Steaming. — This process is especially adapted to delicate
preparations. The ingredients for boiling should be pre-
pared as for boiling, and then placed in the steamer, with
the lid tightly closed over a saucepan full of boiling water,
which should be kept boiling, and fresh water added as it
boils away. If there be no steamer at hand, make one by
turning a plate upside down in a saucepan, and surround it
with three inches of fast-boiling water, and place the mould
or basin containing the mixture on the plate. Cover the
saucepan closely and keep the water simmering round it, so
that it will produce continuous steam. It is a good plan in
cooking a pudding to place a weight on the top of the
mould to avoid the condensed steam getting into it. I
think all potatoes and puddings should be steamed.
Boning. — It requires great practice and nicety to bone.
The first thing necessary is to have a sharp boning-knife,
then cut the head and pinions of the bird off as close to the
body as possible, and the feet cut off at the first joint. Then
cut out the crop at the neck, but do not make too large an
opening ; then cut the flesh off the breast bone, keeping the
knife with the point as near the bone as possible. Remove
the merry-thought, then sever the wings at the joints. The
bird must constantly be turned round and round whilst
boning ; and the utmost care is needed not to break the
skin. The legs are then disjointed with the thumb by
pressing them in.
Larding. — Larding like everything else requires practice ;
but the result is such an improvement to the dish, that it is
quite worth practising to do it. It is necessary to have two
larding needles, one for large lardoons and one for the small
ones. Lardoons are strips of fat bacon : larding or French
bacon is sold on purpose for this ; though one can lard with
fat bacon if the other is not handy. The bacon should be
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82
THE housewife's REFEREE
cut into strips of equal length and thickness according to
the sizes required. For poultry and game they should be
two inches long by a quarter of an inch broad ; but for
fillets of beef and loins of veal, two inches long and the
third of an inch square. Put one of these lardoons
into the larding-needle, then pass it through the meat,
taking up as much of the flesh as will hold the lardoon
firmly, letting the lardoons project about half an inch,
which must be done as straight as possible and at equal
distances. There are two ways of larding, first super-
ficially only, in which the point of the needle is brought
out about one inch from where it was put in, and
pulled very gently through. A finger should be kept on
the projecting part of the lardoon, so that it does not break
off. Another way is to lard so that the lardoons are cut
long enough to go right through the meat, leaving about a
quarter of an inch at top and bottom. It is well to lay the
lardoons on ice before putting them into the needle.
Page 55
Presented as published in 1898. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
Steaming. — This process is especially adapted to delicate preparations. The ingredients for boiling should be prepared as for boiling, and then placed in the steamer, with the lid tightly closed over a saucepan full of boiling water, which should be kept boiling, and fresh water added as it boils away. If there be no steamer at hand, make one by turning a plate upside down in a saucepan, and surround it with three inches of fast-boiling water, and place the mould or basin containing the mixture on the plate. Cover the saucepan closely and keep the water simmering round it, so that it will produce continuous steam. It is a good plan in cooking a pudding to place a weight on the top of the mould to avoid the condensed steam getting into it. I think all potatoes and puddings should be steamed.
Boning. — It requires great practice and nicety to bone. The first thing necessary is to have a sharp boning-knife, then cut the head and pinions of the bird off as close to the body as possible, and the feet cut off at the first joint. Then cut out the crop at the neck, but do not make too large an opening ; then cut the flesh off the breast bone, keeping the knife with the point as near the bone as possible. Remove the merry-thought, then sever the wings at the joints. The bird must constantly be turned round and round whilst boning ; and the utmost care is needed not to break the skin. The legs are then disjointed with the thumb by pressing them in.
Larding. — Larding like everything else requires practice ; but the result is such an improvement to the dish, that it is quite worth practising to do it. It is necessary to have two larding needles, one for large lardoons and one for the small ones. Lardoons are strips of fat bacon : larding or French bacon is sold on purpose for this ; though one can lard with fat bacon if the other is not handy. The bacon should be
THE housewife's REFEREE
cut into strips of equal length and thickness according to the sizes required. For poultry and game they should be two inches long by a quarter of an inch broad ; but for fillets of beef and loins of veal, two inches long and the third of an inch square. Put one of these lardoons into the larding-needle, then pass it through the meat, taking up as much of the flesh as will hold the lardoon firmly, letting the lardoons project about half an inch, which must be done as straight as possible and at equal distances. There are two ways of larding, first superficially only, in which the point of the needle is brought out about one inch from where it was put in, and pulled very gently through. A finger should be kept on the projecting part of the lardoon, so that it does not break off. Another way is to lard so that the lardoons are cut long enough to go right through the meat, leaving about a quarter of an inch at top and bottom. It is well to lay the lardoons on ice before putting them into the needle.