VEAL CHEESE.
Prepare equal quantities of boiled sliced veal and smoked tongue. Pound the slices separately in a mortar, moistening with butter as you proceed; then pack it in a jar or pail, mixing it in alternate layers; first the tongue and then the veal, so that when cut it will look variegated. Press it down hard and pour melted butter over the top. Keep it well covered and in a dry place. Nice for sandwiches, or sliced cold for lunch.
VEAL CROQUETTES.
Mince a coffee cup of cold veal in a chopping bowl, adding a little cold ham and two or three slices of onion, a pinch of mace, powdered parsley and pepper, some salt. Let a pint of milk or cream come to the boiling point, then add a tablespoonful of cold butter, then the above mixture. Beat up two eggs and mix with a teaspoonful of cornstarch or flour, and add to the rest; cook it all about ten minutes, stirring with care. Remove from the fire, and spread it on a platter, roll it into balls, when cooled flatten each; dip them in egg and bread crumbs, and fry in a wire basket, dipped in hot lard.
BROILED VEAL CUTLETS. (Fine.)
Two or three pounds of veal cutlets, egg and bread crumbs, two tablespoonfuls of minced savory herbs, salt and pepper to taste, a little grated nutmeg.
Cut the cutlets about three-quarters of an inch in thickness; flatten them, and brush them over with the yolk of an egg; dip them intobread crumbs and minced herbs, season with pepper and salt, and fold each cutlet in a piece of white letter paper well buttered; twist the ends, and broil over a clear fire; when done remove the paper. Cooked this way, they retain all the flavor.
VEAL POT-PIE.
Procure a nice breast or brisket of veal, well jointed, put the pieces into the pot with one quart of water to every five pounds of meat; put the pot over a slow fire; just before it comes to a boil, skim it well and pour in a teacupful of cold water; then turn over the meat in order that all the scum may rise; remove all the scum, boil quite hard, season with pepper and salt to your taste, always remembering that the crust will take up part of the seasoning; when this is done cut off your crust in pieces of equal size, but do not roll or mould them; lay them on top of the meat, so as to cover it; put the lid on the pot closely, let the whole boil slowly one hour. If the lid does not fit the pot closely, wrap a cloth around it, in order that no steam shall escape; and by no means allow the pot tostop boiling.
The crust for pot-pie should be raised with yeast. To three pints of flour add two ounces of butter, a little salt, and wet with milk sufficient to make a soft dough; knead it well and set it away to rise; when quite light, mould and knead it again, and let it stand, in winter, one hour, in summer, one-half hour, when it will be ready to cut.
In summer you had better add one-half a teaspoonful of soda when you knead it the second time, or you may wet it with water and add another bit of butter.
VEAL PIE.
Cut the veal into rather small pieces or slices, put it in a stewpan with hot water to cover it; add to it a tablespoonful of salt and set it over the fire; take off the scum as it rises; when the meat is tender turn it into a dish to cool; take out all the small bones, butter a tin or earthen basin or pudding-pan, line it with pie paste, lay some of the parboiled meat in to half fill it; put bits of butter in the size of a hickory nut all over the meat; shake pepper over, dredge wheat flour over until it looks white, then fill it nearly to the top with some of the water in which the meat was boiled; roll a cover for the top of the crust, puff-paste it, giving it two or three turns, and roll it to nearly halfan inch thickness; cut a slit in the centre and make several small incisions on either side of it, put the crust on, trim the edges neatly with a knife; bake one hour in a quick oven. A breast of veal will make two two-quart basin pies; half a pound of nice corned pork, cut in thin slices and parboiled with the meat, will make it very nice, and very little, if any, butter will be required for the pie; when pork is used not other salt will be necessary. Many are fond of thin slices of sweet ham cooked with the veal for pie.
VEAL STEW.
Cut up two or three pounds of veal into pieces three inches long and one thick. Wash it, put it into your stewpan with two quarts of water, let it boil, skim it well, and when all the scum is removed, add pepper and salt to your taste, and a small piece of butter; pare and cut in halves twelve small Irish potatoes, put them into the stewpan; when it boils, have ready a batter made with two eggs, two spoonfuls of cream or milk, a little salt, and flour enough to make it a little thicker than for pancakes; drop this into the stew, a spoonful at a time, while it is boiling; when all is in, cover the pan closely so that no steam can escape; let it boil twenty minutes and serve in a deep dish.
VEAL LOAF.
Three pounds of raw veal chopped very fine, butter the size of an egg, three eggs, three tablespoonfuls of cream or milk; if milk use a small piece of butter; mix the eggs and cream together; mix with the veal four pounded crackers, one teaspoonful of black pepper, one large tablespoonful salt, one large tablespoonful of sage; mix well together and form into a loaf. Bake two and one-half hours, basting with butter and water while baking. Serve cut in thin slices.
VEAL FOR LUNCH.
Butter a good-sized bowl, and line it with thin slices of hard-boiled eggs; have veal and ham both in very thin slices; place, in the bowl a layer of veal, with pepper and salt, then a layer of ham, omitting the salt, then a layer of veal, and so on, alternating with veal and ham, until the bowl is filled; make a paste of flour and water as stiff as it can be rolled out; cover the contents of the bowl with the paste, and over this tie a double cotton cloth; put the bowl into a saucepan,or other vessel, with water just up to the rim of the bowl, and boil three hours; then take it from the fire, remove the cloth and paste, and let it stand until the next day, when it may be turned out and served in very thin slices. An excellent lunch in traveling.
VEAL PATTIES.
Cut portions of the neck or breast of veal into small pieces, and, with a little salt pork cut fine, stew gently for ten or fifteen minutes; season with pepper and salt, and a small piece of celery chopped coarsely, also of the yellow top, picked (not chopped) up; stir in a paste made of a tablespoonful of flour, the yolk of one egg, and milk to form a thin batter; let all come to a boil, and it is ready for the patties. Make the patties of a light, flaky crust, as for tarts, cut round, the size of a small sauceplate; the centre of each, for about three inches, cut half way through, to be raised and serve as a cover. Put a spoonful of the stew in each crust, lay on the top and serve. Stewed oysters or lamb may be used in place of veal.
BRAISED VEAL.
Take a piece of the shoulder weighing about five pounds. Have the bone removed and tie up the meat to make it firm. Put a piece of butter the size of half an egg, together with a few shavings of onion, into a kettle or stone crock and let it get hot. Salt and pepper the veal and put it into the kettle, cover it tightly and put it over a medium fire until the meat is brown on both sides, turning it occasionally. Then set the kettle back on the stove, where it will simmer slowly for about two hours and a half. Before setting the meat back on the stove, see if the juice of the meat together with the butter do not make gravy enough, and if not, put in about two tablespoonfuls of hot water. When the gravy is cold it will be like jelly. It can be served hot with the hot meat, or cold with the cold meat.
BAKED CALF'S HEAD.
Boil a calf's head (after having cleaned it) until tender, then split it in two, and keep the best half (bone it if you like); cut the meat from the other in uniform pieces, the size of an oyster; put bits of butter, the size of a nutmeg, all over the best half of the head; sprinkle pepper over it, and dredge on flour until it looks white, then set it ona trivet or muffin rings in a dripping-pan; put a cup of water into the pan, and set it in a hot oven; turn it that it may brown evenly; baste once or twice. Whilst this is doing, dip the prepared pieces of the head in wheat flour or batter, and fry in hot lard or beef drippings a delicate brown; season with pepper and salt and slices of lemon, if liked. When the roast is done put it on a hot dish, lay the fried pieces around it, and cover it with a tin cover; put the gravy from the dripping-pan into the pan in which the pieces were fried, with the slices of lemon, and a tablespoonful of browned flour, and, if necessary, a little hot water. Let it boil up once, and strain it into a gravy boat, and serve with the meat.
CALF'S HEAD CHEESE.
Boil a calf's head in water enough to cover it, until the meat leaves the bones; then take it with a skimmer into a wooden bowl or tray; take from it every particle of bone; chop it small; season with pepper and salt, a heaping tablespoonful of salt and a teaspoonful of pepper will be sufficient; if liked, add a tablespoonful of finely chopped sweet herbs; lay in a cloth in a colander, put the minced meat into it, then fold the cloth closely over it, lay a plate over, and on it a gentle weight. When cold it may be sliced thin for supper or sandwiches. Spread each slice with made mustard.
BRAIN CUTLETS.
Well wash the brains and soak them in cold water until white. Parboil them until tender in a small saucepan for about a quarter of an hour; then thoroughly drain them and place them on a board. Divide them into small pieces with a knife. Dip each piece into flour, and then roll them in egg and bread crumbs, and fry them in butter or well-clarified drippings. Serve very hot with gravy. Another way of doing brains is to prepare them as above, and then stew them gently in rich stock, like stewed sweetbreads. They are also nice plainly boiled and served with parsley and butter sauce.
CALFS HEAD BOILED.
Put the head into boiling water and let it remain about five minutes; take it out, hold it by the ear, and with the back of the knife scrape off the hair (should it not come off easily dip the head againin boiling water.) When perfectly clean take out the eyes, cut off the ears and remove the brain, which soak for an hour in warm water. Put the head to soak in hot water a few minutes to make it look white, and then have ready a stewpan, into which lay the head; cover it with cold water and bring it gradually to boil. Remove the scum and add a little salt, which increases it and causes it to rise to the top. Simmer it very gently from two and a half to three hours, or until the bones will slip out easily, and when nearly done, boil the brains fifteen or twenty minutes; skin and chop them (not too finely), add a tablespoonful of minced parsley which has been previously scalded; also a pinch of pepper, salt; then stir into this four tablespoonfuls of melted butter; set it on the back of the range to keep it hot. When the head is done, take it up and drain very dry. Score the top and rub it over with melted butter; dredge it with flour and set it in the oven to brown.
When you serve the head, have it accompanied with a gravy boat of melted butter and minced parsley.
CALF'S LIVER AND BACON.
Slice the liver a quarter of an inch thick; pour hot water over it and let it remain for a few minutes to clear it from blood; then dry it in a cloth. Take a pound of bacon, or as much as you require, and cut the same number of thin slices as you have of liver; fry the bacon to a nice crisp; take it out and keep it hot; then fry the liver in the same pan, having first seasoned it with pepper and salt and dredged in a little flour; lay it in the hot bacon fat and fry it a nice brown. Serve it with a slice of bacon on the top of each slice of liver.
If you wish a gravy with it, pour off most of the fat from the frying pan, put in about two ounces of butter, a tablespoonful of flour well rubbed in, add a cup of water, salt and pepper, give it one boil and serve in a gravy boat.
Another Way.—Cut the liver in nice thin slices, pour boiling water over it and let it stand about five minutes; then drain and put in a dripping-pan with three or four thin slices of salt pork or bacon; pepper and salt and put in the oven, letting it cook until thoroughly done, then serve with a cream or milk gravy poured over it.
Calf's liver and bacon are very good broiled after cutting each in thin slices. Season with butter, pepper and salt.
CROQUETTES OF SWEETBREADS.
Take four veal sweetbreads, soak them for an hour in cold salted water, first removing the pipes and membranes; then put them into boiling salted water with a tablespoonful of vinegar, and cook them twenty minutes, then drop them again into cold water to harden. Now remove them, chop them very fine, almost to a paste. Season with salt, pepper and a teaspoonful of grated onion; add the beaten yolks of three raw eggs, one tablespoonful of butter, half a cupful of cream, and sufficient fine cracker crumbs to make stiff enough to roll out into little balls or cork-shaped croquettes. Have ready a frying kettle half full of fat over the fire, a dish containing three smoothly beaten eggs, a large platter of cracker dust; wet the hands with cold water and make the mixture in shape; afterwards rolling them in the cracker dust, then into the beaten egg, and again in the cracker dust; smooth them on the outside and drop them carefully in the hot fat. When the croquettes are fried a nice golden brown, put them on a brown paper a moment to free them from grease. Serve hot with sliced lemon or parsley.
SWEETBREADS.
There are two in a calf, which are considered delicacies. Select the largest. The color should be clear and a shade darker than the fat. Before cooking in any manner let them lie for half an hour in tepid water; then throw into hot water to whiten and harden, after which draw off the outer casing, remove the little pipes, and cut into thin slices. They should always be thoroughly cooked.
FRIED SWEETBREADS.
After preparing them as above they are put into hot fat and butter, and fried the same as lamb chops, also broiled the same, first rolling them in egg and cracker crumbs.
BAKED SWEETBREADS.
Three sweetbreads, egg and bread crumbs, oiled butter, three slices of toast, brown gravy.
Choose large, white sweetbreads, put them into warm water to draw out the blood, and to improve their color; let them remain for rather more than one hour; then put them into boiling water, and allow them to simmer for about ten minutes which renders them firm. Takethem up, drain them, brush over the egg, sprinkle with bread crumbs; dip them in egg again, and then into more bread crumbs. Drop on them a little oiled butter, and put the sweetbreads into a moderately heated oven, and let them bake for nearly three-quarters of an hour. Make three pieces of toast; place the sweetbreads on the toast, and pour round, but not over, them a good brown gravy.
FRICASSEED SWEETBREADS.
If they are uncooked, cut into thin slices, let them simmer in a rich gravy for three-quarters of an hour, add a well-beaten egg, two tablespoonfuls of cream and a tablespoonful of chopped parsley; stir all together for a few minutes and serve immediately.
ROAST MUTTON.
The pieces mostly used for roasting are the hind-quarter of the sheep, called the loin and leg, the fore-quarter, the shoulder, also the chine or saddle, which is the two loins together. Every part should be trimmed off that cannot be eaten; then wash well and dry with a clean cloth; lay it in your dripping-pan and put in a little water to baste it with at first; then afterward with its own gravy. Allow, in roasting, about twelve minutes to the pound; that is, if your fire is strong, which it should be. It should not be salted at first, as that tends to harden it, and draws out too much of the blood or juices; but salt soon after it begins to roast well. If there is danger of its browning too fast, cover it with a sheet of white paper. Baste it often, and about a quarter of an hour before you think it will be done dredge the meat very lightly with flour and baste it with butter. Skim the gravy well and thicken very slightly with brown flour. Serve with currant jelly or other tart sauce.
BONED LEG OF MUTTON ROASTED.
Take the bone out of a small leg of mutton, without spoiling the skin if possible, then cut off most of the fat. Fill the hole whence the bone was taken with a stuffing made the same as for fowls, adding toit part of an onion finely minced. Sew the leg up underneath to prevent the dressing or stuffing from falling out. Bind and tie it up compactly; put it in a roasting pan, turn in a cup of hot water and place it in a moderately hot oven, basting it occasionally. When partly cooked season with salt and pepper. When thoroughly cooked, remove and place the leg on a warm platter; skim the grease from the top of the drippings, add a cup of water and thicken with a spoonful of dissolved flour. Send the gravy to the table in a gravy dish, also a dish of currant jelly.
BOILED LEG OF 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 gently from two to three hours, skimming 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 teacupful of capers or nasturtiums have been stirred. If the broth is to be used for soup, put in a little salt while boiling; if not, salt it well when partly done, and boil the meat in a cloth.
BRAISED LEG OF MUTTON.
This recipe can be varied either by preparing the leg with a stuffing, placed in the cavity after having the bone removed, or cooking it without. Having lined the bottom of a thick iron kettle or stewpan with a few thin slices of bacon, put over the bacon four carrots, three onions, a bunch of savory herbs; then over these place the leg of mutton. Cover the whole with a few more slices of bacon, then pour over half a pint of water. Cover with a tight cover and stew very gently for four hours, basting the leg occasionally with its own liquor, and seasoning it with salt and pepper as soon as it begins to be tender. When cooked strain the gravy, thicken with a spoonful of flour (it should be quite brown), pour some of it over the meat and send the remainder to the table in a tureen, to be served with the mutton when carved. Garnish the dish around the leg with potatoes cut in the shape of olives and fried a light brown in butter.
LEG OF MUTTON Á LA VENISON.
Remove all the rough fat from the mutton and lay it in a deep earthen dish; rub into it thoroughly the following: One tablespoonful of salt, one each of celery-salt, brown sugar, black pepper, English mustard, allspice, and some sweet herbs, all powdered and mixed; after which pour over it slowly a teacup of good vinegar, cover tightly, and set in a cool place four or five days, turning it and basting often with the liquid each day. To cook, put in a kettle a quart of boiling water, place over it an inverted shallow pan, and on it lay the meat just as removed from the pickle; cover the kettle tightly and stew for four hours. Do not lat the water touch the meat. Add a cup of hot water to the pickle remaining and baste with it. When done, thicken the liquid with flour and strain through a fine sieve, to serve with the meat; also a relish of currant jelly, the dame as for venison.
This is a fine dish when the directions are faithfully followed.
STEAMED LEG OF MUTTON.
Wash and put the leg in a steamer and cook it until tender, then place in a roasting pan, salt and dredge well with flour and set it in a hot oven until nicely browned; the water that remains in the bottom of the steamer may be used for soup. Serve with currant jelly.
HASHED MUTTON.
Cut into small pieces the lean of some cold mutton that has been underdone, and season it with pepper and salt. Take the bones and other trimmings, put them in 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 to the meat and gravy. Set the pan on the fire 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 the dish with slices of buttered toast. Lay the meat and vegetables upon it, and pour over them the gravy.
Tomatoes 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.
BROILED MUTTON CHOPS.
Loin of mutton, pepper and salt, a small piece of butter. Cut the chops from a tenderloin of mutton, remove a portion of the fat, and trim them into a nice shape; slightly beat and level them; place the gridiron over a bright clear fire, rub the bars with a little fat, and lay on the chops. While broiling frequently turn them, and in about eight minutes they will be done. Season with pepper and salt, dish them on a very hot dish, rub a small piece of butter on each chop, and serve very hot and expeditiously. Nice with tomato sauce poured over them.
FRIED MUTTON CHOPS. NO. 1.
Put in a frying-pan a tablespoonful of cold lard and butter mixed; have some fine mutton chops without much fat; trim off the skin. Dip into wheat flour, or rolled cracker, and beaten egg, then lay them into the hot grease, sprinkle with salt and pepper, fry on both sides a fine brown. When dine, take them up and place on a hot dish. If you wish a made gravy, turn off the superfluous grease, if any. stir into the hot gravy remaining a heaping spoonful of cold water or milk; season with pepper and salt, let it boil up thick. You can serve it in a separate dish or pour it over the chops. Tomato sauce is considered fine, turned over a dish of hot fried or broiled chops.
FRIED MUTTON CHOPS. NO. 2.
Prepare the chops by trimming off all extra fat and skin, season them with salt and pepper; dip each chop in beaten egg, then in rolled cracker or bread-crumbs; dip again in the egg and crumbs, and so on until they are well coated with the crumb. Have ready a deep spider containing a pound or more of lard, hot enough to fry crullers. Drop into this hot lard the chops, frying only a few at a time, as too many cool the fat. Fry them brown, and serve them up hot and dry, on a warm platter.
MUTTON CUTLETS. (Baked.)
Prepare them the same as for frying, lay them in a dripping-pan with averylittle water at the bottom. Bake quickly, and baste often with butter and water. Make a little brown gravy and turn over them when they are served.
BAKED MUTTON CHOPS AND POTATOES.
Wash and peel some good potatoes and cut them into slices the thickness of a penny-piece. The quantity of potatoes must, of course, be decided according to the number of persons to whom they have to be served; but it is a safe plan to allow two, or even three, potatoes for each person. After the potatoes are sliced, wash them in two or three waters to thoroughly cleanse them, then arrange them neatly (in layers) in a brown stone dish proper for baking purposes. Sprinkle a little salt and pepper between each layer, and add a sufficient quantity of cold water to prevent their burning. Place the dish in a very hot oven—oil the top shelf—so as to brown the potatoes in a few minutes. Have ready some nice loin chops (say one—for each person); trim off most of the fat; make them into a neat round shape by putting a small skewer through each. When the potatoes are nicely browned, remove the dish from the oven, and place the chops on the top. Add a little more salt and pepper, and water if required, and return the dish to a cooler part of the oven, where it may be allowed to remain until sufficiently cooked, which will be in about three-quarters of an hour. When the upper sides of the chops are a nice crisp brown, turn them over so as to brown the other side also. If, in the cooking, the potatoes appear to be getting too dry, a little more water may be gently poured in at one corner of the dish, only care must be taken to see that the water is hot this time—not cold as at first. The dish in which the chops and potatoes are baked must be as neat looking as possible, as it has to be sent to the table; turning the potatoes out would, of course, spoil their appearance. Those who have never tasted this dish have no idea how delightful it is. While the chops are baking the gravy drips from them among the potatoes, rendering the whole most delicious.
MUTTONETTES.
Cut from a leg of mutton slices about half an inch thick. On each slice lay a spoonful of stuffing made with bread crumbs, beatenegg, butter, salt, pepper, sage and summer savory. Roll up the slices, pinning with little skewers or small wooden toothpicks to keep the dressing in. Put a little butter and water in a baking-pan with the muttonettes, and cook in hot oven three-quarters of an hour. Baste often, and when done thicken the gravy, pour over the meat, garnish with parsley, and serve on hot platter.
IRISH STEW.
Time about two hours. Two and a half pounds of chops, eight potatoes, four turnips, four small onions, nearly a quart of water. Take some chops from loin of mutton, place them in stewpan in alternate layers of sliced potatoes and chops; add turnips and onions cut into pieces, pour in nearly a quart of cold water; cover stewpan closely, let it stew gently till vegetables are ready to mash and the greater part of the gravy is absorbed; then place in a dish; serve it up hot.
MUTTON PUDDING.
Line a two-quart pudding basin with some beef suet paste; fill the lining with thick mutton cutlets, slightly trimmed, or, if preferred, with steaks cut from the leg; season with pepper and salt some parsley, a little thyme and two slices of onion chopped fine, and between each layer of meat, put some slices of potatoes. When the pudding is filled, wet the edges of the paste around the top of the basin, and cover with a piece of paste rolled out the size of the basin. Fasten down the edge by bearing all around with the thumb; and then with the thumb and forefinger twist the edges of the paste over so as to give it a corded appearance. This pudding can be set in a steamer and steamed, or boiled. The time required for cooking is about three hours. When done, turn it out carefully on a platter and serve with a rich gravy under it.
This is a very good recipe for cooking small birds.
SCRAMBLED MUTTON.
Two cups of chopped cold mutton, two tablespoonfuls of hot water, and a piece of butter as large as an English walnut. When the meat is hot, break in three eggs, and constantly stir until the eggs begin to stiffen. Season with pepper and salt.
SCALLOPED MUTTON AND TOMATOES.
Over the bottom of an earthen baking-dish place a layer of bread crumbs, and over it alternate layers of cold roast mutton cut in thin slices, and tomatoes peeled and sliced; season each with salt, pepper and bits of butter, as laid in. The top layer should be of tomatoes, spread over with bread crumbs. Bake three-quarters of an hour, and serve immediately.
LAMB SWEETBREADS AND TOMATO SAUCE.
Lamb sweetbreads are not always procurable, but a stroll through the markets occasionally reveals a small lot of them, which can invariably be had at a low price, owing to their excellence being recognized by but few buyers. Wash them well in salted water and parboil fifteen minutes; when cool, trim neatly and put them in a pan with just butter enough to prevent their burning; toss them about until a delicate color; season with salt and pepper and serve, surrounded with tomato sauce. (See SAUCES.)
ROAST QUARTER OF LAMB.
Procure a nice hind-quarter, remove some of the fat that is around the kidney, skewer the lower joint up to the fillet, place it in a moderate oven, let it heat through slowly, then dredge it with salt and flour; quicken the fire, put half a pint of water into the dripping-pan, with a teaspoonful of salt. With this liquor baste the meat occasionally; serve with lettuce, green peas and mint sauce.
A quarter of lamb weighing seven or eight pounds will require two hours to roast.
A breast of lamb roasted is very sweet and is considered by many as preferable to hind-quarter. It requires nearly as long a time to roast as the quarter, and should be served in the same manner.
Make the gravy from the drippings, thickened with flour.
The mint sauce is made as follows: Take fresh, young spearmint leaves stripped from stems; wash and drain them or dry on a cloth, chop very fine, put in a gravy tureen, and to three tablespoonfuls of mint add two of finely powdered cut-loaf sugar; mix, and let it stand a few minutes, then pour over it six tablespoonfuls good cider or white-wine vinegar. The sauce should be made some time before dinner, so that the flavor of the mint may be well extracted.
TO BROIL THE FORE-QUARTER OF LAMB.
Take off the shoulder and lay it upon the gridiron with the breast; cut in two parts, to facilitate its cooking; put a tin sheet on top of the meat, and a weight upon that; turn the meat around frequently to prevent its burning; turn over as soon as cooked on one side; renew the coals occasionally, that all parts may cook alike; when done, season with butter, pepper and salt—exactly like beefsteak. It takes some time to broil it well; but when done it will be found to be equal to broiled chicken, the flavor being more delicate than when cooked otherwise. Serve with cream sauce, made as follows: Heat a tablespoonful of butter in a saucepan, add a teaspoonful of flour and stir until perfectly smooth; then add, slowly stirring in, a cup of cold milk; let it boil up once, and season to taste with salt and pepper and a teaspoonful of finely chopped fresh parsley. Serve in a gravy boat, all hot.
LAMB STEW.
Cut up the lamb into small pieces (after removing all the fat) say about two inches square. Wash it well and put it over the fire, with just enough cold water to cover it well, and let it heat gradually. It should stew gently until it is partly done; then add a few thin slices of salt pork, one or two onions sliced up fine, some pepper and salt if needed, and two or three raw potatoes cut up into inch pieces. Cover it closely and stew until the meat is tender. Drop in a few made dumplings, made like short biscuit, cut outverysmall. Cook fifteen minutes longer. Thicken the gravy with a little flour moistened with milk. Serve.
PRESSED LAMB.
The meat, either shoulder or leg, should be put to boil in the morning with water just enough to cover it; when tender, season with salt and pepper, then keep it over the fire untilverytender and the juice nearly boiled out. Remove it from the fire-place in a wooden chopping bowl, season more if necessary, chop it up like hash. Place it in a bread-pan, press out all the juice, and put it in a cool place to harden. The pressing is generally done by placing a dish over the meat and putting a flat-iron upon that. Nice cut up cold into thin slices, and the broth left from the meat would make a nice soup served with it, adding vegetables and spices.
CROQUETTES OF ODDS AND ENDS.
These are made of any scraps or bits of good food that happen to be left from one or more meals, and in such small quantities that they cannot be warmed up separately. As, for example, a couple of spoonfuls of frizzled beef and cream, the lean meat of one mutton chop, one spoonful of minced beef, two cold hard-boiled eggs, a little cold chopped potato, a little mashed potato, a chick's leg, all the gristle and hard outside taken from the meat. These things well chopped and seasoned, mixed with one raw egg, a little flour and butter, and boiling water; then made into round cakes, thick like fish-balls and browned well with butter in a frying pan or on a griddle.
Scraps of hash, cold rice, boiled oatmeal left from breakfast, every kind of fresh meat, bits of salt tongue, bacon, pork or ham, bits of poultry, and crumbs of bread may be used. They should be put together with care, so as not to have them too dry to be palatable, or too moist to cook in shape. Most housekeepers would be surprised at the result, making an addition to the breakfast or lunch table. Serve on small squares of buttered toast, and with cold celery if in season.
PORK.
The best parts, and those usually used for roasting, are the loin, the leg, the shoulder, the sparerib and chine. The hams, shoulders and middlings are usually salted, pickled and smoked. Pork requires more thorough cooking than most meats; if the least underdone it is unwholesome.
To choose pork: If the rind is thick and tough, and cannot be easily impressed with the finger, it is old; when fresh, it will look cool and smooth, and only corn-fed pork is good; swill or still-fed pork is unfit to cure. Fresh pork is in season from October to April. When dressing or stuffing is used, there are more or less herbs used for seasoning—sage, summer savory, thyme and sweet marjoram; these can be found (in the dried, pulverized form, put up in small, light packages) at most of the best druggists; still those raised and gathered at home are considered more fresh.
ROAST PIG.
Prepare your dressing as for DRESSING FOR FOWLS, adding half an onion, chopped fine; set it inside. Take a young pig about six weeks old, wash it thoroughly inside and outside; and in another water put a teaspoonful of baking soda, and rinse out the inside again; wipe it dry with a fresh towel, salt the inside and stuff it with the prepared dressing; making it full and plump, giving it its original size and shape. Sew it up, place it in a kneeling posture in the dripping-pan, tying the legs in proper position. Pour a little hot salted water into the dripping-pan, baste with butter and water a few times as the pig warms, afterwards with gravy from the dripping-pan. When it begins to smoke all over rub it often with a rag dipped in melted butter. This will keep the skin from cracking and it still will be crisp. It will take from two to three hours to roast. Make the gravy by skimming off most of the grease; stir into that remaining in the pan a good tablespoonful of flour, turn in water to make it the right consistency, season with pepper and let all boil up once. Strain, and if you like wine in it, add half a glass; turn it into a gravy boat. Place the pig upon a large, hot platter, surrounded with parsley or celery tops; place a green wreath around the neck, and a sprig of celery in its mouth. In carving, cut off its head first; split down the back, take off its hams and shoulders, and separate the ribs.
ROAST LOIN OF PORK.
Score the skin in strips about a quarter of an inch apart; place it in a dripping-pan with avery littlewater under it; cook it moderately at first, as a high heat hardens the rind before the meat is heated through. If it is very lean, it should be rubbed with fresh lard or butter when put into the pan. A stuffing might be made of bread crumbs, chopped sage and onions, pepper and salt, and baked separately on a pie dish; this method is better than putting it in the meat, as many persons have a great aversion to its flavor. A loin weighing about six pounds will roast in two hours; allow more time if it should be very fat. Make a gravy with flour stirred into the pork drippings. Serve with apple sauce and pickles.
ROAST 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 onion 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 with it. The gravy is to be made the same way as for beef roast, by turning off all the superfluous fat and adding a spoonful of flour stirred with a little water; add water to make the right consistency. Serve in a gravy boat.
BOILED LEG OF PORK.
For boiling, choose a small, compact, well-filled leg, and rub it well with salt; let it remain in pickle for a week or ten days, turning and rubbing it every day. An hour before dressing it put it into cold water for an hour, which improves the color. If the pork is purchased ready salted, ascertain how long the meat has been in pickle and soak it accordingly. Put it into a boiling-pot, with sufficient cold water to cover it, let it gradually come to a boil, and remove the scum as it rises. Simmer it very gently until tender, and do not allow it to boil fast, or the knuckle will fall to pieces before the middle of the leg is done. Carrots, turnips or parsnips may be boiled with the pork, some of which should be laid around the dish as a garnish.
Time.—A leg of pork weighing eight pounds, three hours after the water boils, and to be simmered very gently.
FRESH PORK POT-PIE.
Boil a sparerib, after removing all the fat and cracking the bones, until tender; remove the scum as it rises, and when tender season with salt and pepper; half an hour before time for serving the dinner thicken the gravy with a little flour. Have ready another kettle, into which remove all the bones and most of the gravy, leaving only sufficient to cover the pot half an inch above the rim that rests on the stove; put in the crust, cover tight, and boil steadily forty-five minutes. To prepare the crust, work into light dough asmallbit of butter, roll it out thin, cut it in small, square cakes, and lay them on the moulding-board until very light. No steam should possibly escape while the crust is cooking, and by no means allow the pot to cease boiling.
ROAST SPARERIB.
Trim off the rough ends neatly, crack the ribs across the middle, rub with salt and sprinkle with pepper, fold over, stuff with turkeydressing, sew up tightly, place in a dripping-pan with a pint of water, baste frequently, turning over once so as to bake both sides equally until a rich brown.
PORK TENDERLOINS.
The tenderloins are unlike any other part of the pork in flavor. They may be either fried or broiled; the latter being drier, require to be well-buttered before serving, which should be done on a hot platter before the butter becomes oily. Fry them in a little lard, turning them to have them cooked through; when done, remove, and keep hot while making a gravy by dredging a little flour into the hot fat; if not enough add a little butter or lard, stir until browned, and add a little milk or cream, stir briskly, and pour over the dish. A little Worcestershire sauce may be added to the gravy if desired.