Hand-Book of Practical Cookery for Ladies and Professional Cooks Part 37

It may be split in two, lengthwise and nearly through, opened and served thus, with slices of pickled cuc.u.mbers.

SWEETBREADS.

_To prepare._--Soak them in cold water for about an hour. Take off and remove the skin and b.l.o.o.d.y vessels that are all around. For two sweetbreads set about one pint of water on the fire in a small saucepan with salt, a tablespoonful of vinegar, a few slices of onion, six pepper-corns, a clove of garlic, two cloves, six sprigs of parsley, one of thyme, and a bay-leaf; boil two minutes, drop the sweetbreads in, boil one minute and take them off. Drop them immediately in cold water and leave them in for from two minutes to an hour. Put them on a flat surface with a board over, and leave them thus till they are perfectly cold and rather flattened.

_Au Jus._--Trim them a little, so as to give them a better appearance.

Lard the top or smooth side, then b.u.t.ter the bottom of a pan, spread a few slices of onion on the b.u.t.ter; add a bay-leaf, a clove, two stalks of parsley; place the sweetbreads on the whole, the larded side up, cover the pan and set on a good fire, or in a rather warm oven; about ten minutes after, add two or three tablespoonfuls of broth, baste now and then till done. If the broth is absorbed before the sweetbreads are done, add some more. Dish the sweetbreads, turn the gravy over them through a strainer, and serve.

_Another way._--Prepare as above directed; then, instead of larding it, you knead well together two ounces of b.u.t.ter, a teaspoonful of shallots and parsley well chopped, half a clove of garlic, salt, and pepper; place the whole in a stewpan, with the sweetbreads on it, and thin slices of bacon on the sweetbreads; set the pan on a good fire, and add then half a gla.s.s of broth, same of white wine; simmer till cooked; dish the sweetbreads, throw a few drops of cold water in the sauce, skim off the fat, strain the sauce on the sweetbreads, and serve.

When the sweetbreads _au jus_ are dished as directed, place tastefully, all around, either of the following garnitures: _cauliflower_, _chicken-combs_, _duxelle_, _financiere_, _mushrooms_, _liver_, _Macedoine_, _quenelles_, and _truffles_. Besides these garnitures, the sweetbreads may be decorated with small skewers, run through a boiled _craw-fish_ and a small _quenelle_ of chicken or of veal. One or two skewers may be stuck in each sweetbread.

The sweetbreads, when several are served at a time, may be placed on the dish, either around it, forming a kind of crown, or forming a pyramid, or in any other way, according to fancy. They may also be served with a sauce _fines herbes_.

PORK.

TO SELECT.

When the rind is tender and thin, the pork is young; when thick and hard, it is old.

To be good, the meat must be soft, and have a fresh and good appearance.

We do not think it necessary to indicate here how to make black puddings, chitterlings, Bologna, and other sausages. It is nearly, if not quite impossible, for a person having no practice in it, to make them edible; it is better to buy them ready made at pork-butchers'

shops, or to hire an experienced person to make them.

CHINE AND FILLET.

Take a good chine of pork, place it on the spit before a sharp fire, baste often with a little melted b.u.t.ter first, and then with the drippings; when properly cooked, serve it with a _vinaigrette_, _Robert_, _piquante_, or _poivrade_ sauce. It will take from two to three or four hours to roast, according to the size of the chine.

HOW TO IMPROVE THE CHINE OF PORK.

Place it in a crockery vessel, pour on it two tablespoonfuls of sweet-oil, then sprinkle on two teaspoonfuls or chopped parsley, also salt and pepper, two onions chopped fine, four cloves, and two bay-leaves; leave thus twenty-four hours in winter, and ten in summer, turning over two or three times. The taste of the meat is much improved by that process. The oil may be used for basting instead of b.u.t.ter.

_Baked._--Put the chine in a bakepan, sprinkle salt over it, coyer the bottom of the pan with cold water, and put in a rather quick oven, baste often, and in case there should be much fat in the pan, take it off and add a little cold water.

When overdone, serve with any of the following _purees_: beans, lentils, Lima beans, onions, peas, potatoes, sorrel, or spinach.

It may also be served with the following sauces: _fines herbes_, _piquante_, _poivrade_, _Provencale_, _ravigote_, _remolade_, _Robert_, _tarragon_, _Tartar_, and _vinaigrette_.

It is served also with a tomato-sauce. Make more sauce for pork than for other dishes, and make the tomato-sauce rather thick by boiling it gently for some time; it tastes better so with pork.

Always use mustard with pork, if you like it. Horse-radish, also, is good with it.

CUTLETS.

Flatten the cutlets with a chopper (they may be improved in the same way as the chine), place them on the gridiron and set on a sharp fire; turn over two or three times, and when properly done, serve them with a _piquante_, _Robert_, or tomato-sauce, adding to them some slices of pickled cuc.u.mbers just before serving.

_The same, sautees._--Instead of broiling them, when prepared as above, place them in a frying-pan with a little b.u.t.ter, turn over two or three times during the cooking, and serve as the above, or on a _puree_ of sorrel.

LEG, ROASTED.

_How to improve it._--Take the skin or rind gently off, put the leg in a crockery vessel, pour on it the following mixture: a pint of white wine, two tablespoonfuls of sweet-oil, a bunch of sage, salt, pepper, and a pinch of grated nutmeg. Leave it thus two days in winter and one in summer, turning it over two or three times during the process.

Place the leg on the spit and put before a very sharp fire, baste often with the mixture from the crockery vessel, or with melted b.u.t.ter, and serve when cooked, with the gravy strained. It will take about two or two and a half hours to roast it.

_Baked._--Bake and serve the leg in the same and every way as the chine, with _purees_ and sauces. Any part of pork is prepared like chine.

_Ham in hors-d'oeuvre._--Cut the ham in small and thin slices, place the slices tastefully on a dish, either overlapping or in pyramid, or in any other fancy way, and serve with parsley in the middle or around. Slices of lemon may also be served with it, either with the parsley or without it.

HAM.

_To boil._--Sugar-cured are preferred to others.

Sc.r.a.pe off the outside gently, soak in cold water for from six to twenty-four hours, take off and wipe dry.

Envelop it in a towel and tie it. Place it in a kettle large enough to hold it without bending it; cover with cold water; season with six small onions, two carrots, four cloves, two bay-leaves, a handful or two plants of parsley, two or three stalks of thyme, two of celery, two cloves of garlic (a handful of hay and half a bottle of white wine, if handy would improve the taste); boil gently for four or five hours, according to the size (four hours for a ten-pound one, five for a fifteen-pound one). Pay no attention to the old saying that "it takes half an hour to every pound."

Take from the fire, remove the towel, break off and remove the small bone at the larger end of it, and without tearing the meat. Remove the rind also, leaving only about two inches of it near the smaller end, cutting it so that it will be dentilated.

_To decorate._--It is decorated in several ways, according to taste and fancy. If the fat is not white after having removed the rind, spread a very thin coat of lard over it, place the ham on a dish, the fatty side up. Cut carrots, turnips, and beets, boiled tender, in fancy shapes, with paste-cutters or with a knife; place them tastefully all over the ham; place also all over it some parsley, capers, and olives. Chop some meat-jelly and put it all around the dish, and serve. In carving it, sc.r.a.pe back the lard and vegetables, slice, and serve.

_Another._--When boiled, trimmed, and the rind removed, put it in the oven for about twenty minutes, basting the while with a Madeira sauce.

Serve with the sauce. Any kind of _puree_ may be served with it.

_Another._--When trimmed and soaked in water as directed, boil it with half wine and half water: the same seasonings as when boiled in water.

Use either Catawba, Sauterne, or Rhine wine. It makes it more expensive, but it is excellent. It is served as when boiled in water.

_Another._--Boil it in claret wine, and when trimmed and decorated, serve it with a mushroom or a _truffle_ sauce.

_Another._--Boil, trim, and cut off the rind as described in the above cases; place the frill, and serve with _spinach au beurre._

[Ill.u.s.tration: A, skewers; B, carrot; C, truffle or mushroom; D, jelly; E, frill.]

_Another._--Boil and trim the ham as above, cut the rind in the same way. What is left of the rind is cut as seen in the cut opposite: that is, some small square pieces are cut off, from place to place, so that it resembles a checkerboard; stick two or more skewers in it, glaze it with essence of beef or with sugar, and serve either on a tomato-sauce or on _peas a l'Anglaise_.

_Ham English fas.h.i.+on._--Soak it in water and trim it as directed. Make some paste with water and flour only; spread a coat of this paste all over the ham, and then envelop it in b.u.t.tered or oiled paper. Put it on the spit and baste with fat while it is roasting. Roast it for three or three and a half hours, according to size; remove the paper about two hours after it has been taken from the fire; cut a hole in the paste about an inch in diameter and on the lean side; pour into it, little by little, half a pint of good Madeira wine, cover the hole with some paste, placing a band of paper on it to prevent it from falling; put the ham back on the spit for about twenty minutes, and serve whole with Madeira sauce. We mean, by serving whole, with the paste around it, but not the paper.

Besides the sauce, some green vegetables, boiled only, are served on separate dishes, but eaten with the ham.