Mrs. Beeton's Dictionary of Every-Day Cookery: The "All About It" Books

for 10 days. _Time._—To remain in the pickle from three to four weeks, to be smoked 10 days, or rather longer. BACON, Fried Rashers of, and Poached Eggs. _Ingredients._—Bacon; eggs. _Mode._—Cut the bacon into thin slices, trim away the rusty parts, and cut off the rind. Put it into a _cold_ frying-pan, that is to say, do not place the pan on the fire before the bacon is in it. Turn it 2 or 3 times, and dish it on a very hot dish. Poach the eggs and slip them on to the bacon without breaking the yolks, and serve quickly. _Time._—3 or 4 minutes. _Average cost_, 10_d._ to 1_s._ per lb. for the primest parts. _Sufficient._—Allow 6 eggs for 3 persons. _Seasonable_ at any time. _Note._—Fried rashers of bacon, curled, serve as a pretty garnish to many dishes; and, for small families, answer very well as a substitute for boiled bacon, to serve with a small dish of poultry, &c. * * * * * =The Bain Marie.=—It is an open kind of vessel, as shown in the engraving, and is a utensil much used in modern cookery, both in English and French kitchens. It is filled with boiling or nearly boiling water; and into this water should be put all the stewpans containing those ingredients which it is desired to keep hot. The quantity and quality of the contents of these vessels are not at all affected; and if the hour of dinner is uncertain in any establishment, by reason of the nature of the master’s business, nothing is so sure a means of preserving the flavour of all dishes as the employment of the bain marie. [Illustration: THE BAIN MARIE.] BARBEL. _Ingredients._—½ pint of port wine, a saltspoonful of salt, 2 tablespoonfuls of vinegar, 2 sliced onions, a faggot of sweet herbs, nutmeg and mace to taste, the juice of a lemon, 2 anchovies; 1 or 2 barbels, according to size. _Mode._—Boil the barbels in salt and water till done; pour off some of the water, and to the remainder put the ingredients mentioned above. Simmer gently