Domestic Cookery | Page 2

wings, pin it up in a
towel, have the water boiling, and put it in, put a little salt in the water;
when half done, put in a little milk. A small turkey will boil in an hour
and a quarter, a middle sized in two hours, and a large one in two and a
half or three hours; they should boil moderately all the time; if fowls
boil too fast, they break to pieces--half an hour will cook the liver and
gizzard, which should be put round the turkey; when it is dished, have
drawn butter, with an egg chopped and put in it, and a little parsley;
oyster sauce, and celery sauce are good, with boiled turkey or chicken.
To Boil Beef Tongue, Corned Beef &c.
If the tongue is dry, let it soak for several hours, put it to boil in cold
water, and keep it boiling slowly for two hours; but if it is just out of
the pickle, the water should boil when it goes in.
Corned or pickled beef, or pork, require longer boiling than that which
is dry; you can tell when it is done by the bones coming out easily.
Pour drawn butter over it when dished.
To Boil a Ham.
A large ham should boil three or four hours very slowly; it should be
put in cold water, and be kept covered during the whole process; a
small ham will boil in two hours. All bacon requires much the same
management,--and if you boil cabbage or greens with it, skim all the
grease off the pot before you put them in. Ham or dried beef, if very
salt, should be soaked several hours before cooking, and should be
boiled in plenty of water.
To Boil Calf's Head.
Cut the upper from the lower jaw, take out the brains and eyes, and
clean the head well; let it soak in salt and water an hour or two; then
put it in a gallon of boiling water, take off the scum as it rises, and
when it is done, take out the bones; dish it, and pour over a sauce, made

of butter and flour, stirred into half a pint of the water it was boiled in;
put in a chopped egg, a little salt, pepper, and fine parsley, when it is
nearly done. You can have soup of the liquor, with dumplings, if you
wish.
To Boil Veal.
Have a piece of the fore quarter nicely washed and rubbed with Hour;
let it boil fast; a piece of five pounds will boil in an hour and a half;
dish it up with drawn butter. Oyster sauce is an improvement to boiled
veal.
Roasting Meat.
Roasting either meat or poultry requires more attention than boiling or
stewing; it is very important to baste it frequently, and if the meat has
been frozen, it should have time to thaw before cooking. Beef, veal, or
mutton, that is roasted in a stove or oven requires more flour dredged
on it than when cooked before the fire in a tin kitchen. There should be
but little water in the dripping pan, as that steams the meat and prevents
its browning; it is best to add more as the water evaporates, and where
there is plenty of flour on the meat it incorporates with the gravy and it
requires no thickening; add a little seasoning before you take up the
gravy. Meat that has been hanging up some time should be roasted in
preference to boiling, as the fire extracts any taste it may have acquired.
To rub fresh meat with salt and pepper will prevent the flies from
troubling it, and will make it keep longer.
To Roast a Turkey--to make Gravy, &c.
A very large turkey will take three hours to roast, and is best done
before the fire in a tin oven. Wash the turkey very clean, and let it lay
in salt and water twenty minutes, but not longer, or it changes the color;
rub the inside with salt and pepper; have ready a stuffing of bread and
butter, seasoned with salt, pepper, parsley, thyme, an onion, if
agreeable, and an egg; if the bread is dry, moisten it with boiling water;
mix all well together, and fill the turkey; if you have fresh sausage, put
some in the craw; have a pint of water in the bottom of the dripping pan

or oven, with some salt and a spoonful of lard, or butter; rub salt,
pepper and butter over the breast; baste it often, and turn it so that each
part will be next the fire.
Gravy may be made from the drippings in the oven by boiling it in a
skillet, with thickening and seasoning. Hash gravy should be made by
boiling the