kept. If the ham is thin, you must allow rather less time.

When the ham is done, the skin should be carefully peeled off, without breaking, if possible, as it will serve to cover the ham, and keep it moist, when it is put by. As soon as you have pulled off the skin, coat the top of the ham over with brown raspings, by rasping over it a little of the crust from the bottom side of a loaf. Then trim and wipe the knuckle, and wrap round it a piece of writing paper, fringed, to hold it by in carving.`

The dish may be garnished with either thin slices of turnips or carrots, or slices of lemon.

If the ham is not to be cut till it is cold, it should be allowed to boil gently half an hour longer than if it is intended to be cut while hot.

TO BAKE A HAM.

Unless when too salt, from not being sufficiently soaked, a ham (particularly a young and fresh one) eats much better baked than boiled, and remains longer good. The safer plan is to lay it into plenty of cold water over night. The following day soak it for an hour or more in warm water, wash it delicately clean, trim smoothly off all rusty parts, and lay it with the rind downwards into a coarse paste rolled to about an inch thick; moisten the edges, draw, pinch them together, and fold them over on the upper side of the ham, taking care to close them so that no ravy can escape. Send it to a well-heated,

but not a fierce oven. A very small ham will require three hours baking, and a large one five. The crust and the skin must be removed while it is hot. When part only of a ham is dressed, this mode is better far than boiling it.

PORK SAUSAGES.

Chop, first separately, and then together, one pound and a quarter of veal, perfectly free from fat; skin, and sinew, an equal weight of lean pork, and of the inside fat of the pig. Mix well, and strew over the meat an ounce and a quarter of salt, half an ounce of pepper, one nutmeg grated, and a large teaspoonful of pounded mace. Turn, and chop the sausages until they are equally seasoned throughout, and tolerably fine; press them into a clean pan, and keep them in a very cool place. Form them, when wanted for table, into cakes something less than an inch thick, flour and fry them for about ten minutes in a little butter.

Lean of veal and pork, of each, one pound four ounces; fat of pork, one pound four ounces; salt one ounce and a quarter; pepper, half an ounce; one nutmeg; and one large teaspoonful of mace. Fried, in cakes, ten minutes.

TO DRESS PIG'S FEET AND EARS.

Boil them, fresh or salted, three hours, or till tender, when take out the large boncs; glaze them, and cover them with fried bread crumbs, and serve

upon tomato sauce; or, melted butter thinned with mustard and vinegar.

TO STEW PIGS' FEET.

Clean and split them, and boil them tender; then put them into a stewpan with a little gravy or water, a shred onion, sage leaves, salt, some whole black pepper, and all-spice; stew for half an hour; then strain the gravy, thicken it with butter and flour, add a tablespoonful of lemon pickle, or vinegar, and serve with the feet.

TO ROAST A LEG OF PORK.

Another way.

Choose a small leg of fine young pork; cut a slit in the knuckle with a sharp knife, and fill the space with sage and onion chopped, and a little pepper and salt; when half done, score the skin in slices, but do not cut deeper than the outer rind.

Apple sauce and potatoes should be served to eat with it.

TO BOIL A LEG OF PORK.

Salt it eight or ten days; when it is to be dressed, weigh it; let it lie half an hour in cold water, to make it white; allow a quarter of an hour for every pound, and half an hour over, from the time it boils up; skim it as soon as it boils, and frequently after. Allow water enough. Save some of it to make peassoup. Some broil it in a very nice cloth, floured;

which gives a very delicate look. It should be small, and of a fine grain.

Serve peas-pudding and turnips with it.

PORK STEAKS.

Cut them from a loin or neck, and of middling thickness; pepper and broil them, turning them often; when nearly done, put on salt, rub a bit of butter over, and serve the moment they are taken off the fire, a few at a time.

POULTRY.

TO CHOOSE POULTRY.

YOUNG, plump, well-fed, but not over-fatted, poultry is the best. The skin of fowls and turkeys should be clear, white, and finely grained, the breasts broad and full-fleshed, the legs smooth, the toes pliable and easily broken when bent back; the birds should also be heavy in proportion to their size. This applies equally to geese and ducks, of which the breasts likewise should be very plump, and the feet yellow and flexible: when these are red and hard, the bills of the same colour, and the skin full of hairs, and extremely coarse, the birds are old.

White-legged fowls and chickens should be chosen

for boiling, because their appearance is the most delicate when dressed; but the dark-legged ones often prove more juicy and of better flavour when roasted, and their colour then is immaterial.

Every precaution should be taken to prevent poultry from becoming ever so slightly tainted before it is cooked; but unless the weather be exceedingly sultry, it should not be quite freshly killed:* pigeons only are the better for being so, and are thought to lose their flavour by hanging even a day or two. Turkeys, as we have stated in our receipts for them, are very tough and poor eating if not sufficiently long kept. A goose also, in winter, should hang some days before it is dressed; and fowls, likewise, will be improved by it.

All kinds of poultry should be thoroughly cooked, though without being overdone, for nothing in general can more effectually destroy the appetite than the taste and appearance of their flesh when brought to table half roasted or boiled.

TRUSSING FOWLS.

Remove immediately the crops of fowls and pigeons, but do not draw and truss them till wanted for dressing, else they are apt to dry.

Having picked poultry, remove the crop and wind

*If, from accidental circumstances, it should become apparently unfit for table, it may be restored to an eatable state by the same means as fish; it should not, however, be purchased at any time when it exhibits a greenish tint on any part of the skin, as this indicates its being already stale.