Uses Of "sweet Drippings" And Suet Recipe

Recipe: Uses of "Sweet Drippings" and Suet

History:
Using sweet drippings and suet in cooking has a long and rich history. In the past, lard and kidney suet were commonly used for deep frying. The suet was cut into small pieces and placed in an iron pan in a moderately hot oven until the fat was rendered. This process was done to prevent the suet from having a taste of tallow. Another method was to put the suet in the upper part of a boiler over hot water, melting it instead of using an oven. The rendered suet would then be strained into a jar and kept aside until needed. To fry various foods like croquettes, oysters, cruellers, or fritters, a combination of one-third tried-out suet and two-thirds lard was used. Suet is known to have nutritional value similar to lard and combining it with lard made the fried food more wholesome.

Fun Facts:
- Suet, when rendered clean and sweet, can be a more economical alternative to lard if rendered at home.
- Aunt Sarah's method of filling small glass jars with rendered mutton suet scented with violet essence for chapped lips and hands is a traditional practice for skincare.

Recipe: Uses of "Sweet Drippings" and Suet

Ingredients:
- Assorted trimmings from steaks
- Fat left over from roasts
- Boiled ham fat
- Sausage fat
- Bacon fat
- Pork chop fat
- Butter
- Equal parts of ham or bacon fat
- Vegetable-flavored fat from the top of a stock pot
- Clean, rendered suet
- A pinch of baking soda
- Boiling water
- Optional: Violet essence for scented suet

Instructions:

1. Collect all the trimmings from steaks, fat left over from roasts, boiled ham fat, sausage fat, bacon fat, and any other clean fats from meats and poultry.
2. Render the fats by melting them down either in an iron pan in a moderately hot oven or in the upper part of a boiler over hot water. This process can be done until the fat is tried out, melted, and strained.
3. If any of the fats have a vegetable flavor, pour boiling water over them, strain, and remove the clean cake of fat on top. Add this clean fat to the bowl of rendered suet.
4. To clarify the combined fat or drippings, add a pinch of baking soda and half a cup of boiling water to every pound and a half of fat. Boil until the water evaporates and the fat becomes clear.
5. Strain the clarified fat into a bowl and keep it in a cool place.
6. Use clean, sweet drippings as a preferred alternative to lard for various purposes in cooking.
7. For deep frying, combine one-third of the rendered suet with two-thirds lard.
8. For molasses cakes and recipes that require shortening and spices, substitute half of the required shortening with ham or bacon fat for a unique flavor.
9. Combine the grease from clean fat of chickens with an equal quantity of other shortening when making cakes with spices.
10. Use equal parts of ham or bacon fat, pork chops or sausage fat, combined with butter for frying cornmeal mush, eggs, sweet potatoes, egg bread, and calves' liver.
11. Fry sliced tomatoes in bacon fat for a particularly delicious flavor.
12. Keep the rendered fat in a cool place, closely covered, to be used over and over again. Simply heat the kettle of fat in which to fry croquettes, etc.
13. Optional: Fill small glass jars with rendered mutton suet scented with violet essence for chapped lips and hands.

Similar Recipe Dishes:
- Using rendered fats like lard or suet in deep-fried dishes such as fried chicken, crispy fried potatoes, or battered and fried seafood.
- Making homemade pastries and pies using rendered suet for a flaky and delicious crust.
- Adding rendered fats like bacon fat or sausage fat to savory dishes like scrambled eggs or sautéed vegetables for added flavor.
- Using rendered fats in baking, such as substituting lard or suet in recipes for biscuits, scones, or pie dough, for a richer and more flavorful result.