Savoury Cakes

"Well, Isobel, you remember that I promised to show you another way to cook sheep's brains, because you all appreciated the last dish of them so much. Now watch and see how I cook them. We must first parboil this pair of sheep's brains; now they are boiled enough, you may chop them quite small, add two ounces of finely chopped suet and a teacupful of chopped parsley. Mix all together, season with white pepper, a dash of nutmeg, and salt to taste; form the mixture into a paste with a beaten egg. Flour the board and your fingers, cut the paste into a number of diamond-shaped cakes, ornament the centre of each with a sprig of parsley; sprinkle the dish with a little flour, lay them on it, and cover with that old serviette. The only thing you will have to do in the morning is to heat thoroughly an ounce of dripping in the frying-pan, then you must drop in the cakes one by one. Watch them carefully. When slightly browned, remove them, lay gently on to a piece of paper, but do not turn. The parsley will now be quite crisp. When all are fried, throw the parsley which you see me picking from the stalk, into the pan. Lay an ornamental paper on the dish; on this arrange the cakes, take up the parsley, drain it, and use it to garnish the dish.

Pork Chops And Tasmanian Fritters

"Yes, I know the butcher brought much too large a joint; but never mind, give me the trencher, and I will soon convert it into a very tasty dish. Put some of the dripping from the meat into a clean frying-pan, add a tablespoonful of bread crumbs mixed with flour, pepper, and a pinch of salt. Peel two or three Tasmanian apples for me, cut them into rounds, lay each piece of meat between two apple rounds, lay them in those little round paper cases you made the other day, and pop them into the pan as soon as the fat is hot. Do not trouble to grease the cases, just souse them in the boiling fat. You are quite right, Isobel, the fat should not boil, but when at boiling heat drop in the material that is to be fried. A clever cook knows the exact moment: but if you are not quite sure, throw a piece of bread into the liquid; if it turns brown at once, you are quite safe, but if it becomes black and dark-looking, it is better to pour the fat away, and re-wash the pan.

"There, the fritters will do nicely; take them from the cases, and lay on an old dish; never use those belonging to the service for standing in the larder. To-morrow morning beat up two eggs, a dessertspoonful of flour, and one of milk; into this dip the pork fritters, then fry them lightly, for the meat and apples now only require to be thoroughly heated. Do not use much grease or fat, only rub the pan, when hot, with a piece of butter tied in coarse muslin."

Leg O' Mutton Dressed As Ham

"You see, Isobel, pork is always savoury, and makes a nice change at times; but where is much heat one has to be very careful in the use of it. I will tell you what we can do - we may dress a couple of legs of mutton in such a style that few could tell them from hams.

"Very well, we will begin at once. Give me an ounce of saltpetre, half a pound of bay-salt, the same weight of brown sugar, one grated nutmeg, an ounce of white pepper, a quarter of a pound of table-salt, and half a pint of vinegar; now mix them all together. Tell the butcher to cut me a shapely leg from the hind quarter of mutton, ask him to try and make it resemble a Cumberland ham. I shall require it in an hour, for the pickle will then be ready.

"Bring me the large stone shallow pan and a clean pair of housemaid's gloves. I always wear them, for I have proved it to be most injurious to the meat to handle, especi-ally in hot weather. You would find it much easier to cure the ham in cold weather, for it would take the salt much more easily. See, I hold the knuckle in my left hand, and rub in the mixture with my right. You must go through the same process every three days, and be careful to turn it a different way each time. Let it lie for eighteen days; after each rubbing, you must place a heavy weight on the meat, so that it may be kept quite flat.

"After eighteen days you may hang it in the kitchen to dry thoroughly. It can be smoked by being hung from a branch of a tree over a fire of hardwood and sawdust; but it must first be kept at a good distance from the fire for at least two or three days. Now promise me always to wear the gloves when handling the meat. Leave them by the pan, so that they may be at hand when needed."

A large party of our friends had planned to spend a day in the woods near Windsor. We were to take our breakfast with us, and, under the shade of the great trees, surrounded by brilliant foliage and flowers, happily to spend our time as only it can be spent in such harmonious surroundings.

Therefore, I went to the kitchen early, and, telling Isobel of our intended picnic, arranged what we should take with us. "I shall want about twelve light milk cakes to-day, Isobel."

"Shall I order them from the baker, ma'am?"

Home-made Cakes and Sardine Sandwiches.

"No, for I want them in the shape of an ivy leaf, so we will make them ourselves. See, I am going to put two pounds of flour in the earthen pan we use for washing the salads. Melt two ounces of butter in a pint of warm milk; it does not matter if it is sour, in fact it is better. When the milk and butter are nearly cold, stir in a tablespoonful of barm or yeast. Make a hole in the centre of the flour, pour in the liquor; sprinkle over it a dessertspoonful of salt. Beat up two eggs, stir them into the liquor; flip the flour from the sides, cover the pan with a cloth, set it near the stove or in the sunshine, till the dough rises to the top of the vessel. Are your hands quite clean? Very well; then knead all together, seeing that no dough is left on the sides of the pan; cover it over again, set it in the same place, leave it till it rises above the top of the pan, then it will be quite ready to cut into the ivy-leaf shapes, which were made purposely for me. Grease the tins, press each piece of dough into them; when they are baked, and removed from the tin, they will be in this novel shape. In half an hour you may cut the leaves in half, the flat way from the point to the end of the stalk, pinch out the crumbs, and lay them aside. Now, very sparingly butter six cakes, that will be twelve of those halves; in the meantime I will fillet six sardines and three anchovies. You see, Isobel, how I wash the anchovies, and the meat leaves the bone at once. The sardines require great care. With two forks fill the buttered halves. Now pick the watercress that I washed and drained leaf by leaf; with this screen the fish, dust them slightly with pepper, put on the other half, press the two together; now place them all side by side in a tin box and take them into the pantry. Have you taken care to close the lid tightly; that's quite right."