Better Meals for Less Money Part 12

Cook onion and beef in fat until brown; add tomato, spaghetti, and seasonings, and simmer ten minutes.

135.--BROWN FRICa.s.sEE OF LAMB

2 pounds forequarter lamb 2 white turnips 2 quarts boiling water 2 carrots 1-1/2 teaspoons salt 5 tablespoons flour 2 onions 1/4 teaspoon kitchen bouquet

Cut lamb in pieces the size of a chop, trim off nearly all fat, add boiling water, heat to boiling point, and skim; add salt and vegetables (left whole), and simmer for two hours; remove meat, season with salt and pepper, dredge with flour, and saute with two tablespoons of fat in a hot frying pan until brown; to the fat in the pan add the flour, and stir until brown, add two cups of stock, and stir until smooth; color with kitchen bouquet, add pepper, and salt if necessary. Slice vegetables, and serve with meat. Use left-over stock for soups or sauces.

136.--Ca.s.sEROLE OF LAMB

1-1/2 pounds forequarter lamb 2 tablespoons rolled oats 1/2 cup each white turnip, carrot, 1/4 teaspoon pepper and onion finely chopped 1-1/2 teaspoons salt 1 cup tomato 3 cups hot water

Remove fat and cut meat into inch pieces; put into a ca.s.serole with vegetables, oats, seasonings, and water, and cook in a moderate oven two hours.

137.--LAMB CHOPS

Chops from the forequarter are much cheaper than loin or kidney chops.

They contain more bone, but are tender and of good flavor, if well cooked. Cook the same as Lamb Cutlets (see No. 138). The time of cooking may vary slightly according to the thickness of the meat.

138.--LAMB CUTLETS

Have a small forequarter of lamb cut in pieces for serving; select the best pieces, trim, and skewer into shape. Season lightly with salt and pepper, dip in egg and crumbs, and fry in deep fat about seven minutes; or dip in flour, and saute on each side about ten minutes; or broil on each side about five minutes. The rest of the forequarter can be used for frica.s.see, Scotch broth, croquettes, and many other dishes.

139.--ROLLED ROAST OF LAMB

Order a small forequarter of lamb boned and rolled; have the bones sent with the meat; wash bones and meat, put bones in kettle, put meat on top; add one sliced onion, one sliced carrot, one bay leaf, and a sprig of thyme. Cover with two quarts of boiling water, and simmer for two hours, skimming when necessary; add two teaspoons of salt after meat has cooked one hour. Remove meat to a roasting pan, sprinkle with salt and pepper, dredge with flour, and roast in a hot oven about half an hour.

To the drippings in the pan add four tablespoons of flour and stir until brown; add one and a half cups of stock which has been strained and had fat removed; stir until smooth and serve with meat. The left-over stock should be used for soups and sauces. The forequarter of lamb, although quite fat, is tender and of good flavor, and costs much less than a leg of lamb.

140.--BROWN FRICa.s.sEE OF FOWL

Clean, singe, and cut up a four-pound fowl, place in a kettle, cover with boiling water, add one whole onion, and one carrot cut in halves, and cook slowly for three hours, or until tender; add two teaspoons of salt when half cooked; remove fowl, season with salt and pepper, dredge with flour, and brown in one-quarter of a pound of fat salt pork tried out in the frying pan. Remove fowl to platter, and make a sauce in the pan with four tablespoons of fat, five tablespoons of flour browned together, and two cups of stock. Pour over fowl, and garnish with toast points or small, thin baking powder biscuit. The remainder of the stock may be used for soup or sauce, or for Celery Toast (see No. 462).

141.--ROAST FOWL

Clean and singe a five-pound fowl; stuff with Bread Stuffing (see No.

208), truss, place on a trivet in a pan suited to the size of the fowl, dredge with flour, cover with thin slices of fat salt pork, and bake in a slow oven three hours, basting every fifteen minutes. Put into the pan the chicken fat (which was removed when cleaning) and use for basting.

Dredge with flour twice while cooking. Cook the giblets in boiling water one hour, and chop fine; make a gravy in the pan, allowing four tablespoons each of fat and flour, and the water in which giblets were cooked, with enough boiling water added to make two cups; season with salt and pepper, and add the giblets. If cooked slowly and basted often, a fowl will be as tender as a chicken.

142.--CHICKEN PIE

Use the remnants of cold roast or frica.s.seed fowl. If roast fowl is used, make stock by covering bones and left-over gravy with cold water and simmering an hour or more; to three cups of stock add one-half onion chopped, two potatoes cut in half-inch cubes, one teaspoon salt, and one-eighth teaspoon pepper, and boil fifteen minutes; thicken with one-half cup of flour mixed to a paste with cold water; put chicken in a baking dish, add stock and potato, and cover with small biscuit made by Baking Powder Biscuit (see No. 424) or Shortcake (see No. 441) recipes.

Bake in a hot oven about twenty minutes or until biscuit are done. If the amount of chicken is scant, add one or two hard-cooked eggs sliced.

143.--POTTED PIGEONS

4 pigeons 1/2 teaspoon salt Bread Stuffing (see No. 208) 1/8 teaspoon pepper 4 tablespoons bacon fat 2 cups boiling water 1/2 onion sliced 3 tablespoons flour 1/2 carrot sliced 4 tablespoons cold water 1 cup celery tops

Clean pigeons, wipe dry, stuff, and truss neatly into shape. Brown in hot bacon fat in the frying pan, and place in a ca.s.serole dish or bean pot; add vegetables, seasonings, and boiling water. Cover, and bake in a slow oven three hours. Remove pigeons to serving dish, thicken the stock with the flour mixed to a paste with cold water; cook ten minutes, strain, and pour over pigeons. The giblets may be cooked in boiling salted water about ten minutes, chopped, and added to the sauce.

144.--COUNTRY CLUB RABBIT

Cut a young rabbit in pieces for serving; sprinkle with salt and pepper; dip in flour, then in egg, and coat thickly with crumbs; put into a well-greased baking pan, and bake in a hot oven about half an hour, basting often with bacon fat. Arrange rabbit on serving dish, and make a brown sauce in the pan, using three tablespoons each of bacon fat and flour, one teaspoon of grated onion, and one and one-half cups of stock, milk, or boiling water. Season with one-half teaspoon of salt, one-fourth teaspoon paprika, and two tablespoons tomato ketchup.

145.--Ca.s.sEROLE OF RABBIT AND OKRA

3 slices bacon 1/4 teaspoon pepper 1 rabbit 2 cups boiling water 1 onion finely chopped 1 cup tomatoes 3 tablespoons flour 1 pint okra sliced 1-1/4 teaspoons salt

Cut bacon into one-inch pieces, and cook in frying pan until brown; remove bacon; cut rabbit in pieces for serving and soak half an hour in cold salted water; drain, dredge with flour, brown in bacon fat, and put with cooked bacon in a ca.s.serole dish; cook onion in bacon fat until brown; add flour, salt, pepper, and boiling water; stir until smooth, and pour over rabbit; add tomato and okra, sprinkle with salt; cover, and bake in a moderate oven one hour and a half.

146.--ROAST PORK

Have the bone removed from a six-pound fresh shoulder of pork; wash, dry, and stuff with Bread Stuffing (see No. 208) or Peanut Stuffing (see No. 211); season with salt and pepper, dredge with flour, and roast in a moderate oven about two and three-quarters hours. Baste often, and be sure oven is not too hot, as pork must cook slowly. This is an excellent cut, and less expensive than the loin or fresh leg. Strain the fat and add it to the frying fat, or use in place of lard. Have the bones sent and use for stock. Serve with Dark Red Apple Sauce (see No. 663).

147.--PORK CHOPS BAKED WITH POTATOES

Pare potatoes, and cut in thin slices; wash, drain, season with salt and pepper, and put into a baking dish; cover with small pork chops from which part of the fat has been removed; dust with salt, pepper, and flour; add half a cup of boiling water, and bake in a hot oven about forty minutes. Turn chops when half cooked.

148.--SAUSAGE CAKES

1/2 pound sausage meat 1/3 cup hot water 1 teaspoon grated onion 1/3 cup sifted crumbs 1/4 teaspoon salt

Mix well, shape into small flat cakes, roll in crumbs, and bake in a hot oven about twenty minutes, or until brown.

149.--SAUSAGE CAKES BAKED WITH APPLE

1 pound sausage meat 4 apples

Shape meat into small flat cakes, and put in the center of a dripping pan; core apples, cut into half-inch slices, and put around sausage.

Bake in a hot oven until brown, basting frequently with the fat from the sausage.

150.--SAUSAGES WITH OYSTERS AND EGGS

4 small sausages 2 eggs slightly beaten 1 teaspoon grated onion 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 cup small oysters