Sheep's Haslet.—Peel and slice one quart of onions, (cost five cents;) wash and slice a sheep's haslet, (cost six cents;) put two ounces of drippings, (cost two cents,) in the bottom of a dripping pan, strew the onions upon it, and lay the haslet on them, seasoning it with a teaspoonful of salt, and one of thyme, savory, allspice, and pepper, using equal parts of each; add enough water to reach halfway to the top of the meat, then cover it thickly with the crumbs from half a loaf of stale bread, and bake all together for one hour and a half, in a moderate oven. The whole dish will not cost over seventeen cents, and it is nutritious and savory.
Baked Pig's Head.—Buy at a packing house half a medium sized pig's head, which you can get for three or four cents a pound, (the piece will cost about ten cents;) clean and wash it well; pare and slice one quart of onions, (cost five cents;) chop quarter of a pound of suet, (cost two cents,) and grate half a loaf of stale bread, (cost three cents;) put into a dripping pan one ounce of drippings, (cost one cent,) one gill of vinegar, (cost one cent,) then the onions, next the head, skin up, and last the bread, suet, and seasoning, well mixed, and bake in a moderate oven for about one and a half hours. The dish will cost about twenty-two cents; it is hearty and extremely nutritious.
CHAPTER VIII.
SUNDAY DINNERS.
Sunday is the workingman's festival. It is not only a day of rest from manual labor, a breathing space in his struggle for existence, an interval during which his devotional aspirations may have full exercise; it is the forerunner of a new phase of life, in which toil is laid aside for the gentler occupations of home, if he is a man of family, and for rest and relaxation in any case.
The duty of making home pleasant, which a good wife feels, is doubly felt upon the days when the bread-winner abides in it. The husband of such a wife seldom passes his Sundays in strange places: he is content to accept the day according to its recognized signification, and when it has passed he is all the more ready to begin his daily work again. Because much of the comfort of home depends upon good and economical meals, and because Sunday dinners ought to be better than those of working days, we must make Monday dinners supplementary to them; the cost of Saturday night's marketing must be divided between the two days, in order to keep within our financial margin. Good examples of this management may be found in the receipts given in this chapter for ROAST FOWL and FRIED CHICKEN, À LA MODE BEEF and MEAT PATTIES, BOILED MUTTON and KROMESKYS, and ROAST VEAL and VEAL AND HAM PATTIES. These receipts show how by the exercise of a little judgment in buying, and economy in managing food, we can have our Sunday fowl, or joint of meat, without incurring any expense unwarranted by the figures to which this little book confines us.
Roast Fowl.—You can generally buy a fowl for about a shilling a pound; it need not be tender, but it ought to be fleshy in order to furnish the basis for two meals. Choose a fowl which will cost fifty cents or less; pluck all the pin feathers, singe off the hairs with a piece of burning paper, or a little alcohol poured on a plate and lighted with a match; then wipe the fowl with a clean damp cloth, draw it carefully by slitting the skin at the back of the neck, and taking out the crop without tearing the skin of the breast; loosen the heart, liver, and lungs by introducing the fore-finger at the neck, and then draw them, with the entrails, from the vent. Unless you have broken the gall, or the entrails, in drawing the bird, do not wash it, for this greatly impairs the flavor, and partly destroys the nourishing qualities of the flesh. Twist the tips of the wings back under the shoulders; bend the legs as far up toward the breast as possible, secure the thigh bones in that position by a trussing cord or skewer; then bring the legs down, and fasten them close to the vent. Put the bird into a pot containing three quarts of boiling water, with one tablespoonful of salt, an onion stuck with half a dozen cloves, and a bouquet of sweet herbs, made as directed on page 19; skim it as soon as it boils, and as often as any scum rises. If you wish to stuff the fowl use a forcemeat made as follows, (cost ten cents,) and carefully sew it up in the carcass.
Forcemeat or Stuffing.—Cut two ounces of salt pork, (cost two cents,) in quarter inch dice, and fry it brown in half an ounce of drippings, with one ounce of chopped onion; while these ingredients are frying, soak five cents' worth of stale bread in tepid water, and then wring it dry in a napkin; add it to the onion when it is brown, with one tablespoonful of chopped parsley, half a saltspoonful of powdered thyme, and the same quantity of dried and powdered celery, and white pepper, and one teaspoonful of salt; mix all these over the fire until they are scalding hot, and cleave from the pan; then stir in one raw egg, and stuff the fowl with it. It is good stuffing for any kind of poultry or meat. A few ounces of grated cheese make it superlatively good.
Meantime, while the fowl is boiling, peel one quart of potatoes, (cost three cents,) and lay them in cold water. At the end of one hour take the fowl from the pot, taking care to strain and save the pot liquor, put it into a dripping pan with the potatoes, season them both with a teaspoonful of salt, and quarter of a teaspoonful of pepper, and put them in a rather quick oven to bake for about one hour. When both are well done, and nicely browned, take them up on hot dishes, and keep them hot while you make the following gravy: