CHAPTER V
Simple Meat Dishes
Here let me put in a few words about some easy ways of cooking meat. The recipes are simple, but everything depends on your getting in plenty of seasoning, cooking as directed, and—not burning. Be sure to have veal, lamb and pork well done, as no one likes these rare or even pink, but study the family taste about the length of time to cook beef. I have purposely omitted the ordinary dinner meats (I couldn't tell you everything in one little book!), but if you learn to make what I do tell you about, you will certainly become a good cook.
PAN-BROILED LAMB CHOPS
Lamb chops are particularly nice pan-broiled. First scrape off any fine particles of bone, trim off superfluous fat, and then place in a hissing hot skillet. Turn often until well seared, to prevent escape of juices, and cook until brown, about ten minutes. Serve on a hot platter, season with salt and pepper, dot with butter, and garnish with parsley, peas, or a ring of mashed potatoes.
PORK CHOPS
Pork chops need to be thoroughly cooked, and after washing, I always parboil ten minutes first in a covered frying pan, then season with salt and pepper and brown in fat. They are often served with tomato sauce.
VEAL CUTLETS
The veal for this purpose, sometimes called Mock Reed Birds, should be sliced thin, then cut in four-inch squares. Spread lightly with butter, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and scatter with finely minced parsley and celery, or either one alone. Roll each piece up tightly and tie with a piece of white string. Place "birds" in a hot skillet with a little water and melted butter, cover and simmer for twenty minutes, then brown in butter or fat as preferred. Serve on rounds of hot buttered toast, with brown gravy.
BEEF STEW (BROWN)
Take one pound of round steak, cut in small pieces and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Put a little suet in a hot kettle, or melt two tablespoons of butter, and add a couple of slices of dry onion, turning frequently until brown, then put in the meat. Stir to keep from scorching until well seared on all sides, cover with boiling water, and set on the back of the stove to simmer for at least three hours. As it boils down, allow to brown before filling up again, and have the meat covered with the broth when done. Thicken with two tablespoons of flour stirred to a smooth paste in half a cup of cold water. Add more salt then if necessary. Send to the table in a covered dish, and serve with mashed potatoes.
SOUTHERN BAKED HAM
When there is going to be company, baked ham is one of the nicest kinds of meat that can be had. Take either a small end or half a ham, as needed, and soak several hours in cold water. Wash well and put on in a kettle with cold water to cover and boil slowly, allowing at least twenty minutes to the pound. After boiling half an hour, remove one-third the water, and fill up with fresh boiling water, and keep covered until done. Then set aside and allow to cool in the liquor. When cold, lift out, trim off the brown skin, cover the fat with brown sugar, stick with whole cloves, and bake brown—about twenty or thirty minutes. This is delicious either hot or cold.
BEEFSTEAK
Different kinds of steak need to be cooked in different ways. Tenderloin, porterhouse, and sirloin are best broiled over a hot fire, or pan broiled by being turned frequently on a very hot skillet, with only the fat that comes from the steak itself. Serve on a hot platter, with butter, pepper and salt. Round steak is nice cut in small pieces, seasoned with salt and pepper, rolled in flour, and cooked quickly in some of the suet, first put in the pan until tried out. Lift browned pieces of the steak (for this needs more cooking than tenderer meat), on to a hot platter, add a little butter to the fat in the pan, stir in a scant tablespoon of flour, stir well until smooth and brown, then pour in quickly a cupful of cold water, and continue to stir until well thickened. This gravy will be smooth and of nice flavor, and can be poured over the meat. Season, of course, with salt and pepper to taste.
HASH
Hash, though a dish often laughed at, is always appetizing when well made. Corn beef hash indeed has quite a reputation, and is made by chopping cold corn beef rather fine, adding an equal quantity of cold boiled potatoes, chopped, wetting with enough boiling water to keep from burning, seasoning with salt, pepper and a little butter, and then allowing to cook gently for at least twenty minutes. All kinds of hash need to simmer for quite a while, in order to blend the flavor of the meat and the potatoes, and give the delicate taste that marks a carefully prepared dish. Beef, particularly browned scraps, finely minced, and mixed with an equal quantity of minced cold boiled potatoes, seasoned and prepared as just directed, is very good for breakfast served on rounds of buttered toast. And either kind can be allowed to brown down in the pan and then turned out on a hot plate, rolled over with a nice thick crust. Any kind of meat can be used, however.
LAMB PIE
A lamb pie is an attractive way of using up small pieces of cold lamb. Cut off all scraps and gristle, and add enough cold gravy to cover. Season well with salt and pepper, and simmer twenty minutes. Take a pudding dish, invert a small cup in the bottom, pour in the hot meat, add half a can of peas, cover with a crust of light biscuit dough, and bake until brown. Before sending to the table lift crust and remove cup, which has drawn up the gravy. Serve with either mashed or baked potatoes.
DRIED BEEF
Dried beef dressed in cream is always an appetizing dish and very quickly made ready. The child should first take a half-pound of chipped beef and tear it into small pieces, removing all strings and fat. Then put in a stew-pan, cover with cold water and let come to a boil. While it is heating, however, she should stir smooth one tablespoonful butter and one tablespoonful flour. When the water boils on the beef she must pour off half (or it will be too salty), and add an equal amount of milk. Into this stir slowly the mixed butter and flour, season with pepper and let boil until thick. Some people like the addition of two well-beaten eggs, but I prefer the beef plain, with the gravy rather thick, served on rounds of hot buttered toast. The toast could be made first and set where it will keep warm, and thus save the time of making afterwards, for a dish of this kind cools very quickly, and should be sent to the table as soon as ready.
ROAST BEEF
A roast of beef, after being scraped and wiped free from all particles of sawed bone, should be seasoned well with salt and pepper, and dredged with flour. Put it in a hot oven, and when it has seared on top, to keep in the juice, turn over and allow to sear on the bottom. Then pour in the pan enough boiling water to keep from burning, and baste frequently. Allow about one hour for a five pound roast rare, and an hour and a half to cook well done. Serve a rib roast, left on the bone, standing as shown in the illustration, garnished with parsley.