Fish, Flesh and Fowl: A Cook Book of Valuable Recipes, All of which Have ...

How to Choose Heats. It is always important to know how to choose meat in buying. Ox beef should be of fine grain or fibre, the flesh or lean of a bright red color and firm, the fat white, and distributed throughout the lean; it should not be yellow or semifluid. If the meat is entirely lean, it will be tough and its nutritive power is low. Veal is dry if fresh. It should be close-grained. If the meat is moist and flabby it is stale. Mutton should be of a clear, deep pink tint; firm, and with a liberal supply of fat. Fine wether mutton may be recognized by the presence of a small mass of fat on the upper part of the leg. It is more nutricious than ordinary mutton, the darker its tint the finer its flavor. Pork should be of a pale deep pink tint, and the fat very firm. If it is soft or the fat is yellow the meat is bad. If it is semi-fluid the animal has probably been fed on flesh. Potted Beef. Take a large beef shank and put it into cold water to cover it, boil until perfectly tender, remove bone and cartilage, chop the meat fine and replace it in the kettle with the liquor which should be one quart, let it simmer gently and season with salt, pepper and mace to suit the taste. Press and cut in slices for lunch or tea. Croquettes. To lise up small, nice pieces of meat, chop them fine, and mix bread crumbs, a little broth or gravy, an egg, pepper and salt. Make into cakes and roll in flour, and fry in hot drippings. Meat Pie. Cut up some good, tender, raw beef or mutton, season with pepper, salt, and if liked one finely chopped onion; boil half dozen good sized potatoes, when done, mash smooth and wet with milk enough to make a dough to make the crust, salt to taste; roll out full half an inch thick, and line a buttered dish large enough to hold the meat; lay in the meat, add a teacup of water or a little less, then roll out a thick crust of the potato, covering the top of the pie at least an inch thick, and bake about an hour and a half. Meat and Potato Pie. Butter a baking dish; put in layer of cold mashed potatoes, or sliced ones, but if these are used, small pieces of butter must be added; on the potato put a layer of meat cut in small pieces, little salt, pepper and a few rings of onions; then more potato, and in this way fill the dish having the top potato. Before the last layer of potato, pour in any gravy you may have; bake until the potato is a nice brown. Devilled Ham. One pint boiled ham chopped fine with a good proportion of fat, one teaspoon dry mustard, one tablespoon flour, one-half cup boiling water. Press in a mould and cut in slices. Roast Lamb and Mint Sauce. Stuff a hind quarter of lamb with fine bread crumbs, pepper, salt and butter; rub the outside with salt, pepper, butter and flour; then roast two hours. Mint sauce: — Chop the mint fine; pour on a little hot water; let it stand on the stove a short time, then add a little vinegar and sugar to taste. Sausages. Six pounds lean and two pounds fat pork, four tablespoons salt, six of sage, four of pepper, two of cloves. To Chop Suet. Sprinkle flour . over it while chopping, which will prevent the pieces from adhering. Veal Loaf. i. Three pounds raw veal, one-quarter pound salt pork (less will do if a little butter is used), chop fine, mix with two eggs, one cup cracker crumbs, three teaspoons salt, two of pepper, one tablespoon sage; press hard into a pudding dish and bake two hours. To be sliced when cold. 2. Three and a half pounds of raw veal, three slices salt pork chopped fine, six crackers pounded fine, two eggs beaten, tablespoon salt, teaspoon pepper, two pinches allspice, one of cloves, knead all together into a loaf, egg it over, put bits of butter on the top and scatter pounded cracker. Bake two hours basting with water.