CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



be basted first with milk, aftenvards with butter, 

 flouring it lightly. It will require from an hour 

 and a half to two hours. The hare is dished back 

 upwards, as represented above, and served with 

 rich beef gravy, and a dish of currant jelly. 



Boiled Meats. 



To boil a salted Round of Beef. If large, cut 

 out the bone, roll up firmly, and bind with a 

 tape ; then put it into the pot, and keep the lid 

 close. Boil it slowly and equally, allowing a 

 quarter of an hour for each pound of the beef. 

 The appropriate garnishing for this and other 

 pieces of boiled salt beef, is carrot and small 

 greens ; some add turnips. Put a little of the 

 liquor in which it has been boiled in the dish. 



To boil a Leg of Mutton. A leg of mutton 

 should be kept Your or five days before boiling. 

 Before putting it into the pot, bend round the 

 shank, cutting the tendon at the joint, if necessary, 

 so as to shorten the leg. Two hours of slow 

 equal boiling will be sufficient for a good-sized 

 leg of mutton. Some persons, to make the leg 

 look white and tasteful, wrap it tightly in a cloth 

 in boiling ; but this spoils the liquor for broth. 

 It is not safe to boil vegetables with a leg of 

 mutton, as they are apt to flavour the meat. Dish 

 the leg with a little of the liquor, placing the lower 

 side uppermost, conveniently for carving. A good 

 leg of mutton will soon yield sufficient gravy. 

 For sauce, use finely chopped capers in melted 

 butter. Mashed turnips form an appropriate 

 vegetable to be eaten with this dish. 



To boil Veal. Veal is seldom boiled, being too 

 insipid by that mode of dressing. The only part 

 boiled is the knuckle, which requires much boiling, 

 in order to soften the sinews. It is eaten with 

 boiled ham or bacon. The sauce used is parsley 

 and butter. The liquor from veal is the best of 

 any for making soup. 



To boil a Turkey. Boiled turkey is one of the 

 most delicate and excellent dishes which can be 

 brought to table, and should be dressed with as 

 much care as possible. Clean the turkey from all 

 feathers, and singe the hair with burning paper, 

 being careful not to blacken the skin. Clean it well 

 inside by drawing and wiping. Cut off the legs at 

 the first joints, and draw out the sinews ; then 

 pull down the skin, and push the legs inside. Cut 

 off the head close to the body, leaving the skin 

 long, and draw out the craw. Make a stuffing of 

 chopped suet, crumbs of bread, chopped parsley, 

 pepper, salt, and a little nutmeg, which wet with 

 an egg and milk. Put this stuffing into the breast, 

 leaving room for the stuffing to swell ; after which 

 draw the skin of the breast over the opening, and 

 sew it neatly across the back ; by which means, 

 when the turkey is brought to table with its breast 

 uppermost, no sewing will be seen. Place the 

 liver in one wing, and the gizzard in the other, 

 turning the wing on the back, and fixing the 

 wings to the sides with a skewer. The turkey 

 being now ready for the pot, put it into a cloth, 

 and boil it for a length of time, according to the 

 size and age. A small young turkey will not 

 require more than an hour and a half ; an old 

 and larger one, perhaps two and a half or three 

 hours. Let the water be boiling in putting in, 

 and of sufficient quantity to keep the turkey always 

 covered. When done, and placed in a hot dish, 

 pour a little sauce over the breast, and put the 



760 



remainder in a sauce tureen. The sauce used is 

 various. One of the most delicate and agreeable 

 sauces is made of melted butter, boiled macaroni, 

 and milk. 



To boil a Fowl. A fowl is to be prepared for 

 boiling in the same manner as a turkey, except 

 that no stuffing is used. It may be boiled with or 

 without a cloth. Small fowls will require from 

 half an hour to three-quarters of an hour ; large 

 fowls will require from an hour to an hour and a 

 half. Sauce, parsley and butter. 



To boil Rabbits whole. Wash them well in 

 warm water. They may be either stuffed or not 

 stuffed, according to taste. When stuffing is re- 

 quired, make it of crumbs of bread, suet, parsley, 

 and onions all chopped and pepper and salt ; 

 moisten with milk, and simmer it very slowly, 

 for quick boiling hardens it. It should be cut 

 into moderately sized pieces for helping at table. 

 When to be served plain, carry to table in a hash- 

 dish, in some of the water with which it has been 

 boiled, with boiled onions in it. A tasteful way of 

 serving is to take it from its liquor after boiling, 

 and stew it for about ten minutes in a saucepan 

 with milk, which thicken with a little arrow-root, 

 or flour and butter, and season with pepper and 

 salt, immediately before dishing, as otherwise the 

 salt is apt to curdle the milk. This makes a 

 delicious and cheap dish. 



To boil a Ham. If the ham has been cured 

 long, it may require soaking in cold water to soften 

 it, from twelve to twenty-four hours before dressing. 

 Put it in a large boiling vessel, with plenty of cold 

 water, and let it simmer slowly from two to four 

 hours, according to the size. Skim frequently, to 

 remove the grease which is constantly rising to the 

 top. When done, skin, and strew bread-raspings 

 over the upper side ; place before the fire to dry 

 and brown. Garnish with green vegetables. 



To boil a Tongue. If hard, soak the tongue in 

 water all night before using. Boil it from two 

 hours and a half to three hours. Skin it before 

 dishing. Garnish with greens or spinage. 



MEAT PIES. 



Beefsteak Pie. Take three pounds beefsteak, 

 beat it and roll in small pieces, previously sprink- 

 ling with Jamaica and black pepper, salt, and 

 minced onions. Place in a pie-dish with more 

 sliced onions, pepper, salt, and as much water as 

 will fill the dish. Cover with a paste made as fol- 

 lows, which will also answer for tarts : Take a pound 

 of flour, and mix with it a heaped tea-spoonful 

 of Berwick's baking-powder put in a bowl, and 

 mix with this a quarter of a pound of lard, butter, 

 or dripping, and rather more than half a tea-cupful 

 of water. Stir round in the bowl with a spoon, and 

 then roll over and over with the rolling-pin till 

 smooth. Cut the paste out the size of the dish, 

 roll out the parings, and cut them into strips. 

 Wet the edges of the dish, and place these strips 

 neatly round on the edges, as a foundation for the 

 cover. Then, after putting in the meat, lay the 

 cover on the dish, pressing down the edges closely 

 to keep all tight. If any paste remain, cut or 

 stamp it in ornaments for a decoration to the 

 cover. Bake immediately in a hot oven for an 

 hour and a half. Before serving, add a little 

 boiling water for gravy. 



Pigeon Pie is made in the same way, putting a 



