Pork

1. Pork is the flesh of the hog; the lean should be pink and the fat firm, clear and white.

2. The very fat portions are salted.

3. Hams are the hind legs, which are salted and smoked.

4. Bacon, the flank, salted and smoked.

5. Ribs and loin, sold for roasting or as chops.

6. The kidney fat is rendered and purified and sold as leaf lard.

Roast Pork

The chine, or loin, and the spare ribs, are the best pieces for roasting. Rub well with pepper or sage, salt and flour, and bake 20 minutes for each pound. Baste often, and do not have the oven as hot as for other meat.

Fried Chops

Remove the meat from the bone, then free from all particles of fat, leaving the nice fillet free from bone and fat. Fry the fat slowly in hot skillet. Dip the meat into beaten egg or milk, then into fine bread crumbs, and fry the meat in the skillet, in which the fat was melted. Season with salt and pepper and poultry seasoning. These must be well cooked, and not too rapidly.

Boiled Ham

If very salt, let it soak over night. Scrub well, trim off the hard black part, cover with cold water, and let it simmer slowly, allowing half an hour to the pound. Take it from the fire; let it remain in the water until nearly cold, then peel off the skin and sprinkle with sugar and bread crumbs; brown in the oven. Or boil until nearly tender, remove the skin and bake two hours; baste often with vinegar.

Ham Relish

1 cupful of cold boiled ham, chopped fine.

1/2 cupful of cream.

3 hard-boiled eggs.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Scald the cream. Rub the yolks of two eggs smooth with a little of the cream; add to the cream, in the farina boiler with the ham. Press the whites of the two eggs through a sieve, add to the mixture and, when thoroughly heated, put on a hot dish. Slice the remaining egg over the ham and serve.

Baked Spare Ribs

Two sets of spare ribs; sew the two sides and one end securely, fill space in between with good bread stuffing. Sew up tight and bake for one hour, turning it over so that both sides will brown well. Baste often.

Fried Ham

Cut the ham in thin slices, remove the outside, gash the fat and cook in a frying pan till the fat is crisp. If cooked too long, it will become hard and dry.

Broiled Ham

Cut in very thin slices and broil three or four minutes. Old or very salt ham should be parboiled five minutes before being broiled. Serve with poached eggs.

Baked Slice Of Ham

One slice of ham, one and one-half inch thick; cover with buttered bread crumbs. Place in small baking dish. Cut very thinly one onion, and spread over meat. Pour over one cup of rich cream, and bake in moderate oven 50 minutes.

Baked Pork And Beans

Soak one quart of pea beans in cold water over night. In the morning put them into fresh cold water, and simmer till soft enough to pierce with a pin, being careful not to let them boil enough to break. If you like, boil one onion with them. When soft, turn them into a colander, and pour cold water through them. Place them with the onion in a bean pot. Pour boiling water over one quarter of a pound of salt pork, part fat and part lean; scrape the rind till white. Cut the rind in half-inch strips; bury the pork in the beans, leaving only the rind exposed. Mix one teaspoonful of salt-more, if the pork is not very salt-and one teaspoonful of mustard with one quarter of a cup of molasses. Fill the cup with hot water, and when well mixed, pour it over the beans; add enough more water to cover them. Keep them covered with water and bake for eight hours.

To Try Out Lard

Cut the leaves into small pieces; remove all flesh and membrane; put a few pieces in a kettle on the back of the stove, and when they are heated through, put in the remainder. Cook slowly until the scraps are crisp; strain through a fine cloth into tin pails or pans, and press that obtained from the scraps into a separate pail. Never put water with the leaves, as the object is to expel that which they already contain, and there is no danger of burning, if only a few pieces be put in at first, and the kettle be not over the hot fire. The kettle should not be covered until the scraps are crisp; then cover it, and if no steam condenses on the cover, the water is evaporated.