DIRECTIONS FOR SALTING MEAT, FISH, &c.

To some young housekeepers, the salting of meat, and taking care of it, and of smoked meat, are perplexing. Perhaps the following directions may assist them. The best pieces to corn are the end of the rump, the thin end of the sirloin, and the edge-bone. If you like it with alternate streaks of fat and lean, the pieces at the ends of the ribs, called by butchers the rattle-ran, are very good. The edge-bone affords the most lean meat.

The best piece of pork to corn is the shoulder. It is a good way to divide it, if large, and stuff half of it with sage and bread crumbs, and roast it; and corn the other half.

In winter, hang fresh killed meat up two or three days before putting it into brine, as it will thus become more tender. Make a brine of four quarts of water, three pints of salt, half a table-spoonful of saltpetre, and a pint of molasses, or a pound of coarse brown sugar. Mix it thoroughly without boiling it. In this lay the meat, and see that it is entirely covered. It is well to look at it after a day or two, and if necessary, turn it the other side up. It will be good in a few days, but it is better to let it lie three or four weeks before boiling it. The same brine will do for many successive pieces in winter. But for a family that like salt meat, it is the best way to make a double measure, and put into it at once as much meat as it will cover. It should be kept in a firkin or tub, with a close cover.

After a considerable quantity of meat has thus been cured, scald and skim the brine, add a little more molasses, salt, and saltpetre, and let it become cold before meat is put into it.

A brine like this, only a little more rich with molasses, is very good for salting tongues, and pieces that are to be smoked. But they should lie in it four or five weeks. Meat should never be salted for smoking, later than February or the middle of March.

In warm weather, it will not do to use the same brine more than once, as the blood from the meat will become tainted. Therefore a less expensive mixture, that may be thrown away after being used once, is better. Two quarts of salt to four of water, is a good rule for brine in hot weather.

In the summer, the strong membrane that covers the rib bones, must be cut open with a sharp knife before the meat is put into brine; for, as the salt will not penetrate this membrane, the bones will else become tainted, and the meat soon be spoiled. Meat, at this season, should be cooked within three or four days after being put into brine.

To Salt Pork.

Allow a bushel of salt for a barrel of pork, or a peck for fifty weight. The salt called coarse-fine, is commonly used by butchers; but the best way in a private family, where no more than twenty-five or fifty weight is put down for the year's use, is to use fine salt. Put water enough to cover it. Examine it in a few days, and if the salt is all dissolved, add more. The only sure way of keeping pork sweet, is to have the brine so strong that some of the salt remains undissolved. A board, with a stone upon it, should always be kept on the top of pork, as it will soon become rusty if the edges lie above the surface of the brine.

It is not fit for use, until it has been in brine six weeks.

Pickle for one Ham.

To a gallon of water, put a pint of salt, a pint of molasses, and an ounce of saltpetre. Turn the ham over in the brine often, and let it lie in it six weeks; then let it be smoked nearly as long.

To Cure Hams.

[This receipt is furnished by a person whose hams are celebrated in the eastern part of Massachusetts, for their superior quality.]

For curing fifty weight, allow three quarts of coarse salt, half a pound of saltpetre, and two quarts of good molasses. Add soft water enough just to cover the hams. Common sized hams should be kept in this pickle five weeks; larger ones six. They should all be taken out once a week, and those which were on the top laid in first, and the lower ones last. They should be smoked from two to three weeks with walnut wood or with sawdust and corn-cobs, mixed. Meat smoked with cobs is very delicate.

Pieces of beef for smoking, may be laid in this pickle, after the hams are sent to the smoke house; but more salt should be added.

The Knickerbocker Pickle.

To three gallons of soft water, put four pounds and a half of salt, coarse and fine, mixed; a pound and a half of brown sugar, an ounce and a half of saltpetre, half an ounce of saleratus, and two quarts of good molasses.

Boil the mixture, skim it well, and when cold pour it over the hams or beef. Beef laid down in this pickle, does not become hard, and is very fine, when boiled gently and long.

Some persons consider this the best of all methods for curing beef and hams.

How to keep Hams through the Summer.

When they are taken from the smoke house, do not suffer them to lie a single hour where the flies can find them. Sew them up in a coarse cloth or stiff brown paper, and pack them in ashes. There is no method so sure to preserve them from insects, and the effect of the ashes is to improve the meat; but care should be taken that the hams are so secured that the ashes will not touch them. The ashes should be perfectly cold and dry, and the barrel be in a dry, cool place.

To make Sausages.

A common fault is, that the meat is not chopped enough. It should be chopped very fine, and this is most easily done if it is a little frozen. When ready for the seasoning, put in just cold water enough to enable you to mix the ingredients equally; but be careful not to use more than is necessary for this purpose.

The following excellent rule for seasoning sausages is furnished by the same person whose receipt for curing hams I have been allowed to copy.

To twelve pounds and a half of meat put a gill of fine salt, a large gill of powdered sage, and half a gill of ground pepper. Let the measures be exact.

Some persons find it most convenient to keep sausage meat in a cloth. It is done by making a long bag of strong cotton cloth, of such a size that, when filled, it will be as large round as a common half pint mug. It should be crowded full, and each end tied up. If you have not a sausage-filler, it can be filled with the hand. Sew up only a quarter of a yard, then fill it tight, so far; then sew another quarter, and fill it, and so on until you reach the end. When the meat is to be used, open one end, rip up the seam a little way, and cut off slices rather more than an inch thick, and fry them. It may be kept good from December to March, in a cold, dry place.

How to salt Shad to keep a Year.

Procure those which are just caught; soak them an hour or two in a plenty of water, in order that the scales may be easily taken off. Take care to remove them all. Cut off the heads and open them down the back. When you have taken out all the refuse parts, remove the greatest part of the spine, as the fish will be more sure to keep sweet. A sharp knife is indispensable. Lay them in fresh water with a good deal of salt in it for an hour or two, in order to extract the blood. Then take them out, and sprinkle them plentifully with fine salt, taking care that it touches all the ends and edges. If most convenient, let them lie over night. In the morning, mingle an ounce of saltpetre and a pound of sugar with a peck of coarse-fine salt, and put a layer of salt, and a layer of fish (the skin being down), into the firkin. A peck of salt will cure twenty-five shad.

To try Lard.

The fat should not be suffered to stand long without being tried, because, even in cold weather, some parts of it may soon become musty, and nothing can then restore its sweetness. Remove all the lean bits, as they will adhere to the kettle, and cause the fat to burn. Cut it into pieces a little more than an inch square, and take care to have them nearly of a size. Put a little water into the kettle, and keep a steady, good fire, without much blaze, and stir the fat often. Attention to the kettle and the fire will be necessary, through the process. It will require three hours to do it. When the fat no longer bubbles, but is still, it is done enough. It is best to squeeze it through a tow cloth bag, made by folding half a square in such a way that the corner will form the end, and it should be rounded off a little at the bottom, and the seam made exactly as directed for a pudding-bag. Two pieces of wood fastened together, somewhat like a lemon-squeezer, will facilitate the process of straining it. Strain all that flows off without much pressure into one jar, and that which is extracted last, into another. There is no advantage in putting salt into lard. It does not mingle with it, as appears by its being always found at the bottom of the kettle, undissolved. Stone jars are best for keeping lard, but potter's ware does very well. It should stand in a cold place, and in warm weather, a fire-place with a close board, in a cool room, is a very good place to keep it.

Scraps are a favorite dish with many persons. Put salt, pepper, and pulverized sage to them, while they are still warm, break them small, and stir them well that the seasoning may be equally distributed.

TOMATOES.

Stewed.

Scald them in order to remove the skins. Cut them up and put them into a saucepan, with a little salt, a bit of butter, and some fine crumbs of bread or pounded cracker. Let them stew gently an hour; if you like them sweet, add sugar ten minutes before serving.

Baked.

Butter a dish, and when you have skinned the tomatoes lay them in it, whole. Sprinkle salt and sugar over them, and then fine crumbs of bread or pounded cracker. Bake them forty minutes in a dish in which they may be put upon the table. When they are half baked dip the syrup over the top, so as to moisten the crumbs.

Broiled.

Cut them in two without skinning, and lay them upon the gridiron. They will not break, and will require six or seven minutes to cook through. Turn them, and when laid in the dish, add salt and butter, and also pepper if you prefer.

Like Cucumbers.

Take fair fruit. The small kind, called love-apples, are the best for this use. Take off the skins, slice them, sprinkle salt over them, add vinegar (rather less than for cucumbers), and put on pepper.

Preserved.

Having skinned them, weigh equal quantities of fruit and sugar. Let the tomatoes lie upon a hair sieve a little while in order that some of the juice may drain out. Then lay them carefully, so as not to spoil the shape, into a stone jar, in alternate layers with the sugar. Allow one lemon for every four pounds of fruit, and lay slices of lemon between each layer of fruit. Cover the jar close, and set it in a kettle of cold water, where it will boil moderately, but constantly, many hours—all day if possible. See that the water comes up high enough around the jar, and also that none of it boils into the top. When it is boiled enough, let the jar stand until the water has in a measure cooled, as it may be broken by being taken at once out of boiling water.

Figs.

Choose smooth-shaped tomatoes, and to sixteen pounds allow six pounds of sugar. Scald and remove the skins in the usual way; put the sugar to them, and boil until penetrated with it; then take them out, spread them on dishes, flatten and dry them in the sun. A small quantity of sugar should be sprinkled over them occasionally while drying. When perfectly dry, pack them in boxes, sprinkling each layer with powdered sugar.

Pickle (an excellent Condiment).

Put eight pounds of skinned tomatoes, and four of brown sugar, into a preserving kettle. Stir often and see they do not burn. Boil them to the consistency of molasses, then add a quart of sharp cider-vinegar, a teaspoonful of mace, another of cinnamon, and half a teaspoonful of clove, and boil five minutes longer.

Stewed Tomato (to keep the year round).

Skin and cut up the fruit, and boil it gently two hours in a porcelain kettle; add nothing to it but a little salt. Have ready enough clean bottles to contain the quantity to be stewed. Olive bottles are very convenient for the purpose, but common junk bottles are also good. Provide a tunnel, good corks, a coarse towel, a hammer, and a tin dish containing equal parts of rosin and shoemaker's wax. After two hours' boiling, set the kettle off; have the bottles ready warmed by standing near the fire so that heat will not crack them, put hot water into three or four at a time, shake it about, and drain it out; then fill the bottles with the hot tomato nearly far enough to meet the cork. If it does not readily go through the tunnel, push it down with a stick or skewer. When you have filled these, put in the corks and hammer them down; take the coarse towel to protect your hands from the heat, and dip the mouth of the bottle into the melted sealing-wax. See that the cork is entirely covered by it. Set these aside and do the rest in the same way. This is a convenient way for those who do not own the cans now so much used; and tomatoes put up thus, are as good months afterwards as if the fruit was just gathered. None but fresh and sound ones should be used. Set the bottles in a cool, dry place.

Catsup.

Slice the tomatoes and sprinkle them with salt. If you intend to let them stand until you have gathered several parcels, put in plenty of salt. After you have gathered all you intend to use, boil them gently an hour, strain them through a coarse sieve; slice two good-sized onions very thin for every gallon; add half a spoonful of ginger, two spoonfuls of powdered clove, two of allspice, and a teaspoonful of black pepper. Boil it twenty minutes after the spices are added. Keep it in a covered jar.

This kind of catsup is specially designed to be used in soups, and stewed meats.

Another Catsup (retaining the color and flavor of the Fruit).

Skin and slice the tomatoes, and boil them an hour and a half. Then put to one gallon not strained, a quarter of an ounce of mace, the same of nutmegs and cloves, one handful of horseradish, two pods of red pepper, or a large teaspoonful of cayenne, and salt as you like it. Boil it away to three quarts, and then add a pint of wine and half a pint of vinegar. Bottle it, and leave the bottles open two or three days; then cork it tight. Make this catsup once, and you will wish to make it every year.

Pickled.

Wash green tomatoes, and slice them rather thin; weigh them, and allow three or four sliced onions, four pounds of sugar, and a gallon of cider-vinegar to eight pounds of tomatoes. Put the vinegar to boil in a porcelain kettle with the sugar, stir it, and when it boils up, set it off, and let it stand a few minutes until you can remove the scum without wasting the vinegar; then add the onions, two teaspoonfuls of salt, a table-spoonful each of powdered cinnamon and clove, and a grated nutmeg; then set it upon the fire and immediately add the tomatoes. When the vinegar begins to simmer press the tomatoes gently down. Let them boil only two or three minutes. Put them into covered jars; or, when cool enough into wide-mouthed bottles. When the pickles are all used, the vinegar need not be lost, as it is excellent upon baked beans, and cold salt meat, or in mince pies.