Harper's cook book encyclopædia

Ham, Roast (with sherry). — Put a small, lean ham of 8 or 9 lbs. into cold water for six hours ; dry with a clean towel, put it into a saucepan, and cover with cold water. Season with one onion, four sprigs of parsley, four cloves, and four whole peppers. From the moment it starts boiling it requires two hours of cooking, but not fast. Remove from the saucepan, lift up the skin, and trim off the fat of the top to a half-inch thick- Ham Saute, with Dandelion PORK Ham, Virginia, To Cure ness. Put into a roasting-pan, and with Y\ lb. of granulated sugar put a thick coating and the balance in the pan. Pour into the pan one pint of sherry wine. Cook in a moderate oven forty minutes, basting every ten minutes. Serve the gravy in a sauce-boat. The ham must be cut very thin, and may be served hot or cold. Ham Saute, with Dandelion Puree. — Trim I Yz lbs. of ham and cut into pieces a quarter of an inch thick. Put into a saucepan with sufficient cold water to cover. Let all come to a boil, and after simmering for fifteen minutes remove the ham and drain well. Put in an earthen crock one table-spoonful of butter, and stand same over fire. When hot, add the ham, and cook gently for six minutes. Add a slight sprinkling of pepper, but no salt. To Prepare the Dandelion Puree. — Cut a little of each root to freshen it, and pull off the larger leaves. Put them into a bowl with cold water. Examine each heart, and cut out every suggestion of bud that may be found. Put the hearts into a separate bowl of fresh water. Wash the large leaves in several waters, and cook them thirty minutes in plenty of boiling water which has been salted to taste. Drain them. Plunge them into cold water, and next drain and press out all the moisture. Chop very fine and pass them through a colander. Put into a saucepan one table-spoonful of butter. When melted, add the cooked dandelion. Sprinkle over these one teaspoonful of flour. Mix well, and add one gill of broth or milk, and cook eight minutes, stirring meanwhile. Season with half a saltspoonful of pepper, but use no salt. Remove from the fire, add another table-spoonful of fresh butter, and mix well. The hearts of dandelion which have been cooling and freshening in cold water should now be cleansed, taken out, and shaken gently in a salad-basket or a clean napkin. Be careful not to bruise them. Serve with a French dressing. Ham, Fresh, Stuffed and Roasted. — Have the bone entirely removed from a nice fresh ham of about 7 lbs. ; make small incisions all over the skin on the top; rub inside one teaspoonful of salt and one salt-spoonful of black pepper. Wash one quart of red beans and put them in two quarts of cold water, with half a table-spoonful of salt, one onion with one clove stuck in it, two sprigs of parsley. Boil one hour and a half, drain them, remove onion and parsley; take half of the beans and pass them through a strainer; keep the other half for further use. Chop two large onions, put them in a small saucepan, with one table-spoonful of butter ; cook three minutes, but do not brown them. Add them to the puree of beans, with two tablespoonfuls of finely chopped parsley and one salt-spoonful of black pepper ; mix well. Stuff the ham with it, stitch the opening, and put a string all around it, to keep it in a nice shape.