THE BUCKEYE COOK BOOK

the porter house steak. In the fore quarter i is the "rib piece" for

boiling or corning ; 2, tlft "plate" piece for corning : 3, the "fore

shank" for soup; 5, the "rib roast," first cut; 6, "rib roast," be ,t cut,

and the best roast in the beef; 7, "chuck rib roast," commonly used

for "pot roast ;" 8, neck piece for corning or pie meat ; 9, best cut for

corn beef.

A — Loin, best end, for roasting.

B — Loin, chump end, for roasting.

C — Fillet, for baking or roasting.

D — Knuckle for stewing.

E — Fore knuckle, for stewing.

F — Neck, best end, for roasting.

G — Neck, scrag end, for stewing.

H — Blade bone.

I — Breast, for stewing.

A — Back, lean part for roast. B — Loin, for roast. C — Bacon to be cured. D — Shoulder, to be cured. E — Ham, to be cured.

A — Leg, for boiling piece.

B — Loin, for roast.

C — Rump piece, for roast.

D — Chops, frying or broihng.

E — Fore-shoulder, for boiling.

F — Neck, for stewing or roasting.

G — Brisket, for stewing.

-^'K\V.'»» . \C. . —

Brine for Beef — To one hundred pounds beef, take eight pounds salt, five of sugar or five pints molasses, (Orleans best, but any good will do), two ounces soda, one ounce saltpeter, four gallons water, or enough to cover the meat. Mix part of the salt and sugar together.

,' HOW TO CUT AND CURE MEATS. 337

[ rub eaich piece, and place it in the barrel, having covered the bottom with salt. When the meat is all in, pu# the remainder of salt and sugar in the water. Dissolve the soda and saltpeter in hot water, add it to the brine and pour over the meat ; place a board on top of mbat, with a weight sufficient to keep it under the brine. Let the pieces in- tended for dried beef remain in the brine three weelis, talie out, place in a tub, cover with water, let stand over night, string and dry. Boil brine, skim well, let cool, and pour over the bony pieces left. These are good boiled, and eaten either hot or cold, and they will keep good for several months. Tongue may be pickled with the beef. Brine made the same way, with the addition of two pounds more of salt, is good for hams and shoulders. Brine for pickled pork should have all the'saltit will dissolve, and a peck or half bushel in bottom of barrel. If pork is salted in this manner it will never spoil, but the strength of the brine makes it necessary to salt the hams and side meat separately. Pork when killed should be thoroughly cooled before salting, but should not remain longer than one or two days. It should never be frozen before salting, as this is as injurious as salting before it is cooled. Large quantities of pork are lost by failing to observe these rules. If pickled pork begins to sour, take it out of the brine, rinse well in clear cold water, place a layer in a barrel, on this place charcoal in lumps the size of a hen's egg or smaller, add a layer of meat and so on, until all is in the barrel, cover with a weak brine, let stand twenty- four hours ; take meat out, rinse off the charcoal, put it into a new strong brine, remembering always to have plenty of salt in the barrel (more than the water will dissolve). If the same barrel is used, cleanse it by placing a small quantity of quicklime in it, slack with hot water, and add as much salt as the water will dissolve, and cover tightly to keep the steam in. — D.

To Cure Hams. — For every ham, half a pound of' salt, same of brown sugar, half an ounce of cayenne pepper, half an ounce allspice, half an ounce saltpeter ; mix and rub well over the hams, laying them in the barrel they are to be kept in with the skin side down ; let them remain a week, make a pickle of water and salt strong enough to bear an egg, add to it half a pound of sugar, pour over the hams till they are thoroughly covered, let them remain four weeks, take out and hang up to dry for at least a week before smoking ; smoke with corn cote or hickory chips, — an old but a good way. — Mrs. S. M. Guy.

To Keep Hams. — For one hundred pounds of meat, take eight pounds salt, two ounces saltpeter and four gallons water ; put hams in this pickle in the fall, keeping them well under the brine ; in April take out, drain three or four days, slice as for cooking, fry nearly as much as for table,, pack in stone jars, pressing down the slices as fast as they are laid in the jar ; when full put on a weight, and when en- tirely cold, cover with the fat tried out. Prepared in this way they retain the ham flavor without being smoked. The gravy left from frying will be found very useful in cooking.

338 THE BUCKEYE COOK BOOK.

It is no trifling accomplishment to carve well, and both ladies and gentlemen ought to so far make carving a study that they may be able to perform the task virith sufficient skill at least to prevent re- mark. There are no real difficulties in the way of mastering the ac- complishment ; knowledge simply is required. All displays of exeVtion are in bad taste because they indicate a want of ability on the part of the carver, or are a strong indication of the toughness of roast or the age of the bird. A good knife of moderate size and great sharpness is a necessity. Fowls are easily carved, and in roasts such as loins, breasts, forequarters, etc. , the butcher should always have instructions to separate the joints. The platter should be placed so near to the carver that he has full control over it ; if far off, nothing can prevent an ungraceful appearance. In carving a turkey, cut off the wing nearest you first, then the leg and second joint; then slice the breast until a rounded, ivory-shaped piece appears ; insert the knife between that and the bone, and separate them ; this part is the nicest bit of the breast, next comes the "merry-thought." After this, turn over the bird a little, and just below the breast you will find the "oyster," which you separate as you did the inner breast. The side-bone lies beside the rump, and the desired morsel can be taken out without separating the whole bone. Proceed in the same way upon the other side. The fork need not be removed during the whole process. An experienced carverywill dissect a fowl as easily as you can break an egg or cut a potato. He retains his seat, manages his hands and el- bows artistically, and is perfectly at his ease. There is no difficulty in the matter; it only requires knowledge and practice, and these should be taught in the family, each child taking his or her turn.

Chickens and partridges are carved in the same way. The trail of a woodcock on a bit of toast is the choicest bit.pf that bird ; also the thigh of a partridge.

SIRLOIN OF BEEF. in carving beef, mutton,

Ifnib, and veal, thin smooth and neat slices are desirable — C2U across the grain, tak- ing care to pass the knife through to the bones of the meat. There are two modes of helping a .sirloin of beef; either by carving long thin slices from 3 to 4, and help- ing it with a portion of the fat underneath the ribs, or by cutting thicker slices, from i to 2, through the tenderloin.