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ears and tail covered with buttered paper properly fastened on, and a bit of butter tied up in a piece of linen to baste the back with, otherwise it will be apt to blister: with a proper share of attention from the baker, I consider this way equal to a roasted one.

"A GOOSE prepare the same as for roasting, taking care to have it on a stand, and when half done to turn the other side upwards. A DUCK the same.

"A BUTTOCK OF BEEF; the following way is particularly fine after it has been in salt about a week, to be well washed, and put into a brown earthen pan, with a pint of water; cover the pan tight over with two or three thicknesses of cap or foolscap paper-never cover any thing that is to be baked with brown paper; the pitch and tar which are in brown paper will give the meat a smoky, bad taste-give it four or five hours in a moderately-heated oven.

"A HAM (if not too old) put in soak for an hour, taken out and wiped, a crust made sufficient to cover it all over, and baked in a moderately-heated oven, cuts fuller of gravy, and of a finer flavor than a boiled one.

"I have been in the habit of baking small CODFISH and MACKEREL with a dust of flour and some bits of butter put on them. EELS, when large, are stuffed. HERRINGS are done in a brown pan, with vinegar and a little spice, and tied over with paper.

"A RABBIT prepare the same as for roasting, with a few pieces of butter and a little drop of milk put into the dish, and basted several times, will be found nearly equal to roasting; or cut it up, season it properly, put it into a jar or pan, and cover it over, and bake it in a moderate oven for about three hours.

"In the same manner I have been in the habit of baking LEGS and SHINS of BEEF, Ox-CHEEKS, etc., prepared with a seasoning of onions, turnips, etc.; they will take about four hours; let them stand till cold, to skim off the fat; then warm it up all together, or in part, as you may want. "All these I have been in the habit of baking for the first families. The time each of the above articles should take depends much upon the state of the oven, and I consider the baker a sufficient judge; if they are sent to him in time, he must be very neglectful if they are not ready at the time they are ordered."

Beef, Cold, Boiled. The same as roast-beef bones. The meat should have been underdone in the first instance. Capital relish with the ac

cessories.

Beef (Rump) Steak and Onion Sauce.-Peel and slice two large onions, put them into a quart stew-pan, with two tablespoonfuls of water; cover the pan close, and set on a slow fire till the water has boiled away, and the onions have got a little browned; then add half a pint of good broth, and boil the onions till they are tender; strain the broth from them, and chop them very fine, and season it with mushroom catsup, pepper, and salt; put the onion into it, and let it boil gently for five minutes, pour it into the dish, and lay over it a broiled rump-steak. If instead of broth you use good beef gravy, it will be superlative.

Round of Salt Beef.--Skewer it tight and round, and tie a fillet of broad tape round it. Put it into plenty of cold water, and carefully

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skim the scum; let it boil till all the scum is removed, and then put the boiler on one side of the fire, to keep simmering slowly till it is done. Half a round may be boiled for a small family.

UTENSILS FOR COOKING.-The Gridiron, though the simplest of cooking instruments, is by no means to be despised. The gridiron, as indeed all cooking utensils, should be kept scrupulously clean; and when it is used, the bars should be allowed to get warm before the meat is placed upon it, otherwise the parts crossed by the bars will be insufficiently dressed. The fire should be sharp, clear, and free from smoke. The heat soon forms a film upon the surface of the meat, by which the juices are retained. Chops and steaks should not be too thick nor too thin. From a half to three-quarters of an inch is the proper thickness. Avoid thrusting the fork into the meat, by which you release the juice. There is a description of gridiron in which the bars are grooved to catch the juice of the meat; but a much better invention is the upright gridiron, which is attached to the front of the grate, and has a pan at the bottom to catch the gravy. Kidneys, rashers, etc., dressed in this manner will be found delicious. There are some, however, who think that the dressing of meat over the fire secures a flavor which cannot otherwise be obtained. Remember that the gridiron is devoted to the cooking of small dishes, or snacks for breakfast, supper, and luncheon, and is therefore a most useful servant, ready at a moment's notice. Remember also, that every moment which is lost after the gridiron has delivered up its charge is a delay to the prejudice of the gridiron. From the gridiron to the table without loss of time should be the rule. The Frying-Pan is less a favorite, in our estimation, than the gridiron ; but not to be despised nevertheless. It is a noisy and a greasy servant, requiring much watchfulness. Like the gridiron, the frying-pan requires a clear but not a large fire, and the pan should be allowed to get thoroughly hot, and be well covered with fat before meat is put into it. The excellence of frying very much depends upon the sweetness of the oil, butter, lard, or fat, that may be employed. The frying-pan is very useful in the warming of cold vegetables and other kinds of food, and, in this respect, may be considered a real friend of economy. All know the relish afforded by a pancake-a treat which the gridiron would be unable to afford us. To say nothing of eggs and bacon, and various kinds of fish, to which both the sauce-pan and the gridiron are quite unsuited, because they require that which is the essence of frying -boiling and browning in fat.

The Spit is a very noble and a very useful implement of cookery, as ancient, we presume, as it is straightforward at its work. Perhaps the process of roasting stands only second in the rank of excellence in cookery. The process is perfectly sound in its chemical effects upon the food, while the joint is kept so immediately under the eye of the cook, that it must be the fault of that functionary if the joint does not go to the table in the highest state of perfection. The process may be commenced very gradually by the joint being kept a good distance from the fire, and gradually brought forward, until it is thoroughly soaked within and browned without. The spit has this advantage over the oven, and especially over the common oven, that the meat retains its

own flavor, not having to encounter the evaporation from fifty different dishes, and that the steam from its own substance passes entirely away, leaving the essence of the meat in its primest condition.

The Dutch Oven, though not so royal an instrument as the spit, is, nevertheless, of great utility for small dishes of various kinds, which the spit would spoil by the magnitude of its operations, or the oven destroy by the severity of its heat. It combines, in fact, the advantages of roasting and baking, and may be adopted for compound dishes and for warming cold scraps. It is easily heated, and causes no material expenditure of fuel.

The Sauce-Pan.-When we come to speak of the sauce-pan, we have to consider the claims of a very large, ancient, and useful family; and perhaps, looking at the generic orders of the sauce-pan, all other cooking implements must yield to its claims. There are large sauce-pans, which we dignify with the name of boilers, and small saucepans, which come under the denomination of stew-pans. There are few kinds of meat or fish which it will not receive and dispose of in a satisfactory manner; and few vegetables for which its modus operandi is not adapted. The sauce-pan, rightly used, is a very economical servant, allowing nothing to be lost-that which escapes from the meat while in its charge forms broth, or may be made the base of soups. Fat rises upon the surface of the water and may be skimmed off, while in various stews it combines, in an eminent degree, what we may term the fragrance of cookery and the piquancy of taste. The French are perfect masters of the use of the stew-pan. And we shall find that, as all cookery is but an aid to digestion, the operations of the stew-pan resemble the action of the stomach very closely. The stomach is a close sac, in which solids and fluids are mixed together, macerated in the gastric juice, and dissolved by the aid of heat and motion, occasioned by the continual contractions and relaxations of the coats of the stomach during the action of digestion. This is more closely resembled by the process of stewing than by any other of our culinary methods.

In this rapid review of the claims of various cooking utensils, we think that we have done justice to each. They all have their respective advantages, besides which they contribute to the variety presented by our tables, without which the routine of eating would be very monotonous and unsatisfactory.

There is one process to which we must yet allude-the process of Spoiling. Many cooks know how to produce a good dish, but too many of them know how to spoil it. They leave fifty things to be done just at the critical moment when the chief dish should be watched with an eye of keenness, and attended by a hand thoroughly expert. Having spent three hours in making a joint hot and rich, they forget that a quarter of an hour after it is taken from the fire may impair or spoil all their labors. The serving up of a dinner may be likened to the assault upon Sebastopol. Looking upon the joint as the Malakoff, and the surrounding dishes as the Redans, the bastions, and the forts, they should all be seized simultaneously, and made the prize of the commander-in-chief and his staff around the dinner table. Such a victory will always do the cook the highest honor, and entitle him to the gratitude of the household.

TO BOIL VEGETABLES.-Put on your pot, make it boil, put a little salt in and skim it perfectly clean before you put in the greens, etc., which should not be put in till the water boils briskly; the quicker they boil the greener they will be.

When the vegetables sink, they are generally done enough, if the water has been kept constantly boiling. Take them up immediately or they will lose their color and goodness. Drain the water from them thoroughly before you send them to the table. This branch of cookery requires the most vigilant attention.

If vegetables are a minute or two too long over the fire they lose all their beauty and flavor.

If not thoroughly boiled tender they are tremendously indigestible, and much more troublesome during their residence in the stomach than underdone meats.

To preserve or give color in cookery many good dishes are spoiled; but the rational epicure, who makes nourishment the main end of eating, will be content to sacrifice the shadow to enjoy the substance. Once for all, take care your vegetables are fresh, for, as the fishmonger often suffers for the sins of the cook, so the cook often gets undeservedly blamed instead of the green-grocer.

HINTS ON SETTING OUT A TABLE, DEPORTMENT WHILE AT TABLE, etc.

THE accompanying engraving of the manner of "setting a table," we copy from the "American Agriculturist;" and the appended valuable and appropriate instructions are from one of its many careful and able contributors. We earnestly commend it to the attention of our lady readers, by whom the judicious hints will be appreciated:

It

"I have sketched a table, on which I have arranged a simple dinner, in a style suitable for a family keeping one or two domestics, or none. I have placed the soup on the table with the meat, although, if there be any one whose business it is to wait upon the table, it is better to have the soup served alone, the meat and vegetables being brought on when that is removed. The lady of the house distributes the soup. is not considered proper, as a general thing, to be helped a second time to soup. The soup plates should be placed by each person, and not in a pile, by the tureen. As each one finishes his soup, his plate may be removed by the waiter, and a plate of meat set before him. If there is no waiter, it is better for each one to retain his plate till all have laid down their spoons, and then one of the family can quietly put them aside.

"There should always be regularity in the laying of a table. The dishes should not look as if they had fallen down like hailstones, wherever it may happen. I have provided for four kinds of vegetables-if there are only two, they may be placed in the middle of the table, opposite the castors. If bread and water are put upon the table, they

must be put in some unobtrusive place, and not interfere with the general arrangement. If there are no domestics in the family, a small table, within reach of the lady's hand, may serve as a dumb-waiter, and receive the plates that are to be changed. A waiter, with two shelves and a raised edge about them, as in a butler's tray—or in a trunk tray -is sometimes desirable; and on this the dessert can be placed. There

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should be as little leaving the table as possible during meals. If the family wait upon themselves, some one person should do it, and not have a general jumping for a missing article. I have sat at tables where two or three, or even more, would be absent at the same time—

*This cut is copied by permission from the "American Agriculturist," in which it is duly copyrighted, according to Act of Congress.

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