The Toronto Cook Book

One-quarter pound fat salt pork, cut in litltle squares and fried; then take six potatoes, peel and cut in little dice-shaped pieces, two sliced onions; put potatoes and onions into kettle with the pork; add a little hot water and the liquor from one quart of clams; then separate bellies from clams and add them both to the other ingredients. Cook until potatoes are done; add pepper and salt to taste; when cooked, just before removing from fire, add one quart sweet milk and a few sprigs of parsley. Fish and Clam Chowders Rhode Island Clam Chowder One quart of clams, one quart potatoes sliced thin, half a pound of salt pork cut in little dices, two onions cut fine, salt and pepper to taste, large tablespoon of butter, one quart of milk, six soda biscuits. First place kettle on stove, putting pork in to let brown with onions; add the potatoes and boiling water to cover. When the potatoes are soft add the clam juice in equal parts water and liquor, the seasoning and the clams. When warmed through, add the hot milk and turn into the tureen. Do not put clams into the chowder until potatoes are nearly done, as prolonged boiling hardens them. Bisque of Clams For a quart of soup take fifteen large clams; stew them in one pint water and their own liquor for a quarter of an hour. Boil one pint of milk, stir a tablespoon of butter and one of flour together; then add the boiling milk, stirring all the time; stand it to one side. Squeeze each clam with a lemon squeezer. Throw away the empty skins; add the strained clams and broth to the white sauce, bring to a boil and remove from the fire while you beat the yolk of an egg with two tablespoons of the soup. Add it to the rest while boiling hot, but do not let it boil again or the egg will curdle. How to Prepare Clams Hold a clam in the shell in your left hand with the "hinge" toward your thumb, and the head up. Slip a small knife — I use a paring knife — between the shells just above the hinge, bearing on the shell toward you. If you do it right you will cut the "eye" or "cheese" free from the shell and feel the shells loosen apart. Run the knife completely around, bearing all the time on the shell toward you, lift off top shell, run knife under clam to loosen it from other shell and slip it off. After you open one, notice the position of the two "eyes" or muscles, which hold the shell together, as the trick is in cutting these away from the shells. I do hope this is clear enough to help you. Scalloped Clams Prepare the clams as in steamed clams. Make a white sauce, as for fish; put the clams in a shallow dish or in clean shells; cover with the sauce and buttered crumbs, and bake till brown. The Toronto Cook Book Clam Chowder Cut one-fourth pound clear fat pork in one-half inch squares. Fry out slowly, strain, throw scraps away, then take two goodsized onions, cut up small, fry in pork fat without browning. Cut up three-quarters of a quart of potatoes and boil. Take one quart opened clams, cut off black ends of clams, cut the balance, only leaving the soft part whole. When potatoes are cooked add to clams and clam water. Let boil a few minutes, as cooking clams too long makes them tough; then add onions and fried-out pork fat and one quart hot rnilk. Season with salt and pepper. Fried Clams