The Dixie Cook-Book

“The best is none too good.” Southern family receipts gathered across generations and printed in Atlanta in 1883 — and, in the same volume, everything else a household was expected to know: the laundry, the sick-room, dressmaking, babies, and a year's bill of fare.

HomeHousehold Conveniences › Game and Poultry (If a saddle or haunch)

Game and Poultry (If a saddle or haunch)

If a saddle or haunch of mutton is washed with vinegar every day, and dried thoroughly after each washing, it will keep a good while. In warm weather pepper and ground ginger rubbed over it will keep off flies . The leg has the least fat in proportion to weight, next is the shoulder. The least proportion of bone is in the leg. After the butcher has cut off all he can be persuaded to remove, you will still have to trim it freely before broiling. The lean of mutton is quite different from that of beef. While beef is a beef is a bright carnation, mutton is a deep, dark red. The hind-quarter of mutton is best for roasting. The ribs may be used for chops, and are the sweeter; but the leg chops are the most economical, as there is much less bone, and no hard meat, as on the ribs. For mutton roast, choose the shoulder, the saddle, or the loin or haunch. The leg should be boiled. Small rib chops are best for broiling; those cut out from the leg are generally tough. Mutton cutlets to bake are taken from the neck. Almost any part will do for broth. As much of the fat should be removed as practicable; then cut into small pieces and simmered slowly until the meat falls to pieces. Drain off and skim off any remaining fat, and thicken with rice or vermicelli. Mutton is in season at any time, but is not so good in autumn. TONGUE.-Beef's tongue, calf's tongue, lamb's and sheep's tongue, pig's tongue, can all be procured of the butchers, and they are all prepared in the same way. Calf's tongue is considered best, but it is usually sold with the head; beeve's tongues are what is referred to generally when "tongue" is spoken of. Lamb's tongues are very nice. In purchasing tongues, choose those which are thick, firm, and have plenty of fat on the under side. TO SELECT HAMS.-The best hams, whether corned or cured and smoked, are those from eight to fifteen pounds in weight, having a thin skin, solid fat, and a small, short, tapering leg or shank. In selecting them, run a knife along the bone on the fleshy side; if it comes out clean the ham is good, but if the knife is smeared it is spoiled. Hams may be steamed, being careful to keep the water under the steamer boiling, and allow twenty minutes to the pound. When done, brown slightly in the oven.

PORK. Great care must be taken in selecting pork. If ill-fed or diseased, no meat is more injurious to the health. The lean must be fine-grained, and both fat and lean very white. The rind should be smooth and cool to the touch. If clammy, be sure the pork is stale, and reject it. If the fat is full of small kernels, it is an indication of disease. In good bacon the rind is thin, the fat firm, and the lean tender. Rusty bacon has yellow streaks in it. Fresh pork should seldom be eaten, and never except in the fall and winter. LAMB is good at a year old, and more digestible than most immature meats. "Spring Lamb" is prized because unseasonable. It is much inferior to the best mutton. The meat should be light red and fat. If not too warm weather, it ought to be kept a day or two before cooking, but it does not keep well. It is stringy and indigestible if cooked too soona fter killing. The fore-quarter of lamb, if not fresh, the large vein in the neck, which should be blue, will be greenish in color. If the hind-quarter is stale, the kidney-fat will have a slight smell.

← Hints About Marketing (Steaks are the most economical)Game and Poultry (To preserve game and poultry) →