MEATS. 149
PORK AND BEANS. (Baked.)
TAKE two quarts of white beans, pick them over the night before, put to soak in cold water ; in the morning put them in fresh water and let them scald, then turn off the water and put on more, hot ; put to cook with them a piece of salt pork, gashed, as much as would make five or six slices; boil slowly till soft (not mashed), then add a table- spoonful of molasses, half a teaspoonful of soda, stir in well, put in a deep pan, and bake one hour and a half. If you do not like to use pork, salt the beans when boiling, and add a lump of butter when pre- paring them for the oven.
BOSTON PORK AND BEANS.
PICK over carefully a quart of small, white beans ; let them soak over night in cold water ; in the morning wash and drain in another water. Put on to boil in plenty of cold water with a piece of soda the size of a bean ; let them come to a boil, then drain again, cover with water once more, and boil them fifteen minutes, or until the skin of the beans will crack when taken out and blown upon. Drain the beans again, put them into an earthen pot, adding a tablespoonful of salt; cover with hot water, place in the centre a pound of salt pork, first scalding it with hot water, and scoring the rind across the top, a quarter of an inch apart to indicate where the slices are to be cut. Place the pot in the oven, and bake six hours or longer. Keep the oven a moderate heat ; add hot water from the tea-kettle as needed, on account of evaporation, to keep the beans moist. When the meat be- comes crisp and looks cooked, remove it, as too long baking the pork destroys its solidity.
FRIED SALT PORK.
CUT in thin slices, and freshen in cold water, roll in flour, and fry crisp. If required quickly pour boiling water over the slices, let stand a few minutes, drain and roll in flour as before ; drain off most of the grease from the frying pan ; stir in while hot one or two table- spoonfuls of flour, about half a pint of milk, a little pepper, and salt if over freshened ; let it boil, and pour into a gravy dish. A teaspoon- ful of finely-chopped parsley will add pleasantly to the appearance of the gravy.
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