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Boned Pig's Head in Jelly

The head should be corned in the same kind of pickle as corned beef, but only lie in it 2 or 3 days.

Bone the head before salting. It should be the head of a butcher's porker, not a fat bacon hog. Saw it in halves and cut the meat close to the bone. It is handier to slice made up in two halves than one whole head. You want besides: 4 pounds of sausage meat from the butcher's. 2 corned red tongues, or 4 if pigs' tongues. 2 pounds of fat salt pork.

Take the two halves of the head from the brine, wash in cold water, trim off any discolored portions, take off the ears-they can be thrown in the boiler separate-then laying the head skin downwards slice off some of the meat from the thick parts and lay over the thin. Spread some sausage meat over; cut the tongues and fat pork in strips and lay them on the sausage crosswise of the head. Cover the strips with the rest of the sausage meat. Roll up the two halves tightly, beginning with the snout, which is to be in the middle of the roll, and the rolls to be of even thickness from one end to the other and evenly mixed, the lean with the fat, so as to slice all alike and no waster. Roll up in clean white pudding cloths, sew or tie securely. Boil from 4 to 6 hours in a boiler that will hold six gallons of water, and put in with the head some soup vegetables and sage, and pepper and salt. When done press them in shape like any other galantine; there is no better shape than the long and narrow sinks of the steam chest. Some cheaper tins made like them should be kept on hand for such purposes.

The liquor in which the head has boiled 5 hours will be a strong jelly when cold, without the addition of gelatine.

The cloth wrapping for galantines and pig's heads that comes the nearest to absolute purity is a piece of well-worn white linen tablecloth such as the housekeeper generally can supply. The many bleachings it has had have freed it from the taste of new cloth. It should be washed in clear water and kept white and dry for such uses.

Take off the grease and clarify the jelly in the same way as directed for aspic, and then use it to coat the boned pig's heads in their moulds by the same method as boned turkeys.

They are adapted either to be set on the table whole or sliced with the jelly surrounding for individual dishes-their chief merit being, they are always declared to be good eating.