The Pattern cook-book

There are many ways of putting away sausage meat. If it is to be kept a long time, pack it in a stone jar, and pour melted lard on top ; the meat will keep a very long time if sealed in this way, many country housekeepers preserving it thus from autumn until the following summer. The meat may also be kept in cotton bags. Use strong cotton for the bags, making each one a yard long and four inches wide. Dip them in strong salt and water, and let them dry before filling. Crowd the meat closely into the bags, pressing it in with a pestle or a potato masher. When wanted for use, turn the end of the bag back, cut off the meat in half-inch slices, and fry brown. Sausage is ordinarily put away in "casings" made from the intestines. TO CLEAN THE "CASINGS." Empty them, turn them inside out and wash thoroughly ; then let them soak in salted water for two days. Wash them again, cut into convenient lengths, and scrape them on a board with a blunt knife, first on one side, then on the other. When well scraped, wash them again, tie up one end of each length, insert a quill in the other end, and fill them with air by blowing through the quills. If white and clear, they are clean, but if any thick spots appear, they must be scraped again. Throw the casings into cold, salted water until wanted. TO COOK SAUSAGE. When cooking sausage in casings, prick the skins with a sharp steel fork to prevent their bursting. If cooking it in bulk, shape the sausage into balls with the hands. Place it in a hot frying-pan, and fry until brown, adding no fat, as there will generally be plenty in the meat. Remove the sausage, when done, to a platter, add a tablespoonful of dry flour to the fat in the pan, and cook one minute, stirring all the time ; then gradually add a cupful of milk, still stirring. When the gravy is boiling and is of a creamy consistency, add salt and pepper to taste, pour the gravy over the sausage, and serve. TO SALT DOWN OR PICKLE PORK. The hams, shoulders, chines and middlings are the parts of the pig usually pickled. This should be done as soon as possible after the meat is cold, and should not be delayed more than twenty-four hours at the very longest. The following is the proportion of pickle allowed to fifty pounds of pork : Two and a-half pounds of brown sugar. Two ounces of saltpetre. Nine gallons of water. Salt to make a brine. Mix the sugar and saltpetre with the water, and gradually add Liverpool salt until the brine will float an egg. Boil for ten minutes, skim off all the scum that rises, and set aside to cool. Cover the bottom of the packing barrel with coarse salt, and pack the pork closely in it, with the rind next to the sides of the barrel, and covering each layer with salt. When all the pork has been packed, pour the cold brine over it, place a round board cut a little smaller than the barrel on top of the meat, and upon it lay a heavy weight to keep it beneath the surface. If at any time the brine froths or looks red, it should be turned off, scalded again and more salt added ; as soon as cold it should be returned to the meat. TO CURE HAMS.