Aspic is a savory stock made from cooking meat slowly, creating a natural gelatin that thickens, then turns to a jelly when it cools. In the past, aspics were used to preserve meats because the gelatin helped keep out air and bacteria. In the late 1800s, Charles Knox created a commercial gelatin, which saved a lot of time. Aspic can be used as a glaze, garnish, or prepared in a mold with foods such as meat, fruits, or vegetables set…
LARD is white fat from a pig, used for cooking and flavoring. This fat is called lard whether it’s been tried out (rendered) or not. Trying out is melting fat to skim out the impurities so it is clean to cook with. When lard is rendered rather than used directly from the pig, it rarely has any odor or particular tasts. A similar fat from cattle or sheep is called tallow. INFORMATION BELOW COMPILED FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS: PRESSED LARD Every…
When we buy beef at the grocery store, the bone is often removed and the fat trimmed away. But in the past, people used all parts of the animal, both because they didn’t want to waste anything, but also for the nutrient value. Marrow bones are either the femur, shank or tibia bone of a steer that is cut for eating. The femur is the largest bone in the animal and has the best marrow to bone ratio. TruBeef Organic….
It’s often hard to give cooked meat a good flavor, especially if it’s lean. Although it’s easy to open a packet or jar of gravy or other prepared sauces, I don’t like eating preservatives and artificial ingredients. When I make my own sauce, I know what ingredients are going into it. And if you don’t eat much meat, you might experiment and try some of these sauces on vegetables. RECIPES BELOW COMPILED FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS SAUCESAll sauces should be sent…
My mother only made mincemeat pies at Thanksgiving, when we had lots of relatives visiting. She used mincemeat from a jar and filled her own pie crust. Originally, mincemeat was made with meat and included spices, dried fruit, and spirits (alcohol). That way, mincemeat could be preserved for many months. I don’t think many mincemeat pies you buy at the store today contain meat. You can click on this link if you’d like to read the post on making mincemeat…
INFORMATION BELOW FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS The giblets of poultry consist of the head, neck, wings, feet, gizzard, heart, and liver. As meat is the most costly and extravagant of all articles of food, it behooves the housewife to save all left-overs and work them over into other dishes. They make good soup, fricassees, pies, and various entrées, or side dishes. The so-called inferior pieces—not inferior because they contain less nourishment, but inferior because the demand for such meat is less—should…
Suet or the fat from around the kidneys and loin of beef and mutton. It has a high smoke point, and usually used for making pies and pastries. Suet is usually rendered to remove the impurities from the fat. It’s then called tallow, but the 1800s cookbooks I’ve gone through just call it suet. Additionally, suet can be used to make soap and candles, as well as seed cakes to feed wild birds. SUETChoose the firmest part as soon as…
When people went to the market to buy poultry in the 1800s, it wasn’t usually already plucked and cleaned. And cooking in a wood burning stove was a challenge. You had to know how long and how hot your wood or coal would burn. Cooking a meal was certainly a challenge! FROM 1800s COOKBOOKS: ROAST TURKEY Select a young turkey. Remove all the feathers carefully, singe it over a burning newspaper on the top of the stove, then draw* it…