CHAPTER V.

FRIED AND BROILED MEATS.

_General Remarks._

It is best to fry in lard not salted, and this is better than butter. Mutton and beef suet are good for frying. When the lard seems hot, try it by throwing in a bit of bread. When taking up fried articles, drain off the fat on a wire sieve.

_A nice Way of Cooking Calf’s or Pig’s Liver._

Cut it in slices half an inch thick, pour on boiling water and then pour it off _entirely_, then let the liver brown in its own juices, turning it till it looks brown on both sides. Take it up and pour into the frying-pan enough cold water to make as much gravy as you wish; then sliver in onion, cut fine, add a little salt and nutmeg, and a bit of butter to season it, let it boil up once, then put back the liver for a minute, and then set it on the table.

_Fried Veal Cutlets._

Take half a pint of milk, add a well-beaten egg, and flour enough to make a batter. Fry the veal brown in some sweet lard, then dip it in the batter and fry again till brown. Drop in some spoonfuls of batter, to fry after the veal is taken up, and put them on the top of the veal. Then put a little thin flour paste into the gravy, adding salt and pepper, and after one boil, pour it over the whole. The veal must be cut quite thin, and it should cook nearly an hour in the whole.

_Fricassee Chickens._

Wash the chickens and divide them into pieces, put them in a pot, or stew-pan, with several slices of salt ham, or pork, and sprinkle each layer with salt and pepper; cover them with water, and let them simmer till tender, keeping them covered. Then take them up, and mix with the gravy a piece of butter the size of a hen’s egg, and a paste made of two teaspoonfuls of flour wet up with the gravy. Put back the chickens and let them stew five minutes. Then spread crackers, or toasted bread, on the platter, put the chickens on it, and pour the gravy over.

In case it is wished to have them browned, take them out when nearly cooked and fry them in butter till brown, or pour off all the liquid and fry them in the pot.

_Meats Warmed over._

Cold beef is best made into pies as in a foregoing receipt. Veal is best made into hashes, or force meat, as in following receipts. If it is liked more simply cooked, chop it fine, put in water just enough to moisten it, butter, salt, pepper, and a little juice of a lemon. Some like a little lemon rind grated in. Heat it through, but do not let it fry. Put it on buttered toast, and garnish it with slices of lemon.

Cold salted, or fresh beef are good chopped fine with pepper, salt, and catsup, and water enough to moisten a little. Add some butter just before taking it up, and do not let it fry, only heat it hot. It injures cooked meat to cook it again. Cold fowls make a nice dish to have them cut up in mouthfuls, add some of the gravy and giblet sauce, a little butter and pepper, and then heat them through.

_A nice Way of Cooking Cold Meats._

Chop the meat fine, add salt, pepper, a little onion, or else tomato catsup, fill a tin bread pan one-third full, cover it over with boiled potatoes salted and mashed with cream or milk, lay bits of butter on the top and set it into a Dutch, or stove oven, for fifteen or twenty minutes.

_A Hash of Cold Meat for Dinner (very good)._

Peel six large tomatoes and one onion, and slice them. Add a spoonful of sugar, salt and pepper, and a bit of butter the size of a hen’s egg, and half a pint of cold water. Shave up the meat into small bits, as thin as thick pasteboard. Dredge flour over it, say two teaspoonfuls, or a little less. Simmer the meat with all the rest for _one hour_, and then serve it, and it is very fine.

Dried tomatoes can be used. When you have no tomatoes, make a gravy with water, pepper, salt, and butter, or cold gravy: slice an onion in it, add tomato catsup (two or three spoonfuls), and then prepare the meat as above, and simmer it in this gravy _one hour_.

_Cold Meat Turnovers._

Roll out wheat dough very thin, and put in it, like a _turnover_, cold meat chopped fine, and seasoned with pepper, salt, catsup, and sweet herbs. Make small ones, and fry them in lard till the dough is well cooked.

_Head Cheese._

Boil in salted water the ears, skin, and feet of pigs till the meat drops from the bones; chop it like sausage meat. Season the liquor with pepper, salt, cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon, or with pepper, salt, and sweet herbs, mix the meat with it, and while hot tie it in a strong bag and keep a heavy stone upon it until quite cold.

_Souse._

Cleanse pigs’ ears and feet and soak them a week in salt and water, changing the water every other day. Boil eight or ten hours till tender. When cold put on salt, and pour on hot spiced vinegar. Fry them in lard.

_Tripe._

Scrape and scour it thoroughly, soak it in salt and water a week, changing it every other day. Boil it eight or ten hours, till tender; then pour on spiced hot vinegar, or fry or broil it.

_Force Meat Balls (another Hash.)_

Chop cold veal fine with one-fourth as much salt pork. Season with salt, pepper, and sweet herbs. Make them into balls and fry them brown.

_To Prepare Cold Beef Steaks._

Put a fine minced onion into a stew-pan, and add half a dozen cloves and as many pepper corns, pour on a coffee cup of boiling water, and add three large spoonfuls of butter, or some gravy. Let it simmer ten minutes. Then cut up the beef in mouthfuls and put into this gravy to simmer four or five minutes, till heated through, but do not let it cook any more, as it is not healthful.

Three large tomatoes stewed with the onion improves this.

_A nice Way of Cooking Cold Boiled Ham._

Make quite a thin batter of flour, water, and eggs, with a little salt. Pour the batter over the bottom of a Dutch oven, or frying-pan, which has a very little hot butter, or lard in it; say three great spoonfuls. Let the batter be no thicker on the bottom than a straw; let it fry a couple of minutes and then cover the batter with _very_ thin slices of ham, and pour a thin cover of batter over them. Let it fry till the bottom looks a yellowish brown (have a hot fire), then cut it into squares, or into triangular quarters, or eighths, and turn it with a knife, and let it fry till the other side is browned.

_Another Way of Cooking Cold Ham._

Cut up all the bits and ends, put them in a frying, or sauce pan, with a very little water and some butter. When warmed through, break in some eggs and stir them up with the ham until the egg is hardened.

_A Veal Hash._

Cut up cooked veal into strips, flour them and fry them to a light brown, in butter. Then take them up and mix as much hot water as there is gravy, add a little flour paste, season with salt, pepper, catsup, and lemon-juice, then add the meat and heat it hot.

_Veal Balls (another Hash)._

Chop the cold veal fine, removing hard portions, add as much bread crumbs as there is of meat, and half as much broiled salt pork chopped fine. Moisten all with a glass of white wine if you like it, put in two eggs, and season with salt, pepper, sweet herbs, and a little nutmeg. Form them into balls and fry in butter.

BROILED MEATS.

_General Remarks._

It is best to oil the bars of the gridiron with suet and also warm them before putting the meat on. Chalk is sometimes rubbed on to the gridiron, when fish is to be broiled. It is desirable to keep a gridiron expressly for fish, otherwise meat is often made to taste fishy.

_Broiled Ham._

Cut the ham into thin slices, and broil it very quickly over a hot fire, then put on butter and a little pepper.

_Broiled Veal Cutlets._

Cut the veal into slices a quarter of an inch thick, lay them on the gridiron with an equal number of slices of salt pork beside them. When cooked, put the veal on to the dish, butter, salt, and pepper it well, and lay the salt pork on the top of it. Veal needs to broil a good while, till it looks done when cut open.

_Broiled Mutton Chops._

These must be broiled over a quick fire and not cooked so much as veal.

_Broiled Pork Steaks._

These must be cut rather thin, broiled quick, and very thoroughly.

_Beef Steaks._

Those from the sirloin are best, those from the shoulder clod and round are not so good, but cheaper. Meat, if tough, is made more tender by pounding, if it is done very thoroughly, so as to break the fibres. Cut the steaks from half an inch to an inch thick. Broil on hot coals, and the quicker it is done the better. Ten or twelve minutes is enough time. Turn it four or five times, and when done put on butter, salt, and if you like pepper, and on both sides. Do not let your butter be turned to oil before putting it on. It is best to have beef tongs to turn beef, as pricking it lets out the juices. Often turning prevents the surface from hardening and cooks it more equally.

_Beef Liver._

Cut it in slices half an inch thick, pour boiling water on it, broil it with some thin slices of salt pork dipped in flour; then cut the liver and pork up into mouthfuls, put them in a frying-pan with a little butter, pepper, and salt, and stew them three or four minutes.

_To Poach Eggs._

Beat the eggs to a froth, pour them into a buttered tin, set it on coals, add salt and butter, stir till cooked, and then put it on to buttered toast.

_To Boil Eggs._

Put them into boiling water and allow three minutes if you wish only the white hardened, and five minutes if you wish them hard. Another and more delicate way is to break them into boiling water and let them boil three or four minutes. Then take them up with a skimmer, draining them well, and lay them on buttered toast, and spread a little butter on them.

Another, and the best way to boil them when in the shell, is to pour on boiling water and let them stand five minutes. Then pour it off and pour on more boiling water, and let them stand five minutes longer.

This is the way in which they are cooked in egg boilers, which are set upon the table.

_A Salt Relish._

Cut salt pork into thin slices, fry them till crisp, take them out and pour a little water to the fat, dredge in a little flour, and put in a little pepper. Then cut up the pork in mouthfuls and put to this gravy.

_Egg Frizzle (very good)._

Pour boiling water on to salt, smoked beef slivered. Pour off the water and then frizzle it in the frying-pan with butter. When done, break in two or three eggs, and stir it till the egg is hardened.

_Frizzled Beef._

Sliver smoked beef, pour on boiling water to freshen it, then pour off the water and frizzle the beef in butter.

_Veal Cheese._

Prepare equal quantities of sliced boiled veal and smoked tongue, boiled, skinned, and sliced.

Pound each separately in a mortar, moistening with butter as you proceed.

Then take a stone jar, or tin can, and mix them in it, so that it will, when cut, look mottled and variegated. Press it hard and pour on melted butter. Keep it covered in a dry place. To be used at tea in slices.

_A Codfish Relish._

Take thin slivers of codfish, lay them on hot coals, and when a yellowish brown, set them on the table.

_Another Way._

Sliver the codfish fine, pour on boiling water, drain it off, and add butter, and a very little pepper, and heat them three or four minutes, but do not let them fry.

_Salt Herrings._

Heat them on a gridiron, remove the skin, and then set them on the table.