Cookery for every household

Prepare the ham and soak it as for boiling. Then saw off the knuckle bone, and if the ham is large boil it for 1 hour according to directions given in last recipe. Meanwhile prepare a plain aste made with flour and water. About 1J lbs. our will be required for a medium-sized ham, and roll it out on a pastry board. Drain the ham well from the water, dry it, and wrap it up in the paste, covering it well. Then place it on a roasting tin with three or four table-spoonfuls of dripping and bake in a moderate oven, basting frequently. The time will depend on the size and thickness of the ham ; about 3 horns should be allowed for a medium-sized ham, or about 20 minutes to the pound and 20 minutes over. When ready remove the crust and skin, and finish and serve the ham as directed for boiled ham. If served hot, a good wine sauce may be served separately. Note. — If only a half ham is being baked the preliminary boiling may be dispensed with. 1008. Ham a la Maddre (Jambon a la Madere) Boil a small ham of 5 or 6 lbs. or a piece of ham as directed in Recipe 1006. While still hot, remove the skin and surplus fat and place it on a tin or fireproof dish. Pour 2 or 3 glasses of Madeira over the ham and sprinkle it well with flour. Place it in a good oven and allow it to bake J hour or until nicely browned, basting it frequently with the wine. Finished in this way the ham will have a delicious flavour. Note. — Champagne is sometimes used instead of Madeira. 1009. Lard, To Prepare This is prepared from the inside fat of a pig, which goes under the name of flead, flare, or leaf. Care must be taken to obtain this fat very fresh, as it soon becomes tainted. Skin it carefully, removing any discoloured parts or traces of blood. Then cut it in small pieces and put it in a strong jar without any water. Stand the jar in a saucepan of boiling water and keep it boiling over the fire. As the fat melts strain it carefully off until the fibrous parts of the flead are left fairly dry. When ready, pour it into bladders or jars and keep it airtight. If exposed to the air for any length of time it will become rancid. The residue can be chopped and used in the making of pea or lentil soup. Note. — A double saucepan may be used for melting down the fat. This branch of cookery is by no means to be despised, as some of our daintiest and most tasty dishes are made from the remains of cooked meat. The reason that made-up dishes are so often looked upon with distrust is that the process of re-heating is carelessly carried out, and the meat is thereby rendered tough and tasteless. It certainly requires a little trouble to re- heat meat nicely, but it is trouble that is well repaid. For serving up little dishes of this kind it would be well worth while to invest in some of the dainty little dishes now on the market, such as fireproof gratin dishes, scallop shells, earthenware casseroles, which can be sent to table, or some prettily shaped moulds, as these will all help to give an air of refinement and finish to a rechauffe. The following recipes should give one a fair idea of the variety of ways in which scraps of meat, however small, can be utilised, and a little ingenuity on the part of the cook will soon devise others, or at least variations of the same. GENERAL DIRECTIONS FOR RE-HEATING MEAT