Bohemian-American Cook Book/Pork

Wash the chops, arrange on a skillet, dust with salt and caraway seed, add three or four tablespoons of hot water, cover and stew. When the water evaporates, the fat in the chops begins to fry out. If there is not enough, add a little lard. When browned on one side, turn and brown on the other. When done, arrange on a platter, add hot water and half a tablespoon of flour to the grease in the skillet, salt if necessary, and when it bubbles, pour over the chops. Pork chops may also be baked in the oven.

Trim and pound pork cutlets, dust with salt and pepper, dip in a beaten egg, then in bread or cracker crumbs, to which you may add a little minced onion or sage, and fry. When done, arrange on a platter, garnish with parsley and potato croquettes or various vegetables.

Dust pork cutlets with salt and pepper, dip in melted butter, then in bread crumbs, fry on both sides to a golden brown, about fifteen minutes. In another saucepan fry four sliced onions in one tablespoon of butter, add a tablespoon of flour, a cup of hot water, a teaspoon or two of beef extract, salt, several whole peppers, half a teaspoon of sugar, and allow all to simmer together until the onion is tender. Then strain through a sieve into the center of the dish and arrange the cutlets around it.

Wash a pork loin, dust with salt and caraway seed, place in a pan, pour a little water under it. The oven should be hot for the first twenty minutes or so, then it may be slower. If the roast is too fat, the surplus fat must be trimmed off. Leg of pork may be roasted in this manner.

Soak two cups of beans in cold water over night. In the morning place them over the fire, adding half a teaspoon of baking soda, a little salt and boil about half an hour. Place in a saucepan three or four fresh tomatoes, or half the contents of a three lb. can, one sliced onion, a tablespoon of butter and stew half an hour. Wash well a pound of salt pork, add it to the beans, then the strained tomatoes, a tablespoon of syrup and one of sugar, salt to taste, cover well and bake slowly two or three hours.

Wash a piece of pork and boil with various vegetables, the same as beef. Peel and cut into dice or slice kohl-rabi, pour water over it and when it begins to boil, pour it off and add the water in which the pork has been boiling, add salt, and if it is to be sweet, also a little sugar, otherwise a dash of pepper. When the kohl-rabi is tender, add flour and butter blended together until a golden brown. When it begins to bubble, put the meat in, cut into small pieces, let it stew thus a while and serve. If you like a darker gravy, you may add a piece of browned sugar. Pork is also prepared thus with carrots, turnips or kale.

Boil two pounds of pork from the ribs in salted water. Blend a tablespoon of butter with one of flour until a light brown, thin this with the liquor from the meat, add a little vinegar, grated lemon rind, allspice, a dash of cloves, several blanched almonds, a handful of seedless raisins, a little syrup, half a cup of grated gingerbread, and stew all together. When the meat is done, ent into pieces, place in the gravy, let all stew together a few moments and serve.

For this you may use almost any pork, even left overs, but the best is a boiled pork head, liver, heart, etc. Place all in a kettle with water, salt, pepper, garlic and marjoram. When the meat is tender, take it out, strain the liquor and add to it enough corn meal to make as much mush as you have meat. Boil half an hour. Chop the meat fine and add to the cornmeal. Pour the hot mixture into shallow pans to cool. This can be sliced cold and fried golden brown,

Cut from a pork leg slices half an inch thick, pound and dust with salt. Grate several onions, fry in a little butter and spread over the slices, place on each slice a tablespoon of washed rice, roll and tie around with thread, arrange in a greased pan a bake over a quick fire until about half done. Then add a little beef soup, and stew until meat and rice are tender.

Take two pounds of spare-ribs and cut them up, so there will be two or three ribs in one piece. Wash, ​salt and place in a kettle with water. When they have boiled half an hour, add a quart of sourkraut and half of an onion sliced, cover and stew until meat and kraut are tender. Finally thicken the kraut with water and flour.

Trim a pork leg, wash, dust with salt and place in a deep dish. Boil together two cups of vinegar, the same amount of water, one sliced onion, several bay leaves, a pinch of thyme, a piece of ginger, several whole peppers, cloves and allspice, and when this liquor cools, pour it over the pork. Allow it to stand thus three days, turning it twice each day. On the third day put it in a pan, strain over it some of the liquor and roast it, basting occasionally. When it is nearly done, mix a tablespoon of flour with a little sour cream, add to the liquor in the pan and, when the gravy thickens, serve.

Soak a ham thoroughly in cold water. Place in a large kettle, cover with water and boil gently until tender, which takes from two to three hours or more, according to size. If the ham is very salty, pour off the liquor when it is about half done and add fresh boiling water. Turn several times and keep adding boiling water, keeping the ham covered all the time. When done, take off the skin while warm, dust with marjoram and pepper, cover with the skin and cool.

Slice boiled or baked ham in thin slices, arrange on a dish, garnish with parsley and serve with vinegar, pepper and mustard, each separately. Potato salad is usually served with ham.

Hams are usually rather salty. If so, soak over night in cold water, keeping it entirely covered. Trim off the skin and fat, cover about half an inch thick with bread dough, so that no crevice remains. Pierce the dough over the top several times, so it will not burst in baking and bake the ham four or five hours in a slow oven. When done, take off the dough and serve.

Cut raw ham in thin slices, pound and broil in a dry hot pan, on both sides. When done, spread each slice with butter, arrange on a platter and pour over the juice from the ham.

Slice boiled ham thin, fry in hot butter, arrange on a heated dish and on each slice of ham place a fried Serve with fried potatoes.

Mince boiled ham, fry in a little hot butter, add several eggs and mix thoroughly. Six eggs are sufficient for half a pound of ham. A little minced parsley or chives adds a good flavor to this dish.

Wash smoked pork thoroughly and simmer until tender. When done, cut in slices and serve with rye bread and grated horseradish, or dumplings and sourkraut, or boiled peas and dill pickles.

Mince fine a pound of boiled smoked pork. Boil half a pound of rice in the liquor in which the pork has been boiled. Grease a pan, put in a layer of rice, then a layer of minced meat and repeat, putting rice on top, dot with bits of butter, pour over a tablespoon of soup and bake an hour in the oven. If you have on hand fresh mushrooms, stew them in a little butter, adding a pinch of mace. If you have dried mushrooms, boil in soup, mince and add them, in either case, to the minced pork.

Fry thinly sliced bacon in a hot skillet, until nearly all of the fat has fried out. When done, arrange on a dish with eggs fried in the same fat.

Bacon may be baked until crisp in the oven and is served with fried potatoes.

Dust inside with salt and pepper and caraway seed a thoroughly cleaned suckling pig. Place inside a slice of bread and sew up the opening. Fasten the feet together and place greased paper frills on the ears. Now place the pig on a pan, across which you have laid sticks of wood, which must contain no rosin. Arrange the pig on these, feet upwards. It must not touch the pan anywhere. Pour under it several tablespoons of beer or cider and bake in the oven, rubbing it now and then with a little butter. When the skin is red and crisp on top, turn and do not forget to rub butter over it occasionally until done. Before it is quite done, baste a few times ​with beer, which makes the skin more crisp. Now take the pig out, slash the skin around the neck, co the steam may evaporate and the skin does not lose its crispness, arrange on a platter, garnish with sliced lemon, place a lemon in the mouth and serve with sourkraut.

Clean pork tenderloin, arrange on a pan, dust with salt, flour and caraway seed, add a piece of lard and a little water and roast, basting frequently.

Wash and trim pork tenderloins. Cut each in four pieces, first lengthwise and then across. Pound well to flatten them out, dust with salt, pepper and flour, dip in beaten eggs and then in bread crumbs to which you have added a pinch of sage, and fry in hot fat.

Mince two cups of boiled ham or smoked meat, add four cups of boiled riced potatoes, two tablespoons of flour, three eggs, a dash each of salt, pepper and mace. Mix together well, make small cakes, dip in bread crumbs and fry in butter or lard.

Mince fine any left-over meat. If you have about three cups of this, add three eggs, a pinch each of pepper, allspice, ginger, salt, caraway seed and grated lemon rind. Mix together and form into cones. Fry golden brown. Potatoes served in the following manner are good with this: boil peeled potatoes in salted water. When done, drain, add two beaten yolks, a tablespoon of butter, enough milk to moisten, mash thoroughly, place on a dish and pour rendered butter over them.

Mince fine pork from the shoulder, not too lean. To five pounds of meat use two heaping tablespoons of salt, a heaping teaspoon of pepper, an even teaspoon of sage, half a teaspoon of ginger. Mix together well and put in a cool place, where it will keep several days. You may fry this as meat cakes, or add warm water to thin it and put it in casings, making pork sausage.

Mix together thoroughly a pound of minced pork, three eggs, a dash of pepper, a minced onion, salt and four slices of bread grated. Form into cakes and fry in hot lard.

At night place in a deep dish a ham, with the skin upwards, cover with cold water and place a weight on top, so it stays under water. In the morning wash well in two waters. Make a batter of water and flour, cover the ham all over, pressing down well, and bake three or four hours in a slow oven, according to the size. When done, take off the covering and allow the meat to cool. Trim off the lean meat, put through a meat grinder and grind fine. Add paprika or pepper to taste, allspice and salt if necessary. Mix together well, pack in Mason or other preserving jars and put away in a cool place. The fat, trimmed from the ham may be fried out, being first cut into dice. This shortening is good to use in biscuits. The rind may be used to grease pancake griddles.

Chop fine three pounds of pork, add four slices of bread soaked in water or milk, or six crackers, half a ​grated onion, a pinch of grated lemon rind, three eggs, a little white wine, salt, pepper and mace. Mix together well and form a loaf. Grease a pan with butter or lard, place the loaf in it, dust over with bread crumbs and bake in a medium oven. Sprinkle melted butter or lard over the top several times. When done, arrange in slices on a platter, pour the liquor over it and serve with lemon sauce.

Drain a quart of sourkraut and put it in a stone jar or a crock. Grind one pound of pork, add salt and pepper, add it to the sourkraut, mix together, cover and bake in the oven about an hour. When done, pour a cup of sour cream over it, but do not stir. Bake fifteen minutes longer. When brown on top, it is done.

When the meat has thoroughly cooled after killing, it is cut into pieces about half an inch thick, all fat and bones are trimmed off, the meat is salted and allowed to stand thus one hour. Then place the meat in a baking pan, scatter a little caraway seed over it and bake, without adding any water to it. When all the meat is baked and cooled, pack it in stone jars or crocks, as solidly as possible and pour melted lard over it, leaving a layer of lard two inches thick on top. When using this meat, cover the remainder carefully with lard, so it will not spoil.

Parboil pork tongues, peel off the top skin, interlard with bacon, salt and fasten the ends together with a white cotton string or toothpicks. Pour a little melted butter over them and bake to a golden brown. Make a ​sauce of equal parts of wine and vinegar, a little sugar, lemon rind, a few cloves and a pinch of mace. When this has simmered a while, thicken with browned flour and butter and serve with the tongues.

Boil a pork head and part of the neck in salted water. Serve with grated horseradish.

Place in a kettle thoroughly cleaned and washed pigs’ feet, cover with water and when they have been boiling an hour, add salt and boil until tender. Pack in a crock and pour over them hot vinegar, which you have boiled with an onion and the various spices, as allspice, whole pepper, cloves, whole mace, etc. Allow the contents to stand in this two days before using. Pigs’ feet require four to five hours boiling.

Prepare a nice head of cabbage, leaving it whole, place it in a deep kettle and cover with boiling water. Put it on the back of the stove, cover and let it stand thus, until it becomes tender. It must not boil. When it can be pierced with a fork, take it out to cool. In the meantime wash a cup or two of rice, pour boiling water on it, add salt, a piece of butter, or if you have soup, use it instead of the water, in which case you do not have to use butter. Cover and let it stew in the oven, until about half done. Do not use too much water or soup, so the rice will not become sticky; it should be rather dry. When the rice is half done, take it out and cool. Mince fine or put through the meat grinder a nice piece of lean pork and also a piece of veal or young beef, although pork alone may be used. The pro​portion of meat and rice varies, according to taste. Equal amounts of each are good, or if you do not like it rich, use more rice than pork, or you can use more pork that rice. Mix both together, add salt and pepper, two, three or four beaten eggs, according to the amount, four, five or six tablespoons of cream and a finely minced onion fried in butter. It should be quite moist, as the baking will dry it out. If too stiff, add more cream or milk. Take the head of cabbage apart, being careful to keep the leaves whole. Line a casserole with cabbage leaves. Put a tablespoon of the mixture on a leaf, fold the ends over each other, so as to enclose the contents. If you wish, you can fasten the ends with toothpicks. Arrange these in layers and when you have the dish full, half fill it with hot water or soup and cover with cabbage leaves and sliced tomatoes, then cover the dish and bake from three quarters to one hour. When done, serve with sauce, either tomato sauce or one made of sour cream, butter and the yolk of an egg.

In two tablespoons of lard fry one large minced onion until yellow, then add to it two pounds of lean pork cut into small pieces. Add a pinch of paprika and salt, cover and stew over a slow fire. Do not use any water. When the meat is half done, cool and mince fine, add a cup of raw rice, the liquor from the meat and mix together. Then proceed as in the foregoing recipe.

Boil a pig’s head. If too large and fat, trim off the fat. Boil the lungs, heart and kidneys in a separate kettle. Use only half of the liver and chop that raw. When all is done, mince fine. To one part of meat nse two parts of stale white bread soaked in water and then ​squeezed dry. Mix together, add pepper, salt, ground allspice, a pinch of ground cloves, grated lemon rind, marjoram and a few cloves of garlic, (mashed to a paste). Have ready thoroughly cleaned beef casings, cut into pieces about six inches long, and also string or toothpicks, to fasten the ends. When the mixture is prepared, fill one casing, tie or fasten each end and place the sausage in boiling water, in order to test it. If it needs any more spices, salt, etc. add what is needed and proceed to fill the casings. Some people boil these sausages in large quantities at one time, but in this way they are more likely to break. It it better to have two moderately sized kettles, filled with the liquor in which you have boiled the meat. Put in each just a few sausages at a time, so the kettle is about half filled. When they rise to the top, take them out, put them in a dish containing clear cold water for a moment or two and then lay them on a clean board. The liquor in which you boil them if used for soup should be cooled and skimmed, so it will not be greasy.

When killing pork, catch the blood and beat it, so it will not clot. Take a piece of pork from the neck and a piece of leaf lard, boil both until partly done, then cut both up into fine dice. Divide this into two parts. To one part add stale white bread soaked in milk and squeezed dry, half of the blood, salt, grated lemon rind, pepper, ground allspice, ginger, cloves, minced onion fried in lard and enough melted lard to make it rather moist. Mix well, fill thoroughly cleaned casings, fasten the ends and boil. Add barley that has been boiled in water to the other half, the rest of the blood, salt, pepper and spices as above, put in casings and boil.

Take two parts of beef and one part of pork, mince fine, add salt and pepper, mix well and with this fil thoroughly cleaned casings. Put them to smoke the next day and smoke two days. Before using, bake half an hour, in a little water.

Mince fine a piece of pork from the neck. Use one part of white bread soaked in cream to three parts of meat. Add pepper, mace, grated lemon rind, salt, a little white wine, work together about ten minutes and put into thoroughly cleaned mutton casings. Or you may use two parts of pork, one part of veal, minced fine, moistened with cream and spiced with salt, pepper, etc. as above. For wine sausage, the casings may be left quite long and should be rolled up in a spiral. They will not keep, especially in warm weather, so must be used right away. Before serving, fry in a skillet, as you would breakfast sausage, adding a little wine to the water.

Boil pork from the leg, the head (trim off the fat around the chin), the ears, snout and tongue (you may use a beef tongue also). When done, trim out the bones, cartilages etc., skin the tongue, cut all into small pieces. Have ready a round form, such as a bucket. In the bottom place a layer of meat from the leg, dust with salt, pepper, mace, then put in a layer of the ears and snout, dust with salt, etc., then a layer of the tongue and continue until the dish is full. Cover, place a weight on top, and let stand thus over night in a cool place. The next day take this cheese out, slice and serve with mustard, oil and vinegar, or sliced lemon. This must ​all be packed while warm, otherwise it will not stick together. When taking the cheese out, run a sharp knife around, so it will fall out whole. You may use ground cloves or sage instead of mace. If you wish, you may line the form with thoroughly cleaned and boiled pork skins.

Boil the head, snout, ears, tongue, and a piece of meat from the neck. When done, cool and cut into dice, add rendered lard and the cracklings, fresh blood, salt, pepper, ginger, allspice, minced onion fried in lard and mix well. Fill a thoroughly cleaned pork stomach with this and boil half an hour in the same liquor. When you pierce it with a toothpick and no blood runs out, it is done. Place it in a press while warm, or put a heavy weight on it. If you add a nice beef tongue to this, it will be extra good. It is served sliced fine, with vinegar and pepper or vinegar and onion.