Cookery for every household

A little pig for roasting should not be more than three or four weeks old. It ought to be cooked when freshly killed. Have it well washed and dried, and season the inside with pepper and salt. Prepare some chestnut or sausage meat stuffing (see Recipes 1279), parboil and chop the liver and add it to it. Put this stuffing into the pig and sew it up. Then place the little pig on a roasting tin, bend the hind feet forward and the fore feet backwards, and fix them with two skewers close to the body. Now brush over the body with salad oil or melted butter, and tie several folds of well -greased paper over the back. Roast in a good oven, basting frequently. A short time before it is ready remove the paper to allow the back to brown. The skin should be brown and crisp, but without blisters. When ready, remove the trussing thread and skewers, cut the pig right through the middle from head to tail, and then cut off the two pieces of head. Serve the body back to back on a hot dish and place a half head at each end. Garnish with the horse-radish and a little parsley. Mix some good gravy in the roasting-tin (see p. 207) and serve it separately along with apple sauce or apple jelly. Note. — Veal or sage and onion stuffing may be used instead of the above. Time to roast, 2 to 2| hours. Probable cost, 6s. to 10s. 984. Pork Stew 1 i to 2 lbs. pork. 1 lb. potatoes. Boiling water. Forcemeat balls. I or 2 onions. Chopped parsley. Any part of fresh pork will do for this, but it must not be too fat. Wipe and trim the meat carefully, and cut it in pieces about 1 inch square. Place the pieces in a stewpan, season with pepper and salt, and cover with boiling water. Simmer a few minutes and skim if necessary. Then add the onions prepared and cut in thin slices ; put the lid on the pan and stew slowly for 1 hour until the meat is nearly tender. Now add the potatoes, peeled and cut in quarters, r.nd stew \ hour longer. A few savoury forcemeat balls (Recipe 1288) may also be added a few minutes before serving, and the chopped parsley at the last. Serve with the potatoes and balls round the dish and the meat in the centre. Notes.1 — One or two pig’s feet may be cooked in the stew. They must be carefully washed and the bones cracked in three or four places. Salt pork may be used instead of fresh, but the meat must then be put on in cold water instead of hot, and then poured off when it comes to the boil, and fresh water added. Time to cook, about 1| hours. Sufficient for 4 or 5 persons. Probable cost. Is. 6 d. to Is. 8 d. 985. Pork and Apple Pie 2 lbs. fresh lean pork. 2 lbs. potatoes. 2 onions. 2 large apples. 1 tea-sp. powdered sage. Salt. Pepper. 1 cupful stock. 1 oz. dripping.