A text-book of cooking

Parboil in boiling water for 10 minutes a slice of ham about £ inch thick. Place in a broiler and broil, or place in a "frying" pan and pan-broil, turning often. Garnish with parsley and serve at once. BACON Place thin slices of bacon (from which the rind has been removed) on a fine wire broiler. Place the broiler in a dripping pan, and bake in a hot oven until brown and crisp, turning once. When bacon is being cooked, it is almost impossible not to burn the fat. In broiling, the burned fat is drained from the bacon, hence the advantage of broiled over sauteed bacon. SCALLOPED POTATOES WITH BACON 4 medium potatoes Salt, used sparingly J pound sliced bacon Pepper Flour Milk Pare the potatoes and cut them into thin slices. Cook the bacon until brown ; cut each slice of bacon into several pieces. Oil a baking dish and place a layer of potatoes in it, then a layer of bacon and some of the tried-out bacon fat. Sprinkle with flour, salt, and pepper. Repeat, until all the ingredients are used; the top layer should be of bacon. Add milk until it reaches the top layer. Bake in a moderate oven for one hour, or until much of the milk has evaporated and the potatoes are tender. Serve hot. PORK, POTATOES, AND APPLE SAUCE 277 Fig. 68. — Cuts of pork. Cuts of Pork. (Seb Fig. 68.) Name of Cut Form of Cut Method of Cooking A. Loin. Chops — rib and loin chops (freed from fat called " spare ribs") — cut into chops or thick pieces. Sautemg. Roasting. B. Ham (usually smoked). Slices. Whole. Saut&ng. 44 Boiling. Roasting. C. Back (all fat). Strips. Slices. 44 Tried out" (its fat used for saut&ng, frying, and flavoring). Larding. D. Shoulder (smoked or fresh) . Slices. Whole. Sautemg. 44 Boiling." Roasting. E. Bacon (smoked) or Salt Pork. Thin or thick slices. Sautemg. Broiling. Why should fresh pork be used in winter rather than in summer ? Why is pork difficult of digestion ? Explain why potatoes and Apple Sauce are desirable foods to serve with pork ? For what reason should pork be cooked thoroughly ? What is the purpose of parboiling ham before broiling it ? What ingredient, invariably used in Scalloped Potatoes, is omitted in Scalloped Potatoes with Bacon ? What is substituted for this material ? Why should salt be added sparingly to potatoes cooked with bacon ? How many persons does the given quantity of Scalloped Potatoes with Bacon serve ? To what cut of beef does ham correspond ? From U. S. Department of Agriculture Bulletin No. 28, tabulate the percentage composition of fresh and salted ham. Compare it with the composition of round steak. Obtain the price per pound of each cut of pork. Arrange in tabulated form and record date. LESSON XCVI Chicken and Rice Poultry. — Poultry includes chicken, fowl, turkey, duck, and goose — domestic birds suitable for food. Pigeon and squab are not considered poultry. Poultry that is one year old or younger is called chicken; poultry older than one year is called fowl. Chicken that is three or four months old is called spring chicken. Selection of Chicken and Fowl. — Chickens and fowls have certain characteristics which make them readily distinguishable. Chickens have soft feet, a soft and flexible breast bone, many pin feathers, and little fat. Fowl have hard and scaly feet, rigid breast bone, long hairs, and much fat surrounding the intestines. CHICKEN AND RICE 279 Digestion of Poultry. — The muscle of chicken, fowl, and turkey contains little fat; the fat that exists is in layers directly under the skin and around the intestines. The fibers of the muscle are short. For this reason, and also because they have so little fat, these meats are readily digeated. The white meat contains less fat than the dark, hence it is more easily digested.