan; put in the chops and cook slowly, as they should be
well done. Lay chops on hot dish; add a little hot water to gravy in
pan, 1 large spoon butter rolled in flour, pepper, salt, and sugar,
and ½ cup juice drained from can tomatoes. The tomatoes themselves can
be used for a tomato omelet. Stew 5 minutes and pour over the chops
and serve.
=Sausages.=—Have ¾ lean and ¼ fat pork chopped very fine, 1 pound
salt, ¼ pound pepper, and tea-cup sage to every 40 pounds meat. Warm
the meat, that you can mix it well with your hands, do up a part in
small patties mixed with a little flour, the rest pack in jars. When
to be used, do it up in small cakes, flour the outside, fry in butter
or alone. They should not be covered while frying, or they will fall
to pieces. They should be kept where it is cool, but not damp. To
prevent sausages from bursting when cooking, never make a hole in them
with a fork while turning them.
=Fried Salt Pork.=—Cut fat salt pork in thin slices and soak in milk
for a few hours. Pour boiling water over, drain, and fry until crisp.
When partly fried they may be dipped into batter (see Fritters), then
finished in the same pan, turning several times.
=Pork and Beans.=—Soak 1 quart white beans overnight in cold water.
Drain, add fresh water, and simmer gently till tender. Put in
baking-pan and place in center, rind up, gashed, ½ pound fat salt
pork parboiled. Mix 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon dry mustard, and 1
tablespoon molasses; add to the beans, with enough boiling water to
cover. Bake 8 hours in a moderate oven, adding more water as necessary.
=Liver and Bacon.=—Cut liver in ½-inch slices, soak in cold water 20
minutes, drain, dry, and roll in flour. Have pan very hot. Put in
bacon thinly sliced, turn until brown, transfer to hot platter. Fry
liver quickly in the hot fat, turning often. When done pour off all
but 1 or 2 tablespoons fat, dredge in flour until it is absorbed, and
stir till brown. Add hot water gradually to make smooth gravy, season
and boil 1 minute. Serve separately.
Few people know that lamb’s liver is as tender and well flavored as
calf’s liver; it is much less expensive.
=Stew, Irish.=—Time, about 2 hours. 2½ pounds chops, 8 potatoes, 4
turnips, 4 small onions, nearly a quart of water. Take some chops from
loin of mutton, place them in a stewpan in alternate layers of sliced
potatoes and chops; add turnips and onions cut into pieces, pour in
nearly quart cold water; cover stewpan closely, let stew gently till
vegetables are ready to mash and greater part of gravy is absorbed;
then place in a dish; serve it up hot.
=Brown Beef Stew.=—Cut 2 pounds beef in small pieces. Melt some of the
fat in a pan, brown in it ½ the meat. Put rest of meat in kettle with
1 pint cold water, let stand 20 minutes, then heat slowly. Transfer
browned meat to kettle; thicken fat with two tablespoons browned
flour, add 1 pint boiling water and stir; when thick strain into
kettle. Add 1 cup diced carrot, cover, and simmer. When half done add
1 pint diced potatoes. Season well with salt and pepper.
=Mutton Haricot.=—Cut 2 pounds breast mutton in pieces, roll in flour,
and brown in drippings. Transfer to a stewpan, add 2 sliced onions,
cover with boiling water, and simmer until very tender. Add 1 pint
parboiled potatoes or 1 pint boiled macaroni and 1 pint shelled peas;
season, simmer till vegetables are done.
=Brown Kidney Stew.=—From a beef kidney cut off the outside meat in
bits, rejecting tubes and purplish cores. Cover with cold water; heat
slowly till steaming, drain, add cold water, and heat a second and
again a third time. To the drained kidneys add 1 cup brown sauce (see
Sauces), season very highly with Worcestershire and catsup, and stand
over hot water for 10 minutes.
=To Roast a Leg of Pork.=—Choose a small leg of fine young pork; cut a
slit in the knuckle with a sharp knife, and fill the space with sage,
and onions chopped, and a little pepper and salt. When half done score
the skin in slices, but do not cut deeper than the outer rind. Apple
sauce and potatoes should be served to eat with it.
=Sweetbreads.=—Scald in salted water; remove stringy parts; put in
cold water 5 or 10 minutes; drain in towel; dip in egg and bread or
cracker crumbs, fry in butter, or broil them plain.
=Veal Cutlets, Breaded.=—Trim and flatten the cutlets, pepper and
salt, and roll in beaten egg, then in pounded cracker. Fry rather
slowly in good dripping, turning when the lower side is brown. Drain
off the fat, squeeze a little lemon juice upon each, and serve in a
hot flat dish.
[Illustration: (Decorative Design)]