Part 1 (2/2)

Cut the upper from the lower jaw, take out the brains and eyes, and clean the head well; let it soak in salt and water an hour or two; then put it in a gallon of boiling water, take off the sc.u.m as it rises, and when it is done, take out the bones; dish it, and pour over a sauce, made of b.u.t.ter and flour, stirred into half a pint of the water it was boiled in; put in a chopped egg, a little salt, pepper, and fine parsley, when it is nearly done. You can have soup of the liquor, with dumplings, if you wish.

To Boil Veal.

Have a piece of the fore quarter nicely washed and rubbed with Hour; let it boil fast; a piece of five pounds will boil in an hour and a half; dish it up with drawn b.u.t.ter. Oyster sauce is an improvement to boiled veal.

Roasting Meat.

Roasting either meat or poultry requires more attention than boiling or stewing; it is very important to baste it frequently, and if the meat has been frozen, it should have time to thaw before cooking. Beef, veal, or mutton, that is roasted in a stove or oven requires more flour dredged on it than when cooked before the fire in a tin kitchen. There should be but little water in the dripping pan, as that steams the meat and prevents its browning; it is best to add more as the water evaporates, and where there is plenty of flour on the meat it incorporates with the gravy and it requires no thickening; add a little seasoning before you take up the gravy. Meat that has been hanging up some time should be roasted in preference to boiling, as the fire extracts any taste it may have acquired. To rub fresh meat with salt and pepper will prevent the flies from troubling it, and will make it keep longer.

To Roast a Turkey--to make Gravy, &c.

A very large turkey will take three hours to roast, and is best done before the fire in a tin oven. Wash the turkey very clean, and let it lay in salt and water twenty minutes, but not longer, or it changes the color; rub the inside with salt and pepper; have ready a stuffing of bread and b.u.t.ter, seasoned with salt, pepper, parsley, thyme, an onion, if agreeable, and an egg; if the bread is dry, moisten it with boiling water; mix all well together, and fill the turkey; if you have fresh sausage, put some in the craw; have a pint of water in the bottom of the dripping pan or oven, with some salt and a spoonful of lard, or b.u.t.ter; rub salt, pepper and b.u.t.ter over the breast; baste it often, and turn it so that each part will be next the fire.

Gravy may be made from the drippings in the oven by boiling it in a skillet, with thickening and seasoning. Hash gravy should be made by boiling the giblets and neck in a quart of water, which chop fine, then season and thicken; have both the gravies on the table in separate tureens.

Cranberry and damson sauce are suitable to eat with roast poultry.

To Roast a Goose.

Make a stuffing of bread, b.u.t.ter, salt, pepper, sage, thyme and onions; it requires but little b.u.t.ter, as geese are generally fat; wash it well in salt and water, wipe it, and rub the inside with salt and pepper. A common sized goose will roast in an hour, and a small one in less time; pour off nearly all the fat that drips from the goose, as it will make the gravy too rich. Make hash gravy of the giblets the same as for turkey.

Ducks.

Wild ducks are generally cooked without stuffing, and for those that like them rare, fifteen or twenty minutes will be long enough; for common ducks, a stuffing should be made the same as for a goose; they will roast in half an hour. Currant jelly and apple sauce should be eaten with ducks and geese.

Chickens.

A large fowl will roast in an hour, and a small one in half an hour; boil the livers and gizzards in a skillet with a pint of water; thicken and season for gravy. The b.r.e.a.s.t.s of the chickens should be rubbed with b.u.t.ter or lard to keep them from breaking. Tie the legs in, to keep them from bursting out. When b.u.t.ter is scarce, it is a good way to make rich short cake to stuff poultry with; it will require nothing added but pepper, parsley, &c.

To Roast Beef.

Season the beef with pepper and salt, and put it in the tin kitchen, well skewered to the spit, with a pint of water in the bottom: baste and turn it frequently, so that every part may have the fire. A very large piece of beef will take three hours to roast; when it is done, pour the gravy out into a skillet, let it boil, and thicken it with flour mixed with water; if it be too fat, skim off the top, which will be useful for other purposes.

To Roast Veal and Lamb.

Veal should be well seasoned, and rubbed with lard; when it begins to brown, baste it with salt and water; a large loin will take from two to three hours to roast, the thin part of the fore-quarter an hour; it should be well done; boil up and thicken the gravy. A leg of veal or mutton may be stuffed before baking. Lamb and mutton do not require to be rubbed with lard, as they are generally fatter than veal; make the gravy as for veal. A quarter of lamb will roast in an hour; a loin of mutton in two hours.

To Roast a Pig--Hash Gravy, &c.

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