Common Sense in the Household 21

Common Sense in the Household 21

A pig should not be allowed to eat anything for twenty-four hours

before he is killed. After he is butchered, great care should be

exercised to keep the pork from tainting; it spoils more readily, when

fresh, than any other meat. Cook all kinds of pork thoroughly. When

underdone it is not only unpalatable, but exceedingly unwholesome.

 

 

ROAST LEG OF PORK.

 

One weighing about seven pounds is enough, even for a large family.

If the pig be young, the leg will be even smaller. Score the skin

in squares, or parallel lines running from side to side, for the

convenience of the carver. Put it down to roast with a _very_ little

water in the pan below. Heat gradually until the fat begins to ooze

from the meat, when quicken the fire to a red, steady glow. Baste only

with its own gravy, and do this often, that the skin may not be hard or

tough. When done take it up, skim the gravy thoroughly, put in half a

cup of boiling water, thicken with brown flour, add pepper, salt, and

the juice of a lemon, and serve in a boat.

 

 

_Or,_

 

If the joint be that of a full-grown hog, rub into the top, after

scoring it deeply, a force-meat of bread-crumbs seasoned with sage and

chopped onion, wet with the juice of a lemon or a very little vinegar;

pepper and salt to taste. Rub this in hard until the cracks are filled.

With a sharp knife make incisions close to the knuckle-bone, and stuff

with the force-meat, tying a string tightly about it afterward, to

prevent the escape of the seasoning. Rub over once with butter, when

the meat is warm throughout; then baste with the fat. Skim all the fat

from the drippings that can be removed before making the gravy.

 

Send around tomato or apple sauce, and pickles, with roast pork.

 

 

LOIN OF PORK.

 

Cook as you would a leg, allowing twenty minutes to a pound in

roasting. This is a good rule for fresh pork, the flesh being coarser

and of closer grain than are more delicate meats.

 

A shoulder is roasted in the same way.

 

 

ROAST SPARE-RIB.

 

When first put down to the fire, cover with a greased paper until it is

half-done. Remove it then, and dredge with flour. A few minutes later,

baste once with butter, and afterward, every little while, with its

own gravy. This is necessary, the spare-rib being a very dry piece.

Just before you take it up, strew over the surface thickly with fine

bread-crumbs seasoned with powdered sage, pepper, and salt, and a small

onion minced into almost invisible bits. Let it cook five minutes and

baste once more with butter. Skim the gravy, add a half cupful of hot

water, thicken with brown flour, squeeze in the juice of a lemon,

strain, and pour over the meat in the dish.

 

Send tomato catsup around with it, or if you prefer, put a liberal

spoonful in the gravy, after it is strained.

 

 

ROAST CHINE.

 

A chine is treated precisely as is the spare-rib, except that the strip

of skin running along the back is scored closely. If you wish, you can

omit the bread-crumb crust, the onion and sage. In carving, cut thin

horizontal slices from the ribs. Chine is best cold. The meat next the

ribs is delicious when scraped off and made into sandwiches, or laid

upon buttered toast.

 

 

_Or,_

 

You can wash the chine over with beaten egg, dredge with

cracker-crumbs, seasoned with salt and pepper, and roast, basting with

butter and water once when the meat is heated through, afterward with

its own gravy. This is a palatable supper-dish when cold. Garnish with

cucumber pickles cut in round slices.

 

 

ROAST PIG.

 

A month-old pig, if it be well-grown and plump, is best for this

purpose. It is hardly possible that any lady-housekeeper will ever be

called upon to do the butcher’s work upon the bodies of full-grown

hogs, or even “shoat”—a task that requires the use of hatchet or

cleaver. It is well that she should know how to clean and dress the

baby pig, which is not larger than a Thanksgiving turkey.

 

As soon as it is really cold, make ready a large boiler of scalding

water. Lay the pig in cold water for fifteen minutes; then, holding it

by the hind-leg, plunge it into the boiling water, and shake it about

violently until you can pull the hair off by the handful. Take it out,

wipe it dry, and with a crash cloth or whisk broom rub the hair off,

brushing from the tail to the head, until the skin is perfectly clean.

Cut it open, take out the entrails, and wash very thoroughly with cold

water, then with soda and water, to remove any unpleasant odor; next

with salt and water. Rinse with fair water and wipe inside. Then wrap

in a wet cloth, and keep this saturated with cold water until you are

ready to stuff it. If these directions be followed implicitly, the pig

will be fair and white, as if intrusted to a professional butcher.

 

For stuffing, take a cupful of bread-crumbs, half a chopped onion,

two teaspoonfuls powdered sage, three tablespoonfuls melted butter, a

saltspoonful of pepper, half a grated nutmeg, half a teaspoonful of

salt, two well-beaten eggs. Mix all these ingredients, except the egg,

together, incorporating them well; beat in the eggs, and stuff the pig

into his natural size and shape. Sew him up, and bend his fore-feet

backward, his hind-feet forward, under and close to the body, and

skewering them into the proper position. Dry it well, and dredge with

flour. Put it to roast with a little hot water, slightly salted, in

the dripping-pan. Baste with butter and water three times, as the pig

gradually warms, afterward with the dripping. When it begins to smoke

or steam, rub it over every five minutes or so, with a cloth dipped in

melted butter. Do not omit this precaution if you would have the skin

tender and soft after it begins to brown. A month-old pig will require

about an hour and three-quarters or two hours—sometimes longer—to

roast, if the fire be brisk and steady.

 

Should you or your guests dislike onion, prepare your stuffing without

it. The following is a good receipt for rich and savory force-meat for

a pig:—

 

One cup of bread-crumbs, an ounce of suet, a bunch of parsley minced

fine, teaspoonful of powdered sage, pepper, salt, and nutmeg, a

little thyme, half a glass Madeira or Sherry, juice of a lemon,

two tablespoonfuls melted butter, a cup of oyster-liquor, and two

well-beaten eggs. For a Christmas pig, it is worth one’s while to take

the trouble to prepare this stuffing.

 

If your pig is large, you can cut off his head and split him down the

back before sending to table. Do this with a sharp knife, and lay the

backs together. But it is a pity! I have before me now the vision of

a pig I once saw served whole on the table of a friend, that forbids

me ever to mutilate him before the guests have a chance to feast their

eyes upon the goodly picture. He was done to a turn—a rich, even brown,

without a seam or crack from head to tail, and he knelt in a bed of

deep-green parsley, alternately with bunches of whitish-green celery

tops (the inner and tender leaves); a garland of the same was about his

neck, and in his mouth was a tuft of white cauliflower, surrounded by a

setting of curled parsley. Very simple, you see; but I never beheld a

more ornamental roast.

 

Skim your gravy well; add a little hot water, thicken with brown flour,

boil up once, strain, and, when you have added half a glass of wine and

half the juice of a lemon, serve in a tureen.

 

In carving the pig, cut off the head first; then split down the back,

take off hams and shoulders, and separate the ribs. Serve some of the

dressing to each person.

 

I have been thus minute in describing the preparation of this holiday

dish, because it is erroneously considered a difficult task. Any cook

with a moderate degree of judgment and experience can undertake it with

a reasonable expectation of success.

 

 

PORK STEAKS.

 

Those from the loin are best, but they can be cut from the neck. Remove

the skin and trim neatly. Broil over a clear fire, without seasoning,

adding pepper, salt, a pinch of sage, another of minced onion, and a

lump of butter after they are put into the hot dish. Then cover closely

and set in the oven for five minutes, until the aroma of the condiments

flavors the meat. Try this method. You can cook spare-rib in the same

manner.

 

 

PORK CHOPS.

 

Remove the skin, trim them, and dip first in beaten egg, then in

cracker-crumbs seasoned with salt, pepper, minced onion, and a little

sage. Fry in hot lard or drippings twenty or thirty minutes, turning

often. The gravy of this dish is usually too rich or fat to accompany

the meat.

 

Pork cutlets are cooked in like manner. Send apple-sauce to the table with them, and season with tomato catsup.