A guide to modern cookery

1415—HOT HAM—Its Preparation

York ham is the kind chiefly used.

After having soaked it in cold water for six hours, brush it and remove the pelvic bone; put it into a stewpan of cold water, and set to boil. This done, keep the water just simmering, that the ham may cook after the poaching method.

There is no need of any seasoning or aromatic garnish. As often as possible, leave the ham to cool in its cooking-liquor. If the ham is to be braised, take it out of the water thirty minutes before it is cooked. Skin it; clear it of any superfluous fat, and put it in a braising-pan, just large enough to hold it, with two-thirds pint of some such wine as Madeira, Port, Xeres, Chypre, &c. Select the wine in accordance with the title of the dish on the menu.

Having thoroughly sealed down the lid of the pan, put it in the oven, and continue the cooking of the ham gently for one hour, turning it over from time to time during the operation. If it have to reach the table whole, glaze it at the last moment.

Its usual adjunct is a light and highly seasoned half-glaze sauce, combined with some of the braising-liquor, cleared of all grease.

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1416—JAMBON A LA CHANOINESSE

Having poached the ham as explained above, braise it in white wine, adding thereto three oz. of mushroom parings.

Dish and send separately a garnish of large, fresh noodles, cohered with butter and a Soubise purée, and completed with a julienne of truffles.

Serve separately a half-glaze sauce, combined with the braising-liquor, cleared of all grease and reduced.

1417—JAMBON A LA CHOUCROÛTE

Completely cook the ham by poaching; skin and trim it.

If served whole, send, separately, some braised sauerkraut and potatoes, freshly cooked à l’anglaise. Serve a half-glaze sauce with Rhine wine at the same time.

If served already carved, arrange the slices in a circle on a round dish; put the sauerkraut in their midst, and border with the potatoes.

Serve, separately, the same sauce as before.

1418—JAMBON A LA MAILLOT

Poach the ham; braise it, and glaze it at the last moment. Set it on a long dish, and surround it with the following garnish, arranged in alternate heaps:—Carrots and turnips, cut to the shape of large, elongated olives, cooked separately in consommé, and glazed; small onions cooked in butter; braised and trimmed half-lettuces; peas and French beans cohered with butter separately.

Serve apart a thickened gravy combined with some of the braising-liquor, cleared of all grease.

1419—JAMBON A LA PRAGUE SOUS LA CENDRE

Poach the ham and drain it on a dish. Remove the skin and all the black, outside parts. Prepare a piece of patty paste large enough to enclose the ham. Besprinkle the surface of the ham with powdered sugar; glaze quickly at the salamander, and place the ham (glazed side undermost) on the layer of paste.

Draw the ends of the paste towards each other; seal them together, with the help of a little moisture, in such wise as to enclose the ham completely; turn the latter over, and put it on a tray with the sealed side of the paste lying underneath. Gild and streak, make a slit in the middle of the paste for the escape of steam, and put the joint in the oven.

Leave it there until the paste is dry and well coloured. After taking the ham out of the oven, inject into it, through a [466] prepared hole, a large wineglassful of Port wine or Sherry. Stop up the hole with a little pellet of paste; dish, and serve immediately.

Serve at the same time a garnish of Gnochi, spinach, or Soufflé au Parmesan (No. 2295a).

The best adjunct to Prague ham is a very light glaze prepared with Port wine, and buttered at the last minute.

1419a—JAMBON DE PRAGUE A LA METTERNICH

Prepare a ham “sous la cendre” as described above.

Send to the table with it as many fine collops of foie-gras, tossed in butter and each covered with a nice slice of truffle, as there are diners. Send also a timbale of asparagus-heads.

The waiter in charge then puts a slice of ham, a collop of foie-gras, and a tablespoonful of asparagus-heads on each plate and serves.

The sauce should be a Madeira flavoured with truffle essence.

1419b—JAMBON DE PRAGUE A LA NORFOLK

Prepare a ham as in No. 1419. Serve each slice of it with one collop of braised veal sweetbread and one tablespoonful of fresh peas à la paysanne.

Send as an adjunct the braising-liquor of the veal sweetbread.

1420—VARIOUS GARNISHES FOR BRAISED HAM

The garnishes best suited to ham relevés are:—

Spinach; new broad beans; braised lettuce; endives; fresh peas à la paysanne.

Noodles; Spaghetti; various Macaronis; Gnochi; Purées of fresh beans, broad beans.

The most usual accompanying sauce is half-glaze with Madeira.

1421—JAMBON SOUFFLÉ

This is a variety of the ham soufflés given hereafter. The preparation used is the same, and it may be made either from raw or from cooked ham.

After having completely boned it, but for the end bone, which must be kept, cook the ham, and cool it.

Now cut it horizontally, one-half inch above its bone, from the extremity of the end bone to the head of the latter. At the last-mentioned point, make a vertical incision meeting and ending at the first; remove the cushion of ham, which should by now be quite separated from the rest of the joint, and put aside for some future purpose.

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All that remains of the ham, therefore, is a thick piece adhering to the end-bone. Carefully trim this piece, and surround it with a strong band of buttered paper, tied on by means of string, the purpose of which is to hold in the soufflé.

This done, put a sufficient quantity of soufflé de Jambon (described hereafter) on the remaining meat of the ham to reconstruct it entirely. Smooth the surface of the preparation with the flat of a knife (dipped in cold water), and so finish off the contour of the ham. Decorate according to fancy; place the dish containing the ham on a saucepanful of boiling water, and put the two in the oven with the view of obtaining the maximum amount of steam, which latter helps to poach the soufflé. This souffléd ham may be poached just as well in a steamer.

When the preparation is properly poached, remove the band of paper; dish the ham, and send one of the garnishes or sauces given for braised ham separately.

1422—SOUFFLÉS AU JAMBON

Ham soufflés are prepared after two recipes; in the first, cooked ham is used, and in the second the ham is raw. This last procedure is derived from mousseline forcemeat, and, inasmuch as the preparation resulting from it is less flimsy than that of the first, it is preferred when a large number of people have to be served.

1423—THE PREPARATION OF THE SOUFFLÉ WITH COOKED HAM

Finely pound one lb. of lean, cooked ham, and add thereto, one after the other, three tablespoonfuls of very cold Béchamel sauce. Rub through a fine sieve; put the resulting purée into a sautépan, and finish with one-quarter pint of very creamy and boiling Béchamel sauce, flavoured with ham essence; four egg-yolks, and the whites of six eggs, beaten to a stiff froth.

This preparation may be combined with three oz. of grated Parmesan, and the two flavours will be found to blend very agreeably.

Prepared in this way, it is particularly well suited to the “Jambon Soufflé,” the recipe whereof is given above (No. 1421).

1424—THE PREPARATION OF THE SOUFFLÉ WITH RAW HAM

Following the quantities given under “Farce mousseline” (No. 195), make the soufflé preparation, and add thereto four [468] tablespoonfuls of reduced and very cold Béchamel sauce per lb. of raw ham.

Keep the forcemeat somewhat stiff, and finish it with the whites of four eggs, beaten to a stiff froth, per lb. of ham.

1425—SOUFFLÉ DE JAMBON ALEXANDRA

Make the soufflé preparation after one of the methods given above. Spread it in layers in a buttered timbale, alternating the layers of soufflé with others of asparagus-heads cohered with butter. Smooth the surface to the shape of a dome; decorate with a fine slice of truffle, and cook in a moderate oven, of a temperature suited to this kind of preparation. Serve the soufflé as soon as it is ready. If it be small, spread only one layer of asparagus-heads in the middle of it.

If it be large, spread two or three layers of asparagus-heads.

1426—SOUFFLÉ DE JAMBON CARMEN

Add to the selected one of the two soufflé preparations—either will do—for one lb. of ham, the purée of one-half lb. of pressed tomatoes, cooked in butter with one half-capsicum, rubbed through a sieve and very much reduced.

Dish the soufflé in a buttered timbale; sprinkle the surface with a pinch of red capsicum, cut in fine julienne fashion, and cook as described above.

1427—SOUFFLÉ DE JAMBON GASTRONOME

Dish the selected ham soufflé preparation in layers in a buttered timbale, and between each layer of it spread a litter of noodles, tossed in butter.

Sprinkle the surface with chopped truffles; set a ball of truffle well in the centre of the soufflé, and cook in the usual way.

1428—SOUFFLÉ DE JAMBON MILANAISE

Dish the ham soufflé preparation in a buttered timbale, and spread it in alternate layers with a fine garnish à la Milanaise (No. 1258).

Deck the surface with small pieces of poached macaroni, fried in butter; sprinkle with grated cheese, and cook the soufflé in a moderate oven.

1429—SOUFFLÉ DE JAMBON PERIGOURDINE

Dish the soufflé preparation in layers in a buttered timbale, and between each layer spread a litter of truffle slices. Besprinkle the surface with chopped truffles, and cook the soufflé in the usual way.

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1430—MOUSSES ET MOUSSELINES CHAUDES DE JAMBON

Mousses and Mousselines are made from the same preparation as “Farce mousseline de jambon,” in pursuance of the general principles given under No. 195.

The need of differentiating the terms arises from the fact that mousses are poached in a mould the contents of which are sufficient for a number of people, whereas mousselines are spoon-moulded quenelles, shaped like eggs.

In the preparation of “Farce mousseline de jambon” it is necessary to allow, in the salt seasoning, for the amount of salting the ham has already received.

If the meat of the ham is not very red, the colour of the forcemeat may be intensified by means of a little vegetable red, in order that it may be of a distinct pink shade.

1431—TREATMENT AND ACCOMPANIMENT OF HAM MOUSSE

Put the forcemeat in a deep border-mould, somewhat like a Charlotte, and poach it under cover in a bain-marie.

That the poaching may be regular, keep in water at a constant temperature of 205° or 208° Fahrenheit, and allow forty-five minutes for the operation in the case of a mousse made in a quart mould.

The preparation is seen to be cooked when it swells and rises in the mould.

As soon as this occurs, withdraw the latter from the bain-marie; let it stand for five minutes, that its contents may settle; turn it upside-down on a dish, and wait two minutes before removing the mould. In any case, do not take off the mould until the liquid which has drained from it, all round the dish, has been soaked up. Ham mousses are chiefly accompanied by Suprême sauce, or Veloutés with curry or paprika; sometimes, too, a highly-seasoned and buttered half-glaze sauce, with Madeira, Port, or Marsala may be used. The most suitable garnishes for ham mousses are those I have already given for Ham.

1432—TREATMENT AND POACHING OF HAM MOUSSELINES

As I have already stated, mousselines, like quenelles, are moulded with a spoon.

They may also be laid, by means of a piping-bag, on the bottom of the well-buttered sautépan in which they are to be poached; they are shaped like meringues, even or grooved, [470] and, in either case, they are decorated with lozenges, crescents, or discs, &c., of ham or truffle.

Having carried out the selected method of preparation, cover them with boiling water, salted to the extent of one-third oz. per quart, and poach them for from eighteen to twenty minutes, taking care to keep the water at a constant temperature of 208° F. These mousselines may also be poached dry in a steamer or in a drying stove.

1433—MOUSSELINES DE JAMBON ALEXANDRA

Decorate the mousselines, prepared according to one of the two methods above described, with one lozenge of ham and another of truffle. Poach them; drain them well, and dish them in the form of a crown. Cover them with an Allemande sauce, flavoured with ham essence, and combined with two oz. of grated Parmesan per pint of the sauce, and glaze quickly.

After taking the mousselines out of the oven, set in their midst a heap of asparagus-heads, cohered with butter.

1434—MOUSSELINES DE JAMBON A LA FLORENTINE

Spread a layer of shredded spinach, fried in butter, on a dish.

Upon it set the poached and well-drained mousselines; cover them with the same sauce as that prescribed for the “Mousselines Alexandra,” and glaze them quickly.

1435—MOUSSELINES DE JAMBON A LA HONGROISE

Poach the mousselines, the forcemeat of which must be flavoured with paprika. Drain them; dish them in a circle; cover them with Hongroise sauce, and glaze them quickly.

On withdrawing the dish from the oven, set a fine heap of baked cauliflowers with cheese in the middle of it.

1436—MOUSSELINES DE JAMBON AUX PETITS POIS

Proceed exactly as described under No. 1433, but substitute for the asparagus-heads a garnish of very small peas cohered with butter.

Cold Ham.

1437—JAMBON FROID A LA GELÉE

When ham is to be dished cold, it should, if possible, be allowed to cool in its cooking-liquor, except when it has to be boned. In the latter case, take it out as soon as it is cooked; incise it underneath, following the edge of the cushion; detach and remove the bones.

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Now roll up the ham; bind it tightly in a piece of linen, and cool it under pressure.

Whether boned or unboned, skin it when it is cold; remove some of its fat, and sprinkle it with cold, melted aspic until the latter covers it evenly.

Dish it up; fix a frill to it, and surround it with fine aspic dice.

1438—JAMBON SOUFFLÉ FROID

Proceed exactly as in No. 1421, but substitute for the soufflé preparation therein described the cold ham mousse below.

1439—MOUSSE FROIDE DE JAMBON

The Preparation of the Mousse.—Finely pound one lb. of very lean, cooked ham; add to it one-third pint of cold Velouté, and rub through a fine sieve.

Put the resulting purée into a basin; season it; work it on ice for a few minutes, and mix therewith, little by little, one-quarter pint of melted aspic. Finally combine two-thirds pint of half-beaten cream with it.

The mousse may be moulded, either in an aspic-clothed mould, decorated with truffles, as explained under No. 956, or in small cassolettes, lined with a thin strip of paper inside their brims, after the manner of small, cold soufflés.

As the dishing and serving of mousses are always the same, the reader is begged to refer to those recipes dealing with the question.

1440—MOUSSE FROIDE DE JAMBON A L’ALSACIENNE

Take a deep, square dish and garnish it, half-full, with fine, ham mousse. Even the surface of this layer of mousse, and, when it has set, arrange upon it some shells, raised by means of a spoon dipped in hot water, from a foie-gras Parfait. As soon as this is done, pour over the foie-gras shells, a sufficient quantity to cover them of half-melted succulent chicken aspic with Madeira, and let this jelly set.

When about to serve, incrust the dish in a block of ice.

1441—MOUSSE DE JAMBON AU BLANC DE POULET

Garnish a deep, square dish with some ham mousse. When the latter has set, arrange thereon the suprêmes of a very white, poached fowl. These suprêmes, cut into regular collops, should be coated with a white chaud-froid sauce.

Cover with aspic, as directed under “Mousse à l’Alsacienne,” and serve.

N.B.—If desired, the collops need not be coated with chaud-froid sauce, but, in this case, they should be covered with aspic.

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1442—MOUSSELINES FROIDES DE JAMBON

These mousselines are made from the same preparation as that used for the mousse, and, but for the basic ingredient, which is not the same, they are treated after the manner described under “Petites Mousses de Homard” (No. 958). To avoid needless repetition, therefore, the reader will kindly substitute the word ham for lobster in the recipe just referred to.