HINTS ON COOKING
When salt hams or tongues are cooked they should be instantly thrown into cold water, as the change from the boiling water they were cooked in, to the cold water, instantly loosens the skin from the flesh, and it peels off without trouble.
Fresh vinegar should be added to chopped capers, because it brings out their flavor, and makes the sauce more appetizing.
Butter sauce should never be boiled, as it becomes oily if boiled in making. The whites and yolks of eggs should be beaten separately, because the tissues of both can be better separated; and a tablespoonful of water beaten with each is an improvement, and should never be omitted.
Onions, turnips and carrots should be cut across the fibre, as it makes them more tender when cooked.
Plenty of fast-boiling water should be used in cooking vegetables, as the greater the volume of water the greater the heat. If only a little water is used the whole affair soon cools, the vegetables become tough, and no length of time will render them tender.
In boiling greens, it is best to throw into them soda with the salt, as the soda extracts the oil in them which is injurious to the digestion; from one-half to a whole teaspoonful of soda for a pot of greens is the right quantity.
Parsley should never be boiled in soda, but in boiling water and salt; boil from one to two minutes, and then chop fine. Use plenty of water to boil parsley, as a little water toughens it, and turns it brown.
Never soak dried beans in cold water as it extracts the nutritious portion of the bean. They should be washed first in warm water, then in cold, tied in a cloth and dropped into boiling water, with a little salt in it and be kept boiling for four hours. Then they are nice baked around pork, or served with gravy. To make a puree of them you throw them when boiled, into cold water, when the skins will drop off easily, and you can mash them through a sieve or colander and season with butter, pepper, and salt.
Open the oven door, when baking meat, to let off the burnt, scorched air. The oven should be very hot, and the meat well larded, or covered with fat, or dripping, then well floured; this keeps in the juices and renders the meat tender.