Jane Hamilton's recipes

ham of the usual size, say eleven or twelve pounds, and one that is only three or four months old, requires to be boiled about four hours. One a year old or more is boiled in about two and a half hours. An old ham should always be soaked in cold water five or six hours before boiling. Skim off the froth that rises to the top of the pot. A baked ham should never be more than six months old. After washing it properly boil it until it is half done, then lift it out of the pot, take off the skin, and put it in the oven to bake with sufficient water, — about a quart. Take some stale rolls or loaf bread and crumble them; when the crumbs are put on, sprinkle the ham with flour and some black pepper ; moisten the bread with a little of the water in which the bacon has been boiled, and when the ham is nearly done cover it over with the bread thus prepared. The ham should be baked until it is tender. It is best served up cold. (46) LAMB, BOILED. Take a fat hind quarter of lamb, wash it well, rub it with salt, and put it on to boil in a covered vessel in as much water as will cover it. It takes about two hours to boil a quarter weighing about ten pounds. Skim off the froth that rises to the top in boiling. When the lamb is nearly done, make a thick paste, season it with salt and stir in four ounces of butter and some parsley. This makes the gravy for the lamb. It may be seasoned with pickled cucumbers cut up in slices and stewed for a minute or two in the gravy, or with capers, leaving out the parsley. Put the lamb in a dish, pour the gravy over it, and cover. A leg of mutton may be dressed in the same manner. PORK A LA MODE. Take some good fat pork steaks, rub a little flour on them. Put them in an oven and let them fry on each side until they are (47) about half done ; then pour on enough water to cover them and let them stew. Put in a fine chopped onion for seasoning. About five minutes before serving up the dish season with salt and black pepper and put in some thickening; then add an equal quantity of vinegar and sugar, enough to flavor the dish well, and just enough fine pounded allspice to make the stew black. The meat must be stewed until it is as tender as chicken. ROASTED MUTTON, BEEF, LAMB, TURKEY. The time for roasting a sirloin of beef, or a turkey of the ordinary size, is about two hours; a saddle of mutton from two to two and a half hours; a quarter of lamb from two and a half to three hours. The longer a saddle of mutton can be kept perfectly sweet, from the time it is butchered until it is cooked, the finer flavored and more tender it becomes. Wrapped in a linen cloth and (48)