Food and health

Something more about cooking meat. In cooking pieces of tender meat, therefore, we sear the outside by using a high temperature at first, and then all that is necessary is to cook the meat at a lower temperature until it is done through. Thin pieces, like steak and chops, cook only a short time, while roasts and boiling pieces cook much longer. Salted, corned, and smoked meats. Mrs. Allen always corns the beef for her family. She always selects solid pieces of beef, but some people like the plate beef with layers of fat in it. Corning beef. What, 100 lb. of solid meat with the bone out li lb. saltpeter 25 lb. of salt 6-S oz. of onion, chopped fine * This recipe is due to the courtesy of a southern butcher. In the original rule garlic was used instead of onion. How to make. Rub each piece well with saltpeter, salt, 'and onion. Put the meat in layers in the barrel, and cover the top with salt. When this has stood 3 or 4 days, put a board on the top and put heavy weights on the board. This will be ready for use in 8 days. Mrs. Allen always takes it from the bottom first. How to cook the corned beef. Soak a piece of the right size in cold water overnight. In the morning wipe it off and put it in a kettle of cold water. Heat the water slowly and take off the scum. Let the water boil very gently for 4 or 5 hours, depending on the size. When served hot, let it stand a few minutes where it will not boil, before draining off the water. To serve cold. Pull the meat apart with two forks, taking out poor pieces, and mixing up the lean and fat. Put it into a pan. A bread pan makes a good shape. Put another pan on top, and set flatirons on the pan. This presses the meat down, if you let it stand for several hours. When cold, it can be nicely sliced and is good for sandwiches or for a supper dish. Boiled ham. Ham is one of the smoked meats. A leg of ham makes an excellent dinner, and the left-over pieces can be used to the very last scrap. Soak the ham overnight, trim, wash off, and put to soak again. Mrs. Allen always soaks hers two nights and a day. In the morning put it in a kettle of cold water, heat it slowly, and let it boil about 5 hours. A knitting needle is a good thing to test it with. When it is done, skim it, put it back in the kettle, and let it stand until cold. If you want to serve it hot, take it from the kettle, put it in a roasting pan, and let it bake until the fat begins to cook. Sprinkle it all over with fine cracker crumbs or flour, and bake it until the crust is brown. Cooking fresh meat. The flavors to be used with meat are a very important part of meat cookery, especially with tough meats. Dried herbs help to make meat dishes savory. Onions, carrots, turnips, celery, cabbage, in small portions, give a fine flavor. Spices, such as cloves, mustard, or even nutmeg, used in small quantities, also add to the savoriness of cooked meat ; a little acid like lemon juice, or currant jelly, put into a soup, or stirred into a gravy, helps very much. Broiling tender chops and steak. Never spoil your tender meat by frying it hard with a large amount of fat. Broiling over coals. Wipe meat with a damp cloth. If a wood or coal stove is used, have a bed of glowing coals ready. If gas is used, have the gas broiler thoroughly heated. Grease the bars of the broiler. Place meat in the broiler and sear meat first on one side, then on the other. Continue to turn the broiler, and cook the meat until it is brown and done according to taste. Steak an inch thick will take about ten minutes to be cooked to a medium degree. Chops are broiled in the same way.