all this "old time" talk about diner recipes.....

[Kitchen Witch]

All this old time talk about diner recipes, old fashioned cooking, etc. and I've got some "tidbits" to share with those that may be interested.

I call this - "HOW TO DRESS MEATS....."

Catfish
Soak the fish in hot water to loosen skin. Using a large nail, hammer its head to a log, tree, or 4x4. Slice the skin around its head and pull off using pliers. Cut off the head and gut the fish. Depending upon the size of the catfish either filet or cook whole.

Trout
Using a sharp knife cut from the anus just to the pectoral fins beneath the gills. Then cut a slit in the lower jaw through both sides and out towards the mouth. Using your thumb inserted into the slit, pull the gills, pectoral fins and entrails from the fish. Further clean the guts from the fish using the back of your thumb scraped along its backbone. Lightly coat the fish, head and all, in flour and corn meal and fry. When served you should pull the head backwards removing head, backbone, most of the small bones, and tail. You may use this technique for panfish as well. Just remember to scale ?em first!

Chicken**
Wring the chicken?s neck, defeather, and singe the hairs off by holding over a flame of burning paper or candle. Enlarge the anus with your knife and, using your hand, remove the guts. Cut into quarters for frying or leave whole for broiling.

Hogs
Hang and cut the hog?s jugular to drain blood. Scald hairs off in boiling water and scrape with knife. Gut the hog and cut off its head. Slice the sides for bacon, and chisel the ribs off the back bone using a hatchet and hammer. Cut the remainder into hams, shoulders, loins, and backbones (for chops). The head or "souse" is prepared after cutting off and saving the ears, jowls, snout, and tongue. First, cut out the eyes, then halve and quarter the head with an axe, removing the brain. Put the meat into a pot to soak overnight. After soaking, rinse and put the quartered pieces into a pot of salty water and cook slowly until the meat begins to fall off the bones. Season with sage and black pepper and fry on a skillet until runny. Place a plate on top and squeeze out the rest of the grease. Pour off the grease and put the meat on a plate and refrigerate. Slice and serve hot or cold. The jowls should be fried. For tongue, the hairs are removed with boiling water then scraped. Boil until tender, slice and serve hot. The snout is cleaned and roasted. The brains are "skinned" in boiling water, then seasoned with salt and pepper. Mash ?em up and scramble with eggs. The ears are boiled in salt water and eaten alone or used in the souse. Chitlins are the intestines of the hog dipped into batter and fried. The feet can be roasted, boiled or pickled. Sausage is made from the lean meat of hams and shoulders. The meat is ground with salt, pepper, sage, and brown sugar and fried until browned. Pack the mixture into the intestines or a cloth sack and refrigerate or smoke.


That is how it was done then.........


In my family - for generations we had chickens. You grab the chicken by the neck, use your body to help hold it against the sink, turn its neck back and slit its throat, alowing the blood to drain into the sink; cut off the head and submerge in a pot of boiling water to de-feather - and just take it from there - out come the innards, etc. Hey don't look at me - my chickens come already slaughtered! No way am I going to do that!!!!! I'd starve first.

And I am an excellent fisherman as well - all I need to do is grab a number at the seafood counter! Best fishing hole in town!

PS - my blood type is YELLOW!!!

[Kitchen Witch]

Country Salt Cured Ham and Bacon

The dilemma facing pioneer mountain cooks was how to keep freshly butchered meat from spoiling without refrigeration. Hogs were butchered in the late fall when the temperature was down around 33 degrees, and while the meat was fresh, it was salt cured. The next spring any leftovers would be smoked under a fire of green hickory or peppered. Sausage was packed in the intestines of the hog, tied off and also hung in the smokehouse for curing. Salting, peppering, and smoking protected the meat from spoiling and from insects. Today it's that salt, pepper, and smoky flavor that we love in country ham, bacon, and sausage.

[Southern Belle 2067]

Originally Posted by Kitchen Witch

All this old time talk about diner recipes, old fashioned cooking, etc. and I've got some "tidbits" to share with those that may be interested.

I call this - "HOW TO DRESS MEATS....."

Catfish
Soak the fish in hot water to loosen skin. Using a large nail, hammer its head to a log, tree, or 4x4. Slice the skin around its head and pull off using pliers. Cut off the head and gut the fish. Depending upon the size of the catfish either filet or cook whole.

Trout
Using a sharp knife cut from the anus just to the pectoral fins beneath the gills. Then cut a slit in the lower jaw through both sides and out towards the mouth. Using your thumb inserted into the slit, pull the gills, pectoral fins and entrails from the fish. Further clean the guts from the fish using the back of your thumb scraped along its backbone. Lightly coat the fish, head and all, in flour and corn meal and fry. When served you should pull the head backwards removing head, backbone, most of the small bones, and tail. You may use this technique for panfish as well. Just remember to scale ?em first!

Chicken**
Wring the chicken?s neck, defeather, and singe the hairs off by holding over a flame of burning paper or candle. Enlarge the anus with your knife and, using your hand, remove the guts. Cut into quarters for frying or leave whole for broiling.

Hogs
Hang and cut the hog?s jugular to drain blood. Scald hairs off in boiling water and scrape with knife. Gut the hog and cut off its head. Slice the sides for bacon, and chisel the ribs off the back bone using a hatchet and hammer. Cut the remainder into hams, shoulders, loins, and backbones (for chops). The head or "souse" is prepared after cutting off and saving the ears, jowls, snout, and tongue. First, cut out the eyes, then halve and quarter the head with an axe, removing the brain. Put the meat into a pot to soak overnight. After soaking, rinse and put the quartered pieces into a pot of salty water and cook slowly until the meat begins to fall off the bones. Season with sage and black pepper and fry on a skillet until runny. Place a plate on top and squeeze out the rest of the grease. Pour off the grease and put the meat on a plate and refrigerate. Slice and serve hot or cold. The jowls should be fried. For tongue, the hairs are removed with boiling water then scraped. Boil until tender, slice and serve hot. The snout is cleaned and roasted. The brains are "skinned" in boiling water, then seasoned with salt and pepper. Mash ?em up and scramble with eggs. The ears are boiled in salt water and eaten alone or used in the souse. Chitlins are the intestines of the hog dipped into batter and fried. The feet can be roasted, boiled or pickled. Sausage is made from the lean meat of hams and shoulders. The meat is ground with salt, pepper, sage, and brown sugar and fried until browned. Pack the mixture into the intestines or a cloth sack and refrigerate or smoke.


That is how it was done then.........


In my family - for generations we had chickens. You grab the chicken by the neck, use your body to help hold it against the sink, turn its neck back and slit its throat, alowing the blood to drain into the sink; cut off the head and submerge in a pot of boiling water to de-feather - and just take it from there - out come the innards, etc. Hey don't look at me - my chickens come already slaughtered! No way am I going to do that!!!!! I'd starve first.

And I am an excellent fisherman as well - all I need to do is grab a number at the seafood counter! Best fishing hole in town!

PS - my blood type is YELLOW!!!

Yea!!! we did the same things as well when I was a small child I remember all of the cleaning and killing the chickens to but my blood type is also YELLOW!!! LOL, LOL.

But I will admit one thing I am a good Deep Sea (fisherwoman!!!), LOL, LOL, LOL. I love to go deep sea fishing in the fall of the year and early spring, hot dog!!! I'm ready to go now if I could tonight but can't so I'll just stay home!!!