The handy dictionary of cookery

Put a gallon of vinegar into a pan with twenty -four cloves, two blades of mace, twenty-four allspice berries, three pieces of ginger about an inch long, bring it to the boil ; pour it into a pan to get cool, then pour it over the cabbage and tie down. Pigeon Trussed and Roasted. To truss for roasting : — Cut off the head and neck, and the toes at the first joint; wash and dry the birds carefully. Fill them with forcemeat ; place the wings over the back : the gizzard may be put in one of the wings. Truss them firmly with a trussing needle and string ; tie securely ; cover the breasts with slices of fat bacon ; roast from twenty to thirty minutes. Serve the birds on a hot dish, removing first the string; pour over them a good brown gravy {see Gravy for Game) and send bread sauce to table with them. The forcemeat is made as follows : — Mince the livers of the birds finely ; mix with them double the quantity of bread crumbs, a tablespoonful of finely chopped suet, the same quantity of finely chopped parsley, half a saltspoonful of salt and a quarter of pepper, mace, and powdered thyme. Mix them well together and bind with an egg. Pig’s Head Brawn. Wash the head in several waters, and rub it well with salt; remove the eyes and nostrils. Put it into a large vessel ; cover it with pickle ; allow it to stand four days, turning it each day, and rubbing it with salt. When this is done put it into a pan, cover it with warm water, bring it to the boil, throw in a teaspoonful of salt. Remove the scum as it rises ; then add a piece of kirnip, carrot, celery, onion, shalot, a blade of mace, twenty peppercorns, and a sprig of parsley and thyme. Simmer very slowly six hours ; remove the bones ; cut up the meat in small pieces. Strain over it jQQ-K/T-p^TTr. qOOKERY. some of the liquor in which the meat has been boiled, which should be a stiff jelly. Boil it until clear; pour into basins or moulds to set. Note. — The pickle is made as follows: — Boil together one ''gallon of water, a pound and a half of salt, half a pound of brown sugar, for fifteen minutes ; remove the scum as it rises ; strain it into a large vessel ; allow it to get cold and it is ready for use. Wash a tablespoonful of parsley; dry it in a cloth; chop it very finely. Skin and scald an onion ; chop it also very finely. Mix together the parsley, onion, a tablespoonful of bread crumbs, a quarter of a teaspoonful of salt, a quarter of a teaspoonful of pepper, one ounce of dripping. Shred very finely, and bind together with a tablespoonful of milL Wash the fish ; cut off the fins ; scrape it well from the tail. When quite clean make an incision down the back of the fish, and on either side of the back bone, so as to form two pockets. Fill them with the stuffing. Put the fish on to a greased baking tin ; sprinkle over it some bread crumbs, and a few pieces of clarified fat. Bake it in the oven for twenty to thirty minutes, according to the thickness of the JVofe. — This dish may be improved by a few drops of lemon juice or vinegar before baking.