154 



NEW ENGLA^TD FAEMER. 



March 



the edge-bone (or H-bone). The rattle-ran gives 

 alternate streaks of fat and lean— the H-bone a 

 great deal of lean meat. 



A piece of beef may be lightly corned in sum- 

 mer, by rubbing it thoroughly with salt, and then 

 sprinkling it plentifully with the same as it lies in 

 a deep dish, which is then filled with water sufS- 

 cient to cover the meat. Three or four days is 

 long enough for it to remain thus before cooking. 

 To prepare a winter's or a year's supply of salt 

 beef get first a clean oaken or maple barrel or keg 

 to hold it, with a circular piece of the same sort of 

 wood just small enough to pass in and out of the 

 top easily ; — this is for a sinker — to keep the meat 

 under the brine,— and it should have a knob, or 

 swnething of that sort, to raise it by. There must 

 be also a heavy clean stone to rest upon this for 

 pressure. The barrel should also have a closely- 

 fitting cover. 



Beef that is to be corned should be allowed to 

 hang up in an airy place two days, at least, after 

 it is killed, before it is salted, so that the fibres 

 may become tender. Then make a brine to pour 

 over it after it is packed in the barrel. For one 

 hundred weight of beef take four gallons of rain 

 water, heat it to boiling, dissolve in it four quarts 

 of fine rock salt, one ounce of salt petre, three 

 pints of brown sugar or two quarts of molasses, 

 and one ounce of saleratus. Let it boil till all im- 

 purities have risen to the surface and been skim- 

 med ofi". Set it aside till cold, then pour it over 

 the beef. If there is not enough to cover the meat 

 make a ilttle more brine, using a correct propor- 

 tion of the same ingredients. The meat will be 

 ready for cooking in three or four weeks, and will 

 keep nice in a cool cellar over a year. But if there 

 is the least hint of a rancid odor, the brine should 

 be turned oif, scalded, and half the quantity of 

 salt and molasses added. Do not use old brine, 

 even with the most thorough scalding, to corn a 

 new supply of meat ;— it is quite valuable as a fer- 

 tilizer for the soil, but is worse than useless as a 

 preservative for meat, because of its rank and bit- 

 ter flavor. 



Beeves' tongues, and pieces for smoking and 

 drying, require a brme somewhat stronger, which 

 must be made thus : Dissolve in one gallon of wa- 

 ter three pints of salt, half an ounce of salt petre, 

 and one quart of molasses. Three weeks will cure 

 them. The tongues will then be fit for boiling as 

 they are, or to go with the pieces to be smoked ; 

 they need two weeks in the smoke-house. Those 

 to be dried only should be spread on hurdles, or 

 hung up loosely, for a month, in a cool, dry room, 

 where no insects nor vermin can gain access, and 

 the out-door air frequently admitted. February 

 is the best time for drying beef. 



Another way to preserve beef is to make it into 

 cakes and dry them, which may afterward be 

 broiled or baked. Take for these lean beef and 

 8uet,— oae third as much suet as meat. Chop them 

 very fine aad season with pepper and salt. Mix 



well, and form into cakes rather more than half 

 an inch thick and three inches square, and spread 

 them to partially dry on a table in a cool room. 



A beef's heart is nearly as nice as a tongue 

 when slightly corned. Spltt it in two, and pickle 

 it in two quarts of water in which a pint of salt and 

 a cup of molasses have been dissolved. It should 

 remain in this four or five days. 



For soups the shin, the hough, and the tail are 

 best. The brisket and ribs are used for stews or 

 soups by some persons instead of roasting them, 

 or corning them, — also the flanks. The upper cut 

 of the breast and the neck are excellent for soups, 

 — they also are the best portions for mince-pies. 



The head, though the cheapest part of the ani- 

 mal, may furnish several nice dishes ; — the cheeks 

 being corned, or boiled fresh for mince-pies, or for 

 making head-cheese, or serving for a stew. 



All of those inferior parts need especial care in 

 order to keep them sweet and good, and much 

 washing and soaking befare they are cooked ; but 

 they well repay the pains taken with them. 



Suet is an important ingredient in pies, and 

 makes good puddings. It is also needed to furnish 

 fat for mixing with lard for frying pies and pan- 

 cakes. It may be kept uncorked in cold weather 

 a long time by removing its skinny parts and then 

 tying it in a close paper bag and placing it in a 

 cold closet. 



Good mutton is fine and close grained, and of 

 clean white and clear red hues. Any part of the 

 animal is nice for roasting (or baking rather; 

 there is very little wasting of any sort of meat 

 now-a-days) — the loin and the hind quarter are 

 considered the best. The leg is suitable for a broth 

 or stem ; or to bs boiled either fresh or corned ; or 

 steaks may be cut from it. Take chops from the 

 loin or the lower part of the neck. The shoulder 

 and neck use for broth or stew. Corn the breast, — 

 the loin is also nice corned a few days, — by rub- 

 bing it well with salt, and sprinkling a handful of 

 salt over it after immersing it in water. 



Lamb is best in July or August. It should be 

 fat, and fine in fibre. The fore quarter is the 

 sweetest and most juicy for roasting; the breast 

 is nice boiled; the leg should be stuffed and 

 baked ; of the loins, and the shoulder also, make 

 broth. 



Veal is only good in the spring. It should be 

 firm and close-grained, white, and fat. Roast the 

 breast and the loin plainly. Stuff and roast the 

 leg. Make a pot-pie of the shoulder and neck. 

 Take steaks or cutlets from a leg or loin. Stew 

 the head and heart. 



Pork is best young ; it should be brought to the 

 knife when a year old, at the farthest. Some per- 

 sons consider pork as unhealthy food, but if the 

 creature has been kept in good health, and allowed 

 nothing but vegetables, or grain, for sustenance 

 (with the exception of milk,) and has had plenty 

 of fresh air to breathe and pure water to drink, it 

 is probably as wholesome as beef or mutton- 



