The encyclopaedia of practical cookery

(4) Finely grate the required quantity of cooked Ham, and season it with a small quantity each of cayenne and grated nutmeg ; prepare some good puff paste, divide it into halves, roll them out very thinly and of an equal size, lay the pieces of paste on a baking-tin, and bake them in a brisk oven until lightly browned. When cooked, take the paste out of the oven, leave it until nearly cold, then spread it lightly over with fresh butter. Spread the grated Ham over one of the pieces of paste, and fold the other piece over it. Next, with a sharp knife, cut it into fingers. Spread a folded napkin or a lace-edged dish-paper over a dish, arrange the sandwiches tastefully on it, garnish with sprigs of fresh green parsley, and serve. Ham Sauce. — When a Ham is nearly all used, pick the small quantity of meat still remaining clean from the bone, scrape away any uneatable parts, and trim any rusty bits from the meat ; chop the bone very small, and beat the meat almost to a paste. Put the broken bones and the meat together into a saucepan over a gentle fire, pour over them 5 pint of broth, and stir for about a-quarter-of-an-hour ; add to it a few sprigs of sweet herbs, a seasoning of pepper, and £ pint of good beef stock. Cover the saucepan and stew very gently till well flavoured with the herbs, then strain it. A small quantity of this added to any gravy is an improvement. Ham Sausages. — Mince finely about 51b. of unsmoked Ham ; procure, if in the cold weather, lib. of inner pork fat or hog’s leaf, and cut it into small squares. Season the mince with 3oz. of salt, ^oz. of coarsely-ground black pepper, a few whole peppercorns, and J teaspoonful of saltpetre. Mix the seasoning well with the mince, and moisten it gradually with 2 or 3 table-spoonfuls of rum or port wine, then mix in the fat. Cover the mixture, and leave it for a few hours. Thoroughly cleanse and prepare some skins, tie them round the bottom, then pass the mixture into them through a funnel. When the skins are tightly filled, tie them into lengths about |yd. long. In about twelve hours’ time tie the sausages closer if possible, and bind them round from one end to the other with broad tape ; fasten the tape securely at the ends. Hang the sausages for nearly a fortnight in cool smoke, then take them out of the smoke and hang them in a cool, dry place until wanted. Care should be taken when the sausages are filled that no air spaces are left ; should there be any, they should be pricked through with a long, thin, iron skewer. Ham Steaks. — Cut some moderately thick slices of raw Ham, and put them in a frying-pan with a little water ; let it boil, turn the steaks, and continue boiling till dry. Dredge them with flour, pour over a teacupful of milk, put in a small piece of butter, a teaspoonful of mixed mustard, and a little cayenne. When it boils, put the Ham on a hot dish, pour the sauce over it, and serve. Ham Toasts. — (1) Finely mince some Ham, with a moderate quantity of its fat, mix with it loz. of butter, a few drops of Harvey’s sauce, and a little cream; season to taste with salt and pepper, and work it up into a paste with the broad, flat blade of a knife. Toast some squares of bread, trim off the crusts, butter them, and spread some of the mixture over each. Strew finely-minced parsley and grated breadices, <fcc., referred to, see under their special heads.