STANDARD RECEIPTS. 49 1 



the smokehouse, or other dry, cool, place, and they will keep a long 

 time. 



To Pickle Mutton Hams for Drying. First take weak brine 

 and put the hams into it for two days, then pour off and apply the fol- 

 lowing, and then let it remain on from two to three weeks according to 

 size: for each one hunured pounds, take salt six pounds; saltpetre, one 

 ounce; saleratus, two ounces; molasses, one pint; water, six gallons; will 

 cover these if closely packed. 



Corned Beef, i . Cut up the beef, and weigh and bulk it up, sprink- 

 ling a little salt over it, and let it lay ten or twelve hours, then pack it 

 down in the barrel. To one hundred pounds of beef take one quart of 

 salt, three and one half pints of molasses, one table-spoonful of saltpetre. 

 Put all this into sufScient water to cover the beef; boil the pickle, and 

 skim off all the scum, and when cold pour it over the beef, and weigh it 

 down. Keep the beef covered with the pickle. 



2. Rub each piece of beef very hghtly with salt; let them lie singly on 

 a tray or board for twenty-four hours, then wipe them very dry. Pack 

 them closely in a tub, taking care that it is perfectly sweet and clean. 

 Have the pickle ready, made thus : boil four gallons of soft water with 

 ten pounds of coarse salt, four ounces of saltpetre, and two pounds of 

 coarse brown sugar; let it boil fifteen minutes, and skim it while boiling 

 very clean. When perfectly cold pour it on the beef, laying a weight 

 on the top to keep the meat under the pickle. This quantity is sufficient 

 for one hundred pounds of beef if closely packed. 



Dried Beef. The good qualities of dried beef as an article of food 

 for the family are not fully appreciated. In point of excellence it is one 

 of the nicest articles, when properly prepared, that we have in our store- 

 room. It is also one of the most economical articles of food; quite a 

 small qantity of dried beef, shaved very fine, and cooked with a nice 

 gravy, will serve for meat for a family at a very small expense. It 

 is so convenient to have; always ready; alwa3fs acceptable. To people 

 who live convenient to market, it is not of so much importance; but to 

 those, who live at a distance from towns, dried beef is one of the neces- 

 sary articles in our bill of fare. 



There are several methods of cooking it. Some prefer it cooked with 

 a gravy of water, seasoned with butter, thickened with flour, and per- 

 haps eggs broken in while cooking. Others cook it with crumbs of 

 sausage, frying the sausage first, then adding the beef with water, and 

 thickening with flour. It is also very good cooked with a little sweet 



