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The Whitehouse Cookbook (1887) written by Mrs. F.L. Gillette

M >> Mrs. F.L. Gillette >> The Whitehouse Cookbook (1887)





TO BROIL THE FORE-QUARTER OF LAMB.

Take off the shoulder and lay it upon the gridiron with the breast;
cut in two parts, to facilitate its cooking; put a tin sheet on top of
the meat, and a weight upon that; turn the meat around frequently to
prevent its burning; turn over as soon as cooked on one side; renew
the coals occasionally, that all parts may cook alike; when done,
season with butter, pepper and salt--exactly like beefsteak. It takes
some time to broil it well; but when done it will be found to be equal
to broiled chicken, the flavor being more delicate than when cooked
otherwise. Serve with cream sauce, made as follows: Heat a
tablespoonful of butter in a saucepan, add a teaspoonful of flour and
stir until perfectly smooth; then add, slowly stirring in, a cup of
cold milk; let it boil up once, and season to taste with salt and
pepper and a teaspoonful of finely chopped fresh parsley. Serve in a
gravy boat, all hot.


LAMB STEW.

Cut up the lamb into small pieces (after removing all the fat) say
about two inches square. Wash it well and put it over the fire, with
just enough cold water to cover it well, and let it heat gradually. It
should stew gently until it is partly done; then add a few thin slices
of salt pork, one or two onions sliced up fine, some pepper and salt
if needed, and two or three raw potatoes cut up into inch pieces.
Cover it closely and stew until the meat is tender. Drop in a few made
dumplings, made like short biscuit, cut out _very_ small. Cook fifteen
minutes longer. Thicken the gravy with a little flour moistened with
milk. Serve.


PRESSED LAMB.

The meat, either shoulder or leg, should be put to boil in the morning
with water just enough to cover it; when tender, season with salt and
pepper, then keep it over the fire until _very_ tender and the juice
nearly boiled out. Remove it from the fire-place in a wooden chopping
bowl, season more if necessary, chop it up like hash. Place it in a
bread-pan, press out all the juice, and put it in a cool place to
harden. The pressing is generally done by placing a dish over the meat
and putting a flat-iron upon that. Nice cut up cold into thin slices,
and the broth left from the meat would make a nice soup served with
it, adding vegetables and spices.


CROQUETTES OF ODDS AND ENDS.


These are made of any scraps or bits of good food that happen to be
left from one or more meals, and in such small quantities that they
cannot be warmed up separately. As, for example, a couple of spoonfuls
of frizzled beef and cream, the lean meat of one mutton chop, one
spoonful of minced beef, two cold hard-boiled eggs, a little cold
chopped potato, a little mashed potato, a chick's leg, all the gristle
and hard outside taken from the meat. These things well chopped and
seasoned, mixed with one raw egg, a little flour and butter, and
boiling water; then made into round cakes, thick like fish-balls and
browned well with butter in a frying pan or on a griddle.

Scraps of hash, cold rice, boiled oatmeal left from breakfast, every
kind of fresh meat, bits of salt tongue, bacon, pork or ham, bits of
poultry, and crumbs of bread may be used. They should be put together
with care, so as not to have them too dry to be palatable, or too
moist to cook in shape. Most housekeepers would be surprised at the
result, making an addition to the breakfast or lunch table. Serve on
small squares of buttered toast, and with cold celery if in season.


PORK.

The best parts, and those usually used for roasting, are the loin, the
leg, the shoulder, the sparerib and chine. The hams, shoulders and
middlings are usually salted, pickled and smoked. Pork requires more
thorough cooking than most meats; if the least underdone it is
unwholesome.

To choose pork: If the rind is thick and tough, and cannot be easily
impressed with the finger, it is old; when fresh, it will look cool
and smooth, and only corn-fed pork is good; swill or still-fed pork is
unfit to cure. Fresh pork is in season from October to April. When
dressing or stuffing is used, there are more or less herbs used for
seasoning--sage, summer savory, thyme and sweet marjoram; these can be
found (in the dried, pulverized form, put up in small, light packages)
at most of the best druggists; still those raised and gathered at home
are considered more fresh.


ROAST PIG.

Prepare your dressing as for DRESSING FOR FOWLS, adding half an onion,
chopped fine; set it inside. Take a young pig about six weeks old,
wash it thoroughly inside and outside; and in another water put a
teaspoonful of baking soda, and rinse out the inside again; wipe it
dry with a fresh towel, salt the inside and stuff it with the prepared
dressing; making it full and plump, giving it its original size and
shape. Sew it up, place it in a kneeling posture in the dripping-pan,
tying the legs in proper position. Pour a little hot salted water into
the dripping-pan, baste with butter and water a few times as the pig
warms, afterwards with gravy from the dripping-pan. When it begins to
smoke all over rub it often with a rag dipped in melted butter. This
will keep the skin from cracking and it still will be crisp. It will
take from two to three hours to roast. Make the gravy by skimming off
most of the grease; stir into that remaining in the pan a good
tablespoonful of flour, turn in water to make it the right
consistency, season with pepper and let all boil up once. Strain, and
if you like wine in it, add half a glass; turn it into a gravy boat.
Place the pig upon a large, hot platter, surrounded with parsley or
celery tops; place a green wreath around the neck, and a sprig of
celery in its mouth. In carving, cut off its head first; split down
the back, take off its hams and shoulders, and separate the ribs.


ROAST LOIN OF PORK.

Score the skin in strips about a quarter of an inch apart; place it in
a dripping-pan with a _very little_ water under it; cook it moderately
at first, as a high heat hardens the rind before the meat is heated
through. If it is very lean, it should be rubbed with fresh lard or
butter when put into the pan. A stuffing might be made of bread
crumbs, chopped sage and onions, pepper and salt, and baked separately
on a pie dish; this method is better than putting it in the meat, as
many persons have a great aversion to its flavor. A loin weighing
about six pounds will roast in two hours; allow more time if it should
be very fat. Make a gravy with flour stirred into the pork drippings.
Serve with apple sauce and pickles.


ROAST LEG OF PORK.

Choose a small leg of fine young pork; cut a slit in the knuckle with
a sharp knife, and fill the space with sage and onion chopped, and a
little pepper and salt. When half done, score the skin in slices, but
do not cut deeper than the outer rind. Apple sauce and potatoes should
be served with it. The gravy is to be made the same way as for beef
roast, by turning off all the superfluous fat and adding a spoonful of
flour stirred with a little water; add water to make the right
consistency. Serve in a gravy boat.


BOILED LEG OF PORK.

For boiling, choose a small, compact, well-filled leg, and rub it well
with salt; let it remain in pickle for a week or ten days, turning and
rubbing it every day. An hour before dressing it put it into cold
water for an hour, which improves the color. If the pork is purchased
ready salted, ascertain how long the meat has been in pickle and soak
it accordingly. Put it into a boiling-pot, with sufficient cold water
to cover it, let it gradually come to a boil, and remove the scum as
it rises. Simmer it very gently until tender, and do not allow it to
boil fast, or the knuckle will fall to pieces before the middle of the
leg is done. Carrots, turnips or parsnips may be boiled with the pork,
some of which should be laid around the dish as a garnish.

_Time._--A leg of pork weighing eight pounds, three hours after the
water boils, and to be simmered very gently.


FRESH PORK POT-PIE.

Boil a sparerib, after removing all the fat and cracking the bones,
until tender; remove the scum as it rises, and when tender season with
salt and pepper; half an hour before time for serving the dinner
thicken the gravy with a little flour. Have ready another kettle, into
which remove all the bones and most of the gravy, leaving only
sufficient to cover the pot half an inch above the rim that rests on
the stove; put in the crust, cover tight, and boil steadily forty-five
minutes. To prepare the crust, work into light dough a _small_ bit of
butter, roll it out thin, cut it in small, square cakes, and lay them
on the moulding-board until very light. No steam should possibly
escape while the crust is cooking, and by no means allow the pot to
cease boiling.


ROAST SPARERIB.

Trim off the rough ends neatly, crack the ribs across the middle, rub
with salt and sprinkle with pepper, fold over, stuff with turkey
dressing, sew up tightly, place in a dripping-pan with a pint of
water, baste frequently, turning over once so as to bake both sides
equally until a rich brown.


PORK TENDERLOINS.

The tenderloins are unlike any other part of the pork in flavor. They
may be either fried or broiled; the latter being drier, require to be
well-buttered before serving, which should be done on a hot platter
before the butter becomes oily. Fry them in a little lard, turning
them to have them cooked through; when done, remove, and keep hot
while making a gravy by dredging a little flour into the hot fat; if
not enough add a little butter or lard, stir until browned, and add a
little milk or cream, stir briskly, and pour over the dish. A little
Worcestershire sauce may be added to the gravy if desired.


PORK CUTLETS.

Cut them from the leg, and remove the skin; trim them and beat them,
and sprinkle on salt and pepper. Prepare some beaten egg in a pan, and
on a flat dish a mixture of bread crumbs, minced onion and sage. Put
some lard or drippings into a frying pan over the fire, and when it
boils put in the cutlets, having dipped every one first in the egg,
and then in the seasoning. Fry them twenty or thirty minutes, turning
them often. After you have taken them out of the frying pan, skim the
gravy, dredge in a little flour, give it one boil, and then pour it on
the dish round the cutlets.

Have apple sauce to eat with them.

Pork cutlets prepared in this manner may be stewed instead of being
fried. Add to them a little water, and stew them slowly till
thoroughly done, keeping them closely covered, except when you remove
the lid to skim them.


PORK CHOPS AND FRIED APPLES.

Season the chops with salt and pepper and a little powdered sage; dip
them into bread crumbs. Fry about twenty minutes or until they are
done. Put them on a hot dish; pour off part of the gravy into another
pan to make a gravy to serve with them, if you choose. Then fry apples
which you have sliced about two-thirds of an inch thick, cutting them
around the apple so that the core is in the centre of each piece;
then cut out the core. When they are browned on one side and partly
cooked, turn them carefully with a pancake turner, and finish cooking;
dish around the chops or on a separate dish.


FRIED PORK CHOPS.

Fry them the same as mutton chops. If a sausage flavor is liked,
sprinkle over them a little powdered sage or summer savory, pepper and
salt, and if a gravy is liked, skim off some of the fat in the pan and
stir in a spoonful of flour; stir it until free from lumps, then
season with pepper and salt and turn in a pint of sweet milk. Boil up
and serve in a gravy boat.


PORK PIE.

Make a good plain paste. Take from two and a half to three pounds of
the thick ends of a loin of pork, with very little fat on it; cut into
very thin slices three inches long by two inches wide; put a layer at
the bottom of a pie-dish. Wash and chop finely a handful of parsley,
also an onion. Sprinkle a small portion of these over the pork, and a
little pepper and salt. Add another layer of pork, and over that some
more of the seasoning, only be sparing of the nutmeg. Continue this
till the dish is full. Now pour into the dish a cupful of stock or
water, and a spoonful or two of catsup. Put a little paste around the
edge of the dish; put on the cover and place the pie in a rather hot
oven. When the paste has risen and begins to take color, place the pie
at the bottom of the oven, with some paper over it, as it will require
to be baked at least two hours. Some prefer to cook the meat until
partly done, before putting into the crust.

_Palmer House, Chicago_.


PORK POT-PIE.

Take pieces of ribs of lean salt pork, also a slice or two of the fat
of salt pork; scald it well with hot water so as to wash out the briny
taste. Put it into a kettle and cover it with cold water, enough for
the required want. Cover it and boil an hour, season with pepper; then
add half a dozen potatoes cut into quarters. When it all commences to
boil again, drop in dumplings made from this recipe:--

One pint of sour or buttermilk, two eggs, well beaten, a teaspoonful
of salt, a level teaspoonful of soda; dissolve in a spoonful of water
as much flour as will make a very stiff batter. Drop this into the
kettle or broth by spoonfuls, and cook forty minutes, closely covered.


PORK AND BEANS. (Baked.)

Take two quarts of white beans, pick them over the night before, put
to soak in cold water; in the morning put them in fresh water and let
them scald, then turn off the water and put on more, hot; put to cook
with them a piece of salt pork, gashed, as much as would make five or
six slices; boil slowly till soft (not mashed), then add a
tablespoonful of molasses, half a teaspoonful of soda, stir in well,
put in a deep pan, and bake one hour and a half. If you do not like to
use pork, salt the beans when boiling, and add a lump of butter when
preparing them for the oven.


BOSTON PORK AND BEANS.

Pick over carefully a quart of small, white beans; let them soak over
night in cold water; in the morning wash and drain in another water.
Put on to boil in plenty of cold water with a piece of soda the size
of a bean; let them come to a boil, then drain again, cover with water
once more, and boil them fifteen minutes, or until the skin of the
beans will crack when taken out and blown upon. Drain the beans again,
put them into an earthen pot, adding a tablespoonful of salt; cover
with hot water, place in the centre a pound of salt pork, first
scalding it with hot water, and scoring the rind across the top, a
quarter of an inch apart to indicate where the slices are to be cut.
Place the pot in the oven, and bake six hours or longer. Keep the oven
a moderate heat; add hot water from the tea-kettle as needed, on
account of evaporation, to keep the beans moist. When the meat becomes
crisp and looks cooked, remove it, as too long baking the pork
destroys its solidity.


FRIED SALT PORK.

Cut in thin slices, and freshen in cold water, roll in flour, and fry
crisp. If required quickly pour boiling water over the slices, let
stand a few minutes, drain and roll in flour as before; drain off most
of the grease from the frying pan; stir in while hot one or two
tablespoonfuls of flour, about half a pint of milk, a little pepper,
and salt if over freshened; let it boil, and pour into a gravy dish. A
teaspoonful of finely-chopped parsley will add pleasantly to the
appearance of the gravy.


GRILLED SALT PORK.

Take quite thin slices of the thick part of side pork, of a clear
white, and thinly streaked with lean; hold one on a toasting fork
before a brisk fire to grill; have at hand a dish of cold water, in
which immerse it frequently while cooking, to remove the superfluous
fat and render it more delicate. Put each slice as cooked in a warm
covered pan; when all are done, serve hot.


FRIED HAM AND EGGS.

Cut slices of ham quite thin, cut off the rind or skin, put them into
a hot frying pan, turning them often until crisp, taking care not to
burn the slices; three minutes will cook them well. Dish them on a hot
platter; then turn off the top of the grease, rinse out the pan, and
put back the clear grease to fry the eggs. Break the eggs separately
in a saucer, that in case a bad one should be among them it may not
mix with the rest. Slip each egg gently into the frying pan. Do not
turn them while they are frying, put keep pouring some of the hot lard
over them with a kitchen spoon; this will do them sufficiently on the
upper side. They will be done enough in about three minutes; the white
must retain its transparency so that the yolk will be seen through it.
When done take them up with a tin slice; drain off the lard, and if
any part of the white is discolored or ragged, trim it off. Lay a
fried egg upon each slice of the ham, and send to table hot.


COLD BACON AND EGGS.

An economical way of using bacon and eggs that have been left from a
previous meal is to put them in a wooden bowl and chop them quite
fine, adding a little mashed or cold chopped potato, and a little
bacon gravy, if any was left. Mix and mould it into little balls, roll
in raw egg and cracker crumbs, and fry in a spider the same as frying
eggs; fry a light brown on both sides. Serve hot. Very appetizing.


SCRAPPEL.

Scrappel is a most palatable dish. Take the head, heart and any lean
scraps of pork, and boil until the flesh slips easily from the bones.
Remove the fat, gristle and bones, then chop fine. Set the liquor in
which the meat was boiled aside until cold, take the cake of fat from
the surface and return to the fire. When it boils put in the chopped
meat and season well with pepper and salt. Let it boil again, then
thicken with corn meal as you would in making ordinary corn meal mush,
by letting it slip through the fingers slowly to prevent lumps. Cook
an hour, stirring constantly at first, afterwards putting back on the
range in a position to boil gently. When done, pour into a long,
square pan, not too deep, and mould. In cold weather this can be kept
several weeks. Cut into slices when cold, and fried brown, as you do
mush, is a cheap and delicious breakfast dish.


TO BAKE A HAM. (Corned.)

Take a medium-sized ham and place it to soak for ten or twelve hours.
Then cut away the rusty part from underneath, wipe it dry, and cover
it rather thickly over with a paste made of flour and water. Put it
into an earthen dish, and set it in a moderately heated oven. When
done, take off the crust carefully, and peel off the skin, put a frill
of cut paper around the knuckle, and raspings of bread over the fat of
the ham, or serve it glazed and garnished with cut vegetables. It will
take about four or five hours to bake it.

Cooked in this way the flavor is much finer than when boiled.


PIGS' FEET PICKLED.

Take twelve pigs' feet, scrape and wash them clean, put them into a
saucepan with enough hot (not boiling) water to cover them. When
partly done, salt them. It requires four to five hours to boil them
soft. Pack them in a stone crock, and pour over them spiced vinegar
made hot. They will be ready to use in a day or two. If you wish them
for breakfast, split them, make a batter of two eggs, a cup of milk,
salt, a teaspoonful of butter, with flour enough to make a thick
batter; dip each piece in this and fry in hot lard. Or, dip them in
beaten egg and flour and fry. Souse is good eaten cold or warm.


BOILED HAM.

First remove all dust and mold by wiping with a coarse cloth; soak it
for an hour in cold water, then wash it thoroughly. Cut with a sharp
knife the hardened surface from the base and butt of the ham. Place it
over the fire in _cold_ water, and let it come to a moderate boil,
keeping it steadily at this point, allowing it to cook twenty minutes
for every pound of meat. A ham weighing twelve pounds will require
four hours to cook properly, as underdone ham is very unwholesome.
When the ham is to be served hot, remove the skin by pealing it off,
place it on a platter, the fat side up, and dot the surface with spots
of black pepper. Stick in also some whole cloves.

If the ham is to be served cold, allow it to remain in the pot until
the water in which it was cooked becomes cold. This makes it more
juicy. Serve it in the same manner as when served hot.


BROILED HAM.

Cut your ham into thin slices, which should be a little less than one
quarter of an inch thick. Trim very closely the skin from the upper
side of each slice, and also trim off the outer edge where the smoke
has hardened the meat. If the ham is very salt lay it in _cold_ water
for one hour before cooking, then wipe with a dry cloth. Never soak
ham in tepid or hot water, as it will toughen the meat.

Broil over a brisk fire, turning the slices constantly. It will
require about five minutes, and should be served the last thing
directly from the gridiron, placed on a warm platter, with a little
butter and a sprinkle of pepper on the top of each slice. If ham or
bacon is allowed to stand by the fire after it has been broiled or
fried, it will speedily toughen, loosing all its grateful juices.

Cold boiled ham is very nice for broiling, and many prefer it to using
the raw ham.


POTTED HAM.

To TWO pounds of lean ham allow one pound of fat, two teaspoonfuls of
powdered mace, half a nutmeg, grated, rather more than half a
teaspoonful of cayenne.

_Mode._--Mince the ham, fat and lean together, in the above
proportion, and pound it well in a mortar, seasoning it with cayenne
pepper, pounded mace and nutmeg; put the mixture into a deep
baking-dish, and bake for half an hour; then press it well into a
stone jar, fill up the jar with clarified lard, cover it closely, and
paste over it a piece of thick paper. If well seasoned, it will keep a
long time in winter, and will be found very convenient for sandwiches,
etc.


BOLOGNA SAUSAGE. (Cooked.)

Two POUNDS of lean pork, two pounds of lean veal, two pounds of fresh
lean beef, two pounds of fat salt pork, one pound of beef suet, ten
tablespoonfuls of powdered sage, one ounce each of parsley, savory,
marjoram and thyme mixed. Two teaspoonfuls of cayenne pepper, the same
of black, one grated nutmeg, one teaspoonful of cloves, one 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 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 place in a
cool, dry cellar. If you wish to keep them more than a week, rub
ginger or pepper on the outside, then wash it off before using. This
is eaten without further cooking. Cut in round slices and lay sliced
lemons around the edge of the dish, as many like to squeeze a few
drops upon the sausage before eating. These are very nice smoked like
hams.


COUNTRY PORK SAUSAGES.

Six pounds lean fresh pork, three pounds of chine fat, three
tablespoonfuls of salt, two of black pepper, four tablespoonfuls of
pounded and sifted sage, two of summer savory. Chop the lean and fat
pork finely, mix the seasoning in with your hands, taste to see that
it has the right flavor, then put them into cases, either the cleaned
intestines of the hog, or make long, narrow bags of stout muslin,
large enough to contain each enough sausage for a family dish. Fill
these with the meat, dip in melted lard, and hang them in a cool, dry,
dark place. Some prefer to pack the meat in jars, pouring melted lard
over it, covering the top, to be taken out as wanted and made into
small round cakes with the hands, then fried brown. Many like spices
added to the seasoning--cloves, mace and nutmeg. This is a matter of
taste.

_Marion Harland_.


TO FRY SAUSAGES.

Put a small piece of lard or butter into the frying pan. Prick the
sausages with a fork, lay them in the melted grease, keep moving them
about, turning them frequently to prevent bursting; in ten or twelve
minutes they will be sufficiently browned and cooked. Another sure way
to prevent the cases from bursting is to cover them with cold water
and let it come to the boiling point; turn off the water and fry them.
Sausages are nicely cooked by putting them in a baking-pan them in the
oven, turning them once or twice. In this way you avoid all smoke and
disagreeable odor. A pound will cook brown in ten minutes in a hot
oven.


HEAD CHEESE.

Boil the forehead, ears and feet, and nice scraps trimmed from the
hams of a fresh pig, until the meat will almost drop from the bones.
Then separate the meat from the bones, put in a large chopping-bowl,
and season with pepper, salt, sage and summer savory. Chop it rather
coarsely; put it back in the same kettle it was boiled in, with just
enough of the liquor in which it was boiled to prevent its burning;
warm it through thoroughly, mixing it well together. Now pour it into
a strong muslin bag, press the bag between two flat surfaces, with a
heavy weight on top; when cold and solid it can be cut in slices. Good
cold, or warmed up in vinegar.