RECIPES FOR COOKING COMMON FOODS PART 1

PREPARATION OF MEATS


_Roast Beef._--The problem of roasting beef is to have it sufficiently
cooked in the center without hardening and over-cooking the outside.
Burned edges and a raw center testify to a lack of intelligence.

The English way of baking beef is to allow nine minutes to the pound for
a rib-roast and eight minutes for a sirloin. Sprinkle pepper and salt
over the meat and sprinkle with flour. Pour a little boiling water into
the pan and bake in an oven hot enough to crisp and brown peeled raw
potatoes cooked in the same pan. Do not forget to baste often. This
method gives a rich flavor to the beef and the gravy, but the outside is
apt to be cooked too hard while the inside is not enough cooked. Too hot
a fire tends to make meat tough and dry.

The French have a safer way, especially for small roasts. The beef is
cooked in a cool oven--so cool that a peeled, raw potato will cook tender
without browning. Allow about an hour and a quarter for a four-pound
rib-roast. In this way the heat penetrates to the center without
hardening the outside. When properly done the outside is very little more
cooked than the inside, and the roast throughout is tender, rare, and
juicy, with no hard-burned edges. This way of baking makes inferior beef
more tender and juicy than the English way. It has the disadvantage of
not leaving any gravy in the pan. When baked after the English method the
fat fries out into the pan, and a delicious, rich, brown gravy may be
made by adding flour and water. Strain the juice through a fine sieve and
allow to stand a few minutes so as to be able to skim or pour off all the
grease. Do not serve gravies with half an inch of pure grease on top. It
does not require a scientific education nor a herculean effort to remove
the grease.

_Pot Roast._--If the beef is of an inferior quality, the best way to cook
it is in a heavy iron kettle, preferably with a sloping bottom. Sprinkle
the meat with salt and pepper; place a little fat in the bottom of the
kettle--enough to keep the meat from sticking--and allow the roast to
brown slowly for half an hour. Now put a pint of boiling water in the
pot. Cover very closely and let it simmer on the back of the stove for
about four hours, adding small quantities of hot water as necessary, and
turning often. When cooked take up the meat; skim the fat from the gravy
and thicken with flour.

_Hamburg Steaks._--Another way of preparing inferior cuts of beef is to
make Hamburg steaks. Chop the meat in fine pieces. Season with salt,
pepper and a little onion juice, and shape into thin cakes. Put three or
four slices of fat salt pork into a frying-pan, and when brown remove it
and place the steaks in the fat. Fry four minutes; turn, and fry three
more, and serve on a hot platter. Put a tablespoonful of flour into the
fat and stir until brown. Gradually add a cupful of water or preferably
milk and boil three minutes; season well, pour over the meat, and serve
immediately.

_Broiled Beef._--Broiling is the simplest, easiest, and most delicious
method of cooking meats, but, as a rule, ignorance instinctively turns to
the frying-pan, and broiling is unknown in many homes. This is partly due
to not knowing how to manage the fire. It seems so much easier to fry on
top of the stove than to plan beforehand an adequate preparation of the
coals. It is necessary to have a bed of clear, hot coals with no smoke.
Have the steak cut three-quarters of an inch thick; place in a wire
broiler; put over the coals and cover with a baking-pan. Turn every
minute or two until the meat is sufficiently cooked. When done, place on
a hot platter, and season well with salt, pepper, and butter. Serve
immediately. It should take about ten minutes to cook a steak or thick
mutton chop.

_Fried Beef._--If beef must be fried, have a hot fire; heat a thick iron
frying-pan and grease it just enough to keep the meat from sticking. Have
the meat three-quarters of an inch thick; place in the hot pan and turn
as soon as it is well seared. Turn often until done and then season well
and serve at once. There should be no gravy in the pan; all the juices
should be in the meat.

_Beef Hash._--Take equal parts of beef and cold potatoes, chopped
moderately fine. Chop a small onion and fry in plenty of butter until
brown; add the meat and potatoes and just enough milk to keep from
sticking. Cook for half an hour, stirring frequently. Serve with thin,
dry toast or toasted crackers. Poached eggs are a very nice addition.

_Veal._--Veal, when properly cooked, is delicious and delicate. Like pork
it should be cooked slowly for a long time to develop its full flavor.
Unfortunately it is usually half-cooked, tough, and insipid. The
housewife who can cook veal properly has a distinct advantage over her
less fortunate neighbor.

_Leg Roast of Veal._--Take out the bone and fill the space with stuffing
made as follows: Take one half-cupful of chopped fat pork, or unsmoked
bacon, and fry with a finely chopped onion until delicately brown. Add
two cupfuls of bread crumbs; season with salt and pepper and moisten with
a little milk. Tie the veal closely; sprinkle with pepper and salt; rub
thoroughly with flour and cover with buttered paper. Into the baking-pan
put a generous number of thin slices of unsmoked bacon, an onion and half
a can of tomatoes. Add just enough boiling water to steam the veal. Cook
gently in a moderate oven, allowing twenty-five minutes to the pound, and
baste very frequently, turning the meat about every half-hour. When done,
put it on a hot platter in the warming oven, and add enough water to make
the requisite amount of gravy. Thicken with browned flour, strain, and
pour over the roast.

_Fried Veal._--Fried veal steak or cutlets are delicious, but very
difficult to prepare properly. As a usual thing veal cutlets are either
half raw, or cooked until dry and hard. When properly cooked veal should
be spongy, soft, and velvety. The chops should be not quite a half inch
thick. Melt a little lard in a hot frying-pan; sprinkle some salt and
pepper on the veal and fry quickly until brown on both sides. Then cover
tightly, and place on the back of the stove and steam until thoroughly
tender. It requires from forty to forty-five minutes to fry veal.

_Broiled Veal._--The veal should be cut thin, broiled quickly until
brown, and seasoned with salt, pepper, and melted butter, to which a
little chopped parsley and lemon juice have been added. Serve on a hot
platter and eat at once. If the veal is fat, tender and nicely broiled,
it is almost as good as game.

_Veal Stew or Pot-pie._--Cut the meat from a knuckle of veal into pieces
not too small; put them into a pot with some small pieces of salt pork,
and plenty of pepper and salt; pour over enough hot water to cover it
well, and boil until the meat is thoroughly done. While the water is
still boiling drop in, by the spoonful, a batter made as follows: Two
eggs well beaten, two and a half or three cupfuls of buttermilk, one even
teaspoonful of soda, and flour enough to make a thick batter. Cover the
pot, and as soon as the batter is well cooked serve it.

_Veal Stew._--This is an exceedingly nutritious, economical, and
appetizing dish. Cut the veal into small pieces about an inch square; add
three or four thin slices of salt pork; one or two onions and potatoes
cut up fine, and a little turnip, carrot, parsley and celery, if you have
them. Cover well with boiling water and cook over a brisk fire until the
meat is tender and the water pretty well cooked away. This will require
about an hour. Cover the meat well with fresh milk; season to taste with
pepper, salt, and a generous quantity of butter; let the mess simmer on
the back of the stove about twenty minutes, and serve it in a hot covered
dish.

_Jellied Veal._--Jellied veal gives the impression of an expensive
preparation, and yet nothing is cheaper or simpler. Put a knuckle of veal
into a pot that can be tightly covered; season well with two or three
slices of unsmoked bacon, the heart of an onion, salt, pepper and a
little butter, adding just enough water to steam the meat thoroughly
(replenishing it from time to time as needed), and cook over a slow fire
until tender--probably about four hours. When done there should be about
two teacupfuls of broth. Prepare three cold hard-boiled eggs. Cut the
veal into pieces the size of a walnut. Now choose a dish just large
enough to hold the meat, the eggs and the broth. Slice the eggs and place
a few pieces on the bottom of the dish. Now put in a layer of veal; then
more egg and continue in this way until the veal is used. Strain the
broth over the veal and set it away in a cool place, preferably on ice,
until quite firm. When about to serve it, loosen by slipping a knife,
warmed in water, between the meat and the dish. Garnish with parsley or
lettuce, and serve with salad of any kind.

_Roast Pork._--Pork should be thoroughly cooked in a medium hot oven. For
the leg or the shoulder allow twenty-five minutes to the pound. For the
spareribs allow fifteen minutes. Sprinkle the spareribs well with salt,
pepper, sage, and a little chopped onion, or bake a few onions in the
same dish. Put a little water in the pan and add to it as it cooks away.
The leg, the loin, and the shoulder may be stuffed with well-seasoned
sage stuffing. To make this, cut a few strips of fat pork into small dice
and fry over a slow fire. Add a finely chopped onion and cook until
brown. Crumble as many slices of dry bread as you will need, and fry with
the onion and pork over a slow fire until nicely browned. Moisten a
little with milk or cream, and fill the space left by removing the bones.
Sew tightly together and bake thoroughly. Peeled, raw potatoes are very
nice baked in the same dish with the pork. A medium sized potato will
require a little over an hour to bake in a moderate oven. Apple sauce,
sauerkraut, or cabbage cooked with a little vinegar, are nice to serve
with pork.

_Broiled Pork._--Very thin slices cut from a leg of pork, or the cutlets,
or the chops, are extremely nice and delicate when broiled. They must be
cut thin; the coals must be bright and hot; and the meat turned very
often. Serve on a hot platter.

_Fried Pork._--For frying, pork should not be cut over a half an inch
thick: Cook slowly from forty minutes to an hour, with the pan closely
covered, to keep in the steam. Pork requires a long, slow process to
develop its flavor and tenderness. Nearly everyone cooks it too fast, and
for too short a time. When thoroughly steamed and nicely seasoned with
salt, pepper, sage and a little onion, well fed pork is as toothsome and
dainty as turkey. Make a brown gravy and pour over the meat. Serve with
apple sauce.

_Boiled Pork._--Take a leg of pork, or a shoulder, and remove the bones.
Tie closely together and let it cook slowly in a tightly covered pot for
half an hour, adding a little fat if necessary to keep the meat from
sticking. Now sprinkle with salt, pepper and sage. Put two whole onions
in the pot, and just enough boiling water to thoroughly steam the meat.
Place it on the back of the stove and cook over a slow fire for four or
five hours until thoroughly tender and velvety. When done put on a hot
platter in the warming-oven. Thicken the gravy with flour, adding a
little water or milk if necessary, then let it boil for five minutes and
strain. When properly cooked this is delicious cold, and almost as good
for salad as chicken or turkey. If desired, peeled raw potatoes may be
browned in the pot with the meat. These will take about an hour to cook.

_Curing Ham and Bacon._--To have good ham and bacon the meat must first
be properly cured so that the lean part is pink, tender and soft to the
touch, while the fat is clear and white. In many country homes the lean
meat is about as tough, hard, and indigestible as sole leather. A good
recipe for curing is as follows: For every gallon of water take two
pounds of coarse salt and one-half ounce of soda. Boil all together and
skim well, and, while hot, pour over the meat. Put in a cold dry place
with a stone to keep the meat well below the water. After three weeks,
hang the meat and let it dry for two or three days before smoking.

_Broiled Ham._--Nothing is more appetizing for supper than broiled ham,
served with mashed potatoes, milk toast, or a poached egg on dry toast.
Cut the ham as thin as possible, and broil quickly over hot coals,
turning constantly until the fat begins to shrivel. Have everything else
ready so that it can be eaten immediately. Cold cabbage salad is nice
with this.

_Boiled Ham._--If quite salty, soak the ham twenty-four hours. Put it in
a large kettle with a generous supply of water, and allow twenty-five
minutes to the pound for boiling. Take the pot from the fire and let the
meat remain in the water until nearly cold. Sprinkle with pepper and rub
thoroughly with brown sugar; put the ham and the fat from the liquor into
a baking-pan and brown for about an hour in the oven. Cut as thin as
possible when serving.

_Frying Ham._--Cut the ham in the thinnest possible slices, with a large,
sharp knife. Have the frying-pan hot, and cook the meat just enough to
give the fat a delicate brown, turning frequently. To cook ham too much
is to make it tough, hard, dry, and indigestible. Put the ham on a hot
platter in the warming oven. Add a cupful, or more, of fresh milk to the
grease and thicken with flour. Serve with boiled potatoes. Instead of
making a gravy, eggs may be fried in the fat. To do this nicely the fat
must not be burned. The eggs should be dropped in one by one, allowing
them plenty of room to spread out. Cook slowly and with a spoon baste the
yolks with the hot fat until they sear, being careful not to cook the egg
too hard. These eggs are very nice served on thin, dry toast, or one may
be placed on each slice of ham.

_Fried Bacon._--Cut the bacon into very thin slices, and cook in a hot
frying-pan just long enough to turn the fat to a delicate brown. If
cooked too long it is hard and indigestible, besides losing its delicacy
of flavor. A very nice way to cook bacon, instead of frying it, is to
roll the slices up into curls, skewer them with toothpicks, and place
them in a baking-pan on the grate of a hot oven until they are slightly
brown. Serve on dry toast. They should be eaten at once.

_Broiled Bacon._--Bacon can be broiled like ham. A very nice way to serve
it, especially for an invalid, is to toast it before the fire; split a
hot biscuit and make a sandwich with the bacon. Bacon toasted this way
and eaten when very hot has a peculiarly appetizing flavor.

_Unsmoked Bacon._--Cut in thin slices; roll in flour or meal; dust
lightly with pepper; fry over a moderately hot fire until delicately
brown and crisp, and put on a warm platter in the warming closet. Add
sufficient fresh milk to the fat to make the requisite amount of gravy.
Season with a little salt and pepper, and thicken with flour. Do not pour
over the meat. Serve in separate dish.

_Boiled Mutton._--Mutton should be cooked very much like beef,--just
enough to leave a faint pink, but not enough to make it hard and develop
a strong taste. For boiled mutton allow ten minutes to the pound. Add a
little rice to make the meat whiter and tenderer. Cover with boiling
water and cook rapidly for fifteen minutes; then place on the back of the
stove where it will simmer nicely for two hours. Young turnips, boiled
with the mutton are a very nice addition.

_Mutton Cutlets._--The chops should be thick. Grease the bottom of a hot
frying-pan just enough to keep the chops from sticking; place over a hot
fire, and turn the meat constantly to keep it from burning until the
center is a faint pink. Season with salt, pepper, and melted butter to
which a little lemon juice and parsley may be added.

_Roast Mutton._--The French roast mutton in a slow oven in order that the
heat may penetrate to the center without injuring the outside. Allow
twenty minutes to the pound, or, if a very large roast, twenty-five
minutes may not be too much, providing the oven is not too hot. Season
with salt and pepper, and put a generous supply of boiling water in the
pan. Baste frequently, and turn the meat every half hour. Place two or
three peeled raw potatoes in the pan, and watch them; if they begin to
brown, the oven is too hot. The potatoes should keep pace with the
mutton, and when the latter is half done the former should be cooked to
the same degree.

_Broiled Mutton Chops._--The chops should be cut an inch thick. Trim off
the fat and scrape the bones. Roll in a little melted butter or oil, and
broil over a hot fire, turning constantly until just pink within. Have
ready a mound of hot mashed potatoes and lay the chops around it. Pour a
little melted butter over them and serve with green peas.