Wash a quart of small white beans in cold water; pick them over while in the water; reject all imperfect beans; drain; cover with fresh cold water, and let them soak over night. Next morning change the water twice; then put them in a large iron pot; add a liberal quantity of cold water, and simmer them slowly for four hours. Pour them into a colander carefully to drain. Heat an old-fashioned beanpot with hot water, and wipe it dry; place a small piece of pork in the pot, and add the beans to within two inches of the top; now place a small piece of pork (properly scored on its rind) on the beans. Dissolve a tablespoonful of black molasses in a pint of warm water; add half a teaspoonful of salt and a few drops of Worcestershire sauce, and pour this over the beans; place the pot in a moderate oven, and bake for three hours, at the end of which time take them out, and add a little more warm water, to prevent them from becoming too dry. Bake for three hours longer, and serve with hot Boston brown bread.
The old-fashioned manner of preparing this dish was to place all the pork on top, the result being that the first few spoonfuls of beans contained all the pork fat, while the remainder had not been seasoned by it.
The above recipe distributes the pork fat evenly through the beans, as it is lighter than water, and naturally rises; and for this reason only half the usual quantity of pork is required to produce the desired result.
Reed Birds.—The average French cook cannot understand why these "lumps of sweetness" do not require long cooking and elaborate sauces to make them palatable, and these cooks invariably spoil them. Pluck and draw the birds, leaving the heads on. Put into a frying-pan an ounce of sweet butter; when hot, add six birds; toss them about to cook evenly; add a little salt and pepper; let them remain over the fire for about three minutes, and serve on a hot dish.
To cook them in large quantities, as they are prepared by the gunners at their club-houses along the Delaware, proceed as follows: Clean them properly; arrange them in a baking-tin; add a liberal quantity of butter, salt, and pepper; put the pan in the oven. At the end of five minutes turn them with a long-handled spoon, let them cook five minutes longer, and serve.
An excellent way to serve them at late breakfast-parties is as follows: Pluck and draw the birds, and remove their heads. Take a few large long potatoes; cut them in two crosswise; scrape out part of the inside; place a bird in each half of potato; press the halves together, tie them with twine, and bake until the potatoes are done. Remove the common twine and tie them up again with narrow tape or ribbon. Send to table on a napkin.
Salt Codfish, Broiled.—Cut from a medium-sized salt codfish three pieces about two inches square; split each piece in two, and soak in water over night; change the water two or three times. Next morning rinse the pieces in fresh cold water, and drain and dry in a napkin; brush a little butter over each, and broil. When done, pour over them melted butter seasoned with pepper and lemon juice.
Sardines, Broiled.—Open a can of sardines, and remove the fish without breaking them; scrape off the skin and split them, if large; put them between a double wire broiler, and broil both sides nicely. Squeeze a little lemon and orange juice over them before serving.
Sauce Tartare.—Chop together one small pickle, a dozen capers, and a few sprigs of parsley and a very small piece of onion; to these add half a pint of Mayonnaise and a teaspoonful of French mustard.
Sausages.—A disagreeable feature of sausages, when cooked in the ordinary manner, is that the spattering fat covers the range, and the ascending smoke pervades the whole house. This may be avoided by putting them in a baking-pan and cooking them in the oven. Ten minutes is sufficient to cook a pound of country sausages, provided the oven be quite hot. They are excellent when split in two and broiled; serve hot or cold apple sauce with them. Apple fritters also are acceptable with sausages.