The Queen Cook Book: A Careful Compilation of Recipes and Practical ...

The mode of boiling a ham has a great effect on its flavor. A ham should be soaked twelve hours before it is cooked. Then it should be scraped and sunned the previous day, unless it is very fresh. It should be put on in cold water, and cooked slowly and gradually. Then leave it in the pot until it is cold, as it will thus re-absorb a considerable portion of the juices it has given out in boiling. Then skin it, and brown it slightly in the oven, sprinkling it first with grated crackers and a little black pepper. Serve it in a dish garnished with parsley, and you will find it " a dainty dish to set before a king. Ham Forcemeat. I pint cold cooked ham % teaspoon salt chopped fine ^ teaspoon cayenne pep- I pint new milk per yi pint dried bread crumbs i teaspoon, even, mustard or cracker ^ Yolks of three eggs 2 tablespoons chopped parsley Put the bread in the milk on to boil, stir until it thickens, take from the fire, stir in the eggs, add the other ingredients, set away to cool. This may be 78 The Queen Cook Book sliced off cold or used as stuffing for game or meats, or made into croquet shape, dipped in egg and bread crumbs, fried or browned in hot fat. Chicken Forcemeat. This is made the same way, only using a four pound chicken instead of ham. Pickle for Curing Hams. To six gallons of water add nine pounds of salt, half coarse, half fine, three ounces of saltpeter, three pounds of brown sugar, one pint of molasses, one heaping tablespoon saleratus. Boil all together and skim; let it stand till cold, then pour over the hams, which have been rubbed with a little fine salt and pack in a barrel. Let them lie in the brine five or six weeks, after which drain and smoke for three days. You must make enough to cover the hams. Put a weight on top. The same preparation is used for pickling beef. A pork barrel will answer for pickling beef, but after being once used for beef must never again be used for pork. Many losses occur from ignorance of this fact. Pig's Head Cheese. Split open a pig's head, singe off the hair; cut off the whole mouth, nostrils, ears and dig out the eyes, brain and everything but the meat. Wash it clean, soak it over night in warm water with two even teaspoons of soda in it. Next morning scrape the skin well and wash in two waters. Rub it well with salt and put over to boil with water enough to cover it. Skim it as often as it rises. When cooked so the fiesh The Queen Cook Book 79 leaves the bones take it up with the help of a skimmer. Then take out all the bones; be careful to get all the small ones. Chop it fine. Season to taste with salt, pepper and dried sifted sage; stir it in. Lay a thin cloth over a colander, put in the meat, fold the cloth tightly over it, cover with a plate the right size and lay a heavy weight on it over night to press. Some add the pig's feet with it dressed as for souse. It makes a nice dish sliced ofif for tea. Can put vinegar on it as you eat it. A good change for breakfast with soft-boiled eggs and milk toast. A good winter dish. Pigs' Feet Souse. Take the legs and feet of two pigs about eight mches long from the toes up, cut them in two about four inches long each, cut off the entire foot, singe off the hairs, soak them over night in warm water, putting in two even teaspoons of soda as a cleanser. In the morning scrape them well, dipping them in hot lye, then wash them in two more waters. They must be scraped and soaked till they look white. Then put over to boil for one-half hour, throw off that water and put on another with salt. Skim often; let boil till the bones will easily pull out, but do not pull them out, but put them in a jar with half vinegar and half the liquor they were boiled in. To prepare for table for any meal you wish, though best for supper, season, add more vinegar and boil for five minutes. Serve hot. FISH.