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Hints About Marketing (Steaks are the most economical)

steaks are the most economical, but in large steaks, the coarse and tough parts may be used for soup, or, after boiling, for hash, which, in spite of its bad repute, is really a very nice dish when well made. A round steak, when the leg is not cut down too far, is sweet and juicy, the objection being its toughness, to cancel which it may be chopped fine, seasoned, and made into breakfast croquettes. There is no waste in it, and hence it is the most economical to buy. The interior portion of the round is the tenderest and best. Porterhouse is cheaper than sirloin, having less bone, Rump steak and round, if well pounded to make them tender, have the best flavor. The best beef for a la mode is the round; have the bone removed and trim off all the gristle. For corned beef, the round is also the best. The roasting pieces are the sirloin and the ribs, the latter being most economical at the family table, the bones forming an excellent basis for soup, and the meat, when boned and rolled up (which should be done by the butcher), and roasted, being in good form for the carver, as it enables him to distribute equally the upper part with the fatter and more skinny portions. A roast served in this way, if cooked rare, may be cooked a second or even a third time. The best beef roast is (for three) about two and a half or three pounds of porterhouse. Two or three pounds is a great plenty for three. There are roasts and other meats equally good in the fore-quarter of beef, but the proportion of bone to meat is greater.

VEAL is best from calves not less than four nor more than six weeks old. If younger it is unfit for food, and if older the mother cow does not furnish. nough food, and it is apt to fall away; besides, the change to grass diet changes the character of the flesh, it becoming darker and less juicy. The meat should be clear and firm, and the fat white. If dark and thin, with tissues hanging loosely about the bone, it is not good. Veal will not keep so long as an older meat, especially in hot or damp weather, and when going the fat is soft and moist, the meat flabby and spotted, and inclined to be porous like a sponge. The hind-quarter is the choicest joint. It is usually divided into two parts, called the "loin" and the "leg." When the leg is large, it is divided into two joints, and the thin end is called the "kidney end," and the other the "thick end." From the leg is cut the "fillet" and "veal cutlets." The "knuckle of veal" is the part left after the "fillets" and "cutlets" are removed. Many prefer the "breast of veal" for roasting, stewing, pies, etc. It may be boned so as to roll, or a large hole may be cut in it to make room for the stuffing. The neck of veal is used for stewing, fricassee, pies, etc. Veal chops are best for frying; cutlets are more apt to be tough. Veal should be avoided in summer. Though veal and lamb contain less nutrition, in proportion to their weight, than beef and mutton, they are often preferred to these latter meats on account of the delicacy of their texture and flavor.

SWEET-BREADS, if properly cooked, make one of the most delicate dishes that can be put upon the table; but some care must be taken in selecting them, as there are two kinds, and it is only one kind that is very good. That one is found in the throat of the calf, and when fresh and in perfection it is plump, white and fat. The other, which does very well for croquettes, or any dish where it may be chopped, lies below the diaphragm, and is really the pancreas. However the sweet-breads may be cooked, they should be always first soaked for three hours in cold water, which should be two or three times changed; then they should be put into boiling water for half an hour or longer, if that does not make them firm; then they may be dried in a towel, and pressed flat by putting them between two pans or boards, with a pressing-iron or other weight on top. MUTTON should be fat, and the fat clear, hard and white. Beware of buying mutton with flabby, lean and yellow fat. An abundance of fat is a source of waste, but as the lean part of fat mutton is much more juicy and tender than any other, it should be chosen. The longer mutton is hung before being cooked, provided it does not become tainted, the better it is.