Part 34

Cut a piece of tender steak half an inch thick. Lay it on a meat-board, and with a sharp knife scrape off the soft part until there is nothing left but the tough, stringy fibers. Season this pulp with salt and pepper, make it into little flat, round cakes half an inch thick, and broil them two minutes. Serve on rounds of buttered toast. This is a safe and dainty way to prepare steak for one who is just beginning to eat meat. When it is not convenient to have glowing coals, these meat-cakes may be broiled in a very hot omelet-pan.

HAMBURG STEAK. No. 2

Pound a thin piece of beefsteak until the fibers are broken; season it with salt and pepper, fold and pound again; then broil it three or four minutes over a clear hot fire. Serve at once.

TENDERLOIN STEAK

Broil a tenderloin steak, and at the same time a small piece of round steak, which usually contains a great deal of well-flavored juice. Cut the round steak into small pieces, and squeeze the juice from it over the tenderloin. Tenderloin steak is tender, but usually neither juicy nor particularly well flavored. By this method one gets a delicious steak.

BEEFSTEAK À LA MAÎTRE D'HÔTEL

Broil a steak, place it on a platter, and season it with salt and pepper; sprinkle it with finely chopped parsley, drops of lemon-juice, and some little bits of butter. Set it in the oven long enough to soften the butter. A steak done in this way may be made quite attractive by garnishing it with hot mashed and seasoned potatoes which have been squeezed through a potato-strainer. A colander may be used in lieu of a strainer. The potato loses some of its heat in the process, so care must be taken to have the dish very hot or to place it in the oven until it becomes so.

A steak may always be garnished with parsley, water-cress, or slices of lemon.

CHICKEN

(BROILED)

For broiling, select a young chicken--one from three to eight months old. Singe it. Split it down the back, and free it from all refuse, such as pin-feathers, lungs, kidneys, oil-bag, windpipe, and crop (the latter is sometimes left in when the chicken is drawn). Wash it quickly in cold water, fold it in a clean cloth kept for the purpose, and clap gently between the hands until all the water is absorbed. Separate the joints--the lower joint of the leg and the upper joint of the wing--by cutting the flesh on the under side and severing the white tough tendons. Soften some butter until it runs, then dip the chicken into it, season it with salt and pepper, dredge with flour, and broil it in a wire broiler for from fifteen to twenty minutes, according to the size.

The same principle holds in broiling chicken as in steak. The first part of the process should be done in a high temperature to coagulate the juices of the outer layers, and the last part very slowly. Care must be taken that it is thoroughly done at the thick joints of the wing and leg. Serve hot.

=To Buy a Chicken.= The best chickens have yellow skin, but one may be deceived if guided by this alone, for fowls often have yellow skin also. The flexibility of the end of the breast-bone is always a sure means of deciding as to the age of the bird. If it be soft, easily bent, and if it feels like cartilage, the chicken is young. Sometimes dealers break the bone for the purpose of deceiving buyers, but it does not take a great deal of intelligence to decide between a broken bone and one that is easily bent. If the bone be hard and firm, it is an indication of age. For broiling, of course, the chicken should be young, the flesh of good color and well nourished, and, as in the buying of beef, one may rely upon the judgment of a good dealer. The way in which chickens are fed has much to do with the flavor of the meat.

BIRDS

Various kinds of birds, such as squab, partridge, plover, snipe, pheasant, etc., are particularly appropriate food for the sick, partly because we associate them with the dainty things of life, but more on account of the valuable nutrient properties which they contain. They are especially rich in salts (particularly the phosphates), which are so much needed by a system exhausted by disease.

Birds which feed mostly on grains, such as the partridge and the pheasant, will bear transportation, and will keep, in cold weather, a long time. Birds with dark flesh, which live mostly on animal food, decay quickly.

A general rule for the cooking of game is this: that with white flesh should be well done, that with dark should be rare, and usually is only properly cooked when served so, as in the case of woodcock, duck, and snipe.

=When in Season.= Some birds, such as reed-birds, partridge, and plover, have a season which varies slightly in different parts of the country, according to the game laws of different States. In Maryland, the following birds may be found in market according to the time stated:

Squabs All the year. Partridge November 1--December 25. Snipe September--December. Plover September--November. Pheasants October--January. Woodcock August--February. Rice- or reed-birds September--Middle October. Field-larks Summer and early autumn. Grouse (prairie-hen) All the year. Pigeons All the year.

The cleansing and preparation of birds is in general carried out in the same manner as with chickens. When there is any variation from this, it will be mentioned under the rule for each.

SQUABS

Squabs are young domestic pigeons. The Philadelphia market supplies nearly all of those used in the eastern part of the United States.

Remove the feathers, and all pin-feathers; cut off the head and legs, and split the bird down the back carefully with a sharp knife. Lift out carefully the contents of the body, which are contained in a little sac or delicate membrane; they should be taken out without breaking. Do not forget the windpipe, crop, lungs, and kidneys. Wash, and prepare the squab in the same manner that chicken is done, except the dipping in butter and dredging with flour; this may be omitted, as squabs are generally fat and do not require it. Broil from twelve to fifteen minutes, according to the size of the bird and the intensity of the fire. It should be well done. Serve on hot buttered toast.

PARTRIDGE

The partridge is a white-fleshed bird. It may be broiled or roasted.

=To Broil.= Follow the same rule as that given for squab, except dip in melted butter and dredge with flour.

=To Roast.= Prepare in the same manner as for broiling, except dip in butter and dredge twice. Do not forget the salt and pepper. Then skewer the body so that it will resemble a whole bird, and look as if it had not been split down the back. Spread a teaspoon of butter on the breast, and bake it in a hot oven for twenty to thirty minutes. Partridge done in this way is delicious, for the butter enriches the meat, which is naturally dry. It should be served well done, not rare, on hot buttered toast, with currant jelly.

The season for partridges is in most States during the last part of the autumn, and generally the laws in regard to them are rigid. Nevertheless, they can be bought from the middle of October until May, or the beginning of warm weather. The partridge is a bird that keeps well, bears transportation, and is sent from one part of the country to another, many coming from the West when the season is over in the Eastern States. It is a medium-sized bird, with mottled brown feathers, which are black at the ends, especially those on the back, and mottled brown and silver-gray on the breast.