To Fry Ham.
Cut thin slices, and take off the rind; if very salt, pour hot water upon them, but do not suffer them to lie long in it, as the juices of the meat will be lost. Wipe them in a cloth; have the spider ready hot, lay in the pieces and turn them in a minute or two. They will cook in a very short time. The secret of having good fried ham is in cooking it quick, and not too much. The practice of cutting thick slices, laying them into a cold spider and frying a long time, makes ham black and hard. It needs nothing added, but to be laid upon a hot covered dish.
To Broil Ham.
Cut the slices very thin, for which you must have a sharp knife; pare off the rind; lay them on the gridiron over hot coals. Do not leave them a moment, as they must be almost immediately turned, and will need attention to keep the edges from burning. Two minutes will broil them.
To Fry Salt Pork.
Cut slices and lay them in cold water in the spider; boil them up two or three minutes, then pour off the water and set the spider again on the coals and brown the slices on each side. Fried pork, with baked potatoes, and baked or fried sour apples, makes a very good dinner. It is an improvement to dip the pork, after being par-boiled, into Indian meal, before frying it.
Frizzled Smoked Beef.
Shave thin slices, and put them in a teacupful of milk into a small kettle or sauce-pan; boil it a few minutes, and then add a small bit of butter and an egg beaten with a teaspoonful of flour, and stir well. Put a little more milk to it if needed.
[Smoked beef is good in poached eggs, but in that case the beef should be boiled a few minutes in the milk before the eggs are added. The last remnants of a ham may be scraped from the bone, and put into poached eggs, but will not need the boiling which is necessary in the case of the smoked beef.]
To Shave Smoked Beef.