CHAPTER IV.
Meats and Game.—Salt Pork.—Ham and Eggs.—Broiling and Boiling Meats.—Pigeons, Squirrels, Ducks, Grouse, Woodcock, Rabbits, Frogs, etc.
In selecting salt pork pick out that which is smooth and dry. Damp, clammy pork is unwholesome. Canned corn beef is palatable, and useful in making hash, but is sometimes poisonous from the solder used in sealing the cans. If canned beef is carried, use only the portion that does not touch the metal of the cans, throwing away the remainder.
Fried Salt Pork (or Bacon).
Slice thin, put in frying pan with cold water enough to cover, let it come to a boil and boil two or three minutes; then turn off the water and fry brown on both sides; or, soak one hour in cold water, then roll in bread or cracker crumbs and fry with a little butter or lard in the pan.
Broiled Salt Pork.
Slice thin, and broil on the end of a green switch held over the coals, using extra care that the smoke and flame from the drippings do not reach the pork.
Ham and Eggs.
Fry the ham first, the same as pork or bacon, and fry the eggs in the fat left in the pan. Break each egg separately into a cup, and thence transfer it to the pan, by which means the yolks are kept intact and bad eggs are discovered before it is too late. While the eggs are frying dip up some of the fat with a spoon and pour it over the tops of the eggs.
Broiled Steaks.
If the steak is tough, beat it on both sides, but not enough to tear the meat and allow the juices to escape. Sharpen a green switch at the end, secure the steak on it, and place over a bed of hot coals, turning frequently. Do not let the escaping juices set fire to the meat. Season, after it is done, with pepper and salt, and if a gravy is desired, put a half teaspoonful of salt, half as much pepper, and a piece of butter or fat as large as a duck's egg into a hot dish, and add two tablespoonfuls of boiling water. Pour it over the steak slowly, so that every part of the latter will be moistened.
Broiling in a Frying Pan.
Broiling can be done as well with a frying pan as with a gridiron, and all the juices are preserved. Heat the empty pan very hot first, then put in the meat to be broiled, cover over with a tin plate, and turn the meat often in the pan.
Boiled Meat.
Put the meat into enough boiling water so that the former will be a little more than covered. Cover the pot and boil till cooked, which will take about fifteen minutes for every pound of meat. Skim constantly while boiling, and turn the meat several times. Replenish when necessary with boiling water. One teaspoonful of salt for each five pounds of meat should be put into the pot a short time before the meat is done. If there is a layer of fat on top after the meat is cold, remove it. Beef or venison may be used for frying.
Fried Pigeons.
Dress them, parboil until they are tender, then cut off the legs and wings, slice off the breast pieces, roll in flour or meal and fry in hot pork fat till they are nicely browned. Grouse, ducks, quail, snipe and plover may also be fried, but are better cooked as given below. Snipe, quail and plover need no parboiling.
Fried Squirrels.
Skin and clean, cutting off heads, tails and feet. Parboil and fry, same as pigeons.
Roast Quail, Snipe or Plover.
Dress and impale each on a stick with a piece of fat pork in each bird. Set the stick in the ground before a big bed of live coals in a slanting position so that the heat will fall evenly on all portions of the bird, and turn frequently till a sharp sliver will easily pass through the breast. Catch the drippings in a tin cup and pour over the birds again and again, and if they are served on toast pour the drippings also on the toast. The blacksmith's pliers mentioned in Chapter I. will come in handy for turning the birds before the fire on their sticks and holding the cup to catch the drippings. Without this tool the cook's hands are likely to be roasted by the time the birds are done.
Roast Ducks and Grouse.
Parboil till tender, then roast as above.
Roast Woodcock.
Pick, but do not clean. Roast as above without parboiling. Remove the entrails after the bird is done.
Rabbits or Hares.
These require considerable parboiling unless young. They may be fried like squirrels, cutting them into pieces, or made into stews.
Stewed Rabbit.
After skinning and cleaning the rabbit cut it into pieces, and wash again in cold water. Mince an onion, cleanse and cut into small pieces one-half pound of fat salt pork, and put with the cut-up rabbit into a pot with about a pint of cold water. Season with pepper and salt, cover the pot and let it simmer till the flesh can be easily pierced with a sharp sliver. Take it up when done and set where it will keep warm, and make a gravy by adding to the water left in the pot one cup of boiling milk or water, stirring in gradually one well-beaten egg and one or two tablespoonfuls of flour made into a smooth paste with cold water. Boil one minute and then pour over the rabbit. This gravy will be nearly or quite as good if the egg is omitted.
Stewed Ducks or Pigeons.
Stew exactly the same as rabbits. The pork may be omitted without detracting from the edible quality of the dish.
Frogs.
Use only the hind legs of small frogs, but both the fore and hind legs of large ones. They are best broiled, but may be fried in butter.