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Chambers's cookery for young housewives

1894

Page 82 · 2 recipe records on this page

Presented as published in 1894. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
All the fleshy parts of beef may be salted; but those generally used are the round and the flanks. Mix all the above ingredients well together, and rub the meat with the mixture every day for a fortnight, turning it each time ; the mixture will in a short time become a liquid, but the rubbing must still be continued, and the air must be excluded from the pan during the process of lying in salt. When ready, the beef may either be boiled at once, or hung up and dried. Smaller pieces of beef may be treated in the same manner, using a proportionate quantity of the same ingredients. Select a short thick leg of a well-fed hog or pig. Rub into it three ounces of salt, and let it lie for a couple of days in a pan, closely covered. Then make a mixture of six ounces of common salt, half a pound of bay salt, half a pound of coarse sugar, two ounces of Jamaica pepper, two ounces of black pepper, half an ounce of saltpetre. The mixture should be pounded finely, and rubbed into the ham for about an hour, leaving no part unrubbed, and an opening should be made at the shank bone, and some of the mixture rubbed in there. Then lay the ham in a clean pan with all the last mixture or brine about it, and cover it up as before. It should be turned every day, and the brine rubbed into it, a fresh supply of brine being added if required. The ham may thus lie in salt for about a month, after which it should be hung up in the kitchen to dry. It may then be smoked with smoke from wood where there is the means of doing so. Salmon is kippered or cured in the following manner: Take a large-sized salmon in good condition ; cleanse and scale it thoroughly, but do not wash it. Then split it, and take out the backbone. Rub it with a quantity of salt and sugar and a little saltpetre, according to the size of the fish, all mixed TO SALT A HAMTo Salt a Ham. TO KIPPER SALMON. CARVING AND HELPING AT TABLE. 143 together. Allow it to remain with this briny mixture about it for two days, pressed tightly between two boards; after which, open it, and stretch "it out flat with small pieces of wood. Then suspend it from the roof of the kitchen to dry, or, if convenient, smoke it with wood. CARVING AND HELPING AT TABLE. Considerable experience is required to make a good carver, and this also requires considerable knowledge of joints, that the guests may be helped to the best pieces, and that all may be served equally. The young housekeeper should accustom herself to carve with neatness and expedition any joint of meat, fowl, or other dish that may be placed before her at table so that she may have no difficulty or distrust of her powers when she is called upon to carve before company. The following are a few of the leading rules to be attended to by all carvers : The knife should be moderately long, also sharp and pointed. The fork should have a guard. Place the dish conveniently before you, not too far off, to cause stretching. If you are too low in sitting, elevate your seat.