COOKING THE CHRISTMAS MEATS

New Zealand Listener, Volume 16, Issue 391, 20 December 1946, Page 26

COOKING THE CHRISTMAS MEATS

HAT is it to be for Christmas dinner this year -a turkey, or a duck, or a chicken-and are you having a ham as well? Here are some various stuffings for the poultry, ways of cooking ham, and other dishes to help out with the meat rationing problem over the long holidays. Christmas Turkey I expect some of the country people will have turkeys, and they are quite simple to cook. You can lay two or three slices of bacon over the breast of the turkey during roasting, and remove these the last 20 minutes to brown the breast. The oven should be about 300 degrees and for a bitd weighing 7lb. to 10lb. before stuffing, allow 30 minutes per pound; from 10lb. to 15lb. weight before stuffing, allow 20 minutes per pound. Americans would serve Cranberry sauce or jelly-we could use any slightly tart jelly. Bread sauce is a usual accompaniment, too, and sometimes bacon rolls. Parsley Stuffing for the Turkey Three quarts of lightly packed dayold breadcrumbs; 114 teaspoons of salt; 1 tablespoon of powdered sage; 2 tablespoons of diced celery; 2 tablespoons of mineed parsley; teaspoon of pepper; % cup of butter or shredded suet; 1% cup of minced onion. Combine the breadcrumbs, salt, sage, celery, parsley and pepper. Melt the butter in a pan, add the onion, and simmer till tender. Add the seasoned breadcrumbs and heat well, stirring constantly. Stuff the crop and body of the bird-this recipe should stuff a bird of about 8Ib. weight. Bread Sauce-for Roast Fowl or Turkey One small onion; 2 cloves; ¥2 pint of milk; 2o0z. of breadcrumbs; 42 teaspoon salt; 44 teaspoon pepper; and a dusting of cayenne. Simmer the onion, stuck with cloves, in the milk for 5 minutes. Then strain the milk over the breadcrumbs; add a little cream if available (1 and the seasoning. Re-heat the sauce, and sérve. Orange Sauce for Duck Pour off all but 3 tablespoons of fat from the pan in which the duck was roasted. Add 3° tablespoons of flour, and stir till smooth. Then add 2 tablespooris of finely shredded orange rind which has been simmered in a little water until tender-and drained. Now add 2 tablespoons of cufrant jelly, 34 cup of orange juice, and % cup of water. Stir, and cook till smooth and thickened. Add salt and pepper if needed, and serve over slices of hot roast duck. \ Roast Duck and Apple Stuffing When roasting the duck, for a bird weighing 3lb. to 4lb., allow 45 minutes per pound at 325 degrees F. The duck should be weighed when it is cleaned and réady for stiffing. If 41b. to 5ib.,

allow 40 minutes per pound. This Apple and Raisin Stuffing is nice for a change: Half a cup of minced onion; 144 cups of diced, peeled, cored apples; 3. cups of lightly packed day-old breadcrumbs; 4 cup of seeded faisins; %4 teaspoon of salt; a dash of pepper; 1 tablespoon of sugar; and just over % cup of melted butter or margarine, or good clarified cooking fat. Mix these up well, and stuff the body, not too tightly. Baked Ham One excellent and easy method of baking the ham is to wrap it in clean greaseproof or cooking paper, and put it, fat side up, in the roasting dish, Bake in a moderate oven of 325 degreés, and the times are-a 16lb. to 181b; ham needs 4 to 4% hours; qa 10lb. to 121b. ham needs 3 to 3% hours; and a piece about Sib. or 7Ib. needs 2 to 24% hours. After the ham is baked, remove the paper and skin, score the fat surface in squares or diamonds and glaze. There are lots of ways of glazing, but hére are a few. Ham Glaze (1) Mix 1 cup of brown sugar with 2 tablespoons of flour, and cover the scored fat surface. Stick the surface with whole cloves, and bake in a moderate oven of 400 degrees for about 15 minutés, or until golden brown. (2) Remove the skin, stick all over with cloves, and pour over a thick syrup of spiced vinegar and brown stigat; and brown in the oven. Sprinkle with crisped brown breadcrumbs. (3) Or sift brown sugar over the sutface of the hot baked ham. As it browris in the oven baste with the drippings, or cider, or cooking sherty, or tinned fruit juice. Boiled Ham This is an excellent way to cook a ham, especially if you have only a small oven, and a small saucepan. Plunge the ham into the copper full of boiling water, and boil hard for half to otie hot. Then draw all fire from under the copper, and keep the lid of thie boiler well covered, until quite cold. Being thus partly cooked by steam, it will be found to be delicious in flavour, and perfectly cooked. Cover the boiler with sacks. It must be done in the washhouse copper. Galantine Mince 1lb. of lean beef, and lb. of bacon. Mix with 1lb. of satisage meat, 60z. of breadcrumbs; 1 small grated nutmeg, pepper and salt to taste. Bind with 2 eggs. Form into a roll, tie in floured pudding cl and boil 24% hours. When done, press slightly till cold, remove the cloth, and sprinkle the roll with ch parsley or chives; or glaze with the following: 144 tablespoons gelatine; 2 cups of water; 2 teaspoons of meat extract. Soak gelatine in the water, add the méat extract, and simmer 10 minutes. Whén cool, pour over the meat to be glazed. It can be kept in a jar, afd reheated or melted for use.