With potatoes.—(a) Mash some cold (previously boiled) potatoes roughly (not too fine) with a lump of butter and a little pepper, form them into a flat round cake about 2 in. thick; fry it in a frying-pan to a rich brown, turning both sides, and place slices of fried bacon round it in the dish. Serve hot; a little beef gravy put into it when done will give a good flavour. The bacon may be inserted into the mass of potato as in a pie, instead of being set round the edges.
(b) Slice up raw potatoes into round slices ¼ in. thick (or chop them into moderately sized dice), fry with butter, and serve hot with bacon, in same way as (a).
Boiled.—Take a square piece of bacon, scrape the rind quite clean, and cut off any part that is the least tainted or rusty. Soak the bacon for 2 hours in water, then turn it, and set it on the fire in a saucepan with plenty of cold water. Let it boil very slowly by the side of the fire, removing any scum as it rises. When thoroughly done drain it, remove the skin (to be preserved to flavour the stock pot), and cover the bacon with baked breadcrumbs.
Broiled.—(a) Cut thin slices from a piece of streaky bacon, trim them carefully, put them in a double gridiron, and broil them a few minutes on or in front of a clear fire, turning them frequently.
(b) Cut the slices all of a size, roll them up one by one on a thin skewer; then either broil them before the fire, or put them in a tin in the oven for a few minutes.
Fat.—The fat of cold boiled bacon is much better than anything else in which to fry onions for making curry. It should be cut into small pieces, and when melted in the frying-pan the slices of onions should be added and fried in the usual way. The flavour is much better for curry than when dripping or even butter is used. If there be not enough bacon to do the entire frying, whatever there may be should be added to the fat used. Cold bacon fat is also much better than when uncooked for wrapping round oyster or small balls of mince for frying, it is so much more delicate, and less greasy. It should be cut as thin as possible. The fat in which bacon has been fried is the best thing in which to fry liver, veal cutlets, or anything with which bacon is to be served. Slices of bread fried in it are excellent for breakfast, served quite hot with a slight shake of pepper over each; and if neatly cut and dished up, and garnished with a little parsley, they look as appetising as they taste.
Fried.—(a) Trim some slices of bacon, dip them in hot water, dry them in a cloth, then put them in a frying-pan, and turn them frequently till done.
(b) Slices from a piece of boiled bacon can be cooked as in (a), or broiled, and are better than those cut from raw bacon.
(c) Cut some thin slices of streaky bacon, cut off the rind, and trim them. Put them into a frying-pan on the fire, and turn them often, until quite hot; then roll up each slice, and garnish the dish.
With spinach.—Line a pudding-shape all through with thin slices of bacon. Take some boiled spinach, seasoned and chopped as if for table. Cut some carrot and turnips into square pieces, and a few small onions (if liked); whip up the yolk of an egg with a little pepper and salt. Mix the carrots and turnips well with the egg and seasoning, stick them thickly alternately at the bottom and round the sides of the tin, and fill up the middle with the dressed spinach. When the tin is full cover it with thin slices of bacon, steam it one hour, turn it out in a corner dish, and lift up the bacon whilst you pour in some rich brown gravy, then replace the bacon neatly.