6. Leg.

In season from Michaelmas to March: should be avoided in very warm weather. TO CHOOSE PORK. THIS meat is so proverbially, and we believe even _dangerously_ unwholesome when ill fed, or in any degree diseased, that its quality should be closely examined before it is purchased. When not home-reared, it should be bought if possible of some respectable farmer or miller, unless the butcher who supplies it can be perfectly relied on. Both the fat and lean should be very white, and the latter finely grained; the rind should be thin, smooth, and cool to the touch; if it be clammy, the pork is stale, and should be at once rejected; it ought also to be scrupulously avoided when the fat, instead of being quite clear of all blemish, is full of small kernels which are indicative of disease. The manner of cutting up the pork varies in different counties, and also according to the purposes for which it is intended. The legs are either made into hams, or slightly salted for a few days and boiled; they are also sometimes roasted when the pork is not large nor coarse, with a savoury forcemeat inserted between the skin and flesh of the knuckle. The part of the shoulder provincially called the hand, is also occasionally pickled in the same way as hams and bacon, or it is salted and boiled, but it is too sinewy for roasting. After these and the head have been taken off, the remainder, without further division than being split down the back, may be converted into whole sides, or _flitches_ as they are usually called, of bacon; but when the meat is large and required in part for various other purposes, a chine may be taken out, and the fat pared off the bones of the ribs and loins for bacon; the thin part of the body converted into pickled pork, and the ribs and other bones roasted, or made into pies or sausages. The feet, which are generally salted down for immediate use, are excellent if laid for two or three weeks into the same pickle as the hams, then well covered with cold water, and slowly boiled until tender. The loins of young and delicate pork are roasted with the skin on; and this is scored in regular stripes of about a quarter of an inch wide with the point of a sharp knife, before the joints are laid to the fire. The skin of the leg also is just cut through in the same manner. This is done to prevent its blistering, and to render it more easy to carve, as the skin (or _crackling_) becomes so crisp and hard in the cooking that it is otherwise sometimes difficult to divide it. To be at any time fit for table, pork must be _perfectly sweet_, and thoroughly cooked; great attention also should be given to it when it is in pickle, for if any part of it be long exposed to the air, without being turned into, or well and frequently basted with the brine, it will often become tainted during the process of curing it. TO MELT LARD. Strip the skin from the inside fat of a freshly killed and well-fed pig; slice it small and thin; put it into a new or well-scalded jar, set it into a pan of boiling water, and let it simmer over a clear fire. As it dissolves, strain it into small stone jars or deep earthen pans, and when perfectly cold, tie over it the skin that was cleared from the lard, or bladders which have been thoroughly washed and wiped very dry. Lard thus prepared is extremely pure in flavour, and keeps perfectly well if stored in a cool place; it may be used with advantage in making common pastry, as well as for frying fish, and for various other purposes. It is better to keep the last drainings of the fat apart from that which is first poured off, as it will not be quite so fine in quality. TO PRESERVE UNMELTED LARD FOR MANY MONTHS. For the particular uses to which the leaf-fat, or fleed, can be advantageously applied, see fleed-crust, Chapter XVIII. It may be kept well during the summer months by rubbing fine salt rather plentifully upon it when it is first taken from the pig, and letting it lie for a couple of days; it should then be well drained, and covered with a strong brine; this in warmer weather should be changed occasionally. When wanted for use, lay it into cold water for two or three hours, then wipe it dry, and it will have quite the effect of the fresh fleed when made into paste. Inner fat of pig, 6 lbs.; fine salt, 1/2 to 3/4 lb.: 2 days. Brine: to each quart of water, 6 oz. salt. TO ROAST A SUCKING PIG. [Illustration] After the pig has been scalded and prepared for the spit, wipe it as dry as possible, and put into the body about half a pint of fine bread-crumbs, mixed with three heaped teaspoonsful of sage, minced very small, three ounces of good butter, a large saltspoonful of salt, and two-thirds as much of pepper or some cayenne. Sew it up with soft, but strong cotton; truss it as a hare, with the fore legs skewered back, and the hind ones forward; lay it to a strong clear fire, but keep it at a moderate distance, as it would quickly blister or scorch if placed too near. So soon as it has become warm, rub it with a bit of butter tied in a fold of muslin or of thin cloth, and repeat this process constantly while it is roasting. When the gravy begins to drop from it, put basins or small deep tureens under, to catch it in.[82] As soon as the pig is of a fine light amber brown and the steam draws strongly towards the fire, wipe it quite dry with a clean cloth, and rub a bit of cold butter over it. When it is half done, a pig iron, or in lieu of this, a large flat iron should be hung in the centre of the grate, or the middle of the pig will be done long before the ends. When it is ready for table lay it into a very hot dish, and before the spit is withdrawn, take off and open the head and split the body in two; chop together quickly the stuffing and the brains, put them into half a pint of good veal gravy ready thickened, add a glass of Madeira or of sherry, and the gravy which has dropped from the pig; pour a small portion of this under the roast and serve the remainder as hot as possible in a tureen: a little pounded mace and cayenne with a squeeze of lemon-juice, may be added, should the flavour require heightening. Fine bread sauce, and plain gravy should likewise be served with it. Some persons still prefer the old-fashioned currant sauce to any other: and many have the brains and stuffing stirred into rich melted butter, instead of gravy; but the receipt which we have given has usually been so much approved, that we can recommend it with some confidence, as it stands. Modern taste would perhaps be rather in favour of rich brown gravy and thick tomata sauce, or _sauce poivrade_. Footnote 82: A deep oblong dish of suitable size seems better adapted to this purpose. In dishing the pig lay the body flat in the middle, and the head and ears at the ends and sides. When very pure oil can be obtained, it is preferable to butter for the basting: it should be laid on with a bunch of feathers. A pig of three weeks old is considered as best suited to the table, and it should always be dressed if possible the day it is killed. 1-1/4 to 1-3/4 hour. BAKED PIG. Prepare the pig exactly as for roasting; truss, and place it in the dish in which it is to be sent to the oven, and anoint it thickly in every part with white of egg which has been slightly beaten; it will require no basting, nor further attention of any kind, and will be well crisped by this process. PIG À LA TARTARE When the shoulders of a cold roast pig are left entire, take them off with care, remove the skin, trim them into good form, dip them into clarified butter or very pure salad oil, then into fine crumbs highly seasoned with cayenne and mixed with about a half-teaspoonful of salt. Broil them over a clear brisk fire, and send them quickly to table, as soon as they are heated through and equally browned, with tomata sauce, or _sauce Robert_. Curried crumbs and a currie-sauce will give an excellent variety of this dish; and savoury herbs with two or three eschalots chopped small together, and mixed with the bread-crumbs, and brown eschalot sauce to accompany the broil, will likewise be an acceptable one to many tastes. SUCKING PIG EN BLANQUETTE. (ENTRÉE.) Raise the flesh from the bones of a cold roast pig, free it from the crisp outer skin or crackling, and cut it down into small handsome slices. Dissolve a bit of butter the size of an egg, and throw in a handful of button-mushrooms, cleaned and sliced; shake these over the fire for three or four minutes, then stir to them a dessertspoonful of flour and continue to shake or toss them gently, but do not allow them to brown. Add a small bunch of parsley, a bay-leaf, a middling-sized blade of mace, some salt, a small quantity of cayenne or white pepper, half a pint of good veal or beef broth, and from two to three glasses of light white wine. Let these boil gently until reduced nearly one third; take out the parsley and mace, lay in the meat, and bring it slowly to the point of simmering; stir to it the beaten yolks of three fresh eggs, and the strained juice of half a lemon Serve the _blanquette_ very hot. TO ROAST PORK. When the skin is left on the joint which is to be roasted, it must be scored in narrow strips of equal width, before it is put to the fire, and laid at a considerable distance from it at first, that the meat may be heated through before the skin hardens or begins to brown; it must never stand still for an instant, and the basting should be constant. Pork is not at the present day much served at very good tables, particularly in this form; and it is so still less with the old savoury stuffing of sage and onions, though some eaters like it always with the leg: when it is ordered for this joint, therefore prepare it as directed for a goose, at page 160, and after having loosened the skin from the knuckle, insert as much as can well be secured in it. A little clarified butter or salad oil may be brushed over the skin quite at first, particularly should the meat not be very fat, but unless remarkably lean, it will speedily yield sufficient dripping to baste it with. Joints from which the fat has been pared, will require of course far less roasting than those on which the crackling is retained. Brown gravy, and apple or tomata sauce, are the usual accompaniments to all roasts of pork except a sucking pig; they should always be thoroughly cooked. Leg of pork of 8 lbs., 3 hours; loin of from 5 to 6 lbs., with the skin on, 2 to 2-1/2 hours; spare rib of 6 to 7 lbs., 1-1/2 hour. TO ROAST A SADDLE OF PORK. The skin of this joint may be removed entirely, but if left on it must be scored lengthwise, or in the direction in which it will be carved. The pork should be young, of fine quality, and of moderate size. Roast it very carefully, either by the directions given in the preceding receipt, or when the skin is taken off, by those for a saddle of mutton, allowing in the latter case from three quarters of an hour to a full hour more of the fire for it in proportion to its weight. Serve it with good brown gravy and tomata sauce, or _sauce Robert_; or with apple sauce should it be preferred. 20 minutes to the pound, quite [TN: text missing.] TO BROIL OR FRY PORK CUTLETS. Cut them about half an inch thick from a delicate loin of pork, trim them into neat form, and take off part of the fat, or the whole of it when it is not liked; dredge a little pepper or cayenne upon them, and broil them over a clear and moderate fire from fifteen to eighteen minutes: sprinkle a little fine salt upon them just before they are dished. They may be dipped into egg and then into bread-crumbs mixed with minced sage, and finished in the usual way.[83] When fried, flour them well, and season them with salt and pepper first. Serve them with gravy in the pan, or with _sauce Robert_. Footnote 83: If broiled, with the addition of these a little clarified butter must be added to the egg, or sprinkled on the cutlets. COBBETT’S RECEIPT FOR CURING BACON. “All other parts being taken away, the two sides that remain, and which are called _flitches_, are to be cured for bacon. They are first rubbed with salt on their inside, or flesh sides, then placed one on the other, the flesh sides uppermost in a salting trough, which has a gutter round its edges to drain away the brine; for to have sweet and fine bacon, the flitches must not be sopping in brine, which gives it the sort of taste that barrel-pork and sea-junk have, and than which is nothing more villainous. Everyone knows how different is the taste of fresh dry salt from that of salt in a dissolved state. Therefore, _change the salt often_; once in four or five days. Let it melt and sink in, but let it not lie too long. Change the flitches, put that at the bottom which was first on the top. Do this a couple of times. This mode will cost you a great deal more in salt than the _sopping mode_; but without it your bacon will not be so sweet and fine, nor keep so well. As to the time required for making the flitches sufficiently salt, it depends on circumstances; the thickness of the flitch, the state of the weather, the place wherein the salting is going on. It takes a longer time for a thick than for a thin flitch; it takes longer in dry than in damp weather, it takes longer in a dry than in a damp place. But for the flitches of a hog of five score, in weather not very dry or very damp, about six weeks may do; and as yours is to be _fat_, which receives little injury from over-salting, give time enough; for you are to have bacon till Christmas comes again. The place for salting should, like a dairy, always be cool, but always admit of a free circulation of air; confined air, though cool, will taint meat sooner than the midday sun accompanied with a breeze. With regard to smoking the bacon, two precautions are necessary: first to hang the flitches where no rain comes down upon them, and next, that the smoke must proceed from wood, not peat, turf, nor coal. As to the time that it requires to smoke a flitch, it must depend a good deal upon whether there be a constant fire beneath, and whether the fire be large or small. A month will do if the fire be pretty constant, and such as a farm house fire usually is. But oversmoking, or rather, too long hanging in the air, makes the bacon _rust_. Great attention should, therefore, be paid to this matter. The flitch ought not to be dried up to the hardness of a board, and yet it ought to be perfectly dry. Before you hang it up, lay it on the floor, scatter the flesh-side pretty thickly over with bran or with some fine saw-dust, _not of deal or fir_. Rub it on the flesh, or pat it well down upon it. This keeps the smoke from getting into the little openings, and makes a sort of crust to be dried on. “To keep the bacon sweet and good, and free from _hoppers_, sift fine some clean and dry _wood-ashes_. Put some at the bottom of a box or chest long enough to hold a flitch of bacon. Lay in one flitch; and then put in more ashes, then another flitch, and cover this with six or eight inches of the ashes. The place where the box or chest is kept ought to be _dry_, and should the ashes become damp they should be put in the fire-place to dry, and when cold, put back again. With these precautions the bacon will be as good at the end of the year as on the first day.” _Obs._—Although the preceding directions for curing the bacon are a little vague as regards the proportions of salt and pork, we think those for its after-management will be acceptable to many of our readers, as in our damp climate it is often a matter of great difficulty to preserve hams and bacon through the year from rust. A GENUINE YORKSHIRE RECEIPT FOR CURING HAMS AND BACON. “Let the swine be put up to fast for twenty-four hours before they are killed (and observe that neither a time of severe frost, nor very damp weather, is favourable for curing bacon). After a pig has been killed and scalded, let it hang twelve hours before it is cut up, then for every stone or fourteen pounds’ weight of the meat, take one pound of salt, an ounce and a quarter of saltpeter, and half an ounce of coarse sugar. Rub the sugar and saltpetre first into the fleshy parts of the pork, and remove carefully with a fork any extravasated blood that may appear on it, together with the broken vessels adjoining; apply the salt especially to those parts, as well as to the shank-ends of the hams, and any other portions of the flesh that are more particularly exposed. Before the salt is added to the meat, warm it a little before the fire, and use only a part of it in the first instance; then, as it dissolves, or is absorbed by the meat, add the remainder at several different times. Let the meat in the meanwhile lie either on clean straw, or on a cold brick or stone floor: it will require from a fortnight to three weeks’ curing, according to the state of the atmosphere. When done, hang it in a cool dry place, where there is a thorough current of air, and let it remain there until it is perfectly dry, when the salt will be found to have crystallized upon the surface. The meat may then be removed to your store, and kept in a close chest, surrounded with clean _outer straw_. If very large, the hams will not be in perfection in less than twelve months from the time of their being stored.” Pork 20 stone; salt, 20 lbs.; saltpetre, 20 oz.; sugar, 10 oz.; 14 to 21 days. KENTISH MODE OF CUTTING UP AND CURING A PIG. To a porker of sixteen stone Kentish weight (that is to say, eight pounds to the stone, or nine stone two pounds of common weight), allow two gallons of salt, two pounds of saltpetre, one pound of coarse sugar, and two pounds of bay-salt well dried and reduced to powder. Put aside the hams and cheeks to be cured by themselves; let the feet, ears, tail, and eye-parts of the head be salted for immediate eating; the blade-bones, and ends of the loins and ribs reserved for sausage-meat should it be wanted, and the loin and spare-ribs for roasting. Divide and salt the remainder thus: Mix well together the saltpetre, sugar, and bay-salt, and rub the pork gently with them in every part; cover the bottom of the pickling tub with salt, and pack in the pork as closely as possible, with a portion of the remaining salt between each layer. A very little water is sometimes sprinkled in to facilitate the dissolving of the salt into a brine, but this is always better avoided, and in damp weather will not be needed. If in a fortnight it should not have risen, so as almost entirely to cover the meat, boil a strong brine of salt, saltpetre, sugar, and bay-salt; let it remain until perfectly cold, and then pour it over the pork. A board, with a heavy stone weight upon it, should be kept upon the meat to force it down under the brine. In from three to four months it will be fit for table, and will be delicate and excellent pickled pork. The pickling parts of a porker of sixteen stone (Kentish weight, or nine stone two pounds of common weight, or fourteen pounds to the stone); common salt, 2 gallons; saltpetre, 2 lbs.; coarse sugar, 1 lb.: bay-salt, 2 lbs. FRENCH BACON FOR LARDING. Cut the bacon from the pig with as little lean to it as possible. Rub it well in every part with salt which has been dried, reduced to powder, and sifted; put the layers of bacon close against and upon each other, in a shallow wooden trough, and set in a cool, but not a damp cellar; add more salt all round the bacon, and lay a board, with a very heavy weight upon it. Let it remain for six weeks, then hang it up in a dry and airy place. Pork, 14 lbs.; salt, 14 oz.: 6 weeks. TO PICKLE CHEEKS OF BACON AND HAMS. One pound of common salt, one pound of the coarsest sugar, and one ounce of saltpetre, in fine powder, to each stone (fourteen pounds) of the meat will answer this purpose extremely well. An ounce of black pepper can be added, if liked, and when less sugar is preferred, the proportion can be diminished one half, and the quantity of salt as much increased. Bacon also may be cured by this receipt, or by the Bordyke one for hams. A month is sufficient time for the salting, unless the pork be very large, when five weeks must be allowed for a ham. The ingredients should be well mixed, and all applied at the same time. To each 14 lbs. of pork, salt, 1 lb.; coarse sugar, 1 lb.; saltpetre, 1 oz.; pepper (if used), 1 oz.: 4 to 5 weeks. MONSIEUR UDE’s RECEIPT, HAMS SUPERIOR TO WESTPHALIA. (_Excellent._) “Take the hams as soon as the pig is sufficiently cold to be cut up, rub them well with common salt, and leave them for three days to drain; throw away the brine, and for a couple of hams of from fifteen to eighteen pounds weight, mix together two ounces of saltpetre, a pound of coarse sugar, and a pound of common salt; rub the hams in every part with these, lay them into deep pickling-pans with the rind downwards, and keep them for three days well covered with the salt and sugar; then pour over them a bottle of good vinegar, and turn them in the brine, and baste them with it daily for a month; drain them well, rub them with bran, and let them be hung for a month high in a chimney over a wood-fire to be smoked.” Hams, of from 15 to 18 lbs. each, 2; to drain 3 days. Common salt, and coarse sugar, each 1 lb.; saltpetre, 2 oz.: 3 days. Vinegar, 1 bottle: 1 month. To be smoked 1 month. _Obs._—Such of our readers as shall make trial of this admirable receipt, will acknowledge, we doubt not, that the hams thus cured are in reality superior to those of Westphalia. It was originally given to the public by the celebrated French cook, Monsieur Ude. He directs that the hams when smoked should be hung as high as possible from the fire, that the fat may not be melted; a very necessary precaution, as the mode of their being cured renders it peculiarly liable to do so. This, indeed, is somewhat perceptible in the cooking, which ought, therefore, to be conducted with especial care. The hams should be very softly simmered,[84] and not _over_-done. They should be large, and of finely-fed pork, or the receipt will not answer. We give the result of our first trial of it, which was perfectly successful, the ham cured by it being of the finest possible flavour. Footnote 84: We have not had the trial made ourselves, but we think they would be even finer baked than boiled. Leg of Suffolk farm-house pork, 14 to 15 lbs.; saltpetre, 1-1/4 oz.; _strong_ coarse salt, 6 oz.; coarse sugar, 8 oz.: 3 days. Fine whitewine vinegar, 1 pint. In pickle, turned daily, 1 month. Smoked over wood, 1 month. _Obs._—“When two hams are pickled together, a smaller proportion of the ingredients is required for each, than for one which is cured by itself.” SUPER-EXCELLENT BACON. For several successive years, after first testing the above receipt, we had it adopted for curing bacon, with even more highly satisfactory results, as it was of incomparable flavour, and remained good for a great length of time, the vinegar preserving it entirely from becoming _rusted_. Well-fed pork of delicate size was always used for it, and excellent vinegar. The ingredients were added in the proportions given in the receipt for the Suffolk ham which preceeds this, and the same time was allowed for the salting and smoking. HAMS. (_Bordyke Receipt._) After the hams have been rubbed with salt, and well drained from the brine, according to our previous directions, take, for each fourteen pounds weight of the pork, one ounce of saltpetre in fine powder mixed with three ounces of very brown sugar; rub the meat in every part with these, and let it remain some hours, then cover it well with eight ounces of bay-salt, dried and pounded, and mixed with four ounces of common salt: in four days add one pound of treacle, and keep the hams turned daily, and well basted with the pickle for a month. Hang them up to drain for a night, fold them in brown paper, and send them to be smoked for a month. An ounce of ground black pepper is often mixed with the saltpetre in this receipt, and three ounces of bruised juniper-berries are rubbed on to the meat before the salt is added, when hams of a very high flavour are desired. Ham, 14 lbs.; saltpetre, 1 oz.; coarse sugar, 3 oz.: 8 to 12 hours. Bay-salt, 1/2 lb.; common salt, 4 oz.: 4 days. Treacle, 1 lb.: 1 month. To heighten flavour, black pepper, 1 oz; juniper-berries, 3 oz. TO BOIL A HAM. The degree of soaking which must be given to a ham before it is boiled, must depend both on the manner in which it has been cured, and on its age. If highly salted, hard, and old, a day and night, or even longer, may be requisite to dilate the pores sufficiently, and to extract a portion of the salt. To do either effectually the water must be several times changed during the steeping. We generally find hams cured by any of the receipts which we have given in this chapter quite enough soaked in twelve hours; and they are more frequently laid into water only early in the morning of the day on which they are boiled. Those pickled by Monsieur Ude’s receipt need much less steeping than any others. After the ham has been scraped, or brushed, as clean as possible, pare away lightly any part which, from being blackened or rusty, would disfigure it; though it is better _not_ to cut the flesh at all unless it be really requisite for the good appearance of the joint. Lay it into a ham-kettle, or into any other vessel of a similar form, and cover it plentifully with cold water; bring it _very slowly_ to boil, and clear off carefully the scum which will be thrown up in great abundance. So soon as the water has been cleared from this, draw back the pan quite to the edge of the stove, that the ham may be simmered softly but steadily, until it is tender. On no account allow it to boil fast. A bunch of herbs and three or four carrots, thrown in directly after the water has been skimmed, will improve it. When it can be probed very easily with a sharp skewer, or larding-pin, lift it out, strip off the skin, and should there be an oven at hand, set it in for a few minutes after having laid it on a drainer; strew fine raspings over it, or grate a hard-toasted crust, or sift upon it the prepared bread of Chapter V., unless it is to be glazed, when neither of these must be used. Small ham, 3-1/2 to 4 hours; moderate sized, 4 to 4-1/2 hours; very large, 5 to 5-1/2 hours. _Obs._—We have seen the following manner of boiling a ham recommended, but we have not tried it:—“Put into the water in which it is to be boiled, a quart of old cider and a pint of vinegar, a large bunch of sweet herbs, and a bay leaf. When it is two-thirds done, skin, cover it with raspings, and set it in an oven until it is done enough: it will prove incomparably superior to a ham boiled in the usual way.” TO GARNISH AND ORNAMENT HAMS IN VARIOUS WAYS. When a ham has been carefully and delicately boiled, the rind while it is still warm, may be carved in various fanciful shapes to decorate it; and a portion of it left round the knuckle in a semi-circular form of four or five inches deep, may at all times be easily scollopped at the edge or cut into points (_vandykes_). This, while preserving a character of complete simplicity for the dish, will give it an air of neatness and finish at a slight cost of time and trouble. A paper frill should be placed round the bone. The Germans cut the ham-rind after it has been stripped from the joint, into _small_ leaves and similar “prettinesses,”[85] and arrange them in a garland, or other approved device, upon its surface. In Ireland and elsewhere, bread evenly sliced, and stamped out with cutters much smaller than a fourpenny-piece, then carefully fried or coloured in the oven, is used to form designs upon hams after they are glazed. Large dice of clear firm savoury jelly form their most appropriate garnish, because they are intended _to be eaten with them_. For the manner of making this, and glaze also see Chapter IV. Footnote 85: This should be done with a confectionary or paste cutter. The ham shown in Plate V., which follows the directions for “Carving,” is of very good appearance; but in common English kitchens generally, even the degree of artistic skill required to form its decorations well, is not often to be met with. FRENCH RECEIPT FOR BOILING A HAM. After having soaked, thoroughly cleaned, and trimmed the ham, put over it a little very sweet clean hay, and tie it up in a thin cloth; place it in a ham kettle, a braising pan, or any other vessel as nearly of its size as can be, and cover it with two parts of cold water and one of light white wine (we think the reader will perhaps find _cider_ a good substitute for this); add, when it boils and has been skimmed, four or five carrots, two or three onions, a large bunch of savoury herbs, and the smallest bit of garlic. Let the whole simmer gently from four to five hours, or longer should the ham be very large. When perfectly tender, lift it out, take off the rind, and sprinkle over it some fine crumbs, or some raspings of bread mixed with a little finely minced parsley. _Obs._—Foreign cooks generally leave hams, braised joints, and various other prepared meats intended to be served cold, to cool down partially in the liquor in which they are cooked; and this renders them more succulent; but for small frugal families the plan does not altogether answer, because the moisture of the surface (which would evaporate quickly if they were taken out quite hot) prevents their keeping well for any length of time. The same objection exists to serving hams laid upon, or closely garnished with savoury jelly (_aspic_), which becomes much more quickly unfit for table than the hams themselves. These considerations, which may appear insignificant to some of our readers, will have weight with those who are compelled to regulate their expenses with economy. TO BAKE A HAM. Unless when too salt from not being sufficiently soaked, a ham (particularly a young and fresh one) eats much better baked than boiled, and remains longer good. The safer plan to ensure its being sufficiently steeped, is to lay it into plenty of cold water over night. The following day soak it for an hour or more in warm water, wash it delicately clean, trim smoothly off all rusty parts, and lay it with the rind downwards into a large common pie-dish; press an oiled paper closely over it, and then fasten securely to the edge of the dish a _thick_ cover of coarse paste; and send the ham to a moderate oven, of which the heat will be well sustained until it is baked. Or, when more convenient, lay the ham at once—rind downwards—on the paste, of which sufficient should be made, and rolled off to an inch in thickness, to completely envelope it. Press a sheet of oiled foolscap paper upon it; gather up the paste firmly all round, draw and pinch the edges together, and fold them over on the upper side of the ham, taking care to close them so that no gravy can escape. Send it to a well-heated, but not a fierce oven. A very small ham will require quite three hours baking, and a large one five. The crust and the skin must be removed while it is hot. When part only of a ham is dressed, this mode is better far than boiling it. TO BOIL BACON. When very highly salted and dried, it should be soaked for an hour before it is dressed. Scrape and wash it well, cover it plentifully with cold water, let it both heat and boil slowly, remove all the scum with care, and when a fork or skewer will penetrate the bacon easily lift it out, strip off the skin, and strew raspings of bread over the top, or grate upon it a hard-crust which has been toasted until it is crisp quite through; or should it be at hand, use for the purpose the bread recommended at page 103, then dry it a little before the fire, or set it for a few minutes into a gentle oven. Bacon requires long boiling, but the precise time depends upon its quality, the flesh of young porkers becoming tender much sooner than that of older ones; sometimes too, the manner in which the animal has been fed renders the meat hard, and it will then, unless thoroughly cooked, prove very indigestible. From ten to fifteen minutes less for the pound, must be allowed for unsmoked bacon, or for pickled pork. Smoked bacon (striped), 2 lbs., from 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 hour; unsmoked bacon or pork, 1 to 1-1/4 hour. _Obs._—The thickest part of a large side or flitch of bacon will require from twenty to thirty minutes longer boiling than the thinner side. BACON BROILED OR FRIED. Cut it evenly in thin slices or _rashers_, as they are generally called, pare from them all rind and rust, curl them round, fasten them with small slight skewers, then fry, broil, or toast them in a Dutch oven; draw out the skewers before they are sent to table. A few minutes will dress them either way. They may also be cooked without being curled. The rind should always be taken off, and the bacon gently toasted, grilled, or fried, that it may be well done without being too much dried or hardened: it should be cut _thin_. DRESSED RASHERS OF BACON. Slice rather thicker than for frying some cold boiled bacon, and strew it lightly on both sides with fine raspings of bread, or with a grated crust which has been very slowly and gradually toasted until brown quite through. Toast or warm the rashers in a Dutch oven, and serve them with veal cutlets, or any other delicate meat. The bacon thus dressed is much more delicate than when broiled or fried without the previous boiling. 4 to 5 minutes. TONBRIDGE BRAWN. Split open the head of a pig of middling size, remove the brain and all the bones, strew the inside rather thickly with fine salt, and let it drain until the following day. Cleanse the ears and feet in the same manner: wipe them all from the brine, lay them into a large pan, and rub them well with an ounce and a half of saltpetre mixed with six ounces of sugar; in twelve hours, add six ounces of salt; the next day pour a quarter of a pint of good vinegar over them, and keep them turned in the pickle every twenty-four hours for a week; then wash it off the ears and feet, and boil them for about an hour and a half; bone the feet while they are warm, and trim the gristle from the large ends of the ears. When these are ready, mix a large grated nutmeg with a teaspoonful and a half of mace, half a teaspoonful of cayenne, and as much of cloves. Wash, but do not soak the head; wipe and flatten it on a board; cut some of the flesh from the thickest parts, and (when the whole of the meat has been seasoned equally with the spices) lay it on the thinnest; intermix it with that of the ears and feet, roll it up very tight, and bind it firmly with broad tape; fold a thin pudding-cloth quite closely round it, and tie it securely at both ends. A braising-pan, from its form, is best adapted for boiling it, but if there be not one at hand, place the head in a vessel adapted to its size, with the bones and trimmings of the feet and ears, a large bunch of savoury herbs, two moderate-sized onions, a small head of celery, three or four carrots, a teaspoonful of peppercorns, and sufficient cold water to cover it well; boil it very gently for four hours, and leave it until two parts cold in the liquor in which it was boiled. Take off the cloth, and put the brawn between two dishes or trenchers, with a heavy weight on the upper one. The next day take off the fillets of tape, and serve the head whole or sliced with the brawn sauce of Chapter VI. ITALIAN PORK CHEESE. Chop, not very fine, one pound of lean pork with two pounds of the inside fat; strew over, and mix thoroughly with them three teaspoonsful of salt, nearly half as much pepper, a half-tablespoonful of mixed parsley, thyme, and sage (and sweet-basil, if it can be procured), all minced extremely small. Press the meat closely and evenly into a shallow tin,—such as are used for Yorkshire puddings will answer well,—and bake it in a very gentle oven from an hour to an hour and a half: it is served cold in slices. Should the proportion of fat be considered too much, it can be diminished on a second trial. Minced mushrooms or truffles may be added with very good effect to all meat cakes, or compositions of this kind. Lean of pork, 1 lb.; fat, 2 lbs.; salt, 3 teaspoonsful; pepper, 1-1/2 teaspoonful; mace, 1/2 teaspoonful; nutmeg, 1 small; mixed herbs, 1 large tablespoonful: 1 to 1-1/2 hour. SAUSAGE-MEAT CAKE, OR, PAIN DE PORC FRAIS. Season very highly from two to three pounds of good sausage-meat, both with spices and with sage, or with thyme and parsley, if these be preferred; press the mixture into a pan, and proceed exactly as for the veal-cake of Chapter XI. A few minced eschalots can be mixed with the meat for those who like their flavour. SAUSAGES. Common farm-house sausages are made with nearly equal parts of fat and lean pork, coarsely chopped, and seasoned with salt and pepper only. They are put into skins (which have previously been turned inside out, scraped very thin, washed with extreme nicety, and wiped very dry), then twisted into links, and should be hung in a cool airy larder, when they will remain good for some time. Odd scraps and trimmings of pork are usually taken for sausage-meat when the pig is killed and cut up at home; but the chine and blade-bone are preferred in general for the purpose. The pork rinds, as we have already stated,[86] will make a strong and almost flavourless jelly, which may be used with excellent effect for stock, and which, with the addition of some pork-bones, plenty of vegetables, and some dried peas, will make a very nutritious soup for those who do not object to the pork-flavour which the bones will give. Half an ounce of salt, and nearly or quite a quarter of an ounce of pepper will sufficiently season each pound of the sausage-meat. Footnote 86: See _Soupe des Galles_, Chapter I. KENTISH SAUSAGE-MEAT. To three pounds of lean pork, add two of fat, and let both be taken clear of skin. As sausages are lighter, though not so delicate, when the meat is somewhat coarsely chopped, this difference should be attended to in making them. When the fat and lean are partially mixed, strew over them two ounces and a half of dry salt, beaten to powder, and mixed with one ounce of ground black pepper, and three large tablespoonsful of sage, very finely minced. Turn the meat with the chopping-knife, until the ingredients are well blended. Test it before it is taken off the block, by frying a small portion, that if more seasoning be desired, it may at once be added. A full-sized nutmeg and a small dessertspoonsful of pounded mace, would, to many tastes, improve it. This sausage-meat is usually formed into cakes, which, after being well floured, are roasted in a Dutch oven. They must be watched, and often turned, that no part may be scorched. The meat may also be put into skins, and dressed in any other way. Lean of pork, 3 lbs.; fat, 2 lbs.; salt, 2-1/2 oz.; pepper, 1 oz,; minced sage, 3 large tablespoonsful. EXCELLENT SAUSAGES. Chop, first separately, and then together, one pound and a quarter of veal, perfectly free from fat, skin, and sinew, with an equal weight of lean pork, and of the inside fat of the pig. Mix well, and strew over the meat an ounce and a quarter of salt, half an ounce of pepper, one nutmeg grated, and a _large_ teaspoonful of pounded mace. Turn, and chop the sausages until they are equally seasoned throughout, and tolerably fine; press them into a clean pan, and keep them in a very cool place. Form them, when wanted for table, into cakes something less than an inch thick; and flour and fry them then for about ten minutes in a little butter, or roast them in a Dutch or American oven. Lean of veal and pork, of each 1 lb. 4 oz.; fat of pork, 1 lb. 4 oz., salt, 1-1/4 oz.; pepper, 1/2 oz.; nutmeg, 1; mace, 1 _large_ teaspoonful, fried in cakes, 10 minutes. POUNDED SAUSAGE-MEAT. (_Very good._) Take from the best end of a neck of veal, or from the fillet or loin, a couple or more pounds of flesh without any intermixture of fat or skin; chop it small, and pound it thoroughly in a large mortar, with half its weight of the inside, or leaf-fat, of a pig; proportion salt and spice to it by the preceding receipt, form it into cakes, and fry it as above. BOILED SAUSAGES. (ENTRÉE.) In Lincolnshire, sausages are frequently boiled in the skins, and served upon a toast, as a corner dish. They should be put into boiling water, and simmered from seven to ten minutes, according to their size. SAUSAGES AND CHESTNUTS. (ENTRÉE.) _An excellent dish._ (_French._) Roast, and take the husk and skin from forty fine Spanish chestnuts; fry gently, in a morsel of butter, six small flat oval cakes of fine sausage-meat, and when they are well browned, lift them out and pour into a saucepan, which should be bright in the inside, the greater part of the fat in which they have been fried; mix with it a large teaspoonful of flour, and stir these over the fire till they are well and equally browned; then pour in by degrees nearly half a pint of strong beef or veal broth, or gravy, and two glasses of good white wine; add a _small_ bunch of savoury herbs, and as much salt and pepper, or cayenne, as will season the whole properly; give it a boil, lay in the sausages round the pan, and the chestnuts in the centre; stew them _very_ softly for nearly an hour; take out the herbs, dish the sausages neatly, and heap the chestnuts in the centre, strain the sauce over them and serve them very hot. There should be no sage mixed with the pork to dress thus. Chestnuts roasted, 40; sausages, 6; gravy, nearly 1/2 pint; sherry or Madeira, 2 wineglassesful: stewed together from 50 to 60 minutes. TRUFFLED SAUSAGES. (_Saucisses aux Truffes._) With two pounds of the lean of young tender pork, mix one pound of fat, a quarter of a pound of truffles, minced very small, an ounce and a half of salt, a seasoning of cayenne, or quite half an ounce of white pepper, a nutmeg, a teaspoonful of freshly pounded mace, and a dessertspoonful or more of savoury herbs dried and reduced to powder. Test a morsel of the mixture; heighten any of the seasonings to the taste; and put the meat into delicately clean skins: if it be for immediate use, and the addition is liked, moisten it, before it is dressed, with one or two glassesful of Madeira. The substitution of a clove of garlic for the truffles, will convert these into _Saucisses a l’ Ail_, or garlic sausages. ------------------------------------------------------------------------