A manual of home-making

The feet of fowls are hard and dry, witli coarse scales. The cartilage at the end of the breast bone has become ossified* good turkey should be plump; legs sfiould be smooth, and the e^ tilage at the end of the breast boi should be soft and pliable. (Page 524). GENERAL RULES FOR COOKING Meat is cooked to soften cotmect ive tissue, to develop flavor, fo rrir prove appearance^ and to destr Imeteria or other orj^nisms. The cuts of meat may lie divW into two classes, the tough and tender. Although the tough cuta are as nutritious as the tender and. are cheaper, more skill and ingenuitj are required to make them pulatablcwl Both nutritive material and flavor! are retained in meat by searing ove the surface at the begiiuiing of tl cooking period. This may be dou€ by plunging it into boiling water hot fat, or by placing it in a hot ovenl or over an open fire as in broiling^] thus using direct heat. Tendir cuts. Only the tender cuts should cooked with dry heat. After thfl meat has been quickly seared witt intense heat to retain the juices, th< temperature should be lowered di Pio. m-Cutaofpork j^^ ^1^^ remainder of the cooking Even thetender^t cuts of meat may be toughene<I by cookini at too high a temperature. The tender cuts are fine grain and require le^s time for cooking than do the tough cuts* MEAT AND POULTRY 613 Broiling and roasting, which develop a fine flavor, can be used only for tender €Uts. The l>est cuts for broiling are porter- house, sirloin J cross cut of rnmp steak, and tlie soeond and third] cuts from the top of the rounil. Pcnterhouse and sirloin st€ are the most expensive because of the loss of bone and fat* Round steaks are juicy, but they have a coarser fiber and are not so tender as porterhouse and sirloin. Steaks should be cut at least one inch thick; they may be as^ thick as two or three inches. Most of the fat on steaks should be tried out, clarified, and used for shortening. The best cuts for roasting are the middle of the sirloin, the back of the rump, and the first three ribs. The tip of the sir- loin and the back of the rump make large roasts that are more economical than the sirloin. Rib roasts contain more fat and are somewhat cheaper than other roasts* Tmi^h Oils, The tough cuts are the ones containing muscles which the animal has used most actively and include the shin, knuckle, ami round of the leg, the neck, and the sltoulder. Methods of making tough meats tender are chopping, adding fat, marinating with oil antl vinegar, long slow cooking in moist heat at a low temperature, and breaking the fibem by pounding them with a sharp instrument. Tough cuts of meat require, long, slow cooking to be made tender and palatable. Tough ^ ends of the temler cuts, such as |X)rterhouse steak, should be cut off and specially cooked in such a way that they can be utilized, instead of being cooked in the same way as the tender part antl then discarded because of their toughness. If it is desired to extract some of the imtritive material and flavor for 8ouj>, sauce, or gravy, the meat should be put into cold water and heate^I slowly. Tough cuts that are to be used for stew may be cut in small pieces and browmed before the long, slow cooking, if this Ijrowned flavor is hked.