This section is from the book "Centennial Cookery Book", by Woman's Centennial Association. Also available from Amazon: Centennial Cookery Book.
Two pounds bread, crumbed fine, 6 ounzes butter, 2 tablespoons sage, pulverized, 1 small onion, sliced fine, salt and pepper to taste, 2 teacups Cream.
See " Oysters " for oyster dressing.
Rub 2 teaspoonsful of flour into a quarter of a pound of butter, add 5 tablespoonsful of cold water, set it into boiling water and let it melt, and heat until it begins to simmer, when it is done. Never simmer it on coals, as it fries the oil and spoils it. If to be'used with fish add chopped eggs and nasturtions or capers. If used with boiled fowls, put in oysters and let them heat through.
French cooks prefer beef fat to lard for frying. Beef fat does not adhere to articles cooked in it and does not impart flavor, and frying done in beef fat is more wholesome and digestive than when done in lard. A careful cook need never buy fat for the frying kettle, but will find herself amply supplied with the drippings from roasts of beef and the fat skimmed from the soup kettle. These skimmings and remnants should be tried out twice a week by boiling them all together in water. When the fat is all melted it should be strained with the water and set away to cool. When it has hardened lift the cake from the water, scrape off every dark particles adhering at the bottom, melt again and 6train into a small stone jar, it is now ready for use. Miss Corson says after drippings are tried out or cleansed they will keep as well as butter or lard. They are cheaper than good butter and in general estimation preferable to lard. " Each kind should be kept in separate vessels and used with reference to the flavor they impart, as they have marked individual flavors".
After washing and wiping, season the surface with pepper, salt and a little sage, roll tight and sew up in a cloth. Put a broken plate in the bottom of the kettle and lay the meat on it. Then boil several hours till well done. Take out and press before removing the cloth. When perfectly cold, the cloth can be taken off and the meat will be solid and cut into nice slices.
"The economical way of cooking meat is to boil it gently in a close pot, where the steam will condense on the inside of the cover and fall back upon the meat." "The shoulder piece of beef can be made into a tender and delicate dish by letting it cook in its own juices in the oven without one particle of water. A stone jar with a tight-fitting cover (or a lid of plain dough) will keep in all the flavor and the juices. It will require 3 or 4 hours. The heat that comes through the stone is very different from that of iron. It is the slow action of the steady heat that makes a rich dish out of a cheap joint".
Four gallons of water, 1 1/2 pounds of sugar, 3 ounces of saltpetre, 8 pounds of salt. Boil, skim when cold, and pour over your meat.
(This is Mrs. Rhoda Cook's recipe, and is probably nearly 100 years old).
 
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