If people wish to be economical, they should take some pains to
ascertain what are the cheapest pieces of meat to buy; not merely
those which are cheapest in price, but those which go farthest when
cooked. That part of mutton called the rack, which consists of the
neck, and a few of the rib bones below, is cheap food. It is not more
than four or five cents a pound; and four pounds will make a dinner
for six people. The neck, cut into pieces, and boiled slowly an hour
and a quarter, in little more than water enough to cover it, makes
very nice broth. A great spoonful of rice should be washed and
thrown in with the meat. About twenty minutes before it is done, put
in a little thickening, and season with salt, pepper, and sifted
summer-savory, or sage. The bones below the neck, broiled, make a good
mutton chop. If your family be small, a rack of mutton will make you
two dinners,--broth once, and mutton chop with a few slices of salt
pork, for another; if your family consist of six or seven, you can
have two dishes for a dinner. If you boil the whole rack for broth,
there will be some left for mince meat.
Liver is usually much despised; but when well cooked, it is very
palatable; and it is the cheapest of all animal food. Veal liver is
by some considered the best. Veal liver is usually two cents a pound;
beef liver is one cent. After you have fried a few slices of salt
pork, put the liver in while the fat is very hot, and cook it through
thoroughly. If you doubt whether it be done, cut into a slice, and see
whether it has turned entirely brown, without any red stripe in the
middle. Season it with pepper and salt, and butter, if you live on a
farm, and have butter in plenty. It should not be cooked on furiously
hot coals, as it is very apt to scorch. Sprinkle in a little flour,
stir it, and pour in boiling water to make gravy, just as you would
for fried meat. Some think liver is better dipped in sifted Indian
meal before it is fried. It is good broiled and buttered like a steak.
It should be cut into slices about as thick as are cut for steaks.
The heart, liver, &c. of a pig is good fried; so is that of a lamb.
The latter is commonly called lamb-fry; and a dinner may be bought for
six or eight cents. Be sure and ask for the sweet-bread; for butchers
are extremely apt to reserve it for their own use; and therefore
lamb-fry is almost always sold without it. Fry five or six slices of
salt pork; after it is taken out, put in your lamb-fry while the fat
is hot. Do it thoroughly; but be careful the fire is not too furious,
as it is apt to scorch. Take a large handful of parsley, see that it
is washed clean, cut it up pretty fine; then pour a little boiling
water into the fat in which your dinner has been fried, and let the
parsley cook in it a minute or two; then take it out in a spoon, and
lay it over your slices of meat. Some people, who like thick gravies,
shake in a little flour into the spider, before pouring in the boiling
water.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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