Boiled Pork and Bean Soup

Never serve beans until they have been soaked over night. At eight o’clock in the morning, put eight quarts into two kettles, and fill up with clean cold water. Boil constantly, over a brisk fire, for an hour or more, during which many of the beans will rise to the top. At the end of this time, take the kettles off the fire for fifteen or twenty minutes, and then pour off all the water, replacing it with fresh clean water. Add to each kettle a pound of parboiled pork, without rind, and boil continuously for an hour and a half longer.

At quarter past eight o’clock, fill three kettles loosely with pieces of pork weighing from three to five pounds, cover with water, and boil briskly for one hour; then pour off all the liquid, and fill up with clean hot water, and boil for one hour and a half longer; then take out all the pork, and lay it aside. Take out also one-half of the beans from the other kettles, placing them aside for breakfast next morning, and add to the remainder the liquor in which the pork was boiled. To each kettle add also two onions chopped or sliced, with plenty of black or red pepper, some salt, and a tablespoonful of vinegar. After fifteen minutes’ longer boiling, mash the beans with a wooden stick made for the purpose, and serve, with a slice of pork, in a separate dish.

If onions are plenty, mince fine eight or ten of them, fry them in a pan with a little flour and fat, with half a pint hot water, and the same quantity of the liquor in which the pork was boiled. After cooking five minutes, add pepper, salt, and half a glass of vinegar, and pour over the slices of pork.

Beans for Breakfast

The beans left from the soup of the day before should be put in pans and warmed over the fire, care being taken to prevent them from scorching. In the meanwhile a few onions—say three or four—should be chopped fine and slightly fried, and then strewed over the beans, with pepper and salt, and a tablespoonful of vinegar. In this way they make a first-rate dish for breakfast or supper with bread and coffee.

To Boil Hominy

Whatever be the size of the kettle, fill it half full of hominy, covering it with water so as nearly to fill it to the top; throw in a handful of salt, and boil it, over a very moderate fire, for at least an hour, stirring it constantly to prevent scorching.

To Fry Hominy

Should you have too much of it boiled for one meal, place the balance in shallow dishes—mess pans being the handiest—and let it grow cold. When it is to be used, cut it into slices about half an inch thick and three inches long; have your fat as hot as fire can make it; then slip your slices into it, and fry it until it obtains a golden brown color on both sides. When you take it out, lay it on cloths, and let the fat drain off; and, when serving, sprinkle a little salt over it.

Beef Stew

Take the pieces of beef reserved for frying or broiling, and cut them into pieces about two inches square and one inch thick; sprinkle them with pepper and salt, and put them into frying pans, with a little fat; place them over the fire until half cooked; then turn them into camp kettles, adding a handful of flour and six onions cut in quarters to each kettle, with just enough cold water to cover the meat; add also to each kettle two dozen potatoes pared and cut in quarters. Stew slowly over a moderate fire, skimming every now and then, for three hours and a half; then stir in each two tablespoonsful of vinegar, and serve smoking hot. All kinds of vegetables—such as leeks, carrots, parsnips, and turnips—can be added to this stew with advantage.

Bubble-and-squeak

This is an old and favorite mode of getting rid of bits of corned beef among good housewives at home, and can be advantageously introduced into camp. Any pieces of cold corned or salt beef that may be on hand should be cut into slices and sprinkled with pepper; then put them in a pan, with a little grease or fat, and fry them slightly. Boil some cabbage, and squeeze it quite dry; then cut it up very fine, and serve a piece of beef with a spoonful of cabbage, first seasoning it with pepper, salt, and vinegar.

Brazilian Stew

Take shins or legs of beef; cut them into slices or pieces two or three ounces in weight, or about the size of an egg; dip them in vinegar, and throw them into a kettle, with a dozen onions sliced, but no water. Let it stand over a very slow fire from three to four hours; then season with pepper and salt, and serve hot. Some boiled potatoes, sliced or quartered, will be a great addition; but the principal thing to be observed is that the fire be a moderate one.

Corned Beef and Cabbage

The salt beef furnished the army is of the very best character; rather too highly impregnated with salt, perhaps—a fault easily remedied, however, by soaking in fresh water over night. When about to boil it, renew the water, which should be clean and cold, and place it over a moderate fire for three hours and a half, skimming it carefully every fifteen minutes. By this means only can the salt and blood be drawn from it, and the meat rendered tender. After it has been on the fire at least two hours, add as much cabbage as will fill the pot to each kettle, taking out a portion of the water, so as to be able to get in enough for the whole company, or dividing the meat into more kettles if necessary. Boil gently for an hour and a half after adding the cabbage.

To Cook Bacon

Bacon should be well washed and scraped and put to soak all night. In the morning, put it to boil slowly; simmering is better. After it has once boiled, throw the water off and fill up with fresh water; then let it simmer for three hours. When thoroughly done, the rind comes off easily, and the meat tastes fresh and sweet.

Frying Bacon

The great secret in frying is to have the fat as hot as fire will make it before putting the article to be cooked into it. The object is to close up the pores of the flesh at once, and prevent the fat from penetrating it, rendering it greasy and indigestible. After the bacon is well soaked, cut it into thin slices, and fry it crisp. If it is cold bacon, slice it into a pan, cover it with bread crumbs—stale bread grated—add very little fat, and put it over a quick fire for four or five minutes; then turn it, and cook the other side.

Bacon, German Style

When the bacon is parboiled, clean it thoroughly, taking off the rind and all the bones; put it into clean pans, cutting it into strips, with enough water to cover the bottom of the pan, place it in the oven, and let it bake until the top is browned, basting it with the liquid in the meanwhile to prevent its burning or becoming dry.

Boiling Potatoes

Every cook thinks he can cook potatoes, but the number that can cook them well is very small. Put the potatoes, with their skins on, into the kettle, first washing them; then fill it with cold water, throw in a handful of salt, and put it on the fire. When the water boils, throw in a little cold water to check it; do so two or three times. When the potatoes are very nearly cooked, pour off all the water, and stand the kettle over the fire until the steam evaporates. If this does not make them mealy it is the fault of the potatoes. The potatoes should always be picked out of uniform size for each kettle, as they boil more equally.

Fried Potatoes

Cut the vegetable into thin slices and throw them into cold water for half an hour; then put them into fat hissing hot, and fry them until they acquire a golden hue. Some persons cut them only into quarters, but they are not near so crisp and nice.

To Boil Rice

Fill a camp kettle one-third full of rice, well washed and cleaned, and add water enough to fill within an inch of the top of the kettle; let it boil gently, stirring constantly until the rice is quite soft. If a false bottom for the kettle is used, all danger of burning the rice will be avoided; if not, great care must be taken to keep it from scorching by constant stirring. When the rice is cooked, turn the contents of the kettle into a cullender or coarse towel, and pour rapidly through it a couple of pails of fresh cold water. Let it strain, and then put the rice in a clean kettle, which is placed near the fire until the rice is quite dry. Serve hot or cold, with molasses, as may be most convenient.