IN THE selection of meat it is most essential that we understand
how to choose it ; in beef it should be a smooth, fine grain, of
a clear bright red color, the fat white, and will feel tender when
pinched with the fingers. Will also have abundant kidney fat
or suet. The most choice pieces for roast are the sirloin, fore and
middle ribs.
Veal, to be good, should have the flesh firm and dry, fine grained and of
a delicate pinkish color, and plenty of kidney fat ; the joints stiff.
Mutton is good when the flesh is a bright red, firm and juicy and a
close grain, the fat firm and white.
Pork, if young, the lean will break on being pinched smooth when
nipped with the fingers, also the skin will break and dent ; if the rind
is rough and hard it is old.
In roasting meat, allow from fifteen to twenty minutes to the
pound, which will vary according to the thickness of the roast. A
great deal of the success in roasting depends on the heat and good-
ness of the fire; if put into a cool oven it loses its juices, and the
result is a tough, tasteless roast ; whereas, if the oven is of the proper
heat, it immediately sears up the pores of the meat and the juices are
retained.
The oven should be the hottest when the meat is put into it, in order to
quickly crisp the surface and close the pores of the meat, thereby confin-
ing its natural juices. If the oven is too hot to hold the hand in for only
a moment, then it is right to receive the meat. The roast should
first be washed in pure water, then wiped dry with a clean dry cloth,
placed in a baking pan without any seasoning ; some pieces of suet or cold
drippings laid under it, but no water should be put into the pan, for this
would have a tendency to soften the outside of the meat. The water can
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104
MEATS.
never get so hot as the hot fat upon the surface of the meat, and the gen-
erating of the steam prevents its crispness, so desirable in a roast.
It should be frequently basted with its own drippings, which flow from
the meat when partly cooked, and well seasoned. Lamb, veal and pork
should be cooked rather slower than beef, with a more moderate fire, cover-
ing the fat with a piece of paper, and thoroughly cooked till the flesh parts
from the bone, and nicely browned, without being burned. An onion
sliced and put on top of a roast while cooking, especially roast of pork,
gives a nice flavor. Remove the onion before serving.
Larding meats is drawing ribbons of fat pork through the upper sur-
face of the meat, leaving both ends protruding. This is accomplished by
the use of a larding needle, which may be procured at house-furnishing
stores.
Boiling or stewing meat, if fresh, should be put into loiling water,
closely covered and boiled slowly, allowing twenty minutes to each pound,
and, when partly cooked, or when it begins to get tender, salted, adding
spices and vegetables.
Salt meats should be covered with cold water, and require thirty min-
utes very slow boiling, from the time the water boils, for each pound ; if it
is very salt, pour off the first water and put it in another of boiling water,
or it may be soaked one night in cold water. After meat commences to
boil the pot should never stop simmering and always be replenished from
the hoiling teakettle.
Page 64
Presented as published in 1887. 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
IN THE selection of meat it is most essential that we understand how to choose it ; in beef it should be a smooth, fine grain, of a clear bright red color, the fat white, and will feel tender when pinched with the fingers. Will also have abundant kidney fat or suet. The most choice pieces for roast are the sirloin, fore and middle ribs.
Veal, to be good, should have the flesh firm and dry, fine grained and of a delicate pinkish color, and plenty of kidney fat ; the joints stiff.
Mutton is good when the flesh is a bright red, firm and juicy and a close grain, the fat firm and white.
Pork, if young, the lean will break on being pinched smooth when nipped with the fingers, also the skin will break and dent ; if the rind is rough and hard it is old.
In roasting meat, allow from fifteen to twenty minutes to the pound, which will vary according to the thickness of the roast. A great deal of the success in roasting depends on the heat and goodness of the fire; if put into a cool oven it loses its juices, and the result is a tough, tasteless roast ; whereas, if the oven is of the proper heat, it immediately sears up the pores of the meat and the juices are retained.
The oven should be the hottest when the meat is put into it, in order to quickly crisp the surface and close the pores of the meat, thereby confining its natural juices. If the oven is too hot to hold the hand in for only a moment, then it is right to receive the meat. The roast should first be washed in pure water, then wiped dry with a clean dry cloth, placed in a baking pan without any seasoning ; some pieces of suet or cold drippings laid under it, but no water should be put into the pan, for this would have a tendency to soften the outside of the meat. The water can
(103)
never get so hot as the hot fat upon the surface of the meat, and the generating of the steam prevents its crispness, so desirable in a roast.
It should be frequently basted with its own drippings, which flow from the meat when partly cooked, and well seasoned. Lamb, veal and pork should be cooked rather slower than beef, with a more moderate fire, covering the fat with a piece of paper, and thoroughly cooked till the flesh parts from the bone, and nicely browned, without being burned. An onion sliced and put on top of a roast while cooking, especially roast of pork, gives a nice flavor. Remove the onion before serving.
Larding meats is drawing ribbons of fat pork through the upper surface of the meat, leaving both ends protruding. This is accomplished by the use of a larding needle, which may be procured at house-furnishing stores.
Boiling or stewing meat, if fresh, should be put into boiling water, closely covered and boiled slowly, allowing twenty minutes to each pound, and, when partly cooked, or when it begins to get tender, salted, adding spices and vegetables.
Salt meats should be covered with cold water, and require thirty minutes very slow boiling, from the time the water boils, for each pound ; if it is very salt, pour off the first water and put it in another of boiling water, or it may be soaked one night in cold water. After meat commences to boil the pot should never stop simmering and always be replenished from the hoiling teakettle.