Pigs' Feet

Ingredients

• Have bones of 6 feet
• cover with cold water
• add a sliced carrot
• a sliced onion
• a dozen peppercorns
• a sprig of celery
• another sprig of thyme
• one bay leaf
• adding salt while cooking

Method

1. 1

   Scrape and soak pigs' feet in cold water for 3-4 hours.

2. 2

   Drain, cover with cold water, add carrot, onion, peppercorns, celery, thyme, and bay leaf.

3. 3

   Simmer until very tender, adding salt while cooking.

4. 4

   Prepare for grilling, pickling, or jellying.

As published

This recipe was extracted from Most for your money cookbook (1938) by Cora Lovisa Brackett Brown, Cora Brown, page 46. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.

Pigs' Feet and Alabama Mustard Greens Such specialties are easiest to find in the Negro sections of big cities, like New York's Harlem, which, in spite of its poverty, en- joys an exceptional cuisine that would make a Park Avenuer's taste buds come to full bloom if he ever got the chance to taste it: spareribs and turnip tops for example, every part of the pig with all kinds of greens, from poke salad to sorrel, which is plain sour grass to us but an exhilarating herb to all Frenchmen. In fact, about the only Negro dish that some folks can't go, is chitterlings, but when they're young and tender as "newmown spaghetti " they're tops, either plain or with turnip tops. Any chit- terling fan will walk a mile for them. Another great contribution of the slaves is crackling — and here's a tip for a perfect appetizer: render the pig fat next to the skin in juicy mouthfuls, and serve it sizzling, just plain crackling, with a touch of salt. MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK PIG'S LIVER Pig's liver is so luscious that many people who can afford the difference in price really prefer it to calf's liver which costs four times as much. To our mind it has beef liver beat a mile; although it is about as dry, it's much more tender. You might like to try pig's liver in place of beef in the Beef Liver Pattie recipe given under "Swell Pickings." But the most popular way of cooking the liver of any old hog is to fry it plain, using plenty of fat to overcome that natural dryness. Because this is a favorite in Negro Harlem the price is held high by whites who own most of the butcher shops, but elsewhere, es- pecially on the fringes of wealthy white sections, pig's liver is a drug on the market and sells even lower than that of beef or lamb. And of course we all relish it without knowing it, for the fine flavor of commercial liverwurst comes from just that, since pig's liver is used in this almost exclusively. But don't buy a pig's liver in a poke, for it's not handled as carefully as the more expensive livers. Punch it to make sure it's firm; see that it's bright red in color, and fresh, with very little odor. It deteriorates rapidly and when kept too long becomes soft and dark-colored around the edges. And in cook- ing, never wash it, but wipe it clean with a damp cloth before re- moving skin and veins. Tough liver should be parboiled 20 minutes if it's to be cooked whole, or 5 minutes if already sliced. PIGS' FEET Have bones of 6 feet split lengthwise by butcher, leaving each two halves attached; scrape, and soak in cold water 3-4 hours. Drain, cover with cold water, add a sliced carrot, a sliced onion, a dozen peppercorns, a sprig of celery, another of thyme and one bay leaf. Simmer and skim until very tender, adding salt while cooking

Cook this with the app: pantry check, scaling, and the assistant.