

BEST FOODS METHODS OF PREPARING. 167 



of liyer in boiling water, dredge them with flour, and fry 

 them in the pork fat, turning them often until done, 

 when place on the platter with the pork, and serve with 

 a lettuce or spinach salad. This dish is improved for 

 some tastes if an onion is sliced and browned with the 

 pork. 



Baked Beans with Pork. Beans are much more pal- 

 atable and much more nutritious when they are not sat- 

 urated with the fat of pork or any other " grease." Any 

 one who tries this recipe will recognize the superiority of 

 the dish to the usual method of preparing it. If the 

 beans are more than a year old, let them soak over night 

 and scald them in the morning in water containing half 

 a teaspoonful of soda. (If they are of the year's harvest, 

 twenty minutes gentle parboiling in soda water will an- 

 swer.) Then put them into clear water with a leanish 

 piece of salt pork, neatly cleaned of brine, and gashed in 

 slices across the top, half way to the bottom. After boil- 

 ing slowly for an hour, or a less time if the beans become 

 tender, skim them from the water into an earthen dish, 

 leaving the meat to continue cooking in the kettle. Pour 

 upon them three tablespoonfuls of syrup, a small cupful 

 of clear hot water, and sprinkle over them a little Cayenne 

 pepper and salt ; if it is a small mess the meat will have 

 salted sufficiently. Set them in a moderately hot oven 

 to bake from half to three-quarters of an hour. An 

 onion sliced over the top and removed when they are 

 done, improves the flavor for many. Take the pork from 

 the kettle when it is sufficiently cooked, and set it in the 

 oven until it is crisped a little. 



Cranberry or Wren's Egg beans are very nice, cooked 

 and seasoned in the above way, without any pork, but 

 with an addition of plenty of salt, pepper, and an ounce 

 of butter. 



