Meats, poultry and game; how to buy, cook and carve, with a potpourri of recipes

Front matter

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Ci)PYRIGHT DEPOSIT.

Edouard Panchard

Preface

It is generally conceded that really well roasted or broiled meats afford the most savory and wholesome viands possible. Yet, as we all know, a good roast or a perfect broil is a rarity — the broil a misdemeanor usually and the roast a reflection upon the perpetrator. And all because of lack of knowledge as to specific cooking times and details of treatment — those apparent "trifles which make perfection."

Obviously, directions have been needed regarding this important matter — a world-wide need in fact, for even in some of the best Parisian restaurants the Ros Bif Anglais has been merely good material mistreated.

The directions are here at last. Le voild! A book authoritative; showing how to select meats, poultry and game and instructing exactly as to the proper roasting and broiling thereof, written by that renowned master of the culinary art, M. Edouard Panchard. What a boon this book will prove to the chef, to the hostess and to housekeepers everywhere!

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X PREFACE

As a most useful and valuable corollary, ]\Ionsieur Panchard has provided specific instructions as to carving; and the accompanying illustrations showing just how all meats, poultry and game should be carved will enable anyone to acquire — and immediately — this practical accomplishment of which the great Chateaubriand said — "A good carver is one of the world's artists and in social life so welcome to the hostess that she blesses him on behalf of her guests and herself."

The potpoiirri of choice recipes originated by INI. Panchard, included in the volume, deals with rechaiiffee and other dishes, serving as guide and inspiration for both cooks and housewives, and with such recipes to refer to, there will never be excuse for monotonous or mediocre meals.

A. Louise Andrea.

Contents

Preface (by A, Louise Andrea) .

Chapter I. The Selection Chapter II. The Art of Cooking . Chapter III. Serving and Carving

Part II. A Potpourri of Recipes. Introductory Remarks Soups Fish Salads Sauces Poultry Meats Garnishing Desserts Roasting Time-table

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ILLUSTRATIONS

Edouard Panchard Frontispiece

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Prime Ribs of Beef, Boned, Rolled and Tied into Shape . , 8

Prime Ribs of Beef in Roaster 10

Roasted Tenderloin of Beef, Garnished 14

Tenderloin of Beef, Showing Larding 16

Short Loin of Beef, Ready for Oven 19

Loin of Veal, Tied into Shape, Ready for Roasting ... 22 Crown of Lamb, Stuffed, Ready for Roasting .... 26 Leg of Lamb, Showing Bone Left in. Ready for Oven . . 28

Shoulder of Lamb, Ready for Oven 31

Roasted Crown of Lamb, Decorated and Garnished ... 34 Leg of Lamb Roasted, Garnished and Decorated .... 37

Carving Leg of Lamb . 40

Saddle of Mutton, Rolled and Tied 43

Carving Crown of Lamb 46

Loin oi- Pork in Pan, Ready to Roast 49

Turkey Prepared for Oven 52

Duck, Larded Ready for Oven 58

Partridge Ready for Roasting, Showing Larding Pork . .61

Cut from Rump, Ready for Oven .69

Spring Chicken Split, Ready for Broiling 74

Pheasant Larded, Ready for Oven 78

Tenderloin of Beef, Showing Portion Carved ... 82

Carving Prime Ribs of Beef .85

Prime Ribs of Beef, Garnished, Ready to Serve . . 87

Turkey, Garnished for Table .... .92

Carving Roast Turkey .95

Broiled Spring Chicken, Garnished . . .99

CARvaNG Broiled Chicken 101

Broiled Chicken Carved for Serving 104

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PART I HOW TO BUY, COOK AND CARVE

Introduction

Of paramount importance is the selection and purchase of food stuffs for the table. Intelligent catering and marketing mean quality and freshness that cannot be assured if the buying is simply considered from the standpoint of convenience.

The essentials for the daily meals are necessarily determined by the resources and stocks of the grocers and butchers, and while orders for groceries of standard brands may safely be given to the clerk who calls upon the housewife, or even by telephone, fish, meats, poultry and perishable food stuffs should be personally inspected and a selection made accordingly.

Owing to the recently developed interest in cookery, and as a result of popular articles dealing with foods and nourishment, the old-fashioned and very commendable custom of going to market is being generally revived and market wisdom is assuming the status that it occupied as one of the fashionable and sterling accomplishments of our grandmothers.

To know how to select to the greatest advantage, every day in the year, the best that the market affords, is of far greater importance, both from the standpoint of the physical well-being of the family, and from that of conserving the family income, than is commonly supposed. Yet many women in their everyday routine are very careless and indifferent concerning these matters. But every housekeeper becomes more or less solicitous concerning her catering upon occasion of giving a breakfast, luncheon, or dinner-party, or even a family meal at which guests are to be entertained. The instinct of hospitality impels most persons to feel that nothing is too good for the invited guest; yet the best intentions of the housekeeper who habitually entrusts the choice of meats, poultry, and game to the butcher, and of vegetables to the green-grocer, are often unhappily defeated by the dealer's carelessness or by her own inability in an emergency to recognize the best, so as to insist upon having it. Every woman, out of regard for the welfare of her family, should do her own marketing. But certainly the woman who entertains should cultivate this practice, and the nice skill in catering that it gives will add immeasurably to the success of her dinner-parties and other entertainments.

Not many housekeepers give enough thought to the characteristics of the various cuts of meat resulting from their natural relation to the living animal. Indeed, the cook or the carver who knows just what part of the living animal is represented by the piece before him, or what relation the bone in a steak or roast sustains to the animal's skeleton, is doubtless the very rare exception. Yet nothing could be simpler than to familiarize oneself with the various cuts of meat, as exemplified in the accompanying plates, or to identify these upon the butcher's counter. Indeed, any housekeeper can readily arrange, by appointment with the butcher, to be at hand when the latter is cutting up a side of beef, veal, mutton, or pork, and thus receive without expense a practical demonstration of the art of meat cutting.

The method of cutting the various sides of meat has been described on another page. It is sufficient in this place to discuss the special characteristics by which the best grades of meat may be recognized when marketing, and the qualities of the various cuts from the standpoint of catering, especially for dinner-parties and other entertainments.

Full directions for cooking the various meats and meat dishes are also given herein, but it seems desirable to give in this connection certain suggestions of special interest to the woman who entertains.

CHAPTER I THE SELECTION

How to Buy Beef

Beef is a staple article with the butcher and the housekeeper the year round, for not only is a fresh supply constantly coming into the market, but a surplus is always kept in cold storage. Lamb and veal are especially seasonable in early Spring and Summer, mutton and pork in late Fall and Winter ; but beef of good quality may be had at any time, and may be served with good taste at any season of the year.

Beef is affected as to quality by several conditions, such as the breed of the animal, the manner of feeding, the amount of exercise, the age when killed and the length of time the meat is allowed to cure before being used. The beeves from the ranges of the West and Southwest — commonly known in America as Western or Chicago beef — are to be preferred, as a rule, to local beef; indeed, there is very little of the latter nowadays in the American market. A grass-fed steer, allowed to range on the open plains so as to receive a moderate amount of exercise, yields, in general, the best beef, as these conditions make the animal healthy and give the meat the finest flavor; but the stallfed steer also develops beef of good quality. The age of the animal at killing for prime beef is four years, but the beef continues to be good up to the eighth year of the animal's age, after which it is likely to become tough and stringy.

Both the flavor and texture of beef are very much improved by hanging, that is, being kept as long a time as possible before using. The objects of hanging are to allow the skins to dry, thereby closing the pores so as to exclude the germs that cause decay and to allow the muscular fibers and other tissues to relax and soften. To accomplish these results a side of meat should be hung up (never laid flat on a table or shelf) either in the open air — which is to be preferred in a hot, dry climate — or in cold storage. The larger the side or cut, the longer it may be safely hung before being used and for this reason the heaviest sides of Western beef are quite commonly shipped to England, where the market demands large cuts with a "high" flavor resulting from long hanging.

To select good beef, one should preferably go to the butcher-shop and inspect the meat in the full side, or at least before the cut is trimmed, and should require the cut selected to be set aside and

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n trimmed in one's presence. The beef from a medium sized carcass, weighing eight hundred to nine hundred pounds, is likely to be best. The side or cut should be medium fat, not over fat, but certainly not lean.

With the aid of a little experience anyone can learn to distinguish between the fine texture and bright color of young beef, and the coarse, dry texture and dark color of the older animals. The flesh in healthy young beeves is firm and of fine texture; the color of the lean meat, bright red, that of the fat, yellowish white. But observe that a dark color in beef may be a mere surface discoloration due to exposure to the air, which may be trimmed off, leaving the rest of the cut entirely acceptable for use, or it may be an indication that the beef is old, or even tainted. The difference can easily be detected when the cut is trimmed. One may judge the quality of beef not only by the thickness of the layer or fat underlying the skin and about the kidneys, but also by the extent to which the meat is "marbled," i.e., shot through with yellowish white streaks and spots of fat.

The portion of any animal that gets the least exercise is naturally the finest, both in texture and flavor. Hence the portion of all animals surrounding the backbone contains the choicest cuts, and is preferred to the limbs, neck, and similar pieces. In the beef, the choice cuts are the prime ribs, commonly served as roasts, and the Delmonico, porterhouse, sirloin, and tenderloin cuts, which may be served either in the form of roasts or steaks. The chuck or shoulder clod and the rump, round, and top sirloin, stand next in order of general desirability.

When the beef carcass is first divided into halves, the backbone is split lengthwise so that the cuts taken from the portions surrounding the backbone — including the rib roast, the Delmonico, the porterhouse, etc., — each contain a triangular piece of bone, representing one-half of the animal's vertebrae. The side is next divided into quarters, called the fore and hind-quarters, of which the muscles of the former having received more exercise are coarser and tougher than those of the latter. By reference to the accompanying illustrations the sections of bone that are found in the various cuts of beef can be readily identified. From the standpoint of economy, it is apparent that, in general, the amount of bone in the cut should be small in proportion to the amount of meat. But in this connection the table given elsewhere, showing the relative amount of bone in the different cuts of meat, should be consulted.

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Cuts Fashionable and Serviceable

Perhaps the most fashionable cut of beef for a dinner-party is the fillet roast, i.e., the entire tenderloin detached from the backbone and roasted. The fillet should be cut from a young, fat beef, and should be well marbled with fat. But since the fillet is essentially a piece of lean meat, it is customary to lard the tenderloin by drawing ribbons of fat pork through the upper surface by means of a larding needle — a hollow implement designed expressly for this purpose — in such wise as to leave both ends protruding. The larding can be seen in the accompanying illustration of carving the tenderloin.

The fillet or tenderloin of beef is, in the opinion of many, greatly over-rated. For, although the tenderest of all cuts of beef, it is neither as juicy nor as rich in flavor as the rest of the loin. When planning for a fillet roast, it is sound economy to buy the entire loin, i.e., the Delmonico and porterhouse cuts — or such part of them as may be necessary to secure a filet of the described size — remove the tenderloin for the fillet roast, and reserve the rest to be served as steaks, or to be roasted subsequently. The thin end of the tenderloin, extending toward the rump, is less desirable, and would better be omitted, unless a very large fillet is desired.

Next to the tenderloin, the short loin — including the porterhouse, and Delmonico cuts — makes the tenderest roast, and excels the fillet in flavor. This cut makes an excellent roast for the family dinner to which one or more guests are invited. The short loin may be prepared for roasting in either of two ways, with or without the bone. Many hostesses prefer to have the bone removed to facilitate carving, in which case the butcher should be instructed to this effect when the roast is ordered.

How Much to Buy

In buying a roast, allow about one pound, or slightly less, for each adult member of the company. That is, order a roast of from four to six pounds for a dinner party of six people. To prepare the rib roast, or similar roast of beef, for a dinner-party, first make ready the roast as shown in the accompanying illustrations, or request the butcher to do so, and lay it in the dripping-pan upon the rack or trivet, as illustrated. Add salt, pepper, and unless the meat is very fat, a few drippings or pieces of fine fat. Put the skin side down and set the meat in a very hot oven, so that the fierce heat may sear and hold the juices in the lean part. When this part becomes brown, showing that the meat has become seared, baste with the fat, and reduce the heat. For a dinner-party or o a

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> O company dinner, beef should be roasted rare, the condition of beef roasted to a turn being indicated by the expression, "the blood should follow the Imife."

Veal

The subject of veal is of very slight importance from the standpoint of catering for entertainments, as roasts of veal are rarely employed for this purpose, and perhaps never except from the standpoint of economy. Veal is very much inferior to beef, both in flavor and in nutritive qualities, being immature at best, but the quality depends largely upon the age of the animal when killed, and the manner of feeding. The flesh of the calf killed under four weeks of age — "bob" veal — should never be used for food, and six to ten weeks of age is preferable as the time for killing. Veal should be very fine grained, tender, and either clear white or slightly pinkish in color. If the flesh is flabby, watery, and gray or bluish in color, the meat is immature and unwholesome. The skin should be very dry and white rather than of a grayish color. Veal is not very fat, as a rule, but there should be some fat to indicate that the animal has been properly nourished. The method of cutting up a side of veal is sufficiently shown in the illustration. The principal roasts are the loin and the shoulder.

The loin of veal is prepared for roasting by being rolled up with the kidney in the center, and either tied with cord or fastened by means of skewers, after the same fashion as boned roasts of beef. The shoulder, or even the entire fore-quarter, is so small that it can be easily boned and rolled for a roast. A shoulder of veal weighs about ten pounds and makes a suitable roast for twelve or more people. These various roasts are sometimes served at informal family dinners, but are not usually regarded as suitable for formal meals or preferred when guests have been invited. The leg of veal is usually divided into cutlets. The loin or rack is frequently divided into chops.

The loin of veal is carved precisely as the tenderloin or Delmonico roasts of beef, except that, being the entire joint, the roast is placed upon its side, with the backbone next the platter. The slices are cut vertically across the grain and then detached by cutting with the point of the knife along the bone. The shoulder of veal is usually boned and stuffed and is carved in the same fashion as the short loin, rump, chuck and similar cuts.

While veal is seasonable in many markets the year around, the quality, as a rule, is best in the Spring and Summer. It is usually in its prime in May.

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Lamb and Mutton

From the standpoint of catering for entertainments, lamb and mutton rank next after beef in order of interest and importance, the leg of lamb, the crown roast, and the loin roast being esteemed as delicacies suitable for the most formal entertainments. The earliest, or so-called hot-house lambs, come into the market toward the end of Winter, weighing about twelve or fifteen pounds. Around Easter time comes the so-called Easter lamb, weighing fifteen to twenty pounds. These are followed by the Spring lamb, weighing eighteen to twenty-four pounds, during the months of May, June and July. Spring lamb is at its prime in the latter part of June and July and continues in the market until about September. After that, the animal being a year or more old, its flesh is known as mutton.

Young lamb meat has a characteristic pinkish color, which gradually deepens and becomes red in mutton. While spring lamb is esteemed as a great delicacy, it is, like veal, relatively immature meat, and is less digestible, less nutritious, and by no means equally as well flavored, in the judgment of epicures, as good mutton. Mutton, moreover, is much less expensive than lamb, is more economical to carve and serve, and, from the standpoint of family means, is more desirable in every way. For formal entertainments and company dinners, however, the more delicate young lamb is advisable.

The best young lamb is from a carcass of medium weight, of fine, firm texture, clear pink in color, and neither too fat nor too lean. The fat should be clear white. The age of the animal may be determined by the bone in the foreleg, that of the young lamb being smooth, and that of the older animal showing ridges, which increase in depth with age. The quality of mutton may be judged by the amount of fat, the texture, and the weight. iNIutton should be fatter than lamb, the flesh of fine rather than of coarse grain, and the carcass small to medium. A large carcass usually indicates age. Coarseness of texture indicates toughness. For good mutton the animal should be plump, with small bones, and under five years of age. Lamb or mutton should be hung at least three weeks, and preferably longer, before serving. The average mutton carcass weighs from thirty to forty pounds.

The lamb or mutton carcass is usually divided, like the beef, first into halves or sides, and afterward into fore- and hind-quarters. But where a larger roast than the loin or cro^vn roast is desired, the entire back portion of the animal, including the loin on both sides of the backbone, is taken out, this cut being known as the saddle of lamb or mutton. The leg and shoulder of lamb or mutton are como

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O monly roasted whole. As in the case of beef, the loin of lamb is esteemed a great delicacy, and either single or in the form of saddle, is a favorite roast for company dinners, especially in England. The crown roast consists of the fourteen ribs of the fore-quarter, trimmed and arranged in circular form, fastened with skewers, and stuffed with the portions trimmed off in dressing the roast which are chopped fine for this purpose. If a larger roast is required, additional ribs can be inserted, taken from the opposite side.

Lamb and mutton, although delicious when properly cooked, are often very uninviting through carelessness in cooking and serving. When properly decorated and garnished, the crown roast of lamb makes a very attractive dish, especially when carved at the table, after the English or the American style of service. For family meals, the loin and rack are commonly divided into loin and rib chops, respectively. These are broiled and served singly.

The average leg of lamb weighs about six or seven pounds, and is sufficient to serve about seven or eight persons. A loin roast weighs about three pounds, and is sufficient for three persons. The saddle is, of course, exactlj^ double the loin in quantity. The shoulder weighs four to five pounds, trimmed ready for roasting. The rack — that is, the portion of the spine on the fore-quarter to which the ribs are attached — weighs from two to four pounds. The shoulder, or rack, should serve three or four persons.

Roast Leg of Lamb

To get the most from a leg of lamb, and to carve it easily, the butcher should be instructed to remove the hip bone. The joint should be put on the rack in the dripping-pan with the fleshy part up. French cooks flavor roast lamb by inserting four or five points of garlic at intervals over the surface, in small ox^enings, made by thrusting the point of a wooden skewer through the fat and into the meat. A better flavor will also be imparted to the meat and to the gravy if a few carrots and onions are placed around the roast in the pan. Small new potatoes may also be baked in the pan, as with the roasts of beef.

When served, the bone in the leg of lamb may be decorated with a paper frill, and the platter garnished with sprigs of watercress or parsley. To carve this joint, it should be placed before the carver with the bone to the left and the skin side down and steadied by inserting the fork well do^vn toward the end of the roast. Thin slices should then be cut, beginning at the right end, or thickest portion of the roast, at an angle of about thirty degrees, working back to the left until the roast is

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O o o sliced to the bone. Larger slices can be had by slicing horizontally across the top of the roast, but such slices, being cut with the grain, are not equally as tender or palatable. Some persons prefer to carve this roast vertically, making the first cut about the middle of the roast and taking slices from either side. And this plan has the merit of cutting directly across the grain, which is always an advantage. This method is objected to, however, by many, as not being economical of the roast, for the reason that the slices at either end are too small to serve and a portion of the roast is thereby wasted; whereas, by the method first above recommended, the slices taken at an angle across the grain, are sufficiently tender and palatable, and yet permit of carving the entire upper portion of the roast into good-sized slices. If more persons remain to be served after the upper part of the roast has been sliced down to the bone, the bone should be removed by making an incision on either side of it, loosening it at the end, and running the knife underneath, between the bone and the meat. The lower part of the roast may then be sliced the same as the vipper part, the knife being held at such an angle as to increase to any desired extent the size of the slices.

Saddle of Mutton

Few joints are more toothsome or nutritious than the well-cooked prime saddle of mutton, whether roasted entire or grilled in the form of English mutton chops, which include the kidney lying just under the vertebrae. The best saddle of mutton comes from the short-legged breeds, having black legs and feet, and short, thick, stubby tails, such as the Southdown, in which the meat comes well down the leg, nearly reaching the feet. The saddle of lamb or mutton is rolled and fastened with skewers or tied with cords, and otherwise prepared and roasted after the same manner as the equivalent roasts of beef. This joint should first be boned. To this end place it with the bone resting upon the platter and the end toward the carver, make an incision the entire length down the backbone and remove the meat from the bone in two pieces. It may then be carved according to two entirely different methods. The English method of carving is to slice the meat lengthwise. The French method is to slice each piece crosswise, precisely as in serving a tenderloin of beef but in very thin slices.

The crown roast, when properly trimmed, roasted, decorated, and garnished, makes an extremely attractive dish, and is especially suitable for the formal breakfast or luncheon. The end ft a I-)

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o of each rib should be decorated with a paper frill, and the platter garnished with cress or parsley. To carve a crown roast is most simple, the divisions between the ribs being clearly indicated, and no more care being required than is necessary to cut the portions of equal thickness. A single chop, with a portion of stuffing, a few sprigs of cress or parsley, and a spoonful of gravy is served to each person.

Pork

Pork is seasonable only in autumn and winter. The great bulk of the animal is so fat that it is unsuitable for food while fresh, and is therefore cured and salted as bacon, salt pork, and the like. The hams are served either fresh or cured, and may be baked, boiled, or broiled in the form of steaks. But with the exception of baked cured ham, sliced cold, no joint of pork is really suitable for service at entertainments. The ribs and loin are the most desirable fresh cuts, and may be either roasted or served in the form of chops.

Fresh pork should be of firm texture, and fine grain, the lean pink, and the fat, clear white in color. The loin of pork is prepared for roasting either with or without the bone, in much the same fashion as the loin of beef or mutton, except that, being a lean piece of meat, it may require to be larded with a strip of bacon or salt pork, laid over the top of the joint and fastened with cords, as is shown in the illustration. This joint is carved in the same manner as the similar points of beef.

Poultry and Game

Chicken, turkey, geese, and domestic ducks are classified as poultry: wild duck, wild geese, partridge, reed birds, quail, and other small birds, as game. Poultry is a staple article of diet, being more or less available at every season of the year. The first broilers come into the market very early in the spring, and continue to become more plentiful, and to decrease in price during the Spring and Summer. The season for broilers may be said to be at its height in IVIay and June, at which time they make an excellent dish for formal breakfasts, luncheons, and similar entertainments, and afford a substitute for game birds for formal dinners. The so-called milk-fed and early Spring chickens begin to become available in July, and continue in the market until August. They are commonly cooked, either a la casserole, or roasted, and make an admirable dish for luncheons, breakfasts, and dinner-parties, in the form of supreme of chicken, i.e., breasts of chicken, either sauted or broiled and served with any suitable sauce. Philadelphia capons begin to come in about the same time as

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D roasting chicken, namely, in September. They are usuall}^ served at dinner, roasted. The capon has a somewhat larger and plumper carcass than other chickens, and is distinguished by its richer flavor.