MEATS

Cookery is a branch of applied chemistry. To cook anything, in the narrower sense of the term, means to bring about changes in it by submitting it to the action of heat, and usually of moisture also, which will make it more fitted for food; and it is on the nature of this action on different materials that the rationale of the cook’s art chiefly depends. Good cooking can make any meat tender, and bad cooking can make any meat tough.

The substance in meat called albumen becomes tougher and more indigestible, the higher the temperature to which it is subjected reaches beyond a certain point. It is this effect of heat on albumen, therefore, which has to be considered whenever the cooking of meat is in question, and which mainly determines the right and the wrong, whether in the making of a soup or a custard, the roasting or boiling of a chicken or a joint, or the frying of a cutlet or an omelet.

We now will see to begin with, what are the special ways in which it bears on meat cookery. Take a little bit of raw meat and put it in cold water. The juice gradually soaks out of it, coloring the water pink and leaving the meat nearly white. Now take another bit, and pour boiling water upon it; and though no juice can be seen escaping, the whole surface of the meat turns a whitish color directly.

Lean meat is made up of bundles of hollow fibres within which the albuminous juices are stored. Wherever these fibres are cut through, the juice oozes out and spreads itself over the surface of the meat. If, as in our first little experiment, the meat is put in cold water, or even in warm water, or exposed to a heat insufficient to set the albumen, either in an oven or before the fire, the albuminous juices are in the first case drawn out and dissolved, and in the second evaporated. In either case the meat is deprived of them. But if the meat is put into boiling water or into a quick oven or before a hot fire, the surface albumen is quickly set, forms a tough white coating which effectually plugs the ends of the cut fibres, and prevents any further escape of their contents.

Here, then, we have the first principles on which meat cookery must be conducted; viz: that if we wish to get the juices out of the meat, as for soups and stews, the liquid in which we put it must be cold to begin with; while if we wish, as for boiled or roast meat, to keep them in, the meat must be subjected first of all to the action of boiling water, a hot fire or a quick oven. The meats of soups and stews must not be raw, and that of joints must not be tough; and the cooking of both one and the other, however it is begun, should be completed at just such a moderate temperature as will set, but not harden, the albumen. That is to say, the soup or stew must be raised to this temperature, after the meat juices have been drawn out by a lower one, while a joint or fowl must be lowered to it after the surface albumen has been hardened by a higher one.

All poultry or game for roasting should be dredged with flour before and after trussing, to dry it perfectly, as otherwise it does not crisp and brown so well. Unless poultry is to be boiled or stewed it never should be washed or wet in any way as this renders the flesh sodden and the skin soft. Good wiping with clean cloths should be quite sufficient. With the exception of ducks and geese, all poultry and game require rather a large addition of fat during roasting, as the flesh is dry. Chickens will cook in from twenty to thirty minutes; fowls take from thirty to sixty minutes when young and tender, the only condition in which they are fit to roast; turkeys take from one to two hours and even more if exceptionally large. Game takes longer in proportion to its size than poultry, and all birds require better and more cooking than beef or mutton.

Beef Collops

1 lb. hamburg steak

1 chopped onion

2 tablespoonfuls Crisco

1 cupful water or stock

1 tablespoonful flour

Salt and pepper to taste

1 teaspoonful mushroom catsup or Worcestershire sauce

Sippets of toast or croutons

Mashed potatoes or plain boiled rice

Melt Crisco in saucepan, put in beef and onion and fry light brown, then sprinkle in flour, add water or stock, catsup or sauce, and seasonings. Cover pan and let contents simmer very gently forty-five minutes. Arrange collops on hot platter with border of sippets of toast or croutons, or border of hot mashed potatoes, or plain boiled rice.

Braised Loin of Mutton

3 lbs. loin mutton

3 tablespoonfuls Crisco

1 celery stalk

½ teaspoonful whole white peppers

1 bunch sweet herbs

Salt, pepper, and red pepper to taste

1 turnip

1 carrot

3 cloves

2 sprigs parsley

4 tablespoonfuls flour

12 button mushrooms

1 onion

Remove bone from mutton, rub with a little salt, pepper and red pepper mixed together; roll up and tie in neat roll with tape; cut up celery, onion, carrot and turnip, and lay them at bottom of saucepan with herbs and parsley; lay mutton on top of these, and pour enough boiling water to three parts cover it, and simmer slowly two hours; lift mutton into roasting tin with a few tablespoonfuls of the gravy; set in hot oven until brown; strain gravy and skim off fat, melt Crisco in saucepan, add flour, then add gravy gradually, seasoning of salt and pepper, mushrooms, and boil eight minutes. Set mutton on hot platter with mushrooms round, and gravy strained over.

Chicken a la Tartare

1 young chicken

1 egg

¾ cupful Crisco

Breadcrumbs

Salt and pepper to taste

Mixed pickles

Tartare sauce

Singe, empty, and split chicken in half; take breastbone out and sprinkle salt and pepper over. Melt ½ cupful Crisco in frying pan and fry chicken half hour, turning it now and then. Remove from pan and place between two dishes with heavy weight on top, till it is nearly cold. Then dip in egg beaten up, and roll in breadcrumbs. Melt remaining Crisco, then sprinkle it all over chicken; roll in breadcrumbs once more. Fry in hot Crisco to golden color. Serve at once with a garnish of chopped pickles, and tartare sauce.

Chicken en Casserole

1 tender chicken for roasting

½ cupful Crisco

Salt and pepper

1 pint hot water

1 cupful hot sweet cream

2 cupfuls chopped mushrooms

1 tablespoonful chopped parsley

Clean chicken, split down back, and lay breast upward, in casserole. Spread Crisco over breast, dust with salt and pepper, add hot water, cover closely and cook in hot oven one hour. When nearly tender, put in the cream, mushrooms, and parsley; cover again and cook twenty minutes longer. Serve hot in the casserole. Oysters are sometimes substituted for mushrooms, and will be found to impart a pleasing flavor.

Curried Ox-Tongue

6 slices cooked ox-tongue

3 tablespoonfuls Crisco

2 teaspoonfuls curry powder

6 chopped mushrooms

1 cupful brown sauce

1 dinner roll

1 egg

1 cupful boiled rice

For tongue. Cut slices of tongue, fry in Crisco, season with ¼ teaspoonful salt and curry powder, then add mushrooms, and brown sauce, simmer ten minutes. Cut large dinner roll into slices, and toast them lightly on both sides; dip them in egg well beaten, then fry in hot Crisco and drain. Dish up slices of tongue alternately with fried slices of roll, pour sauce round base, and serve with boiled rice.

For brown sauce. Melt 3 tablespoonfuls Crisco, add 1 chopped onion, piece of carrot, 2 mushrooms, and fry a good brown color; stir in 2 tablespoonfuls flour and fry it also; then add 1 cupful stock or water and few drops of kitchen bouquet. Let all cook ten minutes, stirring constantly; add seasoning of salt and pepper, and strain for use.

Sufficient for 6 slices.

Fried Chicken

Chicken

Crisco

Select young tender chickens and disjoint. Wash carefully and let stand over night in refrigerator.

A

(Kate B. Vaughn)

Drain chicken but do not wipe dry. Season with salt and white pepper and dredge well with flour. Fry in deep Crisco hot enough to brown a crumb of bread in sixty seconds. It requires from ten to twelve minutes to fry chicken. Drain and place on a hot platter garnished with parsley and rice croquettes.

B

(Kate B. Vaughn)

Make batter of 1 cupful flour, 1 teaspoonful salt, 2 grains white pepper, ½ cupful water, 2 well beaten eggs, and 1 tablespoonful melted Crisco. Have kettle of Crisco hot enough to turn crumb of bread a golden brown in sixty seconds. Drain chicken but do not dry. Dip each joint separately in batter and fry in the Crisco until golden brown. It should take from ten to twelve minutes. Serve on a folded napkin garnished with parsley.

C

(Kate B. Vaughn)

Drain chicken but do not wipe dry. Season with salt and white pepper and dredge well with flour. Put three tablespoonfuls Crisco in frying pan and when hot place chicken in pan; cover, and allow to steam for ten minutes. Uncover, and allow chicken to brown, taking care to turn frequently. Serve on hot platter, garnished with parsley and serve with cream gravy.

D

Select medium-sized chickens and wash well, then cut into neat pieces and season them. Mix 1 cupful cornmeal with 1 cupful flour, 1 tablespoonful salt and 1 tablespoonful black pepper. Dip each piece in mixture and fry in hot Crisco twelve minutes. Drain and serve with cornmeal batter bread.

E

Wash young chicken, cut into neat pieces, dust with salt, pepper, and flour, and fry in hot Crisco twelve minutes. Drain, place on hot platter, pour over it ½ pint hot sweet cream, sprinkle over with chopped hot roasted peanuts, little salt and pepper.

Fried Chicken, Mexican Style

1 tender chicken

Salt and pepper to taste

1 clove garlic

1 seeded green pepper

2 large tomatoes

5 tablespoonfuls Crisco

Corn croquettes

For Croquettes

2 tablespoonfuls Crisco

1 can or 14 ears corn

2 tablespoonfuls flour

2 cupfuls milk

½ teaspoonful sugar

Pepper and salt to taste

1 egg

Breadcrumbs

For chicken. Draw, wash and dry chicken, then cut into neat joints, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat Crisco in frying pan, add clove of garlic and pepper cut in small pieces. When garlic turns brown take out, put chicken in, fry till brown, then cover closely, allow to simmer till ready. A short time before covering chicken, add tomatoes peeled and cut in small pieces.

For croquettes. Drain liquor from can of corn, or grate ears, and chop kernels fine. Blend Crisco and flour together in pan over fire, add milk, stir till boiling and cook five minutes, stirring all the time, add seasonings, and corn, and cook five minutes, then allow to cool. When cold, form lightly with floured hands into neat croquettes, brush over with beaten egg, toss in crumbs and fry in hot Crisco to a golden brown. Drain. Place chicken on hot platter, garnish with croquettes and serve hot.

Fried Sweetbreads

Sweetbreads

Egg

Breadcrumbs

Crisco

Peas or new Potatoes

Rich brown gravy

Sweetbreads should always be blanched before using. To blanch, soak in cold water two hours, changing water 3 or 4 times. Put into saucepan, cover with cold water, add little salt, and skim well as water comes to boil. Simmer from ten to thirty minutes, according to kind of sweetbread used. Remove to basin of cold water until cold, or wash well in cold water and press between two plates till cold. Dry, remove skin, cut in slices, coat with beaten egg and toss in breadcrumbs, and fry in hot Crisco to a golden brown. Serve round peas or new potatoes, with rich brown gravy.

For those whose digestions are at fault, sweetbreads ought to be eaten as a daily ration if the pocketbook will afford it. For this special part of the animal’s anatomy is that one of all the viscera whose mission is to help digestion. It is of the very pancreas itself, that stomach gland of marvelously involved structure which elaborates the powerful pancreatic juice. It is alkaline in nature, able to digest starches, fats, and most of what escapes digestion in the stomach proper. It received its name from a fancied resemblance in its substance and formation to the rising lumps of dough destined for bread.

Kidney Omelet

4 kidneys

6 tablespoonfuls Crisco

6 eggs

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tablespoonful chopped parsley

2 tablespoonfuls cream

Melt 2 tablespoonfuls Crisco in frying pan. Skin kidneys and cut into small dice and toss them into hot Crisco three minutes. Whisk whites of eggs to stiff froth, then add yolks, seasonings, parsley, and cream, then add kidney. Make remaining Crisco hot in omelet pan or frying pan, pour in omelet and fry over clear fire six minutes. When the edges are set, fold edges over so that omelet assumes an oval shape; be careful that it is not done too much; to brown the top, hold pan before fire, or put it in oven; never turn an omelet in the pan. Slip it carefully on a hot dish and serve the instant it comes from the fire.

Macaroni and Round Steak

½ package macaroni

½ can tomatoes

3 tablespoonfuls Crisco

2 onions

Salt and pepper to taste

½ cupful grated cheese

1 lb. round steak

½ cupful breadcrumbs

Break macaroni into inch lengths and add it with 1 tablespoonful of the Crisco to plenty of boiling water and boil twenty minutes, then drain. Put steak and onions through a food chopper. Put macaroni into Criscoed fireproof dish, then put in meat and onions, add seasonings, tomatoes, cheese, breadcrumbs, and remainder of Crisco melted. Bake in moderate oven one hour.

Meat Cakes

1 lb. round steak

3 tablespoonfuls melted Crisco

3 small onions

1 tablespoonful chopped parsley

2 eggs

¼ lb. grated cheese

2 cupfuls breadcrumbs

Salt, pepper, and paprika to taste

Tomato sauce

For Sauce

4 tablespoonfuls Crisco

1 carrot

1 turnip

2 onions

3 tablespoonfuls flour

2 cupfuls stock

1 can or ½ lb. fresh tomatoes

1 tablespoonful tomato catsup

1 bunch sweet herbs

Salt, pepper, and red pepper to taste

1 blade mace

1 bay leaf

For meat cakes. Grind steak and onions together, add Crisco, cheese, parsley, crumbs, seasonings, and eggs lightly beaten. Mix together; form into small cakes, toss in flour and fry in hot Crisco. Serve hot with tomato sauce.

For sauce. Slice vegetables, fry in Crisco ten minutes; then add flour, stock, mace, bay leaf, tomatoes, catsup, and herbs. Stir till they boil, then simmer gently forty-five minutes. Rub through sieve, add seasonings and use.

Sufficient for twelve meat cakes.

Roast Turkey

For Stuffing

1 quart fine breadcrumbs

4 tablespoonfuls Crisco

1½ teaspoonfuls salt

2 tablespoonfuls chopped onion

1 lemon

1 tablespoonful chopped parsley

¼ teaspoonful powdered thyme

¼ teaspoonful white pepper

1 egg

1 cupful country sausage

A little warm water

1 turkey

Salt pork

Mix sausage with breadcrumbs, add egg well beaten, Crisco, seasonings, grated rind and strained juice of lemon, and moisten with a little hot water. Be careful not to make stuffing too moist. See that turkey is well plucked, singed and wiped; fold over pinions, and pass skewer through them, thick part of legs and body, catching leg and pinning it on other side; now secure bottom part of leg, which should have feet cut off half way to first joint, fill breast of bird with stuffing and skewer down skin. Place 2 strips salt pork in bottom of roasting pan, lay in turkey and place several strips salt pork over breast and sprinkle lightly with flour. Roast in hot oven, allowing fifteen minutes to the pound. Baste occasionally with melted Crisco. Serve hot decorated with cooked onions, celery tips, cranberries, and parsley.

Roast with Spaghetti

2 tablespoonfuls flour

3 lbs. sirloin steak

2 tablespoonfuls Crisco

1 large onion

¼ lb. bacon

Salt and pepper to taste

½ cupful water

½ can tomatoes

1 cupful cooked peas

1 cupful cooked spaghetti

1 cupful cooked mushrooms

8 stuffed olives

Melt Crisco and make very hot in roasting pan, lay in steak, season with salt and pepper, cover with layer of sliced onion, layer of bacon, add water, cover, and cook in moderate oven about three hours. Have ready peas, mushrooms, and spaghetti. Place meat on hot platter. Add juice of tomatoes to gravy, and flour moistened with a little cold water, peas and mushrooms, and when hot pour round meat. Spread spaghetti on top and decorate with olives.

Sirloin Steak with Fried Apples

1 sirloin steak weighing 2 lbs.

3 tablespoonfuls melted Crisco

1 teaspoonful salt

½ teaspoonful white pepper

4 tart apples

Milk

Flour

Mix salt and pepper with melted Crisco, then rub mixture into steak and let steak lie in it twenty minutes. Broil it over a clear fire till done and serve surrounded with fried apples. Peel and core and slice apples, then dip in milk, toss in flour, and drop into hot Crisco to brown.