No way of preparing cold meats is so successful as potting. This process is in England an every-day affair for the cook. If there be ham, game, tongue, beef or fish on the table one day, you are quite sure to see it potted on the next day at lunch or breakfast. It is a very good way of managing left-over food, instead of invariably making it into hashes, stews, etc. These potted meats will keep a long time. They are not good unless thoroughly pounded, reduced to the smoothest possible paste, and free from any unbroken fiber.

Potted Ham

Mince some cold cooked ham, mixing lean and fat together; pound in a mortar, seasoning at the same time with a little cayenne pepper, pounded mace and mustard. Put into a dish, and place in the oven half an hour; afterward pack it in potting-pots or little stone jars, which cover with a layer of clarified butter (lukewarm) and tie bladders or paste paper over them. This is convenient for sandwitches. The butter may be used again for basting meat or for making meatpies.

Potted Tongue (Warne). Ingredients

One pound and a half of boiled tongue, six ounces of butter, a little cayenne, a small spoonful of pounded mace, nutmeg and cloves, each half a teaspoonful. The tongue must be unsmoked, boiled, and the skin taken off. Pound it in the mortar as fine as possible, with the spices. When perfectly pounded, and the spices are well blended with the meat, press it into small potting-pans; pour over the butter. A little roast veal, or the breasts of turkeys, chickens, etc., added to the tongue, are an improvement.

Potted Be

This is well-cooked beef chopped and pounded with a little butter, pepper, salt and mace. Manage as for potted ham.

Potted Liver

Boil a calf liver till tender. Chop very fine, season with salt and pepper and a little sage. Add a small piece of butter, mix well with three or four tablespoonsful of the liquor the liver was boiled in. Press down solid in pudding dish. Put over it a little of the liquor and set in oven twenty minutes.