Page:Art of Cookery 1774 edition.djvu/297

Rh When you broil any of these hams in slices, or bacon, have some boiling water ready, and let the slices lie a minute or two in the water, then broil them; it takes out the salt, and makes them eat finer. TAKE a side of pork, then take off all the inside fat, lay it on a long board or dresser, that the blood may run away, rub it well with good salt on both sides, let it lie thus a week; then take a pint of bay salt, a quarter of a pound of salt-petre, beat them fine, two pounds of coarse sugar, and a quarter of a peck of common salt. Lay your pork in something that will hold the pickle, and rub it well with the above ingredients. Lay the skinny side downwards, and baste it every day with the pickle for a fortnight; then hang it in wood-smoke as you do the beef, and afterwards hang it in a dry place, but not hot. You are to observe, that all hams and bacon should hang clear from every thing, and not against a wall. Observe to wipe off all the old salt before you put it into this pickle, and never keep bacon or hams in a hot kitchen, or in a room where the sun comes. It makes them all rusty. I HAVE seen potted birds, which have come a great way, often smell so bad, that no body could bear the smell for the rankness of the butter, and by managing them in the following manner, have made them as good as ever was eat.

Set a large sauce-pan of clean water on the fire; when it boils, take off the butter at the top, then take the fowls out one by one, throw them into the sauce-pan of water half a minute, whip it out, and dry it in a clean cloth inside and out; so do all till they are quite done. Scald the pot clean; when the birds are quite cold, season them with mace, pepper, and salt to your mind, put them down close in a pot, and pour clarified butter over them. CUT your mackrel into round pieces, and divide one into five or six pieces: to six large mackrel you may take one ounce of beaten pepper, three large nutmegs, a little mace, and a handful of salt. Mix your salt and beaten spice together, then make two or three holes in each piece, and thrust the seasoning into the holes with your finger, rub the piece all over with the