EXTRAS FOR CHRISTMAS WEEK

New Zealand Listener, Volume 18, Issue 444, 26 December 1947, Page 22

EXTRAS FOR CHRISTMAS WEEK

T -is wise and comfortable to have a ham (whole or a part), a tongue, a cooked meat pie or two, all ready beforehand, so that Christmas week is provided for and’ Mother can relax, mentally at any rate, as far as food is concerned, when once the Christmas dinner is over. If you have a refrigerator to keep it in, you can stuff the turkey the day before, which is a help. Be sure you dry the inside of "poultry well before stuffing, otherwise the stuffing may get soggy. I gave some stuffing recipes in The Listener of November 21. Stuff both the crop and the bodycavity, of a turkey, and leave room for the stuffing to swell in cooking, or it may burst the sewing and look untidy. And’ cut the stitches with scissors before sending the bird to tabfe. An 8lb. turkey (drawn weight) will take: about 3 to 3% hours in a moderate oven, say 300 degrees. Place it breastside up, on a rack, in the roasting-tin. Lay 2 or 3 slices of bacon over the breast. Or the bird may be lightly smeared with bacondripping all over, and the breast covered with butter-paper. The best American cooks say, "Add no water, do not baste and do not turn bird during roasting." But, most people here do put a little fat in the pan, and a tablespoon of hot water. Boiled Ham Put ham into pan of hot water. Bring to boil. Simmer ‘slowly, allowing 20 minutes per pound. When tender, turn off heat and leave till nearly cold in the pan. Then take out, pull off skin, score the fat surface in squares or diamondshapes, stick with cloves, and pour over a thick syrup of spiced vinegar and brown sugar, or just sprinkle with brown sugar, 6r spread with honey, or spread with marmalade mixed into a sauce with hot water; and put into hot oven to brown, Have ready crisped, browned, oven-dried breadcrumbs, and sprinkle evenly and thickly all over when ham is taken from oven. Baked Ham The old way was to wrap the ham in a thick paste made of flour and water before putting it in the oven, in order to keep in the juices and flavour, Nowadays, we just use two thicknesses of white greaseproof paper. Put just a little hot water into the baking tin, and have the ham ‘standing on a tack, not flat on the tin. Allow about 20 minutes to the pound, in a moderate ovenabout 300 degrees-although the oven should be pre-heated. When cooked, skin and glaze as for boiled ham; Tongue Put into large pot, cover with cold water, adding 2 or 3 tablespoons of vinegar, an onion, a few cloves, allspice and peppercorns. Simmer gently till a fork easily pierces the skin-about 3 hours for a 4lb. tongue. Leave in the water till cool. Then skin, trim off the thick end tidily, and roll it round to press into a basin, or perhaps a deep cake tin, Cover with a plate, and put a weight on. Leave about 12 to 24 ‘hours before cutting. In America they

have tongues smoked, like ham. You might get one smoked. It is as well. ta bring smoked tongue to the boil from cold water, pour it, off, and start again in cold water, Serve with mustard sauce made by stirring 2 tablespoons flour into 1 tablespoon melted butter in a small saucepan, and when melted, adding 1 cup of boiling water with a tablespoon of beef-essence or vegetable extract. Stir and cook till thickened, and then add 3 tablespoons of mixed mustard and 1 tablespoon of Worcester sauce. Veal and Ham Pie About 2lb. veal, including a knuckle if liked, as it makes good jelly, and gelatine is scarce. Cut the meat into chunky pieces, about 2 inches square, and simmer slowly, in water to cover, till’ tender, about 142 hours perhaps. Let cool. Put layer of veal in deep piedish, then a layer of pieces of cooked ham, pepper to season. Next comes a layer of slices of hard-boiled egg. Finish with a layer of veal. Fill dish % full with the cold stock the meat was cooked in. Cover with flaky pastry (having put a small cup or apie funnel in the middle of the pie). Leaye the pastry loose, as it shrinks a bit in cooking. Cut it arf inchyor so too big, and turn under the overhanging edge instead of cutting it off. This saves putting an extra strip round the edge. Make the edge ornamental with a fork. Prick holes in the crust to let the‘ steam escape. Bfush over with milk, to glaze it. Bake in hot oven about 1% hours or till. done, reducing the heat the last half-hour. Heat up any remaining stock and serve with the pie if eaten hot, But this pie is also very nice cold, especially if a rich short pastry is used instead of flaky. U.S. Caramel Ham Loaf This is very nice cold as well as hot. Half quantities may be used. Soak 3 cups of soft breadcrumbs in 2 cups of «milk for 5 minutes. Beat up 1 or 2 eggs, add ¥% teaspoon salt; 12 teaspoon mustard; 142lb. of raw minced beef and 3%41b. of raw minced ham. Combine with the bread mixture, and mix thorcughly. Sprinkle % cup of brown sugar in the bottom of a deep loaf-pan (I suppose we could use a cake-tin), and sprinkle a teaspoon of cloves on top, Then pack the meat mixture firmly in, and bake in a moderate oven (350 degrees) for a little over an hour. Cold Pork and Veal Pie Cut into big dice Yzlb. each of veal and of pork. Slice’an onion and saute in butter or substitute. Add the veal and pork and simmer till brown. Cover with water, and simmer for 20 minutes longer. Remove from heat and stir in about a tablespoon of powdered gelatine, if available. Or perhaps you have boiled a knuckle of veal and obtained a good jelly which you could have used instead of all water to cover. Add chopped parsley and season to taste. Pour into shallow pie-dish, cover with good pastry, flaky or short, and bake until crust is cooked. Put in refrigerator or cold safe. Serve cold with potato salad, An easy potato salad is just cold cooked new potatoes, sliced in %2-inch slices,

and some finely minced onion put into a bowl with a good salad dressing poured over. Toss a little with two forks, to mix all well. Garnish with tomato slices. If possible, add a generous quantity of diced celery, and always some chopped parsley to the salad.