Common Sense in the Household 23

Common Sense in the Household 23

SAUSAGE (_No. 2._)

 

4 lbs. pork, lean.

1½ lbs. pork, fat.

10 teaspoonfuls sage.

5 teaspoonfuls pepper.

5 teaspoonfuls salt.

 

Grind and season as directed in No. 1.

 

* * * * *

 

This will not keep so long as that made according to the former

receipt, but is very good for immediate family use.

 

 

SAUSAGE (_No. 3._)

 

2 lbs. lean pork.

2 lbs. lean veal.

2 lbs. beef suet.

Peel of half a lemon.

1 grated nutmeg.

1 teaspoonful black pepper.

1 teaspoonful cayenne.

5 teaspoonfuls salt.

3 teaspoonfuls sweet marjoram and thyme, mixed.

2 teaspoonfuls of sage.

Juice of a lemon.

 

Stuff in cases. This is very fine.

 

 

BOLOGNA SAUSAGE (_Uncooked._)

 

6 lbs. lean pork.

3 lbs. lean beef.

2 lbs. beef suet.

4 ounces salt.

6 tablespoonfuls black pepper.

3 tablespoonfuls cayenne.

2 teaspoonfuls powdered cloves.

1 teaspoonful allspice.

One minced onion, very finely chopped.

 

Chop or grind the meat, and mix the seasoning well through it. Pack it

in beef-skins (or entrails) prepared as you do those of pork. In the

city, you can have these cleaned by your butcher, or get them ready for

use from a pork merchant. Tie both ends tightly, and lay them in brine

strong enough to bear up an egg. Let them be in this for a week; change

the brine, and let them remain in this a week longer. Turn them over

every day of the fortnight. Then take them out, wipe them, and send

them to be smoked, if you have no smoke-house of your own. When well

smoked, rub them over with sweet oil or fresh butter, and hang them in

a cool, dark place.

 

Bologna sausage is sometimes eaten raw, but the dread of the fatal

_trichinæ_ should put at end to this practice, did not common sense

teach us that it must be unwholesome, no less than disgusting. Cut in

round, thick slices, and toast on a gridiron, or fry in their own fat.

If you mean to keep it some time, rub over the skins with pepper to

keep away insects.

 

 

BOLOGNA SAUSAGE (_Cooked._)

 

2 lbs. lean beef.

2 lbs. lean veal.

2 lbs. lean pork

2 lbs. _fat_ salt pork—not smoked.

1 lb. beef suet

10 teaspoonfuls powdered sage.

1 oz. marjoram, parsley, savory, and thyme, mixed.

2 teaspoonfuls cayenne pepper, and the same of black.

1 grated nutmeg.

1 teaspoonful cloves.

1 minced onion.

Salt to taste.

 

Chop or grind the meat and suet; season, and stuff into beef-skins;

tie these up; prick each in several places to allow the escape of

the steam; put into hot—not boiling water, and heat gradually to the

boiling-point. Cook slowly for one hour; take out the skins and lay

them to dry in the sun, upon clean, sweet straw or hay. Rub the outside

of the skins with oil or melted butter, and hang in a cool, dry cellar.

If you mean to keep it more than a week, rub pepper or powdered ginger

upon the outside. You can wash it off before sending to table. This

is eaten without further cooking. Cut in round slices, and lay sliced

lemon around the edge of the dish, as many like to squeeze a few drops

upon the sausage before eating.

 

 

LARD.

 

Every housekeeper knows how unfit for really nice cooking is the

pressed lard sold in stores as the “best and cheapest.” It is close and

tough, melts slowly, and is sometimes diversified by fibrous lumps. And

even when lard has been “tried out” by the usual process, it is often

mixed with so much water as to remind us unpleasantly that it is bought

by weight.

 

The best way of preparing the “leaf lard,” as it is called, is to skin

it carefully, wash, and let it drain; then put it, cut into bits, into

a large, clean tin kettle or bucket, and set this in a pot of boiling

water. Stir from time to time until it is melted; throw in a very

little salt, to make the sediment settle; and when it is hot—(it should

not boil fast at any time, but simmer gently until clear)—strain

through a close cloth into jars. Do not squeeze the cloth so long as

the clear fat will run through, and when you do, press the refuse into

a different vessel, to be used for commoner purposes than the other.

 

Most of the lard in general use is, however, made from the fatty

portions of pork lying next the skin of the hog, and are left for this

purpose by the butcher. Scrape from the rind, and cut all into dice.

Fill a large pot, putting in a teacupful of water to prevent scorching,

and melt very slowly, stirring every few minutes. Simmer until there

remains nothing of the meat but fibrous bits. Remove these carefully

with a perforated skimmer; throw in a little salt, to settle the

fat, and when it is clear strain through a fine cullender, a sieve,

or a coarse cloth. Dip the latter in boiling water, should it become

clogged by the cooling lard. Observe the directions about squeezing the

strainer. If your family is small, bear in mind that the lard keeps

longer in small than large vessels. Set away the jars, closely covered,

in a cool, dry cellar or store-room.

 

In trying out lard, the chief danger is of burning. Simmer gently over

a steady fire, and give it your whole attention until it is done. A

moment’s neglect will ruin all. Stir very often—almost constantly at

the last—and from the bottom, until the salt is thrown in to settle

it, when withdraw to a less hot part of the fire. Bladders tied over

lard jars are the best protection; next to these, paper, and outside of

this, cloths dipped in melted grease.

 

 

BRAWN (No. 1.)

 

Pig’s head weighing 6 lbs.

1 lb. lean beef.

1 teaspoonful salt.

½ teaspoonful pepper (black or white).

½ teaspoonful cayenne pepper.

½ teaspoonful mace.

A pinch of cloves.

A small onion minced very fine.

 

Clean and wash the head, and stew with the beef in enough cold water to

cover. When the bones will slip out easily, remove them, after draining

off the liquor. Chop the meat finely while it is hot, season, and pour

all into a mould, wet inside with cold water. If you can have a tin

mould made in the shape of a boar’s head, your brawn will look well at

a Christmas feast.

 

 

BRAWN (No. 2.)

 

Pig’s head, feet, and ears.

½ teaspoonful of black pepper, and same of cayenne.

4 teaspoonfuls powdered sage.

1 teaspoonful mace.

An onion minced.

Salt and saltpetre.

 

Soak the head twelve hours, and lay in a strong brine, with a

tablespoonful of saltpetre. Let it lie three days in this; rinse; then

boil it until you can draw out the bones. Do this very carefully from

the back and under-side of the head, breaking the outline of the top as

little as possible. Chop the meat of the feet and ears, which should

have been boiled with the head, season to taste with the spices I

have indicated (tastes vary in these matters), beat in the brains, or

two tablespoonfuls of melted butter. Fill up the hollows left by the

removal of the bones with this mixture. Tie in a flannel cloth, sewing

this tightly into the shape of the head; boil an hour and a quarter,

and set aside to drain and cool. Do not remove the cloth until next

day. This will be found very nice.

 

 

SAVELOYS.

 

8 lbs. pork.

4 teaspoonfuls black pepper.

1 teaspoonful cayenne.

1 teaspoonful cloves or mace.

8 teaspoonfuls sage, sweet marjoram, and thyme, mixed.

1 teacupful bread-crumbs.

 

Lay the meat, which should be young pork, in a brine of salt and water,

with a tablespoonful of saltpetre, and leave it for three days. Dry and

mince it, season, and add the grated bread. Stuff in skins, and bake,

closely covered, in an oven for half an hour. Or, what is better, steam

over boiling water one hour.

 

Eat either hot or cold.

 

 

TO PICKLE PORK. (NO. 1.)

 

Hams, shoulders, chines, and “middlings,” are the parts of the hog

which are usually pickled. This should be done as soon as may be after

the meat is fairly cold—especially in moderate weather. When you can

pack down pork, within twenty-four hours after butchering, it is best

to do so, unless the cold be severe enough to preserve it longer.

 

4½ lbs. salt.

1 lb. brown sugar.

1 oz. saltpetre in 3 gallons of water.

 

Put into a large saucepan and boil for half an hour, skimming off the

scum. When cold, pour over the meat, and let it lie for a few days.

 

This is intended to corn a small quantity of meat for family use.

 

 

(NO. 2.)

 

80 lbs. of meat.

2 quarts and 1 pint of fine salt.

4 lbs. sugar, or 1 quart best molasses.

3 oz. saltpetre.