Clayton's Quaker Cook-Book Part 3

A Good Way to Cook a Ham.

Boil a ten or twelve pound ham slowly for three hours; strip off the skin; take a sharp knife and shave off the outer surface very thin, and if quite fat take off a little, and spread over the fat part a thin coating of sugar. Next put the ham in a baking-pan, with one-half pint of white wine, and roast half-an-hour. Baste often, taking care that the wine and juice of the ham do not scorch, as these form a nice gravy.

Whether eaten hot or cold the ham should be carved very thin.

Beefsteak Broiled.

Place the gridiron over a clear fire; rub the bars with a little of the fat, to keep from sticking. The moment it hardens a little--which closes the pores of the meat--turn it over, thus hardening both sides. You may then moisten with b.u.t.ter, or a little of the fat of the steak, and season with salt and pepper. Lay on a hot dish along with the best b.u.t.ter, which, with the juices of the meat, makes the best of gravy, and cooked in this style you have a most delicious steak.

Beefsteak with Onions.

Take five or six onions; cut fine, and put them in a frying-pan, with a small cup of hot water, and two ounces best b.u.t.ter, pepper and salt; dredge in a little flour, and let it stew until the onions are quite soft. Next broil the steak carefully. Lay on a hot dish, and lay the onions around, and not on top, of the steak, as that will create a steam, which will wilt and toughen it. To be eaten quite hot.

Corned Beef, and How to Cook It.

Select a piece of corned beef that is fat. The plate or navel pieces are best, and should only have been in salt five days. Put the piece in boiling water in a pot just large enough to hold it, along with an onion and a spoonful of cloves or allspice; let it boil slowly, skimming the first half hour, if to be eaten cold. Take it up as soon as tender, and when cool enough take out the bones and place the meat in a vessel just large enough to hold it, and pour in the fat, with sufficient hot water to cover it, letting it remain until quite cold.

[Beef tongues should be cooked in the same way, after laying in salt or strong pickle from twenty-four to thirty-six hours.]

Spiced Veal.

Take three pounds lean veal, parboiled, and one-fourth pound salt pork, each chopped fine; six soft crackers pounded; two eggs beaten; two teaspoonfuls of salt, three peppers, one nutmeg and a little thyme or summer savory. Mould up like bread, and place in a pan, leaving a s.p.a.ce all around, in which place some of the water in which the meat was boiled. Bake until quite brown, and slice when cold.

Calves' Liver with Bacon.

Cut both liver and bacon in thin slices, and an inch long, taking off the skin. Place alternately on a skewer, and broil or roast in a quick oven. Dress with melted b.u.t.ter, pepper and juice of lemon.

Calves' or Lambs' Liver Fried.

Slice the liver thin, and season with salt and pepper. Beat an egg with a spoonful of milk or cream. Coat the slices with this, and dry in fine cracker dust. Fry in two parts lard and one of b.u.t.ter until a light brown. If fried too much the liver will be hard and tasteless. Salt pork fried brown is very nice with liver, and the fat from the pork will be found excellent to fry the liver in.

Spiced Beef.

Take 3-1/2 pounds lean beef chopped small; six soda crackers rolled fine; 3 eggs well beaten; 4 tablespoonfuls sweet cream; b.u.t.ter size of an egg; 1-1/2 tablespoonfuls salt, and one of pepper. Mix thoroughly, make into a loaf, and bake two hours, basting as you would roast beef.

Fried Oysters.

Take the largest-sized oysters; drain off the juice, and dry in a cloth; beat two eggs in a spoonful of milk, adding a little salt and pepper.

Run the oysters through this, and fry in equal parts b.u.t.ter and sweet lard to a light brown.

STEWS, SALADS and SALAD DRESSING.

Terrapin Stew.

Take six terrapins of uniform size. (The females, which are the best, may be distinguished by the lower sh.e.l.l being level or slightly projecting.) If the terrapins are large, use one pound of the best b.u.t.ter; if small, less, and a pint of good sherry wine. After was.h.i.+ng the terrapins in warm water, put them in the kettle alive, and cover with cold water, keeping the vessel covered tight. After letting them boil until the sh.e.l.l cracks and you can crush the claws with the thumb and finger, take them off the fire, and when cool enough, pull off the sh.e.l.l and remove the dark, or scarf skin, next pulling the meat from the trail and the liver--being careful not to break the gall, which would render the liver uneatable. After breaking the meat in small pieces, lay it in a porcelain kettle with a teacupful of water; put in the wine, and one-half the b.u.t.ter, with 2 or 3 blades of mace, 2 or 3 teaspoonfuls of extract of lemon, 2 tablespoonfuls of Worcesters.h.i.+re or Challenge sauce; little salt is required, and if pepper is needed, use cayenne. After stewing for fifteen minutes, add the yolks of 6 hard-boiled eggs--worked to a paste in the remainder of the b.u.t.ter--thinning with the juice of the stew, adding at the same time a teacupful of sweet cream, and after simmering for three minutes, chop the whites of the eggs fine, and add to the mixture; then take from the fire, and make hot five minutes before serving. If kept in a cool place this stew will remain perfectly good for three days.

Stewed Chicken, Cottage Style, with White Gravy.

Take two chickens, one or two years old, and cut each in about fourteen pieces, dividing each joint, and cutting the breast in two pieces; cut the gizzard quite small, and put it and the liver with the chicken. When the chicken is half done, cover with cold water, adding a good-sized onion, and when it reaches a boil, skim carefully; and when the same is about half cooked add sufficient salt and pepper, and also a handful of the green leaves of celery chopped fine, which will give it the flavor of oysters. Boil slowly until you can tear the chicken with a fork, when turn it out in a dish. Next, take one half pound of good b.u.t.ter, the yolks of three boiled eggs, and two tablespoonfuls of corn-starch or flour, and, after working well together, so as to form a thin batter, add the liquor from the chicken, return to the kettle, and, after boiling for five minutes, return the chicken, season with nutmeg or sal-piquant, adding at the same time a teacupful of cream or good milk, also the whites of the eggs, chopped fine. Keep hot until served.

Stewed Tripe.

Cut and prepare the tripe as for pepper-pot; season highly; add a pint of soup stock, and four spoonfuls of tomatoes, with a little b.u.t.ter, and half an onion chopped fine. Cook until quite tender.

Chicken Salad.

Boil a good-sized chicken, not less than one year old, in as little water as possible; if you have two calves' feet boil them at the same time, salting slightly, and leaving them in after the chicken is cooked, that they may boil to shreds. This liquid forms a jelly, which is almost indispensable in making good salad. When the chicken becomes cold, remove the skin and bones, after which chop or cut to the size of a pea; cut celery and lettuce equally fine--after taking off the outer fibre of the former--and mixing, add Clayton's Salad Dressing, (the recipe for which will be found elsewhere); also incorporating four eggs, which should be boiled eight minutes, cutting three as fine as the chicken and celery, and leaving the fourth as a garnish on serving. Cold roast turkey, chicken or tender veal make most excellent salad treated in this way.

Clayton's Celebrated California Salad Dressing.

Take a large bowl, resembling in size and shape an ordinary wash-bowl, and a wooden spoon, fitted as nearly as possible to fit the curve of the bowl. First put in two or three tablespoonfuls of mixed mustard, quite stiff. Pour on this, slowly, one-fourth of a pint of best olive oil, stirring rapidly until thick; then break in two or three fresh eggs, and, after mixing slightly, pour in, very slowly, the remaining three-fourths of the pint of oil, stirring rapidly all the while until the mixture forms a thick batter. Next, take a teacupful of the best wine vinegar, to which the juice of one lemon has been added, along with a small tablespoonful of salt, and another of white sugar, stirring well, until the whole of these ingredients are thoroughly incorporated.

When bottled and tightly corked, this mixture will remain good for months. Those who are not fond of the oil, will find that sweet cream, of about sixty or seventy degrees in temperature, a good subst.i.tute; but this mixture does not keep so well.

Salad Flavoring.

It will be found a good thing before ornamenting a salad, to take a section of garlic, and, after cutting off the end, steeping it in salt, and then rubbing the surface of the bowl, putting in at the same time, small pieces of the crust of French or other bread, similarly treated.

Cover the bowl with a plate, and shake well. This gives the salad a rich, nutty flavor.

Eggs and Omelettes.

Boiling Eggs.

Unless quite sure the eggs are fresh, never boil them, as the well known remark that even to suspect an egg cooked in this style is undoubtedly well-founded. Hard boiled eggs, to be eaten either hot or cold, must never be boiled more than eight minutes, when they will be found tender and of a fine flavor, whereas, if boiled for a longer time, they will invariably prove leathery, tough, and almost tasteless, and dark-colored where the whites and yolk are joined, giving them an unsightly and anything but attractive appearance.

For soft boiled, three, and for medium, four minutes only, are necessary.

Scrambled Eggs.