Ihe RURAL. NEW-YORKER 
1889 
Things to Eat 
Bunny Beef in Various Ways 
There is not a boy but likes the fun 
of hunting rabbits when the snow is on 
the ground. Sometimes the country boys 
bring them in by the dozen, great big fat 
ones. A few years ago housewives sel¬ 
dom cooked rabbit meat. They were fed 
to the hens, dogs or left in the fields 
where the boys killed them. However, 
the high prices of meat products and the 
shortage brought about by the war has 
induced cooks to study different ways of 
preparing rabbit meat, so that now bunny 
beef comes to many tables quite often 
through the cold months, when rabbits are 
fat and at their best for table use. Some 
housewives are canning rabbits, too. for 
Spring use, and it is a good way to utilize 
the empty fruit jars and furnish the table 
with a surprise of roast, fried or steamed 
rabbit some day next Spring. 
After skinning, emptying and washing 
well, put rabbits in a cool place over 
night; if allowed to freeze, all the better. 
Cut into convenient sized pieces and salt, 
after which it may be prepared in any of 
the following ways or may be canned by 
following given directions: 
Fried Rabbit, with Gravy.—Roll the 
pieces in flour, sprinkle with pepper and 
fry in hot fat until brown and well cooked 
through. Take up and make gravy by 
stirring one heaping tablespoon of flour, 
brown well and add one scant cup each of 
sweet milk and water. Boil two minutes, 
salt to taste and pour over rabbit, or in 
separate dish, as preferred. 
Steamed Rabbit.—This is preferable 
when rabbit is not tender enough for plain 
frying. Roll in flour, pepper and brown 
in fat. Pour in a cup of boiling water, 
cover closely and steam slowly for one 
hour. Make gravy by stirring a heaping 
tablespoon of flour smooth in a pint of 
sweet milk or water; remove rabbit and 
stir in gravy, salt to taste and serve with 
rabbit. 
Rabbit Pie.—Line a baking dish with 
pie crust, fill half full with rabbit meat, 
stewed until tender, season with salt, pep¬ 
per and butter, place a layer of crust, 
rolled thin and cut in strips, add more 
meat, season and cover with crust, add 
boiling water to cover meat and bake half 
an hour. 
Stuffed Rabbit.—Dress rabbit, leaving 
whole. Let freeze, or chill over night. 
Prepare a stuffing as follows: One cup 
bread or cracker crumbs, half cup butter, 
half cup hot water or milk, season with 
sage, pepper, salt and one onion minced 
fine; place stuffing inside rabbit, baste 
outside with butter or lay some strips of 
bacou on top, and bake until rabbit is 
tender. 
Rabbit Croquettes.—Stew rabbit until 
tender in little water, take meat from 
bones and mince fiue; mix with equal 
amount of bread crumbs, season with pep¬ 
per. salt and sage, also a chopped onion 
if desired. Make into balls and fry in 
hot lard. May also be baked, with sliced 
bacon on top. 
Rabbit Sausage.—Clean rabbit and 
soak over night in salt water. Take meat 
from bones and put through sausage mill, 
season to taste with pepper, sage and 
more salt if needed. Adding half as much 
pork as there is rabbit meat improves the 
sausage, while the quantity may be in¬ 
creased without detracting from the qual¬ 
ity by addiug three tablespoons of bread 
crumbs. Make iu pats and fry a nice 
brown in hot fat. 
Canned Fried Rabbit.—Cut in pieces 
as for cooking and fry a nice brown; pack 
closely in heated, sterilized jars. Pour 
over the gravy from the pan to which has 
been added enough fat to cover contents. 
Partly seal and process in a hot water 
bath 90 minutes. Seal and wrap jars in 
paper and set away. To prepare for 
table, melt and pour off fat, empty con¬ 
tents into roasting pan and roast 30 min¬ 
utes. 
Canned Stewed Rabbit.—Dress and 
chill; cut up rabbits and roll iu flour, drop 
into boilng fat and brown outside. Pack 
in jars, add boiling water to fill jars, add 
salt and party seal. Process in hot water 
bath 90 minutes and seal. Meat canned 
in this way may be served in many appe¬ 
tizing ways, such as roast rabbit, rabbit 
pie or fried rabbit with gravy. 
Plan to try some of these recipes and 
utilize the nice, fat rabbits which the men 
and boys bring in on the wintry days. 
They will help to reduce the meat bill as 
well rid the farmer and orcliardists of a 
pest. Always allow the meat to thor¬ 
oughly chill (freezing is better) before 
cooking. MRS. LILLIE YORK. 
Quick Way of Canning Meat 
But few housewives know that they 
may can pork, steak or sausage in a very 
few moments, instead of following the 
four-hour methods of steam cooking. For 
two years I have successfully canned a 
lot. and will always use this quick method 
hereafter. In the harvest season this 
year I opened several cans that I canned 
last Fall, and it was as good as if it had 
just come from the market. 
I cut the pieces of meat just the size of 
the bottom of the can to be used, and fry 
them on both sides uutil they are cooked 
about half as much as needed for the 
table. Season the same as for table use. 
Then pack in the cans and pour four 
tablespoons of the melted fat over it, place 
rubber on and seal. Then invert the can 
so the fat will settle and harden iu the 
top of the can when it is cold. This will 
effectually seal it so it will keep iu fine 
condition. Caution should be used not to 
jar the can when it is turned right side 
up again. If the E. Z. seal cans are used, 
one is obliged to prop them up. but this 
can be easily managed. When ready to 
use the meat it should be refried until it 
is sufficiently cooked. b. 
Cortland Co., N. Y. 
Curing Hams and Bacon 
Could you not give iu the inquiry col¬ 
umn of your journal a brief detail of the 
most modern process of curing ham? I 
have observed that the Danish exports of 
this product excelled in richness what I 
saw on this continent. Do you know 
whether a special method exists for prep¬ 
aration ? j. M. L. 
The following formula will be found 
satisfactory for curing hams and bacons. 
The Danish processes are very similar to 
this method, although occasionally they 
have proprietary formulas that are, of 
course, not published. The principal rea¬ 
son for the superiority of Danish pork 
is the fact that their hogs are of the bacon 
type, and not so extremely fat as the hogs 
we raise in this country. 
After the meat has been thoroughly 
cooled, the carcass may be cut up and 
cured. Sugar-cured pork is preferable to 
dry-cured pork or plain salt pork, because 
of its pleasant flavor and because the 
meat is not so dry and hard. Beef tongues 
may be cured in the same pickle with the 
pork. All the pork carcass may be cured 
except the loins, which are used fresh for 
chops and roasts, the spareribs, which are 
used fresh, and the trimmings, which are 
used for lard and sausage. The hams, 
shoulders and bacons are sugar-cured, and 
the fat backs are dry-cured or pickled in 
a plain salt pickle. 
Before the meat is placed in pickle or 
salt all corners and ragged edges should 
be cut off and used for sausage and lard. 
If they are left on they will be wasted, for 
they will be thoroughly soaked by the 
pickle and will be of no use. 
Rub the pork thoroughly with salt and 
pack it in a cool place over night. The 
next day pack it in a barrel or an earthen 
jar, with the heaviest hams and shoulders 
at the bottom, the lighter hams and shoul¬ 
ders next, and the bacons and tongues at 
the top. 
For every 100 lbs. of meat weigh out 10 
lbs. salt. 214 lbs. brown sugar, and two 
ounces of saltpeter. Rub these together 
thoroughly, taking care that the saltpeter 
is finely powdered. Dissolve the whole 
by stirring it into four gallons of boiling 
water. Allow this brine to cool thoroughly 
and then pour it over the meat. If it 
does not entirely cover the meat, add more 
water. The brine should cover the meat 
at all times. The meat may be weighted 
down with a block if necessary, for if it 
is not covered the projecting meat will 
decompose in a short time. 
If the brine shows signs of fermenting 
during the curing process, it should be 
drawn off, boiled and cooled, aud then 
poured back on the meat. 
The bacons and tongues may be taken 
from the pickle after four to six weeks, 
and after being washed in warm water 
they may be hung in the smokehouse and 
smoked. The lighter hams and shoulders 
will be ready to take out of the pickle in 
six to eight weeks, and the heavier ones 
at the end of the eighth week. k. .j. s. 
Apple Recipes from the Rural Cook Book 
Dutch Apple Cake.—Measure a pint of 
sifted flour, add half a level teaspoonful 
salt, quarter of a cupful of sugar and a 
scant teaspoonful of soda. Sift three 
times. Beat up one egg with a cupful of 
sour milk. Rub a third of a cupful of 
butter iuto the flour thoroughly : then mix 
in the liquid, making a soft dough. Spread 
this half an inch thick in a well-greased 
biscuit pan. Pare and core five juicy, 
nicely-flavored apples, and cut them into 
eighths; arrange them in parallel rows, 
sharp edges down, on top of the dough, 
pressing down so that they are partially 
imbedded in the dough. Sprinkle over 
thickly with sugar and a little cinnamon 
and spread with bits of butter. Bake in 
a quick oven for 25 minutes. Serve hot 
as a dessert or tea cake. Made with 
fresh, ripe peaches cut iu quarters, it is 
delicious. Omit the cinnamon when 
peaches are used. This is extra good. 
Indian Apple Pudding.—Take one-half 
of a cup of molasses, one quart of milk, 
one teaspoonful of salt, three scant cups 
of pared aud sliced apples, to which add 
a quarter of a teaspoouful of ginger and 
cinnamon. When the milk boils in the 
double boiler pour it slowly on the meal. 
Cook half au hour in the boiler, stirring 
often. Now add the other ingredients; 
pour into a deep, well-greased pudding 
dish and bake slowly. Eat with cream 
or maple syrup. 
Apple Pot-pie.—Serve this with maple 
sugar sauce. Half fill a deep dish with 
sour apples which have been quartered, 
pared and cored. Pour over them a little 
boiling water aud place in a hot oven 
until tender. Make a crust as for baking 
powder biscuit, roll out au inch thick : 
lay it over the apples and return to the 
oven for about 40 minutes, or until the 
crust is done. For the sauce cook to¬ 
gether two tablespoonsful of butter and 
one teaspoonful of flour, add half a cup¬ 
ful of maple syrup and a tiny pinch of 
mace, aud cook uutil clear and smooth. 
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