BOILING.

IN boiling meats the temperature of the liquid should be kept at about the boiling point or a few degrees lower; that is, the water should bubble gently at one side of the pot or stewpan. Great care must be taken that the water shall never boil rapidly, and that the temperature shall not be much lower than that indicated by a slight bubbling at the side of the stewpan. The meat and liquid will both be spoiled if kept for any length of time in a closed vessel with the temperature too low. A piece of meat cooked in water that boils rapidly all the time will be hard, dry, and stringy, no matter how long it is cooked or how tender and good it was originally; but even a tough, dry piece will be tender and juicy if cooked at the temperature indicated by the water’s bubbling at one side of the pot. All meats will be juicier if they be allowed to cool, or even partially to cool, in the liquid in which they were boiled. The dish in which a food material is cooling must always be uncovered until the substance is perfectly cold.

Boiled Leg of Mutton.

Wipe carefully with a damp cloth a leg of mutton weighing between eight and ten pounds, and put it in a deep kettle with enough boiling water to cover it. Set the kettle where the water will boil rapidly for a quarter of an hour. Skim the water when it begins to boil. At the end of the fifteen minutes draw the kettle back where the water will only bubble. If the meat be desired very rare, cook it for an hour and a half; but if you want it rather well done, cook it for two hours, being careful that the water only bubbles except during the first fifteen minutes.

When the mutton is done place it on a warm dish. Pour a few tablespoonfuls of butter sauce over it, and, if convenient, garnish with parsley. Send to the table at once with the caper sauce and vegetables.

Of course, this is more meat than three persons would want, but if only half a leg be boiled the result will not be very satisfactory; therefore it would be better to roast or steam a part of the leg, unless the family be large.

Steamed Mutton.

When the family is so small that it is necessary to cut a leg of mutton, it is better to steam than to boil it. Place the piece of mutton on a kitchen plate, the cut side down. Set the plate in the steamer and over a kettle of boiling water. Cover closely, and keep the water boiling until the meat is done. A piece weighing about four or five pounds will be cooked rather rare in one hour. If liked well done, cook it longer. Serve the same as boiled leg of mutton.

Boiled Corned Beef.

A piece of corned beef will take about the same time to cook, whether it weigh four pounds or ten. Wash the meat and put it into a stewpan with enough boiling water to cover it generously. When the water begins to boil, skim thoroughly; then draw the stewpan back to a place where the water will just bubble for five hours. Never let the water boil hard, but it must not get much below the boiling point at any time. If the meat is to be pressed, take it from the boiling water and place it on a flat dish. Put a tin pan or sheet on top of the hot meat, and on this place two bricks or some other weight. Set away in a cool place. When the meat is cold, trim the edges, using a sharp knife. The trimmings may be used for a corned beef hash.

Spiced Corned Beef.

This is a cheap and savory dish for luncheon and tea. Put the water and salt in a stewpan and set on the fire. Stir frequently until the water boils, and then skim carefully. Take from the fire and set away to cool. Remove the bones from the meat by slipping a sharp knife between the flesh and bone and cutting the meat from the bone. Place the beef in a stone jar or earthen bowl, and when the brine is cold pour it over the meat. Cover the dish and set it away in a cool place for six or eight days. At the end of that time remove the meat and wipe it. Spread it on a board and sprinkle the spice over it. Roll up and tie firmly. Place this roll in a kettle and cover it with boiling water. When the water begins to boil, (it will at first be somewhat cooled by the meat,) skim it carefully; then set the kettle back where the water will just bubble for six hours. At the end of that time take the beef from the kettle and place it on a large dish. Put upon it a tin pan and weights, (two bricks will be sufficient,) and set away in a cool place. The meat should be cut in thin slices when served.

In New York many of the marketmen salt and spice beef for their customers. If one can get a plate piece of corned beef that has not been too long in brine, it will answer just as well as a fresh piece, and save the housekeeper the trouble of corning it. Almost any marketman will willingly remove the bones for a customer.

Wash the ham and then soak it in cold water for ten or twelve hours. Put it on to cook in cold water. When the water begins to boil, skim it, and draw the kettle back to a part of the range where the water will only bubble gently. Cook the ham for five hours; then take it up and draw off the skin. Place the skinned ham in a dripping-pan and sprinkle over it one cupful of fine dried crumbs mixed with two tablespoonfuls of sugar. Cook it slowly in the oven for one hour.

If only a part of a ham is to be boiled, it would be better to steam it than to put it in the water. Wash and soak it; then steam it the same as mutton, cooking it for six hours. Brown it in the oven if you like.

Fresh Tongue.

Wash the tongue and put it in a stewpan with boiling water enough to cover it generously. Add four tablespoonfuls of salt. When the water begins to boil, skim carefully and draw the stewpan back to a place where the water will bubble gently for five hours. Take the tongue from the boiling water and plunge it into cold water. Draw off the rough skin, beginning at the roots of the tongue. Place the tongue on a dish, cover it lightly with a coarse towel, and put it in a cold place.

Smoked Tongues.

Cook a smoked tongue exactly the same as a ham, except that it is not to be browned in the oven. It will require five hours’ time to boil it.

Pickled Tongue.

Treat a pickled tongue the same as a piece of corned beef. It will require five hours’ cooking.

A roast of meat, be it rare or well done, should be juicy and tender. One should not roast a tough piece of meat; stewing, braising, or boiling is better, because the cooking can be continued for a long time at a low temperature, and this method will make the toughest piece of meat tender. The meat always should be exposed to a high temperature at first, that the surface may become hardened and the juices protected. If the high temperature be continued all the time of cooking, the meat will become hard, dry, and stringy, as far as the heat has penetrated. It will be seen, therefore, that the high temperature should be kept up only long enough to form a thin, hard crust on the meat. From twenty to thirty minutes will suffice for this. The temperature should then be lowered by closing the draughts of the range.

Basting is another important item in roasting. If one use no water in the dripping-pan, and baste only with the fat that drops from the meat into the bottom of the pan, the roast will have a beautiful glossy brown surface when it is done; but it must be remembered that fat can be heated to a much higher point than water, and that basting with this boiling hot fat will help to harden the piece of meat.

If a small quantity of water be kept in the bottom of the dripping-pan, the drippings from the meat, mingling with it, will be kept at a low temperature, so that, if the meat be freely basted with this mixture every fifteen minutes, the surface of the piece of meat will be kept moist, and at a lower temperature than when basted with the hot fat, or not basted at all. By basting with this mixture of drippings and water, the heat is driven from the surface to the centre of the piece of meat, insuring a roast that will be rare from a point about half an inch from the surface to the centre. Bear these facts in mind when roasting meats.

Have a dripping-pan of Russian iron and a meat-rack three or four inches shorter than the pan.

Examine the piece of meat, and if there be any places that have become tainted trim them off with a sharp knife. Wipe the meat with a wet towel. Now season with salt and pepper, and dredge lightly with flour.

All the seasoning must be done with the meat resting on the rack, that the stray particles may fall to the bottom of the pan. Dredge flour over the bottom of the pan until the surface is white.

Have the oven very hot (about 400 or 450 degrees), and place the meat in it. Watch closely, and as soon as the flour in the pan turns dark brown pour in enough boiling water to cover the bottom of the pan. The flour may brown in five minutes, yet it may take ten or more for this process, the time depending upon the bottom of the oven. When the meat is brown on one side, baste well, and turn it over to brown the other side. When the meat has been in the oven for about thirty minutes, close the draughts to reduce the heat of the oven.

Baste the meat every fifteen minutes in this manner. With a long spoon, dip up the liquid from the bottom of the pan and pour it over the meat. Continue this until nearly all has been absorbed by the meat; then dredge lightly with salt, pepper, and flour. Now pour into the pan enough hot water to cover the bottom. The last time the meat is basted omit putting the water in the pan, and at the end of fifteen minutes all the liquid will be evaporated. Now take up the meat and place it on a hot platter. Take out the rack, and then pour all the fat from the pan into a cup. Put half a pint of hot water in the pan and set on top of the range. Scrape all the sediment from the sides and bottom, and thicken this gravy with a teaspoonful of flour smoothly mixed with a gill of cold water. Season with salt and pepper, and simmer for two minutes; then strain into a hot dish and serve with the roast meat.

The time of cooking a roast depends upon the shape in which it is cut and whether it is to be rare or well done. The rule of so many minutes for each pound is not a good one; for a long, thin, rib roast might weigh just the same as a short, thick piece cut from the round, rump, or shoulder, and, of course, the thin piece would cook much more quickly than the short thick piece.

A leg of mutton weighing eight or nine pounds should be cooked for an hour and three quarters, if to be served rare; if to be medium rare, two hours, but if well done (a pity it should ever be!) two hours and a quarter. Half a leg of mutton, weighing about four pounds, should be cooked for an hour and a quarter. The meat will be rare.

Roast Rib of Beef.

For three persons one rib will be enough. Wipe the meat with a damp towel. Place a meat-rack in a dripping-pan and lay the beef on it. Dredge with salt, pepper, and flour, turning the meat over in order that every part shall receive a portion of the coating. Dredge the bottom of the pan lightly with the flour and salt. Set the pan in a very hot oven, and watch carefully to prevent the flour on the bottom of the pan from burning. When the flour turns dark brown, pour in enough water to cover the bottom of the pan; this will be in from two to five minutes after the pan is placed in the oven. After the water has been added let the meat cook awhile, and then baste it. To baste, draw the pan out of the oven and tip it a little, that all the gravy shall flow to one end of the pan. With a long-handled spoon, dip up this gravy and pour it over the meat. Continue this until the entire piece is well moistened. Now dredge the meat lightly with salt, pepper, and flour. Pour into the pan enough boiling water to cover the bottom, and return to the oven. At the end of a quarter of an hour draw the pan out again, turn the meat over, and baste as before. Add some water and then set the pan in the oven. Now reduce the heat by shutting the draughts, and baste every fifteen minutes in the manner described. Do not use any water the last time. The meat should cook in all one hour if wanted rather rare. When the beef is done, take it up and place it on a warm dish. Pour all the fat from the dripping-pan, and, after setting the pan on the range, pour into it half a pint of boiling water. Scrape all the brown sediment from the sides and bottom of the pan. Mix one teaspoonful of flour with three tablespoonfuls of cold water, and gradually pour this mixture into the dripping-pan, stirring all the while. It may not take all the mixture of flour and water to thicken the gravy. Stop when the gravy is about as thick as cream. Season with salt and pepper, and strain into a hot bowl.

If all this work be properly done, the beef will be rare and juicy, and the gravy rich, brown, and smooth.

Roast Lamb.

Lamb, being immature meat, should be rather well done. The spring lambs are so small that a leg will not make a burdensome roast in a small family. The loin and breast make good small roasts. Roast the lamb according to the rule given for roast rib of beef. Serve with the made gravy and mint sauce. Asparagus, peas, young beets, summer squash, and any delicate summer vegetable, may be served with lamb.

Mutton is roasted like beef. For a small roast the loin or breast is good. A leg of mutton may be cut into two parts, using one for a roast and the other for steaming. Mutton should always be cooked rare and served hot. Currant jelly should be provided with a roast. The most appropriate vegetables are potatoes, onions, mashed turnips, rice, squash, tomatoes in any form, sweet potatoes, Lima beans, canned corn, etc.

Stuffed Mutton.

Make the dressing given for roast veal, substituting a generous tablespoonful of butter for the chopped pork, and adding also one teaspoonful of onion juice. Have the bone removed from half of a leg of mutton. Cut deep incisions in the inside of the leg, and press the dressing into these. Sew up the leg, and roast the same as directed for roast beef, cooking the meat an hour and a half. The same vegetables as suggested for plain roast mutton are suitable for the stuffed leg.

Roast Veal.

To make the dressing. Soak the bread in cold water for two or three hours. Press out nearly all the water; then add one ounce of salt pork chopped fine, one teaspoonful of salt, one third of a teaspoonful of pepper, the herbs, and crackers. Let this stand while the meat is being washed and seasoned.

The parts of the veal that are good for roasting are the loin, breast, and fillet. Veal requires a great deal of seasoning, and is almost always stuffed. It must be remembered that in the loin and breast there is a great deal of bone. On the other hand, the fillet has not a particle of waste except a small bit of round bone. Veal is delicious cold, and the cold roast meat can be prepared in many savory ways. For these reasons, if the family do not object to the meat in all forms, it would be well to get a roast of good size. This is a kind of meat that must be thoroughly done; not even a pinkish tinge should be seen after it is cooked.

For a family of three get a loin or breast weighing about four or five pounds. Wash it in cold water and wipe it with a clean towel. Rub into it one tablespoonful of salt, and sprinkle lightly with pepper. Stuff it, roll it up, and skewer it. Place on a rack in the dripping-pan, and lay upon it two ounces of salt pork cut in thin slices. Cook for two hours and a half, following the directions given for roasting.

Any of the following named vegetables may be served with roast veal: potatoes, rice, macaroni, spinach, asparagus, beets, turnips, parsnips, salsify, string beans, shell beans, grated horseradish, etc.

Roast Pork.

The piece termed the sparerib is the best for roasting. Wipe the meat with a damp towel. Season it with salt, pepper, and sage, using a teaspoonful of powdered sage to four pounds of pork. Follow the directions for roast rib of beef, cooking a four or five pound roast for two hours. Any of the following named vegetables may be served with roast pork: white potatoes, sweet potatoes, rice, hominy, squash, turnips, onions, etc.; and apple sauce always is desirable.

Roast Ham.

Prepare the ham the same as for boiled ham; boiling it for only three hours, however, and baking it slowly for three hours more.

There are several modes of broiling: over clear coals, before the coals, or under a bed of coals; also under a sheet of flame, as in a gas stove. No matter what the fuel may be or the mode of broiling, the principles are the same. A steak or chop, properly broiled, should have a thin, well browned crust. Beyond this crust the meat should be red and juicy; hardly a shade rarer at the centre than near the surface. A common mode of cooking a steak is to keep it over the coals until one side is rather well done; then turn it, and treat the other side in the same manner. The result of following this method is, that as far as the heat has penetrated the meat is hard and dry, and if the steak be thick it will be almost raw in the centre.

If the broiling is to be done on a range have the fire very bright and clear. Open every draught, that smoke and flame may be drawn up the chimney. Place the piece of meat in the double-broiler, and hold it as near the coals as possible until the surface is brown, turning frequently. It will take three or four minutes for this. Now raise the broiler several inches above the bed of coals, and continue the cooking until the meat is done. The broiler must be turned often. A good rule is to count ten slowly, then turn the broiler. A steak or chop, cut a little more than an inch thick, will cook rare in ten minutes; if liked medium well done, it should be cooked for twelve minutes. A chicken weighing about three pounds will require slow broiling for half an hour; or the chicken may be broiled over the fire until a rich brown,—say about fifteen minutes,—then put it in a shallow pan in a moderate oven for about twenty minutes.

Veal and pork must be broiled slowly until cooked thoroughly. Chops or cutlets cut about half an inch thick will cook in twelve minutes.

Steaks and chops which, before cooking, are dredged lightly with salt, pepper, and flour, will be much richer than those cooked without any seasoning. Both steaks and chops should be served the minute they come from the fire. Season them with salt and butter. Never put them in the oven for the purpose of melting the butter. It spoils the dish. If a steak or chop must wait a little time before it is served, keep it warm, but do not add the butter until serving time.

To Broil in a Frying-pan.

It sometimes happens that one has no means of broiling over coals or under heat. The next best thing is broiling in a pan. For example, have a steak cut about an inch thick. After making a frying-pan very hot, sprinkle in some fine salt, and lay the steak in the pan. Cook for two minutes; then lift the steak up and sprinkle the pan with salt. Turn the steak and cook for two minutes. Cook the piece of meat ten minutes in all, turning every two minutes. Put the meat on a hot dish, and season with salt and butter.

Broiled Chops with Bacon.

Bacon that is to be broiled should be boneless and fat, and the slices should be about as thin as the blade of a knife. The bars of the broiler should be very close, what is called an oyster broiler being best.

Place the slices of bacon in the broiler and over a clean fire, having all the draughts open. Cook the meat for about four minutes, turning constantly. The fat will blaze up continually, but will not hurt the bacon if that be turned all the while. Put the cooked bacon on a hot plate, and keep warm until the chops are cooked.

If the chops be cut an inch thick, cook them for nine minutes, turning almost continually. Season with salt and pepper, and place on a hot dish. Lay a slice of bacon on each chop, and arrange the remainder around the dish. Serve hot and on hot plates.

Beefsteak and Onions.

Pare and slice the onions. Put them in a stewpan with two quarts of boiling water and cook for fifteen minutes. Drain off all the water. Put the butter or drippings in a frying-pan and add the drained onions. Cover the frying-pan and place on the range. Cook for half an hour, being careful not to burn. Stir the onions frequently. Broil the steak rare and lay it on the bed of onions for five minutes, having the pan covered; then place the steak on a hot dish, and arrange the onions around it.

The onions need not be boiled, if a strong flavor be liked.

FRYING.

The word “frying” may mean either of two modes of cooking food: using a common frying-pan, with only a small amount of fat, or immersing the article to be cooked in a deep kettle of hot fat.

The first method is unhealthful, extravagant, and troublesome; the second saves time and is more economical and healthful. When a housekeeper once masters this method of frying, she will not return to the more unsatisfactory and indigestible mode.

There should be enough fat to float the article to be cooked. The fat must be so hot as to harden the surface of the article of food the moment it is immersed, making it impervious to the fat or the juices contained in the food itself. Different articles of food brown at different temperatures, so that the frying temperature varies from 345° to 400° Fahrenheit. Most mixtures composed in part of flour, sugar, milk, or eggs—like fritter batters, doughnuts, etc.—may be cooked at 350°; whereas such articles as oysters, white-bait, croquettes, etc., require a heat of at least 400°. French fried and thin fried potatoes need ten minutes’ cooking. The fat must have a temperature of about 370° when they are put into it, because the potatoes should stand in ice-water for some time before they are cooked. Moisture will cling to them; and this, with their chilliness, reduces the fat at least 20° as soon as the frying begins, making it then 350°. At this heat the potatoes may be cooked brown and crisp in ten minutes. As already stated, oysters require a heat of 400°. Drop a piece of stale bread into the fat; and if the temperature be right, the bread will become brown in half a minute. Oysters and white-bait should be cooked brown and crisp in one minute; longer cooking will make them rather tough and dry. A little lower temperature—say 380°—will do for croquettes, which should be fried for about two minutes. If the temperature be too low, croquettes will burst open during the cooking; particularly rice and potato croquettes.

Put the fat into a deep kettle (that called a Scotch bowl being best) and heat it slowly. When the time for frying the food is near at hand, set the kettle on the hottest part of the range, and watch to see the blue smoke rise from the centre of the surface of the liquid. The smoke indicates the temperature to be about 350°. Drop a piece of stale bread into the fat; and if one minute be required to brown it, the fat may be used at once for frying muffins, doughnuts, fritters, breaded chops, and indeed nearly all articles that require three or four minutes’ cooking.

When the frying has been finished, take the fat from the fire and let it cook slightly. Next place a piece of cheese-cloth in a colander or strainer, and, after setting this over a jar or pail, strain the fat through the cloth. This straining never should be omitted; for, with good care, the same fat may be used many times.

The Kind of Fat to use.

Olive oil would be the best liquid to use if the matter of expense were not to be considered. Any pure, clear fat that is free of strong odor will answer. Many folk use mutton and ham fat, and say that they do not find the flavor of the meat in the articles fried; but others would discover the taste at once, and consider it disagreeable.

But the housekeeper will select the material she will use according to her taste and means; and attention may as well be turned now to the conditions which will insure satisfactory and comparatively wholesome fried food. In the first place, the fat must be perfectly clarified. Even the purest and sweetest butter must go through this process before being used for frying. Oil and lard, when pure, already are clarified. When the fat to be clarified is that which has been skimmed from gravies, soups, or the water in which corned beef has been boiled, it will contain water and other impurities. While there is water in fat the latter cannot be heated to a temperature suitable for frying purposes; and if there be other foreign substances present, such as particles of meat, gravy, flour, or starch, they will burn at as high a temperature as 345°, blackening the fat and making it unfit for frying articles of food.

The Frying Basket.

While it is possible to fry food in deep fat without the use of the frying basket, that invention will be found a most valuable aid in this branch of cookery. The basket is made of fine wire, and has a bail across the top. Do not get one of coarse wire and open meshes.

After the articles to be fried have been put into it, it should be lowered into the fat; gently, because the particles of moisture which cling to the food are instantly converted into steam, and this would expand beneath the surface and force some of the fat from the kettle if the basket were lowered quickly. The operation may be performed safely by hanging the basket on a long spoon or fork, and then letting it settle gently in the fat. Do not crowd into the basket the articles that are to be fried. When the food has been cooked as long as seems necessary, lift the basket with the spoon or fork, and, after allowing the fat to drip from it, place it on a plate. Remove the cooked articles, and lay them on brown paper that has been spread on a warm pan. If properly cooked, they will hardly stain the paper.

Breaded Chops.

Mutton or lamb chops may be breaded and served with tomato or brown sauce. Have the chops cut an inch thick. Trim them, and season with salt and pepper. Dip them in beaten egg and roll in dry bread crumbs. Lay them in deep fat for six minutes if they are to be rare done, and for ten minutes if to be well done. Slices from the leg may be prepared in the same manner.

Breaded Veal Cutlets.

Have the cutlets about one fourth of an inch thick, and cut into pieces about four inches long and three wide. Season them with half the salt and pepper. Beat the egg in a soup plate, and season with the remainder of the salt and pepper. Dip the cutlets in the egg and roll them in the bread crumbs. Fry them in deep fat for ten minutes. Serve with tomato or brown sauce.

If you prefer, the cutlets may be fried in pork fat. In that case fry two ounces of fat salt pork. Take up the pork and put the cutlets into the fat remaining in the pan. When brown on one side, turn and brown on the other. They should be cooked for fifteen minutes.

Mutton Cutlets SautÉ.

Trim most of the fat from the chops, and season them with half the salt and pepper. Put them in a hot frying-pan and cook them for four minutes, turning often. Sprinkle the flour over them and cook for two minutes longer, turning them twice in that time. Now add the tomato, butter, and the remainder of the salt and pepper. Cook for three minutes longer, and serve very hot.

Breaded Sausages.

Beat the yolk of the egg in a soup plate, then beat into it the milk. Prick the sausages with a fork and roll them, one by one, in the egg, and then in the bread crumbs. Arrange them in the frying basket and cook for ten minutes in smoking hot fat. Drain and serve.

MISCELLANEOUS MODES.

Stewed Shin of Beef.

Have the butcher cut the bone into six parts. Wash the shank carefully, being sure to remove any particles of meat or gristle that are not perfectly sweet. They will be found at the small end, if at all. Put the shin in a stewpan with the onion, carrot, bay leaf, parsley, clove, salt, pepper, and water.

Place the stewpan on the fire, and when its contents begin to boil, skim the liquid carefully, and set the pan back where the meat will only simmer for six hours. At the end of five hours and a half, dip out one pint of the liquid; and after allowing this partially to cool, skim off the fat.

Put the butter in a saucepan and place it on the stove. When the butter begins to bubble, add the flour, and stir the mixture until it is smooth and brown; then gradually add three gills of the cold liquid. Cook for three minutes, stirring all the time. Season with salt and pepper, and set back where it will keep hot.

Take up the meat, removing it from the bones; also remove the marrow from the bones. Put the meat and marrow into the stewpan with the sauce. Draw the pan forward and let its contents boil up once. Serve on a hot dish with a garnish of potato cubes.

The remainder of the liquor in which the shin was boiled may be used for a soup the next day.

To prepare the potatoes, pare raw ones, and cut them into inch cubes. Put these in a stewpan, and cover with boiling water. Cook them for fifteen minutes, counting from the time the cover is placed on the stewpan. At the end of that time pour off all the water and sprinkle salt over the potatoes,—half a teaspoonful to a pint of the cubes. Place the stewpan on the fire for about one minute; then shake well. For three persons cook a pint and a half of cubes.

Pot Roast.

Wipe the meat and season it with the salt and pepper. Put it in an iron or granite-ware stewpan, and set it on a part of the range where it will brown slowly. Turn it frequently. Cook the meat in this manner for thirty minutes. Now add a gill of boiling water, and draw the stewpan to a part of the range where the contents will cook slowly for four hours. Add a gill of boiling water whenever the liquid in the stewpan becomes low. When the meat has been cooking for three hours, mix the flour smoothly with a gill of cold water, and turn into the gravy in the stewpan. Add enough boiling water now to make the full pint; the whole clove also may be added. Cook the meat an hour longer; then serve on a warm platter, with a part of the gravy poured over it. Serve the remainder of the gravy in a bowl.

Braised Beef.

Cut the pork into thin slices and fry until brown and crisp. Take out the pork, and, putting the vegetables into the fat remaining in the pan, cook slowly for fifteen minutes.

Rub half the pepper and two teaspoonfuls of the salt into the piece of meat, and place it in a deep granite-ware pan. When the vegetables are cooked, put them with the meat, first pressing from them as much fat as possible. Into the fat remaining in the pan put the flour, and stir until it becomes a dark brown. Add the water gradually, stirring all the while. Season this gravy with the remainder of the salt and pepper, and boil for five minutes; then pour over the meat in the pan. Add the cloves and parsley. Cover the pan and set in a very moderate oven. Cook for five hours, basting every half-hour with the gravy in the pan. The oven must never be so hot that the gravy will bubble.

This long, slow cooking will make the toughest piece of meat tender; but if it be cooked too fast, the meat will become hard, dry, and stringy. Any of the tough pieces can be used for this dish.

Veal, mutton, chicken, and turkey all can be cooked in this manner. With the light meats use a little celery, if convenient.

Beefsteak Roll.

Have the steak cut thin. Make a dressing by mixing together the cracker crumbs, thyme, half a teaspoonful of the salt, half the pepper, the butter, a little more than a gill of cold water, and the egg, well beaten. Season the slice of steak with half a teaspoonful of salt, and a little of the pepper. Spread the dressing on it, and roll up. Wind soft darning cotton around the roll, to keep it in place.

Put the pork fat in a frying-pan, and set on the fire. Dredge the roll with flour, and place it in the hot fat. Cook until brown on all sides, then place it in a stewpan. Put the onion and a tablespoonful of flour into the fat remaining in the pan. Stir until brown; then gradually add the scant pint of water, and stir until the sauce boils up. Add the remainder of the salt and pepper, and half a pint of strained tomato. Strain this on the beefsteak roll. Cover the stewpan, and place where the sauce will bubble at one side for three hours. When done, take up, remove the strings, and place the roll on a warm dish. Pour the sauce over it, and serve.

This dish is suitable for luncheon or dinner. Any of the following named vegetables may be served with it: potatoes, rice, hominy, carrots, turnips, cabbage, or macaroni.

Have the beef cut in a thin slice. Cut all the fat from this and chop it fine. Mix together the cracker crumbs, chopped fat, half a teaspoonful of salt, one sixth of a teaspoonful of pepper, the herbs, and a gill of cold water. Cut the slice of beef in pieces about four inches long and three wide. Season the meat with the remainder of the salt and pepper. Spread the cracker dressing on these strips of meat and then roll them up. Tie them with soft darning cotton and then roll them in the flour. Cut the pork in slices and fry until crisp and brown. Take out the pork and lay the olives in the fat remaining in the pan. Fry on all sides until brown; then put the olives in a small stewpan. Put into a frying-pan such flour as remained after the olives were rolled, and stir until brown. Gradually pour upon this one pint of cold water. Stir until it boils and then pour over the olives. Cover the stewpan and place where the contents will just bubble at one side for two hours. At serving time take up the olives, remove the strings, and arrange in the centre of a warm platter. Free the gravy from fat and pour over the olives. The dish may be served plain or with a border of either boiled rice, mashed potatoes, or strips of toast.

Hamburg Steaks.

Have the butcher chop the meat very fine. Season it with the salt and pepper and make it into small cakes about half an inch thick. Rub the bars of the broiler with a bit of fat and lay the cakes in it. Broil over clear coals for six minutes, if the steaks be liked rare; or eight minutes, if to be well done. Place on a hot dish and season with butter and salt. Another method is to put into a frying-pan about a tablespoonful of butter or pork fat and cook the steaks for eight minutes. Place the steaks on a hot dish, and into the pan in which they were cooked put one tablespoonful of butter and half a tablespoonful of flour. Stir until smooth and brown; then add a gill of cold water, stirring all the time. Season this sauce with half a teaspoonful of salt and a little pepper. A gill of strained tomatoes will be an improvement. Pour the sauce over the steaks and serve at once.

Beef Stew from the Cold Roast.

Take the bones and the tough pieces left from a cold roast of beef. After cutting all the meat from the bones, remove all the fat from the meat and put it on the fire in a frying-pan. Cut the lean meat into small pieces. Place the bones in a stewpan and lay the meat on top of them. Take from the frying-pan five tablespoonfuls of liquid fat and put it in another frying-pan. Add the minced vegetables, and cook slowly for half an hour. At the end of that time draw the pan forward to a hotter part of the range and cook rapidly for three minutes, stirring all the time. Now draw the vegetables to one side of the pan and press out the fat, then put the vegetables in the stewpan. Put the flour into the fat remaining in the pan, and stir until it becomes smooth and brown; then add the water, and stir until it boils. Add the salt and pepper and cook for three minutes. Pour this gravy into the stewpan, and, covering the pan, set it back where the contents will just bubble at one side for two hours and a half. The potatoes are then to be added and the stewpan brought forward to a hotter place. At the end of half an hour the stew will be done. Remove the bones and serve the stew on a warm dish. It may be garnished with a circle of small baking powder biscuit, or with dumplings.

Stew from Cold Lamb or Mutton.

With the bones and tough pieces of cold lamb or mutton a stew can be made the same as beef stew with cold roast beef. If you have the small white turnips use a gill of these cut in cubes and fried with the other vegetables.

Creamed Dried Beef.

Have the beef cut in slices as thin as shavings, and put it in a bowl. Pour upon it one pint of boiling water, and let it stand for two minutes; then turn off the water and drain the beef dry. Put the butter on the fire, in a frying-pan, and when it becomes hot add the beef. Cook for three minutes, stirring all the time. Now pour on one gill of cold milk. Mix the half-gill of milk with the flour, and stir it into the cooking mixture. Cook for two minutes, and serve.

Frizzled Smoked Beef.

Have the beef shaved thin and then cut it into small bits. Beat the eggs well, and add the milk to them. Put the butter on the fire, in a frying-pan, and when it becomes hot, add the beef. Stir the meat for three minutes; then draw the pan back to a cooler place and add the eggs and milk. Stir constantly until the egg begins to thicken; then turn into a warm dish and serve.

Veal Olives.

In making veal olives use a tablespoonful of butter in the cracker dressing, as there will be no fat to cut from the veal. Add half a dozen celery seeds when the gravy is put with the olives. With these exceptions proceed exactly as for beef olives.

Veal Cutlets SautÉ.

Nick the edge of the cutlet with a sharp knife; this will keep the slice flat. Cut the pork in slices and cook slowly in the frying-pan for fifteen minutes. Draw the pan forward to a hotter part of the range and take up the pieces of pork. Season the cutlet with half the pepper and salt, and lay it in the hot fat. Cook slowly for fifteen minutes, turning frequently. Now take up the meat and put the flour into the gravy remaining in the pan. Stir until it turns dark brown; then add the cold water, tomatoes, salt, and pepper, stirring all the while. Cook the sauce for five minutes; then lay the fried cutlet in it and cover the pan. Set back where the sauce will hardly bubble at one side for half an hour. At end of that time place the cutlet on a hot dish and strain the sauce over it. Serve at once.

Cut the pork in thin slices and fry brown. Have the veal cut in small, thin pieces. Season it with the salt and pepper, then roll it in the flour. Take the pork from the pan and lay the slices of veal in the hot fat. Let them fry until they have a good brown color, turning them when brown on one side. Take up the veal and stir the remainder of the flour into the fat. When the flour is brown, add the cold water, stirring all the time. When this gravy boils up put the browned veal into it and simmer for half an hour. Add the tomatoes and boil up once.

The flavor and appearance of this dish may be varied by changing the gravy. Measure the water generously, and omit the tomatoes, and you have a simple brown fricassee. Be scant in the measurement of water and tomatoes, adding the tomatoes to the gravy when the meat is put in; then, at the end of half an hour, add a gill of milk, and boil up once, and you have a bisque of veal. Or you may omit the tomatoes, and at the end of the half-hour add a generous gill of milk, and you have a white fricassee. In this case do not brown the flour when it is added to the fat.

Ragout of Mutton.

Have the mutton free from bones. Cut off all the fat and put it in the frying-pan and on the fire. Cut the meat into pieces about two inches square. When there is about five tablespoonfuls of liquid fat in the pan, take out the solid pieces and move the pan to a part of the range where the fat will become smoking hot. Now put in the mutton, and stir until it becomes brown,—which will be in about six minutes. Take the meat from the fat and put it into a stewpan. Put the turnips, carrots, and onion in the fat remaining in the pan and cook for ten minutes, being careful not to brown them. Press all the fat from the vegetables and put them in the stewpan with the meat. Now, after pouring all the fat from the pan, put in the butter and flour, and stir until the mixture becomes smooth and dark brown; then draw back to a cooler place and gradually stir in one pint and a half of water. When this boils up add it to the contents of the stewpan.

Mix the salt, pepper, corn-starch, and a gill of cold water. Stir this mixture into the stewpan. When the ragout boils, skim it, and move the stewpan back where the contents will bubble gently at one side for three hours. Serve very hot.

If you choose, a pint of potato cubes can be added the last half-hour.

Blanquette of Cold Meat.

Veal, lamb, or any kind of poultry, will answer for this dish. Have the meat free from fat and bone, and cut into dainty pieces. Season it with half the salt and pepper. Put the butter in a frying-pan and set on the fire. When hot, add the flour, stirring until the mixture is smooth and frothy; then gradually add the stock. Cook for two minutes; then add the milk and cold meat, and simmer gently for fifteen minutes. Turn out on a warm dish and garnish with rice, toast, or pastry cakes. A teaspoonful of lemon juice, added just as the blanquette is being removed from the fire, is an addition that pleases most tastes. A teaspoonful of curry-powder may be stirred into the butter when the flour is added, thus changing the dish to a delicate curry.

Pork Chops.

Season the chops with one teaspoonful of the salt and half the pepper. Put them in a hot frying-pan and cook them rather slowly for twenty minutes. Take up the chops and stir the flour into the fat remaining in the pan. When the mixture is smooth and frothy, add the strained tomatoes and simmer for five minutes. Season with the remainder of the salt and pepper. Arrange the chops on a warm dish and pour the sauce around them.

If a plain brown sauce be preferred, substitute cold water for the tomatoes.

Fried Salt Pork.

Have the slices cut about one fourth of an inch thick. Drop them into boiling water and cook for five minutes. After draining the pieces of pork, put them in the frying-pan and set them on the fire. Let them cook slowly at first; then draw the pan to hotter part of the range, and cook more rapidly until they are crisp and brown. Draw the pan back, and, taking up the pork, arrange it on a hot dish.

Pour all the pork fat, except about two tablespoonfuls, into a bowl. Put the pan back on the fire, and into the fat remaining put one tablespoonful of flour. Stir until the mixture is smooth and brown; then gradually add half a pint of cold water. Simmer for three minutes, and then taste to be sure it is salt enough. Serve this gravy in a sauce bowl.

A brown sauce made in this manner is much more healthful and appetizing than the clear pork fat.

Salt Pork in Batter.

Have the pork cut in thin slices. Drop it into boiling water and cook for two minutes. Take it up and drain; then put it in a frying-pan, and, setting it on the fire, cook until it turns a delicate brown, which should be in five minutes. Draw the pan back and take up the pork.

Make a batter with the flour, milk, salt, and egg. Dip the pork in the batter. Have the pork fat hot, and lay the masked pork in it. Cook until brown on one side; then turn and brown on the other. Serve at once.

Sausage Cakes.

Have the meat one fourth fat and three fourths lean, and chopped fine. Soak the bread in cold water until it is soft, then press out all the water. Mix the seasonings and the bread with the meat. When all the ingredients are thoroughly combined, shape into small flat cakes, and fry until brown on both sides. It will take twenty minutes to cook the cakes thoroughly.

Stewed Kidneys.

Draw the thin, white skin off the kidneys; then cut them into thin, round slices, removing the hard, white substance. Wash them, and soak them in salted water for half an hour. At the end of that time put them in a stewpan with the pint of water. Place on the fire; and when they begin to boil, skim carefully. Draw the stewpan to a part of the range where the water will only bubble gently for two hours. At the end of that time put the butter in a small pan, and set over the fire. Add the flour, and stir until the mixture is smooth and brown. Stir this into the pan containing the kidneys. Now add the seasonings, and simmer for half an hour longer. Serve toasted bread with the kidneys.

Kidneys SautÉ.

Prepare the kidneys as for stewing. Drain and wipe them. Put the butter and flour in a frying-pan, and set on the fire. Season the kidneys with the salt and pepper. Put them into the pan with the butter and flour, and cook for two minutes, stirring all the time. Add the stock or water, cold. Stir until this boils up, then add the lemon juice. Turn the sautÉ into a warm dish, and garnish with points of crisp toast.

Draw the thin skin off the kidneys; then cut each kidney almost in two. Cut out the hard, white substance from the centre. Wash the kidneys and soak them in salt and water for half an hour. At the end of that time wipe them dry. Melt one tablespoonful of the butter and add the lemon juice, salt and pepper to it. Dip the kidneys in this; then roll lightly in flour, and, placing them in the broiler, cook over clear coals for six minutes. Arrange on a hot dish and season with the remaining tablespoonful of butter; or, instead of the plain butter, use two tablespoonfuls of maÎtre d’hÔtel butter.

The kidneys may be rolled in fine bread crumbs instead of flour.

Stewed Sheep’s Hearts.

Split and wash the hearts. Season them with half the pepper and salt, and roll them in the flour. Fry the pork in the frying-pan. Put the onions with the fried pork and cook for ten minutes. At the end of that time take the pork and onions from the frying-pan and put them in the stewpan. Lay the hearts in the frying-pan, and cook until they are brown on one side; then turn them and brown the other side. After that, put them in the stewpan. Pour the hot water into the frying-pan and stir until all the sediment is mixed with it, then pour it over the hearts.

To the flour left after the hearts were rolled, add two tablespoonfuls of cold water, and stir until the mixture becomes perfectly smooth, when it should be stirred into the gravy in the stewpan. Add the remainder of the salt and pepper, and place the stewpan where the gravy will bubble gently at one side for three hours. The hearts will be tender and delicious if the cooking be slow, but if the gravy be allowed to boil hard, the meat will be tough and unsatisfactory.

At serving time arrange the hearts on a dish and strain the gravy over them. Serve boiled rice with this dish.

Fried Liver and Bacon.

Have the bacon cut in as thin slices as possible and keep it cold until the time to cook it. Have the liver cut into slices about one third of an inch thick. If it be calf or sheep’s liver, wash it in cold water and let it drain; but if it be beef liver, after washing it, cover with boiling water and let it stand for five minutes; then drain it.

Put the pieces of bacon into a hot frying-pan and turn them constantly until they are crisp; then take them up. Draw the pan back to a cooler part of the range, and, laying the slices of bacon in the hot fat, cook them for eight minutes, turning often. Season with the salt and pepper. Arrange the liver on a warm platter and garnish with the bacon.

Remember that slow cooking spoils bacon, and rapid cooking hardens and ruins liver.

Calf’s Liver SautÉ.

Cut the liver in slices one third of an inch thick, and wash and wipe them. Season with one teaspoonful of the salt and half the pepper.

Put the butter into a frying-pan and set on the fire. When it becomes hot, stir in the flour, and then lay the slices of liver in the pan. Cook slowly for six minutes, turning often. At the end of that time add the water, stirring all the while. When this boils up, add the remainder of the salt and pepper and the lemon juice, and cook gently for two minutes.

The lemon juice may be omitted and milk be substituted for the water in making the sauce. Pig, sheep, and lamb’s liver can be treated in the same manner.

Chicken Livers en Brochette.

Cut the bacon as thin as possible. Cut the livers in two parts, and after washing them, season them with salt and pepper. Fold each piece of liver in a slice of bacon and fasten with a small bird skewer. Broil over clear coals for ten minutes. Remove the skewers and serve the liver and bacon on slices of toast.

Broiled Tripe.

Wash and drain the tripe. If it has been in pickle, put it in a saucepan with cold water enough to cover it, and place on the fire. Simmer gently for half an hour. If milk be plentiful use half milk and half water. If the tripe has not been pickled, fifteen minutes will be enough time for the simmering. Take it from the hot liquid and drain.

Melt the butter in a soup plate. Add the salt and pepper to it and then roll the piece of tripe in the mixture. Dredge the tripe with flour and broil over a hot fire for six minutes. Serve at once.

Tripe may be broiled without using the butter and flour, but it is apt to be dry. Get the thick, juicy part for broiling.

Fried Tripe.

Wash the tripe and cut it into small pieces. Season it with salt and pepper and roll it in the flour. Put the drippings in the frying-pan and set on the fire. When hot, lay in the tripe, and cook for ten minutes, browning both sides. Take up the tripe, and into the fat remaining in the pan scrape such part of the flour as did not adhere to the tripe. Stir the mixture, and then add the cold water or milk. Cook for two minutes. Taste, to see if seasoned enough, because more salt and pepper may be needed. Strain this gravy over the tripe, and serve. If any one of the following named seasonings be liked it may be added to the gravy: half a teaspoonful of onion juice, one tablespoonful of tomato catsup, one teaspoonful of lemon juice, or one teaspoonful of vinegar.

Tripe Fried in Batter.

Cut the tripe in small squares and season it with half the salt and pepper. Pour the milk on the flour, and beat to a smooth paste. Add the egg, well beaten, and the remainder of the salt and pepper, and beat for two minutes longer. Have the drippings smoking hot in the frying-pan. Dip the tripe in the batter and lay it in the hot fat. When brown on one side, turn and brown on the other. Serve at once.

The tripe may be fried in deep fat. In that case it will cook in three minutes.

Corned Beef Hash.

Have the meat about one fourth fat and three fourths lean. Chop it rather coarse. Chop the cold boiled potatoes a little coarser than the meat and season them with the salt and pepper. Mix the potato and meat, stirring with a fork. Add the milk, and stir lightly. Put the butter in the frying-pan, and when it becomes hot put in the hash, spreading it lightly and evenly, but not stirring it. Cover the pan and set where the hash will cook slowly and evenly for half an hour or more. There should be a rich brown crust on the bottom. At serving time fold and turn out on a hot dish, and serve on hot plates.

Hash of Fresh Meat.

Any kind of meat can be used to make a meat-and-potato hash; but, of course, nothing is so good as corned beef. Cold roast, boiled, or broiled beef, mutton, lamb, veal, or tongue can be freed from skin, fat, and bones, seasoned highly with salt and pepper, and cooked like corned beef hash. Even two or three kinds of meat can be used. If it happens that you have a bit of steak, a part of a chop, and perhaps a slice of tongue, use them all.

Chop the potatoes rather coarse, and the sausage a little finer. Season the potatoes with the salt and pepper, and mix the sausage with them. Put the butter in a frying-pan, and when it becomes melted put in the hash. Spread lightly in the pan, but do not stir. Cover the pan and set on the back part of the range, where the hash will brown slowly. Cook for half an hour. Fold it, and, turning out on a hot dish, serve at once.

Baked Hash.

Use any kind of cold cooked meat. Have it freed from fat and bones, and chopped rather fine. Season it with the salt and pepper. Put two teaspoonfuls of the butter in a small pan and set it on the fire. When the butter is hot, add the flour, and stir until the mixture is smooth and frothy. Gradually add the milk, and boil for three minutes. Add the meat to this, and boil up once; then put in a baking-dish. Spread the mashed potatoes over this and dot with the remaining teaspoonful of butter. Bake in a moderate oven for twenty minutes.

Cooked hominy or rice may be substituted for the potatoes.

Have the meat free from fat and bones and hashed rather fine. Mix with it the salt, pepper, and flour. Put it into a small stewpan and stir in the stock or water. Cover the pan and set it on a part of the range where the hash will cook slowly for thirty minutes; then add the butter, and cook five minutes longer.

Have the toast crisp and brown. Dip the edges in boiling water. Cut each slice of toast into two triangular pieces. Spread the meat on these, and serve at once.

Tongue Toast.

Use the dry end of a boiled tongue and mince very fine. Put the butter on the stove in a small frying-pan, and when it becomes hot, add the flour. Stir until smooth and frothy; then draw the pan back to a cooler part of the range, and gradually add the milk. Now move the pan to a hotter place and cook its contents for two minutes, stirring all the time. Add the tongue and seasoning, and simmer for five minutes. Toast the bread, and place it on a warm dish. Spread a little of the tongue and sauce on each slice, and serve at once.

Meat Cakes.

Season the meat with the salt and pepper, and beat it and the butter into the hot mashed potatoes. Shape into round flat cakes and fry brown on both sides, using the drippings for frying.

Sanders.

Almost any kind of cold cooked meat may be used; preferably veal, mutton, or lamb. Season it with half a teaspoonful of salt, half the pepper, and all the onion juice. Put one tablespoonful of butter in a small frying-pan and set on the fire. When hot, add the flour, and stir until brown; then draw the pan back and gradually add the stock or milk, stirring all the time. Season with half a teaspoonful of salt and the remaining pepper. Put the meat in this sauce. Divide the mixture into six parts and put each part into a little baking-dish or shell. Season the mashed potatoes with one fourth of a teaspoonful of salt and spread it over the little dishes. Sprinkle the crumbs over these and dot with the half tablespoonful of butter. Bake in a moderately hot oven for fifteen minutes, and serve at once.

Two potatoes of medium size will make the half-pint of mashed potatoes. If you have cold mashed potatoes on hand, use them. The crumbs may be omitted.

Cold boiled rice may be substituted for the potatoes.

Small Timbales.

Have the meat free from bone, fat, and gristle, and chopped very fine. Mix all the seasonings and the bread crumbs with it. Now add the stock, and let it stand in a cool place for one or two hours. At the end of that time beat the egg well and mix it with the other ingredients. Butter four small timbale moulds,—small cups will do,—and pack the mixture into them. Put them in a pan and surround them with tepid water. Lay a piece of thick brown paper over the top. Place the pan in a moderate oven and cook the timbales for twenty minutes. Turn them out on a warm platter, and pour a white, brown, or bisque sauce around them.

This mixture may be cooked in one mould. In that case allow ten minutes longer. At no time during the cooking should the oven be hot enough to have the water boil.

Mutton Croquettes.

Add the seasoning to the meat. Put the milk in a small pan and set on the fire. Beat the butter and flour together, and stir into the boiling milk. Now add the meat, and cook for two minutes, stirring often. Add one of the eggs, well beaten, and take from the fire at once. Pour the mixture on a plate and set away to get chilled. When it is chilled, shape the croquettes, and bread and fry them.

The second egg and the crumbs are for use in breading.

Any kind of tender cooked meat may be used instead of the mutton.

Mix the meat, potatoes, and seasoning. Put the milk and butter in a frying-pan, and when the liquid boils up put in the meat and potatoes, and cook for one minute. Beat one egg well and stir it into the hot mixture. Take from the fire immediately, and, after pouring out on a plate, set away to cool. When cold, shape into cylinders about three inches long, and bread and fry.

The second egg and the crumbs are for the breading.

Hominy or rice may be substituted for the potatoes.

Meat Pie.

Filling.

Crust.

Use any kind of cooked unsalted meat, and have it free from skin, bones, and fat. Put it in a stewpan. Put the vegetables and butter in a frying-pan, and cook for ten minutes. At the end of that time take the vegetables from the butter and put them with the meat. Into the butter remaining in the pan put half a tablespoonful of flour, and stir until smooth and frothy. Gradually add the stock or water, and stir until the sauce boils. Add this to the meat and vegetables, and place the saucepan on the fire. Mix the remaining tablespoonful of flour with four tablespoonfuls of cold water, and stir into the meat mixture. Add the seasonings, and cook for fifteen minutes. Turn this into a dish that will hold nearly two quarts, and set away to cool.

Now make the crust. Mix the salt, sugar, and baking-powder with the flour, and then rub through a sieve into a bowl. Add the butter and lard, and cut and mix through the flour, with a knife, until quite fine. Wet with the cold water, stirring all the time with the knife. Sprinkle the board lightly with flour, and turn out the paste upon it. Roll very thin; then fold and roll again into a thin sheet. Fold up, put in a tin pan, and set on the ice for an hour or more; or it may be used at once. Roll the paste into the shape of the top of the dish in which the pie is to be baked, only about an inch larger on all sides. Cut a small slit in the centre of the paste that the steam may escape. Cover the prepared meat with this paste, turning in the edges. Bake the pie in a moderate oven for one hour.

The bones and bits of gristle may be boiled in water to make a stock.

How to Clean and Truss Poultry.

Cut off the head, and then the legs, being careful in the latter case to cut in or below the joints. Now cut the skin on the back of the neck; then turn the skin over on the breast and cut off the neck. Take out the crop, being particular to remove all the lining membrane. Put the forefinger into the throat and break the ligaments that hold the internal organs to the breastbone. Next cut the bird open at the vent, beginning under the left leg, and cutting in a slanting direction toward the vent. Stop there. Insert the hand in this opening, and work around the organs until they are loosened from the bones. Gently draw all the organs out at once. Put the hand in to learn if either the windpipe or lights are left in the body. Cut the oil bag from the tail. This is a hard, yellow substance. Now singe the bird by holding it over a lighted newspaper. The paper should be drawn into a long, fluffy piece, then twisted lightly. Hold the burning paper over an open fire or a coal hod during the operation of singeing.

Wash the poultry quickly in cold water; then season it with salt, and fill the crop and breast with dressing. Draw the skin at the neck on to the back, and fasten it with a skewer to the backbone. Turn the tips of the wings under the back, and fasten them in that position with a long skewer. Pass a short skewer through the lower part of the legs, and then through the tail. Tie with long piece of twine. Turn the bird on its breast and bring the string up around the skewers that hold the neck and wings. Tie firmly, and the bird will be ready for cooking.

Boiled Fowl.

A boiled fowl is one of the most satisfactory and economical dishes of poultry. The meat can be used in making a great variety of dishes, and the water in which the fowl was boiled may be used in soups, or for the foundation of meat, fish, and vegetable sauces.

Select a short, plump, fat fowl. Singe and draw it, and wash it quickly in cold water. Put it in a stewpan, breast down, with boiling water enough to cover it. When the water begins to boil, skim thoroughly; then draw the stewpan back, where the water will bubble at one side of the pan, until the fowl is tender. This you can tell by pressing the wing back with a fork. If it breaks away from the breast readily, the fowl is cooked enough. Take the stewpan from the fire, and set it, with the cover off, in a cool, airy place. When cool, take up the fowl and put it away. Pour the water into a large bowl and set in a cool place for future use.

If the fowl is to be served hot, take it up when tender, place it on a platter and pour over it a little butter, BÉchamel, or parsley sauce. Serve the remainder of the sauce in a gravy bowl.

If the fowl is to be served hot for dinner, boil four ounces of mixed salt pork with it.

The time of boiling a fowl cannot be given, because it depends upon the age. A fowl about a year old will cook in two hours; one two or three years old may take three or four hours.

Cold boiled fowl may be used for a fricassee, blanquette, salad, pie, creamed chicken, croquettes, etc.

Roast Chicken.

1 chicken, weighing four or five pounds.
2 tablespoonfuls of soft butter.
Salt, pepper, flour.
Dressing.
1 pint of grated bread crumbs.
1 level teaspoonful of salt.
1/4 teaspoonful of pepper.
1 teaspoonful of minced parsley.
1/4 teaspoonful of powdered thyme.
1/4	do.	do.	sage.
1/4	do.	do.	savory.
1/4	do.	do.	marjoram.
2 generous tablespoonfuls of butter.

Have all the materials for the dressing mixed together in a bowl, cutting the butter into small bits. Remember that there is no liquid used in this dressing. Clean the chicken and stuff the crop and body with the dressing. Truss the chicken and dredge it with salt. Rub soft butter over the breast and legs, and dredge thickly with flour. Place a rack in the dripping-pan, and, after laying the chicken on it, put in half a pint of hot water. Set the pan in a hot oven and baste the chicken every fifteen minutes, pouring over it the gravy in the dripping-pan until every part is well moistened, and then dredging lightly with salt, pepper, and flour. At the last basting omit the gravy, and moisten instead with a tablespoonful of butter dissolved in a tablespoonful of hot water; then dredge lightly with flour. After the first half-hour the heat of the oven should be reduced. It will take an hour and a half to cook a chicken weighing four or five pounds. If the tin kitchen be used, the chicken should be prepared and basted in the same manner, but it will take fifteen minutes longer to cook it. Serve on a hot platter with a garnish of parsley.

Roast Turkey.

Prepare and cook the turkey the same as directed for roast chicken; cooking it, however, two hours and a half. It makes a pleasant change to stuff the crop with a mixture prepared as for sausage cakes. Fill the rest of the body with the usual dressing.

Chicken Gravy.

Wash the giblets—that is, the neck, liver, etc.—and put them in a stewpan with the water. When the water boils, skim it. Simmer for two hours or more. There should be about half a pint of liquid at this time. Take up the giblets. Mash the liver until perfectly fine, and return to the liquid. Put the butter in a small frying-pan and place on the fire. When hot, add the flour, and stir until brown. Pour on this, gradually, the liquid in the saucepan, stirring all the time. Season with the salt and pepper. Pour this sauce back into the saucepan; cover, and set back where it will keep hot.

When the chicken is cooked, pour the gravy from the dripping-pan into this sauce. Serve in a hot dish.

Turkey gravy is made in the same manner.

Turkey or Chicken Dressing.

Soak the bread in cold water until soft; then press out all the water. Add all the other ingredients to the bread, and mix well. Fill the breast of the turkey or chicken with this, and put the remainder in the body of the bird.

Breaded Chicken.

Use a chicken weighing about three or four pounds, and have it split down the back. Singe and wipe it. Let the tips remain on the wings. Turn the wings back and skewer them into place. Fasten the neck under the body. Press the chicken out flat, and press the legs back on the body, skewering them in this position. Season with the salt and pepper, and place in a dripping-pan. Rub the soft butter over the breast and legs, and then sprinkle the crumbs over the chicken. Place the pan in a hot oven and cook for forty-five minutes. Reduce the heat after the first fifteen minutes.

Remember that the chicken is put in the bottom of the pan split side down, and that there is no water or basting of any kind used.

This dish is especially good served with a Tartar sauce, but it is very good without any sauce whatever.

Fried Chicken.

Singe the chicken and wipe it with a damp towel. Cut it into handsome joints. Season it with the salt and pepper, and roll it in the flour. Cut the pork into thin slices, and fry it slowly until all the fat has been extracted, then take out the pork. Draw the frying-pan to a hotter part of the range, and when the fat begins to smoke lay in the slices of chicken. Fry the chicken brown on all sides. It will take about half an hour to cook it. When it is done, arrange it on a warm platter. Put the butter with the fat remaining in the pan, and add all the flour that did not cling to the chicken, stirring until smooth and frothy. Gradually add the milk, stirring all the time. When the sauce boils up, taste it, to learn if it requires more salt and pepper. Pour the sauce over the chicken and serve. If parsley be liked, add to the sauce half a teaspoonful, finely minced.

Creamed Chicken.

Have the chicken free from skin, fat, and bones, and cut into long strips. Season it with half of the salt and pepper. Put the butter in a frying-pan and set on the fire. When hot, add the flour, and stir until the mixture is smooth and frothy. Now add the stock, stirring all the time, and when this boils gradually add the milk. Season the sauce with the remainder of the salt and pepper, and the onion juice. Put the chicken in this and simmer for ten minutes.

This dish is suitable for breakfast, luncheon, supper, or dinner.

Creamed Turkey.

Prepare and serve cold roast or boiled turkey the same as chicken.

Stewed Chicken.

Singe the chicken and cut it into handsome joints. Wash it, and, putting it in a stewpan with the water, place it on the fire. When the water begins to boil, skim carefully, and draw the stewpan back to a place where the liquid will just bubble at the side. Put the onion and butter in a small pan and cook gently for twenty minutes. Take the onions from the butter and add them to the chicken. Add half a tablespoonful of flour to the butter remaining in the pan, and cook until smooth and frothy. Add this to the stew. Mix the remainder of the flour smoothly with a gill of cold water, and stir into the stew. Add the salt and pepper. Cook gently for three hours. At the end of this time draw the stewpan to a hotter part of the range, and, after adding some dumplings, cook just ten minutes after the cover is put on the stewpan.

Have the chicken free from fat, skin, and bones, and cut it in delicate pieces. Season it with half the salt and pepper. Put the butter in a frying-pan and place on the fire. Add the flour to the melted butter, and stir until smooth and frothy. Gradually add the stock, stirring all the time. Season with the remainder of the salt and pepper. Stir the chicken into the sauce, and turn into the dish in which the pie is to be baked. Set away to cool. When it is time to finish the pie, roll the paste into the same shape as the top of the dish, but a little larger. Make a hole in the centre to allow the steam to escape. Cover the meat with this and bake in a moderately hot oven for one hour.

White Fricassee of Chicken.

Make this the same as the filling for chicken pie.

Roast Duck.

Singe and wash the duck, and then wipe it. Season it with salt and pepper, and put half an onion in the body. Truss it, and dredge lightly with flour. Roast it in a hot oven for half an hour, and serve it with a hot currant sauce. This time will cook the duck rare, which is the proper way to cook all kinds of ducks. If, however, you prefer to have it well done, stuff it, and treat it exactly like roast chicken.

Cut off the neck and wings close to the body. Cut off the feet in the joints, or just below; see that all the feathers are removed; then draw the bird and wash quickly in cold water. Peel the onion and cut it into four parts. Put these into the body of the bird and then truss it. Season with salt and pepper. Rub the butter over the breast and legs of the grouse, then dredge thickly with flour. Have the pork cut in thin slices and lay it over the breast, fastening it with small skewers or wooden toothpicks. Rest the grouse on its back on a tin plate and place it in a hot oven. Cook for half an hour, having the oven quite hot the first fifteen minutes, and then reducing the heat. When the bird is done, remove the skewers. Pour half a pint of bread sauce on a hot dish, and place the bird on this, breast up. Sprinkle fried crumbs over the bird and sauce, and garnish with a few sprays of parsley.

Roast Partridge.

Prepare and serve the same as grouse; but as it is white meat it must be well done. Cook it for forty-five minutes, and baste it every ten minutes with a gill of hot stock or water, in which have been melted two tablespoonfuls of butter.

Roast Ptarmigan.

Cook and serve this exactly the same as grouse, except that it should be cooked but twenty minutes, being smaller than grouse.

All birds that are to be broiled must be split in the back; the necks must be cut off, the birds wiped, and the legs drawn up over the breast. This will give a compact form to the bird. Now season with salt. Spread soft butter over the breast and legs, and then dredge thickly with flour. Put in the double-broiler and cook over clear coals, having the buttered and floured side toward the fire at first, that the two materials may unite and form a paste on the bird. Cook quail or squab for ten minutes, and smaller birds six or eight. Partridge and grouse may be cooked in the same way, but the grouse should be cooked for twenty minutes and the partridge thirty. Serve the small birds on slices of crisp toast.

Fricassee of Rabbit.

Have the rabbit skinned and drawn. Wash it, and then cut into joints. Next season it with the salt and pepper, and roll it in the flour, covering every part. Put the fat in a frying-pan and set on the fire. When hot, lay in the rabbit and cook it until brown on all sides. When the meat is well browned take it up. Into the fat remaining in the pan put such part of the flour as did not cling to the rabbit, and stir until brown. Gradually add the cold water, stirring all the time. When this boils up, taste it to see if it is seasoned enough; then lay the browned meat in the gravy and simmer gently for half an hour. Serve boiled rice or boiled hominy with this dish.

If one like the flavor of onions or herbs, a little may be added to the gravy.

Prepare the rabbit as for fricassee. Add to the gravy one teaspoonful of onion juice, one heaping teaspoonful of curry-powder, mixed with a little cold milk or water. Always serve boiled rice with this dish.

Broiled Venison.

Have a venison steak cut an inch thick, and cook it the same as beefsteak. Season with butter, salt, and pepper. Serve currant jelly with the steak.

Venison Steak SautÉ.

Have the steak cut an inch thick. Put the butter in the frying-pan and set it on the fire. When hot, put in the steak. Cook for ten minutes, turning often. When it has been cooking for five minutes add the jelly and seasoning. Serve hot.