| By Author | [ A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z | Other Symbols ] |
| By Title | [ A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z | Other Symbols ] |
| By Language |
|
Download this book: [ ASCII | HTML | PDF ] Look for this book on Amazon Tweet |
Title: Miss Leslie's New Cookery Book
Author: Leslie, Eliza, 1787-1858
Language: English
As this book started as an ASCII text book there are no pictures available.
*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Miss Leslie's New Cookery Book" ***
produced from images generously made available by The
Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
MISS LESLIE'S
NEW
COOKERY BOOK.
One Volume, 652 pages, bound. Price $1.25.
T. B. Peterson, No. 102 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, has just
published MISS LESLIE'S "NEW COOKERY BOOK." It comprises new and
approved methods of preparing all kinds of Soups, Fish, Oysters, Beef,
Mutton, Veal, Pork, Venison, Ham and Bacon, Poultry and Game, Terrapins,
Turtle, Vegetables, Sauces, Bread, Pickles, Sweetmeats, Plain Cakes,
Fine Cakes, Pies, Plain Desserts, Fine Desserts, Preparations for the
Sick, Puddings, Confectionery, Rice, Indian Meal Preparations of all
kinds, Miscellaneous Receipts, etc. etc. Also, lists of all articles in
season suited to go together for breakfasts, dinners, and suppers, to
suit large or small families, and much useful information and many
miscellaneous subjects connected with general housewifery.
This work will have a very extensive sale, and many thousand copies will
be sold, as all persons that have had Miss Leslie's former works, should
get this at once, as _all the receipts in this book are new_, and have
been fully tried and tested by the author since the publication of her
former books, _and none of them whatever are contained in any other work
but this_. It is the most complete Cook Book published in the world; and
also the latest and best, as in addition to Cookery of all kinds and
descriptions, its receipts for making cakes and confectionery are
unequalled by any other work extant.
This new, excellent, and valuable Cook Book is published by T. B.
Peterson, under the title of "MISS LESLIE'S NEW COOKERY BOOK," and is
entirely different from any other work on similar subjects, under any
other names, by the same author. It is an elegantly printed duodecimo
volume, of 652 pages; and in it there will be found _hundreds of
Receipts_--all useful--some ornamental--and all invaluable to every
lady, miss, or family in the world.
Read what the Editors of the Leading Newspapers say of it.
_From the Philadelphia Dollar Newspaper._
"This is a large, well-bound volume of near seven hundred
pages, and includes in it hundreds of receipts never before
published in any of Miss Leslie's other works, accompanied by a
well-arranged index, by which any desired receipt may be turned
to at once. The receipts are for cooking all kinds of meats,
poultry, game, pies, &c., with directions for confectionery,
ices, and preserves. It is entirely different from any former
work by Miss Leslie, and contains new and fresh accessions of
useful knowledge. The merit of these receipts is, that they
have all been tried, and therefore can be recommended
conscientiously. Miss Leslie has acquired great reputation
among housekeepers for the excellence of her works on cookery,
and this volume will doubtless enhance it. _It is the best book
on cookery that we know of_, and while it will be useful to
matrons, to young housewives we should think it quite
indispensable. By the aid of this book, the young and
inexperienced are brought nearly on a footing with those who
have seen service in the culinary department, and by having it
at hand are rendered tolerably independent of _help_, which
sometimes becomes very refractory. The best regulated families
are sometimes taken a little by surprise by the untimely
stepping in of a friend to dinner--to such, Miss Leslie is the
friend indeed, ready as her book is with instructions for the
hasty production of various substitutes for meals requiring
timely and elaborate preparation."
_From the Philadelphia Daily News._
"To the housekeeper, the name of Miss Leslie is a guaranty that
what comes from her hand is not only orthodox, but good; and to
the young wife about to enter upon the untried scenes of
catering for a family, _Miss Leslie's New Cookery Book_ may be
termed a blessing. It presents receipts, (and practical ones
too,) for preparing and cooking all kinds of soups, fish,
oysters, meats, game, cakes, pastry, and indeed everything
which enters into the economy of housekeeping. Their
recommendations are that they are all practical, and the novice
of the culinary art may enter upon her important duties with
'_Miss Leslie's New Cookery Book_' by her side, with perfect
confidence that the 'soup' will not be spoiled, and that the
dinner will be what is designed. How many disappointments could
be avoided, how many domestic difficulties prevented, and how
many husbands made happy, instead of miserable, by the use of
this '_vade mecum_,' we shall not pretend to say; but as we
have a sincere regard for every lady who reads the _News_, our
advice to them all is, by all means to buy _Miss Leslie's New
Cookery Book_. Mr. Peterson has done admirably in getting up
this work: it is handsomely and substantially bound in cloth,
gilt, and does credit to his business skill; the low price at
which the work is sold, when we take the size of it into
consideration, One Dollar and Twenty-five cents only, will
doubtless give it an immense sale."
_From the Philadelphia Saturday Courier._
"With such a book as _Miss Leslie's New Cookery Book_,
published by Mr. Peterson, it is inconceivable what a vast
extent of palate is destined to be astonished, and what a
gastronomic multitude is to be made happy, by the delicious
delicacies and substantial dishes so abundantly provided. Miss
Leslie has in previous works shown how great an adept she has
been in all culinary matters, and in all that relates to the
comforts and the social enjoyment of the table around which
cluster the good things of life. Literature is very good in its
way; but such dishes as Miss Leslie gives a foretaste of, come
up to a more delicious standard. Her authorship is exquisite,
and is destined to diffuse the very essence of good taste among
the fortunate people who sit down to good dinners and suppers,
not one of whom will rise from the table without a blessing on
_Miss Leslie's New Cookery Book_. And every taste is sure to be
pleased, for all the receipts in this book are new, and to be
found nowhere else, _and it is the best Cook Book ever
published_--one which, with its hundreds of receipts, ought to
be in the hands of every woman who has the slightest
appreciation of convenience, comfort and economy."
_From the Philadelphia Daily Sun._
"About one thousand new receipts, never before printed, appear
in this work, all of which have been tried before they are
recommended by the author. All kinds of cooking and pastry;
rules for the preparation of dinners, breakfasts, and suppers;
appropriate dishes for every meal; and a vast quantity of other
useful information, are embraced in the book. It is very
comprehensive, and is furnished with an index for the use of
the housewife. By the aid of Miss Leslie's peculiar happy
talent in giving culinary directions, our girls can acquire a
branch of useful information which is generally sadly neglected
in their education, and thus become fitted for their duties as
wives. One great advantage in _Miss Leslie's New Cookery Book_,
is the economy which it teaches in the management of a
household, as regards the preparations for the table. Peterson
has done this book up in beautiful style, and it will be sent
to any part of the Union, postage paid, upon the receipt of One
Dollar and Twenty-five Cents. Those who know how much of the
happiness of home depends upon well-cooked viands, neatly
served up, will thank the accomplished authoress for this
valuable contribution to domestic science."
_From the Philadelphia Saturday Evening Gazette._
"Miss Leslie's 'New Receipts for Cooking' is perhaps better
known than any similar collection of receipts. The very elegant
volume before us, entitled '_Miss Leslie's New Cookery Book_,'
is designed as a sequel and continuation to it, and should be
its companion in every family, as the receipts are all new, and
in no instance the same, even when their titles are similar. It
contains directions for plain and fancy cooking, preserving,
pickling; and commencing with soups, gives entirely new
receipts for every course of an excellent dinner, to the
jellies and confectionery of the dessert. Our readers are not
strangers to the accuracy and minuteness of Miss Leslie's
receipts, as, since the first number of the Gazette, she has
contributed to our housekeepers' department. The new receipts
in this volume are admirable. Many of them are modified from
French sources, though foreign terms and designations are
avoided. The publisher has brought it out in an extremely
tasteful style, and no family in the world should be without
it."
_From the Pennsylvania Inquirer._
"Mr. T. B. Peterson has just published '_Miss Leslie's New
Cookery Book_.' This will be a truly popular work. Thousands of
copies will very soon be disposed of, and other thousands will
be needed. It contains directions for cooking, preserving,
pickling, and preparing almost every description of dish: also
receipts for preparing farina, Indian meal, fancy tea-cakes,
marmalades, etc. We know of a no more useful work for
families."
_From the Public Ledger._
"As every woman, whether wife or maid, should be qualified for
the duties of a housekeeper, a work which gives the information
which acquaints her with its most important duties, will no
doubt be sought after by the fair sex. This work is '_Miss
Leslie's New Cookery Book_.' Get it by all means."
_From the Boston Evening Traveler._
"We do not claim to be deeply versed in the art of cookery; but
a lady, skilled in the art, to whom we have submitted this
work, assures us that there is nothing like it within the
circle of her knowledge; and that having this, a housekeeper
would need no other written guide to the mysteries of
housekeeping. It contains hundreds of new receipts, which the
author has fully tried and tested; and they relate to almost
every conceivable dish--flesh, fish, and fowl, soups, sauces,
and sweetmeats; puddings, pies, and pickles; cakes and
confectionery. There are, too, lists of articles suitable to go
together for breakfasts, dinners and suppers, at different
seasons of the year, for plain family meals, and elaborate
company preparations; which must be of great convenience.
Indeed, there appears to be, as our lady friend remarked,
everything in this book that a housekeeper needs to know; and
having this book she would seem to need no other to afford her
instruction about housekeeping."
MISS LESLIE'S
NEW
COOKERY
BOOK.
"As every woman, whether wife or maid, should be qualified for
the duties of a housekeeper, a work which gives the information
which acquaints her with its most important duties will no
doubt be sought after by the fair sex. This work is '_Miss
Leslie's New Cookery Book_.' Get it by all means."--_Public
Ledger._
PHILADELPHIA:
T. B. PETERSON NO. 102 CHESTNUT STREET.
1857.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1857, by
ELIZA LESLIE,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United
States, in and for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
PREFACE.
I have endeavored to render this work a complete manual of domestic
cookery _in all its branches_. It comprises an unusual number of pages,
and the receipts are all practical, and _practicable_--being so
carefully and particularly explained as to be easily comprehended by the
merest novice in the art. Also, I flatter myself that most of these
preparations (if faithfully and liberally followed,) will be found very
agreeable to the general taste; always, however, keeping in mind that
every ingredient must be of unexceptionable quality, and that good
cooking cannot be made out of bad marketing.
I hope those who consult this book will find themselves at no loss,
whether required to prepare sumptuous viands "for company," or to
furnish a daily supply of nice dishes for an excellent family table; or
plain, yet wholesome and palatable food where economy is very expedient.
ELIZA LESLIE.
_Philadelphia, March 28th, 1857._
WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.
Tested and Arranged by Miss Leslie.
Wheat flour one pound of 16 ounces is one quart.
Indian meal one pound 2 ounces is one quart.
Butter, when soft one pound 1 ounce is one quart.
Loaf sugar, broken up, one pound is one quart.
White sugar, powdered, one pound 1 ounce is one quart.
Best brown sugar, one pound 2 ounces is one quart.
Eggs ten eggs weigh one pound.
LIQUID MEASURE.
Four large table-spoonfuls are half a jill.
Eight large table-spoonfuls are one jill.
Two jills are half a pint.
A common-sized tumbler holds half a pint.
A common-sized wine-glass holds about half a jill.
Two pints are one quart.
Four quarts are one gallon.
About twenty-five drops of any thin liquid will fill a
common-sized tea-spoon.
Four table-spoonfuls will generally fill a common-sized
wine-glass.
Four wine-glasses will fill a half pint tumbler, or a large
coffee-cup.
A quart black bottle holds in reality about a pint and a half;
sometimes not so much.
A table-spoonful of salt is about one ounce.
DRY MEASURE.
Half a gallon is a quarter of a peck.
One gallon is half a peck.
Two gallons are one peck.
Four gallons are half a bushel.
Eight gallons are one bushel.
Throughout this book, the pound is avoirdupois weight--sixteen
ounces.
GENERAL CONTENTS.
PAGE
SOUPS, 33
FISH, 77
SHELL-FISH, 108
BEEF, 138
MUTTON, 173
VEAL, 188
PORK, 216
HAM AND BACON, 235
VENISON, 252
POULTRY AND GAME, 265
SAUCES, 309
VEGETABLES, 343
BREAD, PLAIN CAKES, ETC., 401
PLAIN DESSERTS, 444
FINE DESSERTS, 469
FINE CAKES, 516
SWEETMEATS, 543
PICKLES, 568
PREPARATIONS FOR THE SICK, 581
MISCELLANEOUS RECEIPTS, 595
WORTH KNOWING, 645
ANIMALS
FIGURES EXPLANATORY OF THE PIECES INTO WHICH THE FIVE LARGE ANIMALS ARE
DIVIDED BY THE BUTCHERS.
[Illustration: _Beef._]
1. Sirloin.
2. Rump.
3. Edge Bone.
4. Buttock.
5. Mouse Buttock.
6. Leg.
7. Thick Flank.
8. Veiny Piece.
9. Thin Flank.
10. Fore Rib: 7 Ribs.
11. Middle Rib: 4 Ribs.
12. Chuck Rib: 2 Ribs.
13. Brisket.
14. Shoulder, or Leg of Mutton Piece.
15. Clod.
16. Neck, or Sticking Piece.
17. Shin.
18. Cheek.
[Illustration: _Veal._]
1. Loin, Best End.
2. Fillet.
3. Loin, Chump End.
4. Hind Knuckle.
5. Neck, Best End.
6. Breast, Best End.
7. Blade Bone.
8. Fore Knuckle.
9. Breast, Brisket End.
10. Neck, Scrag End.
[Illustration: _Mutton._]
1. Leg.
2. Shoulder.
3. Loin, Best End.
4. Loin, Chump End.
5. Neck, Best End.
6. Breast.
7. Neck, Scrag End.
_Note._--A Chine is two Loins; and a Saddle is two Loins and two
Necks of the Best End.
[Illustration: _Pork._]
1. Leg.
2. Hind Loin.
3. Fore Loin.
4. Spare Rib.
5. Hand.
6. Spring.
[Illustration: _Venison._]
1. Shoulder.
2. Neck.
3. Haunch.
4. Breast.
5. Scrag.
MISS LESLIE'S
NEW
COOKERY BOOK.
SOUPS.
It is impossible to have good soup, without a sufficiency of good meat;
thoroughly boiled, carefully skimmed, and moderately seasoned. Meat that
is too bad for any thing else, is too bad for soup. Cold meat recooked,
adds little to its taste or nourishment, and it is in vain to attempt to
give poor soup a factitious flavor by the disguise of strong spices, or
other substances which are disagreeable or unpalatable to at least one
half the eaters, and frequently unwholesome. Rice and barley add to the
insipidity of weak soups, having no taste of their own. And even if the
meat is good, too large a proportion of water, and too small a quantity
of animal substance will render it flat and vapid.
Every family has, or ought to have, some personal knowledge of certain
poor people--people to whom their broken victuals would be acceptable.
Let then the most of their cold, fresh meat be set apart for those who
can ill afford to buy meat in market. To them it will be an important
acquisition; while those who indulge in fine clothes, fine furniture,
&c., had best be consistent, and allow themselves the nourishment and
enjoyment of freshly cooked food for each meal. Therefore where there is
no absolute necessity of doing otherwise, let the soup always be made of
meat bought expressly for the purpose, and of one sort only, except when
the flavor is to be improved by the introduction of ham.
In plain cooking, every dish should have a distinct taste of its natural
flavor predominating. Let the soup, for instance, be of beef, mutton, or
veal, but not of all three; and a chicken, being overpowered by the
meat, adds nothing to the general flavor.
Soup-meat that has been boiled long enough to extract the juices
thoroughly, becomes too tasteless to furnish, afterwards, a good dish
for the table; with the exception of mutton, which may be eaten very
well after it has done duty in the soup-pot, when it is much liked by
many persons of simple tastes. Few who are accustomed to living at
hotels, can relish hotel soups, which (even in houses where most other
things are unexceptionable), is seldom such as can be approved by
persons who are familiar with good tables. Hotel soups and hotel hashes,
(particularly those that are dignified with French names), are
notoriously made of cold scraps, leavings, and in some houses, are the
absolute refuse of the kitchen. In most cases, the sight of a hotel
stock-pot would cause those who saw it, to forswear soup, &c.
If the directions are _exactly_ followed, the soups contained in the
following pages will be found palatable, nutritious, and easily made;
but they require plenty of good ingredients.
We have heard French cooks boast of their soup being "delicate." The
English would call it "soup meagre." In such a country as America, where
good things are abundant, there is no necessity of imbibing the
flatulency of weak washy soups.
All soups should be boiled slowly at first, that the essence of the meat
may be thoroughly drawn forth. The lid of the pot should be kept close,
unless when it is necessary to remove it for taking off the scum, which
should be done frequently and carefully. If this is neglected, the scum
will boil back again into the soup, spoil it, and make it impure or
muddled. When no more scum arises, and the meat is all in rags, dropping
from the bones, it is time to put in the vegetables, seasoning, &c., and
not till then; and if it should have boiled away too much, then is the
time to add a little _hot_ water from another kettle. Add also a large
crust of bread or two. It may now be made to boil faster, and the
thickening must be put in. This is a table-spoonful or more of flour
mixed to a smooth paste with a little water, and enriched with a
tea-spoonful of good butter, or beef-dripping. This thickening is
indispensable to all soups. Let it be stirred in well. If making a rich
soup that requires wine or catchup, let it be added the last thing, just
before the soup is taken from the fire.
When all is quite done and thoroughly boiled, cover the bottom of a
tureen with small squares of bread or toast, and dip or pour the soup
into it, leaving all the bones and shreds of meat in the pot. To let any
of the sediment get into the tureen is slovenly and vulgar. Not a
particle of this should ever be found in a soup-plate. There are cooks
who, if not prevented, will put all the refuse into the tureen; so that,
when helped, the plates are half full of shreds of meat and scraps of
bone, while all the best of the soup is kept back for the kitchen. This
should be looked to. Servants who cannot reconcile it to their
conscience to steal money or any very valuable articles, have frequently
no hesitation in purloining or keeping to themselves whatever they like
in the way of food.
Soup may be colored yellow with grated carrots, red with tomato juice,
and green with the juice of pounded spinach--the coloring to be stirred
in after the skimming is over. These colorings are improvements both to
its look and flavor. It may be browned with scorched flour, kept ready
always for the purpose. Never put cloves or allspice into soup--they
give it a blackish ashy dirt color, and their taste is so strong as to
overpower every thing else. Both these coarse spices are out of use at
good tables, and none are introduced in nice cookery but mace, nutmeg,
ginger, and cinnamon.
The meat boiled in soup gives out more of its essence, when cut off the
bone, and divided into small pieces, always removing the fat. The bones,
however, should go in, as they contain much glutinous substance, adding
to the strength and thickness of the soup, which cannot be palatable or
wholesome unless all the grease is carefully skimmed off. Kitchen grease
is used chiefly for soap-fat.
In cold weather, good soup, if carefully covered and kept in a cool
place, and boiled over again for half an hour _without_ any _additional
water_, will be better on the second day than on the first.
It is an excellent way in winter to boil the meat and bones on the first
day, without any vegetables. Then, when very thick and rich, strain the
liquid into a large pan; cover it, and set it away till next morning--it
should then be found a thick jelly. Cut it in pieces, having scraped off
the sediment from the bottom--then add the vegetables, and boil them in
the soup.
MUSHROOM SOUP.--Cut a knuckle of veal, or a neck of mutton, (or both, if
they are small,) into large pieces, and remove the bones. Put it into a
soup-pot with sufficient water to cover the whole, and season with a
little salt and cayenne. Let it boil till the meat is in rags, skimming
it well; then strain off the soup into another pot. Have ready a large
quart, or a quart and a pint of freshly-gathered mushrooms--cut them
into quarters, having removed the stalks. Put them into the soup, adding
a quarter of a pound (or more) of fresh butter, divided into bits and
rolled in flour. Boil the whole about half an hour longer--try if the
mushrooms are tender, and do not take them up till they are perfectly
so. Keep the pot lid closely covered, except when you remove the lid to
try the mushrooms. Lay at the bottom of the tureen a large slice of
buttered toast, (cut into small squares,) and pour the soup upon it.
This is a company soup.
SWEET CORN SOUP.--Take a knuckle of veal, and a set of calf's feet. Put
them into a soup-pot with some cold boiled ham cut into pieces, and
season them with pepper only. Having allowed a quart of water to each
pound of meat, pour it on, and let it boil till the meat falls from the
bone; strain it, and pour the liquid into a clean pot. If you live in
the country, or where milk is plenty, make this soup of milk without any
water. All white soups are best of milk. You may boil in this, with the
veal and feet, an old fowl, (cut into pieces,) that is too tough for any
other purpose. When the soup is well boiled, and the shreds all strained
away, have ready (cooked by themselves in another pot) some ears of
sweet corn, young and tender. Cut the grains from the cob, mix the corn
with fresh butter, season it with pepper, and stir it in the strained
soup. Give the whole a short boil, pour it into the tureen, and send it
to table.
VENISON SOUP.--Is excellent, made as above, with water instead of milk,
and plenty of corn. And it is very convenient for a new settlement.
TOMATO SOUP.--Take a shin or leg of beef, and cut off all the meat. Put
it, with the bones, in a large soup-pot, and season it slightly with
salt and pepper. Pour on a gallon of water. Boil and skim it well. Have
ready half a peck of ripe tomatos, that have been quartered, and pressed
or strained through a sieve, so as to be reduced to a pulp. Add half a
dozen onions that have been sliced, and a table-spoonful of sugar to
lessen a little the acid of the tomatos. When the meat is all to rags,
and the whole thoroughly done, (which will not be in less than six hours
from the commencement) strain it through a cullender, and thicken it a
little with grated bread crumbs.
This soup will be much improved by the addition of a half peck of
ochras, peeled, sliced thin, and boiled with the tomatos till quite
dissolved.
Before it goes into the tureen, see that there are no shreds of meat or
bits of bone left in the soup.
FAMILY TOMATO SOUP.--Take four pounds of the lean of a good piece of
fresh beef. The fat is of no use for soup, as it must be skimmed off
when boiling. Cut the meat in pieces, season them with a little salt and
pepper, and put them into a pot with three quarts of water. The tomatos
will supply abundance of liquid. Of these you should have a large
quarter of a peck. They should be full-grown, and quite ripe. Cut each
tomato into four pieces, and put them into the soup; after it has come
to a boil and been skimmed. It will be greatly improved by adding a
quarter of a peck of ochras cut into thin round slices. Both tomatos and
ochras require long and steady boiling with the meat. To lessen the
extreme acid of the tomatos, stir in a heaped table-spoonful of sugar.
Add also one large onion, peeled and minced small; and add two or three
bits of fresh butter rolled in flour. The soup must boil till the meat
is all to rags and the tomatos and ochras entirely dissolved, and their
forms undistinguishable. Pour it off carefully from the sediment into
the tureen, in the bottom of which have ready some toasted bread, cut
into small squares.
FINE TOMATO SOUP.--Take some nice fresh beef, and divest it of the bone
and fat. Sprinkle it with a little salt and pepper, and pour on water,
allowing to each pound of meat a pint and a half (not more) of water,
and boil and skim it till it is very thick and clear, and all the
essence seems to be drawn out of the meat. Scald and peel a large
portion of ripe tomatos--cut them in quarters, and laying them in a
stew-pan, let them cook in their own juice till they are entirely
dissolved. When quite done, strain the tomato liquid, and stir into it a
little sugar. In a third pan stew an equal quantity of sliced ochras
with a very little water; they must be stewed till their shape can no
longer be discerned. Strain separately the meat liquor, the tomatos, and
the ochras. Mix butter and flour together into a lump; knead it a
little, and when all the liquids are done and strained put them into a
clean soup-pan, stir in the flour and butter, and give the soup one boil
up. Transfer it to your tureen, and stir altogether. The soup made
precisely as above will be perfectly smooth and nice. Have little rolls
or milk biscuits to eat with it.
This is a tomato soup for dinner company.
GREEN PEA SOUP.--Make a nice soup, in the usual way, of beef, mutton, or
knuckle of veal, cutting off all the fat, and using only the lean and
the bones, allowing a quart of water to each pound of meat. If the meat
is veal, add four or six calf's feet, which will greatly improve the
soup. Boil it slowly, (having slightly seasoned it with pepper and
salt,) and when it has boiled, and been well skimmed, and no more scum
appears, then put in a quart or more of freshly-shelled green peas, with
none among them that are old, hard, and yellow; and also a sprig or two
of green mint, and a little loaf sugar. Boil the peas till they are
entirely dissolved. Then (having removed all the meat and bones) strain
the soup through a sieve, and return it to the soup-pot, (which, in the
mean time, should have been washed clean,) and stir into it a tea-cupful
of green spinach juice, (obtained by pounding some spinach.) Have ready
(boiled, or rather stewed in another pot) a quart of young fresh peas,
enriched with a piece of fresh butter. These last peas should be boiled
tender, but not to a mash. After they are in, give the soup another boil
up, and then pour it off into a tureen, in the bottom of which has been
laid some toast cut into square bits, with the crust removed. This soup
should be of a fine green color, and very thick.
EXCELLENT BEAN SOUP.--Early in the evening of the day before you make
the soup, wash clean a large quart of dried white beans in a pan of cold
water, and about bedtime pour off that water, and replace it with a
fresh panful. Next morning, put on the beans to boil, with only water
enough to cook them well, and keep them boiling slowly till they have
all bursted, stirring them up frequently from the bottom, lest they
should burn. Meantime, prepare in a larger pot, a good soup made of a
shin of beef cut into pieces, and the hock of a cold ham, allowing a
large quart of water to each pound of meat.
Season it with pepper only, (no salt,) and put in with it a head of
celery, split and cut small. Boil the soup (skimming it well) till the
meat is all in rags; then take it out, leaving not a morsel in the pot,
and put in the boiled beans. Let them boil in the soup till they are
undistinguishable, and the soup very thick. Put some small squares of
toast in the bottom of a tureen, and pour the soup upon it.
There is said to be nothing better for making soup than the camp-kettle
of the army. Many of the common soldiers make their bean soup of
surpassing excellence.
SPLIT PEA SOUP.--In buying dried or split peas, see that they are not
old and worm-eaten. Wash two quarts of them over night in two or three
waters. In the morning make a rich soup of the lean of beef or mutton,
and the hock of a ham. Season it with pepper, but no salt. When it has
boiled, and been thoroughly skimmed, put in the split peas, with a head
of celery cut into small pieces, or else two table-spoonfuls of celery
seed. Let it boil till the peas are entirely dissolved and
undistinguishable. When it is finished strain the soup through a sieve,
divesting it of the thin shreds of meat and bits of bone. Then transfer
it to a tureen, in which has been laid some square bits of toast. Stir
it up to the bottom directly before it goes to table.
You may boil in the soup (instead of the ham) a good piece (a rib
piece, or a fillet) of corned pork, more lean than fat. When it is done,
take the pork out of the soup, put it on a dish, and have ready to eat
with it a pease pudding boiled by itself, cut in thick slices and laid
round the pork. This pudding is made of a quart of split peas, soaked
all night, mixed with four beaten eggs and a piece of fresh butter, and
tied in a cloth and boiled three or four hours, or till the peas have
become a mass.
ASPARAGUS SOUP.--Make in the usual way a nice rich soup of beef or
mutton, seasoned with salt and pepper. After it has been well boiled and
skimmed, and the meat is all to pieces, strain the soup into another
pot, or wash out the same, and return to it the liquid. Have ready a
large quantity of fine fresh asparagus, with the stalks cut off close to
the green tops or blossoms. It should have been lying in cold water all
the time the meat was boiling. Put into the soup half of the asparagus
tops, and boil them in it till entirely dissolved, adding a tea-cupful
of spinach juice, obtained by pounding fresh spinach in a mortar. Stir
the juice well in and it will give a fine green color. Then add the
remaining half of the asparagus; having previously boiled them in a
small pan by themselves, till they are quite tender, but not till they
lose their shape. Give the whole one boil up together. Make some nice
slices of toast, (having cut off the crust.) Dip them a minute in hot
water. Butter them, lay them in the bottom of the tureen, and pour the
soup upon them. This (like green peas) will do for company soup.
CABBAGE SOUP.--Remove the fat and bone from a good piece of fresh beef,
or mutton--season it with a little salt and pepper, put it into a
soup-pot, with a quart of water allowed to each pound of meat. Boil, and
skim it till no more scum is seen on the surface. Then strain it, and
thicken it with flour and butter mixed. Have ready a fine fresh cabbage,
(a young summer one is best) and after it is well washed through two
cold waters, and all the leaves examined to see if any insects have
crept between, quarter the cabbage, (removing the stalk) and with a
cabbage-cutter, or a strong sharp knife, cut it into shreds. Or you may
begin the cabbage whole and cut it into shreds, spirally, going round
and round it with the knife. Put the cabbage into the clear soup, and
boil it till, upon trial, by taking up a little on a fork, you find it
quite tender and perfectly well cooked. Then serve it up in the tureen.
This is a family soup.
RED CABBAGE SOUP.--Red cabbages for soup should either be quartered, or
cut into shreds; it is made as above, of beef or mutton, and seasoned
with salt, pepper, and a jill of strong tarragon vinegar, or a
table-spoonful of mixed tarragon leaves, if in summer.
FINE CABBAGE SOUP.--Remove the outside leaves from a fine, fresh, large
cabbage. Cut the stalk short, and split it half-way down so as to divide
the cabbage into quarters, but do not separate it quite to the bottom.
Wash the cabbage, and lay it in cold water for half an hour or more.
Then set it over the fire in a pot full of water, adding a little salt,
and let it boil slowly for an hour and a half, or more--skimming it
well. Then take it out, drain it, and laying it in a deep pan, pour on
_cold_ water, and let it remain till the cabbage is cold all through.
Next, having drained it from the cold water, cut the cabbage in shreds,
(as for cold-slaw,) and put it into a clean pot containing a quart and a
pint of boiling milk into which you have stirred a quarter of a pound of
nice fresh butter, divided into four bits and rolled in flour, adding a
little pepper and a very little salt. Boil it in the milk till
thoroughly done and quite tender. Then make some nice toast, cut it into
squares, lay it in the bottom of a tureen, and pour the soup on it. This
being made without meat is a good soup for Lent. It will be improved by
stirring in, towards the last, two or three beaten eggs.
CAULIFLOWER SOUP.--Put into a soup-pot a knuckle of veal, and allow to
each pound a quart of water. Add a set of calf's feet that have been
singed and scraped, but not skinned; and the hock of a cold boiled ham.
Boil it till all the meat is in rags, and the soup very thick, seasoning
with cayenne and a few blades of mace, and adding, towards the last,
some bits of fresh butter rolled in flour. Boil in another pot, one or
two fine cauliflowers. They are best boiled in milk. When quite done and
very tender, drain them, cut off the largest stalks, and divide the
blossoms into small pieces; put them into a deep covered dish, lay some
fresh butter among them, and keep them hot till the veal soup is boiled
to its utmost thickness. Then strain it into a soup-tureen, and put into
it the cauliflower, grating some nutmeg upon it. This soup will be found
very fine, and is an excellent white soup for company.
For Lent this soup may be made without meat, substituting milk, butter,
and flour, and eggs, as in the receipt for fine cabbage soup. Season it
with mace and nutmeg. If made with milk, &c., put no water on it, but
boil the cauliflower in milk from the beginning. This can easily be done
where milk is plenty.
FINE ONION SOUP.--Take a fine fresh neck of mutton, and to make a large
tureen of soup, you must have a breast of mutton also. Let the meat be
divided into chops, season it with a little salt, and put it in a
soup-pot--allow a quart of water to each pound of mutton. Boil, and skim
it till no more scum arises, and the meat drops in rags from the bones.
In a small pot boil in milk a dozen large onions, (or more,) adding
pepper, mace, nutmeg, and some bits of fresh butter rolled in flour. The
onions should previously be peeled and sliced. When they are quite soft,
transfer them to the soup, with the milk, &c., in which they were
cooked. Give them one boil in the soup. Then pour it off, or strain it
into the tureen, omitting all the sediment, and bones, and shreds of
meat. Make some nice slices of toast, dipping each in boiling water, and
trimming off all the crust. Cut the toast into small squares, lay them
in the bottom of the tureen, and pour the soup upon them. Where there is
no objection to onions it will be much liked.
If milk is plenty use it instead of water for onion soup. White soups
are always best when made with milk.
TURNIP SOUP.--For a very small family take a neck of mutton, and divide
it into steaks, omitting all the fat. For a family of moderate size,
take a breast as well as a neck. Put them into a soup-pot with
sufficient water to cover them, and let them stew till well browned.
Skim them carefully. Then pour on more water, in the proportion of a
pint to each pound of meat, and add eight or ten turnips pared and
sliced thin, with a very little pepper and salt. Let the soup boil till
the turnips are all dissolved, and the meat in rags. Add, towards the
last, some bits of butter rolled in flour, and in five minutes
afterwards the soup will be done. Carefully remove all the bits of meat
and bone before you send the soup to table. It will be found very good,
and highly flavored with the turnips.
Onion soup may be made in the same manner. Parsnip soup also, cutting
the parsnips into small bits. Or all three--turnips, onions and
parsnips, may be used together.
PARSNIP SOUP.--The meat for this soup may either be fresh beef, mutton,
or fresh venison. Remove the fat, cut the meat into pieces, add a little
salt, and put it into a soup-pot, with an allowance of rather less than
a quart of water to each pound. Prepare some fine large parsnips, by
first scraping and splitting them, and cutting them into pieces; then
putting them into a frying pan, and frying them brown, in fresh butter
or nice drippings. When the soup has been boiled till the meat is all in
rags, and well skimmed--put into it the fried parsnips and let them boil
about ten minutes, but not till they break or go to pieces. Just before
you put in the parsnips, stir in a table-spoonful of thickening made
with butter and flour, mixed to a smooth paste. When you put it into the
tureen to go to table, be sure to leave in the pot all the shreds of
meat and bits of bone.
CARROT SOUP.--Take a good piece of fresh beef that has not been
previously cooked. Remove the fat. It is of no use in making soup; and
as it must all be skimmed off when boiling, it is better to clear it
away before the meat goes into the pot. Season the beef with a very
little salt and pepper, and allow a small quart of water to each pound.
Grate half a dozen or more large carrots on a coarse grater, and put
them to boil in the soup with some other carrots; cut them into pieces
about two inches long. When all the meat is boiled to rags, and has left
the bone, pour off the soup from the sediment, transferring it to a
tureen, and sending it to table with bread cut into it.
POTATO SOUP.--Pare and slice thin half a dozen fine potatos and a small
onion. Boil them in three large pints of water, till so soft that you
can pulp them through a cullender. When returned to the pot add a very
little salt and cayenne, and a quarter of a pound of fresh butter,
divided into bits, and boil it ten minutes longer. When you put it into
the tureen, stir in two table-spoonfuls or more of good cream. This is a
soup for fast-days, or for invalids.
CHESTNUT SOUP.--Make, in the best manner, a soup of the lean of fresh
beef, mutton, or venison, (seasoned with cayenne and a little salt,)
allowing rather less than a quart of water to each pound of meat,
skimming and boiling it well, till the meat is all in rags, and drops
from the bone. Strain it, and put it into a clean pot. Have ready a
quart or more of large chestnuts, boiled and peeled. If roasted, they
will be still better. They should be the large Spanish chestnuts. Put
the chestnuts into the soup, with some small bits of fresh butter rolled
in flour. Boil the soup ten minutes longer, before it goes to table.
PORTABLE SOUP.--This is a very good and nutritious soup, made first into
a jelly, and then congealed into hard cakes, resembling glue. If well
made, it will keep for many months in a cool, dry place, and when
dissolved in hot water or gravy, will afford a fine liquid soup, very
convenient to carry in a box on a journey or sea voyage, or to use in a
remote place, where fresh meat for soup is not to be had. A piece of
this glue, the size of a large walnut, will, when melted in water,
become a pint bowl of soup; or by using less water, you may have it much
richer. If there is time and opportunity, boil with the piece of soup a
seasoning of sliced onion, sweet marjoram, sweet basil, or any herbs you
choose. Also, a bit of butter rolled in flour.
To make portable soup, take two shins or legs of beef, two knuckles of
veal, and four unskinned calves' feet. Have the bones broken or cracked.
Put the whole into a large clean pot that will hold four gallons of
water. Pour in, at beginning, only as much water as will cover the meat
well, and set it over the fire, to heat gradually till it almost boils.
Watch and skim it carefully while any scum rises. Then pour in a quart
of cold water to make it throw up all the remaining scum, and then let
it come to a good boil, continuing to skim as long as the least scum
appears. In this be particular. When the liquid appears perfectly clear
and free from grease, pour in the remainder of the water, and let it
boil very gently for eight hours. Strain it through a very clean hair
sieve into a large stoneware pan, and set it where it will cool quickly.
Next day, remove all the remaining grease, and pour the liquid, as
quickly as possible, into a three-gallon stew-pan, taking care not to
disturb the settlings at the bottom. Keep the pan uncovered, and let it
boil as fast as possible over a quick fire. Next, transfer it to a
three-quart stew-pan, and skim it again, if necessary. Watch it well,
and see that it does not burn, as that would spoil the whole. Take out a
little in a spoon, and hold it in the air, to see if it will jelly. If
it will not, boil it a little longer. Till it jellies, it is not done.
Have ready some small white ware preserve pots, clean, and quite dry.
Fill them with the soup, and let them stand undisturbed till next day.
Set, over a slow fire, a large flat-bottomed stew-pan, one-third filled
with boiling water. Place in it the pots of soup, seeing it does not
reach within two inches of their rims. Let the pots stand uncovered in
this water, hot, but without boiling, for six or seven hours. This will
bring the soup to a proper thickness, which should be that of a stiff
jelly, when hot; and when cold, it should be like hard glue. When
finished turn out the moulds of soup, and wrap them up separately in new
brownish paper, and put them up in boxes, breaking off a piece when
wanted to dissolve the soup.
Portable soup may be improved by the addition of three pounds of nice
lean beef, to the shins, knuckles, calves' feet, &c. The beef must be
cut into bits.
If you have any friends going the overland journey to the Pacific, a box
of portable soup may be a most useful present to them.
PEPPER-POT.--Have ready a small half pound of very nice white tripe,
that has been thoroughly boiled and skinned, in a pot by itself, till
quite soft and tender. It should be cut into very small strips or
mouthfuls. Put into another pot a neck of mutton, and a pound of lean
ham, and pour on it a large gallon of water. Boil it slowly, and skim
it. When the scum has ceased to rise, put in two large onions sliced,
four potatos quartered, and four sliced turnips. Season with a very
small piece of red pepper or capsicum, taking care not to make it too
hot. Then add the boiled tripe. Make a quart bowlful of small dumplings
of butter and flour, mixed with a very little water; and throw them into
the pepper-pot, which should afterwards boil about an hour. Then take
it up, and remove the meat before it is put into the tureen. Leave in
the bits of tripe.
NOODLE SOUP.--This soup may be made with either beef or mutton, but the
meat must be fresh for the purpose, and not cold meat, re-cooked. Cut
off all the fat, and break the bones. If boiled in the soup they improve
it. To each pound of meat allow a small quart of water. Boil and skim
it, till the meat drops from the bone. Put in with the meat, after the
scum has ceased to rise, some turnips, carrots and onions, cut in
slices, and boil them till all to pieces. Strain the soup, and return
the liquid to a clean pot. Have ready a large quantity of noodles, (in
French _nouillés_,) and put them into the strained soup; let them boil
in it ten minutes. The noodles are composed of beaten eggs, made into a
paste or dough, with flour and a very little fresh butter. This paste is
rolled out thin into a square sheet. This sheet is then closely rolled
up like a scroll or quire of thick paper, and then with a sharp knife
cut round into shreds, or shavings, as cabbage is cut for slaw. These
cuttings must be dredged with flour to prevent their sticking. Throw
them into the soup while boiling the second time, and let it boil for
ten minutes longer.
CHICKEN SOUP.--Cut up two large fine fowls, as if carving them for the
table, and wash the pieces in cold water. Take half a dozen thin slices
of cold ham, and lay them in a soup-pot, mixed among the pieces of
chicken. Season them with a very little cayenne, a little nutmeg, and a
few blades of mace, but no salt, as the ham will make it salt enough.
Add a head of celery, split and cut into long bits, a quarter of a pound
of butter, divided in two, and rolled in flour. Pour on three quarts of
milk. Set the soup-pot over the fire, and let it boil rather slowly,
skimming it well. When it has boiled an hour, put in some small round
dumplings, made of half a pound of flour mixed with a quarter of a pound
of butter; divide this dough into equal portions, and roll them in your
hands into little balls about the size of a large hickory nut. The soup
must boil till the flesh of the fowls is loose on the bones, but not
till it drops off. Stir in, at the last, the beaten yolks of three or
four eggs; and let the soup remain about five minutes longer over the
fire. Then take it up. Cut off from the bones the flesh of the fowls,
and divide it into mouthfuls. Cut up the slices of ham in the same
manner. Mince the livers and gizzards. Put the bits of fowl and ham in
the bottom of a large tureen, and pour the soup upon it.
This soup will be found excellent, and may be made of large old fowls,
that cannot be cooked in any other way. If they are so old that when
the soup is finished they still continue tough, remove them entirely,
and do not serve them up at all.
Similar soup may be made of a large old turkey. Also, of four rabbits.
DUCK SOUP.--Half roast a pair of fine large tame ducks, keeping them
half an hour at the fire, and saving the gravy, the fat of which must be
carefully skimmed off. Then cut them up; season them with black pepper;
and put them into a soup-pot with four or five small onions sliced thin,
a small bunch of sage, a thin slice of cold ham cut into pieces, a
grated nutmeg, and the yellow rind of a lemon grated. Add the gravy of
the ducks. Pour on, slowly, three quarts of boiling water from a kettle.
Cover the soup-pot, and set it over a moderate fire. Simmer it slowly
(skimming it well) for about four hours, or till the flesh of the ducks
is dissolved into small shreds. When done, strain it through a tureen,
the bottom of which is covered with toasted bread, cut into square dice
about two inches in size.
FRENCH WHITE SOUP.--Boil a knuckle of veal and four calves' feet in five
quarts of water, with three onions sliced, a bunch of sweet herbs, four
heads of white celery cut small, a table-spoonful of whole pepper, and a
_small_ tea-spoonful of salt, adding five or six large blades of mace.
Let it boil very slowly, till the meat is in rags and has dropped from
the bone, and till the gristle has quite dissolved. Skim it well while
boiling. When done, strain it through a sieve into a tureen, or a deep
white-ware pan. Next day, take off all the fat, and put the jelly (for
such it ought to be) into a clean soup-pot with two ounces of
vermicelli, and set it over the fire. When the vermicelli is dissolved,
stir in, gradually, a pint of thick cream, while the soup is quite hot;
but do not let it come to a boil after the cream is in, lest it should
curdle. Cut up one or two French rolls in the bottom of a tureen, pour
in the soup, and send it to table.
COCOA-NUT SOUP.--Take eight calves' feet (two sets) that have been
scalded and scraped, but not skinned; and put them into a soup-kettle
with six or seven blades of mace, and the yellow rind of a lemon grated.
Pour on a gallon of water; cover the kettle, and let it boil very slowly
(skimming it well) till the flesh is reduced to rags and has dropped
entirely from the bones. Then strain it into a broad white-ware pan, and
set it away to get cold. When it has congealed, scrape off the fat and
sediment, cut up the cake of jelly, (or stock,) and put it into a clean
porcelain or enameled kettle. Have ready half a pound of very finely
grated cocoa-nut. Mix it with a pint of cream. If you cannot obtain
cream, take rich unskimmed milk, and add to it three ounces of the best
fresh butter divided into three parts, each bit rolled in arrow-root or
rice-flour. Mix it, gradually, with the cocoa-nut, and add it to the
calves-feet-stock in the kettle, seasoned with a small nutmeg grated.
Set it over the fire, and boil it, slowly, about a quarter of an hour;
stirring it well. Then transfer it to a tureen, and serve it up. Have
ready small French rolls, or light milk biscuit to eat with it; also
powdered sugar in case any of the company should wish to sweeten it.
ALMOND SOUP is made in the above manner, substituting pounded almonds
for the grated cocoa-nut. You must have half a pound of shelled sweet
almonds, mixed with two ounces of shelled bitter almonds. After
blanching them in hot water, they must be pounded to a smooth paste (one
at a time) in a marble mortar; adding frequently a little rose-water to
prevent their oiling, and becoming heavy. Or you may use peach-water for
this purpose; in which case omit the bitter almonds, as the peach-water
will give the desired flavor. When the pounded almonds are ready, mix
them with the other ingredients, as above.
The calves' feet for these soups should be boiled either very early in
the morning, or the day before.
SPRING SOUP.--Unless your dinner hour is very late, the stock for this
soup should be made the day before it is wanted, and set away in a
stone pan, closely covered. To make the stock take a knuckle of veal,
break the bones, and cut it into several pieces. Allow a quart of water
to each pound of veal. Put it into a soup-pot, with a set of calves'
feet,[A] and some bits of cold ham, cut off near the hock. If you have
no ham, sprinkle in a tea-spoonful of salt, and a salt-spoon of cayenne.
Place the pot over a _moderate_ fire, and let it simmer slowly (skimming
it well) for several hours, till the veal is all to rags and the flesh
of the calves' feet has dropped in shreds from the bones. Then strain
the soup; and if not wanted that day, set it away in a stone pan, as
above mentioned.
[A] In buying calves' feet always get those that are singed, not
skinned. Much of the glutinous or jelly property resides in the skin.
Next day have, ready boiled, two quarts or more of green peas, (they
must on no account be old,) and a pint of the green tops cut off from
asparagus boiled for the purpose. Pound a handful of raw spinach till
you have extracted a tea-cupful of the juice. Set the soup or stock over
the fire; add the peas, asparagus, and spinach juice, stirring them well
in; also a quarter of a pound of fresh butter, divided into four bits,
and rolled in flour. Let the whole come to a boil; and then take it off
and transfer it to a tureen. It will be found excellent.
In boiling the peas for this soup, you may put with them half a dozen
sprigs of green mint, to be afterwards taken out.
Late in the spring you may add to the other vegetables two cucumbers,
pared and sliced, and the whitest part or heart of a lettuce, boiled
together; then well drained, and put into the soup with the peas and
asparagus. It must be very thick with vegetables.
SUMMER SOUP.--Take a large neck of mutton, and hack it so as nearly to
cut it apart, but not quite. Allow a small quart of water to each pound
of meat, and sprinkle on a tea-spoonful of salt and a very little black
pepper. Put it into a soup-pot, and boil it _slowly_ (skimming it well)
till the meat is reduced to rags. Then strain the liquid, return it to
the soup-pot, and carefully remove all the fat from the surface. Have
ready half a dozen small turnips sliced thin, two young onions sliced, a
table-spoonful of sweet marjoram leaves picked from the stalks, and a
quart of shelled Lima beans. Put in the vegetables, and boil them in the
soup till they are thoroughly done. You may add to them two
table-spoonfuls of green nasturtion seeds, either fresh or pickled. Put
in also some little dumplings, (made of flour and butter,) about ten
minutes before the soup is done.
Instead of Lima beans, you may divide a cauliflower or two broccolis
into sprigs, and boil them in the soup with the other vegetables.
This soup may be made of a shoulder of mutton, cut into pieces and the
bones cracked. For a large potful add also the breast to the neck,
cutting the bones apart.
AUTUMN SOUP.--Begin this soup as early in the day as possible. Take six
pounds of the lean of fine fresh beef; cut it into small pieces;
sprinkle it with a tea-spoonful of salt, (not more); put it into a
soup-pot, and pour on six quarts of water. The hock of a cold ham will
greatly improve it. Set it over a moderate fire, and let it boil slowly.
After it comes to a boil, skim it well. Have ready a quarter of a peck
of ochras cut into very thin round slices, and a quarter of a peck of
tomatos cut into pieces; also a quart of shelled Lima beans. Season them
with pepper. Put them in; and after the whole has boiled three hours _at
least_, take four ears of young Indian corn, and having grated off all
the grains, add them to the soup and boil it an hour longer. Before you
serve up the soup remove from it all the bits of meat, which, if the
soup is sufficiently cooked, will be reduced to shreds.
You may put in with the ochras and tomatos one or two sliced onions. The
soup, when done, should be as thick as a jelly.
Ochras for soup may be kept all winter, by tying them separately to a
line stretched high across the store room.
WINTER SOUP.--The day before you make the soup, get a leg or shin of
beef. Have the bone sawed through in several places, and the meat
notched or scored down to the bone. This will cause the juice or essence
to come out more freely, when cooked. Rub it slightly with salt; cover
it, and set it away. Next morning, early as possible, as soon as the
fire is well made up, put the beef into a large soup-pot, allowing to
each pound a small quart of water. Then taste the water, and if the salt
that has been rubbed on the meat is not sufficient, add a very little
more. Throw in also a tea-spoonful of whole pepper-corns; and you may
add half a dozen blades of mace. Let it simmer slowly till it comes to a
boil; then skim it well. After it boils, you may quicken the fire. At
nine o'clock put in a large head of cabbage cut fine as for cold-slaw;
six carrots grated; the leaves stripped from a bunch of sweet marjoram;
and the leaves of a sprig of parsley. An hour afterwards, add six
turnips, and three potatoes, all cut into four or eight pieces. Also two
onions, which will be better if previously roasted brown, and then
sliced. Keep the soup boiling steadily, but not hard, unless the dinner
hour is very early. For a late dinner, there will be time to boil it
slowly all the while; and all soups are the better for long and slow
boiling. See that it is well skimmed, so that, when done, there will be
not a particle of fat or scum on the surface. At dinner-time take it up
with a large ladle, and transfer it to a tureen. In doing so, carefully
avoid the shreds of meat and bone. Leave them all in the bottom of the
pot, pressing them down with the ladle. A mass of shreds in the tureen
or soup-plate looks slovenly and disgusting, and should never be seen at
the table; also, they absorb too much of the liquid. Let the vegetables
remain in the soup when it is served up, but pick out every shred of
meat or bone that may be found in the tureen when ready to go to table.
In very cold weather, what is left of this soup will keep till the
second day; when it must be simmered again over the fire, till it just
comes to a boil. Put it away in a tin or stone vessel. The lead which is
used in glazing earthen jars frequently communicates its poison to
liquids that are kept in them.
VEGETABLE SOUP--(_very good_.)--Soak all night, in cold water, either
two quarts of yellow split peas, or two quarts of dried white beans. In
the morning drain them, and season them with a very little salt and
cayenne, and a head of minced celery, or else a heaped table-spoonful of
celery seed. Put them into a soup-pot with four quarts of water, and
boil them slowly till they are all dissolved and undistinguishable. Stir
them frequently. Have ready a profuse quantity of fresh vegetables, such
as turnips, carrots, parsnips, potatos, onions, and cauliflowers; also,
salsify, and asparagus tops. Put in, first, the vegetables that require
the longest boiling. They should all be cut into small pieces. Enrich
the whole with some bits of fresh butter rolled in flour. Boil these
vegetables in the soup till they are all quite tender. Then transfer it
to a tureen, and serve it up hot.
The foundation being of dried peas or beans, makes it very thick and
smooth, and the fresh vegetables improve its flavor. It is a good soup
for Lent, or for any time, if properly and liberally made.
All vegetable soups can be made in Lent without meat, if milk is
substituted for water, and with butter, beaten eggs and spice, to flavor
and enrich it.
FRENCH POT AU FEU.--This is one of the national dishes of France. The
following is a genuine French receipt, and it would be found very
palatable and very convenient if tried in our own land of plenty. The
true French way to cook it is in an earthen pipkin, such as can be had
in any pottery shop. The French vessel has a wide mouth, and
close-fitting lid, with a handle at each side, in the form of circular
ears. It is large and swelling in the middle, and narrows down towards
the bottom. The American pipkin has a short thick spout at one side, and
stands on three or four low feet. No kitchen should be without these
vessels, which are cheap, very strong, and easily kept clean. They can
sit on a stove, or in the corner of the fire, and are excellent for slow
cooking.
The wife of a French artisan commences her pot au feu soon after
breakfast, prepares the ingredients, puts them, by degrees, into the
pot, attends to it during the day; and when her husband has done his
work she has ready for him an excellent and substantial repast, far
superior to what in our country is called a _tea-dinner_. Men frequently
indemnify themselves for the poorness of a tea-dinner by taking a dram
of whiskey afterwards. A Frenchman is satisfied with his excellent pot
au feu and some fruit afterwards. The French are noted as a temperate
nation. If they have eaten to their satisfaction they have little
craving for drink. Yet there is no country in the world where so much
good eating might be had as in America. But to live well, and
wholesomely, there should also be good cooking, and the wives of our
artisans must learn to think more of the comfort, health, and
cheerfulness of him who in Scotland is called the _bread-winner_, than
of their own finery, and their children's uncomfortable frippery.
_Receipt._--For a large pot au feu, put into the pipkin six pounds of
good fresh beef cut up, and pour on it four quarts of water. Set it near
the fire, skim it when it simmers, and when nearly boiling, add a
tea-spoonful of salt, half a pound of liver cut in pieces, and some
black pepper. Then add two or three large carrots, sliced or grated on a
coarse grater; four turnips, pared and quartered; eight young onions
peeled and sliced thick, two of the onions roasted whole; a head of
celery cut up; a parsnip split and cut up; and six potatos, pared,
sliced, or quartered. In short any good vegetables now in season,
including tomatos in summer and autumn. Also a bunch of sweet herbs,
chopped small. Let the whole continue to boil slowly and _steadily_;
remembering to skim well. Let it simmer slowly five or six hours. Then,
having laid some large slices of bread in the bottom of a tureen, or a
very large pan or bowl, pour the stew or soup upon it; all the meat, and
all the vegetables. If you have any left, recook it the next morning for
breakfast, and _that day_ you may prepare something else for dinner.
For beef you may substitute mutton, or fresh venison, if you live in a
venison country, and can get it newly killed.
WILD DUCK SOUP.--This is a company soup. If you live where wild ducks
are abundant, it will afford an agreeable variety occasionally to make
soup of some of them. If you suspect them to be sedgy or fishy, (you can
ascertain by the smell when drawing or cleaning them,) parboil each
duck, with a carrot put into his body. Then take out the carrot and
throw it away. You will find that the unpleasant flavor has left the
ducks, and been entirely absorbed by the carrots. To make the soup--cut
up the ducks, season the pieces with a little salt and pepper, and lay
them in a soup-pot. For a good pot of soup you should have four wild
ducks. Add two or three sliced onions, and a table-spoonful of minced
sage. Also a quarter of a pound of butter divided into four, and each
piece rolled in flour. Pour in water enough to make a rich soup, and
let it boil slowly till all the flesh has left the bones,--skim it well.
Thicken it with boiled or roasted chestnuts, peeled, and then mashed
with a potato beetle. A glass of Madeira or sherry will be found an
improvement, stirred in at the last, or the juice and grated peel of a
lemon. In taking it up for the tureen, be careful to leave all the bones
and bits of meat in the bottom of the pot.
VENISON SOUP.--Take a large fine piece of freshly killed venison. It is
best at the season when the deer are fat and juicy, from having plenty
of wild berries to feed on. I do not consider winter-venison worth
eating, when the meat is poor and hard, and affords no gravy, and also
is black from being kept too long. When venison is fresh and in good
order it yields a fine soup, allowing a small quart of water to each
pound of meat. When it has boiled well, and been skimmed, put in some
small dumplings made of flour and minced suet, or drippings. Also,
boiled sweet potatos, cut into round thick slices. You may add boiled
sweet corn cut off the cob; and, indeed, whatever vegetables are in
season. The soup-meat should boil till all the flesh is loose on the
bones, and the bits and shreds should not be served up.
The best pieces of buffalo make good soup.
GAME SOUP.--Take partridges, pheasants, grouse, quails, or any of the
birds considered as game. You may put in here as many different sorts as
you can procure. They must all be fresh killed. When they are cleaned
and plucked, cut them in pieces as for carving, and put them into a
soup-pot, with four calves' feet and some slices of ham, two sticks of
celery, and a bundle of sweet herbs chopped small, and water enough to
cover the whole well. Boil and skim well, till all the flesh is loose
from the bones. Strain the liquid through a sieve into a clean pot, then
thicken it with fresh butter rolled in flour. Add some force-meat balls
that have been already fried; or else some hard-boiled yolks of eggs;
some currant jelly, or some good wine into which a half-nutmeg has been
grated; the juice of two oranges or lemons, and the grated yellow peel
of one lemon. Give the soup another boil up, and then send it to table,
having bread rolls to eat with it.
This is a fine soup for company. Venison soup may be made in this
manner. Hare soup also.
SQUATTER'S SOUP.--Take plenty of _fresh-killed_ venison, as fat and
juicy as you can get it. Cut the meat off the bones and put it (with the
bones) into a large pot. Season it with pepper and salt, and pour on
sufficient water to make a good rich soup. Boil it slowly (remembering
to skim it well) till the meat is all in rags. Have ready some ears of
young sweet corn. Boil them in a pot by themselves till they are quite
soft. Cut the grains off the cob into a deep dish. Having cleared the
soup from shreds and bits of bone left at the bottom of the pot, stir in
a thickening made of indian meal mixed to a paste with a little fresh
lard, or venison gravy. And afterwards throw in, by degrees, the cut
corn. Let all boil together, till the corn is soft, or for about half an
hour. Then take it up in a large pan. It will be found very good by
persons who never were squatters. This soup, with a wild turkey or a
buffalo hump roasted, and stewed grapes sweetened well with maple sugar,
will make a good backwoods dinner.
MOCK TURTLE SOUP.--Boil together a knuckle of veal (cut up) and a set of
calves' feet, split. Also the hock of a cold boiled ham. Season it with
cayenne pepper; but the ham will render it salt enough. You may add a
smoked tongue. Allow, to each pound of meat, a small quart of water.
After the meat has come to a boil and been well skimmed, add half a
dozen sliced parsnips, three sliced onions, and a head of celery cut
small, with a large bunch of sweet marjoram, and two large carrots
sliced. Boil all together till the vegetables are nearly dissolved and
the meat falls from the bone. Then strain the whole through a cullender,
and transfer the liquid to a clean pot. Have ready some fine large
sweetbreads that have been soaked in warm water for an hour till all
the blood was disgorged; then transferred to boiling water for ten
minutes, and then taken out and laid in very cold water. This will
blanch them, and all sweetbreads should look white. Take them out; and
remove carefully all the pipe or gristle. Cut the sweetbreads in pieces
or mouthfuls, and put them into the pot of strained soup. Have ready
about two or three dozen (or more) of force-meat balls, made of cold
minced veal and ham seasoned with nutmeg and mace, enriched with butter,
and mixed with grated lemon-peel, bread-crumbs, chopped marjoram and
beaten eggs, to make the whole into smooth balls about the size of a
hickory nut. Throw the balls into the soup, and add a fresh lemon,
sliced thin, and a pint of Madeira wine. Give it one more boil up; then
put it into a tureen and send it to table.
This ought to be a rich soup, and is seldom made except for dinner
company.
If the above method is _exactly_ followed, there will be found no
necessity for taking the trouble and enduring the disgust and
tediousness of cleaning and preparing a calf's head for mock turtle
soup--a very unpleasant process, which too much resembles the horrors of
a dissecting room. And when all is done a calf's head is a very insipid
article.
It will be found that the above is superior to any mock turtle. Made of
shin beef, with all these ingredients, it is very rich and fine.
FISH SOUP.--All fish soups should be made with milk, (if unskimmed so
much the better,) using no water whatever. The best fish for soup are
the small sort of cat-fish; also tutaug, porgie, blue fish, white fish,
black fish or sea-bass. Cut off their heads, tails, and fins, and remove
the skin, and the backbone, and cut the fish into pieces. To each pound
of fish allow a quart of rich milk. Put into the soup-pot some pieces of
cold boiled ham. No salt will then be required; but season with cayenne
pepper, and a few blades of mace and some grated nutmeg. Add a bunch of
sweet marjoram, the leaves stripped from the stalks and chopped. Make
some little dumplings of flour and butter, and put them in when the soup
is about half done. Half an hour's steady boiling will be sufficient.
Serve up in the tureen the pieces of fish and ham. Also some toast cut
in dice.
Soup may be made in this manner, of chickens or rabbits, using always
milk enriched with bits of butter rolled in flour and flavored with bits
of cold ham.
LOBSTER SOUP.--This is a fine soup for company. Take two or three fine
fresh lobsters, (the middle sized are the best.) Heat a large pot of
water, throwing in a large handful of salt. When it is boiling hard put
in the lobsters, head foremost, that they may die immediately. They will
require at least half an hour's fast boiling; if large, three quarters.
When done, take them out, wipe off the scum that has collected on the
shell, and drain the lobster. First break off the large claws, and crack
them, then split the body, and extract all the white meat, and the red
coral--nothing else--and cut it into small pieces. Mash the coral into
smooth bits with the back of a large spoon, mixing with it plenty of
sweet oil; and, gradually, adding it to the bits of chopped lobster. Put
into a clear soup-pot two quarts, or more, of good milk, and thicken it
with half a dozen crackers or butter-biscuit, pounded fine; or the
grated crumbs of two or three small rolls, and stir in a quarter of a
pound of fresh butter made into a paste with two spoonfuls of flour. Put
in the chopped lobster, seasoned with nutmeg, a few blades of mace
powdered, and a little cayenne. Let all boil together, slowly, for half
an hour, keeping it closely covered. Towards the last, stir in two
beaten eggs. Lay some very small soda biscuit in the bottom of a tureen,
and pour the soup upon them. Nasturtion flowers strewed at the last
thickly over the surface of this soup, when in the tureen, are an
improvement both to its appearance and flavor. So is peppergrass.
CRAB SOUP.--Take the meat of two dozen boiled crabs, cut it small, and
give it a boil in two quarts of milk. Season it with powdered mace,
nutmeg, and a little cayenne, and thicken it with butter mixed in flour;
or, make the flour and butter into little dumplings. Have ready half a
dozen yolks of hard-boiled eggs, and crumble them into the soup just
before you take it from the fire. Add the heart of a fresh green
lettuce, cut small and strewed over the surface of the soup, after it is
poured into the tureen.
OYSTER SOUP.--Strain the liquor from one hundred oysters, and carefully
remove any bits of shell or particles of sea-weed. To every pint of
oyster liquor allow an equal quantity of rich milk. Season it with whole
pepper and some blades of mace. Add a head of celery, washed, scraped,
and minced small. Put the whole into a soup-pot, and boil and skim it
well. When it boils put in the oysters. Also, a quarter of a pound of
fresh butter; divide into four pieces, each piece rolled in flour. If
you can procure cream, add a half-pint, otherwise boil some six eggs
hard, and crumble the yolks into the soup. After the oysters are in give
them but one boil up, just sufficient to plump them. If boiled longer
they will shrink and shrivel and lose their taste. Take them all out and
set them away to cool. When the soup is done, place in the bottom of the
tureen some small square pieces of nicely toasted bread cut into dice,
and pour on the soup; grate in a nutmeg and then add the oysters. Serve
it up very hot.
Another way is to chop or cut small the oysters, omitting the hard part.
Make the soup as above, and put in the minced oysters at the last,
letting them boil but five minutes. Mix the powdered nutmeg with them.
This is a good way, if you make but a small quantity of soup.
CLAM SOUP.--Having washed clean the outside shells of a hundred small
sand clams, (or scrubbed them with a brush,) put them into a large pot
of boiling water. When they open their shells take them out with a
ladle, and as you do so, put them into a cullender to drain off the
liquor. Then extract the clams from the shells with a knife. Save a
quart of the liquor, putting the clams in a pitcher by themselves. Mix
with the quart of liquor, in a clean pot, two quarts of rich milk. Put
in the clams, and add some pepper-corns and some blades of mace. Also, a
bunch of sweet marjoram, the leaves stripped off and minced. After all
has boiled well for an hour, add half a pound, or more, of nice fresh
butter, made into little dumplings with flour; also a pint of grated
bread-crumbs. Let it boil a quarter of an hour longer. Then pour the
soup off from the clams and leave them in the bottom of the pot. They
will not now be worth eating. If you cannot obtain small clams, you may
cut large ones in pieces, but they are very coarse and tough.
FAST-DAY SOUP.--_For winter._--Having soaked all night two quarts of
split peas, put them into a soup-pot, adding a sliced onion, two heads
of celery, the stalks split and cut small; a table-spoonful of chopped
mint, another of marjoram, and two beets, that have been previously
boiled and sliced. Mix all these with half a pound of fresh butter cut
into pieces and dredged with flour. Season with a little salt and
pepper. Pour on rather more than water enough to cover the whole. Let
them boil till all the things are quite tender, and the peas dissolved.
When done, cover the bottom of a tureen with small square bits of toast,
and pour in the contents of the soup-pot.
It is a good way to boil the split peas in a pot by themselves, till
they are quite dissolved, and then add them to the ingredients in the
other pot.
Vegetable soups require a large portion of vegetables, and butter
always, as a substitute for meat.
FRIDAY SOUP.--_For summer._--This is a fast-day soup. Pare and slice six
cucumbers, and cut up the white part or heart of six lettuces; slice two
onions, and cut small the leaves of six sprigs of fresh green mint,
unless mint is disliked by the persons that are to eat the soup; in
which case, substitute parsley. Add a quart of young green peas. Put the
whole into a soup-pot, with as much water as will more than cover them
well. Season slightly with salt and a little cayenne, and add half a
pound of nice fresh butter, divided into six, each piece dredged well
with flour. Boil the whole for an hour and a half. Then serve it up,
without straining; having colored it green with a tea-cup of pounded
spinach juice.
When green peas are out of season, you may substitute tomatos peeled and
quartered.
This soup, having no meat, is chiefly for fast days, but will be found
good at any time.
BAKED SOUP.--On the days that you bake bread, you may have a dish of
thick soup with very little trouble, by putting into a large earthen jug
or pipkin, or covered pan, the following articles:--Two pounds of
_fresh_ beef, or mutton, cut into small slices, having first removed the
fat; two sliced onions and four carrots, and four parsnips cut in four;
also, four turnips, six potatos pared and cut up, and half a dozen
tomatos, peeled and quartered. Season the whole with a little salt and
pepper. A large beet, scraped and cut up, will be an improvement. To
these things pour on three quarts of water. Cover the earthen vessel,
and set it in the oven with the bread, and let the soup bake at the same
time.
If the bread is done before the dinner hour, you must keep the soup
still longer in the oven.
Do not use _cold_ meat for this or any other soup, unless you are very
poor.
FISH.
TO CLEAN FISH.--This must always be done with the greatest care and
nicety. If sent to table imperfectly cleaned, they are disgraceful to
the cook, and disgusting to the sight and taste. Handle the fish
lightly; not roughly so as to bruise it. Wash it well, but do not leave
it in the water longer than is needful. It will lose its flavor, and
become insipid, if soaked. To scale it, lay the fish flat upon one side,
holding it firmly in the left hand, and with the right taking off the
scales by means of a knife. When both sides are done, pour sufficient
cold water over it to float off all the loose scales that may have
escaped your notice. It is best to pump on it. Then proceed to open and
empty the fish. Be sure that not the smallest particle of the entrails
is left in. Scrape all carefully from the backbone. Wash out all the
blood from the inside. A dexterous cook can draw a fish without
splitting it entirely down, all the way from head to tail. Smelts and
other small fish are drawn or emptied at the gills.
All fish should be cleaned or drawn as soon as they are brought in, and
then kept on ice, till the moment for cooking.
TO BOIL FISH.--No fish can be fit to eat unless the eyes are prominent
and lively, the gills very red, and the body firm and stiff, springing
back immediately when bent round to try them. Every scale must be
carefully scraped off, and the entrails entirely extracted; not the
smallest portion being carelessly left sticking to the backbone.
Previous to cooking, fish of every kind should be laid in cold water,
and the blood thoroughly washed from the inside. Few fish are not the
better for being put on to boil in cold water, heating gradually with it
till it comes to a boil. If you put it on in boiling water, the outside
becomes boiling hot too soon; and is apt to break and come off in
flakes, while the inside still remains hard and underdone: halibut,
salmon, cod, and other large thick fish must be boiled slowly and
thoroughly throughout, taking nearly as long as meat. Always put salt
into the water at the commencement, and a little vinegar towards the
last. In every kitchen should be a large oval kettle purposely for
boiling fish. This kettle has a movable strainer inside. The fish lies
on the strainer. To try if it is done, run a thin sharp knife in it,
till it reaches the backbone; and see if the flesh will loosen or
separate easily. If it adheres to the bone it requires more boiling.
When quite done, leave it no longer in the kettle, or it will lose its
flavor and get a woolly look. Take out the strainer with the fish upon
it. Drain off the water through the strainer, cover the fish with a
folded napkin or fine towel, doubled thick; transfer it to a heated
dish, and keep it warm and dry till it goes to table, directly after the
soup. In the mean time prepare the sauce to be served up along with the
fish.
FRYING FISH.--Fish should be fried in _very good_ fresh butter, or nice
beef drippings; or else in lard, which last, is the most usual method. A
large allowance of lard should be put into the pan, and held over a
clear fire, till it becomes so hot as to boil fast in the pan. Till the
lard hisses and bubbles do not put in the fish. They must first be dried
separately in a clean cloth, and then scored on the back in deep
incisions, or gashes, and slightly dredged with flour. Unless the lard
is amply sufficient in quantity to cover the fish well, and bear them up
towards the surface, they will sink heavily to the bottom of the pan,
and perhaps stick there and burn. Also, if there is not fat enough, the
fish will absorb the whole of what there is, and become dark-colored and
greasy.
BAKED FISH.--This is a dish for company. You may bake in the same manner
a shad, a fresh codfish, a sheep's head, a white fish, or a blue fish,
or a pair of large black fish. Trout also are considered fish for
baking. Cut off the head, and split the fish nearly down to the tail.
For a stuffing, cut two slices of nice light wheat bread, of shape and
size to fit easily into the inside of the fish, and spread them thickly
with very new fresh butter. Season them with cayenne and powdered mace,
and moisten them with port wine or sherry. Add the juice and yellow rind
of a lemon, grated; and sufficient powdered white sugar to take off the
extreme acid of the last. Fill the body of the fish with this stuffing,
kept in by tying round the fish, carefully, a white cotton cord, or
tape, so as to confine it in several places. Lay bits of fresh butter
over the outside, at equal distances. Place the fish on a trivet, in a
bake pan, and pour round it a pint of wine and water mixed. Baste it
with this frequently while baking. It will require at least an hour in a
quick oven. If the basting does not leave sufficient gravy, add half a
pint more of wine mixed with a little hot water.
When you have taken up the fish, keep it hot while you are finishing the
gravy, which you should thicken and enrich by stirring in smoothly a
piece of butter mixed slightly into a paste with flour, and seasoned
with grated nutmeg. Serve up the gravy in a sauce-boat, and lay slices
of lemon along the back of the fish, having, of course, removed the
string that was wound around it to confine the stuffing. Send to table
with the baked fish, a dish of potatos mashed with milk and butter, and
browned on the surface with a salamander, or a red hot shovel. Always
remove the seeds of lemon slices. Fresh mackerel may be baked thus.
Fish may be baked plainly, with a stuffing of sweet marjoram, minced
sage, and onion, (previously boiled and drained,) a little butter, or
finely chopped beef suet, and plenty of grated bread crumbs, seasoned
with a little black pepper. Or instead of crumbs you may put in slices
of bread and butter soaked in milk, and secured as above from falling
out while the fish is baking.
STEWED FISH.--Take any nice fresh fish of moderate size, and when it is
drawn and washed, cut it into three or four pieces, and put them into a
stew-pan with amply sufficient hot water to keep them from burning.
Season them with a little salt and cayenne. After it has simmered
steadily for half an hour, and been skimmed, have ready a quarter of a
pound of fresh butter, mixed into a smooth paste with a heaped
table-spoonful of flour. Add this to the stew, with a bunch of sweet
marjoram chopped fine, and a sprig of chopped parsley. If approved, add
a small onion pared and sliced very thin. Cover it closely, and let it
stew another half hour. Then send it to table. This is a family dish.
Any fresh fish may be stewed thus.
SPICED FISH.--Cold fish that has been left at dinner is very nice to put
away for the supper table. It should be fresh salmon, fresh cod,
rock-fish, halibut, or the remains of any other large fine fish. Take
out the back bone, and cut the flesh into moderate sized pieces. Lay it
in a deep dish that has a cover. Season the fish with cayenne pepper, a
little salt, some grated nutmeg, and some blades of mace; also some
whole black pepper-corns, and pour over it plenty of good cider vinegar.
Tarragon vinegar will be an improvement. Cover it closely, and set it in
a cold place till wanted. If in spring or summer, set it in ice.
We do not recommend cloves or allspice. The taste of those coarse spices
is so overpowering, (and to many persons so unpleasant,) that they are
now nearly out of use at good tables.
Nutmeg, mace and ginger, will be found much better, and with cinnamon
occasionally, are sufficient for all spice seasonings. Nevertheless, for
those who like them, a few cloves will relieve the insipidity of
halibut.
FISH CAKES.--Take codfish (either fresh or salt) that has been boiled
the day before. Carefully remove the bones, and mince the flesh. Mix
with it a quantity of warm mashed potatos, (mashed with butter and milk)
in the proportion of one third codfish, and two thirds mashed potatos.
Add sufficient beaten egg to make the whole into a smooth paste. Season
it with cayenne; and, if the mixture seems dry, moisten and enrich it
with a little butter. Make it into cakes about an inch thick, and as
large round as the top of a common sized tea-cup. Or into round balls.
Sprinkle them well with flour.
Fry them in lard, or beef-drippings. When one side is done turn them
over. Drain them, and send them to the breakfast table. If approved, you
may add to the mixture two or three onions boiled and minced. Any large
cold fish may be dressed in this manner for next morning's breakfast.
ROCK-FISH.--Rock-fish are generally plain boiled, (with the heads and
tails left on,) and they are eaten with egg sauce, (hard boiled eggs
chopped, and mixed with melted or drawn butter,) seasoned with a little
cayenne. Put on the side of your plate, any nice fish sauce from the
castors. Some serve up rock-fish with hard boiled eggs, cut into halves,
and laid closely in a row along the back of the fish; half an egg being
helped to each person. Cold butter is then eaten with it. We think this
a very nice way.
Blue fish, white fish, and black fish, may be drest in this manner.
Also, sea-bass.
BLACK FISH AND SEA-BASS--Are all boiled in the same manner, having first
carefully scaled, and drawn, and well washed them. In drawing fish take
care that the whole of the inside is nicely scraped from the back-bone,
all along. When ready, dredge a clean soft cloth with flour, wrap the
fish in it; lay it on the strainer of a fish-kettle, and put it in
plenty of water, into which has been thrown a small table-spoonful of
salt. Keep it steadily boiling near half an hour. Take it carefully out
of the cloth, drain it on the strainer, and keep it warm. Send to table
with it egg-sauce.
Eat mashed potatos with it.
_Frying._--To fry the above fish,--cut them in two or three pieces; wash
them and wipe them dry; score them with deep cuts, and season with
cayenne and a little salt--dredge them with flour, and fry them brown in
a pan nearly full of boiling lard.
Any fish may be fried in this manner.
FRESH COD.--A fine codfish should be very thick about the neck; the eyes
lively; the gills red; and the flesh firm and white. If flabby, it is
not good. It is in season from October till May. After scaling,
emptying, washing, and drying, cover it, and let it rest for an hour.
Then put it on in a fish-kettle of _cold_ water, (hard water if you can
procure it,) throw in a small handful of salt, and let the cod heat
gradually, skimming it well. Boil it gently, but steadily, till
thoroughly done. Then, take it out of the kettle, drain it, and keep it
warm till ready to go to table. No fish should be allowed to remain in
the water after the boiling is quite over. Serve it up with oyster or
lobster sauce.
You may broil fresh cod in steaks, or fry it in cutlets. For frying
fish, you may use beef or veal drippings, with the fat skimmed off
carefully. Mutton fat (which is tallow) is unfit for all cookery.
TROUT.--Trout is considered a very nice fish, and is in season in the
summer. When fresh it is a fine flesh color, and its spots are very
bright. To fry trout, dry them in a cloth. Score them deeply, and touch
each incision or cut with a little cayenne. Dredge them with flour.
Grate some bread-crumbs very fine, and in another pan beat some eggs
very light and thick. Dip each fish twice in the egg, and twice in the
crumbs, and fry them in plenty of boiling lard, or in a mixture of lard
and fresh butter. When done, drain them, and send them to table with a
dish of cucumbers sliced and dressed in the usual way, with vinegar,
pepper and salt.
If boiled, serve them up with egg sauce. If broiled, eat them with cold
butter and cayenne.
STEWED TROUT.--This is a dish for company. Mix together as much cold
water and sweet white wine, in equal quantities, as will well cover the
fish. When done, take them out of the stew pan, drain them, and keep
them hot while you prepare the gravy. For this, thicken the liquid with
a piece of fresh butter divided into four, each bit rolled in flour; and
add two or more well-beaten eggs, and season with powdered mace and
nutmeg. Mix all this together, give it one boil up, and pour it over the
trout, after they are dished for table.
BAKED TROUT.--Having cleaned the trout, wrap each fish in a very thin
slice of bacon, sprinkled with minced sweet marjoram, and seasoned with
cayenne and mace. Inclose each fish in a white paper, cut larger than to
fit exactly. Fasten the papers with strings or pins, to be removed
before the fish goes to table. Lay the trout in a square tin pan, and
bake them in the papers, which must be taken off when the fish are done;
but serve them up with the bacon round them or not, as you please.
SALT COD.--The afternoon before the fish is to be eaten, put it to soak
in plenty of cold water. Cover it, and let it stand in a warm place all
night. In the morning pour off that water, wash the fish clean, and
scrub the outside with a brush. Put it into a kettle with cold water
sufficient to cover it well; and let it boil fast till near dinner time,
skimming it well. About half an hour before dinner, pour off this
boiling water, and substitute a sufficiency of cold. In this last water
give the fish one boil up. Send it to table with egg sauce, made with
plenty of butter, and hard-boiled eggs cut in half, and laid closely
along the back of the fish, to be helped with it. Accompany the cod with
a plate of sliced beets drest with vinegar.
Next morning you may take what is left, and having removed all the bone,
mince the fish, and mix it with an equal quantity of mashed potatos,
adding some butter, pepper, and raw egg. Make the whole into balls or
flat cakes, and fry them in drippings or lard. They are good at
breakfast. On every one put a small spot of pepper.
FRIED SMELTS.--The smelt is a very nice little fish, which has a
peculiarly sweet and delicate flavor of its own, that requires, to be
tasted in perfection, no other cooking than plain broiling or frying in
fresh lard. Do not wash them, but wipe them dry in a clean cloth; having
opened and drawn them, (they should be drawn through the gills,) and cut
off the heads and tails, dredge them with flour. The frying-pan must be
more than two-thirds full of boiling lard; boiling hard when the smelts
are put in, so as to float them on the surface. If there is not
sufficient lard, or if it is not boiling, the fish will sink and be dark
colored, and greasy. About ten minutes are sufficient for the small
ones, and fifteen for those of a larger size. When done, drain off the
lard and send them to the breakfast table on a hot dish.
If you prefer retaining the heads and tails, dish them, alternately,
with the heads up and tails down.
FRIED CAT-FISH.--The best cat-fish are the small ones. If too large,
they are generally coarse and strong. They must be cooked quite fresh;
if possible, directly out of the water. They are very popular at fishing
parties. Wash and clean them, cutting off their heads and tails, and
removing the upper part of the back-bone, near the shoulders. Score them
along the back, with deep gashes or incisions. Dredge them with flour,
and fry them in plenty of lard, boiling fast when the cat-fish are put
into the pan. Or, you may fry them in the drippings or gravy saved from
roast beef, or veal. They are very nice dipped in a batter of beaten egg
and grated bread-crumbs, or they may be done in a plain, though not so
nice a way, with indian meal instead of bread-crumbs. Drain off the lard
before you dish them. Touch each incision or cut, _very slightly_, with
a little cayenne before they go to table.
Cat-fish are a breakfast dish, and are also eaten at supper. Porgie and
tutaug are cooked in this manner.
Any fish may be fried as above, when not split open.
FINE CHOWDER.--This is Commodore Stovens's receipt:--Take four
table-spoonfuls of minced onions that have been fried with slices of
salt pork; two pilot-biscuits broken up; one table-spoonful of minced
sweet marjoram, and one of sweet basil; a quarter of a bottle of
mushroom catchup; half a bottle of port wine; half a nutmeg grated; a
few cloves, and mace, and pepper-corns; six pounds of fresh cod, and
sea-bass, cut in slices. Put the whole into a pot, with water enough to
cover it about an inch. Boil it steadily for an hour, carefully stirring
it. Serve it up hot in a large deep dish.
Chowder may be made as above, substituting clams for the cod. The clams
must be chopped small. You may, for variety, make chowder with oysters,
or with boiled lobsters, or crabs; always beginning the mixture with
pork fried with onions.
YANKEE CHOWDER.--Having sliced very thin some salt fat pork, season it
with pepper, lay it in the bottom of a large iron pot, set it over the
fire, and let it fry. When done, take out the pork, leaving the liquid
fat in the bottom. Next, peel and slice some onions, and lay them on the
fat. Pour in sufficient clam or oyster liquor to stew the onions. Have
ready a sufficient quantity of sea-bass, black fish, tutaug, porgie,
haddock, or fresh cod. Cut the fish in small pieces, and put it into the
pot. Add plenty of potatos pared and quartered. Then some clam liquor;
and lastly, some crackers, (soaked and split,) or some soda biscuit; the
crackers to cover the top. If you wish to fill a large pot, repeat all
these ingredients, arranging them in layers. If there is not gravy
enough, add some boiling milk, poured in at the last, and enriched with
bits of butter mixed with flour. Cover the pot closely, and let it stew
half an hour, or more, till all the contents are thoroughly done. You
may bake the chowder in an iron oven, over a wood fire, heaping live
coals on the oven lid.
CLAM CHOWDER.--Put into boiling water from fifty to a hundred of the
small sand clams; and when all their shells have opened, take them out,
as they are then sufficiently boiled. Extract all the hard, or tough,
uneatable part, and throw it away. Slice thin as much salt pork as, when
fried in the bottom of a large pot, will produce half a pint of liquid
or gravy. Take out all the pork, leaving the liquid in the pot. Add to
it a layer of clams. Then a layer of biscuit soaked in milk or warm
water. Next another layer of clams; then another layer of soaked
biscuit; then more clams. Season it with pepper and mace. If there is no
objection to onions, add three or four boiled and sliced, and some
minced marjoram. Also, some potatos, boiled, peeled, and quartered. Let
the last layer be clams, and then cover the whole with a good paste, and
bake it in an iron oven, or boil it in an iron pot.
Chowder of fresh codfish, halibut, sea-bass, or any other good fish, is
made as above. Halibut requires a much larger portion of seasoning, and
a little more pork. Though very large and therefore very profitable, it
is in itself the most tasteless of all fish. Plain boiled halibut is not
worth eating.
SALMON.--In choosing a salmon, see that the gills are a fine red, the
eyes full, the scales clear, and the whole fish stiff; the flesh being
of the peculiar red known as salmon-color. Between the flakes is a
substance called the curd, which gives it firmness. By keeping, this
substance melts down and the flesh becomes soft. A salmon can only be
eaten in perfection on the sea-coast where it was caught, and on the
same day. To transport it any distance, it must be enclosed in a box,
and well packed in ice. In America, salmon is found in the greatest
perfection on the coast of Maine, in the Kennebec. Very fine ones are
brought to Boston market. They also abound on the coasts of California
and Oregon. The American salmon is much larger than those of Europe. It
is so fine a fish that its own flavor is better than any that can be
communicated except by the most simple sauce. It requires as much
boiling as meat, that is, a quarter of an hour for every pound. It is in
season from May till August or September.
The lake salmon is good, but inferior to that of the ocean, in size,
richness, and color.
In boiling a large fish, to judge if it is done, draw up the strainer or
fish-plate, and with a thin knife try if the flesh separates easily from
the bone. If you can loosen it immediately, it is cooked enough. It
injures a fish to let it get cool in the water.
BOILED SALMON.--After carefully emptying the salmon, wash it very clean
from the blood inside, and remove the scales. To preserve the fine color
of the salmon, or to set the curd or creamy substance between the
flakes, it should be put into boiling water, allowing to a gallon of
water a handful of salt. After the water has been boiling a few minutes,
and has been skimmed, put in the fish, (laying it on the drainer,) and
let it boil moderately fast, skimming it well. It must be thoroughly
boiled. Underdone fish of every kind is disgusting and unwholesome.
Before it is taken from the fish kettle ascertain if it is sufficiently
cooked, by trying if the back-bone easily loosens from the flesh. A
quarter of an hour may be allowed for each pound, for a large thick
salmon requires as much cooking as meat. When you take it up, drain it
well, and serve it up immediately. Have ready some lobster sauce, or
shrimp, if more convenient. To make it, mince the meat of a boiled
lobster, mashing the coral with it, and mix it with melted or drawn
butter, made very thick, and having but a very small portion of water.
For shrimp sauce, boil the shrimps, take off their heads, and squeeze
out their bodies from the shells. Thicken with them the drawn butter.
Nothing should go with salmon that will interfere with the flavor of
this fine fish, or give it any taste that will overpower or weaken its
own.
Many prefer salmon with nothing more than cold butter spread on after it
is helped. We think, ourselves, that when the butter is very good, it is
not improved (for salmon) by the addition of flour and water; and a very
little is sufficient. You need use nothing from the castors except
cayenne.
It is usual to eat cucumbers with salmon, and no other vegetables; the
cucumbers to be pared, sliced, laid in cold water, and dressed, and
served up by themselves, with a little plate for each person, that the
vinegar, &c., of the cucumbers may not impart too much acid to the
salmon.
In places remote from the sea, a whole salmon is seldom seen at table
but at dinner parties, or at good hotels. In a very hot climate it
should not be seen at all. When in season, it can be bought in any
quantity by the pound, for a small family. For a small dinner company,
from four to six pounds will suffice.
Cook salmon-trout in the same manner. Large fish should be helped with a
silver fish trowel.
ROASTED SALMON.--Take a large piece of fine fresh salmon, cut from the
middle of the fish, well cleaned and carefully scaled. Wipe it dry in a
clean coarse cloth. Then dredge it with flour, put it on the spit, and
place it before a clear bright fire. Baste it with fresh butter, and
roast it well; seeing that it is thoroughly done to the bone. Serve it
up plain; garnishing the dish with slices of lemon, as many persons like
a little lemon-juice with salmon. This mode of cooking salmon will be
found excellent. A small one, or a salmon-trout, may be roasted whole.
BAKED SALMON.--A small salmon may be baked whole. Stuff it with
forcemeat made of bread-crumbs; chopped oysters, or minced lobster;
butter, cayenne, a little salt, and powdered mace,--all mixed well, and
moistened with beaten yolk of egg. Bend the salmon round, and put the
tail into the mouth, fastening it with a skewer. Put it into a large
deep dish; lay bits of butter on it at small intervals; and set it into
the oven. While baking, look at it occasionally, and baste it with the
butter. When one side is well browned, turn it carefully in the dish,
and add more butter. Bake it till the other side is well browned. Then
transfer it to another dish with the gravy that is about it, and send it
to table.
If you bake salmon in slices, reserve the forcemeat for the outside. Dip
each slice first in beaten yolk of egg, and then in the forcemeat, till
it is well coated.
BROILED SALMON.--Wash carefully all traces of blood from the inside of
the fish. Cut it into rather thick slices, or fillets. Dry them in a
clean cloth, and dredge them with flour. Chalk the bars of the gridiron,
or grease them with lard or suet, or the dripping of beef or veal, to
prevent the fish from sticking. Let the fire be a bed of clear bright
hot coals. Broil the slices well on both sides; and when done, transfer
them to a hot dish, and lay a bit of fresh butter on each, and season
them a little with cayenne.
Fresh codfish may be cut into steaks, and broiled as above.
Also halibut, or any other large fish.
Serve up shrimp or lobster sauce, with all cutlets or steaks of large
fish.
FRIED SALMON CUTLETS.--Having washed, dried and floured the cutlets, put
near a pound of fresh lard into a frying pan, set it over a clear brisk
fire till it boils fast. Have ready a marinade or dressing made of
grated bread-crumbs, chopped sweet-marjoram, beaten yolks of eggs, and
powdered mace--all well mixed. Dip each cutlet into this marinade twice
over, and fry them. There must be plenty of lard, so that the cutlets
may float on its surface instead of sinking to the bottom, and becoming
dark, heavy, and greasy. When they are done, take them up with a
perforated skimmer, draining off the lard as you do so. Lay them on a
hot dish, and keep them hot till wanted. Serve up with them mashed
potatos made into flat cakes, and browned with a salamander or red hot
shovel.
Fresh codfish cutlets may be fried in this manner.
You may broil halibut as above. Halibut is too insipid for boiling.
PICKLED SALMON.--Clean a fine fresh salmon, and remove the bones. Cut
off the head, fins, and tail. Fish, to be pickled, should (instead of
washing) be wiped, and rubbed with a clean dry cloth. Cut it into steaks
or cutlets. Put it into a stone-ware jar with a close cover. A broad low
jar will be best. Sprinkle it with salt, and cayenne. Add some grains of
whole black pepper, and some blades of mace, seasoning it highly to make
it keep well. Fill up the jar with the best cider vinegar, set it in a
moderate oven, and bake it till thoroughly done; adding more vinegar, if
it seems too dry. Then cover the jar very closely, with the lid--if
there is the smallest crack, paste all round a fillet of strong, white
paper. Whenever you open the jar to take out some of the salmon for use,
add some fresh vinegar. Keep the jar in a dry cool place. If properly
done, and well seasoned, it will keep several months.
BROILED FRESH MACKEREL.--Mackerel cannot be eaten too fresh, as no fish
spoils so soon; for which reason in England mackerel is permitted to be
sold on Sundays. We have heard in London the fishwomen crying it about
the streets on Sunday morning before church time. And even then it is
far inferior to mackerel taken immediately out of the sea, at the places
on the coast. It is generally broiled, as no other cooking seems to suit
it, and draw forth its true flavor. Split your mackerel, remove the
bone, and cut off the heads and tails. Dredge them on both sides with
flour, and sprinkle the inside with black pepper and a little salt. Have
your gridiron very hot, over a clear fire, and grease the bars with
lard, or chalk them to prevent the fish from sticking. Broil them well
on both sides, and when they are done, and very hot, lay some bits of
fresh butter upon them. Cover to keep them warm, and send them to table
as soon as possible. They are a fine breakfast fish, and good at a plain
dinner. For sauce, cold butter is all that is necessary, but you may mix
with it, chopped parsley, or minced fennel. At the best English tables,
stewed _gooseberries_, pulped through a sieve and sweetened, is the
fashionable sauce for broiled mackerel, or lemon-juice is squeezed
profusely over the fish. To this the lovers of fruit with every thing,
will not object.
If a mackerel is fresh, the eyes will be full and lively, the gills very
red, and the stripes or bars on the back a very dark color, (nearly
black,) and strongly marked; and the body thick. If thin and flat below
the shoulders, the eyes sunk, the gills pale, and the dark stripes dull
and indistinct, the fish is unfit to eat.
FRIED MACKEREL.--For frying, take small mackerel, as fresh as possible.
Wash them, dry them in a clean cloth, and score them deeply in the back,
making several deep cuts. Season them with a little salt and pepper. Go
over them with beaten egg, and then cover them thickly with grated
bread-crumbs; which, for this purpose, are superior to indian meal or
pounded crackers. Fry them in boiling lard, and dish them hot. Send them
to table with a dish of potatos sliced and fried in butter.
Any fish may be fried in this manner. If large, cut it into pieces.
FRIED HALIBUT.--There is a great deal of eating in a halibut, as it is a
fish of immense size, and has only the back bone. It is sold in pieces
of any weight or quantity, and is exceedingly white and delicate in
appearance. But it is so very insipid, that when _boiled_ it has no
taste at all. Therefore it is always broiled or fried, except at tables
where economy is the chief consideration. If broiled, it is done in the
same manner as any other large fish, but to make it palatable requires
something to give it a little taste.
To fry halibut--take a piece from the middle of the fish, wash it very
carefully, and dry it in a clean cloth. Then cut it into thick fillets,
extracting the bone, which is easily done with a sharp knife, loosening
the flesh from the bone, and raising it as you proceed. Remove the skin.
You may also cut the fillets into slices about an inch thick. Season
with cayenne, and a very little salt. Cover them slightly with nice
butter. Have ready in one pan plenty of grated bread-crumbs; in another
a sufficiency of beaten yolk of egg, seasoned with powdered mace and
nutmeg. Dip the slices first into the egg, then into the pan of
bread-crumbs. Do this twice over, to every slice. Have ready over the
fire a hot frying pan full of _boiling_ lard. Put in the slices and fry
them well. When one side is done, turn the other. When all are done,
take them from the frying pan with a perforated skimmer, and drain them.
Keep them hot between two heated dishes.
Cooked in this manner, the halibut will be sufficiently flavored and is
a profitable fish.
Instead of frying, the halibut steaks may be broiled over a clear fire,
on a grooved gridiron. Having first buttered it, dip each steak, as
above, in bread-crumbs and egg, and lay upon each steak a large tomato
opened, and stuffed with a forcemeat of bread-crumbs seasoned with
butter, pepper, and mace. This will be found a very nice way of cooking
halibut. Fresh cod may be done in the same manner.
Cold halibut is sometimes drest as salad for the tea-table.
BOILED TURBOT OR SHEEP'S-HEAD FISH.--Having cleaned and washed the fish,
soak it an hour or two in salt and water to draw off the slime. Then let
it lie half an hour or more in cold water. Afterwards drain, and wipe it
dry. Score the back deeply with a knife. The whiteness of the fish will
be improved by rubbing it over with a cut lemon. The fish kettle must be
large, and nicely clean. Lay the fish with its back downward, on the
strainer of the kettle. Cover it well with cold water, (milk and water
in equal portions will be better still,) and add a small spoonful of
salt. Do not let it come to a boil too fast, and skim it carefully. When
the scum has ceased to rise, diminish the heat under the kettle, and let
it simmer for about half an hour or more; not allowing it to boil hard.
When the fish is done, take it up carefully with a fish-slice; and
having prepared the sauce, pour it over the fish and send it to table
hot.
For the sauce, mix together very smoothly, with a broad-bladed knife, a
quarter of a pound of fresh butter, and two table-spoonfuls of flour.
Put them into a clean sauce-pan, and hold it over the fire, and stir
them till melted. Then add a large salt-spoonful of powdered mace, and
as much cayenne as will lie on a sixpence. It will be much improved by
the addition of some boiled lobster, chopped small. When the sauce has
simmered five minutes, add very gradually half a pint of rich cream, and
let it come almost to a boil, stirring all the time. After the fish is
taken up, pour the sauce over it hot. Or you may send it to table in a
sauce-boat. In this case ornament the fish with the coral of the lobster
put on in a handsome figure.
Another way of dressing this fish is, after it has been boiled, to set
it on ice to get cold; and then, having carefully removed the bones, cut
the flesh into small squares, put it into a stew-pan, and having mixed
the above sauce, add it to the fish, and let it stew slowly in the
sauce; but do not let it come to a boil. When thoroughly hot, take it
up, and send it to table in a deep dish.
BAKED TURBOT OR SHEEP'S-HEAD FISH.--Having cleaned the fish, soak it an
hour or two in salt and water, and afterwards wash it well through two
or three fresh waters. Then dry it in a clean towel. Score it deeply
across the back; and then lay it in a deep white baking-dish. Mix
together a large tea-spoonful of powdered mace and nutmeg; add a
salt-spoon of cayenne; a few sprigs of sweet marjoram and sweet basil,
finely minced; two large table-spoonfuls of fresh butter; and two
table-spoonfuls of grated bread-crumbs. Stir this mixture into a pint of
rich cream. Pour this marinade over the fish, cover it, and let it stand
half an hour. Then bake it in the marinade; and send it hot to table.
If the fish is too large to be baked whole, cut it into fillets,
extracting the bone.
Salmon-trout may be baked in this manner.
SEA BASS WITH TOMATOS.--Take three large fine sea-bass, or black-fish.
Cut off their heads and tails, and fry the fish in plenty of lard till
about half done. Have ready a pint of tomatos, that have been pickled
cold in vinegar flavored with a muslin bag of mixed spices. Drain the
tomatos well from the vinegar; skin them, and mash them in a pan;
dredging them with about as much flour as would fill a large table-spoon
heaped up. Pour the mixture over the fish while in the frying pan; and
continue frying till they are thoroughly done.
Cutlets of halibut may be fried in this manner with tomatos: also, any
other pan-fish.
Beef-steaks or lamb-chops are excellent fried thus with tomatos.
BAKED SALMON-TROUT.--Having cleaned the fish, and laid it two hours in
weak salt and water, dry it in a cloth, and then rub both the inside and
outside with a seasoning of cayenne pepper, powdered mace, nutmeg, and
a little salt, mixed well together. Then lay it in a deep baking-pan,
turn the tail round into the mouth, and stick bits of fresh butter
thickly over the fish. Put it into an oven, and bake it well; basting it
frequently with the liquid that will soon surround it. When you suppose
it to be nearly done, try it by sticking down to the backbone a
thin-bladed knife. When you find that the flesh separates immediately
from the bone, it is done sufficiently. Serve it up with lobster-sauce.
Any large fresh fish may be baked in this way.
CREAM TROUT.--Having prepared the trout very nicely, and cut off the
heads and tails, put the fish into boiling water that has been slightly
salted, and simmer them for five minutes. Then take them out, and lay
them to drain. Put them into a stew-pan, and season them well with
powdered mace, nutmeg, and a little cayenne, all mixed together. Put in
as much rich cream as will cover the fish, adding the fresh yellow rind
of a small lemon, grated. Keep the pan covered, and let the fish stew
for about ten minutes after it has begun to simmer. Then dish the fish,
and keep them hot till you have finished the sauce. Mix, very smoothly,
a small table-spoonful of arrow-root, the juice of the lemon, and two
table-spoonfuls of sugar, and stir it into the cream. Pour the sauce
over the fish, and then send them to table.
Turbot or sheep's-head fish may be dressed as above; of course it will
require a larger proportion of seasoning, &c., and longer time to cook.
Carp is very nice stewed in this manner.
STEWED CODFISH.--Take fine _fresh_ cod, and cut it into slices an inch
thick, separated from the bones. Lay the pieces of fish in the bottom of
a stew-pan: season them with grated nutmeg; half a dozen blades of mace;
a salt-spoonful of cayenne pepper; and a small saucer full of chopped
celery; or a bunch of sweet herbs tied together. Add a pint of oyster
liquor, and the juice of a lemon. Cover it close, and let it stew gently
till the fish is almost done, shaking the pan frequently. Then take a
piece of fresh butter the size of an egg; roll it in flour, and add it
to the stew. Also, put in two dozen large fine oysters, with what liquor
there is about them. Cover it again; quicken the fire a little, and let
the whole continue to stew five minutes longer. Before you send it to
table, remove the bunch of sweet herbs.
Rock-fish may be stewed in this manner. Fresh salmon also.
FRIED CODFISH.--Take the middle or tail part of a fresh codfish, and cut
it into slices not quite an inch thick, first removing the skin. Season
them with a little salt and cayenne pepper. Have ready in one dish some
beaten yolk of egg, and in another some grated bread-crumbs. Dip each
slice of fish twice into the egg, and then twice into the crumbs. Fry
them in fresh butter, and serve them up with the gravy about them.
Halibut may be fried as above.
STEWED HALIBUT.--Cut the fish into pieces about four inches square, of
course omitting the bone. Season it very slightly with salt, and let it
rest for half an hour. Then take it out of the salt, put it into a large
deep dish, and strew over it a mixture of cayenne pepper, ground white
ginger, and grated nutmeg. Lay among it some small bits of fresh butter
rolled in grated bread. Add half a pint of vinegar, (tarragon vinegar if
you have it.) Place the dish in a slow oven, and let the halibut cook
till thoroughly done, basting it very _frequently_ with the liquid. When
nearly done, add a large table-spoonful or more of capers, or pickled
nasturtions.
Halibut is a very insipid fish; but this mode of cooking will give it
taste.
STEWED ROCK-FISH.--Take a large rock-fish, and cut it in slices near an
inch thick. Sprinkle it _very slightly_ with salt, and let it remain for
half an hour. Slice very thin half a dozen large onions. Put them into a
stew-pan with a quarter of a pound of fresh butter, cut into bits. Set
them over a slow fire, and stir them continually till they are quite
soft, taking care not to let them become brown. Then put in the sliced
fish in layers; seasoning each layer with a mixture of white ground
ginger, cayenne pepper, and grated nutmeg; add some chopped parsley, and
some bits of butter rolled in flour. Pour in a pint of water, and, if
you choose, a wine-glass of vinegar, (tarragon vinegar will be best.[B])
Set it over a good fire and let it cook about an hour. When done, take
out the fish carefully, to avoid breaking the slices. Lay it in a deep
dish that has been made hot, and cover it immediately. Have ready the
beaten yolks of two eggs. Stir them into the gravy. Give it one boil up;
and then either pour it over the fish, or serve it up in a sauce-boat.
[B] To make this vinegar--half fill a bottle with tarragon leaves, and
fill it quite up with the best cider vinegar. Cork it tightly, and do
not remove the tarragon, but let it remain always at the bottom. The
flavor is very fine.
Halibut, fresh cod, or any other large fish may be stewed in this
manner.
TO KEEP A SHAD FRESH.--By the following process, (which we can highly
recommend from experience,) a shad may be kept twenty-four hours, or
indeed longer, so as to be perfectly fresh in taste and appearance. For
instance, if brought _fresh_ from market on Saturday morning, it may be
broiled for breakfast on Sunday, and will seem like a fresh shad just
from the water. Immediately on bringing it in, let it be scaled,
cleaned, washed, split, and wiped dry; cutting off the head and tail.
Spread the shad open on a large flat dish. Mix well together in a cup, a
heaped table-spoonful of brown sugar; a heaped tea-spoonful of cayenne
pepper, and a tea-spoonful of fine salt; and then rub the mixture,
thoroughly and evenly, all over the inside of the fish; which, of
course, must be spread with the skin or outside downward. Cover it
closely with a large tin cover or with another dish, and set it
immediately on ice or in a very cold place, and let it rest till next
morning, or till it is wanted for cooking. Immediately before you put it
on the gridiron, take a clean towel and carefully wipe off the _whole of
the seasoning_, not letting a particle of it remain round the edges, or
anywhere else. Then put the shad on a previously heated gridiron, over
hot coals, and broil it well. Butter it, and send it hot to table, where
every one can season it again, according to their taste.
PLANKED SHAD.--This is the best way of cooking shad when in perfection,
just out of the river; and it is much in use at fishing party dinners. A
board or plank, about three inches thick and two feet square, must be
provided for the purpose. This plank should be of well-seasoned oak or
hickory, and very clean. A pine board will very soon catch fire and
burn; besides communicating to the fish a taste of turpentine or rosin.
Take a very fine shad, and (having cut off the head and tail,) split it
down the back, clean it, wash it well, and wipe it dry. Sprinkle it
with salt, and cayenne. Stand up the board before the fire till it
becomes very hot, and almost begins to char. Then nail to the hot board
the spread-open shad, with the back or skin-side next to the plank,
securing it with a few nails, not driven in so hard that they cannot
easily be drawn out. Begin to roast it with the head downward. After a
while turn the other end of the plank, so as to place the tail downward.
Turn it frequently up or down, that the juices of the fish may be
equally dispersed throughout. When done, butter it with fresh butter,
and send it to table on the board; under which, place a large dish or
tray. Help it to the company off the plank. This mode of cooking a shad
will be found superior to all others; and is so generally liked, that
two at least will be required, one at each end of the table. It is much
enjoyed by parties who have dinners on the banks of the river, and
bespeak of the fishermen shad just out of the water.
Lake salmon may be cooked in this manner on a plank. Also, blue fish,
and the lake white fish.
At the principal household stores, shad-boards of oak are now to be
purchased ready made. The cost is from a dollar to seventy-five cents.
They are very strong and smooth, and furnished with thick wires crossing
the board diagonally. Behind these the fish is to slip in without
nailing. They are much used, and we advise every house-keeper to get
one. We see very nice ones at Carryl's Furnishing Store, Chestnut
street, Philadelphia.
SHELL FISH.
TO CHOOSE OYSTERS.--Insert a knife, and if the shell instantly closes
firmly on the knife, the oysters are fresh. If it shuts slowly and
faintly, or not at all, they are dying, or dead. When the shells of raw
oysters are found gaping open they are fit for nothing but to throw
away, and should not have been seen in the market, as they are quite
dead and decomposition has commenced. Clams the same.
TO FEED OYSTERS.--When it is necessary to keep oysters a day or two
before they are cooked, they must be kept clean and fed, otherwise they
will die and spoil. Put them into a large tub of clean water; wash from
them the mud and sand, and scrub them with a birch broom. Then pour off
_that_ water, and give them a clean tubful, placing the oysters with the
deep or large side downward, and sprinkling them well, with salt mixed
with it, allowing about a pint of salt to every two gallons of water.
But if you have a very large quantity of oysters, add to the salt and
water several handfuls of indian meal. Repeat this every twelve hours,
with fresh water and meal. Always at the time of high water, oysters may
be seen to open their shells, as if in expectation of their accustomed
food. If this is carefully continued, they will remain plump and
healthy for two days.
Terrapins also, and other shell fish, should have the salt and water
changed every twelve hours, and be fed with corn meal.
Turtle must also be well fed, and allowed salted water to swim in.
STEWED OYSTERS.--Get two hundred or more fine large fresh oysters. Drain
them from their liquor, (saving it in a pitcher,) and put them into a
stew-pan with a quarter of a pound of fresh butter, and set them over
the fire. When they have simmered, and have almost come to a boil,
remove them from the fire; and have ready a pan of very cold water. Take
out the oysters, (one at a time, on a fork,) and put them into the cold
water. This will plump them, and render them firm. Having saved about
half their liquor, put it into the stew-pan, seasoned well with blades
of mace, grated nutmeg, whole pepper-corns, and a little cayenne. Stir
in half a pint or more of thick rich cream; and if you cannot procure
cream, an equal quantity of nice fresh butter divided into bits,
slightly dredged with a very little flour. Boil the liquor by itself,
and when it comes to a boil, take the oysters out of the cold water, and
put them into the boiling liquor. In five minutes remove the pan from
the fire, (the oysters having simmered,) and transfer them to a tureen
or deep dish, in the bottom of which has been laid a buttered toast,
that has previously been dipped a minute in hot water or milk.
FRENCH STEWED OYSTERS.--Wash fifty fine large oysters in their own
liquor, then strain it into a stew-pan, putting the oysters in a pan of
cold water. Season the liquor with a large glass or half a pint of white
wine, (sherry or Madeira,) the juice of two lemons, six or seven blades
of mace, and a small grated nutmeg. Boil the seasoned liquor; and skim,
and stir it well. When it comes to a boil, put in the oysters. Give them
one good stir, and then immediately take them from the fire, transfer
them to a deep dish, and send them to table. They are not to boil.
Many persons consider this the finest way of cooking oysters for
company. Try it. The oysters must be of the very best.
FRIED OYSTERS.--For frying, take only the largest and finest oysters.
They should be as fresh as you can get them. Salt oysters are not good
for frying. Take them out of their liquor, carefully, with a fork,
picking off whatever bits of shell may be about them. Dry them in a
clean napkin. Prepare some grated bread-crumbs, or pounded cracker, or
soda biscuit, seasoned with cayenne pepper. Have ready plenty of yolk of
egg beaten till very light; and to each egg allow a large tea-spoonful
of rich cream, or of the best fresh butter. Beat the egg and cream
together. Dip each oyster first into the egg, &c., and then into the
crumbs. Repeat this twice till the oysters are well-coated all over.
Have ready boiling, in a frying-pan, an equal mixture of fresh butter
and lard. It must come nearly to the edge or top of the frying-pan, and
be boiling fast when the oysters go in; otherwise they will be heavy and
greasy, and sink to the bottom. Fry them of a yellow brown on both
sides. Send them to table very hot.
Oysters will be found much the best when fried in grated bread-crumbs.
Cracker-crumbs form a hard, tough coating that is very indigestible, and
also impairs the flavor. Use no salt in making the batter. Omit it
entirely. It overpowers the taste of the oysters.
OYSTER FRITTERS.--Allow to each egg a heaped table-spoonful of flour,
and a jill or small tea-cupful of milk. Beat the eggs till very light
and thick; then stir them, gradually, into the pan of milk, in turn with
the flour, a little at a time. Beat the whole very hard. Have ready the
oysters, that you may proceed immediately to baking the fritters. The
oysters should be fresh, and of the largest size. Having drained them
from their liquor, and dried them separately in a cloth, and dredged
them with flour, set over the fire a frying-pan nearly full of lard.
When it boils fast, put in a large spoonful of the batter. Then lay an
oyster upon it, and cover the oyster with another spoonful of batter.
Fry the fritters of a nice yellow. As they are done, take them up, drain
off the lard from the oysters, and keep them hot till they go to table.
This will be found a very fine receipt if _exactly_ followed.
CLAM FRITTERS.--Put a sufficient quantity of clams into a pot of boiling
water. The small sand-clam will be best. When the shells open wide, take
them out, extract the clams from the shells, and put them into a
stew-pan. Strain their liquor, and pour about half of it over the clams;
adding a little black pepper. They will require no salt. Let them stew,
slowly, for half an hour; then take them out; drain off all the liquor;
and mince the clams as fine as possible, omitting the hardest parts. You
should have as many clams as will make a large pint when minced. Make a
batter of seven eggs, beaten till very thick and light, and then mixed
gradually with a quart of milk, and a pint of sifted flour, stirred in
by degrees, and made perfectly smooth and free from lumps. Then,
gradually, mix the minced clams with the batter, and stir the whole very
hard. Have ready in a frying-pan over the fire, a sufficiency of boiling
lard. Put in, with a spoon, the batter so as to form fritters, and fry
them light brown. Drain them well when done and serve them up hot.
Oyster fritters may be made as above: except that the oysters must be
minced raw, and mixed into the batter without having been stewed.
_Soft-crab Fritters._--Use only the bodies of the crabs, and proceed as
above.
SCOLLOPED CLAMS.--Having boiled a quantity of small sand-clams till they
open of themselves, remove them from the shells. Drain away the liquor,
and chop them small, omitting the hardest parts. Season them with black
pepper and powdered mace, and mix them with grated bread-crumbs and
fresh butter. Get some large clean clam-shells, and fill them to the
edge with the above mixture, moistened with _a very little_ of the
liquor. Cover the surface with grated crumbs, and add to each one a
small bit of butter. Set them in an oven, and bake them light brown.
Send them to table in the shells they were baked in, arranged on large
dishes. They are eaten at breakfast and supper. Clams must always have
the shells washed before they are boiled.
Oysters are frequently scolloped in this manner, minced, and served up
in large _clam_ shells.
Boiled crabs, also, are cooked, minced, and prepared in this way, and
sent to table in the back-shell of the crab.
All these scollops are improved by mixing among them some hard-boiled
eggs, minced or chopped; or some raw egg beaten.
ROASTED OYSTERS.--The old-fashioned way of roasting oysters is to lay
them on a hot hearth, and cover them in hot cinders or ashes, (taking
them out with tongs when done,) or to put them into a moderate fire.
When done, their shells will begin to open. The usual way now is to
broil them on large gridirons of strong wire. Serve them up in their
shells on large dishes, or on trays, at oyster suppers. At every plate
lay an oyster knife and a clean coarse towel, and between every two
chairs set a bucket to receive the empty shells. The gentlemen generally
save the ladies the trouble of opening the oysters, by performing that
office for them.
Have on the table, to eat with the oysters, bread-rolls, biscuits,
butter, and glasses with sticks of celery scraped, and divested of the
green leaves at the top. Have also ale or porter.
Or, you may take large oysters out of their shells, dredge them lightly
with flour, lay them separately on a wire gridiron, and broil them.
Serve them up on large dishes, with a morsel of fresh butter laid on
each oyster.
SCOLLOPED OYSTERS.--Drain the liquor from a sufficient quantity of fine
fresh oysters; and season them with blades of mace, grated nutmeg, and a
little cayenne. Lay about a dozen of them in the bottom of a deep dish.
Cut some slices of wheat bread, and put them to soak in a pan of the
oyster liquor (previously strained.)
Soak the bread till it is soft throughout, but not dissolved. Cover the
oysters in the bottom of the dish, with some slices of the soaked bread,
(drained from the liquor,) and lay upon the bread a few small bits of
nice fresh butter. Then put in another layer of seasoned oysters; then
another layer of soaked bread with bits of butter dispersed upon it.
Repeat this with more layers of oysters, soaked bread, and bits of
butter, till the dish is full, finishing with a close layer of bread on
the top. Set this into a hot oven, and bake it, a short time only, or
till it is well browned on the surface. Oysters require but little
cooking, and this bread has had one baking already. The liquid that is
about the bread is sufficient. It requires no more.
Scolloped oysters may be cooked in large, clean, clam-shells and served
up on great dishes.
PICKLED OYSTERS.--Take a hundred fine large oysters--set them over the
fire in their own liquor--add two ounces of nice fresh butter, and
simmer them slowly for ten minutes; skimming them well. If they boil
fast and long, they will become hard and shrivelled. Take them off the
fire and strain from them their liquor; spread the oysters out on large
dishes, and place them in the air to cool fast, or lay them in a broad
pan of cold water. This renders them firm. Strain the liquor, and then
mix with it an equal quantity of the best and purest clear
cider-vinegar. Season (if the oysters are fresh,) with a small
tea-spoonful of salt, two dozen whole pepper-corns, and a
table-spoonful of powdered mace and nutmeg, mixed. Let the liquor boil
till it is reduced to little more than enough to cover the oysters well.
Put the oysters into a tureen, or a broad stone jar. Pour the hot liquor
over them, and let them grow quite cold before they are eaten. You may
give them a fine tinge of pale pink color by adding to the liquor (while
boiling,) a little prepared cochineal.
PICKLED OYSTERS.--_For keeping._--Have five or six hundred oysters of
the finest sort and largest size. Proceed as in the foregoing receipt,
but increase, proportionately, the quantity of spice and vinegar. Put
them in stone-ware jars, securing the covers by pasting all round, bands
or strips of thick white paper; and place on each jar, on the top of the
liquor, a table-spoonful of salad oil.
Use no other than _genuine cider-vinegar_. Much that is sold for the
best white-wine vinegar is in reality a deleterious compound of
pernicious drugs, that will eat up or dissolve the oysters entirely,
leaving nothing but a sickening whitish fluid. This vinegar is at first
so overpoweringly sharp and pungent, as to destroy, entirely, the taste
of the spices; and, while cooking, emits a disagreeable smell. The
oysters immediately become ragged, and in less than an hour are entirely
destroyed. This vinegar acts in the same manner on all other pickles,
and the use of it should always be shunned.
_Drugs_ should not be employed in any sort of cookery, though their
introduction is now most lamentably frequent. They ruin the flavor and
are injurious to health.
OYSTER PATTIES.--Make sufficient puff-paste for at least a dozen small
patties. Roll it out thick, and line with it twelve small tin
patty-pans. Bake them brown in a brisk oven; and when done set them to
cool. Have ready two or three dozen large, fine, fresh oysters. Wash and
drain them, and put them into a stew-pan with no other liquid than just
enough of their own liquor to keep them from burning. Season them with
cayenne, nutmeg, and mace, and a few of the green tops or leaves of
celery sprigs minced small. Add a quarter of a pound of fresh butter,
divided into bits, and laid among the oysters. To enrich the gravy, stir
in, at the last, the beaten yolks of three or four eggs, or some thick
cream or butter. Let the oysters stew in this gravy about five minutes.
When the patties are beginning to cool, fill each with one or two large
oysters. If you choose, you can bake for every patty a small round lid
of pastry, to be laid lightly on the top, so as to cover the oysters
when they go to table. For company, make a large quantity of oyster
patties, as they are much liked.
OYSTER LOAVES.--Take some tall fresh rolls, or small loaves. Cut nicely
a round or oval hole in the top of each, saving the pieces that come
off. Then carefully scoop out most of the crumb from the inside, leaving
the crust standing. Have ready a sufficient quantity of large fresh
oysters. Put the oysters with one-fourth of their liquor into a
stew-pan; adding the bread-crumbs, a large piece of fresh butter, some
powdered nutmeg, and mace. Stew them about ten minutes. Then stir in two
or three large table-spoonfuls of cream; take them off just as they are
coming to a boil. If cooked too long the oysters will become tough and
shriveled, and the cream will curdle. Fill the inside of your scooped
loaves with the oysters, reserving as many large oysters as you have
loaves. Place the bit of upper-crust carefully on the top of each, so as
to cover the whole. Arrange them on a dish, and lay on each lid one of
the large oysters kept out for the purpose. These ornamental oysters
must be well drained from any liquid that is about them.
OYSTER OMELET.--Having strained the liquor from twenty-five oysters of
the largest size, mince them small; omitting the hard part or gristle.
If you cannot get large oysters, you should have forty or fifty small
ones. Break into a shallow pan six, seven, or eight eggs, according to
the quantity of minced oysters. Omit half the whites, and, (having
beaten the eggs till very light, thick, and smooth,) mix the oysters
gradually into them, adding a little cayenne pepper, and some powdered
nutmeg. Put three ounces or more of the best fresh butter into a small
frying-pan, if you have no pan especially for omelets. Place it over a
clear fire, and when the butter, (which should be previously cut up,)
has come to a boil, put in the omelet-mixture; stir it till it begins to
set; and fry it light brown, lifting the edge several times by slipping
a knife under it, and taking care not to cook it too much or it will
shrivel and become tough. When done, clap a large hot plate or dish on
the top of the omelet, and turn it quickly and carefully out of the pan.
Serve it up immediately. It is a fine breakfast dish. This quantity will
make one large or two small omelets.
Clam omelets may be made as above.
An omelet pan should be smaller than a common frying-pan, and lined with
tin. In a large pan the omelet will spread too much, and become thin
like a pancake.
Never turn an omelet while frying, as that will make it heavy and tough.
When done, brown it by holding a red-hot shovel or salamander close
above the top.
Excellent omelets may be made of cold boiled ham, or smoked tongue;
grated or minced small, mixed with a sufficiency of beaten eggs, and
fried in butter.
BROILED OYSTERS.--Take the largest and finest oysters. See that your
gridiron is very clean. Rub the bars with fresh butter, and set it over
a clear steady fire, entirely free from smoke; or on a bed of bright hot
wood coals. Place the oysters on the gridiron, and when done on one
side, take a fork and turn them on the other; being careful not to let
them burn. Put some fresh butter in the bottom of a dish. Lay the
oysters on it, and season them with pepper and grated nutmeg. Send them
to table hot.
OYSTER PIE.--Having buttered the inside of a deep dish, line it with
puff-paste rolled out rather thick; and prepare another sheet of paste
for the lid. Pat a clean towel into the dish (folded so as to support
the lid) and then put on the lid; set it into the oven, and bake the
paste well. When done, remove the lid, and take out the folded towel.
While the paste is baking, prepare the oysters. Having picked off
carefully any bits of shell that may be found about them, lay them in a
sieve and drain off the liquor into a pan. Put the oysters into a
skillet or stew-pan, with barely enough of the liquor to keep them from
burning. Season them with whole pepper, blades of mace, some grated
nutmeg, and some grated lemon-peel, (the yellow rind only,) and a little
finely minced celery. Then add a large portion of fresh butter, divided
into bits, and very slightly dredged with flour. Let the oysters simmer
over the fire, but do not allow them to come to a boil, as that will
shrivel them. Next beat the yolks only, of three, four, or five eggs,
(in proportion to the size of the pie,) and stir the beaten egg into
the stew a few minutes before you take it from the fire. Keep it warm
till the paste is baked. Then carefully remove the lid of the pie; and
replace it, after you have filled the dish with the oysters and gravy.
The lid of the pie may be ornamented with a wreath of leaves cut out of
paste, and put on before baking. In the centre, place a paste-knot or
flower.
Oyster pies are generally eaten warm; but they are very good cold.
CLAM PIE.--Take a sufficient number of clams to fill a large pie-dish
when opened. Make a nice paste in the proportion of a pound of fresh
butter to two quarts of flour. Paste for shell fish, or meat, or chicken
pies, should be rolled out double the thickness of that intended for
fruit pies. Line the sides and bottom of your pie-dish with paste. Then
cover the bottom with a thin beef steak, divested of bone and fat. Put
in the clams, and season them with mace, nutmeg, and a few whole
pepper-corns. No salt. Add a spoonful of butter rolled in flour, and
some hard-boiled yolks of eggs crumbled fine. Then put in enough of the
clam liquor to make sufficient gravy. Put on the lid of the pie, (which,
like the bottom crust, should be rolled out thick,) notch it handsomely,
and bake it well. It should be eaten warm.
SOFT CRABS.--These are crabs that, having cast their old shells, have
not yet assumed the new ones. In this, the transition state, they are
considered delicacies. Put them into fast-boiling water, and boil them
for ten minutes. Then take them out, drain them, wipe them very clean,
and prepare them for frying by removing the spongy part inside and the
sand-bag. Put plenty of fresh lard into a pan; and when it boils fast,
lay in the crabs, and fry them well, seasoning them with cayenne. As
soon as they are done of a nice golden color, take them out, drain off
the lard back into the pan, and lay them on a large _hot_ dish. Cover
them to keep warm while you fry, in the same lard, all the best part of
a fresh lettuce, chopped small. Let it fry only long enough to become
hot throughout. When you serve up the crabs cover them with the fried
lettuce. Stir into the gravy some cream, or a piece of nice fresh butter
rolled in flour; and send it to table in a sauce-boat, seasoned with a
little cayenne.
Soft crabs require no other flavoring. They make a nice breakfast-dish
for company. Only the large claws are eaten, therefore break off as
useless the small ones.
Instead of lettuce, you may fry the crabs with parsley--removed from the
pan before it becomes brown. Pepper-grass is still better.
TERRAPINS.--In buying terrapins select the largest and thickest. Like
all other delicacies, the best are the cheapest in the end. Small poor
terrapins are not worth the cost of the seasoning. A poor terrapin,
poorly dressed, is indeed a poor thing, and is always recognized as
such, by those who are expected to eat it. _Get fine terrapins only._
Put them into a pot of water that is boiling very hard at the time, and
let them boil for about ten minutes. Immediately on taking them out,
proceed to rub, with a coarse clean cloth, all the skin from the head,
neck, and claws--also, the thin shell, as it comes loose. Having washed
them in warm water, put the terrapins into a clean pot with fresh water,
and a table-spoonful of salt, and boil them again till they are
thoroughly done, and the paws are perfectly soft. Remove the toe-nails.
Some terrapins require three hours. When they are quite soft, open them
carefully, remove the spongy part, the sand-bag, the gall, and the
entrails--it being now the custom to throw away the whole of the
disgusting garbage, always tasteless, tough, and disagreeable to look
at. Be careful not to break the gall, as it will give an unpleasant
bitter taste to the whole. Cut into small pieces all the meat of the
terrapins, put them into a stew-pan, (adding the juice they have yielded
in cutting up, _but no water_,) and proceed to season them, beginning
with cayenne and black pepper, to your taste; also, a handful of flour
for the thickening. Stir all well together, and in a short time add four
table-spoonfuls of cream, or fresh butter, and a half pint of Madeira or
sherry to every four terrapins. If they have no eggs, make up some
artificially; crumbling the yolks of hard-boiled common eggs, mashed to
a paste with a little nice butter, and then made into balls with beaten
raw egg. Add plenty of these to the stew, and let the whole cook
together for a quarter of an hour longer. Serve it up hot, in a well
heated covered dish.
Four fine large terrapins generally make one dish; and the above is the
usual quantity of seasoning for them.
NEW WAY OF DRESSING TERRAPINS.--In buying terrapins, select those only
that are large, fat, and thick-bodied. Put them whole into water that is
boiling hard at the time, and (adding a little salt) boil them till
thoroughly done throughout. Then, taking off the shell, extract the
meat, and remove carefully the sand-bag and gall; also, _all the
entrails_,--they are disgusting, unfit to eat, and are no longer served
up in cooking terrapin for the best tables. Cut the meat into pieces,
and put it into a stew-pan with its eggs, and sufficient fresh butter to
stew it well. Let it stew till quite hot throughout, keeping the pan
carefully covered that none of the flavor may escape; but shake it over
the fire while stewing. In another pan, make a sauce of beaten yolk of
egg, highly flavored with Madeira or sherry, and powdered nutmeg and
mace, and enriched with a large lump of fresh butter. Stir this sauce
well over the fire, and when it has _almost_ come to a boil, take it
off. Send the terrapin to table hot in a covered dish, and the sauce
_separately_ in a sauce-tureen, to be used by those who like it, and
omitted by those who prefer the genuine flavor of the terrapin when
simply stewed with butter.
This is now the usual mode of dressing terrapins in Maryland and
Virginia, and will be found superior to any other.
No dish of terrapins can be good unless the terrapins themselves are of
the best quality. It is mistaken economy to buy poor ones. Besides being
insipid and tasteless, it takes more in number to fill a dish. The
females are the best.
A TERRAPIN POT-PIE.--Take several fine large terrapins, the fattest and
thickest you can get. Put them into a large pot of water that is boiling
hard; and boil them half an hour or more. Then take them out of the
shell, pulling off the outer skin and the toe-nails. Remove the sand-bag
and the gall, taking care not to break it, or it will render the whole
too bitter to be eaten. Take out also the entrails, and throw them away;
as the custom of cooking them is now, very properly, exploded. Then cut
up all the meat of the terrapins, taking care to save all the liquid
that exudes in cutting up, and also the eggs. Season the whole with
pepper, mace, and nutmeg, adding a little salt; and lay among it pieces
of fresh butter slightly rolled in flour.
Have ready an ample quantity of paste, made in the proportion of a pound
of butter to two large quarts (or pounds) of flour, or a pound and a
half of butter to three quarts of flour, and rolled out thick. Butter
the inside of an iron pot, and line the sides with paste, till it
reaches within one-third of the top. Then put in the pieces of terrapin,
with the eggs, butter, &c., and with all the liquid. Lay among the
terrapin, square pieces of paste. Then pour in sufficient water to stew
the whole properly. Next, cover all with a circular lid, or top-crust of
paste, but do not fit it so closely that the gravy cannot bubble up over
the edges while cooking. Cut a small cross slit in the top crust. Place
the pot, with the pie, over a good fire, and boil it till the whole is
thoroughly done, which will be in from three quarters to an hour after
it comes to a boil. Take care not to let it get too dry, but keep at
hand a kettle of boiling water to replenish the pot when necessary. To
ascertain if the pie is done, lift up with a fork a little of the paste,
at one side, and try it low down in the pot.
It may be much improved, by mixing among the pieces of terrapins,
(before putting them into the pie,) some yolks of hard-boiled eggs,
grated or minced. They will enrich the gravy.
A pot-pie may be made, (a very fine one too,) of some of the best pieces
of a green turtle.
A SEA-COAST PIE.--Having boiled a sufficient number of crabs and
lobsters, extract all the meat from the shells, and cut it into
mouthfuls. Have ready some fine large oysters drained from the liquor.
Cover the bottom and sides of a deep dish with puff-paste; and put in a
thick layer of crab or lobster, seasoned with a little cayenne pepper,
and a grated lemon-peel. Mix it with some hard-boiled yolk of egg,
crumbled fine, and moistened with fresh butter. Next, put a close layer
of oysters, seasoned with pounded mace and grated nutmeg. Put some bits
of butter rolled in flour on the top of the layer. Proceed in this
manner with alternate layers of crab or lobster, and of oysters, till
the dish is nearly full. Then pour in, at the last, a tea-cupful or more
of the oyster liquor, with an equal quantity of rich cream. Have ready a
thick lid of puff-paste. Put it on the pie, pressing the edges closely,
so as to unite them all round; and notch them handsomely. Make a wreath
of leaves cut out of paste, and a flower or knot for the centre; place
them on the top-crust; and bake the pie well. While it is baking,
prepare some balls made of chopped oysters; grated bread-crumbs;
powdered nutmeg, or mace; and grated lemon-peel; also, some hard-boiled
yolks of eggs, grated. Having fried these balls in butter, drain them,
and when the pie is baked, lay a circle of them round the top, between
the border of paste-leaves and the centre-knot.
This pie will be found so fine that it ought to be baked in a dish
which will contain a large quantity.
TO DRESS A TURTLE.--The turtle should be taken out of water, and killed
over night in winter, and early in the morning in summer. Hang it up by
the hind fins, and before it has had time to draw in its neck, cut off
its head with a very sharp knife, and leave the turtle suspended. It
should bleed two or three hours or more, before you begin to cut it up.
Then lay it on its back upon a table: have at hand several vessels of
cold water, in which to throw the most important parts as you separate
them; also a large boiler of hot water. Take off the fins at the joint,
and lay them by themselves in cold water; next divide the back-shell
from the under-shell. The upper part of the turtle is called the
calipash--the under part the calipee. In cutting open the turtle, be
very careful not to break the gall, which should be taken out and thrown
away; if broken, its bitterness will spoil all around it. Take out the
entrails and throw them away. The practice of cooking them is now
obsolete. So it is with the entrails of terrapins. Using a sharp knife,
cut off the fins carefully, also the liver, lungs, heart, kidneys, &c.
Wash them well, and lay them in a pan of cold water, the liver in a pan
by itself. If there are eggs, put them also into cold water. Having
extracted the intestines, stand up the turtle on end, to let the blood
run out. Afterwards cut out all the flesh from the upper and under
shells, and remove the bones. Cut the calipee (or meat belonging to the
under-shell) into pieces about as large as the palm of your hand, and
break the shell. The calipash, or meat next the back-shell, may be cut
smaller--the green fat into pieces about two inches square. Put all the
meat into a large pan, sprinkle it slightly with salt, and cover it up.
Lay the shells and fins in a tub of boiling water, and scald them till
the scales can be scraped off with a knife, and all the meat that still
adheres to the shells easily removed, as it is worth saving. Clean the
fins nicely, (taking off the dark skin,) and lay them in cold water.
Wipe the back-shell dry, and set it aside. Then proceed to make the
soup. For this purpose, take the coarser pieces of flesh with the bone
likewise. Put them into a pot with a pound of cold ham cut into pieces,
and eight large calves'-feet (two sets) that have been singed and
scraped, but not skinned. If you cannot conveniently obtain
calves'-feet, substitute a large fore-leg or knuckle of veal. Add four
onions, sliced thin; two tablespoonfuls of sweet-marjoram leaves; a
large bunch of basil; a dozen blades of mace; and a salt-spoon of
cayenne. The ham will make any other salt unnecessary. Pour on as much
water as will completely cover the whole, and let it simmer slowly over
a steady fire during five hours, skimming it well. If after a while the
soup seems to be boiling away too much, replenish it with a little hot
water from a kettle, kept boiling hard for the purpose. When it has
simmered five hours, take up the whole, and strain the soup through a
sieve into a deep pan. Wash out the soup-pot with hot water, and return
the strained soup to it, with the liver, &c., cut in small pieces, and
some of the best of the meat, and a portion of the green fat. Have ready
two or three dozen force-meat balls, the size of a hickory nut, and made
of the usual proportions of minced veal, bread-crumbs, butter, grated
lemon-peel, mace, nutmeg, and beaten yolk of egg. Put them into the
soup, and let it boil an hour longer; also the eggs of the turtle, or
some hard-boiled yolks of eggs. After it has thus boiled another hour,
add the juice and grated yellow rinds of two lemons, and a pint of
Madeira. Boil the soup a quarter of an hour longer, and it will then be
ready for the tureen. It must never boil hard.
In the mean time, stew in another pot the finest of the turtle-meat,
seasoned with a little salt and cayenne, and a liberal allowance of
sweet-marjoram leaves rubbed fine, and mixed with powdered mace and
nutmeg. Add a pound of fresh butter, cut into pieces and rolled in
flour. When the turtle-meat has stewed an hour, put in the green fat,
and add the juice and grated yellow rinds of two lemons, and a pint or
more of Madeira, and let the whole stew slowly an hour longer. While the
meat is stewing, take the shell of the back; wash it clean, and wipe it
dry; lay a band of puff-paste all round the inside of the shell, two
inches below the edge, and two inches above it. Notch the paste
handsomely, and fill the shell with the stewed turtle. Have ready the
oven, heated as if for bread. Lay a large iron baking-sheet or a square
pan upon four bricks (one at each corner) to elevate the turtle-shell
from the floor of the oven. Place on it the shell with its contents, and
let it bake till well browned on the surface. Send it to table with the
shell placed on a large dish. At the other end set the tureen of soup.
Have ready (on two side dishes) the fins stewed tender in a little of
the soup, and the liver fried in butter.
This receipt is for a turtle of moderate size. A large one will, of
course, require an increased proportion of all the articles used in
seasoning it--more wine, &c. In serving up turtle at a dinner-party, let
it constitute the first course, and have nothing else on the table while
the turtle is there.
We have seen elegant silver turtle-dishes, representing the back-shell
of the animal, superbly chased and engraved, the feet for it to stand on
being paws of silver; and the fins having hollow places to hold the
sauce. This was for the stew; making a dish separate from the soup,
which is always sent to table in a tureen.
TURTLE PASTY.--When the meat has been all extracted, scrape and wash the
large back shell of the turtle till it is perfectly clean. Make a rich
puff-paste. Roll it out thin, and line with it the bottom and sides, in
fact the whole of the back-shell. Having prepared and seasoned the best
pieces of the turtle-meat, as in the preceding receipt, stew them till
thoroughly done, and very tender, and when cool, fill the shell with
them. Have ready an upper lid of the same puff-paste, rolled out rather
_thick_. Cover the pie with it. Unite the edges of the upper and under
crusts, very neatly, wetting your fingers with water. Then notch them
handsomely all round, and cut a cross slit in the centre of the top or
cover. Set it directly into a rather quick oven. Bake the crust of a
light brown, and send it to table hot.
LOBSTERS.--If you buy a lobster ready boiled, see that his tail is stiff
and elastic, so that when you bend it under, it springs back
immediately; otherwise he is not fresh. If alive or unboiled, he will be
lively and brisk in his motion when newly caught. The same with prawns,
and crabs.
The heaviest lobsters are the best.
To boil a lobster, have ready a pot of fast-boiling water, very strongly
salted. Put in the lobster head downward; and if the water is really hot
(it is cruel to have it otherwise,) he will be dead in a moment. Crabs,
of course, the same. A moderate sized lobster (and they are the best,)
will be done in half an hour. A large one requires from three-quarters
to an hour. Before it is sent to table, the large claws should be taken
off, and laid beside it. The head also should be separated from the
body, but laid so near it that the division is nearly imperceptible. The
head is never eaten. Split the body, and lay it open all the way down,
including the tail. If there is a good dresser of salads in the house,
the lobster may be served up ready dressed, in a deep dish, seasoned
with the proper condiments, after being cut small or minced, heaped up
towards the centre of the dish, and decorated with the small claws laid
across on the top, with the addition of green celery leaves, or parsley
sprigs.
LOBSTER SALAD--(_plain_.)--Take a well boiled lobster. Extract all the
meat from the body and claws, cut it up small, and mash the coral with
the back of a spoon or a broad knife. Wash the best part of a fresh
lettuce, and cut that up also, omitting all the stalk. Mix together the
chopped lobster and the lettuce, and put them into a salad bowl. Make
the dressing in a deep plate, allowing for one lobster a salt-spoon of
salt, half as much of cayenne, a tea-spoonful of made mustard, (tarragon
mustard is best,) four table-spoonfuls (or more) of sweet oil, and three
table-spoonfuls of the best cider vinegar. Mix all these together, with
the yolks of three hard-boiled eggs, mashed to a soft moist paste with
the other ingredients, adding the coral of the lobster. When they are
all mixed smoothly, add them to the lobster and lettuce. If the mixture
seems too dry, add more sweet oil. Toss and stir the salad with a
box-wood fork. Also, the things should be mashed with a box-wood spoon.
Cover, and set it in a cool place till wanted. It should be eaten as
soon as possible after mixing, as it becomes flat by standing.
Plenty of sweet oil renders a lobster wholesome. Still, persons who are
not in good health, had best abstain from lobster.
You may add to the dressing, one or two raw yolks of eggs, beaten well.
FINE LOBSTER SALAD--(_This is for company._)--Boil eight eggs for ten
minutes, or till quite hard. Lay them in cold water, or cool them by
laying bits of ice among them. When quite cold, cut each egg lengthways
into four or six pieces, taking a bit off one end of each piece or
slice. Cut up into long pieces the best part of a fresh lettuce, that
has just been washed in a pan of cold water. Lay the lettuce in a dish,
and surround it closely with the pieces of egg standing up on their
blunted ends, with the yolk side outward, and forming a handsome wall
all round the bed of lettuce. Upon this, pile neatly the bits of chopped
lobster, finishing with the small claws stuck into the top. Have ready
the dressing in a sauce-tureen. Make it of the beaten yolks of two raw
eggs, and four table-spoonfuls of sweet oil, thickened with the mashed
coral of the lobster, and the crumbled yolks of two hard-boiled eggs,
and season slightly with a little salt, cayenne, and a spoonful of
tarragon mustard. Finish with two table-spoonfuls of vinegar, and stir
the whole hard with a box-wood spoon or fork. Send it to table with the
sauce-tureen, along with the dish of lobster, &c. Pour on each plate of
lobster a portion of this dressing. Or, if you can obtain no lettuce,
mix this dressing at once with the chopped meat of the lobster. Smooth
it in a pile on the dish, (keeping it towards the centre) and stand up
the slips of hard egg handsomely surrounding it--the small claws
decorating the top.
LOBSTER RISSOLES.--Extract all the meat from the shells of one or two
boiled lobsters. Mince it very fine; the coral also. Season it with a
little salt and cayenne, and some powdered mace and nutmeg. Add about a
fourth part of finely grated bread-crumbs; and with a sufficiency of
fresh butter or a little finely-minced veal suet, or some sweet oil,
make it up into balls or cones. Brush them over with yolk of egg, dredge
them lightly with flour, and fry them in lard. Introduce them as a side
dish at a dinner party, or as an accompaniment to salmon.
This mixture may be baked in puff-paste as little patties, or you may
bake in a soup-plate an empty shell of paste, and when done, (having
stewed the rissole mixture made moist) fill the cold paste with it, and
serve it up as a lobster pie.
In buying lobsters, choose those that are the heaviest and liveliest, or
quickest in their motions when touched. They are then fresh. The hen has
the broadest tail and the softest fins.
LOBSTER PUDDING.--Take the empty back shell of one large boiled lobster,
and all the best meat of two. Clean out the shell very nicely; washing
it, and wiping it dry. Mince the meat, and mash the coral with it;
adding half a dozen yolks of hard-boiled eggs crumbled among it, and
season it well with powdered mace and nutmeg, and a little cayenne.
Moisten it all through with plenty of sweet oil, and the raw yolks of
one or two eggs, well beaten. Fill the shell with this pudding, and
cover the surface of the mixture with a coating of finely-grated
bread-crumbs. Brown it by holding over it a salamander, or a red hot
fire-shovel. Send it to table in the shell, laid on a china dish.
Small puddings may be made as above, of crab-meat put into several large
crab-shells, and placed side by side on a dish.
They may be eaten either warm or cold; and they look well with green
lettuce or pepper-grass, disposed fancifully among them.
CRABS.--Crabs are seldom eaten except at the sea-shore, where there is a
certainty of their being fresh from the water. They are very abundant,
but so little is in them, that when better things are to be had, they
are scarcely worth the trouble of boiling and picking out the shell.
They are cooked like lobsters, in boiling salt and water, and brought to
table piled on large dishes, and are eaten with salt, pepper, sweet oil,
and vinegar. The meat of two dozen crabs, when all is extracted, will
make but a small dish. Season it with cayenne, mustard, oil, vinegar,
and eat it cold; or stew it with fresh butter, powdered mace, and
nutmeg, and serve it up hot.
_Prawns._--The same.
SHRIMPS.--Of all fish belonging to the lobster species, shrimps are the
smallest. In England, where they abound, they are sold by the quart,
ready boiled. The way to eat them is to pull off the head, and squeeze
the body out of the shell by pressing it between your fore-finger and
thumb. At good tables they are only used as sauce for large fish,
squeezed out of the shell, and stirred into melted butter.
LOBSTER SAUCE.--Take a small hen lobster that has been well boiled.
Extract all the meat, and chop it large. Take out the coral, and pound
it smooth in a marble mortar, adding, as you proceed, sufficient sweet
oil. Make some nice drawn butter, allowing half a pound of nice fresh
butter to two heaped table-spoonfuls of flour, and a pint of hot water.
Mix the butter and flour thoroughly, and then gradually add to them the
coral, so as to give a fine color. Then mix this with a small pint of
boiling water. Hold the saucepan over the fire, (shaking it about till
it simmers) but do not let it quite boil. Put in the chopped lobster,
and let that simmer in the sauce, till well heated. To allow it to boil
will spoil the color, (which should be pale pink,) and may be improved
by a little prepared cochineal. Or, you may tie, in a small bit of thin
muslin, a few chips of alkanet, and put it into the sauce, (taking it
out, of course, before it goes to table.) Alkanet communicates a
beautiful pink color, and has no taste in itself.
This quantity of sauce is for a large fish--salmon, cod, turbot, or
sheep's head. There should always be an ample supply of sauce. It is
very awkward for the sauce to give out, before it has gone round the
company.
BEEF.
ROASTING BEEF.--The prime piece of beef for roasting is the sirloin; but
being too large for a small family, the ribs are generally preferred,
when there are but few persons to eat of it. So also is the baron, or
double sirloin, undivided along the back. It is chiefly seen at great
dinners. Except the sirloin and ribs, there are no very good roasting
pieces, all the rest being generally used for stews, soups, &c., and for
corning or salting. Unless the animal is a very fine one, the inferior
pieces are apt to be tough, hard, and coarse. The round is the best
piece for corning or salting, and for cooking, as beef _a-la-mode_, or
converting into what, in England, is called rump-steaks. These steaks
require a rolling-pin, before they can be made tender enough for good
eating, or good digestion. The finest and tenderest steaks are those cut
from the sirloin. The meat of a young well-fed heifer is very good; and
that of an old ox, (that has done working, and afterwards been fattened
well on plenty of wholesome food,) may be made of superior excellence.
The lean of good fresh beef is of a bright red color, a fine close
grain, and feels tender to the touch on pinching it between your thumb
and finger. The fat is firm and very nearly white. The suet about the
kidney, firm and quite white. If, on the contrary, the lean is coarse,
tough, and of a dull color, and the fat scanty, yellow, and moist, do
not buy that meat for any purpose. The same rules will apply to mutton.
If the weather is so cold that the meat is frozen, thaw it by lying it
all night or early in the morning in a tub of _cold_ water. If thawed in
water the least warm, the meat will spoil, and be rendered unfit to eat.
Meat that has been frozen, requires a much longer time to cook, than if
that accident had not happened. _All_ frozen animals must be thawed in
cold water previous to cooking. Cold roast-beef is much liked in
England. In America, where meat is more abundant, and therefore less
costly, it is not considered a proper dish to place before a visitor;
therefore, in our country, a large piece is seldom cooked with a view to
next day's dinner. We prefer smaller pieces, always served up fresh and
hot. Beef for roasting, should be well washed in plenty of cold water;
then dried with a clean cloth. Prepare the fire, in time to be burning
well, when the meat is put down. It should have plenty of hot coals, and
no part of the fire black, ashy, or smoky, and the hearth swept very
clean: _for no sweeping must go on while the meat (or any thing else) is
cooking_. The spit should always be kept perfectly clean, when not in
use; and well washed, wiped, and rubbed immediately after using. Run it
evenly into the meat, which will hang crooked if not well balanced. When
first put down, take care not to set it at once too close to the fire,
but place it rather more than two feet distant, that the meat may heat
gradually. If too near the fire at first, the outside will scorch, and
leave the inside red and bloody. Underdone meat (foolishly called
_rare_) is getting quite out of fashion, being unwholesome and
indigestible, and to most Americans its savour is disgusting. To ladies
and children it is always so, and even the English have ceased to like
it. It is now seldom seen but at those public tables, where they
consider it an object to have as little meat as possible eaten on the
first day, that more may be left for the second day, to be made into
indescribable messes, with ridiculous French names, and passed off as
French dishes, by the so-called French cook, who is frequently an
Irishman.
At first, baste the meat as soon as it begins to roast, with a little
fresh butter, or fresh dripping saved from yesterday's beef. Then, when
its own fat begins to drip, baste it with that, all the while it is
cooking. Gradually move it nearer to the fire, turning the spit round
frequently, so that the meat may be cooked equally on all sides. When it
is nearly done, sprinkle it slightly, with a little salt. When it is
quite done, and you take it from the spit, put it on a large hot dish,
and keep it warm while you skim the gravy, thoroughly, so as to remove
_all_ the fat. Then mix in the gravy a small tea-cup full of hot water,
and thicken it with a very little browned flour. Send it to table very
hot.
As a general rule, a sirloin, weighing fifteen pounds, will require
about four hours (or more) before a good steady fire. If it has been
frozen, it will take much longer. The fatter it is the more cooking it
will require. When sent to table, place near it, a small sauce-shell of
horse-radish, washed, scraped fine, and moistened with the best vinegar.
Put a tea-spoon on the top to take it with. Pickles, and a bottle of
French mustard, at good tables, are generally accompaniments to beef or
mutton, whether roasted or boiled.
The dripping of roast beef, after all the fat has been removed, and the
basting of the meat is over, should be strained into a pan, and kept in
a cold place, with a cover; and next day, when it is congealed into a
cake, scrape off whatever impurities may still adhere to the bottom,
transfer it to a covered jar, and set it in the refrigerator, or where
it will be cold. The dripping of roast beef is excellent for frying, for
plain pie-crust, or for many other purposes. The dripping of mutton
(being tallow) is only fit for soap-fat, and will spoil any dish
whatever.
BROILED BEEF STEAKS.--The best steaks are those from the tender-loin.
Those from the round or rump require beating with a rolling-pin. A
steak-mallet tears them and destroys the juices of the meat. Without
beating they will generally be found too tough or hard for an American
taste, though much liked in Europe, where tender-loin steaks are
considered too expensive. But they are here so much preferred, that, on
good tables, any others are seldom seen. Have all the steaks nearly of a
size and shape, and about half an inch thick. Trim off the fat, and cut
short the bone, or remove it altogether. Season them with black pepper,
but sprinkle on no salt till they have done cooking; as salt, if put on
at first, hardens them. Set your gridiron over a bed of bright clear
coals, having first rubbed the bars with a very little beef suet, or
dripping. Not mutton fat, as it will give the taste of tallow.
A beef steak cannot be cooked in perfection unless over wood coals. To
cook them before an anthracite fire, on an upright gridiron, is more
like toasting than broiling, and much impairs the true flavor. A
gridiron of the usual shape, with grooved or hollow bars to catch the
gravy, is best of all. Broil the steaks well; and when done on one side,
turn each steak with steak tongs; or a knife and fork, and an inverted
plate.
If onions are liked, peel and boil a few; drain and mince them, and
sprinkle them thickly over the surface of each steak. When they are
well done, take them off the gridiron, and transfer them to a heated
dish, laying a small bit of butter upon it; and put another bit of
butter on the surface of each steak, having first sprinkled them with a
very little fine salt. What there is of their own gravy, pour round them
on the dish. Send it to table as hot as possible.
The English custom of eating what is called _rare_ or underdone beef or
mutton, is now becoming obsolete. To ladies, especially, all food is
disgusting that is red and bloody-looking--and physicians have
discovered, that nothing is wholesome unless well cooked. The
introduction of French cookery has done that much good.
The onions may be stewed in butter or gravy, and served up in a
sauce-boat, seasoned with nutmeg. At the famous beef-steak club of
London, each guest is furnished with a small raw onion, to take on his
fork, and rub over his empty plate, just before the steaks are served
up, which is done one at a time, and as hot as possible, being cooked in
the room.
FRIED BEEF STEAKS.--Sirloin steaks should be tender enough without
beating. Rump steaks will require some; but do not beat them so much as
to tear the meat and exhaust all its juices. We have seen them pounded
almost into a mass of dry shreds, scarcely adhering together. Remove the
fat and bone. Lay them in a frying-pan, with a little fresh butter
dredged with flour, and season them with pepper. Fry them brown,
turning them on both sides. Have ready some onions, peeled, washed, and
sliced. After you have turned the steaks, cover them with the sliced
onions, and then finish the frying, till all is thoroughly done, meat
and onions, slightly sprinkling them with salt. The onions had best be
boiled in a small sauce-pan by themselves, before they are sliced and
fried.
Put the whole on one dish, the onions covering the meat.
Mutton chops, or veal cutlets, or pork steaks, may be fried in this
manner with onions, adding to them some minced sweet marjoram, or if
pork, some sage.
BEEF STEAK WITH OYSTERS.--Take very fine tender sirloin steak, divested
of fat and bone; cut them not larger than the palm of your hand; lay
them in a stew-pan with some bits of fresh butter rolled in flour.
Strain over them sufficient oyster-liquor to cook them well, and to keep
them from burning, and to make a gravy so as to stew, but not to boil
them. Season them with some blades of mace, some grated nutmeg, and a
few whole pepper-corns. Let them cook till they are thoroughly done, and
not the least red. Then put in some fine large oysters. Set the stew-pan
again over the fire till the oysters are plump, which should be in about
five or six minutes. If cooked too much, the oysters will toughen and
shrink. When done, transfer the whole to a deep dish, mixing the oysters
evenly among the meat. Before you take them up, make some sippet or
thin toast, in triangular or pointed slices, with the crust cut off. Dip
the slices (for a minute) in boiling water; then take them out, and
stand them in a circle all round the inside of the dish, the points of
the sippets upwards.
CORNED OR SALTED BEEF.--For boiling, there is no piece of corned beef so
good, and so profitable, as the round. A large round is always better
and more tender than a small one, if the ox has been well fed. A small
round of beef is generally tough. In buying it, see that it looks and
smells well, as sometimes beef is not salted till it begins to taint;
and then it is done, with a view of disguising its unwholesome and
disgusting condition, which, however, will immediately be manifest as
soon as it is put on to boil, if not before. Every sort of food, the
least verging on decomposition, is unfit for any thing but to throw away
or bury. It is not necessary to buy always a whole round of beef. You
can have it cut into a half, third part, quarter, or into as many pounds
as you want. If very salt, lay it to soak in cold water the night
before, or early in the morning. Half a round (weighing about fifteen
pounds) will require about four hours to boil sufficiently. A whole
round, double that time. It must boil very slowly. If it boils too fast
at first, nothing will afterwards make it tender. The fire must be
steady, and moderate, that the heat may penetrate all through, slowly
and equally. The pot must be kept closely covered, unless for a minute
when the scum is taken off, and that must be done frequently. The beef
should, while boiling, be turned several times in the pot. It is much
the best way to boil it without any vegetables in the same pot; they
imbibe too much of the fat, particularly cabbage. Boil the cabbage by
itself in plenty of water, having first washed it well, laid it a while
in cold water, with the head downwards, and examined it well to see if
there are no insects between the leaves. The leaves on the very outside,
should be removed, and the stalk cut short. Tie a string round the
cabbage to keep it from falling apart. Put it into a pot with plenty of
cold water, and boil it an hour. Then take it out, drain it, and lay it
in a pan of cold water, or place it under the hydrant, for the hydrant
water to run copiously upon it.
When the cabbage is perfectly cold, wash out the pot in which it was
parboiled, or put it into another quite clean one, and boil it another
hour. Then take it up, and keep it warm till wanted. Before you send it
to table, lay some bits of nice fresh butter between the inside leaves,
and sprinkle on a little pepper. This is much nicer than preparing what
is called drawn or melted butter to pour over the cabbage, and far more
wholesome. Drawn butter is seldom well made, being frequently little
more than a small morsel of butter, deluged with greasy water; and
sometimes it is nearly all flour and water. Cabbage cooked as above will
be found excellent, and be divested of the cabbage smell which is to
many persons disagreeable.
Carrots are also an usual accompaniment to corned beef. They should be
washed, scraped, cut into pieces, and split, if very large; put into
boiling water, and cooked, according to their size, from one hour to two
hours. Before taking them up, try with a fork if they are tender
throughout. When done, they are best cut into slices, a little cold
butter mixed with them, and put into a deep dish, to be helped with a
spoon.
Parsnips may be dressed in the same manner.
For a plain family dinner, corned beef, cabbage, and carrots, cooked
_exactly_ as above, with, of course, the addition of potatos, will, on
trial, be found excellent.
Corned beef _stewed_ very slowly, in a small quantity of water, (barely
sufficient to cover the meat,) well skimmed, and with the vegetables
done separately, is still better than when _boiled_. Mustard is a good
condiment for corned beef--so is vinegar to the cabbage. Pickles, also;
French mustard is very fine with it.
Next to the round, the edgebone is the best piece for boiling. The
brisket or plate is too fat, and should only be eaten by persons in
strong health, and who take a great deal of exercise. No fat meat should
be given to children. Indeed there is generally great difficulty in
making them eat it. They are right, as it is very unwholesome for them,
unless the very leanest bits are selected from among the mass of fat.
Have tarragon vinegar on the table to eat with corned beef and cabbage.
FRIED CORNED BEEF.--This is a very homely and economical dish, but it is
liked by many persons. Cut thin slices from a cold round of beef, and
season them with pepper. Fry them brown over a quick fire, and put them
in a covered dish to keep hot. Then wash the frying-pan, cleaning it
well from the fat, and put into it plenty of cold boiled cabbage, cut
small, and some cold carrots, sliced thin, adding some thin sliced suet,
or beef dripping to fry them in. When done, dish the meat with the
vegetables laid around it; adding the gravy. This is the dish called in
England, Bubble-and-Squeak, perhaps from the noise it makes when frying.
It is only designed for strong healthy people with good appetites.
It is sometimes made of salt pork or bacon; sliced potatos being added
to the cabbage.
DRIED AND SMOKED BEEF.--For this purpose have as much as you want cut
off from a fine round. Mix together two ounces of saltpetre, (finely
pounded) rub it into the meat, cover it, and let it stand a day. Then
mix together half a pound of bay-salt, an ounce of black pepper, half an
ounce of ground ginger, and an ounce of pounded mace, and a quarter of
an ounce of powdered cloves. Rub this mixture well into the beef, put it
into a deep pan, and let it lie in this pickle two weeks, turning it
every day. Then hang it up in a smoke-house, and smoke it over a fire
made of corn-cobs, or maple chips. Never use pine for smoking.
It may be eaten chipped at tea, or what is much better, stewed and
warmed in a skillet. Venison may be spiced, dried, and smoked in the
same manner.
TO STEW SMOKED BEEF.--Having chipped it thin, put it into a skillet,
with fresh butter, pepper, and two or three beaten yolks of eggs. Let it
stew till the beef is crisp and curled up.
Never allow yourself to be persuaded to use pyroligneous acid in curing
dried beef or ham--instead of the real smoke of a wood fire. It
communicates a taste and smell of kreosote, and is a detestable
substitute, detected in a moment.
A SPICED ROUND OF BEEF.--Take a large prime round of beef; extract the
bone, and close the hole. Tie a tape all round it to keep it firm. Take
four ounces of finely powdered saltpetre, and rub it well into the beef.
Put the meat into a very clean pickling-tub that has a close-fitting
cover, and let it rest for two days. Next rub it thoroughly with salt,
and return it to the tub for eight days. Then take an ounce of powdered
mace, a large nutmeg powdered, a half-ounce of pepper, and a quarter of
an ounce of powdered cloves, (not more.) Mix these spices well
together, and then mix them with a pound of fine brown sugar. Rub the
spices and sugar thoroughly all over the beef, which will be ready to
cook next day. Then fill the opening with minced sweet herbs, sweet
basil, and sweet marjoram, laid in loosely and lightly. Take half a
pound of nice beef-suet. Divide it in two, and flatten each half of the
suet by beating it with a rolling-pin. Lay it in a broad earthen pan,
with one sheet of suet under the meat, and the other pressed over it.
Above this place a sheet of clean white paper, and over all put a large
plate. Set it in a hot oven, and bake it five hours or more, till by
probing it to the bottom, with a sharp knife, you find it thoroughly
cooked. It is excellent as a cold standing dish, for a large family.
When it is to be eaten cold, boil fresh cabbage to go with it. Also
parsnips and carrots.
_Cabbage._--For this beef, red cabbage is very nice, cut small, and
stewed with butter and tarragon vinegar.
A-LA-MODE BEEF.--Remove the bone from a fine round of fresh beef, and
also take off the fat. For a round that weighs ten pounds, make
seasoning or stuffing in the following proportions. Half a pound of beef
suet; half a pound of grated bread-crumbs; the crumbled yolks of three
hard-boiled eggs; a large bundle of sweet marjoram, the leaves chopped;
another of sweet basil; four onions minced small, a large table-spoonful
of mixed mace and nutmeg, powdered. Season slightly with salt and
cayenne. Stuff this mixture into the place from whence you took out the
bone. Make numerous deep cuts or incisions about the meat, and stuff
them also. Skewer the meat into a proper shape, and secure its form by
tying it round with tape. Put it into a clean iron oven or bake-pan, and
pour over it a pint of port wine. Put on the lid, and bake the beef
slowly for five or six hours, or till it is thoroughly done all through.
If the meat is to be eaten hot, skim all the fat from the gravy; into
which, after it is taken off the fire, stir in the beaten yolks of two
eggs.
If onions are disliked you can omit them, and substitute minced oysters.
BEEF A-LA-MODE--(_Another way._)--Take a fine round of fresh beef,
extract the bone, and fill the place from whence it was taken with a
stuffing made of bread soaked in milk and then mashed up, butter, and
some yolks of hard-boiled eggs crumbled fine, the yellow rind and juice
of a large grated lemon, sweet marjoram and sweet basil chopped small,
with some powdered nutmeg and mace. Make deep cuts or incisions all over
the outside of the meat, and in every cut stick firmly a slip of bacon
or salt pork put in with a larding-pin. Bring round the flap and skewer
to the side of the round, filling in between with some of the stuffing.
And pour round it a pint or more of port wine. Lay it in an oven, and
bake it slowly till it is well done all through, which will require
some hours. Serve it up with its own gravy under it. It is more
generally eaten cold, at a supper party. In this case, cover it thickly
all over with double parsley or pepper grass, so as to resemble a green
bank. In the centre place a bouquet of natural flowers, rising from the
green bank.
French a-la-mode beef, or beef _a-la-daube_, is prepared as above, but
stewed slowly all night in lard.
BEEF BOUILLI.--Take from six to eight pounds of a fine round of _fresh_
beef. Put it into a soup-pot, with the remains of a piece of cold roast
beef (bones and all) to enrich the gravy, but use no other cold meat
than beef. Season it slightly with salt and pepper, and pour on just
sufficient water to cover it well. Boil it slowly, and skim it well.
When the scum ceases to rise, have ready half a dozen large carrots, cut
into pieces, and put _them_ in first. Afterwards add six turnips,
quartered; a head of celery, cut small; half a dozen parsnips, cut in
pieces; and six whole onions. Let it boil slowly till all the vegetables
are done, and very tender.
Send it to table with the beef in the middle of a large dish; the
vegetables laid all around it; and the gravy (thickened with fine grated
bread-crumbs) in a sauce-boat. Serve up with it, white potatos, boiled
whole; and mashed pumpkin, or winter squash.
This is a good dinner for a plain family.
Those who like tarragon mustard, or tarragon vinegar, may add it on
their plates.
Tomatos may be skinned and stewed with it.
TO STEW COLD CORNED BEEF.--Cut about four pounds of lean from a cold
round of beef, that tastes but little of the salt. Lay it in a stew-pan,
with a quarter of a peck of tomatos quartered, and the same quantity of
ochras sliced; also, two small onions peeled and sliced, and two ounces
of fresh butter rolled in flour. Add a tea-spoonful of whole
pepper-corns, (_no salt_,) and four or five blades of mace. Place it
over a steady but moderate fire. Cover it closely, and let it stew three
or four hours. The vegetables should be entirely dissolved. Serve it up
hot.
This is an excellent way of using up the remains of a cold round of beef
at the season of tomatos and ochras, particularly when the meat has been
rather under-boiled the first day of cooking it.
A few pounds of the lean of a _fresh_ round of beef, will be still
better, cooked in this manner, increasing the quantity of ochras and
tomatos, and stewing it six hours.
Cold fillet of veal is very good stewed with tomatos, ochras, and an
onion or two. Also, the thick or upper part of a cold leg of mutton; or
of pork, either fresh or corned.
TO STEW SMOKED BEEF.--The dried beef, for this purpose, must be fresh
and of the very best quality. Cut it (or rather shave it) into very
thin, small slices, with as little fat as possible. Put the beef into a
skillet, and fill up with boiling water. Cover it, and let it soak or
steep till the water is cold. Then drain off that water, and pour on
some more; but merely enough to cover the chipped beef, which you may
season with a little pepper. Set it over the fire, and (keeping on the
cover) let it stew for a quarter of an hour. Then roll a few bits of
butter in a little flour, and add it to the beef, with the yolk of one
or two beaten eggs. Let it stew five minutes longer. Take it up on a hot
dish, and send it to the breakfast or tea-table.
Cold ham may be sliced thin, and stewed in the same manner. Dried
venison also.
FRENCH BEEF.--Take a circular piece from the round, (having removed the
bone,) and trim it nicely from the fat, skin, &c. Then lard it all over
with long slips of fat pork or bacon. The place from whence the bone was
taken must be filled with a forcemeat, made of minced suet, grated
bread-crumbs, sweet marjoram rubbed fine, and grated lemon-peel; add a
little salt and pepper. Tie a tape closely round the outside of the
beef, to keep it compact, and in shape. Put it into a broad earthen jar
with a cover; or into an iron bake-oven. Add some whole pepper, a large
onion, a bunch of sweet herbs, three bay-leaves, a quarter of a pound of
butter, divided into small bits, (each piece rolled in flour,) and half
a pint of claret, or port wine. Bake or stew it thus in its own liquor,
for five, six, or seven hours, (in proportion to its size,) for it must
be thoroughly done, quite tender, and brown all through the inside.
STEWED FRESH BEEF.--Cut a square thick piece of beef from the round or
sirloin, and trim off the fat. Put it into a stew-pan with just water
enough to cover it, and season it slightly with salt and pepper. Let it
stew slowly, till tender all through. Then add potatos pared and
quartered, turnips the same; and also, parsnips split and cut short, and
(if approved) a few sliced onions. Stew altogether till the vegetables
are thoroughly cooked, and then serve up the whole on one large dish.
Mutton, veal, and fresh pork, may be stewed in the same manner. Sweet
potatos, scraped and split, are excellent served with fresh meat. There
should be a great plenty of vegetables, as they are much liked in stews.
What is called an Irish stew is fresh beef stewed with potatos only--the
potatos being first pared, and cut in quarters.
For economy, cold roast beef may be stewed next day with fresh potatos
cut up, and as little water as possible. Cold potatos, if re-cooked, are
always hard, tough, and unwholesome.
STEWED BEEFSTEAKS WITH OYSTERS.--Take some fine tender beef-steaks cut
from the sirloin. If they are taken from the round they should be beaten
with a rolling-pin to make them tender. Put them into a close stew-pan,
with barely sufficient water to prevent their burning, and set them over
the fire to brown. When they are browned, add sufficient oyster-liquor
to cook them, and some bits of fresh butter rolled in flour. Let them
stew slowly for an hour, or till they are thoroughly done. Then add
three or four dozen of fine large fresh oysters, in proportion to the
quantity of meat, seasoning them well with nutmeg, a few blades of mace,
and a little cayenne. Cover the pan, and simmer them till the oysters
are well plumped, but not till they come to a boil. When all is properly
cooked, transfer the whole to a deep dish, and send it to table hot.
The meat, when preparing, should be cut into pieces about as large as
the palm of your hand, and an inch thick, omitting the fat. Small clams
may be substituted for oysters.
TOMATO STEWED BEEF.--Take large ripe tomatos, and scald them, to make
the skins peel off easily. Pare, quarter them, and sprinkle them with a
little salt and pepper. Lay in a stew-pan some thin tender beef-steaks,
lamb, mutton-chops, or cutlets of fresh pork. Bury the meat in the
tomatos, and add some bits of fresh butter rolled in flour and a little
sugar to take off the extreme acid of the tomatos; also, an onion or
two, very finely minced. Let the whole cook slowly till the meat is
thoroughly done, and the tomatos dissolved to a pulp. Send it to table
all on the same dish.
A rabbit or chicken, (cut apart as for carving,) is very good stewed
with tomatos. Freshly killed venison is excellent for this stew.
Many persons mix grated bread with tomato stew. We think it weakens the
taste--a thing not desirable in any cooking.
This stew must not have a drop of water in it; the tomatos will give out
sufficient liquid to cook the meat. There is not a more wholesome dish.
BEEF STEWED WITH ONIONS.--Take a square piece of beef from the sirloin,
where there is no bone or fat. With a sharp knife make very deep
incisions all over it, but not quite so deep as to cut it through to the
bottom. Prepare a forcemeat by peeling and boiling some onions. Then
drain and mince them. Mix in with the onions some fine bread-crumbs, and
some chopped sweet-marjoram, (seasoning with powdered nutmeg and mace,)
and fill tightly all the incisions. Put into the bottom of a stew-pan
some drippings of roast-beef, or else a piece of fresh butter rolled in
flour. Lay the seasoned meat upon it. Let it stew till completely
cooked, and no redness to be found in any part of it. Serve it up hot,
and send it to table in its own gravy.
A round or fillet of fresh pork may be cooked as above, putting into the
incisions, or holes, powdered sage instead of sweet marjoram, with the
onions and crumbs; and using lard instead of beef-drippings. Eat apple
sauce with it.
BEEF STEWED WITH OYSTERS.--Prepare two or three pounds of the best beef,
by trimming off all the fat, and removing the bone. Lay in the bottom of
the stew-pan a few bits of fresh butter rolled in flour. Then put in the
meat, and sprinkle a little pepper over each piece. Have ready a quart
of large fresh oysters. Strain the liquor to clear it from bits of the
shell, and pour it over the meat in the stew-pan. Stew the meat in the
oyster liquor till it is thoroughly cooked, skimming it well, and
keeping it covered, except when skimming. Then add grated nutmeg, and a
few blades of mace. Lastly, put in the oysters, and let them remain in
just long enough to plump, which will be in a few minutes. If cooked too
much oysters always shrivel, and become hard and tough. When all is
done, serve up the whole in one dish.
In the same manner clams may be stewed with beef. Never put any salt
where there are clams. They are quite salt enough in themselves.
FRENCH STEW.--Cut into pieces two or three pounds of the lean of fresh
tender beef, mutton, veal, or pork, and peel and slice a quarter of a
peck or more of ripe tomatos. Season the whole with a little pepper and
salt. Add, if you choose, a tea-spoonful of sugar to moderate the
extreme acid of the tomatos. Put the whole together into a stew-pot, and
cover it closely, opening it occasionally to see how it is doing. Put no
water to this stew, the juice of the tomatos will cook it thoroughly.
Add a large table-spoonful of minced tarragon leaves. When the tomatos
are all dissolved, stir in a piece of fresh butter, dredged with flour.
Let it stew about a quarter of an hour longer. When the meat is quite
tender all through, and every thing well done, make some sippets of
triangular shaped toast, with the crust trimmed off. Dip the toast, for
a moment, in hot water; butter and stand it up all round the inside of a
deep dish. Then fill it with the stew, and serve it hot. Any meat may be
stewed thus with tomatos.
POTATO BEEF.--This is an excellent family dish. Boil some potatos till
well done, all through. Peel them, put them into a large pan, and mash
them smoothly, adding, as you proceed, some milk, and one or more beaten
eggs, well mixed into the potatos. Rub the bottom of a white ware
pudding dish with nice butter, or some drippings of cold beef, and cover
it with a thick layer of mashed potatos. Next, put in thin slices of
beef, (omitting the fat,) enough to cover the potatos. Next, add
another layer of mashed potatos, evenly and thickly spread. Then, more
thin slices of beef, and then more potatos. Do this, till the dish is
full; finishing it with potatos, on the top, heaping them up in the
centre. Bake it in an oven. There must be plenty of potatos, as they
will be much liked.
BEEF AND MUSHROOMS.--Take three pounds of the best sirloin steaks.
Season them with black pepper and a very little salt, having removed the
fat and bone. Put a quarter of a pound of the best fresh butter into a
frying-pan, and set it over the fire. When it is boiling hot, put in the
steaks, and fry them brown. Have ready a quart of very fresh mushrooms,
peeled and stemmed. If large, cut them in four. Season them with a
little pepper and salt, and dredge them lightly with flour, and add a
few bits of butter. Stew them in a separate pan kept closely covered.
When the steaks are done, pour the mushrooms over them with all their
juice. Put them all (steaks and mushrooms) into a dish with a cover, and
serve them up hot.
This is a breakfast dish, or a side dish for dinner. Unless the company
is very small, four pounds of beef steaks, at least, and three pints of
mushrooms, (with butter in proportion) will be required at dinner, as it
will be much liked.
BEEF'S HEART.--Wash the heart well, and soak it in a pan of tepid water
till all the blood is drawn out of the ventricles, and it is made very
clean and dry. Next par-boil it a quarter of an hour. Then stuff the
cavities with a forcemeat made of minced veal, bread-crumbs, butter or
minced suet, and sweet herbs, seasoned with a little pepper and nutmeg;
or it may be stuffed simply with sage and onions. Sew up the openings
with coarse brown thread, lest the forcemeat should fall out. Put the
heart on a spit, and roast it before a clear fire, for near two hours;
basting it well with nice fresh butter. Thicken the gravy with a little
flour, and stir into it a glass of port wine, or of tarragon vinegar.
Have ready a hot dish and a heated cover. Serve up the heart as hot as
possible, for it soon chills, and pour the gravy around it. The gravy
should be heated to a boil in a small sauce-pan.
_Calves' Hearts_ are cooked in the same manner. As they are small, it
takes four calves' hearts to make a dish.
Hearts may be sliced and stewed with onions and sweet herbs, adding to
the stew a little salad oil.
BEEF PATTIES.--A nice way of disposing of underdone roast beef, is to
mince fine all the lean, and a _very little_ of the fat. Season it with
cayenne, and powdered nutmeg, or mace, or else chopped sweet herbs. If
you have any stewed mushroom-gravy, moisten the meat with that. Make a
nice paste, and cut it into small circular sheets, rolled out not very
thin. Cover one half of each sheet of paste with the minced beef (not
too near the edge) and fold over the other half, so as to form a half
moon. Wet your fingers with cold water, and pinch together the two edges
of the half moon. Then crimp them with a sharp knife. Lay the patties in
square baking pans, prick them with a fork, and bake them brown. Or you
may fry them in lard. Serve them up hot, as side dishes.
Cold veal, minced with cold ham, or tongue, makes very nice patties;
also cold chicken or turkey.
A BEEF STEAK PIE.--Stew two pounds or more, of fine tender sirloin
steaks, divested of fat and bone, and cut rather thin. Season them with
a very little salt and pepper; and, when about half done, remove them
from the fire, and keep them warm, saving all the gravy. Make a nice
paste, allowing to two quarts of flour one pound and a quarter of fresh
butter. Divide the butter into four quarters. Rub one half into the pan
of flour, and make it into a dough with, a very little cold water. Roll
it out into a large sheet, and with a broad knife stick over it, at
equal distances, one of the remaining divisions of butter. Then sprinkle
it with more flour, fold it, and roll it out again into a large sheet.
Put on the remainder of the butter in bits, as before. Then fold it
again. Cut the paste into equal halves, and roll them out into two
sheets, trimmed into round or oval forms. With one sheet line a
pie-dish, and fill it with your meat, adding, if convenient, some
mushrooms, or some fresh oysters, or the soft part of a few clams, and
some blades of mace. Use the other sheet of paste as a cover for the
pie, uniting the edges with the under crust by crimping it nicely. Of
the trimmings of the paste, make an ornament or tulip, and stick it into
the slit at the top of the pie.
MEAT PIES--May be made in the above manner of lamb, veal, or pork. Also
of venison or any sort of fresh meat. Pie crust for baking should be
shortened with butter, or with the dripping of roast beef, veal, or
_fresh_ pork. Mutton or lamb dripping are unfit for pie crust, as they
make it taste of tallow. Suet will not do at all for _baked_ paste,
though very good if the paste is to be boiled. Butter and lard will make
a nice plain paste for pies, if both are fresh and good; the butter to
be rubbed into the flour, mixed with a little cold water, and rolled
out; the lard to be spread evenly all over the sheet; then folded and
rolled out again. Meat pies should always have a bottom crust, as the
gravy it imbibes makes it very relishing. Veal pies are insipid without
the addition of some cold ham.
Pies made of game should have a puff-paste, as they are generally for
company.
On the shores of the Chesapeake, very fine pies are made of canvas-back,
or red-neck ducks, when in season. They require puff-paste to be made
in perfection. Pot-pies of these ducks are, of course, excellent.
A BEEF STEAK POT-PIE.--Take two pounds or more of tender beef steaks,
exclusive of the fat and bone, which must be omitted; the steaks from
the sirloin end, cut less than an inch thick, and not larger than four
or five inches square. Put them into a pot with enough water to cover
them, and season them slightly with pepper and salt. Dredge them with a
little flour, and lay on each a morsel of nice fresh butter. Stew the
steaks for half an hour. Meanwhile make a large portion of paste;
allowing to every quart or pound of flour, a small half pound of nice
beef-suet, entirely freed from all its skin and strings, and minced with
a chopper as finely as possible. To three pounds of beef allow four
quarts of flour and not quite two pounds of suet. A pot-pie with but
little paste in proportion to the meat, is no better than a stew. The
paste, if good, is always much liked. Divide the minced suet into two
halves. Rub or crumble one half the suet into the pan of flour; adding
by degrees a little _cold_ water, barely enough to make a stiff dough;
first mixing in a small tea-spoonful of salt. Roll out the lump of dough
into a large sheet, and spread it all over with the remainder of the
minced suet, laid on with a broad knife. Then fold it up, and set it on
a dish in a cool place, to get quite cold. Take a large iron pot, made
very clean. Lay in the bottom the largest pieces of beef steak, and
line round the sides with pieces of the paste, cut to fit. Next put in
the remainder of the meat, interspersed with raw potatos sliced, (either
white or sweet potatos,) and also pieces of the paste cut into squares,
and laid among the meat, to which must be added the gravy saved from the
stew. When the pot is nearly full, cover its contents with a large round
or circular piece of paste. This must not fit _quite closely_, but a
little space or crack must be left all around for the gravy to bubble up
as it boils. Before you put on the lid pour in half a pint, or more, of
water. Cut a cross-slit in the centre of the top-crust. Set the pot over
a good fire, and let it boil steadily, till all is done, meat and paste.
The upper-crust should be well-browned. When cooked, serve the whole
upon one large dish, laying the brown upper-crust on the top of all. If
there is too much gravy, send some of it to table in a sauce-boat, first
skimming it.
It will be improved by adding to the seasoning some nutmeg or powdered
mace. These are the only spices that accord well with meat or poultry.
POT-PIES.--The preceding receipt is good for any sort of pot-pie. They
are all on the same principle. The meat to be divested of the fat, and
stewed first in a pot by itself, saving the gravy. The paste (of which
there should always be an ample allowance) sufficient to line the sides
of the pot all round, and reaching up nearly to the top, besides plenty
of small square pieces to intersperse with the meat, and an upper crust
to cover the whole. At the very bottom the meat and gravy only, as there
the paste might burn. Pot-pies may be made of any sort of fresh meat, or
of fowls or any sort of poultry (cut up, as if for carving,) and
previously stewed. If made of chickens or pigeons or rabbits, add a few
slices of cold ham and put no other salt. For want of suet you may make
the paste with butter, but it must be fresh and good. Allow half a pound
of butter to a large quart of flour. Potato paste is tolerable for
shortening pot-pies, if you make it half mashed potato and half lard. We
do not recommend bread dough or any thing raised with yeast or soda for
boiled paste; when there is no shortening, boiled paste is always tough
and unwholesome.
Pot-pies may be made of apples pared, cored, and quartered; of peaches
quartered and stoned, or of any nice fruit. Fruit pot-pies should have
butter paste, and be well sweetened with brown sugar.
All boiled dough should be eaten warm. It falls and becomes heavy as
soon as cold.
BEEF-STEAK PUDDING.--After clearing it from the skin and strings, mince
as fine as possible three quarters of a pound of nice beef suet. Sift
into a pan two small quarts of flour. Rub half the suet into the flour,
and make it into a paste with a little cold water, (as little as
possible.) Roll it out into a large sheet, and spread over it, evenly,
the other half of the minced suet. Fold it, flour it, roll it again,
and divide it unequally into two pieces, one nearly three times larger
than the other. Roll them out, rather thick than thin. Have ready a
large pound and a quarter of tender-loin beef steak, that has been cut
into thin pieces (without fat or bone, seasoned with a very little salt
and pepper, and some nutmeg) and half-stewed, saving its gravy. Lay this
meat upon the large thick sheet of crust; pour the stewed gravy among
it, and add some bits of fresh butter rolled in flour. Cover it with the
small round of paste, cut to fit, only allowing the lid large enough to
project a little over, so as to be joined firmly by pressing it all
round with your fingers. Do it well and securely, that it may not come
apart while boiling. Dip a large square pudding-cloth in hot
water--shake it out--lay it in a deep pan, dredge it with flour, lay the
pudding into it and tie it firmly, leaving room for swelling. Put it
into a large pot of boiling water, and boil it till, on probing with a
fork, you find the meat quite tender.
Or you may boil it in a large bowl with a rim, tying the cloth carefully
all over the top. Set the bowl in a pot of boiling water.
TO BOIL TRIPE.--Clean the tripe very carefully, giving it a thorough
scraping, and washing in warm water, and trim off the superfluous fat.
Lay it all night in weak salt and water. Then wash it again. Let it lie
an hour or two in milk and water, and then boil it five hours or more,
putting it on in cold water. It must be perfectly tender throughout.
This should be done the day _before_ it is to be cooked for dinner. On
that day, cut it into strips or bands, roll them with the fat side
inwards. Tie the rolls round with small white twine, and boil them two
hours longer; or till they are _perfectly tender throughout, and incline
to look transparent near the edges_. Have ready in a saucepan, some
onions peeled; and boil in milk and water, till soft enough to mash.
Then take them out; drain them; mix with the onion-water some nice fresh
butter divided into pieces and rolled in flour. When this has come to a
boil, return the onions to the liquor; season them with pepper, and give
them one boil up. When the tripe is done, transfer it to a deep dish,
and pour the onion sauce over it. When on your plate, add to it some
tarragon vinegar or mustard. Take the strings off before the tripe goes
to table.
TRIPE CURRY.--Having boiled two pounds of double tripe, cut it into
slips, peel two large onions, cut them also into dice, and put them into
a stew-pan, with three ounces, or three table-spoonfuls of fresh butter.
Let them stew till brown, stirring frequently, and mixing in a
table-spoonful of curry-powder. Add a pint of milk, and the cut-up
tripe. Let all stew together for an hour or more, skimming it well.
Serve it up in a tureen or deep dish, with a dish of boiled rice to eat
with it.
A good East India receipt for curry-powder, is to pound, very fine, in
a marble mortar, (made very clean,) six ounces of coriander seed, three
quarters of an ounce of cayenne, one ounce and a half of foenugreek
seed; one ounce of cummin seed, and three ounces of turmeric. These
articles (all of which can be obtained at a druggist's,) being pounded
extremely fine, must be sifted through clean thin muslin, and spread on
a dish, and laid before the fire for three hours, stirring them
frequently. Keep this powder in a bottle with a glass stopper. It is
used for giving an East Indian flavor to stews. The turmeric
communicates a fine yellow color.
Boiled rice is always eaten with curry dishes.
Curry balls for Mock Turtle, &c., are made of bread-crumbs, fresh
butter, hard-boiled yolk of egg, chopped fine, a seasoning of curry
powder, and some beaten raw egg, to make the mixture into balls, about
the size of a hickory-nut.
FRIED TRIPE.--Having boiled the tripe till perfectly tender all through;
cut it into pieces three or four inches square. Make a batter of four
beaten eggs, four table-spoonfuls of flour, and a pint of milk, seasoned
with powdered nutmeg or mace. Have boiling in the frying-pan an ample
quantity of the drippings of roast veal, or beef. Dip each piece of
tripe twice into the batter; then lay it in the pan, and fry it brown.
Send it to table hot.
Tripe was long considered very indigestible. This, it is now found, was
a mistake; physicians having discovered that it is quite the contrary,
the gastric juice that it contained, as the stomach of the animal,
rendering it singularly fitted for digestion, provided that it is
thoroughly cooked; so that on trial, a fork can easily penetrate every
part of it.
TONGUES.--Corned or salted tongues are very little in use now. They
spoil so soon, that it is scarcely possible to obtain one that has not
been salted too late; and when quite fresh, they have a faint,
sickening, doubtful taste. It is best always to buy them dried and
smoked. Choose the largest and plumpest, and with as smooth an outside
or skin as you can. Put a tongue into soak the evening before it is to
be cooked; changing the water at bed-time. In the morning wash it in
fresh water. Trim off the root, which is an unsightly object, and never
carved at table. But it may be cut into pieces, and added to pea-soup,
or bean-soup, or pepper-pot. Put on the tongue in a large pot of cold
water, and boil it steadily for five or six hours, till it is so tender
that a straw, or a twig from a corn-broom, will easily penetrate it.
When you find that it is thoroughly done (and not till then) take it up.
A smoked tongue requires more boiling than a ham, and therefore is
seldom sufficiently cooked. When quite done, peel it carefully, and keep
it warm till dinner. If well-boiled, it will seem almost to melt in your
mouth. When you dish it do not split it. The flavor is much injured by
carving it lengthways, or in long pieces. It should be cut in round
slices, not too thin.
For a large party we have seen two cold tongues on one dish. One of them
whole--the root concealed entirely with double parsley, cut paper, or a
bunch of flowers cut out of vegetables, very ingeniously, with a sharp
penknife--the vegetables raw, of course not to be eaten. Red roses made
of beets, white roses or camellias of turnips, marigolds of carrots, &c.
The stems are short wooden skewers, stuck into the flowers, and
concealed by double parsley. These vegetable bouquets can be made to
look very well, as ornaments to cold tongue, or to the end of the shank
of a ham, or to stick into the centre of a cold round of a-la-mode beef.
Where there are two cold tongues on one dish, it is usual to split one
to be helped lengthways, and garnish it with the other, cut into
circular pieces, and laid handsomely round.
Cold tongue sliced is a great improvement to a chicken pie, or to any
bird pie.
BAKED TONGUE.--Having soaked a fine large smoked tongue all night, in
the morning trim it nicely, and if it still seems hard, soak it again in
fresh cold water till it is time to cook it. Then put it into a deep
dish, (having trimmed off the root,) and make a coarse paste of flour
and water. Cut up the roots into little bits, and lay them round and
about the tongue, to enrich the gravy. Lay all along the surface some
bits of butter rolled in flour, and season with a little pepper--no
salt. Pour in a very little water, and cover the dish with the coarse
paste. Bake it till the tongue is very tender. This you may ascertain by
raising up with a knife one corner of the paste and trying the tongue.
When done, peel it, dish it, strain the gravy over the tongue, and send
it to table. Garnish with baked tomatos, or mushrooms, or large roasted
chestnuts peeled.
For a large company have two baked tongues, one at each end of the
table. Eat them warm.
LARDED TONGUE.--Take a large cold tongue, that has been well boiled.
Trim off the roots. Have ready some slips of the fat of cold boiled ham,
cut into long thin pieces, about as thick as straws. With a larding
needle, draw them through the outside of the tongue, and leave them
there. Arrange the borders in rows, or handsome regular forms, leaving
about an inch standing up on the surface.
Cold meat or poultry is far better for larding than that which is yet to
cook.
TONGUE TOAST.--Make some slices of nice toast, not very thick, but
browned evenly all over, on both sides. Trim off the whole of the crust.
Butter the toast slightly. Grate, with a large grater plenty of cold
tongue, and spread it thickly over the toast. Lay the slices side by
side, on a large dish--not one slice on the top of another.
Serve them up at breakfast, luncheon, or supper.
HAM TOAST--Is prepared in the same manner, of grated cold ham spread on
slices of buttered toast.
SANDWICHES--Are slices of cold ham, or tongue, _cut very thin_, and laid
between thin slices of buttered bread. The meat may be seasoned with
French mustard. Roll them up nicely. There are silver cases made to
contain sandwiches to eat on the road when traveling.
Sandwiches for traveling may be made of the _lean_ of cold beef, (roast
or boiled,) cut very thin, seasoned with French mustard, and laid
between two slices of bread and butter.
MUTTON.
MUTTON.--If mutton is good it is of a fine grain; the lean is of a
bright red color, and the fat firm and white. Unless there is plenty of
fat the lean will not be good; and so it is with all meat. If the lean
is of a very dark red, and coarse and hard, and the fat yellowish and
spongy, the mutton is old, tough, and strong. Therefore, do not buy it.
If there is any dark or blackish tint about the meat, it is tainted, and
of course unwholesome. If kept till it acquires what the English call
venison taste, Americans will very properly refuse to eat it.
We give no directions for disguising spoilt meat. It should be thrown
away. Nothing is fit to eat in which decomposition is commencing.
BOILED LOIN OF MUTTON.--A good loin of mutton is always very fat, so
that in cooking it is well to remove or pare off a portion of the
outside fat. Unlike most other meats, mutton is the better for being
boiled in soup. Put it into a large pot; allow to every pound a quart of
water. Boil it slowly and skim it well, adding the vegetables when the
scum has done rising. The vegetables should be sliced turnips, potatos,
and grated carrots. Have ready plenty of suet dumplings, in the
proportion of half a pound of finely minced suet to a pound and a
quarter of flour. Rub the suet into the pan of flour, and use as little
water as possible in mixing the dough. Make it into thick dumplings,
rather larger round than a dollar. Boil them in a pot by themselves,
till thoroughly done. Serve up the meat with the dumplings round it. Or
put the dumplings in a dish by themselves, and surround the meat with
whole turnips. This is an excellent plain dish for a private family.
Serve up pickles with it.
SAUCE FOR BOILED MUTTON.--This particularly applies to mutton that has
been boiled in soup, and which is so very generally liked, that it is
served up on tables where soup-meat of beef and veal is considered
inadmissible. To make a suitable sauce to eat with it--take two or three
large boiled onions; slice them and put them into a sauce-pan, with a
piece of fresh butter slightly rolled in flour, a table-spoonful of
_made_ mustard. French mustard will be best; or, for want of that, two
table-spoonfuls of strong tarragon vinegar, and a half-salt-spoon of
cayenne, and some pickled cucumbers chopped, but not minced. Green
nasturtion seeds will be still better than cucumbers. Put these
ingredients into a small sauce-pan, adding to them a little of the
mutton soup. Set this sauce over the fire, and when it simmers well,
take it off, put into a sauce-boat, and keep it hot till the mutton goes
to table.
To keep nasturtions--take the full-grown green seeds, and put them into
a large bottle of the best _cider_ vinegar, corking them closely. They
require nothing more, and are far superior to capers.
BOILED LEG OF MUTTON.--After nicely trimming a middle-sized leg of
mutton, wash, but do not soak it. Put it into a pot that will hold it
well, and pour on rather more water than is sufficient to cover it. Set
it over a good fire, and skim it as soon as it begins to boil, and
continue till no more scum appears; having thrown in a small
table-spoonful of salt after the first skimming. After the liquid is
clear, put in some turnips, pared, and, if large, divided into four
pieces. Afterwards it should boil slowly, or simmer gently for about two
hours or more. Send to table with it caper sauce; or nasturtion, which
is still better. Eat it with any sort of green pickles. Pickles and
turnips seem indispensable to boiled mutton. Do not mash the turnips,
but let them be well drained.
Setting boiled turnips in the sun will give them an unpleasant taste.
Tarragon sauce is excellent with boiled mutton.
MUTTON STEAKS STEWED.--Take some tender mutton steaks, cut from the leg.
Beat them a little with a rolling pin, and season them with pepper and
salt. Put them into a stew-pan with sliced potatos, sliced turnips,
sliced onions, sliced or grated carrots, and sweet marjoram leaves
stripped from the stalks. Pour in just sufficient water to cover the
stew, and let it cook slowly till it is tender and well done. Serve it
up hot in a deep dish, with a cover. A table-spoonful of tarragon
mustard will improve the stew.
When tomatos are in season, you can stew mutton or any other meat with
tomatos only--no water. Having prepared the meat, and laid it in the
stew-pan, cover it with tomatos, peeled and quartered. Add some sugar to
take off a portion of their acid, and a chopped onion. No water, as the
meat will cook in the liquid of the tomatos. They must stew till
thoroughly dissolved.
Tender-loin beef steaks--or veal cutlets, may be stewed as above.
MUTTON CHOPS BROILED.--The best steaks are those cut from the loin,
about half an inch thick. Divest them of the bone, and remove the skin
and fat. Then butter them slightly all over, before cooking. This will
be found an improvement. The French go over them with salad oil, which
is still better. Sprinkle on them a little pepper and salt. Having
heated the gridiron well over a bed of very hot live coals, place it
somewhat aslant, grease its bars with a little of the mutton suet, and
lay on the steaks and broil them well; turning them three or four times,
and seeing that they are not scorched or burnt on the outside, and red
or raw when cut. Turn them with a knife and fork, or with steak-tongs,
an instrument with which every kitchen should be furnished. To cook them
well requires a clear glowing fire, without blaze or smoke. They should
be done in about a quarter of an hour. When you take them up, turn them
on a well-heated dish, and pour their gravy over them.
If onions are liked, mince one as fine as possible, and strew it over
the steaks while broiling; or, boil and slice some onions, mix some
butter among them, season them with pepper, and a little powdered mace
or nutmeg, and serve them up with the meat on the same dish, or in a
sauce-boat.
MUTTON CHOPS WITH TOMATOS.--Broil some mutton steaks in the above
manner, and have ready some baked tomatos. When the steaks are dished,
lay on each a large baked tomato with the face downward, or cover each
steak with stewed tomato sauce. For baking, take fine ripe tomatos of
the largest size. Cut out a piece from the stem end, and extract the
seeds. Then stuff each tomato with grated bread-crumbs, butter, and
minced sweet marjoram, or finely minced onion. If you have any cold veal
or chicken, add a little of that to the stuffing, mincing it, of course.
Bake them in a dish by themselves.
Or, you may send the steaks to table with a slice of fried egg-plant
laid upon each; buttered, and sprinkled with bread-crumbs.
MUTTON STEAKS FRIED.--Make a nice batter of grated bread-crumbs, milk
and beaten egg, and put it in a shallow pan. Prepare some fine steaks
cut from the loin, divested of fat, and with the bone cut short. Have
ready, in a hot frying-pan, some fresh butter or drippings. Dip each
steak twice over in the batter, then fry them brown. Send them to table
very hot.
You may fry mutton chops like beef steaks, covered with onions, boiled,
drained, and sliced.
POTATO MUTTON CHOPS.--Cut some nice chops or steaks from the best end of
a neck of mutton. The loin will be still better. Trim off all the fat,
but leave a small part of the bone visible, nicely scraped. Season them
with pepper and salt, and fry them in butter or drippings. Have ready
plenty of mashed potatos with which cover the chops all over separately,
so as to wrap them up in the mashed potatos. Glaze them with beaten egg,
and brown them with a salamander or a red-hot shovel. This is a nice
breakfast dish.
KEBOBBED MUTTON.--This is an Asiatic dish, much approved by those who
have eaten it in Turkey or India, and it is certainly very good. Remove
the skin from a loin of mutton, and also the whole of the fat. Divide it
at every joint, cutting all the steaks apart, and making separate steaks
of the whole loin. Make a mixture of grated bread-crumbs, minced
sweet-herbs, a little salt and pepper, and some powdered nutmeg. Have
ready some beaten yolk of egg. Dip each steak into the egg then; twice
into the seasoning. Roll up each steak round a wooden skewer, and tie
them on a spit with packthread. Roast them before a clear fire, with a
dripping-pan under them to catch the gravy, which must be skimmed
frequently. They must be roasted slowly and carefully, taking care to
have them thoroughly cooked, even to the inmost of every roll. Baste
them with just butter enough to keep them moist. When done, carefully
take the kebobs from the skewers, and send them to table hot. Eat with
them large Spanish chestnuts, roasted and peeled; or else sweet potatos,
split, boiled, and cut into short pieces. Pour the gravy into the dish
under the kebobs.
Instead of rolling up the kebobs, you may fasten them flat (after
seasoning,) with the same spit going through them all, and roast them in
that manner. They should all be of the same size and shape. To dish
them, lay them one upon another in an even pile. Eat mushroom sauce with
them, or any other sort that is very nice.
Venison steaks are very good kebobbed in this manner, at the season when
venison can be had fresh, tender, and juicy. For sauce have stewed wild
grapes, mashed and made very sweet with brown sugar, or grape jelly,
which is still better; or, sauce made of fine cranberries, such as
abound in the north-west.
AN IRISH STEW.--Take three pounds of thick mutton cutlets from the loin,
and remove the fat. Slice thick five pounds of fine potatos that have
been previously pared. Place a layer of meat in the bottom of a
stew-pan, or an iron pot, and lay some of the potatos upon it. Season
all with salt and pepper. Upon this another layer of meat--then some
potatos again, then meat, and so on till all is in, finishing with
potatos at the top. Pour in a pint of cold water. Let it simmer gently
for two hours or more, till the meat and potatos are thoroughly done.
Serve it up very hot, meat and potatos, on the same dish. If approved,
you may add, from the beginning, one or two sliced onions.
A similar stew may be made of beef steaks and potatos.
You may stew pork cutlets in the same manner, but with _sweet_ potatos,
split and cut in long pieces, or with yams. The seasoning for the pork
should be minced sage.
This is a very plain, but very good dish, if made of nice fresh meat and
good potatos, and well cooked.
LAMB.--The vein in the neck of the fore-quarter should be blueish, and
firm--otherwise do not buy it. If greenish or yellowish, it is tainted,
and fit only for manure. Never buy any thing that has been kept too
long. The worst may, by some process, be a little disguised, but nothing
can render wholesome any article of food in which decomposition has
commenced, even in the slightest degree. The fat should be quite white.
If there is but little meat on the shoulder it has not been a good lamb.
In America, where food is abundant, there is no occasion to eat any
thing, that has the flavor in the least changed by keeping.
A fore-quarter of lamb comprises the shoulder, the neck, and the breast
together. The hind-quarter is the loin and leg. Lamb comes in season in
the beginning of April, if the spring is not unusually backward.
Jersey lamb is sometimes garlicky early in the season. Avoid buying it;
you can easily tell it by the garlicky smell. It can only be rendered
eatable by stewing, or frying it with plenty of onions. To plain roast
or boil garlicky meat is in vain. Beef, also, is sometimes garlicky.
Lamb may be cooked in every way that is proper for mutton.
ROAST LAMB.--The roasting pieces for lamb are the fore-quarter, and
hind-quarter; and the saddle, or both hind-quarters together, not having
been cut apart. If the saddle is cooked whole, it should be of a small
delicate lamb, nice and fat, and is then a fashionable dish at company
dinners. Like all other young meat lamb should always be thoroughly
done, not the least redness being left perceptible any where about it. A
hind-quarter of eight pounds will require at least two hours--a
fore-quarter, rather longer. It should be placed before a clear brisk
fire, but not very near at first. Put a little water in the
dripping-pan, and baste it with that till it begins to cook, adding a
little nice fresh butter. Then place it nearer the fire, and when the
gravy begins to fall, baste it with that, and repeat the basting very
frequently. When the lamb drops white gravy it is nearly done, and you
may prepare for taking it up. Skim the gravy that is in the dripping-pan
till all the fat is taken off. Then dredge over it a little flour, and
send it to table in a gravy boat, having stirred in one or two
table-spoonfuls of currant jelly. Lettuce is always an accompaniment to
cold lamb.
In carving a fore-quarter of lamb it is usual to take off the shoulder
from the ribs, put in a slice of fresh butter, sprinkle it with a little
cayenne, and squeeze over the divided parts a fresh lemon cut in half;
and put, for that purpose, on a small plate beside the carver.
The vegetables to be eaten with lamb are, new potatos, asparagus, green
peas, and spinach. Mint sauce is indispensable. French cooks seldom
understand how to make it. To do it properly, take a large bunch of
fresh green mint, wash it, and when you have shaken the wet from them,
mince the leaves very fine, omitting the stems. Put the leaves, when
chopped, into a small tureen or sauce-boat, and pour on a sufficient
quantity of the best cider vinegar to moisten the mint thoroughly, but
not to render it the least liquid or thin. It should be as thick as
horse-radish, prepared to eat with roast beef. Mix in sufficient sugar
to make it very sweet. Good brown sugar will do. At table put a
tea-spoonful on the side of your plate. Those who make mint sauce thin
and weak, and pour it over the meat like gravy, know nothing about it.
LAMB STEAKS.--Cut some nice cutlets or steaks (without any bone) from a
hind-quarter of lamb. Lay them in a stew pan, and season them with a
little salt and cayenne, adding some butter rolled in flour. Wash
carefully two fine fresh lettuces. Remove the outside leaves, quarter
the lettuces, and cut off all the stalks. Set the stew-pan, with the
meat, over a clear fire; and let it stew slowly till about half done.
Then put in the lettuce, covering the meat with it, and let them all
stew about half an hour longer. When done, take out the lettuces first.
Put them into a sieve or cullender, press out the water, and chop them
_large_. See if the meat is done all through. If it is, return the
stewed lettuce to the pot, season it with a little cayenne and some
salad oil, and add to it two or three hard-boiled eggs, chopped large.
Cover it, and let it stew five minutes longer. Serve it up on the same
dish.
LAMB CUTLETS.--Cut the cutlets from the loin and trim them nicely,
removing the skin, and most of the fat. Scrape the bone, and cut it
short. Grate plenty of stale bread, and mix it with some minced sweet
marjoram, seasoned with salt and pepper. Have ready a small deep dish of
light beaten egg, flavored with grated nutmeg and fresh lemon-peel,
grated fine, the thin yellow rind only. Put some nice lard or
beef-dripping into a hot frying-pan, and when the lard boils is the time
to put in the cutlets. Dip every cutlet separately into the beaten egg.
Then into the bread-crumbs, &c. Repeat this a second time both with the
egg and bread. The cutlets will be found much better for the double
immersion. Then lay them separately in the boiling lard, and fry them
well. One cutlet must not be laid on the top of another. When done, dish
them and send them to table very hot, with some currant jelly to mix
with the gravy. This is a fine breakfast dish or for a small dinner.
Instead of frying, you may broil them. Dip each cutlet twice into the
egg and twice into the crumbs, and cover each with clean writing paper,
cut of a convenient shape, and secured with pins or packthread, the
paper being twisted round the end of the bone. Broil them in the papers,
which must be taken off before the cutlets go to table.
LAMB CHOPS, STEWED.--Cut a loin of lamb into chops or steaks, removing
the bone, or else sawing it very short. Trim off the skin and part of
the fat. Season the chops with a little pepper and salt, and fry them in
fresh butter till they are of a pale brown color. Then pour off the fat
and transfer the steaks to a stew-pan. Add enough boiling water to cover
them; and having seasoned them with some powdered nutmeg or some blades
of mace, add a pint of shelled green peas that have been already
parboiled, or a pint of the green tops of asparagus cut off after
boiling, and a fresh lettuce stripped of its outside leaves and stalks
and quartered. Finish with a small quarter of a pound of fresh butter
cut in pieces and rolled in flour, and laid among the vegetables. Let
them all stew together with the meat, for half an hour rather slowly.
Serve up all upon one large dish. It will make an excellent plain dinner
for a small family, with the addition of a dish or two of new potatos,
if they are in season.
You may omit the lettuce, and add more peas and asparagus tops.
LARDED LAMB.--Cut off the fillet or round from a nice hind-quarter of
lamb, and remove the bone from the centre. Make a stuffing or forcemeat
of bread-crumbs, fresh butter, sweet marjoram, and sweet basil, minced
finely; the yellow rind of a fresh lemon, grated; and a tea-spoonful of
mixed nutmeg and mace, powdered. Fill with this stuffing the hole from
whence the bone was taken, and secure the flap round the side of the
meat, putting plenty of stuffing between. Then proceed to lard it. Cut a
number of long thin slips of the fat of ham, bacon, or corned pork. All
these slips must be of the same size. Take one at a time between the
points of the larding-needle, and draw it through the flat surface of
the top, or upper side of the meat, so as to leave one end of the ham
in, as you slip the other end out of the needle. Do this nicely,
arranging the slips of ham in regular form, and very near together. Put
the lamb into an iron oven, or bake-pan, with a small portion of lard or
fresh butter under it, and bake it thoroughly. When the meat is about
half done, put in a quart or more of nice green peas with sufficient
butter to cook them well. Serve up the lamb with the peas round it, on
the same dish.
This is a dish for company.
LAMB PIE.--Remove the fat and bone from two pounds or more of nice lamb
steaks, or take some cutlets from the upper end of a leg of lamb, and
cut them into pieces about as large as the palm of your hand. Season
them with pepper and salt very slightly. Put them into a stew pot with a
_very little water_, and let them stew for half an hour or more. In the
mean time, make a nice paste, allowing half a pound of fresh butter to a
pound of flour. Mix with a broad knife half the butter with the flour,
adding gradually enough of cold water to make a dough. Roll out the
dough into a large thin sheet, and spread all over it with the knife the
remainder of the butter. Fold it, sprinkle it with a little flour, and
then divide it into two sheets, and roll out each of them. That intended
for the upper crust to be the thickest. Line with the under crust the
bottom and sides of a pie-dish. Put in the stewed lamb with its gravy.
Intersperse some blades of mace. Add some potatos, sliced, and some
sliced boiled turnips. Cover the meat thick with the green tops of
boiled asparagus, and lay among it a few bits of fresh butter. For
asparagus tops you may substitute boiled cauliflower seasoned with
nutmeg. Put on the paste-lid, closing the edges with crimping them
nicely. Cut a cross-slit on the top. Put the pie directly into the
oven, and bake it of a light brown. Serve it up hot.
VEAL.
VEAL.--Do not buy veal unless the vein in the shoulder looks blue or
bright red. If of any other color, the veal is not fresh. A calf's head
should have the eyes full and prominent. If they are dull and sunken,
the head is stale. The kidney should be well covered with firm white
fat. All the fat must be firm, dry, and white, and the lean fine in the
grain, and light colored. If any part is found clammy or discolored, do
not buy that veal. The best pieces of the calf are the loin and the
fillet. The loin consists of the best and the chump end; the hind
knuckle, and the fore knuckle. The inferior pieces are the neck,
blade-bone, and breast. The brisket end of a breast of veal is very
coarse, hard, and tough; the best end is rather better, having
sweet-bread belonging to it.
Veal, like all other meat, should be well washed in cold water before
cooking. Being naturally the most tasteless and insipid of all meat, it
requires the assistance of certain articles to give it flavor. It is too
weak to make rich soup without various additions. But well cooked, it is
very nice as roasted loin, fillet, or fried cutlets.
ROAST LOIN OF VEAL.--Wash the meat well in cold water, wipe it dry, and
rub it slightly with mixed pepper and salt. Make a stuffing of bread
soaked in milk, or grated bread-crumbs, cold ham minced, sweet marjoram
minced, and the juice and yellow grated rind of a lemon; also, a little
fresh butter. Loosen with a sharp knife the skin, and put the stuffing
under it, skewering down the flap to keep it in. Put the veal to roast
before a strong clear fire, and pour a little water in the bottom of the
roaster. Baste it with this till the gravy begins to run. Then baste it
with that. Set the spit at first not very close to the fire, but bring
it nearer as the roasting proceeds.
Send it to table with its own gravy, well skimmed and slightly thickened
with a little flour.
Always choose a fine fresh loin of veal with plenty of fat about the
kidney. No meat spoils so soon.
The breast and shoulder are roasted in the same manner as the loin, of
which two dishes may be made, the kidney end, and the chump end.
FILLET OF VEAL.--When a fillet is to be roasted or baked, let it be well
washed, and then dried in a clean towel. Take out the bone, fold the
flap round, and skewer it to the meat. Make plenty of forcemeat or
stuffing, of bread soaked in milk, or grated dry and mixed with plenty
of fresh butter, or some of the fat or suet finely minced. Season with
pepper, grated nutmeg, powdered mace, fresh lemon peel grated, and sweet
marjoram and sweet basil minced fine. The hole that contained the bone
must be stuffed full, and also the space between the flap and the side
of the meat. This should be secured by three skewers. Dredge the meat
all over lightly with flour before you put it down. At first, place the
spit at a distance from the fire, which should be strong and clear.
Then, as the meat begins to roast, set it nearer, and till the gravy
begins to fall, baste it with fresh butter, or lard. Just before it is
finished, (it will take about four hours,) dredge it with flour, and
baste it well with its own gravy. When the meat is dished, skim the
gravy, thicken it with a little flour, and pour it round the veal in the
dish, or serve it in a sauce-boat.
A ham is the usual accompaniment to roast veal, whether fillet or loin.
ROAST VEAL HASHED.--Take whatever cold roast veal was left from
yesterday. To prepare it for a breakfast dish, cut it into small bits,
and put it (without any water) into a stew-pan, adding to it the veal
gravy that was left from yesterday, and a table-spoonful of fresh butter
or lard, dredged with flour. Cover it, and after stewing it half an hour
by itself, put in two large table-spoonfuls of well spiced tomato
catchup, an article no family should be without. After the catchup is
in, cover the hash again, and let it stew half an hour longer. If you
have no catchup, put in with the cold veal at the beginning, two or
three large ripe tomatos, peeled and quartered, or sliced, and seasoned
with powdered mace, nutmeg, and ginger; and let all stew together in
gravy or butter. Mushroom catchup is a good substitute for tomato in
hashing cold meat. If you have neither, put in a large table-spoonful of
tarragon or French mustard, to be bought in bottles at all the best
groceries.
Cold roast venison is very good hashed as above.
VEAL A-LA-MODE.--Remove the bone from a fillet of veal, and make a large
quantity of forcemeat or stuffing of grated bread-crumbs; beef-suet or
veal-suet minced fine, the grated yellow rind and juice of a ripe lemon
or orange, or some chopped mushrooms that have been previously stewed,
some grated yolk of hard-boiled eggs, and some sweet marjoram. Press in
the stuffing, till the hole left by the bone is well filled; and also,
put stuffing between the flap and the side of the meat, before you
skewer the flap. Have ready some lardons or slips of cold ham, or
tongue, and with a larding pin draw them all through the surface of the
veal. Or else, make deep cuts or incisions throughout the meat, and
press down into each a small thin square bit of bacon-fat, seasoning
every one with a little of the stuffing. Lay the veal in a deep
baking-pan, or iron bake-oven. Surround it with nice lard, and bake it
till thoroughly done all through. Then take it out, skim the gravy, and
transfer it to a small sauce-pan. Stir in a dessert-spoonful of flour;
add a glass of white wine to the gravy, and give it one boil up. Send it
to table in a sauce-tureen, accompanying the veal.
TERRAPIN VEAL.--Take some nice veal, (from the fillet, or the loin) and
cut it into very small mouthfuls. Put it into a stew-pan. Have ready a
dressing made of six or seven hard-boiled eggs, minced fine, a small
tea-spoonful of made mustard, (tarragon or French mustard will be best,)
a salt-spoon of salt, and the same of cayenne; two glasses of sherry or
Madeira, and half a pint of rich cream. If you cannot conveniently
obtain cream, substitute a quarter of a pound of fresh butter, divided
into four pieces, and each piece dredged with flour. All the ingredients
for this dressing must be thoroughly mixed. Then, pour it over the veal,
and give the whole a hard stir. Cover it, and let it stew over the fire
for about ten minutes. Fresh venison is excellent, cooked in this
manner. So, also, are ducks, pheasants, partridges, or grouse, making a
fine side dish for company.
TO HASH COLD MEAT.--The best way of re-cooking cold roast meat, (veal,
beef, or pork,) is to hash it, cutting it into mouthfuls, and stewing
it in its own gravy, without a drop of water. For this purpose, save as
much as you can of the dripping or gravy that fell from it when
roasting. When you have done basting the roast meat, skim off all the
fat from the surface, and strain the gravy through a small sieve. What
is left of it, should be carefully set away in a cold place. Next day,
when it has congealed into a cake, scrape it with a knife on both sides.
If not wanted for immediate use, cut it in pieces, and put it up in a
jar well covered. Use it (instead of water) for stews and hashes; and if
well seasoned the meat will be found nearly as good (for a breakfast
dish,) as if not previously cooked. Whenever it is possible, make your
hashes without any water; and if you have saved no gravy, substitute
lard, or fresh butter. But gravy or drippings of the same meat is best.
A hash of cold meat, stewed merely in water, and with no seasoning but
salt and pepper, is a poor thing. Cold potatos, when re-cooked, always
remain hard and indigestible. In all cookery it is best to use _fresh
vegetables_, even if the _meat_ has been previously drest. Cold meat is
of no use for soups or pies. It is better to slice it, and eat it
cold--or, better still to give it the poor. Roast beef or mutton, if
very much underdone, may be sliced and broiled on a gridiron, and well
seasoned with pepper. Cold roast pork is best sliced plain, and eaten
cold. Ham also.
VEAL CUTLETS IN PAPERS (_en papillotes_.)--Make a nice sauce of sweet
herbs, bread-crumbs, powdered mace and nutmeg, butter and beaten egg.
Lay the cutlets in a deep dish, (having first broiled them and saved the
gravy,) pour the sauce over them, with the veal gravy added to it. Cover
them, and let them rest till cold. Allow, for each cutlet, a sheet of
foolscap paper, cut it into the shape of a heart, and go over it with
sweet oil, or fresh butter or lard. Lay a cutlet with a little of the
sauce upon it, on one-half of each sheet of paper; turn the other half
over the meat. Fold a narrow rim all round, so as to unite both edges.
Begin at the top of the heart, and pleat both edges together so as to
form a good shape without puckering. When you come to the bottom, where
the paper is to cover the bone, give it a few extra twists. Broil the
cutlets slowly on a gridiron for half an hour, seeing that no blaze
catches the papers--or put them in the oven for half an hour. If the
papers are not too much burnt or disfigured, dish the cutlets still
wrapped in them, to be removed by those who eat them. If the covers are
scorched black, and ragged, take out the cutlets and lay them on a hot
dish. Serve up with them a dish of mashed potatos or potatoe cake,
browned on the surface with a salamander. _Côtelettes à la Maintenon_,
are mutton or lamb steaks cooked in papers, in the above manner.
VEAL STEAKS.--Cut the steaks from the neck, leaving the bone very short,
and polishing what there is of it. Make a seasoning of boiled onions
minced, and sage or sweet marjoram leaves, or of chopped parsley. Lay on
each steak a bit of fresh butter, spread the seasoning thickly over
each, and fry them in the gravy or drippings of cold roast veal or beef.
They will be the better for beating them slightly with a rolling pin.
Put into the frying-pan three or four table-spoonfuls of mushroom or
tomato catchup; or, fry them with fresh mushrooms or fresh tomatos,
sliced.
VEAL CUTLETS.--Cut your veal cutlets from the fillet or round about half
an inch thick. Season them slightly with a little salt and cayenne. Have
ready a pan with grated bread-crumbs, and another with beaten egg. Have
ready, in a frying pan, plenty of boiling lard, or drippings of cold
veal. Dredge each cutlet slightly with flour; then dip it twice in the
pan of beaten egg, and then twice also in the bread-crumbs. Fry them
well, and send them to table in their own gravy. Saffron, scattered
thickly over them while frying, is an improvement much relished by the
eaters.
Veal is too insipid to be fried or broiled plain.
If you live where cream is plenty, add to this fry two or three
spoonfuls.
Minced veal, cold, is an excellent ingredient for forcemeats.
KNUCKLE OF VEAL AND BACON.--Unless your family is very small, get two
knuckles of veal, and have them sawed into three pieces each. Put them
into a pot with two pounds of ham or bacon; cover them with water, and
stew them slowly, skimming them well. Season them with a little pepper,
but no salt, as the bacon will be salt enough. When the scum ceases to
rise, put in four onions and four turnips, and six potatos pared, and
quartered; also, a carrot and two parsnips, scraped and cut into pieces.
Let the whole boil till all the meat and all the vegetables are
thoroughly done, and very tender. Drain them well, and serve up the
whole on one large dish, having other vegetables served separately.
If you wish to have green vegetables, such as greens, young sprouts,
poke, or string beans, flavored with bacon, put them to boil in a pot
with the bacon only, and take another pot for the veal, and white
vegetables, such as onions, turnips, &c. You may put the veal and bacon
on the same dish.
SOUTHERN STEW (_of veal_.)--Peel and boil a half dozen fresh spring
onions, and then drain them well and slice them thin. Have ready two
pounds or more of nice veal, sliced very thin, small, and evenly. Lay
the veal in a stew-pan, and season it slightly with salt, and _a very
little_ cayenne. Cover the veal with the sliced onions, and lay upon
them some bits of fresh butter rolled in flour. If you cannot obtain
very excellent fresh butter, substitute lard, or cold gravy, or
dripping of roast veal, which last will be best if you have enough of
it. Finish with a flavoring of powdered nutmeg or mace, and the grated
yellow rind of a fresh lemon.
This stew is very nice. It may be made with lamb or chicken, cut very
small.
VEAL KEBOBBED, (_or kibaubed_.)--Cut into small thin slices some lean
veal from the loin, chump end, or fillet. Trim them into a round or
circular form. Season them with pepper, salt, and turmeric or curry
powder. If onions are liked, slice some large ones, and lay them on the
pieces of veal. Cover them with slices of ham, cut round like the veal,
but a little smaller. Roll up the slices, (the ham inside,) and tie them
on skewers. Then roast or bake them. When done, take them off the
skewers, and send them to table in the gravy that has fallen from them.
This is a Turkish dish, and is much liked.
VEAL FRITTERS.--Take some thin slices of cold roast veal, and trim them
round or circular. Beat them with a rolling-pin, to make them very
tender, and season them with a little salt and pepper and some powdered
nutmeg. Also some grated fresh yellow rind of lemon-peel. Make a very
light batter, of eggs, milk, and flour; in the proportion of four
well-beaten eggs to a pint of milk; and a large half pint of sifted
flour: the eggs beaten first, and then stirred gradually into the milk
in turn with the flour. Have ready a frying-pan, nearly full of boiling
lard. Drop into it two large spoonfuls of the batter. Then put in a
slice of the veal, and cover it with two more large spoonfuls of the
batter. As the fritters are fried, take them up with a perforated
skimmer, and drain them.
VEAL PATTIES.--Mince very fine, some cold roast veal, or some cold
chicken, mixing with it some cold minced ham, or cold smoked tongue. Add
some yolk of hard-boiled eggs, crumbled or minced. Season the mixture
with powdered mace and nutmeg, moistened with cream or soft fresh
butter. Have ready some nice puff-paste, rolled out thin, and cut into
oval or circular pieces. Cover the half of each with the mixture, spread
on evenly and thickly. Then, upon that, fold over the other half,
(uniting both,) and crimp them together, in very small notches. Brush
their outsides all over with some raw egg, slightly beaten, and lay them
in large square tin pans to bake. Send them to table on china dishes.
These patties are excellent made of cold game. The green tops of boiled
asparagus will improve the mixture.
FRIED LIVER.--Put into a frying-pan some nice thin slices of ham or
bacon, that have soaked all night, and fry them in their own fat. Have
ready your calf's liver, cut into slices not too thin, as that will
render them hard. Take out the ham as soon as it is done, put it into a
hot dish, and cover it closely. Lay the slices of liver into the gravy
of the bacon that is left in the frying-pan, sprinkling it well with
chopped parsley. It must be thoroughly done. Then dish with the bacon.
To those who like them, some onions will be thought an improvement to
fried liver. First parboil the onions: then slice them, season them with
a little salt and pepper, and fry them with the liver.
If lettuces are in season, quarter a fresh one, and lay it under the
liver when you dish it, having previously removed the thickest part of
the stalk. The liver of beef or sheep is not seen at good tables. It is
very inferior to that of calf's, being hard and coarse.
LARDED LIVER.--Wash and drain a nice fat calf's liver. Liver of beef or
mutton is never seen at a good table; they are hard, coarse, and
tasteless, and only eaten by the poor, while the livers of veal and
poultry are considered very nice. Divide it into equal portions. Lard
them thickly with small slips of fat bacon, inserted at regular
distances with a larding-needle, and very near each other. Season the
liver with powdered nutmeg and mace. Put into a stew-pan, in the bottom
of which you have laid a large slice or two of fat bacon. Let it stew
gently, till thoroughly done and tender throughout. When you take the
liver out of the stew-pan, stir into the gravy left at the bottom, some
thick catchup, either mushroom or tomato. Do not send the slices of
bacon to table with the liver.
If liked, surround the liver while cooking, with small button onions,
(peeled and washed,) and see that they are well done. Serve them up on
the same dish. It is best always to boil onions before frying them.
STEWED LIVER.--Having soaked a fine calf's liver for two hours in cold
water, cut it into thick slices, and then cut the slices into mouthfuls.
Chop fine a small bunch of sweet marjoram, and sprinkle it among the
liver, seasoning with pepper, salt, nutmeg, and powdered mace. Put it
into a stew-pan, and cook it in lard or fresh butter. Make some nice
toast, and dip it for a minute in hot water, having pared off all the
crust. Lay the toast in the bottom of a deep dish, after covering it all
over with the stewed liver.
LIVER RISSOLES.--Take a calf's liver, and remove carefully all the
veins. Weigh a pound of it, boil it, and when cold, mince it very finely
with a quarter of a pound of suet, either of beef or veal. Add a quarter
of a pound of finely grated bread-crumbs. Season it with cayenne,
powdered mace, and nutmeg, and a very little salt. Mix in two
well-beaten eggs. Shape them into oval forms, about the size of large
walnuts, and fry them in plenty of boiling hot lard, draining them all
on a perforated skimmer, before they go to table.
LIVER PIE.--Prepare a fine fresh calf's liver. Split it in long pieces.
Lay it in a pan of cold water for an hour or two. Afterwards take it out
and wipe it dry, and boil it till tender. Drain it when done, and chop
it large with a slice of cold ham. Season it with pepper and nutmeg, (no
salt for any thing that has ham in it,) and add some minced sweet
marjoram and sweet basil, and two yolks of hard-boiled eggs, grated or
minced. The grated yellow rind of a fresh lemon will be an improvement.
Make a very nice light paste, and line a pie dish with it. Then fill it
high with the mixture, laying on the top several pieces of fine fresh
butter. Cover it with a lid of paste, notching the edges handsomely, and
cutting a cross-slit on the top. Bake it light brown, and serve it up,
either hot or cold. It will be found very nice.
With the same mixture you may make liver dumplings, enclosing them in a
nice paste, and boiling them; or a liver pudding, boiling the mixture in
one large paste, and tying it in a cloth, leaving room for it to swell.
CHITTERLINGS OR CALF'S TRIPE.--This is very delicate and digestible, and
is nice at breakfast, or as a side dish at dinner. To prepare it for
cooking, it should be cut open with scissors, emptied, and thoroughly
cleaned, and then laid all night, or for several hours, in cold water,
_slightly_ salted. It can be bought of the veal butchers ready prepared,
and run on a wooden skewer. Wash it again just before cooking. Cut it
into small pieces, and boil it slowly till _quite_ tender, in water
enough to keep it well covered. When entirely done, take it up, drain
it, and keep it warm. Have ready some onions boiled in milk till quite
soft, and sliced thin. Melt some excellent fresh butter, in milk
thickened with flour. Make a round of very nice toast, with the crust
pared off. Dip it for a minute in hot water; lay it in the bottom of a
deep dish. Cover it thickly with the onion sauce, and place the
chitterlings upon it, seasoning them with pepper and vinegar. It will be
an improvement to boil with them four or five blades of mace. Eat
vinegar with it, always. Tarragon vinegar is best. This dish deserves to
be more in use. Try it.
FRIED CHITTERLINGS.--Get chitterlings ready prepared by the butcher.
Wash them, and let them lie an hour or two in weak salt and water. Then
drain them, cut them in pieces, and parboil them. Dry them in a clean
cloth. Make a batter of two or three beaten eggs, and a pint of milk,
with a heaped table-spoonful of flour. Put into a frying-pan an ample
portion of the dripping of roast veal or pork, and when it boils,
(having first dipped each piece of the chitterling into the batter,) fry
them in the dripping. They must be thoroughly done. You may fry them in
lard, or fresh butter.
This is a nice breakfast dish.
BAKED CHITTERLINGS.--Having first parboiled the chitterlings, lay among
them some bits of fresh butter, season them with powdered nutmeg, put
them into a deep dish, set it into an oven, and bake them brown.
This is a side dish at dinner.
FINE VEAL PIE.--Boil, in two quarts of water, two unskinned calf's feet,
adding the yellow rind of a large lemon, pared as thin as possible, or
grated, and its squeezed juice. Also, two broken-up sticks of cinnamon,
half a dozen blades of mace, and two glasses of sweet wine. Boil all
these together (skimming well,) till the calf's feet are in rags, and
all their flesh has dropped from the bone. Then put the whole into a
jelly-bag and let it drip into a broad bowl. Set it away closely
covered. Have ready two pounds of the parboiled chump end of a loin of
veal cut into square pieces. Make a nice puff paste, and line with it a
deep pie-dish. Put the pieces of veal into it, (all the fat cut off,)
and intersperse them with a dozen or more forcemeat balls, each about as
large as an English walnut. The balls may be made of cold minced chicken
and ham, minced suet, bread-crumbs, and hard-boiled yolk of egg grated
or crumbled fine; seasoned with sweet herbs, and grated lemon rind. Or
they may be sweet balls of bread-crumbs, butter, chopped sultana
raisins, and chopped citron, seasoned with nutmeg. Having dispersed them
among the pieces of veal, put in the jelly made from the calf's feet.
Cover the pie with a lid of puff-paste, cut a cross slit in the centre;
notch the edges, and bake it brown. This pie is for a company dish.
A PLAIN VEAL PIE.--Cut the meat from an uncooked breast of veal, and
stew it in a very little water. Have ready a pie dish lined with a nice
paste. Put in a layer of stewed veal, with its gravy, and cover it with
a layer of sausage meat; then veal again, and then sausage meat. Repeat
this till the dish is full, finishing with the sausage. Cover it with a
lid of paste, and bake it brown. This is a cheap and easy family pie.
VEAL LOAF.--Take a cold fillet of veal, and (omitting the fat and skin)
mince the meat as fine as possible. Mix with it a quarter of a pound of
the fattest part of a cold ham, also chopped small. Add a tea-cupful of
grated bread-crumbs; a grated nutmeg; half a dozen blades of mace,
powdered; the grated yellow rind of a lemon; and two beaten eggs. Season
with a salt-spoon of salt, and half a salt-spoon of cayenne. Mix the
whole well together, and make it into the form of a loaf. Then glaze it
over with beaten yolk of egg; and strew the surface evenly, all over,
with bread raspings, or with pounded cracker. Set the dish into a
dutch-oven, and bake it half an hour, or till hot all through. Have
ready a gravy made of the trimmings of the veal, stewed in some of the
gravy that was left when the fillet was roasted the day before. When
sufficiently cooked, take out the meat, and thicken the gravy with
beaten yolk of egg, stirred in about three minutes before you take it
from the fire.
Send the veal loaf to table, in a deep dish, with the gravy poured round
it.
Chicken loaf, or turkey loaf, may be made in this manner.
STEWED CALF'S HEAD.--Take a fine, large calf's head; empty it; wash it
clean, and boil it till it is quite tender, in just water enough to
cover it. Then carefully take out the bones, without spoiling the
appearance of the head. Season it with a little salt and cayenne, and a
grated nutmeg. Pour over it the liquor in which it has been boiled,
adding a jill of vinegar, and two table-spoonfuls of capers, or of green
nasturtion seeds, that have been pickled. Let it stew very slowly for
half an hour. Have ready some forcemeat balls made of minced veal-suet,
grated bread-crumbs, grated lemon-peel, and sweet marjoram,--adding
beaten yolk of egg to bind the other ingredients together. Put in the
forcemeat balls, and stew it slowly a quarter of an hour longer, adding
some bits of butter rolled in flour to enrich the gravy. Send it to
table hot.
EXCELLENT MINCED VEAL.--Take three or four pounds of the lean only of a
fillet or loin of veal, and mince it very finely, adding a slice or two
of cold ham, minced also. Add two or three small young onions, chopped
small, a tea-spoonful of sweet marjoram leaves rubbed from the stalks,
the yellow rind of a small lemon grated, and a tea-spoonful of mixed
mace and nutmeg powdered. Mix all well together, and dredge it with a
little flour. Put it into a stew-pan, with sufficient gravy of cold
roast veal to moisten it, and a large table-spoonful or more of fresh
butter. Stir it well, and let it stew till thoroughly done. If the veal
has been previously cooked, a quarter of an hour will be sufficient. It
will be much improved by adding a pint or more of small button
mushrooms, cut from the stems, and then chopped small. Also, by stirring
in two table-spoonfuls of cream about five minutes before it is taken
from the fire.
VEAL WITH OYSTERS.--Take two fine cutlets of about a pound each. Divide
them into several pieces, cut thin. Put them into a frying-pan, with
boiling lard, and let them fry awhile. When the veal is almost done, add
to it a pint of large, fine oysters,--their liquor thickened with a few
grated bread-crumbs, and seasoned with mace and nutmeg powdered.
Continue the frying till the veal and oysters are thoroughly done. Send
it to table in a covered dish.
TERRAPIN VEAL.--Take some cold roast veal, (the fillet or the loin) and
cut it into mouthfuls. Put it in a skillet or stew-pan. Have ready a
dressing made of six or seven hard-boiled eggs, minced fine; a small
tea-spoonful of tarragon mustard; a salt-spoonful of salt; and the same
of cayenne pepper; a large tea-cupful (half a pint) of cream, and two
glasses of sherry or Madeira wine. The dressing must be thoroughly
mixed. Pour it over the veal, and then give the whole a hard stir. Cover
it, and let it stew over the fire for ten minutes. Then transfer it to a
deep dish, and send it to table hot.
Cold roast duck or fowl may be drest as above. Also, venison.
VEAL OLIVES.--Take some cold fillet of veal and cold ham, and cut them
into thin square slices of the same size and shape, trimming the edges
evenly. Lay a slice of veal on every slice of ham, and spread some
beaten yolk of egg over the veal. Have ready a thin forcemeat, made of
grated bread-crumbs, sweet marjoram rubbed fine, fresh butter, and
grated lemon-peel, seasoned with nutmeg and a little cayenne pepper.
Spread this over the veal, and then roll up each slice tightly with the
ham. Tie them round securely with coarse thread or fine twine; run a
bird-spit through them, and roast them well. For sauce, simmer in a
small sauce-pan, some cold veal gravy with two spoonfuls of cream, and
some mushroom catchup.
VEAL RISSOLES.--Take as much fine wheat bread as will weigh one pound,
after all the crust is cut off. Slice it; put it into a pan and pour
over it as much rich milk as will soak it thoroughly. After it has
soaked a quarter of an hour, lay it in a sieve and press it dry. Mince
as finely as possible a pound of veal cutlet with six ounces of veal
suet; then mix in gradually the bread; adding a salt-spoonful of salt, a
slight sprinkling of cayenne, and a small tea-spoonful of powdered mace
and nutmeg mixed; also the yellow rind of a lemon grated. Beat two eggs,
and moisten the mixture with them. Then divide it into equal portions,
and with a little flour on your hands roll it into oval balls rather
smaller than an egg. Strew over them some dry bread-crumbs; then fry
them in lard or fresh butter--drain them well, and send them to table
hot. For gravy (which should be commenced before the rissoles) put some
bits and trimmings of veal into a small sauce-pan, with as much water as
will cover them; a very little pepper and salt; and three or four blades
of mace. Cover the sauce-pan closely, and let the meat stew till all the
strength is extracted; skimming it well. Then strain it; return the
liquor to the sauce-pan; add a bit of butter rolled in flour; and
squeeze in the juice of a lemon. Give it a boil up, and then, at the
last, stir in the beaten yolk of an egg. Serve up this gravy in a
sauce-boat, to eat with the rissoles.
Instead of stewing meat for the purpose, you may make this gravy with
the drippings of roast veal saved from the day before. You have then
only to melt it over the fire; adding the seasoning; and giving it one
boil.
Similar rissoles may be made of minced chicken or turkey.
TO PREPARE SWEETBREADS.--The sweetbread belonging to the breast of the
calf is far superior to that which is found about the throat, being
larger, whiter, more tender, and more delicate. Always buy them in
preference. They should be set immediately on ice, and prepared for
cooking as speedily as possible, for they spoil very soon. Soak them in
warm water till all the blood is discharged. Then put them into boiling
water, and boil them five minutes. After this, lay them immediately in a
pan of very cold water. This sudden transition from hot water to cold,
will blanch or whiten them. Dark-colored sweetbreads make a very bad
appearance. Four are generally sufficient for a small dish. But as, if
well cooked, they are much liked, it is best to have six; or else eight
upon two dishes. If the sweetbreads are to be cut up before cooking,
remove and throw away the gristle or pipe that pervades every one. If
they are to be cooked whole, you may leave the pipe in, to be taken out
by the eaters.
For company, it is usual to lard sweetbreads with slips of fat ham or
bacon, or of cold smoked tongue.
Sweetbreads are used as side-dishes at dinners, or at nice breakfasts.
SWEETBREAD CROQUETTES.--Having trimmed some sweetbreads nicely, and
removed the gristle, parboil them, and then mince them very fine. Add
grated bread, and season with a very little salt and pepper; some
powdered mace and nutmeg; and some grated lemon-rind. Moisten the whole
with cream, and make them up into small cones or sugar-loaves; forming
and smoothing them nicely. Have ready some beaten egg, mixed with grated
bread-crumbs. Dip into it each croquette, and fry them slowly in fresh
butter. Serve them hot; standing up on the dish, and with a sprig of
parsley in the top of each.
Sweetbreads should never be used unless perfectly fresh. They spoil very
rapidly. As soon as they are brought from market they should be split
open, and laid in cold water. Never attempt to keep sweetbreads till
next day, except in cold weather; and then on ice.
Similar croquettes may be made of cold boiled chicken; or cold roast
veal; or of oysters, minced raw, and seasoned and mixed as above.
FRICASSEED SWEETBREADS.--Take half a dozen sweetbreads; clean them
thoroughly, and lay them for an hour or two in a pan of water, having
first removed the strings and gristle. Then put them into a stew-pan
with as much rich milk or cream as will cover them well, and a very
little salt. Stew them slowly, till tender throughout, and thoroughly
done, saving the liquid. Then take them up; cover them; and set them
near the fire to keep warm. Prepare a quarter of a pound of butter,
divided into four pieces, and rolled in flour. Put the butter into the
milk in which the sweetbreads were boiled, and add a few sprigs of
parsley cut small; five or six blades of mace; half a nutmeg grated; and
a very little cayenne pepper. Have ready the yolks of three eggs
well-beaten. Return the sweetbreads to the gravy; let it just come to a
boil; and then stir in the beaten egg _immediately before_ you take the
fricassee from the fire, otherwise it will curdle. Serve it up in a deep
dish with a cover.
Chickens, cut up, may be fricasseed in this manner.
TOMATO SWEETBREADS.--Cut up a quarter of a peck (or more) of fine ripe
tomatos; set them over the fire, and let them stew with nothing but
their own juice, till they go entirely to pieces. Then press them
through a sieve, to clear the liquid from the seeds and skins. Have
ready four or five sweetbreads that have been trimmed nicely, cleared
from the gristle, and laid open to soak in warm water. Put them into a
stew-pan with the tomato-juice, seasoned with a little salt and cayenne.
Add two or three table-spoonfuls of butter rolled in flour. Set the
sauce-pan over the fire, and stew the sweetbreads in the tomato-juice
till they are thoroughly done. A few minutes before you take them off,
stir in two beaten yolks of eggs Serve up the sweetbreads in a deep
dish, with the tomato poured over them.
SWEETBREADS AND CAULIFLOWERS.--Take four large sweetbreads, and two fine
cauliflowers. Split open the sweetbreads and remove the gristle. Soak
them awhile in lukewarm water. Then put them into a sauce-pan of boiling
water, and let them boil ten minutes over the fire. Afterwards, lay them
in a pan of very cold water. The parboiling will render them white; and
putting them directly from the hot water into the cold will give them
firmness. Having washed and drained the cauliflowers, quarter them, and
lay them in a broad stew-pan with the sweetbreads upon them, seasoned
with a very little cayenne, four or five blades of mace, and some
nutmeg. Add as much water as will cover them; put on closely the lid of
the pan, and let the whole stew for about an hour. Then take a quarter
of a pound of fresh butter, and roll it in two table-spoonfuls of flour.
Add it to the stew with a tea-cupful of rich milk or cream, and give it
one boil up, not more, or the milk may curdle. Serve it hot in a deep
dish; the sweetbreads in the middle with the gravy poured over them, and
the quartered cauliflowers laid handsomely round. This stew will be
found delicious.
Broccoli may be thus stewed with sweetbreads.
SWEETBREAD OMELET.--For an omelet of six or seven eggs, take two fine
sweetbreads. Split them, take out the gristle, and soak them in two
lukewarm waters, to extract all the blood. Then put them into very hot
water, boil them ten minutes, take them out, set them away to cool, and
afterwards mince them small, and season them with _a very little salt_
and cayenne pepper, and some grated nutmeg. Beat the eggs (omitting the
whites of two) till very light. Then mix in the chopped sweetbreads. Put
three ounces or more of fresh butter into a small frying-pan, and place
it over the fire. Stir the butter with a spoon, as it melts, and when it
comes to a boil put in the mixture, stirring it awhile after it is all
in. Fry it a rich brown. Heat the plate or dish in which you turn it out
of the pan. An omelet should never be turned while frying. The top may
be well browned by holding above it a salamander or red-hot shovel.
If you wish it very thick, have _three_ sweetbreads.
While frying the omelet, lift the edge occasionally by slipping a
knife-blade under it, that the butter may get well underneath.
If omelets are cooked too much they will become tough, and leather-like.
Many persons prefer having them sent to table as _soft omelets_, before
they have set, or taken the form of a cake. In this case, serve up the
omelet in a deep dish, and help it with a spoon.
SWEETBREADS AND OYSTERS.--Take four sweetbreads, and when they have been
soaked and blanched, quarter them, and remove the pipe. Strain the
liquor from three dozen large fresh oysters, season it with powdered
nutmeg and mace, and a little cayenne. Put the quartered sweetbreads
into a stew-pan, and pour over them enough of the oyster-liquor to cover
them well, adding, if you have it, three large spoonfuls of the gravy of
roast veal, and a quarter of a pound of fresh butter, cut into four
bits; each bit rolled or dredged in flour. When the sweetbreads are
done, put in the oysters, (first removing their gristle or hard part,)
and take them out again as soon as they are plumped, which should be in
five minutes. If allowed to boil, the oysters will shrivel, and become
hard and tasteless. Add, at the last, two wine-glasses of cream, and
shake the pan about, for a few minutes. Serve up in a deep dish.
SWEETBREAD PIES.--Make shells of puff-paste, and bake them empty. When
done, fill them to the top with the above mixture. Have ready a lid for
each pie, baked on a flat plate, and lay it on the top of the filling.
STEWED SWEETBREADS.--After blanching them, extract the pipe very
carefully, and fill its place with a stuffing made of cold minced
chicken or veal, minced ham or tongue sweet marjoram, nutmeg, grated
lemon-peel, and the crumbled yolks of hard-boiled eggs. Fasten the
openings with small wooden skewers, and put the sweetbreads into a broad
stew-pan with a thin slice of ham under each, and another on the top of
each, kept in place by a splinter-skewer. Stew the sweetbreads in the
gravy of roast veal, and before you send them to table take out the
skewers.
Or make a gravy of uncooked trimmings of veal or beef, stewed slowly in
as much water as will cover them well, and seasoned with pepper and
salt--or, stew with the fresh meat, as much ham or bacon as will flavor
the gravy, (using no other salt.) When all the essence is extracted from
the meat, stir in a bit of butter dredged with flour. The flour for
gravies should be browned. Strain the gravy, and add any other flavoring
you like.
To brown flour, spread it evenly on a large dish or flat tin, and place
it before the fire, or in a rather cool oven. Scrape it up from the
edges where it will get the brownest. Take care it burns or blackens
nowhere. Keep it for use in a dry tin box.
BAKED SWEETBREADS.--Parboil four large sweetbreads, having first
blanched them. When cold, lard them all over the surface, with slips of
bacon the size of small straws. Lay them in a shallow pan, putting under
each sweetbread a piece of nice fresh butter with a very little flour
mixed into it. Pour into the pan a glass of nice white wine, mixed with
the juice and grated yellow rind of a lemon. Season also with grated
nutmeg. Or for sauce, you may use mushroom catchup, with a little salad
oil stirred into it.
If you do not live in a place where nice fresh butter is to be obtained,
endeavor to do without butter at all, rather than use that which is
strong, rancid, or too salt. Bad butter tastes through every
thing--spoils every thing, and is also extremely unwholesome, as
decomposition (or in plain terms _putrefaction_,) has already commenced.
Rather than use what makes all your food taste worse instead of better,
try to substitute something else--such as beef or fresh pork drippings,
suet, lard, or olive oil; or, molasses, honey, or stewed fruit. _We
know_ that with these it is possible to live in health for years,
without tasting butter. Nevertheless, good butter is a good thing, and
an improvement to all sorts of cookery.
PORK.
PORK.--Young pork has a thin rind or skin, easily indented by pressing
with the finger, and the lean will break by pinching. If fresh, the meat
is smooth and dry; but if damp and clammy, it is tainted. If the fat is
rough with little kernels, the pig has had a disease resembling the
measles, and to eat it is poisonous. Pigs that have short legs, and
thick necks, are the best. Pigs fed entirely on slop make very bad pork.
They should be kept up for at least two months, fed with corn, and not
allowed during the time of fattening to eat any sort of trash. No animal
tastes more of its food than a pig. If allowed to eat the garbage of
fish, they will not only have a fishy taste, but a smell of fish so
intolerable, when cooking, that such pork cannot be endured in the
house. During the two months that they are kept up to fatten, all their
food must be wholesome as well as abundant, and it does them much good
to have soap-suds given to them occasionally. Let them have plenty of
corn, and plenty of fresh water. They will thrive better and make finer
pork, if their pens are not allowed to be dirty. No animal actually
likes dirt, and even pigs would be clean if they knew how. It is very
beneficial to young pigs to wash them well in soap and water. We have
seen this often done with great care.
The pork in Spain and Portugal is delicious, from being fed chiefly on
the large chestnuts, of which there is great abundance in those
countries. These pigs are short-legged and thick-bodied--a profitable
species. The best pieces of a pig are the hind-leg and loin; the next is
the shoulder, or fore-leg. The spare-rib, (pronounced sparrib by the
English,) affords so little meat, and the bones are so tedious to pick,
that it is seldom seen on good American tables, nothing being popular
with us that cannot be eaten fast or fastish.
Pork must be thoroughly cooked; done well, and completely to the very
bone. Who ever asked for a slice of pork _done rare_? Who could eat pork
with the blood appearing, when served? So it is with veal. Underdone
veal, or underdone chicken, is not to be thought of without disgust.
Pork, for boiling, is always previously salted or corned. Fresh pork,
however, is very good _stewed_ or cooked slowly in a very little water,
and with plenty of vegetables in the same pot. The vegetables should be
potatos, (either sweet or white,) pared and cut into pieces--parsnips
the same, or yams in thick slices. For corned pork cook the vegetables
separately from the meat, or they will taste too salt and fat. They
should be cabbage, or green sprouts, green beans or peas, green corn,
young poke, squash, pumpkin, or cashaw, (winter squash,) boiled, mashed,
and squeezed.
For salt pork, in winter, have dried beans or dried peas; first boiled,
and then baked.
TO ROAST PORK.--The roasting pieces are the loin, the leg, the saddle,
the fillet, the shoulder and the spare-rib, (which last is found between
the shoulder or fore-leg,) and the griskin or back-bone. All roast pork
should be well seasoned; rubbed with pepper, salt, or powdered sage or
marjoram. Score the skin with a sharp knife, making deep lines at
regular distances, about an inch apart. Cross these lines with others,
so as to form squares or diamonds. Make a stuffing of minced sage or
marjoram leaves; bread-crumbs; if liked, a very little minced onion
previously boiled; and some powdered mace. Introduce this stuffing
profusely wherever it can be inserted, loosening a piece of the skin,
and fastening it down again with a small skewer. In a leg or shoulder
you can put in a great deal at the knuckle. In a fillet or large end of
the leg, stuff the place from whence you have taken the bone. Put the
pork down to roast not very close to the fire, but place it nearer when
the skin begins to brown. You can soon baste it with its own gravy; and
see that it is thoroughly cooked, before removing it from the spit.
After taking up the meat, skim the fat from the gravy, and stir in a
little flour to thicken it.
The crackling or skin will be much more crisp and tender if you go all
over it with sweet oil, or lard, before you put it to the fire.
Always accompany roast pork with apple sauce, served in a deep dish or a
sauce-tureen.
Cold roast pork is very good sliced at tea or breakfast.
SWEET POTATO PORK.--Boil, peel, and mash a sufficiency of sweet potatos,
moistened with butter and egg. Cover with them the bottom of a deep
dish; then put on a layer of slices of fresh pork, sprinkled with minced
sage or marjoram. Next, another thick layer of mashed sweet potatos;
then another layer of pork cutlets, and so on till the dish is full,
finishing with mashed sweet potatos. Bake it brown on the surface.
CHESTNUT PORK.--Where the large Spanish chestnuts abound, a similar dish
may be made of layers of chestnuts boiled, peeled, and mashed, and
layers of fresh pork in thin slices.
ROASTED SPARE-RIB.--This will do for a second dish at the table of a
very small family. Rub it all over with powdered sage, pepper, and salt,
and having put it on the spit, lay the thickest end to the fire. Dredge
it with powdered sage and baste it with a little butter. When dished,
have ready some mashed potatos made into flat cakes, and browned on the
top, and laid all round the pork, with some in another dish. Send to
table apple sauce also.
When apples are difficult to procure, substitute dried peaches, stewed
very soft, and in no more water than remains about them after being
washed. Sweeten them while hot, as soon as you take them from the fire,
mashing them smoothly.
TO DRESS A YOUNG PIG.--The pig should not be more than three weeks old.
If not fat, it is unfit to eat. To be in perfection, a sucking pig
should be eaten the day it is killed, or its goodness and tenderness is
impaired every hour. It requires great care in roasting, and constant
watching. The custom of _roasting_ a very young pig has now gone much,
into disuse, it being found that baking answers the purpose equally
well or better, and is far less troublesome.
The pig should be washed perfectly clean, inside and out, and wiped very
dry. Have ready a stuffing made of slices of bread, thickly buttered and
soaked in milk, seasoned with powdered nutmeg and mace, and the grated
yellow rind of a lemon, with the _hard-boiled_ yolk of an egg, crumbled,
and a large handful, or more, of fine bloom raisins, seeded and cut in
half, mix all these ingredients well, and fill with them the body of the
pig, sewing it up afterwards. Or you may make a plain stuffing of
chopped sage and onions, boiled together, with marjoram; and mixed with
bread-crumbs and butter. Having trussed the pig, with the fore-legs bent
back, and the hind-legs forward, rub it _all over_ with sweet oil, or
with fresh butter tied in a rag. Lay it in a baking-pan, with a little
water in the bottom. Then set it in an oven, not too hot, and bake it
well, basting it frequently with butter. When done, dish it whole. Skim
the gravy in the pan, and mix in some flour. Give it one boil up, having
first put into it the chopped liver and heart of the pig, taken out
after it was cooked, and stir in the beaten yolk of an egg.
The practice is now obsolete of dissecting a pig before it goes to
table, splitting it down the back, and down the front, and laying the
two halves in reverse positions, or back to back, with one half the
split head at each side, and one ear at each end, the brains being taken
out to enrich the gravy. All these disgusting things have been discarded
by the better taste of modern epicures. And the pig is baked and comes
to table whole. We have always thought it a most unfeminine fancy for a
lady to enjoy eating the head of any thing, and the brain particularly.
PORK STEAKS, STEWED.--Take some nice fresh pork steaks, cut either from
the leg or the loin. Trim off the superfluous fat. Season them with a
little salt and pepper, and plenty of minced sage. Put in with them,
minced onions, sliced sweet potatos, parsnips, and white potatos cut
into pieces, also some lima beans. Pour in barely sufficient water to
cover them; or else stew the pork in a very little lard. Apples cored,
pared, and baked whole; the core-place filled with sugar, moistened with
a very little water, to put in the bottom of the baking-dish, are a very
nice accompaniment to pork steaks.
PORK AND APPLES.--Take nice steaks, or cutlets, of fresh pork. Season
them with a little pepper, and a very little salt. Pare, core, and
quarter some fine juicy apples. Flavor them with the grated yellow rind
and the juice of one or two lemons, and strew among them plenty of
sugar. Stew them with merely sufficient water to prevent their burning;
or else a little lard without water. When thoroughly done, serve all up
in the same dish. If you cannot procure lemons, flavor the apple with
rose-water, or nutmeg, _after_ it is cooked. Rose-water evaporates much
in cooking.
PORK STEAKS, FRIED.--Cut them thin, but do not trim off the fat.
Sprinkle them well all over with finely minced sage or sweet marjoram.
Lay them in a frying-pan, and fry them well on both sides, keeping them
very hot after they are done. Wash out the frying-pan, (or have another
one ready, which is better,) and put it over the fire with plenty of
lard, or fresh butter. Have ready plenty of slices of large juicy
apples, pared, cored, and cut into round pieces. Fry them well, and when
done, take them up on a perforated skimmer, to drain the lard from them.
Sprinkle them with powdered sugar, and pile them on a dish to eat with
the pork.
Otherwise, send to table with the pork, a dish of apple sauce made in
the usual manner, or a dish of dried peaches, stewed, mashed, and
sweetened.
PORK APPLE POT-PIE.--Make a plentiful quantity of nice paste. With some
of it line the sides (but not the bottom) of a large pot. At the very
bottom lay a slice of _fresh_ pork, with most of the fat trimmed off.
Season it with a very little salt and pepper, and add some pieces of
paste. Next put in a thick layer of juicy apples, cut in slices, strewed
with brown sugar. Add another layer of pork, and another of sliced
apples. Proceed thus till the pot is nearly full, finishing with a lid
of paste, not fitting quite closely. Cut a cross-slit in the top,
through which pour in some sweet cider to moisten it, and set it to
cooking. Keep the pot covered; set it at once over a good fire, but not
so hot as to burn the pie. See that it is well done before you take it
up. It is a convenient dish in the country at the season of apple
picking, cider making, and pork killing.
Stewed or baked apples are always greatly improved by a flavoring of
lemon, rose-water, or nutmeg.
APPLE PORK PIE.--Core, peel, and quarter some fine juicy baking-apples.
Make a nice paste with fresh butter and sifted flour, and line with it
the bottom and sides of a deep dish. Put in the apples, and strew among
them sufficient brown sugar to make them very sweet. If you can obtain a
fresh lemon, pare off very thin the yellow rind, and squeeze the juice
to flavor the apples. Prepare some fresh pork steaks, cut thin, and
divested of all the fat except a little at the edge; removing the bone.
Cover the apples with a layer of meat, and pour in a tea-cup of _sweet_
cider. The contents of the pie should be heaped up in the centre. Have
ready a nice lid of paste, and cover the pie with it, closing and
crimping the edge. In the centre of the lid cut a cross-slit. Put it
into a hot oven and bake it well. This is a farm-house dish, and very
good. Try it.
Apples have always been considered a suitable accompaniment to fresh
pork.
FILLET OF PORK.--Cut a fillet or round, handsomely and evenly, from a
fine leg of fresh pork. Remove the bone. Make a stuffing or forcemeat of
grated bread-crumbs; butter; a tea-spoonful of sweet marjoram, or
tarragon leaves; and sage leaves enough to make a small table-spoonful,
when minced or rubbed fine; all well mixed, and slightly seasoned with
pepper and salt. Then stuff it closely into the hole from whence the
bone was taken. Score the skin of the pork in circles to go all round
the fillet. These circles should be very close together, or about half
an inch apart. Rub into them, slightly, a little powdered sage. Put it
on the spit, and roast it well, till it is thoroughly done throughout;
as pork, if the least underdone, is not fit to eat. Place it, for the
first hour, not very close to the fire, that the meat may get well
heated all through, before the skin begins to harden so as to prevent
the heat from penetrating sufficiently. Then set it as near the fire as
it can be placed without danger of scorching. Keep it roasting steadily
with a bright, good, regular fire, for two or three hours, or longer
still if it is a large fillet. It may require near four hours. Baste it
at the beginning with sweet oil (which will make the skin very crisp) or
with lard. Afterwards, baste it with its own gravy. When done, skim the
fat from the gravy, and then dredge in a little flour to thicken it.
Send the pork to table with the gravy in a boat; and a deep dish of
apple sauce, made very thick, flavored with lemon, and sweetened well.
A fillet of pork is excellent stewed slowly in a very little water,
having in the same stew-pot some sweet potatos, peeled, split, and cut
into long pieces. If stewed, put _no sage_ in the stuffing; and remove
the skin of the pork. This is an excellent family dish in the autumn.
ITALIAN PORK.--Take a nice leg of fresh pork; rub it well with fine salt
and let it lie in the salt for a week or ten days. When you wish to cook
it, put the pork into a large pot, with just sufficient water to cover
it; and let it simmer, slowly, during four hours; skimming it well. Then
take it out, and lay it on a large dish. Pour the water from the pot
into an earthen pan; skim it, and let it cool while you are skinning the
pork. Then put into a pot, a pint of good cider vinegar, mixed with half
a pound of brown sugar, and a pint of the water in which the pork has
been boiled, and from which all the fat has been carefully skimmed off.
Put in the pork with the upper side towards the bottom of the pot. Set
it again over the fire, (which must first be increased,) and heat the
inside of the pot-lid by standing it upright against the front of the
fire. Then cover the pot closely, and let the pork stew for an hour and
a half longer; basting it frequently with the liquid around it, and
keeping the pot-lid as hot as possible that the meat may be well
browned. When done, the pork will have somewhat the appearance of being
coated with molasses. Serve up the gravy with it. What is left of the
meat may be sliced cold for breakfast or luncheon.
You may stew with it, when the pork is put into the pot a second time,
some large chestnuts, previously boiled and peeled. Or, instead of
chestnuts, sweet potatos, scraped, split, and cut into small pieces.
PORK OLIVES.--Cut slices from a fillet or leg of cold fresh pork. Make a
forcemeat in the usual manner, only substituting for sweet herbs some
sage-leaves, chopped fine. When the slices are covered with the
forcemeat, and rolled up and tied round, stew them slowly either in cold
gravy left of the pork, or in fresh lard. Drain them well before they go
to table. Serve them up on a bed of mashed turnips, or potatos, or of
mashed sweet potatos, if in season.
PIGS' FEET, FRIED.--Pigs' feet are frequently used for jelly, instead of
calves' feet. They are very good for this purpose, but a larger number
is required (from eight to ten or twelve) to make the jelly sufficiently
firm. After they have been boiled for jelly, extract the bones, and put
the meat into a deep dish: cover it with some good cider vinegar,
seasoned with sugar and a little salt and cayenne. Then cover the dish,
and set it away for the night. Next morning, take out the meat, and
having drained it well from the vinegar, put it into a frying-pan, in
which some lard has just come to a boil, and fry it for a breakfast
dish.
PORK AND BEANS.--Take a good piece of pickled pork, (not very fat,) and
to each pound of pork allow a quart of dried white beans. The bone
should be removed from the pork, and the beans well picked and washed.
The evening before they are wanted for cooking, put the beans and pork
to soak in _separate pans_; and just before bed-time, drain off the
water, and replace it with fresh. Let them soak all night. Early in the
morning, drain them well from the water, and wash first the beans, and
then the pork in a cullender. Having scored the skin in stripes, or
diamonds, put the pork into a pot with fresh cold water, and the beans
into another pot with sufficient cold water to cook them well. Season
the pork with a little pepper, but, of course, no salt. Boil them
separately and slowly till the pork is thoroughly done (skimming it
well) and till the beans have all burst open. Afterwards take them out,
and drain them well from the water. Then lay the pork in the middle of a
tin pan, (there must be no liquid fat about it) and the beans round it,
and over it, so as nearly to bury it from sight. Pour in a very little
water, and set the dish into a hot oven, to bake or brown for half an
hour. If kept too long in the oven the beans will become dry and hard.
If sufficiently boiled when separate, half an hour will be long enough
for the pork and beans to bake together. Carefully skim off any liquid
fat that may rise to the surface. Cover the dish, and send it to table
hot.
For a small dish, two quarts of beans and two pounds of pork will be
enough. To this quantity, when put to bake in the oven, you may allow a
pint of water.
This is a good plain dish, very popular in New England, and generally
liked in other parts of the country, if properly done.
PORK WITH CORN AND BEANS.--Boil a nice small leg of corned pork, skim it
well, and boil it thoroughly. Then have ready a quart, or more, of fresh
string-beans, each bean cut into only three pieces. Boil the beans for
an hour in a separate pot. In another pot boil four ears of young sweet
corn, and when soft and tender, cut it down from the cob, with a sharp
knife, and mix it with the boiled beans, having drained them, through a
cullender, from all the water that is about them. Having mixed them well
together, in a deep dish, season them with pepper, (no salt,) and add a
large lump of fresh butter.
For green beans you may substitute dried white ones, boiled by
themselves, well drained, and seasoned with pepper and butter, and mixed
in the same dish before they are sent to table. Or the mixed corn and
beans may be heaped round the pork upon the same dish.
To eat with them make some indian dumplings of corn meal and water,
mixed into a stiff dough, formed into thick dumplings, about as large
round as the top of a tea-cup, and boiled in a pot by themselves.
PORK WITH PEAS PUDDING.--Boil a nice piece of pickled or corned pork,
(the leg is the best,) and let it be well skinned, and thoroughly
cooked. To make the pudding, pick over and wash through cold water, a
quart of yellow split peas, and tie them in a square cloth, leaving
barely sufficient room for them to swell; but if too much space is
allowed for swelling, they will be weak and washy. When the peas are all
dissolved into a mass, turn them out of the cloth, and rub them through
a coarse sieve into a pan. Then add a quarter of a pound of fresh
butter, mixed well into the peas, and a very little pepper. Beat light,
three yolks and one whole egg, and stir them into the peas a little at a
time. Then beat the whole very hard. Dip your pudding-cloth into hot
water; spread it out in a pan, and pour the mixture into it. Tie up the
cloth, and put the pudding into a pot of boiling water. Let it boil
steadily for at least an hour. When done, send it to table, and eat it
with the pork.
Next day, if there is much left, boil both the pork and the pudding over
again, (the remains of the pudding tied in the cloth.) Let them boil
till thoroughly warmed throughout. Cut them in slices. Place them on the
same dish, the pork in the middle, with slices of pudding laid round,
and send them to the breakfast table, for strong healthy eaters.
SAUSAGE-MEAT.--To fifteen pounds of the lean of fresh pork, allow five
pounds of the fat. Having removed the skin, sinews, and gristle, chop
both the fat and lean as fine as possible, and mix them well together.
Rub to a powder sufficient sage-leaves to make four ounces when done.
Mix the sage with two ounces of fine salt, two ounces of brown sugar, an
ounce of powdered black pepper, and a quarter of an ounce of cayenne.
Add this seasoning to the chopped pork, and mix it thoroughly. Pack the
sausage-meat down, hard and closely, into stone jars, which must be kept
in a cool place, and well covered. When wanted for use, make some of it
into small flat cakes, dredge them with flour, and fry them well. The
fat that exudes from the sausage-cakes, while frying, will be sufficient
to cook them in.
SAUSAGE DUMPLING.--Make a good paste in the proportion of three mashed
potatos, and a quarter of a pound of finely minced suet to a quart of
flour. Roll it out into a thick sheet. Fill it with the best home-made
sausage meat. Lay the sausage meat in an even heap on the sheet of
dough, and close it up so as to form a large round dumpling. Dip a
square cloth in boiling water, shake it out, dredge it with flour, and
tie the dumpling in it, leaving room for it to swell. Put it into a pot
of boiling water, and keep it boiling hard till thoroughly done. Do not
turn it till immediately before it goes to table. It requires no sauce
but a little cold butter. It may be made into several small dumplings.
VEAL AND SAUSAGE PIE.--Line a deep oval dish with a very nice paste. Lay
at the bottom a thin veal cutlet, seasoned with powdered mace. Place
upon it some of the best sausage meat, spread thin; then another veal
cutlet, and then more sausage. Repeat this till the dish is full,
finishing with sausage meat on the top. Then cover the pie with a rather
thick lid or upper crust, uniting the two edges at the rim, by crimping
or notching them neatly. Make a cross slit in the centre of the lid.
Bake the pie well, and serve it up hot.
Put no water into this pie, as the veal and the sausage will give out
sufficient gravy. We recommend this pie.
If you live where veal cannot always be procured, substitute chicken or
turkey, boiled and cut up, and covered with layers of sausage; or else
thin slices of venison; or else, the best part of a pair of boiled or
roasted rabbits.
BOLOGNA SAUSAGES.--Take three pounds of the lean of a round of corned or
salted beef, and three pounds of the lean of corned or salted pork.
Boil them for an hour in separate pots. Take them up, let them grow
cold, and chop them separately. Chop also, very fine, two pounds of the
fat of bacon, and one pound of beef suet. When these things are all
separately minced, mix them well together, seasoning them well with
chopped sage, sweet marjoram, black pepper, and powdered mace. Also, if
liked, two or three boiled onions minced very small. Have ready some of
the large skins commonly used for these sausages. The skins must have
been carefully emptied, washed, and scraped till quite transparent. Fill
them with the above mixture, stuffing it in hard and evenly with a
sausage-stuffer, sewing and tying both ends securely. Put the sausages
into a brine or pickle, such as is made for ham, of salt, brown sugar,
and molasses mixed with water, and strong enough to bear up an egg. Let
the sausages remain a week in this pickle, turning them every day, and
keeping it closely covered. Then take them out and hang them up to dry,
tied in strings or links. Smoke them for a week over a fire of oak
sticks or corn-cobs. Afterwards, rub them over with salad oil, which is
much the better for being mixed with ashes of vine twigs.
Sausages made faithfully as above, will be found equal to the real
Bologna, by the lovers of this sort of relish. When it is eaten they are
sliced very thin. Few ladies eat them.
HOG'S HEAD CHEESE.--Hog's head cheese is always made at what is called
"killing time." To make four cheeses of moderate size, take two large
hog's heads; two sets, (that is eight feet,) and the noses of all the
pigs that have been killed that day. Clean all these things well, and
then boil them to rags. Having drained off the liquid through a
cullender, spread out the things in large dishes, and carefully remove
all the bones, even to the smallest bits. With a chopper mince the meat
as fine as possible, and season it well with pepper, salt, sage, and
sweet marjoram, adding some powdered mace. Having divided the prepared
meats into four equal parts, tie up each portion tightly in a clean
coarse cloth, and press it into a compact cake, by putting on heavy
weights. It will be fit for use next day. In a cool dry place it will
keep all winter. It requires no farther cooking, and is eaten sliced at
breakfast, luncheon, or supper. If well made, and well seasoned with the
herbs and spices, it will be found very nice for a relish.
LIVER PUDDINGS.--Boil some pigs' livers, and when cold mince them,
adding some cold ham or bacon, in the proportion of a pound of liver to
a quarter of a pound of fat bacon. Add also some boiled pigs' feet,
allowing to each pound of liver four pigs' feet boiled, skinned, boned,
and chopped. Season with pepper, powdered mace or nutmeg, and sweet
herbs, (sweet basil and marjoram.) Put the mixture (packed hard,) into
straight-sided tin or white ware pans, and cover them with a clean
cloth. Put heavy weights on the top. Cover them also with folded brown
paper, and set them in a cool dry place. They will be fit to eat next
day. Slice them thick, and send them to the tea or breakfast table. Or
you may fill with the mixture, some nicely cleaned and very transparent
sausage skins, (of a large size,) and tie up the ends with coarse brown
thread, to be removed before going to table.
You may cut them into large pieces, and broil them, or fry them in lard.
Calves' liver makes still nicer puddings.
Keep liver puddings in flat stone jars.
Never use newspaper to cover or wrap up any thing eatable. The black
always rubs off, and the copperas in the printing ink is very poisonous.
HAM, etc.
BRINE FOR PICKLING MEAT.--To every four gallons of water allow four
pounds of fine salt, two ounces of saltpetre, three pounds of brown
sugar, and two quarts of West India molasses. Boil the whole together,
stirring it well, and skimming it after stirring. When clear, let it
cool. The meat being clean and dry, rub it all over with ground red
pepper. Then put as much meat into the pickling-tub as can be very well
covered by the brine, which must be poured on cold. Let it remain six
weeks in the pickle, (carefully taking off the scum,) and turning each
piece every day. Afterwards, hang it till it is dry outside, and then
smoke it well for a fortnight, hanging it high above the fire with the
large end downward. The fire in the smoke-house should be steadily kept
up all the time. Hickory or oak is the best wood for this purpose. On no
account use pine, cedar, spruce, or hemlock. They will communicate to
the meat a strong taste of turpentine, and render it uneatable. A fire
made of corn-cobs is excellent for smoking meat, and they should be
saved for that purpose. When the meat is smoked, rub it all over with
ground pepper to prevent insects, and sew up all the pieces in new
cotton cloths, coarse and thick, and then white-wash them. We have seen
ham-covers, painted with flowers and gilded. Since California, gilding
pervades the land.
This pickle will be found excellent for hams, bacon, tongues, or beef.
Meat for pickling must be very fresh, and of excellent quality. Before
sewing it up in covers see that it is free from insects. If to go to
sea, pack in boxes of powdered charcoal for a long voyage. For a short
one, barrels of wood-ashes will do.
TO CURE HAMS.--To make good hams the pork must be of the best quality.
No animal tastes so much of its food as the pig. In America, we
consider a pig "killed off the slop" as unfit to eat; and so he is. All
our pigs are kept up in a pen, and fattened with Indian corn, or corn
meal, for several weeks previous to killing. A hundred pounds of corn
meal, (mixed with water to about the consistency of very thick mush,) is
said to be equal in fattening pigs to two hundred pounds of dry-shelled
corn. They should be kept up, and well fed for eight weeks; and
occasionally, in the country, where such fruits are superabundant, the
pigs should have a regale of melons, peaches, &c. This we have seen, and
the pork was, of course, very fine. The hams or hind-quarters are
considered the most valuable part of the animal. They are cured in
various modes. But the Newbold receipt has hitherto been the most
popular. Mr. Newbold was a Pennsylvania farmer. The following
directions, we believe, are authentic.
For one hundred pounds of fine pork, take seven pounds of coarse salt,
five pounds of brown sugar, two ounces of saltpetre, half an ounce of
pearlash, and four gallons of water. Boil all together, and skim the
pickle when cold. Pour it on the meat. Let hams or tongues remain in the
pickling-tub eight weeks. Before it is smoked, hang it up and dry it two
or three days. Three weeks will be sufficient for pickling beef.
Previous to sewing the hams in cases, rub them all over with ground
black pepper.
Soap-suds given frequently to pigs, when kept up to fatten, will greatly
promote their health.
BOILED HAM.--Having soaked a fine ham from early in the evening till
near bed-time, putting it into warm water, and changing that water about
ten or eleven o'clock--wash and brush it well in the morning, and trim
it so as to look nicely all over. Lay at the bottom of the ham-boiler a
bed of nice fresh hay, which will greatly improve the flavor. Let the
hock bone be sawed off short. A long shank bone looks very awkward.
Place the ham upon the hay--pour in plenty of cold water, and keep it
simmering very slowly an hour before you allow it to boil. Then increase
the heat gradually, and keep the ham boiling steadily for four, five, or
six hours, according to its size and age. An old ham requires more
soaking and boiling than a new one. Skim it frequently after the boiling
begins. It will be much improved by transferring it to a spit, (having
taken off the whole skin,) and roasting the ham, for the last two or
three hours, basting it with its own essence. Save the skin to cover the
cold ham, and keep it fresh. Before it goes to table cover the ham with
grated bread-crumbs, sifted on so as to form a slight crust.
If the ham is to be eaten cold, and is intended for company, brush it
all over with beaten yolk of egg. Then dredge on sufficient grated
crumbs to form a crust half an inch thick, and finish by going all over
it with cream. Set it to brown in an oven, or put it on the spit of a
roaster. When cold, this glazing will be found surpassingly fine.
Decorate the hock with white paper, handsomely cut, or with a bunch of
flowers cut out of vegetables.
Carve a ham in very thin slices--if cut thick, they have not the same
taste, besides looking ungenteelly.
BAKED HAM.--For baking, take a small ham, or part of a large one,
trimmed and made of good shape, cutting away whatever looks unsightly.
Have the bone sawed off at the knuckle, or end of the hock. The evening
previous to cooking, lay the ham in soak in a large pan of hot water. At
bed-time pour off the water, and renew it. Keep it closely covered all
night. In the morning wash and brush it well. Make a coarse paste of
coarse flour mixed with water only, and roll it out about an inch thick.
Line a clean iron bake-oven with this, and put in the ham, reserving
enough of paste to cover the top. Pour in a very little water, merely
sufficient to keep the ham from burning. Put on the lid of paste, and
having wet the edges slightly press them together, so as to unite
closely the top and bottom crust. Bake it over a steady fire, from four
to five or six hours, or more, according to its size. When done, skim
the gravy, remove the paste, (which is of no farther use,) and take off
the skin of the ham. Dredge it all over with finely grated bread-crumbs,
before it goes to table. A ham can scarcely be cooked too much, and too
slow. The general fault is in cooking them too little, and too fast. A
ham of the smallest size will require at least four hours baking or
boiling, even after it has been all night in soak. Save the skin whole,
to cover the cold ham when it is put away in the pantry.
When a cooked ham is nearly all used up, take what remains, cut it all
off from the bone, and stew the bits in a little water, till they are
all to rags. You will find the essence an improvement to gravies,
strained from the fragments.
MADEIRA HAM.--This is a dish only seen at dinner parties. No one can
believe, for a moment, that hams really cooked in Madeira wine are
served up every week at hotels, particularly at those houses where there
is no other superfluity, and where most of the great dishes exist only
in the bill of fare. A genuine Madeira ham is cooked as follows:--Take a
ham of the very finest sort; should be a Westphalia one. Lay it in hot
water, and soak it all day and all night, changing the water several
times, and every time washing out the pan. Early in the morning of the
second day, put the ham into a large pot of cold water, and boil it
slowly during four hours, skimming it well. Then take it out, remove the
skin entirely, and put the ham into a clean boiler, with sufficient
Madeira wine to cover it well. Boil, or rather stew it, an hour longer,
keeping the pot covered except when you remove the lid to turn the ham.
When well stewed take it up, drain it, and strain the liquor into a
porcelain-lined saucepan. Have ready a sufficiency of powdered white
sugar. Cover the ham all over with a thick coating of the sugar, and set
it into a hot oven to bake for an hour.
Mix some orange or lemon-juice with the liquor adding plenty of sugar
and nutmeg. Give it one boil up over the fire, and serve it up in a
tureen, as sauce to the ham.
What is left of the ham may be cut next day into small pieces, put into
a stew-pan, with the remains of the liquor or sauce poured over it, and
stewed for a quarter of an hour or more. Serve it up all together in the
same dish. While it is on the fire, add a little butter to the stew.
BROILED HAM.--Ham for broiling or frying should be cut into thin slices
the evening before, trimmed, and laid in a pan of boiling water, which,
near bed-time, should be changed for cold water, and very early in the
morning for boiling water, in which it should lie half an hour to soak
still longer. If ham is not well soaked previously, it will, when
broiled or fried, be disagreeably hard and salt; the salt frying out to
the surface and forming a rough unpleasant crust, which will create
thirst in the eaters for hours after. Much of the salt of a ham goes off
in boiling, but if it is _not_ boiled or soaked, the salt comes out to
the surface and there it sticks. The slices being cut thin and nicely
trimmed, they should be broiled on a very clean gridiron over a clear
fire, and so well done that they incline to curl up at the edges. Dish
them hot, and lay on every slice a very small bit of fresh butter, and
sprinkle them with pepper.
FRIED HAM.--Ham for frying need not be _quite_ so thin as for broiling.
Put but little butter in the frying-pan, as their own fat is generally
sufficient to cook them. Break an egg over the middle of each slice, and
let it cook till the white is set, and the yolk appears round and yellow
through it. Before it goes to table trim off nicely the discolored and
ragged edges of the fried eggs. They look disgusting when left on.
Cold ham is excellent for broiling or frying, and very nice without any
further cooking. Send it to table strewed with either nasturtion
flowers, pepper-grass, or parsley. All these things have a fine flavor
of their own, especially nasturtions.
NICE FRIED HAM.--Having scalded and soaked some nice ham, cut it into
rather thick slices, and then cut these slices into mouthfuls or little
narrow slips. Put them into a hot frying-pan, and fry them well. When
done, season them with pepper and nutmeg, and serve them up in their own
gravy. It will be an improvement to add a beaten egg just before they go
to table.
You may add to the ham some bits of cold boiled chicken, pulled in
little slips, from the breast, and fried with the ham, adding a little
fresh butter.
SLICED HAM.--Slice very thin some cold boiled ham, and let the slices be
nearly of the same size and appearance, making them look as handsome as
you can. Cover them with fresh green pepper-grass at a summer breakfast
or tea-table; and decorate the pepper-grass by interspersing with it
some nasturtion flowers, which are very nice to eat, having a taste
agreeably and slightly pungent. Pepper-grass and nasturtions, are very
appetizing accompaniments to nice bread and butter.
DISGUISED HAM.--Scrape or grate a pound of cold boiled ham, twice as
much lean as fat. Season it slightly with pepper and a little powdered
mace or nutmeg. Beat the yolks only, of three eggs, and mix with them
the ham. Spread the mixture thickly over slices of very nice toast, with
the crust pared off, and the toast buttered while hot. Brush it slightly
on the surface with white of egg, and then brown it with a red hot
shovel or salamander. This is a nice breakfast dish.
HAM CAKE.--This should be made the day before it is wanted. Take the
remains of a cold ham. Cut it into small bits, and pound it well (fat
and lean together) in a marble mortar, adding some butter and grated
nutmeg; or a little cream, sufficient to moisten it throughout. Fill a
mould with the mixture, and set it for half an hour into a moderate
oven. When ready for use, set the mould for a few minutes into hot
water, and then turn out the ham cake on a dish. Cover the surface all
over with a coating of beaten white of egg. And before it is quite dry,
decorate it with capers, or pickled nasturtion seeds, arranged in a
pattern.
Send small bread rolls to the supper table with the ham cake.
HAM OMELET.--Mince very fine some cold boiled ham, (twice as much lean
as fat,) till you have a half pint. Break six eggs, and strain them into
a shallow pan. Beat them till very light and thick, and then stir in
gradually the minced ham. Have ready, in a hot omelet pan, three
table-spoonfuls of lard. When the lard boils, put in the omelet mixture
and fry it. Occasionally slip a knife under the edge to keep it loose
from the pan. It should be near an inch thick, as a ham omelet is best
not to fold over. Make it a good even shape; and when one side is done,
turn the other and brown it. You can turn it easily with a knife and
fork, holding carefully, close to the omelet, the hot dish on which it
is to go to table. Dredge the surface with a little cayenne.
Omelets may be made in this manner, of smoked tongue, or oysters
chopped, cold sweetbread, asparagus minced, boiled onions, mushrooms,
&c. A good allowance for a small omelet is the above proportion of eggs
and lard, or fresh butter; and a large tea-cup of the seasoning article,
which must always have been previously cooked.
They are much lighter when served up of their full size, and not folded
over in halfs. A large omelet must have from eight to ten, or a dozen
eggs. It is best to bake all omelets of the six egg size, and have more
in number if required.
HAM TOAST.--Make some very nice slices of toast, with all the crust
trimmed off; and dip each toast for an instant into a bowl of hot water,
then butter it slightly. Have ready some grated cold ham, and spread it
thick over each slice of toast. Tongue toast is made in the same manner.
SANDWICHES.--Spread some thin slices of bread very thinly with nice
fresh butter, and lay a thin slice of cold ham (the edges neatly
trimmed) between every two slices of bread and butter. You may make them
so thin, as to roll up--a number being piled on a plate.
BISCUIT SANDWICHES.--This is a very nice and very pretty dish for a
supper table. Have ready one or two dozen of fresh soft milk biscuit.
Split them, and take a very little of the soft crumb out of each
biscuit, so as to make a slight hollow. Butter the biscuits with very
nice fresh butter, and fill them liberally with grated ham or tongue.
Stick round the inside of the edges, full sprigs of pepper-grass, or
curled parsley, or the green tops of celery. Arrange the sprigs closely
and handsomely, so as to project out all round the sides, forming a
green border or fringe. We highly recommend biscuit sandwiches.
POTTED HAM.--Take some cold ham, slice it, and mince it small, fat and
lean together. Then pound it in a mortar; seasoning it as you proceed
with cayenne pepper, powdered mace, and powdered nutmeg. Then fill with
it a large deep pan, and set it in an oven for half an hour. Afterwards
pack it down hard in a stone jar, and fill up the jar with lard. Cover
it closely, and paste down a thick paper over the jar. If sufficiently
seasoned, it will keep well in winter; and is convenient for sandwiches,
or on the tea-table. A jar of this will be found useful to travelers in
remote places.
Tongue may be potted as above.
TO PREPARE BACON.--All pieces of pork that, after pickling, are dried
and smoked, come under the denomination of bacon; except the
hind-quarters or legs, and they are always called ham, and are justly
considered superior to any other part of the animal, and bring a higher
price. The shoulders or fore-quarters, the sides or flitches, the jowl
or head, and all the other parts, are designated as bacon; and in some
places they erroneously give that name to the whole animal, if cured, or
preserved by the process of smoking.
To prepare bacon for being cooked, examine it well, and scrape it
carefully, and trim off all unsightly parts. If the fat is yellow, the
meat is rusty or tainted, and not fit to eat. So, also, if on the lean
there are brownish or blackish spots. All sorts of food, if kept too
long, should be thrown away at once.
If perfectly good, prepare the bacon for cooking, by washing it well,
and then soaking it for several hours in a pan full of cold water,
removing the water once or twice during the process. If the bacon is
salt and hard, soak it all night, changing the water at bed-time, and
early in the morning.
Ham should also be soaked before cooking.
A dish of broiled ham is a nice accompaniment to one of calves'
chitterlings, at breakfast.
TO BOIL BACON.--Put two or three pounds of nice bacon into a pot with
plenty of cold water, and let it simmer slowly for an hour before it
begins to boil. Skim it well, and when no more scum rises, put in the
vegetables which are usually eaten with bacon, and which taste better
for boiling with the meat. These are young greens, or sprouts, very
young roots and leaves of the poke plant, and green beans--strung and
cut in half--not smaller. On no account should any other vegetables be
boiled with bacon. When the bacon is so tender as to be easily pierced
through with a fork, even in the thickest places, take it up and drain
it well in a cullender or sieve. Remove the skin. Then take up the
vegetables and drain them also, pressing out _all_ the liquid. Season
them with pepper only. Send the meat to table with the vegetables heaped
round it, on the same large dish, (the cabbage being chopped, but not
minced fine.) Potatos, squashes, peas, asparagus, &c., should never be
boiled in the same pot, or served up in the same dish with bacon, which
is too plain a dish for any but a country table; while a ham is a
delicacy for the city, or for any place.
BACON AND BEANS.--Scrape and trim a nice piece of bacon, (not too fat,)
and see that no part of it looks yellow or rusty, or shows any
appearance of being too old. If so, do not cook it, as it is
unwholesome, unpalatable, and unfit to eat. A shoulder is a good piece
to boil. The best of the animal, when smoked, is, of course, the ham or
leg. We are now speaking of the other pieces that, when cured, are
properly called bacon, and are eaten at plain tables only.
The meat, if very salt, is the better for being put in soak early in the
morning, or the night before. Afterwards put it into a pot, and boil and
skim it till tender. Have ready a quart or two of fresh green string
beans, cut into three pieces, (not more); put them into the pot in which
the bacon is boiling, and let them cook with the meat for an hour or
more. When done, take them out, drain them well; season them well with
pepper, and send them to table on a separate dish from the bacon.
Many persons like so well this bacon flavor, that they _always_, when
boiling string-beans, put a small piece of bacon in the pot, removing it
before the beans are sent to table.
With bacon and beans, serve up whole potatos boiled and peeled--and in
the country, where cream is plenty, they boil some with butter, and pour
it over the potatos, touching each one with pepper.
BROILED HAM OR BACON.--Wash and trim a nice piece of bacon; soak it all
night, or for several hours, in cold water. In the morning scald it with
boiling water. Let it lie till cool, then throw away the water, and
scald it again. Cut it into thin slices, very smooth and even; the rind
being previously pared off. Curl up the slices, rolling them round, and
securing them with wooden skewers. Broil them on a gridiron, or bake
them in a Dutch oven. If cut properly thin, they will cook in a quarter
of an hour. They must not be allowed to burn or blacken. Before you send
them to table, take out the skewers. They may be cooked in flat slices,
without curling, but they must be cut always very thin. Slice some
hard-boiled eggs, and lay them on the meat. Season with black pepper.
_Cold_ boiled ham cooked as above, will require no soaking, and can be
speedily prepared for a breakfast dish. Lay sprigs of parsley on the
ham.
Serve up with them mashed potatos made into balls, or thick flat cakes,
and browned on the surface with a red-hot shovel.
STEWED HAM.--Cut some thin slices of cold boiled ham. Season them
slightly with pepper. No salt. Lay them in a stew pan with plenty of
green peas or lima beans, or else cauliflowers, or young summer cabbage,
quartered, and the thick stalk omitted. Add a piece of fresh butter, or
_a very little lard_. Put in just water enough to keep the things from
burning. When the vegetables are quite done, add a beaten egg or two,
and in five minutes, take up the stew and send it to table.
STEWED BACON.--Take a small piece of bacon, not too fat or salt. It had
best be soaked in cold water the night before. Put it into a pot, with a
large portion of string beans, each cut into three pieces, (not more,)
or else some cabbage, or young cabbage sprouts. Early in the spring, the
young stalks of the pokeberry plant will be found excellent with stewed
bacon. Stew the bacon and vegetables in just water enough to cover them
all; skimming frequently. Drain all, through a cullender, when done.
Have a dish of boiled potatos also. A molasses indian pudding is a good
conclusion to this homely dinner.
PREPARED LARD.--As soon as it is cut off from the newly killed pork, put
the fat into a crock, or deep earthen pot. Cover the crock with its own
lid, and let it stand all night in a cool place. Next day, cut it into
small bits, (carefully removing all the fleshy particles of lean); and
then put the fat into a _very clean_ pot, without either water or salt.
The pot should not be more than half full of pork-fat. Let it boil
_slowly_, (stirring it frequently from the bottom, lest it burn,) till
it becomes quite clear and transparent. Then ladle it into clean pans.
When almost cold, put it into stoneware jars, which must be closely
covered, and kept in a cool place. If it is to go to a distance, tie it
up in new bladders.
There are two sorts of pork-fat for lard. The leaf-fat, which is best;
and the fat that adheres to the entrails. These two fats should be
boiled separately.
The large entrails, whose skins are to be used for sausages, must be
cleaned out carefully, well scraped, and thrown into strong salt and
water for two days, (changing the brine the second day,) and afterwards
into strong lye for twenty-four hours. Lastly, wash them in fresh water.
We think it much better to dispense with the skins altogether; keeping
your sausage meat in jars, and frying it in cakes when wanted for use.
Its own fat (as it exudes) will cook it.
Never use bad butter when you can obtain good lard, for frying, and
other purposes.
VENISON.
You may judge of the age of venison by looking at the hoof, which is
always left on the leg. The deer is young if the cleft of the hoof is
small and smooth; but large and rough, if he is old. Buck venison is
considered better than the meat of the doe. The haunch, or hind-quarter,
is the best part, and the fat upon it should, be thick and white. The
shoulder, or fore-quarter, is the next best piece. The saddle comprises
both hind-quarters; and these, for a large company, are always cooked
together.
To eat venison in perfection, it should be killed when the deer can find
plenty of fresh food in the forest, and when they have fattened on the
abundance of wild berries, which they can obtain during the autumn. In
winter, they are brought into the cities, lean, hard, dry, and black,
and the meat infested all through with small threadlike white worms;
showing that decomposition has commenced, and requiring the disguise of
spices, wine, currant jelly, &c., to render it _eatable_, not
_wholesome_, for every sort of food in the slightest degree tainted is
utterly injurious to health, and cannot often be eaten with impunity.
It never was very fashionable, in America, to eat spoiled victuals, and
it is now less so than ever. Fortunately, in our land of abundance, "we
do not see the necessity".
HAUNCH OF VENISON.--To prepare a haunch of venison for roasting (we will
suppose it to be _perfectly_ good and well kept,) wipe it thoroughly all
over with clean cloths, dipped in lukewarm water, and then go over it
with clean dry cloths. Trim off all unsightly parts. Lay over the fat a
large sheet of thick brown paper, well buttered, and securely tied on
with twine. Or else make a coarse paste of brown meal, and cover it with
that. Place it before a good steady fire, and let it roast from three to
four hours, according to its size. After roasting well for three hours,
remove the covering of paper or paste, and baste the meat well all over;
first with dripping or butter, and then with its own gravy, dredging it
very slightly with browned flour. Skim the fat off the gravy, and send
the venison to table plain, with sweet sauce of black currant jelly, or
raspberry jam, in a glass dish with a spoon in it.
VENISON STEAKS, BROILED.--Cut the steaks not quite an inch thick. Trim
them nicely, and season them with a little black pepper and salt. Have
ready, over a bed of clear bright hot coals from a wood fire, a gridiron
with grooved bars to catch the gravy. Put down the steaks, and when one
side is quite done turn the other, and broil that. Venison should always
be very thoroughly done. Before you take up the steaks, lay a bit of
nice fresh butter upon each. Take them up on a hot dish, and keep them
warm. Pour off the gravy into a small saucepan. Give it a boil over the
fire, and skim off all the fat from the surface. Stir into it some nice
wine, and serve up with the steaks a deep dish of cranberry, or peach
sauce, or a large cup of grape jelly.
STEWED VENISON STEAKS.--Take some fine steaks of _freshly killed_
venison. Cut them from the upper part of the leg. Make a forcemeat, or
stuffing, with bread soaked in milk, mixed with fresh butter, with
chopped sweet marjoram and sweet basil; or some boiled onions, minced
small, and mixed with chopped sage, which may be boiled _with_ the
onion, and seasoned with a very little salt and pepper. Spread the
stuffing thickly over the inside of the steaks. Then roll them up, and
tie them round with packthread, or secure them at the ends with wooden
skewers. Put the steaks into a stewpan with some fresh butter or lard,
or some drippings that have been left of roast venison--the day before.
Let them stew (keeping the pan covered) till thoroughly done. Then dish
them with the gravy round them. Serve up with them a sauce of stewed
cranberries, or stewed dried peaches.
You may stew lamb or mutton cutlets in the same manner, but do not use
mutton dripping. Water (a very small quantity) is best for them. Veal
cutlets may be stewed exactly like venison.
HASHED VENISON.--Take the remains of cold roast venison, from which
sufficient gravy or dripping has been saved to cook the meat again,
without any water at all. It would be well if this were done in all
hashes made from cold meat. For want of drippings, use butter or lard.
Cold meat stewed in water is weak and unpalatable.
Two or three large spoonfuls of mushroom, or tomato catchup, are
improvements to all hashes. If nothing better can be obtained use
onions, always previously boiled to render them less strong.
Minced sweet herbs are excellent seasoning for hashes. Also minced
tarragon leaves; they give a peculiar flavor that is very generally
liked. Fresh tarragon is in season in July, August, and September.
French mustard (to be obtained at all the best grocery stores) is a
great improvement to hashes and stews. Stir in at the last, one or two
large table-spoonfuls. The chief ingredient of French mustard is
tarragon.
A FINE VENISON PIE.--Cut steaks from a loin or haunch of venison, which
should be as freshly killed as you can get it. The strange and absurd
prejudice in favor of hard black-looking venison, (that has been kept
till the juices are all dried up,) is fast subsiding; and no one now
eats any sort of food in which decomposition has commenced. Those who
have eaten venison fresh from the forest, when the deer have fattened
on wild grapes, huckleberries, blackberries, cranberries, &c., will
never again be able to relish such as is brought in wagon loads to the
Atlantic cities, and which has been kept till full of those fine threads
that are in reality long thin whitish worms, and which are often seen in
very old hams.
Having removed the bones and cut the meat into steaks, and seasoned it
with salt and pepper, put the venison into a pot, with merely as much
water as will cover it well. Let it stew till perfectly tender, skimming
it occasionally. Then take it out, and set it to cool, saving the gravy
in a bowl. Make a nice puff paste; divide the paste into two equal
portions, and roll it out rather thick. Butter a deep dish, and line it
with one of the sheets of paste, rolled thin at the bottom. Then put in
the stewed venison. Season the gravy with a glass of _very good_ wine,
(either port or sherry,) a few blades of mace, and a powdered nutmeg.
Stir into it the crumbled yolks of some hard-boiled eggs. Pour the gravy
over the meat, and put on the other sheet of paste, as the lid of the
pie. Bring the two edges close together, so as to unite evenly, and
notch them handsomely. Set it immediately into the oven, and bake it
well. If a steady heat is kept up, it will be done in an hour. Send it
to table hot.
Instead of wine, you may put into the gravy half a pint of _black_
currant jelly, which, for venison, is thought preferable to red. Either
will do.
Any sort of game, partridges, pheasants, grouse, wild ducks, &c., may
be made into a fine pie, exactly as above.
VERY PLAIN VENISON PIE.--Cut from the bone some good pieces of fine
_fresh_ venison, season them slightly with salt and pepper, and put them
into a pot with plenty of potatos, (either sweet or white,) split and
quartered, and only as much water as will cover the whole. Set it over
the fire, cover it, and let it stew slowly and steadily, till all is
tender, skimming it several times. Meanwhile, make a nice paste of flour
shortened with cold gravy, or drippings saved from roast venison, or of
nice lard. Allow half a pint of shortening to each quart of flour. Put
the flour into a pan, and rub the shortening into it as quickly as
possible, adding a _very little_ cold water, to make it into a lump of
paste. Then roll it out into a sheet, and spread over it with a broad
knife the remaining half of the shortening. Dredge lightly with flour,
fold it up, and roll it out in two sheets. With one of them line your
pie-dish, and put into it the stewed venison and potatos. Pour in the
gravy of the stew. The filling of this pie should be piled high in the
centre. Lay on, as a lid, the other sheet of paste, which should be
rather the largest. Pare off smoothly the edges of the two crusts, and
crimp them nicely. Set the pie in the oven, and bake it well. It may be
eaten either hot or cold, but is best hot.
The above quantity of paste is only sufficient for a very small pie.
For one of moderate size allow two quarts of flour, and a pound of
shortening.
VENISON POT-PIE.--Remove the bone from some fine venison steaks, cut
near an inch thick. Season them lightly with pepper and salt, and score
them each in several places. Stew them in a very little water till
tender. Have ready an ample portion of nice suet paste. If you cannot
obtain beef suet use cold venison fat, minced fine and made into a paste
with double its quantity in flour, and as little water as possible. Lay
some stewed venison at the bottom of the pot, and line the sides with
paste almost up to the top. Put in the meat, adding among it boiled
sweet potatos cut into pieces, or (if they are to be had in plenty,)
chestnuts, boiled and peeled. Mushrooms will be a great improvement.
Onion also, (if liked,) boiled and cut up. Intersperse the whole with
square pieces of paste. Fill the pot almost to the top with the meat and
other ingredients. Lay a thick paste over the whole, cut round to fit,
but not too closely. Pour in a pint of warm water to increase the gravy.
Make a cross slit in the middle of the upper crust. Cook the pie till
all is well done. Serve it up with the brown crust in pieces, and laid
on the top.
This pie, if well made, and with plenty of paste, will be thought
excellent whenever fresh venison is to be had.
VENISON HAM.--Take fine freshly-killed venison. Mix together an ounce of
saltpetre, a pound of coarse brown sugar, and a pound of salt. Let them
be very thoroughly mixed and pounded. Rub this well into the meat, and
continue rubbing hard till it froths. Keep the meat in the pickle for
two weeks, turning it every day. Then take it out, and roll it in
saw-dust, (which, on no account, must be the saw-dust of any species of
pine.) Hang it for two weeks longer in the smoke of oak wood or of corn
cobs. All hams, when being smoked, must be hung very high, and have the
large end downwards. If hung too low, the heat softens or melts the fat.
Venison hams, if well cured, require no boiling. They are always eaten
chipped or shaved like smoked beef, to which they are very superior. It
may be stewed in a skillet with fresh butter and beaten egg, and cut
into thin shavings, or very thin small slices--or, instead of butter,
with the drippings of cold roast venison. Season with pepper only.
RABBITS.--Rabbits should be young and tender, but full-grown and fat.
Two are required to make a dish. One rabbit, except for an invalid, is
scarcely worth the trouble of cooking; and, being naturally insipid, it
must have certain seasoning to make it taste well. The hare, so much
prized in England, owes its reputation entirely to their mode of
dressing it, which is troublesome, expensive, and in our country would
never become popular, unless the animal had in itself more to recommend
it. With all that can be done for a hare, it is, when cooked, black,
dry, hard; and if it has been kept long enough to acquire what they call
the "true game flavor," so much the worse. A fine fat well-fed tame
rabbit is much better. In Virginia, the negroes frequently call a large
rabbit "a hare"--or rather "a yar;" and though they know it to be young,
they generally term it "that old yar." We opine that _with them_ "yars"
are not admired. If a rabbit is really old his ears are tough, and his
claws blunt and rough with coarse hairs growing between them. A young
rabbit has short sharp claws, and ears so tender that on trying you can
easily tear them. Rabbits should be cooked the day they are killed.
Always cut off the head. A rabbit dished whole, with its head on, is, to
most persons, a disgusting sight. The head of no small animal is worth
eating, and always looks disagreeable when cooked.
The livers of rabbits should be added to the gravy.
ROASTED RABBITS.--Take a pair of fine well-fed young rabbits, and having
drawn or emptied them, lay them, for about ten minutes, in a pan of warm
water. Then dry them inside with a clean cloth, carefully wiping them
out. Truss them short, and neatly, having removed the heads. Line the
inside with very thin slices of fat bacon that has had most of the salt
soaked out. Make a plentiful stuffing or forcemeat of bread steeped in
milk, some fresh butter mixed with a very little flour; or, instead of
butter, some beef suet finely minced; some chopped sweet herbs; and some
crumbled yolks of hard-boiled eggs. Season with mace and nutmeg, and
grated lemon rind. Fill the rabbits well with this--or, you may stuff
them entirely with boiled potatos, mashed with plenty of nice butter, or
the drippings of roast veal or pork. Or (if liked) you may make the
stuffing entirely of minced onion, (previously boiled,) and minced sage
leaves, moistened with a very little lard or sweet oil, and seasoned
with powdered mace, nutmeg, and pepper. Having put in plenty of
stuffing, sew up the bodies of the rabbits, flour them well, and put
them on the spit and set them before a clear fire. Baste them with milk,
or with fresh butter, tied up in thin muslin. They will be done in an
hour or more. Thicken the gravy with flour, and pour it over them in the
dish. Roasted rabbits make a good second dish at a small dinner. Take
the livers of the rabbits, and chop them, to put into the gravy.
RABBITS WITH ONIONS.--Peel, boil, and slice six (or more) large onions,
and season them with nutmeg, and a very little cayenne. Cover them, and
set them aside till wanted. Cut two fine rabbits into pieces, and fry
them in fresh butter or lard. When browned, and nearly done, cover them
with the sliced onions, and brown _them_, having laid among them some
bits of fresh butter rolled in flour. Dish the rabbits, with the pieces
entirely hidden under the onions.
A plainer, and not so good a way, is to put the pieces of rabbit, and
the sliced onions, into a stew-pan with a little water, and stew the
whole together.
RABBIT POT-PIE.--Cut up the rabbits, and stew them in a little water.
When nearly done, put the pieces into a pot and intersperse them with
bits of cold ham. Add the gravy left from the stew. Season with pepper
and mace. Have ready sufficient paste, (made with minced suet, and
rather more than twice its quantity of flour.) There must be enough of
paste to line the sides of the pot all round, nearly up to the top, and
enough to make a thick lid, besides having plenty of extra pieces to lay
among the other contents. Also have ready a few onions boiled and
sliced. Cover the pie with the lid of paste, not fitting very closely.
Make a cross slit in the top, and pour in a little water. When done,
serve all up on one large dish.
This pie will be much improved by stewing with the rabbits a fresh beef
steak. A beef steak in any pot-pie thickens and enriches the gravy.
PULLED RABBITS.--Boil, very tender, a fine pair of nice young rabbits.
When cold, cut them in pieces as for carving, and peel off the skin.
Then with a fork pull all the meat from the bones, first loosening it
with a knife. Put it into a stew-pan with plenty of cream, or some bits
of fresh butter rolled in flour; some minced sweet herbs, some grated
fresh lemon rind, and some hard-boiled yolks of eggs crumbled. Season
with cayenne and nutmeg. Cover it, and let it simmer till it comes to a
boil. Then immediately take it off the fire, and transfer it to a deep
dish. Serve it up hot. This is a side dish at dinner.
FRICASSEED RABBITS.--Cut up the rabbits as for carving, and go over
every piece with lard or sweet oil. Lay them in a frying pan, and fry
them in nice fresh butter. If you cannot procure this, use lard. Season
them with a very little salt and cayenne, dredge them well with flour,
and sprinkle them thickly with parsley, or sweet marjoram. When they are
fried brown, take them up. Keep them warm in a heated dish with a cover.
Skim the gravy that remains in the pan, and add to it some cream, or
rich milk thickened with flour, enriched with the beaten yolk of an egg,
and flavored with nutmeg.
Rabbits may be cut up, and fried in batter made of bread-crumbs and
beaten egg. Dip every piece of rabbit twice into the batter.
A COATED HARE, OR LARGE RABBIT.--The hare, or rabbit, should be large
and fat. Save the liver and heart to assist in the gravy, which ought to
be made of some pieces of the lean of good fresh beef, seasoned with
pepper, salt, and nutmeg, stewed in a small sauce-pan, till all the
essence is extracted, adding the chopped liver and heart, and a bit of
fresh butter, rolled in flour. Cold fresh meat, or meat that has to be
recooked, is unfit for gravy, and so it is for soup. Line the inside of
the hare with small thin slices of fat ham, or bacon, and then fill the
cavity with a stuffing made of grated bread-crumbs, the grated yellow
rind and juice of a lemon, or orange, a piece of fresh butter, some
minced sweet marjoram, and the crumbled yolk of one or two hard-boiled
eggs. Season the stuffing with a little pepper and salt, and some
powdered nutmeg and mace. Fill the body of the hare with this mixture,
and sew it up, to keep in the stuffing. Spit the hare, and roast it
well, keeping it for a while at a moderate distance from the fire. To
baste it, while roasting, make a dressing of the beaten yolks of four
eggs, four spoonfuls of flour, a pint of milk, and three table-spoonfuls
of salad oil, all well-beaten together. Baste the hare with this till it
is thickly coated all over with the batter, taking care it does not
burn. Send the gravy to table in a sauce-boat, accompanied by currant,
or cranberry jelly.
A very young fawn, or a kid, may be drest in a similar manner. Kids are
not eaten after three months old. Till that age their meat is white and
delicate. Their flesh, _after_ that time, gradually becomes coarse and
dark-colored. A very young kid, before it is weaned, is very delicious;
but no longer. In the oriental countries, young kids are stuffed with
chopped raisins and almonds, or pistachio nuts, previous to roasting;
and basted with rich milk, or cream.
For sauce to a kid or fawn, use orange marmalade, or grape jelly.
POULTRY AND GAME.
Spring chickens bring a high price, and are considered delicacies, but
they are so insipid, and have so little on them, that we think the
purchase of them, when very young, a mere fashionable extravagance, and
a waste of money that might be better employed in something that had
really a fine flavor, and that when divided was more than a morsel for
each person. We wonder that any but invalids should care for spring
chickens. It is better to wait till the young chickens grow into nice
plump fowls, that were well fed, and have lived long enough to show it.
A fine full-grown young fowl, has a clear white skin, that tears easily
when tried with a pin. It has a broad fleshy breast, the legs are
smooth, and the toes easily broken when bent back. Fowls with whitish
legs are considered the best for boiling; those with dark legs the best
for roasting. The finest of all fowls are capons. They grow very large
and fat, and yet are as tender as young chickens, have a fine delicate
rich flavor of their own, and are well worth their cost. The great Bucks
county fowls are profitable because they are large; but they are never
very plenty in market, being difficult to raise. The best poultry feels
heavy in proportion to its size. Hen turkeys are best for boiling.
Ducks and geese (particularly the latter) are so tough when old, that it
is often impossible to eat them; therefore buy none that are not young.
Geese are generally kept alive too long, for the sake of their feathers,
which they always shed in August, and for which there is always a
demand. And geese are not expensive to keep, as in summer they feed on
grass, and will graze in a field like sheep. The feet and legs of an old
goose are red and hard. So is her bill. The skin is rough, coarse, and
tough, and full of hairs. Let nothing induce you to buy an old goose.
You would find it too tough to carve, and too tough to eat. And no
cooking can make her tender.
Poultry should be drawn, or emptied (taking care not to break the gall)
as soon almost as killed. Then let it be well washed, inside and out,
and wiped dry. In picking it, carefully remove every plug or vestige of
feathers, and singe off the hairs, by holding the bird to the fire, with
a lighted piece of writing paper. Brown paper will give it something of
an unpleasant taste. Newspaper is worse, on account of the printing-ink.
If poultry is brought from market frozen, you need not hasten to thaw
it, before it is actually wanted for use. Till then, put it in a cold
place, and let it remain frozen. It will keep the better. When you thaw
it, by all means use only _cold_ water. Any frozen poultry, or meat,
thawed in warm water, will most certainly spoil. Let it be remembered
that any food which has been frozen requires a much longer time to cook.
BOILED TURKEY.--For boiling, choose a fine fat hen turkey. In drawing
it, be careful not to break the gall, or a bitter taste will be
communicated to the whole bird. In picking, remove every plug and hair,
and then singe it with _writing-paper_. Wash it very clean, and then
wipe it dry, inside and out. In trussing, draw the legs into the body,
having cut them off at the first joint. Let the turkey look as round and
plump as possible. Fill the breast with a very nice forcemeat, or
stuffing, made of a quarter of a pound of grated bread-crumbs, mixed
with two large table-spoonfuls or two ounces of fresh butter, or finely
minced suet, seasoned with a little pepper and salt, a heaped
tea-spoonful of powdered nutmeg and mace mixed together, a
table-spoonful of sweet herbs[C] (sweet basil and sweet marjoram)
chopped small if green, and powdered if dry; and the crumbled yolks of
two hard-boiled eggs. Add the grated yellow rind, and the juice of a
fresh lemon, and mix the whole very well. Skewer the liver and gizzard
under the pinions, having first cut open the gizzard and cleared it of
sand or gravel.
[C] The herbs summer savory and thyme (like the spices cloves and
allspice) are now seldom used in good cookery.
It is no longer customary to mix stuffing or forcemeat with beaten raw
egg for the purpose of binding the ingredients together. Leave them
loose, without this binding, and the forcemeat will be much lighter,
better flavored, and more abundant. It will not fall out if a
packthread, or very _small_ twine is wound carefully round the body, (to
be removed before serving up,) and it may be secured by sewing it with a
needle and thread.
Put the turkey into a large pot with plenty of cold water, and boil it
gently, for two hours or more, in proportion to its size; carefully
removing all the scum as it rises. It will be whiter if boiled in a
large clean cloth, or in a coarse paste, (the paste to be thrown away
afterwards,) and take care that it is thoroughly done. Serve up boiled
turkey with oyster sauce, celery sauce, or cauliflower sauce. Sweet
sauce is rarely eaten with boiled things--unless with puddings.
Boiled turkey should be accompanied by a ham or tongue.
To ascertain if boiled poultry is done, try the thickest parts with a
large needle. If the needle goes through, and in and out easily, it is
sufficient.
A turkey (boiled or roast) for a family dish, may be stuffed with nice
sausage meat, in which case it requires no other stuffing. Surround it
on a dish with fried sausage cakes, about the size of a dollar, but
near an inch thick.
It is very convenient to keep always in the house, during the winter
months, one or two large jars of nice home-made sausage-meat, well
covered. The best time for making sausage-meat is in November. After
March, sausages are seldom eaten.
OYSTER TURKEY.--(_French dish._)--Prepare a fine young hen turkey, for
boiling; skewering the liver and gizzard under the pinions. Fill the
body well with fine large fresh oysters, having removed their hard part
or gristle. Add to the oysters a tea-spoonful of powdered nutmeg and
mace, and a tea-spoonful of celery seed or minced celery, and a piece of
fresh butter dredged with flour. With this, stuff the turkey very full;
securing the stuffing with packthread. Put the turkey into a large
block-tin kettle, and let it stew in the oyster liquor only, without any
water. Strain the oyster liquor before you put it in. Set the kettle
into an outer kettle full of boiling water. This will cook the turkey
very nicely. For such purposes, nothing is so convenient as the utensil
called in French a _bain marie_, (pronounced _bine marée_.) This is a
permanent double kettle with two covers, and a large tube or spout
outside, for pouring in fresh hot water, without opening the lid and
letting out the steam. They are to be had of all sizes at the furnishing
stores in New York and Philadelphia, and are so excellent for stewing
without water, that no family should be without them.
When the turkey is well boiled and quite done, keep it warm by wrapping
it closely in a cloth, putting a dish cover over it, and placing it near
the fire. A fine oyster gravy will be found in the kettle. Add to it
some fresh butter, dredged with flour, and some mace and nutmeg, and
some celery seed. Give it one boil up, and send it to table as sauce for
the turkey. This is a very nice way of cooking a small turkey.
A pair of oyster chickens may be thus prepared, and stewed in the above
manner in a _bain marie_, or double kettle.
ROAST TURKEY.--Take a fine large turkey, full-grown and fat, draw and
singe him carefully, saving the giblets (neck, heart, gizzard, and
liver,) for the gravy. After he is drawn, wash the inside well, wipe it
dry, and sprinkle it with black pepper. Make a large quantity of
stuffing or forcemeat. It increases his apparent size, and besides is
generally liked. Mince small some cold boiled ham, in equal portions of
fat and lean: grated lemon rind, minced sweet herbs, fresh butter, or
finely minced suet. Add plenty of grated bread-crumbs or crumbled rusk;
also, hard-boiled yolk of egg crumbled. Moisten the mixture with lemon
juice and some good white wine. Stuff the turkey well with this
forcemeat, sewing it up, or winding a small cord round the body to
secure the filling. Roast it before a clear and substantial fire,
basting it well with fresh butter. When done, take it up and keep it
hot.
Cut up the giblets and put them into a small sauce-pan, with a very
little water, and stew them while the turkey is roasting; adding a piece
of fresh butter dredged with flour. When done, remove the pieces of
neck, &c., retaining those of the heart, liver, and gizzard. Stir into
the gravy, after it comes from the fire, the yolk of a beaten egg.
Having skimmed the gravy in the dripping-pan, add it to the gravy that
has been made of the giblets, and send it to table in a sauce-boat.
Accompany the turkey with an oval dish, or tureen of cranberry sauce,
made very sweet.
A roast turkey may be stuffed with oysters, or with chestnuts boiled,
peeled, and mashed with butter. If with chestnuts, thicken the gravy
with whole boiled chestnuts. If with oysters, send oyster-sauce to table
with the turkey. If chestnuts cannot be obtained, any roasted poultry is
good stuffed with well-boiled sweet potatos, mashed with plenty of
butter or meat drippings.
The legs of turkeys are never helped to any one at table. They are
always sent away on the dish.
A BONED TURKEY.--For this purpose you must have a fine, large, tender
turkey; and after it is drawn, and washed, and wiped dry, lay it on a
clean table, and take a very sharp knife, with a narrow blade and point.
Begin at the neck; then go round to the shoulders and wings, and
carefully separate the flesh from the bone, scraping it down as you
proceed. Next loosen the flesh from the breast, and back, and body; and
then from the thighs. It requires care and patience to do it nicely, and
to avoid tearing or breaking the skin. The knife should always penetrate
quite to the bone; scraping loose the flesh rather than cutting it. When
all the flesh has been completely loosened, take the turkey by the neck,
give it a pull, and the whole skeleton will come out entirely from the
flesh, as easily as you draw your hand out of a glove. The flesh will
then fall down, a flat and shapeless mass. With a small needle and
thread, carefully sew up any holes that have accidentally been torn in
the skin.
Have ready a large quantity of stuffing, made as follows:--Take three
sixpenny loaves of stale bread; grate the crumb; and put the crust in
water to soak. When quite soft, break them up small into the pan of
grated bread-crumbs, and mix in a pound of fresh butter, cut into little
pieces. Take two large bunches of sweet marjoram; the same of sweet
basil; and one bunch of parsley. Mince the parsley very fine, and rub to
a powder the leaves of the marjoram and basil. You should have two large
heaping table-spoonfuls of each. Chop, also, two very small onions or
shalots, and mix them with the herbs. Pound to powder a quarter of an
ounce of mace; and two large nutmegs. Mix the spices together, and add a
tea-spoonful of salt, and a tea-spoonful of ground black pepper. Then
mix the herbs, spices, &c., thoroughly into the bread-crumbs, and add,
by degrees, four hard-boiled eggs crumbled fine.
Take up a handful of this filling; squeeze it hard, and proceed to stuff
the turkey with it--beginning at the wings; next do the body; and then
the thighs. Stuff it very hard; and, as you proceed, form the turkey
into its natural shape, by filling out, properly, the wings, breast,
body, &c. When all the stuffing is in, sew up the body and skewer the
turkey into the usual shape in which they are trussed; so that, if
skillfully done, it will look almost as if it had not been boned. Tie it
round with tape, and bake it three hours or more; basting it
occasionally with fresh butter. Make a gravy of the giblets, chopped,
and stewed slowly in a little water. When done, add to it the gravy that
is in the dish about the turkey, (having first skimmed off the fat,) and
enrich it with a glass of white wine, and two beaten yolks of eggs,
stirred in just before you take it from the fire.
If the turkey is to be eaten cold at the supper-table, drop
table-spoonfuls of currant or cranberry jelly all over it at small
distances, and in the dish round it.
A very handsome way of serving it up cold is, after making a sufficiency
of nice clear calves'-foot jelly, (seasoned, as usual, with wine, lemon,
cinnamon, &c.,) to lay the turkey in the dish in which it is to go to
table, and setting it under the jelly-bag, let the jelly drip upon it,
so as to form a transparent coating all over it; smoothing the jelly
evenly with the back of a spoon, as it congeals on the turkey. Apple
jelly may be substituted.
Large fowls may be boned and stuffed in the above manner: also, a young
roasting pig.
ROAST GOOSE.--A goose for roasting should be young, tender, and fat; so
tender, that the skin can easily be torn by a pin; the bill and legs
smooth and of a light yellow color, and the toes breaking when bent
under. If the skin is thick and tough, and the bill and legs a dark
reddish yellow, rough and hairy, do not buy the goose. It is old, and no
cooking can make it eatable. A goose, from its profusion of feathers,
looks like a large bird when walking about; but when plucked and
prepared for the spit, it will be found very deceptive. It is much more
hollow than a turkey; and, except the breast, there is but little eating
on it. In large families it is usual to have a pair of roast geese, one
not being sufficient. Geese are not good except for roasting, or in a
pie.
In preparing a goose for cooking, save the giblets for the gravy. After
the goose has been drawn, singed well, washed and wiped, inside and out;
trussed so as to look round and short; make a quantity of stuffing, (as
its hollow body will require a great deal.) For this purpose, parboil
two good sized onions, and a large bunch of green sage. Mince both the
sage and onions, seasoning them with a small salt-spoon of salt, half as
much black pepper, and still less cayenne. Add a hard-boiled egg finely
minced (yolk and white;) the chopped egg giving a nice smoothness to the
sage and onion. If your goose is large, take two chopped eggs.
To make the stuffing very mild, (if preferred so,) add a handful of
finely grated bread-crumbs; or two or three fine juicy chopped apples.
Fill the body and craw with this stuffing, and secure it with a needle
and thread from falling out. Set the goose before a clear, steady
fire--having a little warm water in the dripping-pan to baste it till
the gravy begins to fall. Keep it well basted all the time it is
roasting. It must be thoroughly done all through. Roast it according to
its size, from an hour and a half to two hours or more.
Boil the giblets in a sauce-pan by themselves, seasoned with a little
salt and pepper, and having among them a bit of butter dredged with
flour. When done, remove the neck, and retain the heart, liver, and
gizzard, cut into pieces, and served in the gravy, which should be well
skimmed. Also, skim carefully the fat off the gravy in the bottom of the
dripping-pan. Put the two gravies together, and serve them up in a gravy
tureen. To eat with the goose, have plenty of apple-sauce, made of fine
juicy apples, stewed very dry, well sweetened, and flavored with the
grated yellow rind and juice of a lemon; or with some rose-water and
nutmeg stirred in after the sauce is taken from the fire. Rose-water
evaporates in cooking, and should never boil or be kept on the fire. A
_bain marie_, or double kettle, is excellent for stewing fruit; putting
the fruit inside, and the water outside.
For a family dinner a goose is very good stuffed with well-boiled
potatos, mashed smooth, with plenty of fresh butter or gravy. Sweet
potatos make an excellent stuffing. So do boiled chestnuts, mashed with
butter or gravy.
GOOSE PIE.--The old fashioned goose pie made with a standing crust, (the
flour being mixed with boiling water, and therefore unfit for eating,)
is now obsolete. They were generally sent as Christmas presents. Besides
the goose, they contained chickens, pigeons, (all boned,) and various
other things. They had standing sides like an oval wall, covered with a
lid of the same paste, having, on the top, a knob, by which to lift off.
These pies were expected to remain good a week; but generally the gravy
became sour in a few days, even in winter, and however carefully kept
from the air. The following is a receipt to make a fine goose pie for
immediate use, and with a nice eatable paste.
Take a fine plump young goose, and parboil it, (in as little water as
will cover it,) saving the gravy. Having removed the skin, cut all the
flesh from the bones. Make a nice light short paste, allowing a large
half pound of fresh butter to each quart of flour. For a goose pie you
will require two quarts of flour and one pound of butter. Line a deep
pie-dish with one sheet of paste, reserving the other sheet for the lid,
which should be rolled out thick. Put in the pieces of goose, seasoned
with pepper only, interspersing among it the best part of a smoked
tongue, cut in thick round slices. Make a nice forcemeat into balls,
about the size of a hickory nut, and add them to the filling of the pie;
and some chestnuts boiled and peeled; or some round slices of boiled
sweet potato. Having made a gravy of the giblets stewed, pour that over
the other ingredients, filling the pie well, and heaping it high in the
middle. Add a few bits of fresh butter dredged in flour. Pour in the
gravy, and lay on the top the lid of the pie rolled out thick,
ornamenting the edges handsomely. Cut a cross slit in the top, and fit
into it a flower, or tulip cut out of paste. This pie is for dinner
company, and to be eaten warm.
You may make a similar pie of a pair of fine ducks, either tame or wild.
Canvas-backs and red necks are excellent for this purpose. To eat with
it, have mashed potato, browned all over with a salamander.
On the shores of our southern rivers, where canvas-backs and other fine
wild ducks are abundant, a pie affords an agreeable variety to the usual
modes of cooking them.
A GIBLET PIE.--Clean, very nicely, the giblets of two geese or four
ducks. Put them into a stew-pan, with a sliced onion; a bunch of
tarragon, or sweet marjoram and sage; half a dozen pepper-corns; and
four or five blades of mace. Add a very little water; cover the pan
closely, and let them stew till the giblets are tender. Then take them
out, and save all the gravy; having strained it from the seasoning
articles. Make a rich paste, and roll it out into two sheets. With one
sheet cover the bottom and sides of a deep dish. Put in the
giblets--mixing among them a few raw potatos sliced very thin, the
chopped yolks of some hard-boiled eggs, and some bits of butter rolled
in flour. Pour the gravy over the giblets, &c. Cover the pie with the
other sheet of paste, and notch the edges. Bake it brown, and send it to
table hot.
A pigeon pie may be made in a similar manner: also, a rabbit pie.
ROAST DUCKS.--Take a pair of fine fat ducks, and having prepared them
nicely for the spit, put them, for a few minutes, into boiling water to
loosen the skin, which must be peeled entirely off, to have them very
nice and tender. Wash their insides by pouring water through them, and
wipe the outside all over with a dry cloth. Fill the body and craw of
one duck with a seasoning of sage and onion, as for a goose. In case
some of the company should have a dislike to onion, fill the other duck
with a forcemeat of bread-crumbs, sweet herbs, &c., as for turkey. Place
them before a quick fire, but not so near as to scorch. Roast them well,
basting them all the time. Skim the fat off, and pour over the ducks
their own gravy, mixed with what has been made of the necks, livers,
hearts, and gizzards, stewed in a small sauce-pan with some butter
dredged with flour. Send to table with the ducks either cranberry or
apple sauce, made thick and sweet.
Let them be thoroughly roasted, which will require from an hour to an
hour and a quarter.
WILD DUCKS.--To remove the fishy or sedgy taste so often found in wild
ducks, parboil them with a large carrot, cut in pieces, and placed in
the body of each. When the ducks are half boiled, take out the carrot
and throw it away. It will have imbibed all the unpleasant taste, and
taken it away from the ducks. Then cook them as you please.
BOILED DUCK.--Prepare for cooking a fine plump tame duck, and lay it
five or six minutes in warm water. Then put it into a clean large bowl
or deep dish, and pour over it a pint of rich boiling milk, in which has
been melted two table-spoonfuls of nice fresh butter. Let the duck soak
in the milk three hours, or till it has absorbed nearly all the liquid.
Next, dredge the duck well with flour. Boil it in cold water for half an
hour, till tender all through. Have ready a quantity of onion sauce made
with milk and butter, and flavored with powdered mace or nutmeg. Cover
the duck all over with the onion sauce, so as to smother it entirely.
Then send it to table hot. This is a French dish, (_canard bouilli_.)
DUCKS AND PEAS.--Stuff a fine plump pair of ducks with potato stuffing,
made of boiled potatos mashed very smooth with fresh butter; or, if for
company, make a fine forcemeat stuffing, as for a turkey. Bake the ducks
in an iron oven or bake-pan; and when nearly done, put in with them a
quart of very young green peas, and a few bits of fresh butter,
seasoning slightly with black pepper. When the peas and ducks are all
quite done, serve them all up on one large dish.
FRICASSEED DUCKS.--Half roast a pair of ducks. Then cut them apart, as
for carving. If they are _wild_ ducks, parboil them with a large carrot
(cut to pieces) inside of each, to draw out the fishy or sedgy taste.
Having thrown away the carrot, cut the ducks into pieces, as for
carving. Put them into a clean stew-pan, and season them with pepper and
salt. Mix in a deep dish a very small onion minced fine, a
table-spoonful of minced or powdered tarragon leaves, (for which you may
substitute sage and sweet marjoram, if you cannot procure tarragon,) and
two or three large tomatos, scalded, peeled, and quartered, or two large
table-spoonfuls of thick tomato catchup. Put in, also, two
table-spoonfuls of fresh butter rolled in grated bread-crumbs, and a
glass of port wine, claret, or brandy, with a small tea-spoonful of
powdered mace. Cover the pieces of duck with this mixture, and then add
barely as much water as will keep the whole from burning. Cover the pan
closely, and let the fricassee stew slowly for an hour, or till the
duck, &c., are thoroughly done.
Venison or lamb cutlets may be fricasseed in this manner. Likewise, tame
fat pigeons, which must previously be split in two. This, also, is a
very nice way of dressing hares or rabbits.
TO ROAST CANVAS-BACK DUCKS.--Having trussed the ducks, put into each a
thick piece of soft bread that has been soaked in port wine. Place them
before a quick fire and roast them from three quarters to an hour.
Before they go to table, squeeze over each the juice of a lemon or
orange, and serve them up very hot with their own gravy about them. Eat
them with currant jelly. Have ready also, a gravy made by stewing slowly
in a sauce-pan the giblets of the ducks in butter rolled in flour, and
as little water as possible. Serve up this additional gravy in a boat.
CANVAS-BACK DUCKS DRESSED PLAIN.--Truss the ducks without washing, but
wipe them inside and out with a clean dry cloth. Roast them before a
rather quick fire for half an hour. Then send them to table hot, upon a
large dish placed on a heater. There must also be heaters under each
plate, and currant jelly on both sides of the table, to mix with the
gravy, on your plate; claret or port wine also, for those who prefer it
as an improvement to the gravy.
TO STEW CANVAS-BACK DUCKS.--Put the giblets into a sauce-pan with a very
little water, and a piece of butter rolled in flour, and a very little
salt and cayenne. Let them stew gently to make a gravy, keeping the
sauce-pan covered. In the mean time, half roast the ducks, saving the
gravy that falls from them. Then cut them up, put them into a large
stew-pan, with the gravy (having first skimmed off the fat,) and merely
water enough to keep them from burning. Set the pan over a moderate
fire, and let them stew gently till done. Towards the last, (having
removed the giblets) pour over the ducks the gravy from the small
sauce-pan, and stir in a large glass of port wine, and a glass of
currant jelly. Send them to table as hot as possible.
Any ducks may be stewed as above. The common wild duck, teal, &c.,
should always be parboiled with a large carrot in the body to extract
the fishy or sedgy taste. On tasting this carrot before it is thrown
away, it will be found to have imbibed strongly that disagreeable
flavor.
BROILED CANVAS-BACK DUCKS.--To eat these ducks with their flavor and
juices in perfection, they should be cooked immediately after killing.
If shot early in the morning, they will be found delicious, if broiled
for breakfast. If killed in the forenoon, let them be on that day's
dinner table. When they can be obtained quite fresh they want nothing to
improve the flavor. Neither do red-necks, or the other water fowl that
are found in such abundance on the shores of the Chesapeake.
As soon as the ducks have been plucked, singed, drawn, and washed, split
them down the back, (their heads, necks, and legs having been cut off,)
rub with chalk the bars of a very clean gridiron, and set it over a bed
of bright lively wood-coals. This gridiron (and all others) should have
grooved bars, so as to save as much of the gravy as possible. Broil the
ducks well and thoroughly, turning them on both sides. They will
generally be done in half an hour. Dish them in their own gravy. The
flesh should have no redness about it when dished. To half broil them on
the gridiron, and to finish the cooking on a hot plate, set over a
heater on the table, renders the ducks tough, and deadens the natural
taste, for which no made-up sauce can atone. You may lay a few bits of
nice butter on them after they are dished.
TERRAPIN DUCKS.--Take a fine large plump duck. Cut it in small pieces,
and stew it in merely as much water as will cover it well, and keep it
from burning. Let it stew gently, and skim it well. When it is done take
it out, and cut all the meat off the bones in little bits. Return the
meat to the stew-pan, and lay it in its own gravy. Add the yolks of half
a dozen hard-boiled eggs, and make them into little balls with beaten
white of egg, a quarter of a pound of fresh butter divided into eight
bits, each bit dredged with flour, the grated yellow rind and juice of a
lemon or orange, and a heaped tea-spoonful of powdered mace and nutmeg.
Let it stew or simmer gently till it comes to a boil, keeping it
covered. When it has boiled, stir in while hot two beaten yolks of raw
egg, and two large wine glasses of sherry or Madeira. Set it over the
fire again for two or three minutes, keeping it covered. Then serve it
up in a deep dish with a cover.
For company, you must have two ducks, and a double portion of all the
above ingredients.
ROAST FOWLS.--Stuff two fowls with a nice forcemeat, made in the best
manner, or with good sausage meat, if in haste. Another nice stuffing
for roast fowls is boiled chestnuts, stewed in butter, or in nice
drippings. Mushrooms cut up and stewed in a very little butter, make a
fine stuffing for roasted fowls. Secure the stuffing from falling out by
winding a twine or tape round the body of the fowl, or sewing it. Roast
the fowls before a very clear fire, basting them with butter. When the
fowls are done, set them away to be kept warm, while you finish the
gravy, having saved the heart, gizzard, and liver, to enrich it. Skim it
well from the fat and thicken it with a very little browned flour. Send
it to table in a sauce-boat. Serve up with roast fowls, dried peach
sauce, or cranberry. Make all fruit sauces very thick and sweet. If
watery and sour, they seem poor and mean.
Full-grown fowls require, (at least,) an hour for roasting. If very
large, from an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half.
Nothing can be done with old tough fowls but to boil them in soup, till
they are reduced to rags. The soup, of course, should be made chiefly of
meat. The fowls will add nothing to its flavor but something to its
consistence.
Capons are cooked in the same manner as other fowls. They are well worth
their cost.
BOILED FOWLS.--Take a fine plump pair of young (but full-grown) fowls,
and prepare them for boiling. Those with white or light yellow legs are
considered the best. Make a nice forcemeat stuffing, and fill their
bodies with it, and fasten the livers and gizzards under the pinions.
For boiled poultry they are not wanted in the gravy. Having trussed the
fowls, and picked and singed them carefully, put them into a large pot
containing equal quantities of boiling water and cold water. This will
make it lukewarm. Let them boil steadily for an hour after the simmering
has commenced, carefully removing the scum.
Serve them up with egg sauce, celery sauce, parsley sauce, or oyster
sauce--or, with cauliflower or broccoli sauce.
For boiled fowls, you may make a nice stuffing of fresh oysters, cut in
small pieces, but not minced. Omit the gristle. Mix them with an equal
portion of hard-boiled eggs chopped, but not minced fine. Add plenty of
grated bread-crumbs, and season with powdered mace. Mix in, also, some
bits of fresh butter. Where onions are liked, you may substitute for the
oysters some onions boiled and minced.
Fowls boil very nicely in a _bain marie_, or double kettle, with the
water outside. They require a longer time, but are excellent when done.
To quicken the boiling of a double kettle, put a handful of salt in the
outside water.
Small chickens, of course, require a shorter time to cook.
PULLED FOWL.--This is a side dish for company. Select a fine tender
fowl, young, fat, full-grown, and of a large kind. When quite done take
it out of the pot, cover it, and set it away till wanted. Then, with a
fork, pull off in flakes all the flesh, (first removing the skin,) and
with a chopper break all the bones, and put them into a stew-pan, adding
two calves' feet split, and the hock of a cold ham, a small bunch of
parsley and sweet marjoram, and a quart of water. Let it boil gently
till reduced to a pint. Then take it out. Have ready, in another
stew-pan, the bits of pulled fowl. Strain the liquor from the bones,
&c., over the fowl, and add a piece of fresh butter, (the size of a
small egg,) rolled in flour, and a tea-spoonful of powdered mace and
nutmeg, mixed. Mix the whole together, and let the pulled fowl stew in
gravy for ten minutes. Serve it hot.
A turkey may be cooked in this manner, and will make a fine dish. For a
turkey allow four calves' feet.
FRIED CHICKENS.--Cut up a pair of nice young fowls, flatten and quarter
them, and season them with cayenne and powdered mace, rubbing it in
well. Put some lard into a heated frying pan over the fire, or if you
have plenty of nice fresh butter use that in preference. When the lard
or butter boils, and has been skimmed, put in the pieces of chicken, and
fry them brown on one side. Then turn them, and sprinkle them thickly
all over with chopped parsley, or sweet marjoram, and fry them brown on
the other side. You may fry with them a few thin slices of cold ham.
Before serving them up drain off the lard you have used for frying.
When there is no dislike to onions, they may be fried nicely with boiled
onions cut in rings, and laid over the pieces of chicken.
BROILED CHICKENS.--These are very dry and tasteless if merely split and
broiled plain, which is the usual way. It seems to be supposed by many
that no chicken is too poor for broiling, and therefore it is often
difficult to get more than two or three small mouthfuls of flesh off
their bones. On the contrary, poor chickens are not worth broiling or
cooking in any way. To have broiled chickens good, choose those that are
fat and fleshy. Having cleaned them well, and washed them, and wiped
them dry, split and divide them into four quarters; flattening the bones
with a steak mallet. They will be much improved by stewing or boiling in
a little water for ten minutes. Then draining them and saving the liquor
for gravy. Boil in this the neck, feet, heart, gizzard and liver. Strain
it after boiling, and save the liver to mash into the gravy. Season the
gravy with grated carrot and minced parsley, or sweet marjoram, and a
little cayenne, adding a small piece of fresh butter dredged in flour.
Have ready plenty of fine bread-crumbs, seasoned with nutmeg, and in
another pan four yolks of eggs well beaten. The quarters of the chickens
having become quite cold, dip each one first into the egg, and then into
the crumbs. Set the gridiron over a clear fire, and broil the chicken
well, first laying down the inside. Having prepared the gravy as above,
give it a short boil, then send it to table in a sauce-boat with the
chickens.
The excellence of chickens broiled in this way amply repays the trouble.
This is a breakfast dish.
Serve up with the broiled chicken a dish of mashed potato cakes, browned
with a salamander or red-hot shovel.
FRICASSEED CHICKEN.--Have ready a pair of fine plump full-grown fowls
nicely prepared for cooking. Strip off all the skin, and carve the fowls
neatly. Reserve all the white meat and best pieces for the fricassee,
putting them in a dish by themselves, and save all the inferior pieces
or black meat to make the gravy. Season with pepper and salt slightly,
and add a bunch of sweet herbs cut small, and four small bits of fresh
butter dredged with flour. Put the black meat, herbs, &c., into a
stew-pan. Pour in a pint and a half of water, and stew it gently,
skimming off every particle of fat. When reduced to less than one half,
strain the gravy. Arrange the pieces of white meat in a very clean
stew-pan, and pour over them the gravy of the inferior parts; add mace,
nutmeg, and a little cayenne. Mix into half a pint of boiling cream, a
large tea-spoonful of arrow-root, and shake the pan briskly round, while
adding the beaten yolks of two fresh eggs, mixed with more cream, (two
table-spoonfuls.) Shake it gently over the fire till it begins to simmer
again, but do not allow it to boil, or it will curdle in an instant.
Watch it carefully.
This is a fine side-dish for company. There is no better way of
fricasseeing fowls. A fricassee is not a fry, but a stew.
Accompany this fricassee with a dish of asparagus tops, green peas, or
lima beans. Also, mashed potatos.
CHICKENS STEWED WHOLE.--Having trussed a pair of fine fat young fowls or
chickens, (with the liver under one wing, and the gizzard under the
other,) fill the inside with large oysters, secured from falling out by
fastening tape round the bodies of the fowls. Put them into a tin butter
kettle with a close cover. Set the kettle into a larger pot or saucepan
of boiling water, (which must not reach quite to the top of the kettle,)
and place it over the fire. Keep it boiling till the fowls are well
done, which they should be in about an hour after they begin to simmer.
Occasionally take off the lid to remove the scum, and be sure to put it
on again closely. As the water in the outside pot boils away, replenish
it with more _hot_ water from a tea-kettle that is kept boiling hard.
When the fowls are stewed quite tender, remove them from the fire; take
from them all the gravy that is about them, and put it into a small
sauce-pan, covering closely the kettle in which they were stewed, and
leaving the fowls in it to keep warm. Then add to the gravy two
table-spoonfuls of butter rolled in flour, two table-spoonfuls of
chopped oysters, the yolks of three hard-boiled eggs minced fine, half a
grated nutmeg, four blades of mace, and a small tea-cup of cream. Boil
this gravy about five minutes. Put the fowls on a dish and send them to
table, accompanied by the gravy in a sauce-boat. This is an excellent
way of cooking chickens. They do well in large _bain marie_.
FOWL AND OYSTERS.--Take a fine fat young fowl, and having trussed it for
boiling, fill the body and craw with oysters, seasoned with a few blades
of mace, tying it round with twine to keep them in. Put the fowl into a
tall strait-sided jar, and cover it closely. Then place the jar in a
kettle of water, set it over the fire, and let it boil at least an hour
and a half after the water has come to a hard boil. When it is done take
out the fowl, and keep it hot while you prepare the gravy, of which you
will find a quantity in the jar. Transfer this gravy to a saucepan,
enrich it with the beaten yolks of two eggs mixed with three
table-spoonfuls of cream, and add a large table-spoonful of fresh butter
rolled in flour. If you cannot get cream, you must have a double portion
of butter. Set this sauce over the fire, stirring it well, and when it
comes to a boil, add twenty-five oysters. In five minutes take it off,
put it into a sauce-boat, and serve it up with the fowl, which cooked in
this manner will be found excellent.
Clams may be substituted for oysters, but they should be removed from
the fowl before it is sent to table. Their flavor being drawn out in the
gravy, the clams themselves will be found tough, tasteless, and not
proper to be eaten.
FRENCH CHICKEN PIE.--Parboil a pair of full-grown, but fat and tender
chickens. Then take the giblets, and put them into a small sauce-pan
with as much of the water in which the chickens were parboiled as will
cover them well, and stew them for gravy; add a bunch of sweet herbs and
a few blades of mace. When the chickens are cold, dissect them as for
carving. Line a deep dish with thick puff paste, and put in the pieces
of chicken. Take a nice thin slice of cold ham, or two slices of smoked
tongue, and pound them one at a time in a marble mortar, pounding also
the livers of the chickens, and the yolks of half a dozen hard-boiled
eggs. Make this forcemeat into balls, and intersperse them among the
pieces of chicken. Add some bits of fresh butter rolled in flour, and
then (having removed the giblets) pour on the gravy. Cover the pie with
a lid of puff-paste, rolled out thick; and notch the edges handsomely;
placing a knot or ornament of paste on the centre of the top. Set it
directly into a well-heated oven, and bake it brown. It should be eaten
warm.
This pie will be greatly improved by a pint of mushrooms, cut into
pieces. Also by a small tea-cup of cream.
Any pie of poultry, pigeons, or game may be made in this manner.
CHICKEN GUMBO.--Cut up a young fowl as if for a fricassee. Put into a
stew-pan a large table-spoonful of fresh butter, mixed with a
tea-spoonful of flour, and an onion finely minced. Brown them over the
fire, and then add a quart of water, and the pieces of chicken, with a
large quarter of a peck of ochras, (first sliced thin, and then
chopped,) and a salt-spoon of salt. Cover the pan, and let the whole
stew together, till the ochras are entirely dissolved, and the fowl
thoroughly done. If it is a very young chicken, do not put it in at
first; as half an hour will be sufficient to cook it. Serve it up hot in
a deep dish.
You may add to the ochras an equal quantity of tomatos cut small. If you
use tomatos, no water will be necessary, as their juice will supply a
sufficient liquid.
[D]FILET GUMBO.--Cut up a pair of fine plump fowls into pieces, as when
carving. Lay them in a pan of cold water, till all the blood is drawn
out. Put into a pot, two large table-spoonfuls of lard, and set it over
the fire. When the lard has come to a boil, put in the chickens with an
onion finely minced. Dredge them well with flour, and season slightly
with salt and pepper; and, if you like it, a little chopped marjoram.
Pour on it two quarts of boiling water. Cover it, and let it simmer
slowly for three hours. Then stir into it two heaped tea-spoonfuls of
sassafras powder. Afterwards, let it stew five or six minutes longer,
and then send it to table in a deep dish; having a dish of boiled rice
to be eaten with it by those who like rice.
[D] Pronounced Fee_lay_.
This gumbo will be much improved by stewing with it three or four thin
slices of cold boiled ham, in which case omit the salt in the seasoning.
Whenever cold ham is an ingredient in any dish, no other salt is
required.
A dozen fresh oysters and their liquor, added to the stew about half an
hour before it is taken up, will also be an improvement.
If you cannot conveniently obtain sassafras-powder, stir the gumbo
frequently with a stick of sassafras root.
This is a genuine southern receipt. Filet gumbo may be made of any sort
of poultry, or of veal, lamb, venison, or kid.
TOMATO CHICKEN.--Take four small chickens or two large ones, and cut
them up as for carving. Put them into a stew-pan, with one or two large
slices of cold boiled ham cut into little bits; eight or ten large
tomatos; an onion sliced; a bunch of pot-herbs,(cut up;) a small green
pepper, (the seeds and veins first extracted;) half a dozen blades of
mace; a table-spoonful of lard or of fresh butter, rolled in flour; or a
handful of grated bread-crumbs. Add a tumbler or half a pint of water.
Cover the sauce-pan closely with a cloth beneath the lid; set it on hot
coals, or over a moderate fire; and let it stew slowly till the chickens
are thoroughly done, and the tomatos entirely dissolved. Turn it out
into a deep dish.
Rabbits may be stewed in this manner. Also, veal steaks, cut thin and
small.
TURKEY AND CHICKEN PATTIES.--Take the white part of some cold turkey or
chicken, and mince it very fine. Mince also some cold boiled ham or
smoked tongue, and then mix the turkey and ham together. Add the yolks
of some hard-boiled eggs, grated or minced; a very little cayenne; and
some powdered mace and nutmeg. Moisten the whole with cream or fresh
butter. Have ready some puff-paste shells, that have been baked empty in
patty-pans. Place them on a large dish, and fill them with the mixture.
Cold fillet of veal minced, and mixed with chopped ham, and grated yolk
of egg, and seasoned as above will make very good patties.
CHICKEN RICE PUDDING.--Parboil a fine fowl, and cut it up. Boil, till
soft and dry, a pint of rice; and while warm, mix with it a large
table-spoonful of fresh butter. Beat four eggs very light; and then mix
them, gradually, with the rice. Spread a coating of the fresh butter,
&c., over the bottom and sides of a deep dish. Place on it the pieces of
the parboiled fowl, with a little of the liquid in which it was
boiled--seasoned with powdered mace and nutmeg. Add some bits of fresh
butter rolled in flour and a little cream. Cover the dish closely with
the remainder of the rice; set the pudding immediately into the oven and
bake it brown.
Cold chicken or turkey, cooked the day before, may be used for this
purpose. The pudding may be improved by the addition of a few very
thin, small slices of cold ham, or smoked tongue.
RICE CROQUETTES.--Boil half a pound of rice till it becomes quite soft
and dry. Then mix with it two table spoonfuls of rich (but not strong)
grated cheese, a small tea-spoonful of powdered mace, and sufficient
fresh butter to moisten it. Mince very fine, six table-spoonfuls of the
white part of cold chicken or turkey, the soft parts of six large
oysters, and a few sprigs of tarragon or parsley; add a grated nutmeg,
and the yellow rind of a lemon. Mix the whole well, moistening it with
cream or white wine. Take of the prepared rice, a portion about the size
of an egg, flatten it, and put into the centre a dessert-spoonful of the
mixture; close the rice round it as you would the paste round a
dumpling-apple. Then form it into the shape of an egg. Brush it over
with some beaten yolk of egg and then dredge it with pounded crackers.
In this way make up the whole into oval balls. Have ready, in a
sauce-pan over the fire, a pound of boiling lard. Into this throw the
croquettes, two at a time, so as to brown them. Let them brown for a few
minutes; then take them out with a perforated skimmer. Drain them from
the lard, and serve them up hot, garnished with curled parsley.
CHICKEN POT-PIE.--Cut up and parboil a pair of large fowls, seasoning
them with pepper, salt, and nutmeg. You may add some small slices of
cold ham; in which case use _no salt_, as the ham will make it salt
enough. Or you may put in some pieces of the lean of fresh pork. You may
prepare a suet-paste; but for a chicken pot-pie it is best to make the
paste of butter, which should be fresh, and of the best quality. Allow
to each quart of flour, a small half-pound of butter. There should be
enough for a great deal of paste. Line the sides of the pot, two-thirds
up, with paste. Put in the chickens, with the liquor in which they were
parboiled. You may add some sliced potatos. Intersperse the pieces of
chicken with layers of paste in square slices. Then cover the whole with
a lid of paste, not fitting very closely. Make a cross-slit in the top,
and boil the pie about an hour or more.
Instead of ham, you may add some clams to the chicken, omitting salt in
the seasoning, as the clams will salt it quite enough.
CHICKEN CURRY.--Having skinned a pair of fine chickens, cut them into
six pieces each, that is, two wings, two pieces of the breast, and two
legs cut off at the joint. Put into a stew-pan two boiled onions
chopped, and four ounces or four table-spoonfuls of fresh butter. Shake
the pan till the contents begin to simmer; then add four table-spoonfuls
of curry-powder and mix it well in; also, four table-spoonfuls of
grated cocoa-nut. Mix all well in the stew-pan, and then put in the
pieces of chicken. Cover the pan, and let all stew moderately for half
an hour, stirring it round occasionally; and, if getting too dry, add a
little hot water. Also, towards the last, the grated yellow rind of a
lemon and the juice. It should stew till the chicken is quite tender,
and till the flesh parts easily from the bones. Serve it up hot, in a
covered dish, and send half a pound of boiled rice in a separate dish,
_uncovered_. This is a dish for company.
Young ducks, or a young hen turkey, or a pair of rabbits, may be cooked
in the same manner. Also, lamb or veal.
For curried oysters, take a hundred large fresh ones, and proceed as
above.
RICE PIE.--Pick clean a quart of rice, and wash it well through two or
three waters. Tie it in a cloth, put it into a pot of boiled milk, and
boil it till perfectly soft. Then drain and press it till as dry as
possible, and mix with it two ounces of fresh butter. Take a small tin
butter-kettle; wet the inside, put in the rice, and stand it in a cool
place till quite cold. Then turn it carefully out of the kettle, (of
which it will retain the form,) rub it over with the beaten yolk of an
egg, and set it in an oven till lightly browned. Cut out from the top of
the mass of rice an oval lid, about two inches from the edge, so as to
leave a flat rim or border all round. Then excavate the mould of rice,
leaving a standing crust all round and at the bottom, about two inches
thick. Have ready some hot stewed oysters or birds, or brown or white
fricassee. Fill up the pie with it, adding the gravy. Lay on the lid,
and decorate it with sprigs of green curled parsley, stuck in all round
the crack where the lid is put on.
This pie may be filled with curried chicken.
COUNTRY CAPTAIN.--This is an East India dish, and a very easy
preparation of curry. The term "country captain," signifies a captain of
the native troops, (or Sepoys,) in the pay of England; their own country
being India, they are there called generally the country troops.
Probably this dish was first introduced at English tables by a Sepoy
officer.
Having well boiled a fine full-grown fowl, cut it up as for carving.
Have ready two large onions boiled and sliced. Season the pieces of
chicken with curry powder or turmeric; rubbed well into them, all over.
Fry them with the onion, in plenty of lard or fresh butter, and when
well-browned they are done enough. Take them up with a perforated
skimmer, and drain through its holes. It will be a great improvement to
put in, at the beginning, three or four table-spoonfuls of finely grated
cocoa-nut. This will be found an advantage to any curry.
Serve up, in another dish, a pint of rice, well picked, and washed
clean in two or three cold waters. Boil the rice in plenty of water,
(leaving the skillet or sauce-pan uncovered;) and when it is done, drain
it very dry, and set it on a dish before the fire, tossing it up with
two forks, one in each hand, so as to separate all the grains, leaving
each one to stand for itself. All rice for the dinner table should be
cooked in this manner. Persons accustomed to rice never eat it watery or
clammy, or lying in a moist mass. Rice should never be covered, either
while boiling, or when dished.
We recommend this "country captain."
CURRIED EGGS.--Boil six fresh eggs till they are hard enough for salad,
and then set them away to get cold. Mix together, in a stew-pan, three
ounces (or three large table-spoonfuls) of nice fresh butter, and three
dessert-spoonfuls of curry powder. Shake them together for five minutes
over a clear but moderate fire. Then throw in two boiled onions finely
minced, and let them cook, gently, till quite soft, adding three ounces
or three large spoonfuls of grated cocoa-nut. Cut the eggs into rather
thick slices. Put them into the mixture, with a small tea-cupful of
thick cream, or if you cannot obtain cream, with two more spoonfuls of
butter dredged with flour. Let the whole simmer together, but when it
approaches coming to a boil, take it immediately off the fire and serve
it up hot. This is a nice side-dish for company.
PARTRIDGES PEAR FASHION--(_French dish._)--Your partridges should be
fine and fat, and of the same size. For a large dish have three or four.
Truss them tight and round, and rub over them a little salt and cayenne,
mixed. Cut off one of the legs and leave the other on, fill them with a
nice forcemeat. Make a rich paste of flour, butter, and beaten egg,
using as little water as possible. Be sure to make enough of paste to
cover each partridge entirely over, and roll it out evenly, and rather
thick than thin. Put a sufficient portion of paste nicely round each
partridge, pressing it closely and smoothly with your hand, and forming
it into the shape of a large pear. Leave one leg sticking out at the top
to resemble the stem, having cut off the foot. Set them in a pan, and
bake them in a dutch oven. In the mean time, make in a small sauce-pan,
a rich brown gravy of the livers, and other trimmings of the partridges,
and some drippings of roast veal or roasted poultry. It will be better
still if you reserve one or two small partridges to cut up, and stew for
the gravy. Season it with a little salt and cayenne. When it has boiled
long enough to be very thick and rich, take it off, strain it, and put
the liquid into a clean sauce-pan. Add the juice of a large orange, made
very sweet with powdered white sugar. Set it over the fire, and when it
comes to a boil, stir in the beaten yolks of two eggs. Let it boil two
or three minutes longer; then take it off, and keep it hot till the
partridges and their paste are thoroughly well baked. When done, stand
up the partridges in a deep dish, and serve up the gravy in a
sauce-boat. Ornament the partridge-pears by sticking some orange leaves
into the end that represents the stalk. This is a nice and handsome side
dish, of French origin.
Pigeons and quails may be dressed in this manner.
SALMI OF PARTRIDGES--(_French dish._)--Having covered two large or four
small partridges with very thin slices of fat cold ham, secured with
twine, roast them; but see that they are not too much done. Remove the
ham, skin the partridges, cut them into pieces, and let them get quite
cold. Partridges that have been roasted the preceding day are good for
this purpose. Cut off all the meat from the bones, season it with a
little cayenne, and put it into a stew-pan. Mix together three
table-spoonfuls of sweet oil, a glass of excellent wine, (either red or
white,) and the grated peel and juice of an orange. Pour this gravy over
the partridges, and let them stew in it during ten minutes; then add the
beaten yolk of an egg, and stew it about three or four minutes longer.
All the time it is stewing, continue to shake or move the pan over the
fire. Serve it up hot.
ROASTED PARTRIDGES, PHEASANTS, AND QUAILS.--Make a stuffing of fat bacon
finely minced, and boiled chestnuts or grated sweet potatoe boiled,
mashed, and seasoned with pepper only. Fill the birds with this. Cover
them with thin slices of bacon, and wrap them well in young vine leaves.
Roast them well, and serve them up in the bacon and vine leaves, to be
taken off when they come to table. For company, have orange sauce to eat
with them. If you roast pigeons, &c., without a covering of bacon and
vine leaves, do them with egg and bread-crumbs all over.
If these birds have a bitter taste when cooked, do not eat them. It is
produced by their feeding on laurel berries in winter, when their food
is scarce. Laural berries are poisonous, and people have died from
eating birds that have fed on them.
BIRDS WITH MUSHROOMS.--Take two dozen reed-birds, (or other nice small
birds,) and truss them as if for roasting. Put into each a button
mushroom, of which you should have a heaping pint after the stalks are
all removed. Put the birds and the remaining mushrooms into a stew-pan.
Season them with a very little salt and pepper, and add either a quarter
of a pound of fresh butter (divided into four, and slightly rolled in
flour,) or a pint of rich cream. If cream is not plenty, you may use
half butter and half cream, well mixed together. Cover the stew-pan
closely, and set it over a moderate fire, to stew gently till the birds
and mushrooms are thoroughly done and tender all through. Do not open
the lid to stir the stew, but give the pan, occasionally, a hard shake.
Dip in hot water a large slice of toast with the crust trimmed off.
When the birds are done lay them on the toast with the mushrooms around.
If you cannot get button-mushrooms, divide large ones into quarters.
Plovers are very nice stewed with mushrooms.
BIRDS IN A GROVE--(_French dish._)--Having roasted some reed-birds,
larks, plovers, or any other small birds, such as are usually eaten,
mash some potatos with butter and cream. Spread the mashed potato
thickly over the bottom, sides, and edges of a deep dish. Nick or crimp
the border of potatoe that goes round the edge, or scollop it with a tin
cutter. You may, if you choose, brown it by holding over it a
salamander, or a red-hot shovel. Then lay the roasted birds in the
middle of the dish, and stick round them and among them, very thickly, a
sufficient number of sprigs of curled or double parsley.
THATCHED HOUSE PIE--(_French dish._)--Rub the inside of a deep dish with
two ounces of fresh butter, and spread over it two ounces of vermicelli.
Then line the dish with puff-paste. Have ready some birds seasoned with
powdered nutmeg, and a very little salt and pepper. Place them with the
breast downward. They will be much improved by putting into each a
mushroom or an oyster chopped fine. Lay them on the paste. Add some
gravy of roast veal, (cold gravy saved from veal roasted the preceding
day will do very well,) and cover the pie with a lid of puff-paste. Bake
it in a moderate oven, and when done, turn it out _carefully_ upon a
flat dish, and send it to table. The vermicelli, which was originally at
the bottom, will now be at the top, covering the paste like thatch upon
a roof. Trim off the edge, so as to look nicely. You may, if you choose,
use a larger quantity of vermicelli. The yellow sort will be best for
this purpose.
BIRDS PREPARED FOR LARDING.--Cut a thin slice of fresh veal, and fill
the bird with it, adding a bit of fat bacon. Tie a string round the body
to keep in the stuffing, and roast the bird head downward. The gravy of
the meat will diffuse a pleasant taste all through the bird.
After being well roasted, let it get cold, and then lard it all over the
breast with lardons or regular slips of fat bacon, put in with a larding
needle, and left standing in rows. It is more easy to lard poultry or
game when cold, rather than warm. Lardons should be set very close and
evenly.
BIRD DUMPLINGS.--Take a large tender beef steak, trim off all the fat,
and remove the bone. Make a large sheet of nice suet paste. Lay the beef
steak upon it, seasoned with pepper and a very little salt. In the
centre of the meat place either a partridge, a quail, a plover, or any
nice game, or three or four reed-birds--season with powdered mace and
nutmeg. Add some bits of excellent fresh butter, dredged with flour.
Inclose the birds completely in the steak, so that the game flavor may
pervade the whole. Close the crust over all, so as to form a large
dumpling. Tie it in a cloth. Put it into a pot of fast-boiling water,
and boil it well, turning it several times with a fork. Dish it very
hot.
If game is not convenient, a fine tame fat pigeon may be substituted.
TO ROAST WOODCOCKS OR SNIPES.--Be very careful in plucking these to pull
out the feathers as carefully and handle them as lightly as possible;
for the skin is very easily torn or broken. Do not draw them, for
epicures have decided, that the trail, (as they call the intestines,) is
the most delicious part of the bird, and should by all means be saved
for eating. Having wiped the outside carefully with a soft cloth, truss
them with the head under the wing, and the bill laid along upon the
breast. Keep the legs bent from the knees, retaining that posture by
means of a splinter skewer. Suspend the birds to a bird-spit, with their
feet downward. Melt some fresh butter in the dripping-pan, and baste
them with it, having first dredged the birds with flour. Before the
trail begins to drop, (which it will do as soon as they are well
heated,) lay a thick round of very nice toast, (with the crust pared
off,) buttered on both sides, and placed in the dripping-pan beneath, so
as to catch the trail as it falls; allowing a slice of toast to each
bird, with the trail spread equally over it. Continue the basting,
letting the butter fall back from them into the basting spoon. When the
birds are done, which will be in less than half an hour at a brisk
fire--carefully transfer the toasts to a very hot dish; place the birds
upon them, and pour some gravy round the toast.
Snipes require less cooking than woodcocks. These birds are very
fashionable; but we do not think either of them superlative. They seldom
appear except at supper parties.
PLOVERS.--This is a very nice bird, with a peculiar and pleasant flavor.
They abound near our large bays and estuaries in the vicinity of the
ocean. There are two sorts, the green plover and the gray. Roast them
plain; basting them only with butter. Or fill them with a forcemeat, and
go entirely over the outside, first with beaten egg, and then roll each
plover in finely grated bread-crumbs.
If very fat, stew them plain in butter rolled in flour. Then serve them
up in their own gravy, enriched with a beaten egg. They make a nice
breakfast dish, either roasted or stewed. And are excellent in pies.
REED BIRDS.--Reed birds and rice birds are the same. They are very
small, (only a mouthful on each side of the breast,) but very delicious,
and _immensely fat_ in the summer and autumn. They are brought to market
with a lump of fat skewered on the outside, and are sold by the dozen
strung on a stick like cherries.
To cook them, roast them on a bird-spit, basting with their own fat, as
it drips. A nice way for retaining the whole flavor is to tie each bird
closely in a vine leaf, and bake them in a dutch oven. Or wrap them in
double vine leaves, and roast them in the ashes of a wood fire. Remove
the vine leaves before the birds are dished.
ROASTED PIGEONS.--Take fine fat _tame_ pigeons, and clean and truss them
nicely. Four pigeons, at least, are requisite to make a dish. Prepare a
stuffing or forcemeat of finely minced veal, and an equal quantity of
cold-boiled ham, seasoned with powdered mace and a very little cayenne.
Also, two slices of bread and butter soaked in as much milk as they will
absorb. Fill their bodies with this, (tying a string round to keep it
in,) and roast the pigeons till thoroughly done; basting with fresh
butter or lard.
Or you may stuff the pigeons with chopped mushrooms, seasoned with a
little cayenne, and putting into each a piece of fresh butter rolled in
flour.
Or you may stuff them with sweet potatos, boiled well, and mashed with
plenty of fresh butter. Or with chestnuts, boiled, peeled, and mashed
with butter.
Wild pigeons are generally too poor to roast. In places where they
abound, it has been found very profitable to catch them in nets, clip
their wings, and put them into inclosures, feeding them well with corn
so as to make them fat. They will then bring as high a price as tame
pigeons.
SAUCES.
MELTED BUTTER.--_For Sauces._--This is frequently called Drawn Butter.
For this purpose none should be used but fresh butter of the very best
quality. It is usually sent to table with boiled fish and boiled
poultry. Also, with boiled mutton, lamb, and veal. It is never served up
with any thing roasted, fried or broiled. Numerous sauces are made with
melted butter. If mixed with too much flour and water, and not enough of
butter, it will be very poor, particularly if the water is in too large
proportions. To prepare it properly, allow a quarter of a pound of nice
butter, to a heaped table-spoonful of flour. Mix the butter and flour
thoroughly, _before_ it goes on the fire. Then add to it four large
table-spoonfuls of milk, or hot water, well mixed in. Hold it over the
fire in a small sauce-pan, kept for the purpose. One lined with what is
called porcelain or enamel is best. Take care there is no blaze where
the sauce-pan is held. Cover it, and shake it over the fire till it
boils. Then having skimmed it, add three or four hard-boiled eggs
chopped small, and give it one more boil up; or season it with any other
ingredient with which you wish to distinguish the sauce.
CLARIFIED BUTTER.--For this purpose use none but the very best fresh
butter, such as is made in summer, when the cows are well pastured. Cut
up the butter, put it into an enameled or porcelain stew-pan, and melt
it gently over a clear and moderate fire. When it simmers, skim it
thoroughly, draw it from the fire, and let it stand five minutes, that
the milk or sediment may sink to the bottom. Then pour it clear from the
sediment through a muslin strainer, or a fine clean hair sieve. Transfer
to jars with close covers, and keep them in a cool dry place. If well
prepared, and originally very good, this butter will answer for sauces,
stews, &c., and continue good a long time. In France, where they do not
_salt_ any butter, large quantities are melted in this way for winter
use.
COLORING FOR SAUCES.--_For Pink Sauce._ Take a few chips of red alkanet
root, (to be had at the druggist's.) Pick it clean, and tie it in a very
thin muslin bag. Put the alkanet into the mixture, and let it infuse in
the boiling drawn butter. It will communicate a beautiful pink color,
which you may heighten, by pressing the bag a little. When done, take
out the bag, and stir the alkanet color evenly through the sauce. The
alkanet has no taste, and is very cheap. Beet juice will color a
tolerable red.
_For Green Sauce._--Pound some fresh spinach leaves, till you extract a
tea-cup or more of the clear green juice. Stir it into the melted butter
while boiling.
_For Yellow Sauce._--Tie up a very little turmeric powder in a muslin
bag. Let it boil in the butter. When done, take it out of the sauce-pan,
and stir the yellow coloring evenly through the sauce.
_For White Sauce._--Make this with cream instead of milk.
_For Brown Sauce._--Stir in plenty of French mustard.
_For Wine Sauce._--Stir in, just before you take the sauce from the
fire, a large wine-glass or more of _very good_ white wine, and grate in
half a large nutmeg, adding the grated yellow rind, and the juice of a
lemon. The wine must be of excellent quality, otherwise it will give a
bad taste to the sauce.
WHITE THICKENING--(_French Roux._)--Cut up a quarter of a pound of the
best fresh butter, and put it into a well tinned or enameled sauce-pan.
Set it over a moderate fire, and melt it slowly, shaking it round
frequently, and taking care to skim it well. When no more scum appears
on the surface, let it settle a few minutes; then pour it off from the
sediment at the bottom. Wash the sauce-pan or get another clean one.
Return the melted butter to it, and set it again over the fire. Then
dredge in gradually sufficient sifted flour to make it very thick and
smooth, stirring it well after each addition of flour. Do not allow it
to brown in the slightest degree, but keep it perfectly white to the
last; simmering, but not actually boiling, and take care that there is
no smoke about the fire.
To thicken white sauces, or soups, stir in a table-spoonful or two of
this roux, pronounced _roo_. In French cooking it passes for cream.
Browned thickening is made in the same manner; but with butter and
browned flour, and is used for brown soups and gravies.
BROWNING.--This is to enrich the taste and improve the color of gravies,
stews, and soups. Mix a quarter of a pound of powdered white sugar with
two ounces of fine fresh butter; and, having stirred them well together,
put them into a sauce-pan over the fire, and simmer till it begins to
froth; then diminish the heat a little. When its color becomes a fine
dark brown, add two glasses of port wine, and three or four blades of
mace, powdered. When it comes to a boil, take it off, and stir it into
whatever you intend to color.
Another browning is mushroom catchup, or walnut catchup. They
communicate a slightly acid taste. So also does French mustard. Stir it
in at the last. Its tarragon flavor is very generally liked.
BROWNED FLOUR.--Sift some fine flour, spread it on a large dish, or
clean tin-pan. Place it before the fire, so as to brown but not to
scorch or burn. It will color first at the edges; therefore watch it,
and keep it evenly mixed with the white flour from the centre. When all
is nicely browned, set it to cool, and then put it away for use in a
large clean bottle or jar, well corked. Flour may be browned in an oven,
after baking is over, taking care to stir it well.--Have two dredging
boxes. One for browned flour and one for white. It is convenient also to
have dredging-boxes for powdered herbs. The cost of these boxes is very
trifling, and it saves time and trouble to have things ready when
wanted. A small sieve for powdered white sugar is indispensable.
LOBSTER SAUCE.--This sauce is for fresh salmon or turbot, or
sheep's-head fish. Also for salmon-trout, blue-fish, or the lake
white-fish.
Put a large hen lobster into a hard-boiling pot of highly-salted water,
that the animal may die immediately. Continue the boiling with a steady
heat, and in about three quarters, or an hour, the lobster will be done.
When cold, extract all the meat from the shell, and cut it into small
bits. Pound the coral, or red substance, in a marble mortar, with some
fresh butter, or plenty of salad oil; and a little cayenne. Add the
coral to the cut-up lobster, and put the whole into a stew-pan, with
some powdered mace and nutmeg, and a large table-spoonful of sweet oil.
Divide into four bits a quarter of a pound of fresh butter, each bit
rolled in flour. If your butter is not fresh and very good, omit it
entirely and substitute a larger quantity of oil. As bad butter spoils
every thing, never on any account, use it. Set the sauce-pan over the
fire, and let it boil up once. Then take it off, and while very hot,
stir in the beaten yolks of two eggs.
Crab sauce is made in the same manner. Prawn sauce also.
SHRIMP SAUCE.--Shrimps are the smallest shell-fish of the lobster
species. Put them into salted boiling water. They are done when they
have turned entirely red. When cold, pull off the heads, and peel off
the shells from the bodies; or _squeeze_ out the meat with your fingers.
Have ready some nice drawn butter, and thicken it with the shrimps,
either chopped or whole. Season the sauce with mace or nutmeg powdered,
and give it one boil up. Shrimp sauce is eaten with salmon and other
fine fish.
PICKLED SHRIMPS.--Having boiled, in salted water, three quarts or more
of shrimps, and taken them from the shells, boil two quarts of the best
cider vinegar, and season it well with blades of mace and pepper-corns,
and pour it hot on the shrimps, in a stone jar. Cork the jar, and seal
the cork with the usual red cement for pickle jars: a mixture of
one-third beeswax with two-thirds powdered rosin, and some fine
brickdust, all melted together.
OYSTER SAUCE.--Take a pint of the liquor of _fresh_ oysters, and strain
it into a sauce-pan. If your oysters are salt, and you can get no
others, boil a pint of milk instead of the oyster liquor, seasoning with
powdered nutmeg and mace, and enriching it with fresh butter dredged
with flour. When it has come to a boil, put in the oysters (having
removed from each the gristle, or hard part.) Let them simmer, but take
them from the fire without letting them come to a boil, which will
shrivel them, and render them tough and tasteless. A new fashion is to
season oyster sauce with the grated yellow rind and juice of a fresh
lemon. Others stir in a glass of sherry or Madeira. If you use wine or
lemon, you must not make the sauce with milk, as it will curdle. Use in
this case the oyster liquor, if it is fresh, thickened well with finely
grated bread-crumbs. The small, highly-flavored oysters, abounding on
the coast of New England, are excellent for sauce, or soups.
CLAM SAUCE.--Make this of half milk and half clam liquor, seasoned with
whole mace, and whole pepper. Use only the soft part of the clams, cut
up small, and simmer them from the beginning; adding bits of butter
dredged all over with flour Clams require longer cooking than oysters.
EGG SAUCE.--Boil four eggs from eight to twelve minutes. Then lay them
in a pan of fresh water, and let them remain till quite cold. Peel off
the shells, and take out the eggs. Chop the yolks and whites separately;
mix them, lightly, into half a pint of melted fresh butter, made in the
proportion of a quarter of a pound of butter to two large
table-spoonfuls of flour, and four of milk and hot water. Add some
powdered mace, or nutmeg. Egg sauce is eaten with boiled fish and
poultry.
Instead of milk or water, you can use for melted butter, some of the
water in which chicken or turkey was boiled, or some veal gravy.
CELERY SAUCE.--Split and cut up into short slips a bunch of celery,
having taken off the green leaves from the tops. The celery must have
been well washed, and laid an hour in cold water. Take a pint of milk,
and cut up in it a quarter of a pound of fresh butter that has been well
dredged with flour. Set it over the fire in a sauce-pan, and add the
celery gradually; also three or four blades of mace broken up. Boil all
slowly together, till the celery is quite soft and tender, but not
dissolved. The green tops of the celery, (strewed in, when it begins to
simmer,) will improve the flavor. Celery sauce is served up with boiled
turkey, boiled fowls, and with any sort of fresh fish, boiled or fried.
MINT SAUCE.--This is only used for roast lamb in the spring. When the
lambs are grown into sheep, the mint is too old for sauce. But they
harmonize very pleasantly when both are young.
Take a large bunch of fine fresh green mint, that has been washed well.
Strip the leaves from the stems, and mince them small. Put it into a
pint bowl, and mix with it gradually some of the best cider vinegar.
This sauce must not be the least liquid, but as thick as horse-radish
sauce or thicker. Make it very sweet, with the best brown sugar. Mix it
well, and transfer to a small tureen, or a little deep dish with a
tea-spoon in it. Serve it up always with roast lamb, putting a
tea-spoonful on the rim of your plate.
A quart or more of mint sauce, made as above, but with a larger
proportion of sugar and vinegar, will keep very well for several weeks,
in a jar well corked.
HORSE-RADISH.--Wash clean some roots of horse-radish, wipe them dry, and
scrape off the outside. Then grate the sticks of horse-radish with a
large grater. Put some of the grated horse-radish into a large saucer,
or small deep plate, and moisten it with good cider vinegar, but do not
put so much vinegar as will render it liquid. Send it to table with
roast beef or mutton.
CAULIFLOWER SAUCE.--Have ready some very rich good melted or drawn
butter, made with milk and flavored with nutmeg. Thicken it with plenty
of ready-boiled cauliflower, cut into little sprigs or blossoms. Give it
one boil up after the cauliflower is in, and send it to table with any
sort of boiled poultry. It will be found very nice. For a boiled turkey
it is far superior to celery sauce, and well suited to dinner company.
BROCCOLI SAUCE.--Make some nice drawn butter with milk. Flavor it with
powdered mace. Pound some spinach in a mortar to extract the juice.
Strain the spinach juice, and stir a small tea-cupful into the butter to
give it a fine green color. Have ready some well-boiled broccoli. Divide
one or two heads of the broccoli into tufts or sprigs. Put them into the
melted butter, and when it comes to a boil, take it off, and transfer it
to a sauce-boat. Serve it up with boiled poultry or fresh fish.
PARSLEY SAUCE.--Strip from the stalks the leaves of some fresh green
parsley; allow plenty of it. Chop it slightly; and while the drawn
butter is hot, stir into it the parsley, till the butter looks very
green. Serve it up with boiled fowls, rabbits, or boiled fish. The
appearance of parsley sauce will be much improved by stirring in some
spinach juice. The whole will be then a fine green.
CRIMPED PARSLEY.--Pick the small sprigs of parsley from the large
stalks. Wash it, and then throw it into clean cold water. After the meat
or fish that it is to accompany has been fried and taken out of the pan,
give the fat that remains a boil up, and lay the parsley into it. It
will crimp and still continue green, if not kept frying too long. Take
it out, drain it, and place it before the fire a few minutes, to dry it
from the fat. Dish it laid on the top of the fish or steaks.
FENNEL SAUCE.--The fennel should be young and fresh. Take a large
handful, or more, and having washed it clean, strip the leaves from the
stems, and boil it till quite tender. Put it into a sieve, and press the
water well from it. Mince it very small, and stir it into drawn butter.
It is served up with boiled fish.
Instead of melted butter, you may put the fennel into veal gravy,
thickened with butter dredged with flour.
SAGE AND ONION SAUCE.--Take a bunch of fresh sage leaves. Wash and drain
them. Pick them from the stems, and put them to boil in a small
sauce-pan, with just water enough to cover them. Boil them fast about
ten minutes. Take them out, and press them in a sieve to drain them dry.
Then mince or chop them small. Have ready two onions, boiled tender in
another sauce-pan; chop them also, and mix them well with the minced
sage. While warm, mix in a small bit of nice butter--season with pepper.
Put this sauce into a little tureen, and serve it up with roast goose,
roast duck, or roast pork, that has been stuffed with potato, bread, or
other stuffing. The sage and onion sauce is for those who prefer their
flavor to any other seasoning for those dishes.
This sauce will be greatly improved if moistened with some of the gravy
of the duck or goose.
FINE ONION SAUCE.--Peel some nice mild onions, and boil them in plenty
of milk, skimming them well. When done, take them out of the milk,
(saving it,) and slice them very thin, cutting the slices across, so as
to make the pieces of onion very small. Return them to the sauce-pan of
milk, (adding some fresh butter dredged with flour;) season them with
powdered mace or nutmeg, and give the onions another boil, till they are
soft enough to mash, and to thicken the milk all through. Eat this sauce
with steaks, cutlets, rabbits, or chickens.
PLAIN ONION SAUCE.--Peel some very small onions, and boil them whole in
milk, (seasoned slightly with pepper and salt,) and put in some bits of
butter rolled in flour. Let them boil till tender all through, but not
till they loose their shape. Eat them with any sort of boiled meat.
NASTURTION SAUCE.--This is eaten with boiled mutton; is superior to
caper sauce, and costs almost nothing, if you have nasturtions in your
garden. Gather the green seeds as soon as they are full grown, and throw
them (without the stems) into a jar of cider vinegar. They require no
cooking, but keep a muslin bag of spice in the jar, (mace and nutmeg
broken small, and a little piece of root ginger.) To use them for sauce,
make some nice drawn butter, and as it simmers throw in plenty of
nasturtions from the jar. The seeds, when gathered, should be full
grown, but by no means hard; and the color a fine green. If there is the
slightest brown tinge, the nasturtion seeds are too old, and should be
kept for planting.
MUSHROOM SAUCE.--Have ready some excellent drawn butter, and thicken it
with small button mushrooms that have been pickled. Or, take
freshly-gathered mushrooms of good size, rub off the outer skin with a
clean flannel, and cut off the stems close to the flaps. Wash the
mushrooms in a cullender. Have ready some bits of fresh butter dredged
all over with flour. Lay them among the mushrooms, (which, if very
large, should be quartered,) and put them into a stew-pan. Cover the
pan, and let them stew till the mushrooms are all tender. When you take
off the lid to try them, replace it immediately, keeping in as much of
the aroma as possible. If fresh, they will yield a great deal of juice.
When done, transfer them to a sauce-tureen, and serve them up with any
nice dish of meat or poultry.
The best mushrooms are found in pure open air or rather high ground, and
where there is no swamp or woodland. On the upper side of their top they
are not white, but of a pale grayish tint; the under side is invariably
light red, pinkish, or pale salmon color, which in a few hours, or after
being gathered, turns brown. The false mushrooms are poisonous. They are
entirely white above and below. The fungi that grow in forests or
marshes can never be mistaken for real mushrooms. They are of various
colors, chiefly bright yellow and red, and originate in foul air. By
boiling a silver tea-spoon with your mushrooms, you may test their
goodness. If the silver turns black, throw the mushrooms away. An onion
will also blacken from the same cause. Mushrooms should be cooked as
soon as possible. If kept two or three days, worms will be found in
them. Never give mushrooms to children. Even in their best state they
are not wholesome. The taste for mushrooms is an acquired one, and it is
best not to acquire it.
TOMATO SAUCE.--Scald some large ripe tomatos, to make them peel easily.
Then quarter them, and press them through a sieve to divest them of
their seeds. Put the juice into a stew-pan, adding some bits of fresh
butter dredged with flour; add finely grated bread-crumbs, and season
with a little pepper, and, if liked, a little onion boiled and minced.
Set the pan over a moderate fire, and let the tomatos simmer slowly till
it comes to a boil. Continue the boiling ten minutes longer. Serve it up
in a sauce-tureen. It will be mellowed and improved by stirring in (as
soon as it comes to a boil) a table-spoonful or a lump of white sugar.
TARRAGON SAUCE.--Put into a sauce-pan a large half pint of any nice
gravy that is at hand. After it has boiled five minutes, have ready a
handful of fresh green tarragon leaves, minced, and moistened with
plenty of cider vinegar. Add this to the gravy, and let it simmer five
minutes. Then take it out, and serve it up with any kind of boiled
poultry.
TO MAKE GRAVY.--Take two pounds of the lean of veal, or of very nice
beef. Cut it into small bits, and lay it in a sauce-pan with only as
much water as will cover it. Stew it slowly, (skimming it well) till the
meat is all rags. Then strain the gravy, and thicken it with some bits
of fresh butter dredged all over with browned flour, and give it
another simmer. You may flavor it with any seasoning you like.
For made gravies, you can use any small pieces of fresh meat that has
never been cooked, and the feet of calves and pigs. Boil in it also such
vegetables as you like, cut small. Strain out every thing before it goes
to table. For gravies, use nothing that has been cooked before. They
will not add to its goodness, but only render it flat and washy.
White gravy is made with fresh veal boiled in milk; and after straining,
thickened arrow-root, or rice flour, mixed with fresh butter, if real
cream cannot be obtained.
MUSHROOM CATCHUP.--Let the mushrooms be large and freshly-gathered, for
they soon become worm-eaten if not speedily salted. They should be well
examined. Cut off the stalks of four quarts of nice mushrooms. Put the
flaps into a deep earthen pan, and break them up with your hands. Strew
among them half a pound of salt, reserving the largest portion of it for
the top. Let them stand for three days, stirring them gently every
morning. The fourth day, put them into a sieve, and draw off the liquor
without pressing the mushrooms. When all the liquor has drained through,
measure it, allowing to each quart a tea-spoon of cayenne, a dozen
blades of mace, and a nutmeg broken up. Put the whole into a porcelain
kettle, and boil it slowly till reduced one half. Then pour it into a
clean white-ware pitcher, cover it with a folded napkin, and keep it in
a cool dry place till next day. Then, through a funnel, pour it gently
from the sediment into small bottles. Finish with a tea-spoonful of
sweet oil on the top of each. Cork the bottles tightly, and seal the
corks.
The next time you make catchup, proceed as above with the new mushrooms,
and other ingredients; and, when it is done, strain it, and put it into
a clean kettle. Then add to it a quart of _last year's_ mushroom
catchup, and boil it a quarter of an hour. Then bottle it as above.
This double catchup is very fine.
WALNUT CATCHUP.--Take two hundred walnuts or butter-nuts, while the
green shell is still so soft that you can pierce it with the head of a
pin. Bruise them to small pieces, in a marble mortar. Transfer them to a
broad stone-ware pan, and stew among them six handfuls of salt. Stir
them three times a day, for ten days or two weeks. Then squeeze and
strain them through a cloth, pressing them very dry, till no more juice
comes out. Boil up the liquor with two quarts of cider vinegar, half an
ounce of mace, half an ounce of whole pepper, half an ounce of nutmegs
broken up, and two roots of ginger cut small, and half a dozen shalots
or small onions, peeled and cut up, and a large bunch of sweet herbs.
Let the whole boil for half an hour. Then pour off the liquor into a
large pitcher, leaving out the bunch of sweet herbs. Pour off the liquor
(through a funnel,) into small bottles, having first put into the bottom
of each bottle a portion of the spice. Fill the bottle up to the top
with the catchup, finishing with a tea-spoonful of salad oil, which will
greatly assist in keeping the catchup good. Cork the bottles very
closely, and seal the corks.
TOMATO CATCHUP.--Take a peck of large ripe tomatos. In the middle States
they are in perfection the last of August. Late in the autumn they are
comparatively insipid and watery. Cut a slit down the side of every
tomato. Put them into a large preserving kettle without any water. Their
own juice is sufficient. On no account boil tomatos in brass or copper,
their acid acting on those metals produces verdigris, and renders them
poisonous. Boil them till they are quite soft, and easily mashed,
stirring them up frequently from the bottom. Press and mash them through
a hair sieve, till all the pulp has run out into the pan below, leaving
in the sieve only the skins and seeds. Season the liquid with a little
salt, some cayenne, and plenty of powdered nutmeg and mace. Mix it well,
and when cold put up the catchup in small jars, the covers pasted all
round with bands of white paper. This catchup, when done, should be very
thick and smooth.
LEMON CATCHUP.--Take six fine large ripe lemons, and roll them under
your hand to increase the quantity of juice. Grate off all the yellow
rind, and squeeze the juice into a pitcher, removing all the seeds.
Prepare two ounces of finely scraped horse-radish, and two ounces of
minced shalots, or very small onions. Put them into a pint of boiling
vinegar, in which half an ounce of bruised ginger and a quarter of an
ounce of mace have been simmered for five minutes. Add to this the
lemon-juice and the grated peel, and two grated nutmegs. Boil all
together for half an hour, and then transfer it with all the ingredients
to a glass jar with a lid. Paste a band of strong white paper round the
lower part of the lid. Set it in a dry cool place, and leave it
undisturbed for three months. Then, through a funnel, pour off the
liquid into small bottles, putting a tea-spoonful of salad oil at the
top of each. Cork and seal them.
CUCUMBER CATCHUP.--For a small quantity of this catchup, take twelve
fine full-grown cucumbers, and lay them an hour in cold water. Then pare
them, and grate them down into a deep dish. Grate also two small onions,
and mix them with the grated cucumber. Season the mixture to your taste
with pepper, salt, and vinegar, making it of the consistence of very
thick marmalade or jam. When thoroughly amalgamated, transfer it to a
glass jar. Cover it closely, tying over it a piece of bladder, so as to
render it perfectly air-tight.
It will be found very nice, (when fresh cucumbers are not in season,) to
eat with beef or mutton. And if properly made, and securely covered,
will keep well. It should be grated very fine, and the vinegar must be
of very excellent quality--real cider vinegar.
CAMP CATCHUP.--Take a pint or quart of strong ale or porter, and a pint
of white wine; half a dozen shalots, or very small onions, peeled and
minced; half an ounce of mace, half an ounce of nutmeg, broken up; and
two large roots or races of ginger, sliced. Put all together, over a
moderate fire, into a porcelain-lined kettle, and boil it slowly till
one-third of the liquid is wasted. Next day transfer it to small
bottles, putting a portion of the seasoning in the bottom of each, and
filling them to the top with the liquid. Finish with a tea-spoonful of
salad oil at the top. Cork the bottles with good corks, and seal them.
In a dry place this catchup will keep for years.
TARRAGON VINEGAR.--The fresh leaves of the tarragon plant are in
perfection in July and August, and impart a new and pleasant taste to
soups, hashes, gravies, &c. To use it fresh, wash a bunch of tarragon in
cold water. Afterwards strip off the green leaves, chop or mince them,
and boil a tea-spoonful or more in the dish you intend to flavor. The
best way of keeping tarragon is to strip off as many fresh leaves as
will half fill a glass jar that holds a quart. Pour on as much _real_
cider vinegar as will fill up the jar. Cover it closely, and let the
tarragon infuse in it for a week, shaking the jar every day. Then pour
off that vinegar carefully, and throw away the tarragon leaves that have
been steeping in it. Wash that jar, or take another clean one, put into
it the same quantity of fresh tarragon leaves, and fill up with the same
vinegar in which you have infused the first supply. Let the second
leaves remain in the jar of vinegar. A tarragon bush is well worth
planting; even in a small city garden.
Tarragon is the chief ingredient of French mustard.
FINE FRENCH MUSTARD.--Take a jill or two large wine-glasses of tarragon
vinegar, (strained from the leaves,) and mix with it an equal quantity
of salad oil, stirring them well together. Pound in a mortar, two ounces
of mustard seed till it becomes a fine smooth powder, and mix it
thoroughly. Add to it one clove of garlic (not more) peeled, minced and
pounded. Make the mixture in a deep white-ware dish. If the mustard
affects your eyes, put on glasses till you have finished the mixture.
When done, put it up in white bottles, or gallipots. Cork them tightly,
and seal the corks. Send it to table in those bottles.
This mustard is far superior to any other, the tarragon imparting a
peculiar and pleasant flavor.
It is excellent to eat with any sort of roast meat, particularly beef or
mutton, and an improvement to almost all plain sauces, stews, soups, &c.
French mustard is to be purchased very good, at all the best grocery
stores.
SAUCE ROBERT.--Peel five large onions, and parboil them to take off some
of the strength. Cut them into small dice, and put them into a stew-pan
with a quarter of a pound of fresh butter, divided into four, and
dredged with flour. When they are well browned, pour on them half a pint
of beef or veal gravy, and let it simmer for a quarter of an hour.
Season it slightly with cayenne. Just before it goes to table, stir in a
table-spoonful of French mustard.
This is a good sauce for any sort of roast meat, or poultry.
GREEN MAYONNAISE.--This is a fine accompaniment to cold poultry, which
must be cut into small pieces as for chicken salad, using only the white
meat. To begin the mayonnaise. Put into a shallow pan the yolks only of
three fresh eggs, having strained out the specks. Having beaten them
till light and thick, add, by degrees, a half pint of salad oil,
stirring it in gradually, so that no oil whatever is to be seen on the
surface. Then add two table-spoonfuls of tarragon vinegar. Next a few
drops of shalot vinegar, or a _very small_ onion minced as finely as
possible. If you have at hand any clear meat gravy (for instance,
veal,) stir in two or three table-spoonsful. Add the grated yellow rind,
and the juice of a lemon. Pound as much spinach as will yield a small
tea-cupful of green juice. Give it a short boil up, to take off the
rawness, and mix it with the mayonnaise. When cool, pour it over the
dish of cold poultry.
EPICUREAN SAUCE.--Pound in a mortar five or six anchovies; a heaped
table-spoonful of minced tarragon leaves; a shalot, or very small onion,
two or three pickled gherkins, finely minced; the yolks of four
hard-boiled eggs, a quarter of a pound of fresh butter, and a large
table-spoonful of French mustard. If you have no good butter, mix a
sufficient portion of olive oil to moisten it well. Let the whole be
thoroughly mixed. Put it into a bowl, and set it on ice till wanted.
Then mould it into pats of equal size. Arrange them on small glass or
china plates, and send them to table for dinner company, to eat with the
cheese.
EAST INDIA SAUCE FOR FISH.--Mix well together a jill of India soy; a
jill of chili vinegar; half a pint of walnut catchup, and a pint of
mushroom-catchup. Shake the whole hard, and transfer it to small green
bottles, putting a tea-spoonful of sweet oil at the top of each, and
keep the sauce in a cool dry place. If you have not a fish castor, bring
the store sauces to table in the small bottles they are kept in. When
eating fish, mix a little of this with the melted butter on your plate.
CURRY POWDER.--Curry powder originates in India, where it is much used
as a peculiar flavoring for soups, stews, and hashes. With curry dishes,
boiled rice is always served up, not only in a separate dish, but also
heaped round the stew in a thick even border. To make curry powder,
pound in a marble mortar three ounces of turmeric, three ounces of
coriander seed, and a quarter of an ounce of cayenne; one ounce of
mustard, one ounce of cardamoms, a half ounce of cummin seed, and half
an ounce of mace. Let all these ingredients be thoroughly mixed in the
mortar, and then sift it through a fine sieve, dry it for an hour before
the fire, and put it into clean bottles, securing the corks well. Use
from two to three table-spoonfuls at a time, in proportion to the size
of the dish you intend to curry.
It may be mixed into the gravy of any of the preceding receipts for
stews. Two ounces of finely grated cocoa-nut is a pleasant improvement
to curried dishes, and is universally liked.
The curry powder you buy is frequently much adulterated with inferior
articles. The best curry powder imported from India is of a dark green
color, and not yellow or red. It has among its ingredients, tamarinds,
_not_ preserved, as we always get them--but raw in the shell. These
tamarinds impart a pleasant acid to the mixture. For want of them use a
lemon.
MADRAS CURRY POWDER.--Pound separately, and sift, six ounces of
coriander seed, three of turmeric, one of black pepper, two of cummin,
one of fennel seed, and half an ounce of cayenne. Mix all together, put
them into a glass jar or bottle, and seal the cover.
With less turmeric, you may use ginger or sassafras.
Curry powder may be added to any stew of meat, poultry, or game. Boiled
rice must always accompany a dish of curry.
The ingredients indispensable to all curries (and you may make a curry
of any nice meat, or poultry, or even of oysters) is a very pungent
powder, prepared for the purpose with turmeric. Also onions and boiled
rice. In India there is always something acid in the mixture, as lemons,
sour apple juice, or green tamarinds. The turmeric has a peculiar flavor
of its own.
STORE SAUCES.--The celebrated English sauces, for fish and game,
Harvey's sauce, (which is the best,) Quin's, Reading's, Kitchener's,
Soyer's, &c., are all very good, and keep well, if genuine. They are
imported in small sealed bottles, and are to be had of all the best
grocers. To make them at home, is so troublesome and expensive, that it
is better to buy them. They are, however, very nice, and are generally
introduced at dinner parties; a little being mixed on your plate with
the melted butter. If you have no fish castors, bring these sauces to
table in their own bottles, to be carried round by a servant.
FINE PINK SAUCE.--Take a pint of excellent port wine, the juice and
grated yellow rinds of four large lemons, two dozen blades of mace and a
large nutmeg, broken up; with a quarter of an ounce of prepared
cochineal, or a small tea-spoonful of alkanet chips. Add a
table-spoonful of fresh salad oil. Mix the whole well in a wide-mouthed
glass jar with a lid. Let the ingredients infuse a fortnight; stirring
it several times a day. Then strain it, pour it through a funnel into
small bottles, and seal the corks. It will give a fine pink color to
drawn butter. Eat it with any sort of fish or game.
Alkanet produces a much finer color than cochineal, but it must unite
with some substance of an oily nature to give out its color to
advantage. It is very cheap, and very beautiful, and to be had at the
druggist's. Infuse it tied in a thin muslin bag.
WINE SAUCE FOR VENISON OR GAME.--Take the half of a sixpenny loaf of
bread. Cut off all the crust. Put the crumb (or soft part) into a bowl,
and pour on sufficient good port wine to steep it. Soak the bread in the
wine till dissolved. Then add two heaped table-spoonsful of fresh
butter, and two heaped spoonsful of sugar; seasoning with powdered mace
and nutmeg, and the grated yellow rind and juice of a lemon. Beat all
together till very smooth. Put it into a sauce-pan, and give it one boil
up; taking it off as soon as it comes to a boil. Send it to table hot.
It is a fine company sauce for venison, or hare, or any sort of game.
FINE PUDDING SAUCE.--Take a large half-pint cup of the best fresh
butter, and the same quantity of powdered loaf-sugar. Put them together
in an earthen pan, and beat them to a light thick cream. Then mix a jill
or wine-glass of boiling water, and a large wine-glass of the best
brandy, with the grated yellow rind and juice of a large lemon or
orange; and a small nutmeg, grated. Mix these ingredients, gradually,
with the beaten butter and sugar; and transfer the sauce to a small
tureen, putting a spoon or ladle into it.
If designed for sauce to a plum-pudding or any other large one, you will
require a pint of butter, a pint of sugar, half a pint of boiling water
with half a pint of brandy, two lemons or oranges, and a _large_ nutmeg,
or two small ones. Divide the sauce in two tureens. A boiled pudding for
company requires no finer sauce than this.
Where _real_ cream is plenty, a bowl of it well sweetened with sugar,
and flavored with nutmeg, is nice for any boiled pudding. If you add
wine or lemon juice to cream sauce, previously mix the acid with the
sugar, and make it very sweet before you put them to the cream, lest it
should curdle.
VANILLA SAUCE.--Split and break up a small stick of vanilla, and boil it
in a very little milk, till all the vanilla flavor is extracted. Then
strain it through very fine muslin, and stir it into the cream. Give it
one boil up in a small porcelain sauce-pan; and sweeten it well with
white sugar.
PLAIN SAUCE FOR PUDDING.--Stir together (as in making pound cake) equal
quantities of fresh butter and white sugar. This is the usual
proportion; but if you can stir or beat it easily, try a little less
butter, and a little more of the sugar. Grate in some nutmeg, and the
yellow rind of a fresh lemon, and send it to table heaped on a small
plate, with a tea-spoon near it.[E]
[E] The butter and sugar sauce is very nice flavored and colored with
the juice of strawberries or raspberries.
Many persons prefer, with plain puddings, cold butter on a butter plate,
and sugar from the sugar-bowl; mixing it for themselves on their own
plate. This is best for boiled fruit pudding or dumplings; and for egg
or batter puddings, molasses or syrup is very good; and costs but
little.
CRANBERRY SAUCE.--Pick the cranberries clean, seeing that no stems,
sticks, or dead leaves are left among them. Put them into a cullender,
or sieve, and wash them through two waters. Cook them in a
porcelain-lined, or enameled stew-pan, without any additional water. The
water that remains about them after washing is quite sufficient for
stewing them properly. No stewed fruit should be too thin or liquid.
Keep a steady heat under the cranberries, stirring them up from the
bottom frequently: and when they are soft, mash them with the back of
the spoon. When they are quite shapeless, take them off the fire, and
while they are very hot, stir in, gradually, an ample quantity of nice
_brown_ sugar. They require much sweetening. Season them with nothing
else. Their natural flavor is sufficient (if well sweetened) and cannot
be improved by spice, lemon, or any of the usual condiments. Always buy
the largest and ripest cranberries. The best things are cheapest in the
end.
In stewing any sort of fruit, do not add the sugar till the fruit is
done, and taken from the fire. If sweetened at the beginning, much of
the strength of the sugar evaporates in cooking; besides rendering the
fruit tough and hard, and retarding the progress of the stew.
In America, sweet sauce is eaten with any sort of roast meat. Send it to
table cold. For company, put it into a blanc-mange mould, and turn it
out in a shape, first dipping the mould, for a minute, in warm water to
loosen it.
APPLE SAUCE.--Get fine juicy apples--bellflowers are the best for
cooking. Sweet apples cook very badly--becoming tough, dry and
tasteless. Green apples, if full grown, cook well, and have a pleasant
acid.
For sauce, pare, core, and quarter or slice the apples. Wash the pieces
in a cullender, and put them to stew, with only water enough to wet them
a little. Apple stews that are thin and watery are disgraceful to the
cook, or to the cook's mistress. Let them stew till you can mash them
easily all through. Then take them off the fire, and sweeten them,
adding the seasoning while the apples are warm. Season with rose-water,
lemon juice, nutmeg; or with all these if for company. If you can get
fresh lemon-peel, cut it into very thin slips, and put it in to stew
with the apples at first. It is still better, and little more trouble,
to grate the lemon-peel.
Fruit for pies should be stewed in the same manner as for sauce, and not
sweetened till taken from the fire. Let the paste be baked empty in
large deep plates, and when cool, filled to the brim with stewed fruit.
A pie, (as we have seen them,) only half or one third full, looks very
meanly--and tastes so.
All these fruit-sauces are good receipts for stewing fruit for pies or
any other purpose.
We advise all families to have, among their kitchen utensils, _bain
maries_, or double-kettles, putting the article to be stewed in the
inner kettle, and the boiling water in the outside one. They are to be
had of all sizes at the furnishing stores. They are also excellent for
custards and boiled puddings.
BAKED APPLE SAUCE.--Core very nicely as many fine juicy apples as will
fill a large baking-pan. All coring of apples should be done with a tin
cover. This you can buy at a tinman's for a quarter dollar, and it is
invaluable for the purpose. After coring the apples, pare them smooth
and evenly. Put a large table-spoonful of cold water in the bottom of
the baking-pan, and then put in the apples first, filling, with fine
brown sugar, the hole from whence the core was taken out. To have them
very nice, add some grated lemon-peel, or some rose-water. Set the pan
into an oven, (not too hot,) close the oven, and bake till the apples
are all broken and can be easily mashed. This way of making apple sauce,
by baking in a close oven, will be found far superior to boiling or
stewing them. They require no more water than is barely sufficient to
give them a start at the bottom.
The flavoring (sugar, lemon, or rose,) may be deferred till the apples
are baked, taken out of the oven and mashed. Then mix it in while hot.
Boiled apple sauce is usually spoiled with too much water, rendering it
the consistence of thin pap, weak, washy, and mean.
GOOSEBERRY SAUCE.--Get fine full-grown green gooseberries. Pick them
over, and top and tail them. Wash them in a cullender or sieve through
two waters. Put them into an enameled stew-pan, with only the water
remaining on them after washing, and no sugar till after they are stewed
to a mash, and taken from the fire. Then while hot, stir in brown sugar
enough to make them very sweet. Serve them up cold. For company, before
they are sweetened, press them through a sieve, using only the pulp.
Then add the sugar; and mould the whole in a form.
CURRANT SAUCE.--Take fine ripe currants, and strip them from the stems.
Put them into a pan, and mash them with a large spoon, or a wooden
beetle. Stew them in their own juice (no water,) and sweeten them when
they are taken from the fire. For company, press the fruit through a
sieve before you add the sugar, and shape it in a mould.
It will answer every purpose of regular currant jelly, to eat with game,
venison, &c.
RIPE PEACH SAUCE.--Take juicy freestone peaches; pare and stone them,
and cut them up. Save all the juice, and stew them in it. When quite
soft, take them off the fire, and sweeten them. The flavor will be much
improved by stewing with them a bunch of fresh peach leaves, to be taken
out when the peaches are done. Or, if you cannot readily obtain the
leaves, a handful of the fresh peach kernels, stewed with the fruit,
(and to be taken out afterwards,) will answer the purpose.
It is well, even in the sunny side of a city garden, to plant two peach
stones; so that when they grow into trees, you may have peach leaves at
hand for improving the flavor of custards, and other things. Unless the
trees are perfectly healthy, and the leaves green, do not use them.
DRIED PEACH SAUCE.--The richest and best dried peaches, are those that
are dried with the skins on. The skins (however thick,) entirely
dissolve in cooking, and become imperceptible when the fruit is well
stewed. It is a great error to pare peaches for drying. Apples _must_ be
pared, for the skin is tougher than that of peaches, and does not
dissolve in cooking.
To prepare dried peaches for stewing, pick them over carefully, throwing
away all the imperfect pieces. Wash them in two cold waters, and then
put them into a stew-pan, (_adding no water_,) and stew them till they
are quite soft, and shapeless, and mash easily and smoothly in the pan.
Sweeten them with plenty of brown sugar, as soon as they come off the
fire.
DRIED APPLE SAUCE.--Wash the dried apples through a cullender, and put
_a very little water_ with them in the stew-pan. Being rather insipid,
they require some additional flavor. Add cinnamon, or other spice of
any sort you like, and the yellow rind of a fresh lemon or orange, pared
very thin and cut into slips. When these apples are well stewed and
mashed, sweeten them.
We believe, that when dried peaches can be procured, few will buy dried
apples; they are so far inferior; being the poorest of dried fruit.
Dried cherries also are scarcely worth cooking, even if they _have_ been
stoned. Being tough and indigestible, they are very unwholesome, except
for rough, hard-working people. If the stones are left in, dried
cherries are fit for nothing.
DAMSON SAUCE.--Having stewed the damsons in their own juice, till all
the stones slip out, (and can be easily removed with a spoon, when taken
from the fire,) make them very sweet by stirring in a large portion of
brown sugar.
Damsons, cranberries, and gooseberries require more sugar than any other
fruit.
FINE PRUNE SAUCE.--Wash a pound of prunes, and stew them in orange
juice, adding the yellow rind of an orange, pared so fine as to be
transparent--or grate it. Stir them up frequently, and when quite done,
and the stones are all loose, sweeten the prunes with plenty of sugar.
Prune sauce is eaten with venison, or any sort of game; or with roast
kid or fawn--or with roast pig.
CHESTNUT SAUCE.--Take the large Spanish chestnuts. Cut a slit in the
side of each, and roast them well. Peel them, and put them into a
saucepan of very rich melted butter. If you use American chestnuts, boil
them till quite soft, (trying two or three to ascertain,) then peel, and
thicken your melted butter with them. American chestnuts are too small
to roast.
PEA-NUT SAUCE.--Having roasted and shelled a pint of pea-nuts, or
ground-nuts, remove the thin brown skin, and simmer the nuts in melted
or drawn butter; adding some fine fresh oysters, omitting the gristle.
VEGETABLES.
All vegetables are best when fresh, as can easily be discovered by the
difference between those newly brought from the garden, and those that
have been kept in a provision shop till next day, (and perhaps longer,)
imbibing the atmosphere of meat, fish, poultry, and a variety of things,
each becoming impure from the same causes; not to mention the rats,
mice, and insects which run over them at night. You cannot have
vegetables in perfection without a country garden. But if obliged to
depend upon the market or the provision shops, always have your
vegetables washed and laid in cold water before cooking. Some are best
when put on to boil in cold water; others require boiling water at the
beginning, to give them what the cooks call a quick start. All should be
thoroughly done throughout. If hard in the centre they are unpalatable,
and very unwholesome; even worse than underdone meat. Use but very
little salt in cooking vegetables; too much renders them hard, and
overpowers their real taste. Also, it is easy for the lovers of salt to
add more when at table. When vegetables are done, and taken out the pot,
drain them well through a cullender or sieve, carefully pressing out all
the water that is about them. There is generally, in our country, too
much water allowed to the vegetables. Merely enough to cover them well,
and keep them from burning, is in most cases sufficient. In France, so
little water is used in cooking vegetables, that they are rather stewed
than boiled, and are the better for it. A puddle of greasy water in the
bottom of every vegetable dish is a disgusting sight; and yet how
frequently it is seen. If of every-day occurrence, it is a certain
indication of a bad cook, or an inefficient mistress, or both.
Almost all green vegetables should be thrown into fast-boiling water,
and cooked rapidly; first washing them carefully, and laying them for
half an hour in a large pan of cold water. If found frozen in the
winter, be sure to thaw them in cold water. Continue the boiling till
they are thoroughly done, and with a steady heat, taking off the scum
as it rises.
It is very usual in the spring to bring early vegetables from the south,
for the markets of Philadelphia and New York. By the time they reach us
they are faded, withered, tough and unwholesome. It is better to wait a
week or two longer till the season is a little more advanced, and the
farms and gardens of our neighborhood can supply our own markets, at a
far less cost, and with fresher and better vegetables.
The water in which vegetables have been boiled becomes very unwholesome,
and should be thrown out immediately.
BOILED POTATOS.--To have boiled potatos in perfection they should all be
of a good sort and as nearly as possible of the same size. Till it is
time to cook them, let the slight mould or earth that has adhered to the
potatos in digging, be carefully washed off, even scrubbing them with a
hard brush. This can be done very conveniently, by laying them under the
hydrant or pump, washing them there with a broom, and letting the water
run on them.
An iron pot is the best of all things for boiling potatos, as it retains
the heat longer than any other utensil. Lay them in it, closely and
compactly, and pour in barely sufficient cold water to cover them well,
adding a tea-spoonful of salt. Simmer them till nearly done, which you
may ascertain by probing all through with a fork. You may quicken the
fire for the last five minutes. Pour off all the water from them as soon
as they are tender all through. Lift the lid of the pot at one side to
allow the steam to pass off, and set them beside the fire, or on a
trevet far above it, till the moisture has escaped; the potatos will
then be dry and mealy. Then peel them; or if preferred, send them to
table with the skin on, which will keep them hot longer.
If the potatos are old, cut a piece of skin (about the size of a
sixpence) from the top and bottom before boiling; or, take off a long
slip from each side. In the spring, when quite old, cut out all the
blemishes, pare the potatos, and always boil them for mashing.
ROAST POTATOS.--Potatos for roasting should always be large and fine. If
small, "they go all to skin." Select those that are nearest of a size,
and wash them very clean, and wipe every one with a cloth. Put them into
an oven, and let them roast or bake for more than two hours, turning
them with a fork. Dish them in the skins, and send only cold butter to
table with them. Bake sweet potatos in the same manner, but much longer.
Small sweet potatos should be boiled; as, when small, they are not worth
cooking in any other way; and when roasted there is scarcely any thing
of them, but tough shriveled skin.
BAKED POTATOS.--Pare some fine potatos all about the same size, and
cover with them the whole bottom of a large deep earthen dish; lay them
close together so that they all touch. Bake them under a nice piece of
beef, veal, or pork, raised above them on a trivet. The gravy from the
meat will drip upon them as soon as it begins to bake. They must bake
till they are nicely browned, and till a fork will easily go through
them. Have a smaller dish of potatos baked without meat, in a dish by
themselves, as potatos pared before baking are much liked. Lay some bits
of fresh butter among those that are cooked without any meat.
TO BOIL NEW POTATOS.--Rub each one with a coarse cloth to clear off the
skin, it being too thin for paring. Wash them well, and cut a small
piece off the top and bottom of each potato, to make them boil tender
all through. Put no salt in the water, and boil them till soft. Serve
them plain, and eat them with cold butter--or, put them into a
sauce-pan, and stew them in butter.
MASHED POTATOS.--Having boiled the potatos till tender all through,
drain them very dry in a cullender, and mash them smoothly with a potato
beetle, a large wooden spoon, or a short-handled wooden ladle. When all
are nicely mashed, add gradually plenty of fresh butter, and some cream
or rich milk. On no account spoil the potatos by putting any water to
them, when mashing. Put them into a deep dish or mould, and brown them
with a salamander.
POTATO CAKES.--After the mashed potatos are mixed with butter in a deep
earthen pan, beat them with a wooden spoon to render them very light.
Then make them up into thick flat cakes, about the size of a muffin, and
brown each with a salamander.
COUNTRY POTATOS.--Having boiled and peeled some fine newly-dug potatos,
melt some butter in a sauce-pan, with cream, instead of flour and water,
and pour it plentifully into the dish of potatos; seasoning with black
pepper and sweet marjoram leaves. Where cream is plenty, this is a very
nice way of cooking. Serve them up with the sauce poured over them, and
around them. They must be well boiled, and tender all through.
FRIED POTATOS.--The potatos must be raw, large, unblemished, and of a
good round shape. First take off a thin paring of the skin. Then, pare
the whole potato round and round, (not too thin,) till you have gone
through it all, and nothing is left unpared but a little lump in the
centre. Then put these continuous rings of potato into a frying-pan, in
which is boiling plenty of fresh butter, or butter and lard mixed. Fry
them brown and tender, and arrange them handsomely in a dish for
breakfast.
_Another Way._--Slice thin a sufficiency of fine raw potatos, and lay
them in a pan of cold water to soak for an hour or more. Then pour off
that water entirely, and replace it with fresh. Let them remain in this
for another hour, or till it is time to cook them. Put them into a
frying-pan that has in it plenty of fresh butter or lard, enough, while
frying, to keep the potatos near the surface. Fry them till perfectly
well done and tender.
Attempting to re-cook cold potatos renders them more hard and tough.
When once cold, potatos always remain indigestible, cook them as you
will.
STEWED POTATOS.--Having pared some fine raw potatos, quarter them, and
put them into a stew-pan with a little salt, pepper, and some green
sweet marjoram stripped from the stalks, and scattered among the
potatos. Put them into a stew-pan with milk enough to prevent their
burning, and some fresh butter--no water. If you can get cream
conveniently, add some to the milk. Cover the pan, and let the potatos
stew, till, on trying them with a fork, you find them thoroughly cooked,
and soft and tender all through. If not sufficiently done, they are
hard, tough, leathery, and unfit to eat.
They are very good stewed entirely in the dripping of cold gravy of
roast beef, veal, or pork--but not mutton, as that will give them the
taste of tallow. This is a nice breakfast dish. Cold potatos re-cooked
never again become good. After potatos once become cold, no cooking can
restore them.
STEWED SWEET POTATOS.--These should first be scraped or pared. Then cut
into pieces, and stewed as above.
BOILED CABBAGE.--All cabbage should be well washed, and boiled in a
large quantity of water with a little salt; the loose or faded leaves
being stripped from the outside. They should always be cut or split in
two, or in four pieces if very large. Cut the stalk short, and split it
up to where the leaves begin. Put it on in boiling water, and keep it
boiling steadily till quite done, which will not be till the stalk is
tender throughout. If a young summer cabbage, split it in half, and when
well boiled, and drained and pressed in a cullender, serve it up with a
few bits of cold fresh butter, laid inside among the leaves. Season it
with pepper. This is a much nicer and easier way, than to make drawn
butter, and pour over the outside of the cabbage.
Sprouts and very young greens, require nothing more than to be well
washed, boiled and drained. In the country, cabbage sprouts are commonly
boiled with bacon.
Savoy cabbage is considered the finest sort. It is a late autumn and
winter cabbage. If very large, split it in four. Do not boil it with
meat. The fat will render it strong and unwholesome. Still worse, when
melted butter is added to a cabbage already saturated with the fat of
corned beef.
AN EXCELLENT WAY OF BOILING CABBAGE.--Having trimmed the cabbage, and
washed it well in cold water, (examining the leaves to see that no
insects are lurking among them,) cut it almost into quarters, but do not
divide it entirely down at the stem, which should be cut off just below
the termination of the leaves. Let it lie an hour in a pan of cold
water. Have ready a pot _full_ of boiling water, seasoned with a small
tea-spoonful of salt. Put the cabbage into it, and let it boil for an
hour and a half, skimming it occasionally. Then take it out; put it into
a cullender to drain, and when all the hot water has drained off; set it
under the hydrant. Let the hydrant run on it, till the cabbage has
become perfectly cold all through. If you have no hydrant, set it under
a pump, or keep pouring cold water on it from a pitcher. Then, having
thrown out all the first water, and washed the pot, fill it again, and
let the second water boil. During this time the cabbage under the
hydrant will be growing cold. Then put it on again in the second water,
and boil it two hours, or two and a half. Even the thickest part of the
stalk must be perfectly tender all through. When thoroughly done, take
up the cabbage, drain it well through the cullender, pressing it down
with a broad ladle to squeeze out all the moisture; lay it in a deep
dish, and cut it _entirely_ apart, dividing it into quarters. Lay some
bits of fresh butter among the leaves, add a little pepper, cover the
dish, and send it to table hot.
Cooked in this manner it will be made perfectly wholesome, and the
usually unpleasant cabbage smell will be rendered imperceptible. We
recommend it highly.
CALE CANNON.--Boil in one pot a fine large cabbage, and when done, drain
and press it in a cullender till all the water is squeezed out. Have
boiled in another, four or five large mealy potatos. Peel and mash the
potatos, and chop the cabbage small. Mix the cabbage and the potatos
evenly, in one large dish, and season them with black pepper; adding
some bits of nice butter. Cale cannon is a plain family dish, but is
very good, when all the dinner corresponds.
FRIED CABBAGE.--Parboil a fine cabbage. When half-boiled, take it out,
drain it, and lay it awhile in cold water, to remove the cabbage smell.
Next put it into a clean pot of fresh water, and boil it again till
thoroughly done. Afterwards, chop it small, season it with pepper and
salt, and fry it in fresh butter.
A less delicate way is to fry it in boiling lard, taking care to drain
it well. It should be eaten only by people in good health.
FORCED CABBAGE--(_Choux farcie._)--This is for dinner company. Take two
fine fresh cabbages, and examine them well to see that there are no
insects hidden among the leaves. Wash the cabbages in cold water, and
drain them. Take out the heart or inside cluster of leaves in the centre
of each cabbage, leaving a circle of them standing. Cut off the stalk
near the bottom, but not so close as to cause the cabbage to fall apart.
You may leave a double circle of leaves. Have ready plenty of stuffing,
or forcemeat, made of veal or fresh pork minced finely, cold ham or
smoked tongue minced also, grated bread-crumbs, fresh butter, powdered
mace, sweet marjoram and sweet basil, grated lemon-peel, and two
hard-boiled yolks of egg, crumbled fine. Fill the cabbages full with
this stuffing, and to keep them in shape, tie them firmly round in
several places, with strings of twine or bass. They must be tied in the
form of a round ball. Put them into a stew-pot, with water enough to
cover them well, and let them stew till thoroughly done. Take them up
immediately before they are wanted, and remove the strings that have
kept them in shape while cooking. Red cabbages may be done in this way.
FRENCH SOUR CROUT.--This may be made fresh every day, and has none of
the objections generally alleged against the German saur-kraut. Having
taken out the stalks or cores, split into quarters, four large
white-heart cabbages. Shred them fine with a cabbage-cutter. Wash them
well in two waters, and drain them in a cullender. Next lay the shred
cabbages in a large earthen pan, add a table-spoonful of salt, and a
pint of the best cider vinegar. Stir and toss the cabbage in this, and
let it steep for three hours. Then wash and drain it, and put it into a
large stew-pan, with half a pound of nice sweet butter, or a quarter of
a pound of lard. Season it with a little black pepper, and three
table-spoonfuls of French mustard, or a jill of tarragon vinegar. Cover
the whole with a buttered white paper, and stew it slowly for two hours
longer. Take off the paper, and send the sour crout to table in a
covered dish.
You may lay on the top of the stew, a pound of sausage meat, or of
sausage cakes. Or a thin slice or two of cold ham.
DRESSING FOR SLAW.--Mix a small pint of real cider vinegar with four
large table-spoonfuls of nice fresh butter, divided into four bits, and
each bit rolled in flour; a tea-spoon of salt, and a salt-spoon of
cayenne. Being well stirred, and mixed thoroughly, boil this in a
porcelain-lined sauce-pan; and, as soon as it has come to a fast boil,
remove it from the fire, and stir in the beaten yolk of four eggs. Have
ready a nice fresh white cabbage, that has been washed, drained, and
cut, or shaved, into small shreds with a cabbage cutter. Lay the shred
cabbage in a deep dish or bowl, while you prepare the above dressing.
Having taken it from the fire, and stirred in, gradually, the beaten
yolk of egg, pour the dressing hot over the cabbage: mixing it all with
a large boxwood salad-spoon or fork. Set it out of doors to cool; or
cool it quickly on ice or snow.
Or if preferred warm, place it on the top of a stove, and cover it
closely till wanted. It may be made of red cabbage.
This slaw (either cold or warm) will be found very superior to all
others, if this receipt is exactly followed.
SALSIFY FRITTERS.--Having washed and scraped the salsify roots, and cut
off the extreme joints, stand them up and grate them. Beat three eggs
very light, and stir them gradually into a pint of milk, with sufficient
flour to make a stiff batter. Instead of grating the salsify you may cut
it into pieces, and boil it till quite soft, so that you can mash it
easily. Add a little pepper. Have ready over the fire a deep frying-pan
or skillet, with plenty of boiling lard. Put in a large spoonful of the
batter, and into the middle of each drop a spoonful of the mashed
salsify. Fry these fritters of a light brown on both sides, and take
them out with a perforated skimmer, draining off the lard through its
holes.
You may fry the mashed salsify without the batter, taking large
spoonfuls, and dipping each in beaten egg first, and afterward twice
over in grated bread-crumbs, so as to resemble fried oysters.
Or you may first boil the roots merely split in two, and then fry them
in fresh butter, or bake them brown in an oven.
SALSIFY OYSTERS.--Get some fine salsify roots, (called also
oyster-plant,) and wash and scrape them well. Boil them in sufficient
fresh oyster liquor to cover them well, and when they are soft take them
out, split them, and cut them into pieces about two inches long. Then
put them into a stew-pan, with the oyster liquor, some pieces of fresh
butter rolled in flour, and some blades of mace and some grated nutmeg,
with a few whole pepper-corns. Let them cook between five and ten
minutes, having stirred among them the beaten yolks of two or three
eggs. Serve them up hot, as a side dish.
MELONGINA OR EGG-PLANT.--Take a large fine egg-plant, and see that there
are no blemishes about it. Having cut it into thin round slices,
(without paring off the skin,) sprinkle between the slices a very little
salt and pepper, cover them with a plate, and let them rest an hour
more. Then wipe the pieces dry. Have some beaten egg in one deep plate,
and some bread-crumbs, finely grated, in another. Dip each slice of
egg-plant first into the beaten egg, and then into the bread-crumbs, and
fry them brown in a pan full of boiling lard, or else lard and fresh
butter mixed in equal quantities. Take them out with a perforated
skimmer, and drain them well.
They will be much better if each slice is dipped _twice_ in the egg, and
twice in the crumbs.
They may be fried very plainly, simply dredged with flour, and then put
into a pan with plenty of boiling lard, the lard drained well from each
slice when it is done. They should be fried brown on both sides. If
underdone, and left greenish or whitish, they have a raw bitter taste.
BAKED EGG-PLANTS.--Prepare several fine large unblemished egg-plants, by
scooping out the inside or pulp with a spoon, leaving the rind standing.
To do this you must cut off very nicely and evenly a round piece from
the top, (afterwards to be tied on again.) Make a sufficient quantity of
forcemeat or stuffing of soaked bread, pressed and dried slightly; fresh
butter; minced sweet marjoram leaves; a little pepper and salt; and some
powdered mace, and the yellow rind of a lemon grated off very fine. Mix
all these with the pulp or inside of the egg-plant. When thoroughly
mixed, stuff with it the rind or outside into a perfectly round shape,
and with a packthread tie on the top-piece which was cut off. Put the
egg-plants into a dish, the bottom covered with thin slices of cold ham.
Bake them for an hour or more, and then send them to table whole, with
the slices of ham laid round on the dish. Remove the strings.
FRIED BANANAS.--The bananas should be perfectly ripe and yellow all
over. Peel them, split them into long slips, and dredge them slightly
with flour. Have ready a frying pan filled with boiling lard. Put in the
bananas, and fry them well. When done, take them up on a perforated
skimmer, and drain back the lard into the frying pan. Dish, and send
them to table with powdered sugar to eat with them.
In the West Indies, the large green bananas that are exported from
thence, are by no means in favor, compared with a _very small_ yellow
sort, the only banana eaten at the best tables. The little ones are
fried in the above manner.
ONION CUSTARD.--Peel and slice ten or twelve mild onions, and fry them
in fresh butter, draining them well when you take them up. Then mince
them as fine as possible. Beat four eggs till very thick and light, and
stir them gradually into a pint of milk, in turn with the minced onion.
Season the whole with plenty of grated nutmeg, and stir it very hard.
Then put it into a deep white dish, and bake it about a quarter of an
hour. Send it to table as a side dish, to be eaten with poultry. It is a
French preparation, and will be found very nice, by those who have no
dislike to onions.
CAULIFLOWERS.--Choose large fine white cauliflowers. Wash them well, and
lay them in a pan of cold water, having divided each cauliflower into
quarters. Trim off the outside green leaves. Put on the cauliflowers in
boiling water with a little salt in it. It is still better to boil them
in milk. Let them cook till tender throughout, flower and stalk. When
quite done, put some bits of fresh butter among the flowers, or pour
over them drawn butter sauce, made with milk and seasoned with powdered
nutmeg or mace. Serve them up hot, and covered.
BROCCOLI--Is drest in the same manner. It is very good with toast under,
though inferior to cauliflower.
CAULIFLOWER OMELET.--Take the white part of a boiled cauliflower after
it is cold; chop it very small, and mix with it a sufficient quantity of
well beaten-egg, to make a very thick batter. Then fry it in fresh
butter in a small pan, and send it hot to table.
FRIED CAULIFLOWER.--Having laid a fine cauliflower in cold water for an
hour, put it into a pot of boiling water that has been slightly salted,
(milk and water will be still better,) and boil it twenty-five minutes,
or till the large stalk is perfectly tender. Then divide it, equally,
into small tufts, and spread it on a dish to cool. Prepare a sufficient
quantity of batter made in the proportion of a table-spoonful of flour,
and two table-spoonfuls of milk to each egg. Beat the eggs very light,
then stir into them the flour and milk alternately; a spoonful of flour,
and two spoonfuls of milk at a time. When the cauliflower is cold, have
ready some fresh butter in a frying-pan over a clear fire. When it has
come to a boil and has done bubbling, dip each tuft of cauliflower twice
into the pan of batter, and fry them a light brown. Send them to table
hot.
Broccoli may be fried in this manner.
CAULIFLOWER MACCARONI.--Having removed the outside leaves, and cut off
the stalk, wash the cauliflower, and examine it thoroughly to see if
there are any insects about it. Next lay it for an hour in a pan of cold
water. Then put it into a pot of boiling milk and water that has had a
little fresh butter melted in it. Whatever scum may float on the top of
the water must be removed before the cauliflower goes in. Boil it
steadily half an hour, or till it is quite tender. Then take it out,
drain it, and cut it into short sprigs. Have ready three ounces of
rich, but not strong cheese, grated fine. Put into a stew-pan a quarter
of a pound of fresh butter, nearly half of the grated cheese, two large
table-spoonfuls of cream or rich milk, and a very little salt and
cayenne. Toss or shake it over the fire till it is well mixed and has
come to a boil. Then add the tufts of cauliflower, and let the whole
stew together about five minutes. When done put it into a deep dish,
strew over the top the remaining half of the grated cheese, and brown it
with a salamander or a red-hot shovel held above the surface.
This will be found very superior to real maccaroni. It is a company
dish.
BROCCOLI AND EGGS.--Take several heads of broccoli and cut the stalks
short, paring off from the stalks the tough outside skin. Trim off the
small outside shoots or blossoms, and tie them together in bunches.
After all the broccoli has been washed, and lain half an hour or more in
a pan of fresh cold water, put the large heads, with a salt-spoonful of
salt, into a pot of boiling water, and let them boil till thoroughly
done, and the stalk perfectly tender. When the large heads have boiled
about a quarter of an hour, put in the small tufts, which of course
require less time to cook. In the meanwhile have ready six beaten eggs.
Put a quarter of a pound of butter into a sauce-pan, and stir it over
the fire till it is all melted; then add gradually the beaten eggs, and
stir the mixture, or shake it over the fire till it becomes very thick.
Toast sufficient bread to cover entirely the bottom of a deep dish,
cutting it to fit exactly, having removed the crust. Dip the toast for a
minute in hot water. Pour the egg and butter over the hot toast. Then
place upon it the broccoli; the largest and finest head in the middle,
the lesser ones round it, and having untied the small sprigs, lay them
in a circle close to the edge.
FRIED CELERY.--Take fine large celery, cut it into pieces three or four
inches in length, and boil it tender, having seasoned the water with a
very little salt. Then drain the pieces well, and lay them, separately,
to cool on a large dish. Make a batter in the proportion of three
well-beaten eggs stirred into a pint of rich milk, alternately with half
a pint of grated bread-crumbs, or of sifted flour. Beat the batter very
hard after it is all mixed. Put into a hot frying-pan a sufficiency of
fresh lard; melt it over the fire, and when it comes to a boil, dip each
piece of celery _twice_ into the batter, put them into the pan, and fry
them a light brown. When done, lay them to drain on an inverted sieve
with a broad pan placed beneath it. Then dish the fried celery, and send
it to table hot.
Parsnips, and salsify, (or oyster plant) may be fried in butter
according to the above directions. Also the tops of asparagus cut off
from the stalk, and the white part or blossom of cauliflower. Cold
sweet potatos are very nice, peeled, cut into long slips, and fried in
this way.
FRIED ARTICHOKES.--The artichokes must be young and tender. Cut them
into quarters, remove the choke part, and strip off the leaves. Having
washed the artichokes well and laid them an hour in cold water, put them
into a pot of boiling water, and keep them boiling steadily for a long
time, till you find by trying them with a a fork that they are tender
all through. Then take them out immediately, and drain them. Have ready
a sufficiency of batter, made in the proportion of the yolk of one egg
to a large table-spoonful of milk, and a tea-spoonful of flour. The eggs
must be well beaten before they are mixed with the milk; then beat in
the flour a spoonful at a time. Have ready over the fire some fresh
butter, or lard, in a frying-pan. When it has boiled hard, dip the
artichokes into the butter, (each piece should be twice dipped,) and fry
them brown. Then drain them well, and send them to table hot.
Parsnips may be fried as above. Salsify also.
Another way of frying artichokes, parsnips, and salsify, is, after they
have been boiled tender, to dip each piece first in beaten yolk of egg,
(without milk or flour,) and then roll it in finely grated bread-crumbs.
Then put them into the pan and fry them in butter or lard, or a mixture
of both.
In boiling artichokes, observe to take them out as soon as they are
tender. If they remain in the water after they are done, they turn
blackish and lose their flavor.
MUSHROOM OMELET.--Take some fresh-gathered mushrooms; remove the stalks,
and rub the flaps or heads very slightly with a little salt, mixed with
cayenne. Then stew the mushrooms in a small sauce-pan, with barely
sufficient cream or rich milk to cover them. Put in with them a small
onion; and if the onion is found to turn blackish, throw away the whole;
it being proof that there is among them a false or poisonous mushroom.
Stir them with a silver spoon, and keep on the lid of the pan closely,
unless when you are stirring. If the spoon turns black, the mushrooms
should not be eaten.
After they have come to a boil, take them off the fire; drain them, and
when cool, chop them small. To a pint or more of the minced mushrooms,
allow six or seven eggs. Beat the eggs till very light and thick,
(omitting the whites of two,) and then mix in, gradually, the mushrooms,
stirring the whole very hard. Put three ounces of fresh butter into a
hot omelet pan, or a _small_ frying-pan; place it over the fire and stir
the butter as it melts. When it has boiled hard, put in the omelet
mixture, and as it fries, stir it till it begins to set. Do not turn the
omelet; but brown the top by holding close above it a red-hot shovel.
When done, drain off the butter, fold over or double the omelet, and
serve it up immediately on a hot dish.
In gathering mushrooms, those that are fit to eat may be known by their
being of a pale pearl color, or of a grayish white, instead of what is
called a dead white; and the underside of the flap or head (if good) is
of a light pink, or a pinkish salmon color. The best mushrooms grow on
uplands, or in high open fields where the air is pure and good, and they
should be gathered early in the morning before the dew is off. All that
are found in low swampy ground, or in the woods, or under large trees,
are poisonous.
SCOLLOPED TOMATOS.--Take fine large tomatos, perfectly ripe. Scald them
to loosen the skins, and then peel them. Cover the bottom of a deep dish
thickly with grated bread-crumbs, adding a few bits of fresh butter.
Then put in a layer of tomatos, seasoned slightly with a little salt and
cayenne, and some powdered mace or nutmeg. Cover them with another layer
of bread-crumbs and butter; then another layer of seasoned tomatos; and
proceed thus until the dish is full, finishing at the top with
bread-crumbs. Set the dish into a moderate oven, and bake it near three
hours. Tomatos require long cooking, otherwise they will have a raw
taste, that to most persons is unpleasant.
ASPARAGUS OMELET.--Take two bunches of the largest and finest asparagus.
Put it into a pot of boiling water, with a salt-spoonful of salt, and
boil it about twenty-five minutes, or till perfectly tender. Then drain
it, and chop small all the green part. Beat four eggs very light, and
add to them a wine-glass of cream. Mix the chopped asparagus thoroughly
with the egg and cream, adding a salt-spoon of salt, and a very little
cayenne. Melt a large slice of fresh butter in a frying-pan over the
fire; and when it has boiled, and the bubbling has ceased, put in the
mixture, and fry it till light and firm. Then slip it from the
frying-pan to a hot dish, and fold it over.
For a soft omelet, put the mixture into a skillet with a piece of fresh
butter. Let it stew slowly for ten minutes. Lay a thin slice of buttered
toast in the bottom of a hot dish, and cut the toast into small squares,
but let them remain close together. With a spoon heap the soft omelet
upon the toast, and serve it up.
Any omelet mixture may be kept soft by stewing instead of frying it, and
it will be found more wholesome.
Before buttering the toast dip it a minute in hot water.
STEWED PEAS.--Take young, tender, green peas, wash them, and put them
into a stew-pan, with sufficient fresh butter to keep them from burning,
_but no water_. Season them with a little black pepper, and a very
little salt. Set them over a moderate fire, and stir them about till the
butter is well mixed through them. Let them simmer till quite soft and
slightly broken; take off the lid occasionally, and give them a stir up
from the bottom. If you find them becoming too dry, add some more
butter. When done, drain off what superfluous butter may be about the
peas, and send them to table hot. They will be found excellent.
To the taste of many persons, they will be improved by a lump or two of
loaf-sugar put in with the butter, and also by a few sprigs of mint, to
be removed before the peas go to table.
Lima beans may be stewed in butter, as above; also, asparagus tops, cut
off from the white stalk.
LETTUCE PEAS.--Having washed four lettuces, and stripped off the outside
leaves, take their hearts, and (having chopped them well) put them into
a stew-pan with two quarts of young green peas, freshly shelled; a lump
or two of loaf-sugar; and three or four leaves of green mint minced as
finely as possible. Then put in four slices of cold ham, and a quarter
of a pound of butter divided into four bits, and rolled in flour; and
two table-spoonfuls of water. Add a little cayenne, and let the whole
stew for about twenty-five minutes, or till the peas are thoroughly
done. Next take out the ham, and add to the stew half a pint of cream.
Let it continue stewing five minutes longer. Then send it to table.
PLAIN LETTUCE PEAS.--Cover the bottom and sides of a stew-pan with large
fresh leaves taken from lettuces. Have ready the peas, which should be
young and green. To each quart of shelled peas allow two table-spoonfuls
of fresh butter, and a lump of loaf sugar. Add a very little pepper and
salt, and a sprig of green mint. Cover the pan closely, and let it stew
for half an hour, or till the peas are thoroughly done. Then take them
out from the lettuce leaves, and send only the peas to table.
TO STEW CARROTS.--Half-boil the carrots; then scrape them nicely, and
cut them into thick slices. Put them into a stew-pan with as much milk
as will barely cover them; a very little salt and pepper; and a sprig or
two of chopped parsley. Simmer them till they are perfectly tender. When
nearly done, add a piece of fresh butter rolled in flour. Send them to
table hot. Carrots require long cooking; longer than any other
vegetable.
Parsnips and salsify may be stewed in the above manner, substituting a
little chopped celery for the parsley.
SPINACH.--Having peeled and washed the spinach very nicely, put it into
a _bain marie_, or inside kettle, without any water, and cover it
closely. Pour the water into the outside kettle, and you may hurry the
boiling by throwing a handful of salt in the outside tin, taking care
that none of the salt gets into the inside. When the spinach is well
stewed, take it up and drain it without squeezing or pressing, as that
will make it tough and dry. Then chop it small, and add some hard-boiled
eggs, also chopped. Season it with pepper and fresh butter, stir it well
together, return it to the kettle, and let it stew a quarter of an hour
or more. Serve it up with buttered toast and poached eggs laid upon it.
Spinach being very watery, should always be _stewed_ rather than boiled.
If you have no _bain marie_, the water that remains about the spinach,
after it has been washed, will suffice to stew it slowly.
Spinach juice, for coloring green, must be strained, and boiled
slightly. You can obtain plenty of juice by pounding the leaves.
TO PREPARE CUCUMBERS.--Let the cucumbers be full-grown, but not in the
least yellow or hard. They are then only fit to be saved for seed. Lay
the cucumbers in a pan of cold water for an hour or more, or till it is
nearly time to send them to table, being careful not to set them in the
sun. Have ready another pan of fresh water, (very cold) and having
pared the cucumbers, slice them into it. Transfer them to a deep china
or white-ware dish. Season them with vinegar, pepper, salt, and a little
salad oil, taking care not to use too much salt. When there is no
dislike to onions, peel and slice a few that are mild, and mix them with
the cucumbers. It is usual now, at the best tables, to have the onions
in a small separate dish, (sliced with vinegar and pepper) to be eaten
by those that like them, and omitted by those who do not. Onions, (and
also salad oil) are said to render cucumbers more wholesome.
Tomatos (raw) are frequently sliced, seasoned, and sent to table in the
manner of cucumbers. Tomatos are always wholesome.
STEWED CUCUMBERS.--Pare six fine fresh cucumbers. Cut each of them
lengthways into four pieces; lay them for an hour in a pan of cold
water. Take a clean stew-pan, and place in its bottom two
table-spoonfuls of good fresh butter. Then put in the slices of
cucumber, and sprinkle them slightly with a very little pepper. Add two
table-spoonfuls of cold water. Set the pan over a moderate fire, and let
the cucumbers stew slowly for half an hour or more, till they are well
cooked. Keep the pan closely covered, except when you have to remove the
lid to stir the stew. Serve them up hot, at breakfast, or as a side
dish, at dinner.
Persons who have no objection to the taste of onions, will think the
cucumbers improved by the addition of the half of a moderate sized
onion, sliced thin and stewed with them.
A NICE WAY OF COOKING ASPARAGUS.--Where asparagus is plenty, there is no
better way of cooking it than the following. Take it as nearly of a size
as possible, wash it, and cut off the stalks very short, leaving them
not more than half an inch in length. Two quarts of water will be
sufficient to boil one quart of asparagus tops; allow a tea-spoonful of
salt to this quantity of water, and set it over the fire to boil. When
the water is boiling hard, put in the asparagus, and boil it fast for at
least half an hour. To see if it is done, take up two or three of the
largest pieces and taste them. While it is boiling, prepare two slices
of bread cut half an inch thick, and (having removed the crust) toast
the bread brown on both sides. Have ready a large jill of melted (or
drawn) fresh butter. When the asparagus is done, take it up with a
perforated skimmer, and lay it on a sieve to drain. Dip the slices of
toast (one at a time) first in the hot asparagus liquor, and then in the
melted butter. Lay the slices, side by side, in a deep dish, and cover
it with the asparagus, laid evenly over and round the toast. Then add
the remainder of the drawn butter, and send the asparagus to table hot,
in a covered dish.
This is a much nicer way than that of boiling and serving it up with the
long stalks left on. And where you have asparagus in abundance, (for
instance in a country garden,) it may always be cooked in this manner.
This is from the receipt of Mr. N. Darling, of New Haven.
ASPARAGUS OYSTERS.--Take two bundles of fine full-grown asparagus. Cut
off the green tops or points as far down as the white stalk. Take a
sufficient quantity of fresh oysters, the finest you can get at that
season. Put the asparagus tops into a stew-pan, with enough of oyster
liquor (previously strained) to stew them quite tender. Stew the oysters
themselves in another pan with some more of their liquor, seasoned with
pepper, mace, and nutmeg, adding a large piece of fresh butter, divided
into four, and each part rolled in flour. Do not let the oysters stew
more than five minutes, or they will become tough and shriveled. When
they are merely plumped, take them out and cut them up small, omitting
the gristle or hard part. Set the mixture over the fire for about five
minutes, stirring all the time. Have ready some slices of nice toast,
with all the crust pared off; the slices dipped for a minute in hot
water. Butter the toast, and cover with it the bottom of a deep dish,
and fill it with the mixture of asparagus and oysters.
ONION EGGS.--Boil a dozen eggs quite hard. Slice and fry in fresh butter
five or six onions. Slice (whites and yolks together) ten of the eggs,
reserving two for the seasoning. Drain the sliced onions, and lay them
on a dish with the sliced eggs placed upon them. Cover the dish, and
keep it hot. Take the two remaining eggs, grate the yolks, and mix them
with cream and grated nutmeg, and a very little cayenne. Put this
mixture into a very small sauce-pan, give it one boil up, pour it over
the eggs and onions, and send it to table hot. For those who have no
objection to onions this is a nice side dish.
EGG BALLS.--Boil eight eggs till quite hard, and when done, throw them
directly into cold water. Then put the yolks into a mortar, and pound
them to a paste, moistening them as you proceed with the beaten yolks of
three _raw_ eggs, seasoned with as much salt as will lie _flat_ upon a
shilling, and a little cayenne, and powdered nutmeg and mace. Mix the
whole well together, and make it up into small round balls. Throw them
into mock-turtle soup, or into stewed terrapin, about two minutes before
you take it up.
CURRY BALLS.--Take a sufficiency of finely-grated bread-crumbs;
hard-boiled yolk of egg, grated; fresh butter, and a little curry
powder. Pound the whole in a mortar, moistening it with raw yolk of egg
(well-beaten) as you proceed. Make it into small balls, and add them to
stewed chicken or rabbit, about five minutes before you take it up.
TOMATO PASTE.--Scald and peel as many ripe tomatos as will fill a large,
deep, stone jar. Set them into a warm oven for an hour. Then skim off
the watery liquid that has risen to the top, and press and squeeze the
tomatos in a sieve. Afterwards add salt, cayenne, pounded mace, and
powdered nutmeg, to your taste; and to every quart of tomatos allow a
half a pint of cider vinegar. Stew the whole slowly in a porcelain
kettle for three hours, (stirring it frequently from the bottom,) till
it becomes a smooth, thick paste. Then put it into small jars or
glasses, and cover it closely, pasting paper over each. It is an
excellent sauce, at the season when fresh tomatos are not to be had, and
is very good to thicken soup.
DRIED OCHRAS.--Take fine large fresh ochras; cut them into thin, round
slices; string them on threads, and hang them up in festoons to dry in
the store-room. Before using, they must be soaked in water during
twenty-four hours. They will then be good (with the addition of tomato
paste) to boil in soup or gumbo.
BEEF GUMBO.--Put into a large stew-pan some pieces of the lean of fresh
beef, cut up into small bits, and seasoned with a little pepper and
salt. Add sliced ochras and tomatos, (either fresh or dried ochras and
tomato paste.) You may put in some sliced onions. Pour on water enough
to cover it well. Let it boil slowly, (skimming it well,) till
everything is reduced to rags. Then strain and press it through a
cullender. Have ready a sufficiency of toasted bread, cut into dice. Lay
it in the bottom of a tureen, and pour the strained gumbo upon it.
TO BOIL OCHRAS.--For boiling, the ochras should be young and small. Wash
them, and cut off a small piece from each end. Boil them till very
tender throughout. Then drain them well, and transfer them to a deep
dish. Lay among them some bits of fresh butter, and season them with
pepper. Cover the dish, that the butter may be warm and melt the sooner.
Or you may make a sauce of half a pint of milk boiled, and when it has
come to a boil enrich with a quarter of a pound of very good fresh
butter, divided into four pieces; each piece rolled in a little flour,
the butter stirred in gradually and smoothly, as soon as the milk is
taken off the fire. Pour this sauce over the dish of ochras, and keep it
covered till it has gone to table.
We prefer the first way, putting the bit of butter cold into the hot
ochras, with either milk or flour, and letting the butter melt
gradually, in the manner of green beans. You may boil with them a small
piece of very good bacon, removing when the ochras are taken off the
fire. Season with pepper.
ONIONS.--The best onions for cooking are the white or silver-skinned.
The red-skinned are generally strong and coarse. Shalots are very small
and delicate. Some sorts of large onions are milder and nicer than those
of middle size, and some that are very small have a powerful taste and
smell. The outer skin of most onions should be peeled entirely, and the
ends cut off. All onions are the better for boiling, before they are
cooked for any other purpose. Put them into a stew-pan with cold water,
and when they have come to a boil pour off that water, and replace it
with fresh cold also. Boil them slowly till quite tender all through,
which will not be in less than half an hour; more, if they are large.
When done, drain them well, dish them, and pour over them some nice
melted butter.
_To Stew Onions._--Peel, slice them, and stew them in milk, enriched
with butter rolled in flour, and seasoned with a little cayenne and a
few blades of mace.
_To Roast Onions._--Select fine large onions; do not peel them, but
place them in a bake-pan, and set them in an oven. Bake them slowly till
tender all through. When done, peel off the outer skin, and send them
hot to table, to eat with pepper and cold butter.
They are very good when covered up and roasted under hot ashes, taking
care that they are done quite through to the heart.
TO BOIL GREEN PEAS.--When the peas are shelled, wash them in a pan of
cold water. Put on the peas in cold water, (a little salted) and let
them boil very fast. If nice peas, they will generally be done in a
quarter of an hour after beginning to boil. When simmering, add to them
a lump or a spoonful of loaf-sugar, and a sprig of fresh green mint,
(half a dozen leaves) having first ascertained if mint is not disliked
by any person who is to eat of the peas. To some the taste and odor of
mint is very agreeable, to others very disgusting, as is the case with
onions, and many other things that are liked by the majority.
When the peas are all soft or tender, take out the mint, drain the peas
through a cullender till not a drop of water is left among them;
transfer them to a deep dish, mix into them some of the best fresh
butter, and sprinkle them with pepper. Cover them immediately, and send
them to table hot.
STEWED PEAS.--Having prepared the peas as above, put them into a
stew-pan without any water. Mix among them plenty of bits of nice fresh
butter, sufficient to cook them. Let them stew slowly in the butter till
they are quite soft, stirring them up from the bottom frequently. Drain
and dish them. They will be found very fine--better than if boiled in
water. Peas should not be stewed this way, except in places where plenty
of good _fresh_ butter is to be easily obtained.
GREEN PEAS.--The largest and finest peas are what the English call
marrowfat. The sugar pea is next. All green peas for boiling should be
young and tender, but not so young as to be tasteless or insipid. As a
general rule, nearly every article of food is best when it has just
attained its full growth and ripeness; after that period the older it is
the worse. Peas, so old as to be hard and yellow, are unfit to eat. In
some ultra economical houses, good peas are things unknown. They are not
bought in spring or early summer while young and fresh, but are never
thought cheap enough till they become hard and yellow. Afterwards, when
they reach the cheap state, a quantity are bought low, and put into jars
not to be touched till next spring, when they are boiled, (with great
difficulty, for they never become soft,) and _attempted_ to be passed
off "as this year's fresh peas"--and by the time the family have gotten
through with _them_, "this year's young peas" have become old. Do not
believe (for it is untrue,) that any eatable can be kept in _all_ its
genuine freshness and original flavor, by merely secluding them
entirely from air. They will not spoil or decompose if skillfully
managed; but they _have not exactly_ their natural taste and
consistence. It is better for those who _never make pickles or
preserves_, to wait for fresh vegetables or fruit, till they are
actually in market--or, if put up in jars, to add something more than
parboiling and seclusion from the air. Vinegar, salt, sugar, spice and
alcohol, will be found the grand and universal articles for securing the
goodness of nearly all eatables. Without some of these along with them,
things that have not spoiled while secluded from air, will surely spoil
almost as soon as the jars are opened, and the external air admitted to
them.
GREEN OR STRING BEANS.--Take young and tender beans, the seeds just
forming in the pods. Take off the string with a knife, leaving no bits
of string adhering to the beans, either at top or bottom. Do not split
them. Cut each bean into three pieces, _not more_, and as you cut them
throw them into a pan of cold water, kept beside you for the purpose.
The old-fashioned way is now obsolete of cutting them into dice or
diamonds, or of splitting them. The more they are cut up (beside the
trouble and time wasted,) the more the water gets through them when
cooking; the more tasteless they become, and the more difficult they are
to drain. We have never met with beans that, when cut small, had not a
puddle of greasy water in the bottom of the dish, and sometimes the
water was all through the dish, and the beans floating in it. Shame on
such bean-cooking! When the beans are all ready for the pot, throw them
into boiling water very slightly salted, and they will generally be done
in half an hour after they have come to a boil. Transfer them to a
sieve; and press, and drain them well, till no water is left about them.
Then put them into a deep dish, mix them with fresh butter, and dredge
them with black pepper.
LIMA BEANS.--Shell the lima beans into a pan of cold water. Let them lie
in it an hour. Put them in boiling water, little more than enough to
cover them, and boil them till soft and tender. When done, drain and
serve them up in a deep dish, adding among them a good piece of butter.
The Lima beans now raised in North America have become coarse and white,
requiring a renewal of fresh stock or new seeds from Peru. They will
then be green and delicate again, as formerly.
SWEET POTATOS.--Choose the sweet potatos large, and nearly of the same
size, then you can either boil or roast them. When small they should
always be boiled; as, when baked or roasted, the skin becomes so thick
and hard, that it takes up nearly the whole potato. Wash them very
clean, and cut off a bit from each end. Put them into a large pot of
boiling water without salt, and boil them steadily for at least an
hour. Probe them with a narrow-bladed sharp knife, and if it does not
easily penetrate all through the largest potato, (in at one side and out
at the other) continue the boiling till all are soft throughout. Then
take them up, peel them, and keep them warm till sent to table.
_To Bake Sweet Potatos_ they should all be large. Wash them, dry them,
and cut off the ends. Then bake them in an oven, lying side by side, not
piling one on another. Or else (which is better) roast them in hot
ashes. They will not be done in less than an hour and a half, perhaps
longer. Then wipe them clean, and serve them up in the skins. Eat them
from the skins, with cold butter and a tea-spoon.
_To Stew Sweet Potatos._--Wash and wipe them. Then scrape off the skins
with a sharp knife. Split them, and cut them into long pieces. Stew them
with fresh pork, veal, or beef; first putting at the bottom a very
little butter or water to start them, and then the gravy of the meat
will suffice for cooking them--skimming it well. Water to stew should be
hot.
_Mashed Sweet Potatos_ are very nice. When well boiled, mash them
smoothly with a potato beetle. Mix them with fresh butter, and then stir
them well, or beat them with a large wooden spoon to render them light.
Afterwards, you may make them into round thick cakes, and touch the
surface of every one with pepper--red or black. This is a breakfast dish
for company.
BOILED TURNIPS.--Have all your turnips nearly of the same size. Pare
them; and if large cut them in half. Put them into boiling water, very
slightly salted, and keep them closely covered. Twenty minutes will boil
them if very small and young; their flavor is then very fine.
Afterwards, according to their size, they will require of gentle
boiling, from three-quarters to a full hour. Keep them boiling till, on
trying them with a fork, you find them perfectly tender all through.
Then take them up, drain them well, and pour melted butter over them;
touch the top of each with a spot of black pepper. If very old and
spongy, they are only fit for the pig barrel. It is said that if boiled
in their skins, (though requiring a much longer time to cook well) they
have a fine flavor, and are less watery. You can try it.
If the turnips are to be mashed, cut them into small pieces, boil them
very soft, and drain and squeeze them till all the water is pressed out.
Then mash them very smooth. Transfer them to a deep dish, and mix them
with a _moderate portion_ of fresh butter. Turnips are generally served
with too much butter. Season them with pepper. When sent to table take
care not to set them in a sunny place, as it will give them a bad taste.
Turnips, baked in an oven, are very good--for a change.
SYDNEY SMITH'S SALAD-DRESSING.--Have ready two well-boiled potatos,
peeled and rubbed through a sieve; they will give peculiar smoothness
to the mixture. Also, a very small portion of raw onion, not more than a
_quarter_ of a tea-spoonful, (as the presence of the onion is to be
scarcely hinted,) and the pounded yolks of two hard-boiled eggs. Mix
these ingredients on a deep plate with one tea-spoonful of salt, one of
made mustard, three table-spoonfuls of olive oil, and one table-spoonful
of vinegar. Add, lastly, a tea-spoonful of essence of anchovy; mash, and
mix the whole together, (using a boxwood spoon) and see that all the
articles are thoroughly amalgamated. Having cut up a sufficiency of
lettuce, that has been well washed in cold water, and drained, add to it
the dressing immediately before dinner, mixing the lettuce through it
with a boxwood fork.
This salad dressing was invented by the Rev. Sydney Smith, whose genius
as a writer and a wit is well known on both sides the Atlantic. If
_exactly_ followed, it will be found very fine on trial; no peculiar
flavor predominating, but excellent as a whole. The above directions are
taken from a manuscript receipt given by Mr. Smith to an American
gentleman then in London.
In preparing this, or any other salad-dressing, take care not to use
that excessively pungent and deleterious combination of drugs which is
now so frequently imposed upon the public, as _the best white wine
vinegar_. In reality, it has no vinous material about it; and it may be
known by its violent and disagreeable sharpness, which overpowers and
destroys the taste (and also the substance) of whatever it is mixed
with. It is also very unwholesome. Its color is always pale, and it is
nearly as clear as water. No one should buy or use it. The first quality
of _real_ cider vinegar is good for all purposes.
The above receipt may be tried for lobster dressing.
A Spanish proverb says, that for compounding a _good_ salad, four
persons are required--a spend-thrift for oil; a miser for vinegar; a man
of judgment for salt; and a madman for stirring the dressing.
FINE CHICKEN SALAD.--Having skinned a pair of cold fowls, remove the
fat, and carve them as if for eating; cut all the flesh entirely from
the bones, and either mince it or divide it into small shreds. Mix with
it a little smoked tongue or cold ham, grated rather than chopped. Have
ready one or two fine fresh lettuces, picked, washed, drained, and cut
small. Put the cut lettuce on a dish, (spreading it evenly,) or into a
large bowl, and place upon it the minced chicken in a close heap in the
centre. For the dressing, mix together the following ingredients, in the
proportion of the yolks of four eggs well beaten, a tea-spoonful of
powdered white sugar, a salt-spoon of cayenne; (no salt if you have ham
or tongue with the chicken,) two tea-spoonfuls of made mustard, six
table-spoonfuls of salad oil, and five of celery vinegar. Stir this
mixture well: put it into a small sauce-pan, set it over the fire, and
let it boil three minutes,(not more,) stirring it all the time. Then set
it to cool. When quite cold, cover with it thickly, the heap of chicken
in the centre of the salad. To ornament it, have ready half a dozen or
more, hard-boiled eggs, which, after the shell is peeled off, must be
thrown directly into a pan of cold water to prevent them from turning
blue. Cut each egg (white and yolk together) lengthways into four long
pieces of equal size and shape; lay the pieces upon the salad all round
the heap of chicken, and close to it; placing them so as to follow each
other round in a slanting direction, something in the form of a circular
wreath of leaves. Have ready, also, some very red cold beet, cut into
small cones or points all of equal size; arrange them in a circle upon
the lettuce, outside of the circle of cut egg. To be decorated in this
manner, the salad should be placed in a dish rather than a bowl. In
helping it, give each person a portion of every thing, and they will mix
them together on their plates.
This salad should be prepared immediately before dinner or supper; as
standing long will injure it. The colder it is the better.
CARROTS.--Having washed the carrots, and scraped off the outer skin with
a sharp knife, or taken off a very thin paring, split them a few inches
down, leaving a long cleft in the upper half only, and put them on to
cook in plenty of boiling water, with a little salt in it. There is no
table vegetable that needs more boiling than a carrot. Small young
carrots require at least half an hour. If large, they must boil from one
to two hours, according to their size. When you find them tender
throughout, dish them, with melted butter poured round them. They are
eaten plain, only with boiled beef or boiled mutton. They are often
added to soups and stews, when they must be put in long before the other
vegetables. For soups and stews the nicest way is to grate them (before
boiling,) on a coarse grater. This way they improve both the taste and
color.
Carrots are very nice, sliced thin after boiling, put into a sauce-pan,
with bits of butter dredged with flour, seasoned with pepper, and stewed
soft without any water.
PARSNIPS.--Scrape the parsnips, and split them half way down. Put them
into boiling water with a little salt. Parsnips require less boiling
than carrots; and, according to their size, will take from half an hour
to an hour. Skim the water while they are boiling. When quite tender
take them up, drain them, dish them, and pour melted butter over them.
They are especially eaten with corned pork, or salted cod; but are good
with various things. They are excellent stewed with fresh beef, or fresh
pork, for a plain dinner.
_Fried Parsnips_ make a nice breakfast dish. They must first be
parboiled; then split, and cut into long pieces, and fried brown in
fresh butter, or in nice dripping of veal or beef.
_Baked Parsnips._--Split and parboil them. Then place them in a large
dish. Lay among them some bits of fresh butter, and bake them brown. Eat
them with any sort of roast meat.
_Parsnip Fritters._--Boil and peel half a dozen large parsnips, and then
split and cut them in pieces. Make a nice batter, allowing four beaten
eggs to a pint of milk, and four table-spoonfuls of flour. Have ready
over the fire, a frying-pan with boiling lard. Put in a large spoonful
of batter; upon that a piece of parsnip, and cover it with another
spoonful of batter. Proceed thus till you have used up the parsnips.
When done, drain them from the lard, and serve them hot at breakfast or
dinner.
BEETS.--Beets must be washed very clean, but not scraped, trimmed, or
cut till after they are boiled. Put them on in boiling water; and,
according to their size, boil them steadily from one hour and a half, to
two hours and a half, but they must not be probed (to ascertain if they
are tender all through,) but pinched with the fingers. Then peel off the
skins, and trim them neatly. Hold the beet in a pan of cold water while
you peel it. Do it quickly. Serve them up either split or sliced, with
melted butter poured over them, and seasoned with pepper. Or else they
may be sliced thick, (allowing them to get cold,) and spiced vinegar
poured over them. Red beets are usually dressed with vinegar; the white
or pale ones with melted butter.
_Baked Beets_ have a finer flavor, and are more nutritious than when
boiled. Wash and wipe them dry, but do not skin or cut them till after
cooking. They must be thoroughly done before they are taken out of the
oven, and then pared and trimmed. According to their size they will
require from four to six hours baking. Their blood-red color makes them
ornamental to the table; but when cooked in soups or stews they add
little to the taste, which is overpowered by that of other ingredients.
SQUASHES OR CYMLINGS.--See that the squashes are not turning old, and
hardening. Wash them, and cut them into four pieces each; but do not
split them. Put them on in boiling water, with a little salt. Boil them
steadily till quite tender throughout. Then take them up, and mash or
drain them through a cullender, pressing them with a broad short-handled
wooden ladle. All the water (of which there will be a profusion,) must
be entirely squeezed out. Serve them up very dry, and smoothly and
evenly mashed, having first mixed with them a _very little butter_; and
season them with very little pepper. Much butter gives them a
disagreeable taste and consistence, and the butter should be fresh and
good. It is better to mash squashes, turnips, pumpkins, &c., without any
butter, than to use that which is salt and bad. The flat white ones are
the best summer squashes; the striped green are more watery; the cashaw,
or yellow winter squash, is best of all, and grows well in the New
England states, from whence, as it keeps well all winter, it is often
brought in barrels. Every family should get a barrel of winter squashes
from Boston. They do not thrive in the middle States. In New Jersey and
Pennsylvania, they cannot be raised even from the best yankee seed,
turning pumpkinish the next year, and afterwards becoming quite
pumpkins, and very bad ones too. But when raised in their native soil
and climate nothing of the squash kind is equal to them. They are very
dry and sweet, and of a rich yellow color. Take them out of the barrel,
and keep them far apart on the shelves or floor of a dry pantry.
STEWED PUMPKIN.--No pumpkin is too large to be good, but they may be too
old. Cut a good deep-colored pumpkin in half, and empty out all the
seeds, &c. Then cut it into pieces, and pare them. Put the pieces of
pumpkin into a pot with barely sufficient water to keep them from
burning. When they are thoroughly done or soft all through, take them
up; drain, mash, and press them through a cullender. They must be _very_
dry. Put the stewed pumpkin into a dish, and mix it with a small portion
of butter. Season it with black pepper, and eat it with boiled corned
beef, or corned pork, or bacon.
Stewed pumpkin is chiefly used for pies and puddings.
YANKEE PUMPKIN PUDDING.--Take a pint of stewed pumpkin. Mix together a
pint of _West India_ molasses and a pint of milk, adding two large
table-spoonfuls of brown sugar, and two table-spoonfuls of ground
ginger. Beat three eggs very light, and stir them, gradually, into the
milk and molasses. Then, by degrees, stir in the stewed pumpkin. Put it
into a deep dish, and bake it without a crust. This is a good farm-house
pudding, and _equally_ good for any healthy children.
For a large family, double the quantities of ingredients--that is, take
a quart of milk, a quart of molasses, four spoonfuls of brown sugar,
four spoonfuls of ginger, six eggs, and a quart of stewed pumpkin.
You had best have at hand _more than a quart_ of pumpkin, lest when
mixed it should not hold out. This pudding is excellent made of winter
squash.
STEWED MUSHROOMS.--Peel and wash a quart of very fresh mushrooms, and
cut off all the stems. Button mushrooms are best; but if you can only
procure large ones, quarter them. Sprinkle them slightly with salt and
pepper, and put them into a stew-pan with a quarter of a pound of nice
fresh butter, cut in pieces and slightly dredged with flour. Keep the
lid closely covered all the time. When quite tender, put the mushrooms
into a deep dish, in the bottom of which is laid a nice toast that has
had all the crust pared off, and been dipped for a minute in hot water,
and slightly buttered. Serve up the mushrooms closely covered. They
require no seasoning.
BAKED MUSHROOMS.--Take large fine fresh mushrooms. Peel them and remove
the stems. Lay them on their backs in a large dish, (not letting them
touch each other) and put into each mushroom, (as in a cup) a bit of the
best fresh butter. Set the dish in an oven and bake them. Send them to
table in the same dish; or transfer them to another, with a large toast
at the bottom. There is no better way of cooking mushrooms than this.
If you cannot procure good butter, cook them in nice olive oil.
TO BOIL INDIAN CORN.--Corn for boiling should be full grown, but young
and tender, and the grains soft and milky. If its grains are becoming
hard and yellow, it is too old for cooking. Strip the ears of their
leaves and the silk. Put them into a large pot of boiling water, and
boil it rather fast for half an hour or more, in proportion to its size
and age. When done, take it up, drain it, dish it under a cover, or
napkin, and serve it up hot. Before eating it, rub each ear with salt
and pepper, and then spread it with butter. Epicures in corn consider it
sweetest when eaten off the cob. And so it is; but _before company_ few
persons like to hold an ear of indian corn in their hands, and bite the
grains off the cob with their teeth. Therefore, it is more frequently
cut off the cob into a dish; mixed with salt, pepper, and butter, and
helped with a spoon.
It is said that young green corn will boil sufficiently in ten minutes,
(putting it, _of course_, into a pot of boiling water.) Try it.
_Another way._--Having pulled off the silk, boil the corn without
removing any but the outside leaves. With the leaves or husk on, it will
require a longer time to cook, but is sweeter and more nutritious.
HOMINY.--Hominy is white indian corn, shelled from the cob, divested of
the outer skin by scalding in hot lye, and then winnowed and dried. It
is perfectly white. Having washed it through two or three waters, pour
boiling water on it; cover it, and let it soak all night, or for several
hours. Then put it into a pot or sauce-pan, allow two quarts of water to
each quart of hominy, and boil it till perfectly soft. Then drain it,
put it into a deep dish, add some butter to it, and send it to table
hot, (and _uncovered_,) to eat with any sort of meat; but particularly
with corned beef or pork. What is left may be made next day into thick
cakes, and fried in butter. To be _very good_, hominy should boil four
or five hours.
CAROLINA GRITS OR SMALL HOMINY.--The small-grained hominy must be washed
and boiled in the same manner as the large, only allow rather less water
for boiling. For instance, put a pint and a half of water to a quart of
small hominy. Drain it well, send it to table in a deep dish _without a
cover_, and eat it with butter and sugar, or molasses. If covered after
boiling, the vapor will condense within the lid, and make the hominy
thin and watery.
SAMP.--This is indian corn skinned, and then pounded or ground till it
is still smaller and finer than the Carolina grits. It must be cooked
and used in the same manner. It is very nice eaten with cream and sugar.
For invalids it may be made thin, and eaten as gruel.
HOMINY CAKES.--A pint of small hominy, or Carolina grits; a pint of
white indian meal, sifted; a salt-spoonful of salt, three large
table-spoonfuls of fresh butter; three eggs or three table-spoonfuls of
strong yeast; a quart of milk. Having washed the small hominy, and left
it soaking all night, boil it soft, drain it, and while hot mix it with
the indian meal; adding the salt, and the butter. Then mix it gradually
with the milk, and set it away to cool. Beat the eggs very light, and
add them gradually to the mixture. The whole should make a thick batter.
Then bake them on a griddle, in the manner of buckwheat cakes, rubbing
or scraping the griddle always before you put on a fresh cake. Trim off
their edges nicely, and send them to table hot. Eat them with butter.
Or you may bake them in muffin rings.
If you prefer making these cakes with yeast, you must begin them
earlier, as they will require time to rise. The yeast should be strong
and fresh. If _not_ very strong, use four table-spoonfuls instead of
two. Cover the pan, set it in a warm place; and do not begin to bake
till it is well risen, and the surface of the mixture is covered with
bubbles.
CORN PORRIDGE.--Take young corn, and cut the grains from the cob.
Measure it, and to each heaping pint of corn allow not quite a quart of
milk. Put the corn and milk into a pot, stir them well together, and
boil them till the corn is perfectly soft. Then add some bits of fresh
butter dredged with flour, and let it boil five minutes longer. Stir in
at the last, four beaten yolks of eggs, and in three minutes remove it
from the fire. Take up the porridge and send it to table hot, and stir
some fresh butter into it. You may add sugar and nutmeg.
CORN OYSTERS.--Three dozen ears of large young indian corn, six eggs;
lard and butter in equal portions for frying. The corn must be young and
soft. Grate it from the cob as fine as possible, and dredge it with
wheat flour. Beat very light the six eggs, and mix them gradually with
the corn. Then let the whole be well incorporated by hard beating. Add a
salt-spoon of salt.
Have ready, in a frying pan, a sufficient quantity of lard and fresh
butter mixed together. Set it over the fire till it is boiling hot, and
then put in portions of the corn mixture, so as to form oval cakes about
three inches long, and nearly an inch thick. Fry them brown, and send
them to table hot. In taste they will be found to have a singular
resemblance to fried oysters, and are universally liked if properly
done. They make nice side-dishes at dinner, and are very good at
breakfast.
SUMMER SACCATASH.--String a quarter of a peck of young green beans, and
cut each bean into three pieces, (not more,) and do not split them. Have
by you a pan of cold water, and throw the beans into it as you cut them.
Have ready over the fire a pot or sauce-pan of boiling water; put in the
beans, and boil them hard near twenty minutes. Afterwards take them up,
and drain them well through a cullender. Take half a dozen ears of young
but full-grown indian corn, (or eight or nine if they are not all large)
and cut the grains down from the cob. Mix together the corn and the
beans, adding a very small tea-spoonful of salt, and boil them about
twenty minutes. Then take up the saccatash, drain it well through a
sieve, put it into a deep dish, and while hot mix in a large piece of
butter, (at least the size of an egg,) add some pepper, and send it to
table. It is generally eaten with salted or smoked meat.
Fresh Lima beans are excellent cooked in this manner, with green corn.
They must be boiled for half an hour or more, before they are cooked
with the corn.
Dried beans and dried corn will do very well for saccatash, but they
must be soaked all night before boiling. The water poured on them for
soaking should be hot.
WINTER SACCATASH.--This is made of dried shelled beans and hard corn,
soaked over night in separate pans, and boiling water poured over them
in the morning, after pouring off the first water. Then boil both
together till they are _quite soft_. Drain them dry in a sieve, put them
into a deep dish, and mix in a large piece of butter, seasoned with
pepper. This is a good accompaniment to corned pork or beef. The meat
must be boiled in a separate pot.
CAROLINA WAY OF BOILING RICE.--Pick the rice carefully, and wash it
through two or three cold waters till it is quite clean. Then (having
drained off all the water through a cullender,) put the rice into a pot
of boiling water, with a very little salt, allowing as much as a quart
of water to half a pint of rice. Boil it twenty minutes or more. Then
pour off the water, draining the rice as dry as possible. Lastly, set it
on hot coals with the lid off, that the steam may not condense upon it
and render the rice watery. Keep it drying thus for a quarter of an
hour. Put it into a deep dish, and loosen and toss it up from the bottom
with two forks, one in each hand, so that the grains may appear to stand
alone.
TOMATOS.--Tomatos require long cooking; otherwise they will have a raw
taste, and be quite too acid. Take fine tomatos that are quite ripe, put
them into a pan, and scald them in very hot water. Let them remain for
ten minutes, or till you can peel them without scalding your hands.
Drain them through a sieve. You may either press out all the seeds,
(retaining only the pulp or liquid,) or leave the seeds in, squeezing
the tomatos slightly. Put them into a stew-pan, which must on no account
be of copper, as the acid of the tomatos will render it poisonous. We
knew a lady who died in agonies from eating tomatos cooked in a copper
vessel that had the tinning partly worn off. If the tin inside is
indispensable, (which it is) why have any copper about it? A vessel of
_double_ block tin only, will last as long, and stand the fire as well
as if there was copper inside. For all stews, an iron pan, lined with
delft (or what is called porcelain or enamel) is excellent. Best of all
for stewing tomatos, and many other things, is a _bain marie_, or double
kettle, with the water outside, in the outer kettle.
Having nearly filled the stew-pan with the tomatos, (cut up, if they are
large) add a little salt and pepper, a piece of fresh butter dredged
with flour, and (if approved) a very little chopped onion. If you have
ready-boiled onions at hand, take one or two of them and mince it fine.
Add to the tomatos some powdered white sugar to lessen the excessive
acid. Put but very few bread-crumbs--if too many, they will weaken the
taste. Tomatos are an improvement to every kind of plain soups, and may
be added, with advantage, after the soup is in the tureen. The cooking
of tomatos should be commenced at least three hours before dinner. Put
no water with them--their own juice is sufficient.
Many persons like tomatos raw, sliced like cucumbers, and seasoned with
vinegar and pepper.
TO KEEP TOMATO PULP.--Having boiled them till entirely dissolved,
(adding a little salt and pepper) press and strain them through a sieve,
pour the liquor into pint or half-pint bottles, (which must be perfectly
clean) and stand the bottles up in a large iron pot or oven, with a
layer of straw in the bottom. Fill up the pot with cold water, cork
them tightly, and let the water boil round the bottles for five hours.
As it boils away, fill up with more hot water. When you take them out,
put a spoonful of salad oil at the top of each bottle; seal the bottles
with rosin cement. This pulp will be good for tomato purposes till next
summer, if kept in a cool dry place. When you open a bottle use it fast,
or cork it again immediately.
BROILED TOMATOS.--Take the very largest and ripest tomatos. Wash, but do
not scald or peel them. Cut the tomatos _half_ apart on four sides,
extract the seeds, and fill each tomato with a nice forcemeat of
stuffing, made of bread-crumbs, butter, minced veal or pork, mace,
nutmeg, and sweet marjoram. Having stewed this stuffing in a sauce-pan,
(moistening it with tomato juice, or gravy) fill all the tomatos with
it, opening them out a little like the leaves of a tulip. Butter
slightly a heated gridiron, and broil them on it. Or, they may be baked
in an oven.
This is a dish for company, either at dinner or breakfast.
BUTTON TOMATOS.--These are the very smallest tomatos, and are excellent
for pickling and preserving. If quite ripe, and free from blemishes,
they will keep very well in cold vinegar, and are the easiest done of
all pickles. There are two sorts of button tomatos, the red and the
yellow, both equally good. Wipe every tomato clean and dry, and put
them into small glass jars that have a cover. Fill the jars two-thirds
with the tomatos, and then fill up to the top with the best cider
vinegar. On the top put a table-spoonful of salad oil, and cover them
closely. They require nothing to secure their keeping well. But the
taste will be improved, by putting in with them, three very small thin
muslin bags, each containing mace, nutmeg, and ginger, broken small, but
not powdered. Lay one bag of spice at the bottom of the jar; one about
the middle, and one near the top. If done without spice, they are the
cheapest of all pickles. Do not put them into soups or stews; but eat
them cold with meat, like other pickles.
If kegs of these tomatos were carried to sea, and liberally served out
to the crew, the scurvy would be less frequent, even on long voyages.
Large whole tomatos would do for this purpose. We wish it were the
universal custom in ships to take out with them plenty of tomatos kept
in this way in vinegar. Tomato catchup is now much used for the army--so
it should be for the navy; not only for the sick, but for the well; to
keep them well.
BREAD, PLAIN CAKES, etc.
HINTS ON HEATING OVENS AND BAKING.--Brick ovens are generally heated
with dry fagots or small branches, or with light split wood. For baking
bread, the oven-wood must be heavier than for pies. A heap of wood
should be placed in the centre of the oven on the brick floor, and then
set on fire. While the wood is burning, the door of the oven must be
left open. When the wood is all burnt down, and reduced to a mass of
small red coals, the oven will be very hot. Then shovel out all the
coals and sweep the oven floor with a broom, till it is perfectly clean,
and entirely free from ashes. Try the heat within. For baking bread, the
floor of the oven should look red, and a little flour thrown in should
burn brown immediately. If you can hold your hand within the mouth of
the oven as long as you can distinctly count twenty, the heat is about
right. Pies, puddings, &c., require less heat. When a brick oven is
used, a peel, or large broad-bladed long-handled wooden shovel is
necessary for putting in the bread, pies, &c., placing them on the broad
or shovel-end of the peel, and slipping them off on the oven floor. Then
close up the door of the oven, and leave the things to bake. When done,
slip the peel beneath them, and hand them out on it.
To bake in an Iron Dutch oven, (a large deep, cast-iron pan, with a
handle, a close-fitting lid, and standing on three or four feet,) you
must first stand the lid upright before a clear fire to heat the inside;
and it will be best if the oven itself is also stood up before the fire
for the same purpose. This should be done while the article to be baked
is preparing, that it may be put in as soon as it is ready. The oven may
be suspended to the crane, and hung over the fire, or it may be set on a
bed of hot wood coals in the corner of the hearth. As soon as the loaf
or pie is in, put on the lid of the oven, and cover it all over with hot
coals, replenishing it with more live coals as the baking proceeds. If
you find it too hot on the top, deaden it with ashes. If the oven stands
on the hearth, keep up the heat at the bottom, by additional live coals
placed beneath it. Whether the oven is hung over the fire, or stood on
the hearth, there must always be hot coals all over the lid, the hottest
near the edge.
To bake on a griddle, you may either hang it over the fire, or set it
over hot coals on the hearth. Most griddles have feet. The fire must be
quite clear and bright, and free from smoke, or the cakes will be
blackened, and have a disagreeable taste. The griddle must be perfectly
clean; and while you are baking, it will require frequent scraping, with
a broad knife. If it is well scraped after every cake is taken off, it
will not want greasing, as there will be no stickiness. Otherwise, some
butter tied up in a clean rag and laid on a saucer, must be kept at hand
all the time, to rub over the griddle between the baking of each cake;
for butter, lard, or nice beef or veal dripping may be substituted, but
it will not be so fine. Never grease with mutton fat, as it will
communicate the taste of tallow. A bit of the fat of _fresh_ pork may
do, (stuck on a fork,) but salt pork will give the outside of the cakes
a disagreeable saltness, and therefore should not be used.
A griddle may be placed in the oven of a hot stove. Some close stoves
have a hole in the top with a flat lid or cover, which lid can be used
as a griddle.
The tin-reflecting ovens (with shelves for the pies and cakes) that are
used for baking in the summer, and that, having a furnace beneath, and a
chimney-pipe, can be set out of doors, so that the kitchen may not be
kept hot, are very good for things that will bake soon, and that do not
require what is called a strong, solid heat. But they are not effective
unless the inside is kept _very bright_; otherwise it will not reflect
the heat. The tin ovens should (as well as tin roasters) be cleaned
thoroughly and scoured bright with sand every time they are used.
The art of baking with anthracite, (or any other mineral coal,) can only
be acquired by practice. The above hints on baking, refer exclusively to
wood fires.
When a charcoal furnace is used for baking, stewing, or any sort of
cooking, it should either be set out in the open air, or the door of the
kitchen must be kept open all the time. The vapor of charcoal in a
close room is so deleterious as to cause death.
DRIED CORN MEAL YEAST CAKES.--Half a pound of fresh hops, four quarts of
water, a pint of wheat or rye flour, half a pint of strong fresh yeast
from the brewer or baker, three pints or more of indian meal. Boil half
a pound of fresh hops in four quarts of water, till the liquid is
reduced to two quarts. Strain it into a pan, and mix in sufficient wheat
flour to make a thin batter, adding half a pint of the best yeast you
can procure. Leave it to ferment; and when the fermentation is over,
stir in sufficient indian meal to make a moderately stiff dough. Cover
it, and set in a warm place to rise. When it has become very light, roll
it out into a square sheet an inch thick, and cut it into flat cakes,
about four inches square. Spread them out separately, on a large dish,
and let them dry slowly in a cool place where there is no sun. While
drying, turn them five or six times a day. When they are quite dry and
hard, put them, separately, into brown paper bags, and keep them in a
box closely covered, and in a place not the least damp.
When you want them to use for yeast, dissolve in a little warm water one
or more of the cakes, in proportion to the quantity of bread you intend
making. When it is quite dissolved, stir it hard, thicken it with a
little wheat flour, cover it, and place it near the fire to rise, before
you use it. Then mix it with the flour, according to the usual manner
of making bread. One yeast cake is enough for two quarts of meal or
flour.
This way of preserving yeast is very convenient for keeping through the
summer, or for conveying to a distance.
EXCELLENT HOME-MADE YEAST.--Yeast should always be kept in a glass
bottle or a stone jug, and never in earthen or metal. Before you make
fresh yeast, empty entirely the vessel that has contained the last; and
if of stone, scald it twice with boiling water, in which it will be well
to mix a little clear lye. Then rince it with cold water, till perfectly
clean. If you have not used lye in scalding it, dissolve some potash or
pearlash in the rinsing water, to remove any acidity that may linger
about the vessel, and may therefore spoil the new yeast. If you keep
your yeast in glass bottles, the water must be warm, but not hot; as
scalding water may crack them: also, melt some potash or pearlash in
this water. The vessel for keeping it being purified, proceed to make
your yeast. Have ready, in a kettle over the fire, two quarts of boiling
water; put into it a very large handful of hops, (as fine and fresh as
possible,) and let the water boil again with the hops in it for twenty
minutes more. Sift into a pan three pints of wheat flour. Strain the
liquor from the hops into a large bowl, and pour half of it hot over the
flour. Stir it well, and press out all the lumps till it is quite
smooth. Let the other half of the liquid stand till it is cool, and then
pour it gradually to the rest; mixing it well, by stirring as you
proceed. Then take half a pint of good strong yeast--brewer's or baker's
yeast, if you can get it fresh; if not, you must use some that has been
left from your last making, provided it is not the least sour; stir this
yeast into the mixture of hop water and flour, put it immediately into
your jug or bottles, and cork it loosely till the fermentation is over,
(which should be in an hour,) and it will then be fit for use.
Afterwards cork it tightly. It will keep better if you put a raisin or
two into the bottom of each bottle, before you pour in the fresh yeast.
Into a stone jug put half a dozen raisins.
All yeast is better and more powerful for being fresh. It is better to
make it frequently, (the trouble being little,) than to risk its
becoming sour by endeavoring to keep it too long. When sour it becomes
weak and watery, and tastes and smells disagreeably, and will never make
light bread; besides, being very unwholesome. The acidity may be
somewhat corrected by stirring in some dissolved pearlash, saleratus, or
soda, immediately before the yeast is used; but it is better to have it
good and fresh, without the necessity of any corrective. Yeast should
always be kept in a cool place.
Those who live in towns where there are breweries have no occasion to
make their own yeast during the brewing season, and in summer they can
every day supply themselves with fresh yeast from the baker's. It is
only in country places where there are neither brewers or bakers that it
is expedient to make it at home. For home-made yeast, we know the above
receipt to be excellent.
Sweet cakes, buns, rusks, &c., require stronger and fresher yeast than
bread; the sugar will otherwise retard their rising.
INDIAN BREAD OR PONE.--Four quarts of indian meal sifted, a large half
pint of wheat flour, a table-spoonful of salt, half a pint of strong
fresh yeast, a quart of warm water. Sift into a large deep pan the
indian meal and the wheat flour, mixing them well. Make a hole in the
centre. The water must be warm, but not hot. Mix it with the yeast, and
pour them into the hole in the midst of the meal. Take a spoon, and with
it mix into the liquid enough of the surrounding meal to make a thin
batter, which you must stir till it is quite smooth, and free from
lumps. Then strew a handful of wheat flour over the surface, scattering
it thinly, so as to cover the whole. Warm a clean cloth, and lay it
folded over the top of the pan. Then set it in a warm place to rise,
nearer the fire in winter than in summer. When it is quite light, and
has risen so that the flour on the surface is cracked, strew on the
salt, and begin to form the whole mass into a dough; commencing round
the hole that contains the batter, and adding, gradually, sufficient
lukewarm water (which you must have ready for the purpose,) to mix it of
the proper consistence. When the whole is completely mixed, and the
batter in the centre is thoroughly incorporated with the dough, knead it
hard for at least half an hour. Then, having formed the dough into a
round lump in the middle of the pan, strew a little more flour thinly
over it. Cover it, and set it again in a warm place for half an hour.
Then flour your pasteboard, divide the dough equally, and make it into
two loaves. Have the oven ready. Put in the loaves directly, and bake
them about two hours or more. Indian meal requires always more baking
than wheat. When you take them out, it is well to wrap each loaf in a
clean, coarse towel, well sprinkled with cold water, and rolled up damp
till the bread is baked. Having thus wrapped up the loaves, stand them
on end to cool slowly. The damp cloths will prevent the crust from
hardening too much while the loaves are cooling.
All indian bread, and every sort of indian cake, is best when quite
fresh.
Excellent bread may be made of equal proportions of wheat, rye flour,
and indian corn; or of three parts wheat and one part indian. All bread
should be kept closely secluded from the air, wrapped in cloths, and put
away in boxes or baskets with tightly-fitting lids.
Should you find the dough sour, (either from the heat of the weather, or
from standing too long,) you may recover it, by dissolving in a little
lukewarm water a tea-spoonful of pearlash, saleratus, or soda. Sprinkle
this water all over the dough. Then knead it in, so that it may be
dispersed throughout. Then put it into the oven as soon as possible;
first tasting the dough, to discover if the sourness is entirely
removed. If not, mix in a little more pearlash, and then taste it again.
Take care not to put in too much of any of these alkaline substances,
lest they communicate a disagreeable, soapy taste to the bread.
When you buy corn meal, it will keep better if the whole is sifted as
soon as you get it. Avoid buying much at a time, unless you can keep it
in a very cool place. When sour, it is unfit to eat. Common indian meal
is much the best for use.
INDIAN RYE BREAD.--Two quarts of indian meal, two quarts of rye meal,
three pints of milk or water, two tea-spoonfuls of salt, half a pint of
strong fresh yeast. Having sifted the rye and indian meal in a large
pan, mix them well together, adding the salt. Boil the milk or water in
a sauce-pan, and when scalding hot pour it on the meal, and stir the
whole very hard. If too stiff, add a little more warm water. Let it
stand till it becomes only of a lukewarm heat, and then stir in the
yeast. Knead the mixture into a stiff dough, and knead it long and hard
for at least half an hour. Then cover the pan with a thick cloth that
has been previously warmed, and set it near the fire to rise. When the
dough is quite light, and cracked all over the top, take it out of the
pan; divide the mass in half, make it into two loaves, knead each loaf
well for ten minutes or more, and then cover and set them again near the
fire for about half an hour. By this time have the oven ready, put in
the loaves directly, and bake them at least an hour and a half. This
bread is considered very wholesome.
Should you find the dough sour, you may rectify it by kneading in a
tea-spoonful of soda or pearlash, dissolved in a little warm water.
INDIAN WHEAT BREAD.--This is made in the above manner, substituting
wheat for rye flour.
In any sort of home-made bread, (either white or brown) a handful or
more of indian meal will be found an improvement, rendering it moist and
sweet.
BOSTON RYE AND INDIAN BREAD.--Two quarts of indian meal, two quarts of
rye meal, half a pint of strong fresh yeast, half a pint of West India
molasses, a small table-spoonful of salt. Sift the rye and indian meal
into a large pan or wooden bowl; and mix them well together, adding a
little salt. Have ready half a pint of water, warm but not hot. Mix with
it the molasses, and then stir into it the yeast. Make a hole in the
middle of the pan of meal, pour in the liquid, and then with a spoon
work into it a portion of the flour that surrounds the hole, till the
liquid in the centre becomes a thick batter. Sprinkle the top with rye
meal, lay a thick cloth over the pan, and set it in a warm place to
rise. In three or four hours it should be light enough to appear cracked
all over the surface. Then pour into the middle (by degrees) about a
pint of warm water, (it must not be hot,) and as you pour mix it well
all through the dough, till the whole becomes a round mass. Sprinkle
some rye flour on the dough, and having floured your hands, knead it
long and hard, (at least half an hour, and after it ceases to stick to
your hands,) turning it over as you proceed. Then sprinkle the dough
again with flour, cover it, and again set it in a warm place to rise.
Have the oven ready, and of the proper heat, so that the bread may be
put in as soon as it has completely risen the second time. When
perfectly light, the dough will stand high, and the surface will be
cracked all over. This quantity will be sufficient for a common-sized
loaf. Set it directly into the oven, and bake it about two hours. When
bread has done rising, it will fall again if not put into the oven. As
soon as it is done, wrap it immediately in a clean coarse towel wet with
cold water, and stand it up on end till it is cool.
This is a palatable, cheap, and wholesome bread. It may be baked in a
deep tin or iron pan.
If the dough should have stood so long as to become sour, (which it
will, if mixed over night,) restore it by kneading in a small
tea-spoonful of pearlash or saleratus melted in a little warm water.
EGG PONE.--Three eggs, a quart of indian meal, a large table-spoonful of
fresh butter, a small tea-spoonful of salt, a half pint (or more) of
milk. Beat the eggs very light, and mix them with the milk. Then stir
in, gradually, the indian meal, adding the salt and butter. It must not
be a batter, but a soft dough, just thick enough to be stirred well with
a spoon. If too thin, add more indian meal; if too stiff, thin it with a
little more milk. Beat or stir it _long and hard_. Butter a tin or iron
pan. Put the mixture into it, and set the pan immediately into an oven,
which must be moderately hot at first, and the heat increased afterward.
A Dutch oven is best for this purpose. It should bake an hour and a half
or two hours, in proportion to its thickness. Send it to table hot, and
cut into slices. Eat it with butter, or molasses.
INDIAN MUSH.--Have ready on a clear fire a pot of boiling water. Stir
into it, by degrees, (a handful at a time,) sufficient indian meal to
make a very thick porridge, and then add a very small portion of salt,
allowing not more than a level tea-spoonful to a quart of meal. You must
keep the pot boiling all the time you are stirring in the meal; and
between every handful stir hard with the mush-stick, (a round stick
about half a yard long, flattened at the lower end,) as, if not well
stirred, the mush will be lumpy. After it is sufficiently thick and
smooth, keep it boiling an hour longer, stirring it occasionally. Then
cover the pot closely, and hang it higher up the chimney, or set it on
hot coals on the hearth, so as to simmer it slowly for another hour. The
goodness and wholesomeness of mush depends greatly on its being long and
thoroughly boiled. It should also be made very thick. If well made, and
well cooked, it is wholesome and nutritious; but the contrary, if thin,
and not sufficiently boiled. It is not too long to have it three or four
hours over the fire, first boiling, then simmering. On the contrary, it
will be better for it. The coarser the corn meal the less cooking it
requires. Send it to table hot, and in a deep dish. Eat it with sweet
milk, buttermilk, or cream, or with butter and sugar, or with butter and
molasses; making a hole in the middle of your plate of mush, putting
some butter into the hole, and then adding the sugar or molasses.
Cold mush that has been left may be cut into slices, or mouthfuls, and
fried next day, in butter, or in nice dripping of veal, beef, or pork;
but not mutton or lamb.
INDIAN HASTY PUDDING.--Put two quarts of milk into a clean pot or
sauce-pan. Set it over the fire, adding a level tea-spoonful of salt,
and, when it comes to a boil, stir in a lump of fresh butter about the
size of a goose egg. Then add (a handful at a time) sufficient indian
meal to make it very thick, stirring it all the while with a mush stick.
Keep it boiling well, and continue to throw in indian meal till it is so
thick that the stick stands upright in it. Then send it to table hot,
and eat it with milk, cream, or molasses and butter. What is left may be
cut into slices, and fried next day, or boiled in a bag.
INDIAN MEAL GRUEL.--This is an excellent food for the sick. Having
sifted some indian meal, mix in a quart bowl three table-spoonfuls of
the meal with six of cold water. Stir it smooth, and press out the lumps
against the side of the bowl. Have ready a very clean sauce-pan,
entirely free from grease, with a pint of boiling water. Pour this,
scalding hot, on the mixture in the bowl, a little at a time, and stir
it well, adding a pinch of salt. Then put the whole back into the
sauce-pan. Set it on hot coals and stir it till it boils, making the
spoon go down to the bottom to prevent the gruel from burning. After it
has come to a boil, let it continue boiling half an hour, stirring it
frequently, and skimming it. Give it to the invalid warm, in a bowl or
tumbler, to be eaten with a tea-spoon. It may be sweetened with a little
sugar. When the physician permits, some grated nutmeg may be added;
also, a very little wine.
RYE MUSH.--To make smooth rye mush, sift a quart or more of rye meal
into a pan, and gradually pour in sufficient cold water to make a very
thick batter, stirring it hard with a spoon as you proceed, and
carefully pressing out all the lumps against the side of the pan. Add a
very little salt. The batter must be so thick at the last that you can
scarcely stir it. Then thin it with a little more water, and see that it
is quite smooth. Rye, and also wheat flour, have a disposition to be
more lumpy than corn meal, when made into mush. When thoroughly mixed
and stirred, put it into a pot, place it over the fire and boil it well,
stirring it with a mush-stick till it comes to a hard boil; then place
it in a diminished heat, and simmer it slowly till you want to dish it
up. Eat it warm, with butter and molasses, or with sweet milk, or fresh
buttermilk. Rye mush is considered very wholesome, particularly in cases
of dyspepsia.
COMMON HOE-CAKE.--Take an earthen or tin pan, and half fill it with
coarse indian meal, which had best be sifted in. Add a little salt. Have
ready a kettle of boiling water. Pour into the indian meal sufficient
hot water (a little at a time,) to make a stiff dough, stirring it with
a spoon as you proceed. It must be thoroughly mixed, and stirred hard.
If you want the cakes for breakfast, mix this dough over night; cover
the pan, and set it in a _cool_ place till morning. If kept warm, it
may turn sour. Early next morning, as soon as the fire is burning well,
set the griddle over it, and take out the dough, a handful at a time.
Flatten and shape it by patting it with your hands, till you form it
into cakes about the size of a common saucer, and half an inch thick.
When the griddle is quite hot, lay on it as many cakes as it will hold,
and bake them brown. When the upper side is done, slip a broad knife
beneath and turn them over. They must be baked brown on both sides. Eat
them warm, with buttermilk, sweet milk, butter, molasses, or whatever is
most convenient. If you intend these cakes for dinner or supper, mix
them as early in the day as you can, and (covering the pan) let them
stand in a cool place till wanted for baking. In cold weather you may
save trouble by mixing over night enough to last the next day for
breakfast, dinner, and supper; baking them as they are wanted for each
meal. Or they may be all baked in the morning, and eaten cold; but they
are then not so palatable as when warm. They will be less liable to
stick, if before each baking the griddle is dredged with wheat flour, or
greased with a bit of fat pork stuck on a fork. You may cover it all
over with one large cake, instead of several small ones.
This cake is so called, because in some parts of America it was
customary to bake it on the iron of a hoe, stood up before the fire. It
is better known by that name than by any other.
COMMON GRIDDLE CAKE.--A quart of indian meal, sufficient warm water to
make a soft dough, a small tea-spoonful of salt. Put the indian meal
into a pan, and add the salt. Make a hole in the centre of the meal, and
pour in a little warm water. Then mix it with a large, strong spoon,
adding, by degrees, water enough to make a soft dough. Flour your hands,
and knead it into a large lump--divide it into two equal portions. Flour
your pasteboard, lay on it the first lump of dough, and roll it out
about an inch thick. Then, (having already heated your griddle,) lay the
cake upon it, spreading it evenly, and make it a good round shape. It
should cover the whole surface of the griddle, which must first be
greased, either with butter or lard tied in a rag, or with a bit of fat
fresh pork. Bake it well; and when one side is well browned, turn it on
the other, taking care not to break it. Send it to table hot, cut into
three-cornered pieces--split and butter them. As soon as the first cake
is sent in, put on the other to bake.
This is one of the plainest and simplest preparations of indian cake;
and is very good when warm.
PLAIN JOHNNY CAKE.--A quart of indian meal, a pint of warm water, a
level tea-spoonful of salt. Sift a quart of indian meal into a pan. Make
a hole in the middle, and pour in a pint of warm water, adding the salt.
With a spoon mix the meal and water gradually into a soft dough. Stir
it very hard for a quarter of an hour or more, till it becomes light and
spongy. Then spread the dough, smooth and evenly, on a stout, flat
board. A piece of the head of a flour barrel will serve for this
purpose. Place the board nearly (but not quite) upright, and set a
smoothing-iron or a stone against the back to support it. Bake it well.
When done, cut it into squares, and send it hot to table, split and
buttered. You may eat molasses with it.
VERY PLAIN INDIAN DUMPLINGS.--Sift some indian meal into a pan; add
about a salt-spoon of salt to each quart of meal, and scald it with
sufficient boiling water to make a stiff dough. Pour in the water
gradually, stirring as you pour. When the dough becomes a stiff lump
divide it into equal portions; flour your hands, and make it into thick
flat dumplings, about as large round as the top of a glass tumbler, or a
breakfast cup. Dredge the dumplings on all sides with flour, put them
into a pot of boiling water, (if made sufficiently stiff they need not
be tied in cloths,) and keep them boiling hard till thoroughly done. Try
them with a fork, which must come out quite clean, and with no
clamminess sticking to it. They are an excellent appendage to salt pork
or bacon, serving them up with the meat; or they may be eaten afterwards
with butter and molasses, or with milk sweetened well with brown sugar,
and flavored with a little ground cinnamon. On no account boil them with
meat.
INDIAN MUFFINS.--A pint and a half of yellow indian meal, sifted; a
handful of wheat flour; a quarter of a pound of fresh butter; a quart of
milk; four eggs; a very small tea-spoonful of salt. Put the milk into a
sauce-pan. Cut the butter into it. Set it over the fire and warm it till
the butter is very soft, but not till it melts. Then take it off, stir
it well till all mixed, and set it away to cool. Beat four eggs very
light, and when the milk is cold, stir them into it alternately with the
meal, a little at a time, of each. Add the salt. Beat the whole very
hard after it is all mixed. Then butter some muffin-rings on the inside.
Set them in a hot oven, or on a heated griddle; pour some of the batter
into each, and bake the muffins well. Send them hot to table, continuing
to bake while a fresh supply is wanted. Pull them open with your
fingers, and eat them with butter, to which you may add molasses or
honey. These muffins will be found excellent, and can be prepared in a
very short time; for instance, in three quarters or half an hour before
breakfast or tea.
This mixture may be baked in waffle-irons, as waffles. Butter them, and
have on the table a glass bowl with powdered sugar and powdered
cinnamon, to eat with these waffles.
CORN MEAL BREAKFAST CAKES.--A quart of indian meal; a handful or more of
wheat flour; a large salt-spoon of salt; a quart of warm water; an
additional pint of lukewarm water; a bit of pearlash the size of a
hazle-nut, or the same quantity of soda or saleratus. Mix over night, in
a large pan, the indian meal, the wheat flour and salt. Pour on
gradually a quart of warm water, (warm but not hot,) and stir it in with
a large wooden or iron spoon, so as to form a very soft dough. Cover the
pan, and set it on the dresser till morning. In the morning thin the
dough with another pint of warm water, so as to make it into a batter,
having first dissolved in the water a salt-spoonful of powdered pearlash
or saleratus, or a bit the size of a hazle-nut. Beat the mixture hard.
Then cover it, and let it stand near the fire for a quarter of an hour
before you begin to bake it. Bake it in thin cakes on a griddle. Send
them to table hot, and eat them with butter and molasses, or honey.
INDIAN RICE CAKES.--Take equal quantities of yellow indian meal and well
boiled rice. Mix them together in a pan, the meal and rice alternately,
a little at a time of each. The boiled rice may be either hot or cold;
but it will be rather best to mix it hot. Having first mixed it with a
spoon, knead it well with your hands; moistening it with a little milk
or water, if you find it too stiff. Have ready, over the fire, a heated
griddle. Grease it with fresh butter tied in a clean rag; and having
made the mixture into flat round cakes, bake them well on both sides.
Eat them with butter and sugar, or butter and molasses, or with butter
alone.
PUMPKIN INDIAN CAKES.--Take equal portions of indian meal, and stewed
pumpkin that has been well mashed and _drained very dry_ in a sieve or
cullender. Put the stewed pumpkin in a pan, and stir the meal gradually
into it, a spoonful at a time, adding a little butter as you proceed.
Mix the whole thoroughly, stirring it very hard. If not thick enough to
form a stiff dough, add a little more indian meal. Make it into round,
flat cakes, about the size of a muffin, and bake them over the fire on a
hot griddle greased with butter. Or lay them in a square iron pan, and
bake them in an oven.
Send them to table hot, and eat them with butter.
EXCELLENT BUCKWHEAT CAKES.--A quart of buckwheat meal, sifted; a level
tea-spoonful of salt; a small half pint or a large handful of indian
meal; two large table-spoonfuls of strong fresh brewer's yeast or four
table-spoonfuls of home-made yeast; sufficient lukewarm water to make a
moderate batter. Mix together the buckwheat and indian meal, and add the
salt. Make a hole in the centre of the meal, and pour in the yeast. Then
stir in gradually, from a kettle, sufficient tepid or lukewarm water to
make a moderately thick batter when united with the yeast. Cover the
pan, set it in a warm place, and leave it to rise. It should be light in
about three hours. When it has risen high, and is covered with bubbles,
it is fit to bake. Have ready a clean griddle well heated over the fire.
Grease it well with a bit of fresh butter tied in a clean white rag, and
kept on a saucer near you. Then dip out a large ladleful of the batter,
and bake it on the griddle; turning it when brown, with the cake-turner,
and baking it brown on the other side. Grease the griddle slightly
between baking each cake, or scrape it smooth with a broad knife. As
fast as you bake the cakes, lay them, several in a pile, on a hot plate.
Butter them, and if of large size cut them across into four pieces. Or
send them to table to be buttered there. Trim off the edges before they
go in.
If your batter has been mixed over night, and is found sour in the
morning, dissolve a salt-spoon of pearlash or saleratus in a little
lukewarm water, stir it into the batter, let it stand a quarter of an
hour, and then bake it. The alkali will remove the acidity, and increase
the lightness of the batter. If you use soda for this purpose it will
require a tea-spoonful.
If the batter is kept at night in so cold a place as to freeze, it will
be unfit for use. Do not grease the griddle with meat-fat of any sort.
NICE RYE BATTER CAKES.--A quart of lukewarm milk, two eggs, a large
table-spoonful of fresh, brewer's yeast or two of home-made yeast;
sufficient sifted rye meal to make a moderate batter; a salt-spoon of
salt; having warmed the milk, beat the eggs very light, and stir them
gradually into it, alternately with the rye meal, adding the salt. Put
in the meal, a handful at a time, till you have the batter about as
thick as for buckwheat cakes. Then stir in the yeast, and give the
batter a hard beating, seeing that it is smooth and free from lumps.
Cover the pan, and set it in a warm place to rise. When risen high, and
covered with bubbles, the batter is fit to bake. Have ready over the
fire a hot griddle, and bake the cakes in the manner of buckwheat. Send
them to table hot, and eat them with butter, molasses, or honey.
Yeast powders, used according to the directions that accompany them, and
put in at the last, just before baking, are an improvement to the
lightness of all batter cakes, provided that real yeast or eggs are also
in the mixture. But it is not well to depend on the powders exclusively;
particularly when real yeast is to be had. The lightness produced by
yeast powders alone, is not the right sort; and though the cakes are
eatable, they are too tough and leathery to be wholesome. As
_auxiliaries_ to genuine yeast, and to beaten eggs, yeast powders are
excellent. But not as the sole dependence.
Indian batter cakes may be made as above; or rye and indian meal be
mixed in equal proportions.
INDIAN CUP CAKES.--A pint and a half of yellow Indian meal; half a pint
of wheat flour; a pint and a half of _sour_ milk; (buttermilk is best;)
a small tea-spoonful of saleratus or soda dissolved in warm water; two
eggs; a level tea-spoonful of salt. Sift the indian and wheat meal into
a pan and mix them well, adding the salt. If you have no buttermilk or
other sour milk at hand, turn some sweet milk sour by setting a pan of
it in the sun, or stirring in a spoonful of vinegar. Take out a small
tea-cupful of the sour milk, and reserve it to be put in at the last.
Beat the eggs very light, and then stir them, gradually, into the milk,
alternately with the meal, a little at a time of each. Lastly, dissolve
the soda or saleratus, and stir it into the cup of sour milk that has
been reserved for the purpose. It will effervesce; stir it while foaming
into the mixture, which should be a thick batter. Have ready some
tea-cups, or little deep tins. Butter them well; nearly fill them with
the batter, and set them immediately into a rather brisk oven. The cakes
must be thoroughly baked all through. When done, turn them out on large
plates, and send them hot to the breakfast or tea-table. Split them into
three pieces, and eat them with butter.
The soda will entirely remove the acidity of the milk, which will
effervesce the better for being sour at first, adding therefore to the
lightness of the cake. Taste the milk, and if you find that the
slightest sourness remains, add a little more dissolved soda.
All the alkalies, pearlash, saleratus, soda, and sal-volatile, will
remove acidity, and increase lightness; but if too much is used, they
will impart a disagreeable taste. It is useless to put lemon or orange
juice into any mixture that is afterwards to have one of these alkalies,
as they will entirely destroy the flavor of the fruit.
CAROLINA RICE CAKES.--Having picked and washed half a pint of rice, boil
it by itself till the grains lose all form, and are dissolved into a
thick mass or jelly. While warm, mix into it a large lump of the best
fresh butter, and a salt-spoonful of salt. Pour into a bowl a moderate
sized tea-cupful of ground rice flour, and add to it as much milk as
will make a tolerably stiff batter. Stir it till it is quite smooth, and
free from lumps. Then mix it thoroughly with the boiled rice. Beat six
eggs as light as possible, and stir them, gradually, into the mixture.
Bake it on a griddle, in cakes about as large round as a saucer. Eat
them warm with butter; and have on the table, in a small bowl, some
powdered white sugar and nutmeg, for those who like it.
AUNT LYDIA'S CORN CAKE.--Sift into a large pan a quart of yellow corn
meal, and add a level tea-spoonful of salt, (not more.) Have ready a
pint of boiling milk, sufficient to make a soft dough. Mix the milk hot
into the corn meal, and add about a quarter of a pound, or half a pint
of nice fresh butter. Having beaten five eggs till very light and thick,
stir them gradually into the mixture, and set it to cool. All
preparations of corn meal require much beating and stirring. Have ready
some small tin pans, about four or five inches square, and two or three
inches deep. They are especially good for baking such cakes, (far better
than patty-pans,) and are made by any tinsmith. Grease the pans with the
same butter you have used in mixing the cakes. _Fill the pans to the
top_ with the above mixture, that the heat may immediately catch the
surface, and cause it to puff up high above the edges of the pan. If
properly mixed, and well beaten, there is no danger of it running over.
If only half filled, and not very light, the mixture when baking will
sink down, and become heavy and tough. Set these cakes immediately into
a moderate oven. Bake them brown, and send them to the breakfast table
hot. Split and butter them.
They may be baked in muffin rings, but the small square pans are best.
This is the very best preparation of Indian cakes. If _exactly
followed_, we believe there is none superior; as is the opinion of all
persons who have eaten them. The cook from whom this receipt was
obtained, is a Southern colored woman, called Aunt Lydia.
The above quantities will furnish cakes only for a small family. If the
family is of tolerable size, double the proportions of each article--as
for instance, two quarts of Indian meal, one quart of milk, half a pound
of butter, and ten eggs, with a level table-spoonful of salt. Let them
be well baked; not scorched on the top, and raw at the bottom.
We recommend them highly as the perfection of corn cakes, if well made,
well baked, and with all the ingredients of the best quality.
Use yellow indian meal in preference to white. The yellow is sweeter,
has more of the true corn taste, and its color shows at once what it is.
The white has less flavor, and may be mistaken for very coarse wheat. It
is difficult to keep corn meal good for the whole year. Before the new
corn meal is in market, the old is apt to become musty. If you live in a
city it is best to buy it as you want it; a few pecks at a time. If in
the country, sift your barrel of corn meal soon after it is brought;
divide it, and keep it in several different vessels, always well
covered.
SHORT CAKE.--As this requires no rising, it may be mixed and prepared at
half an hour's notice. Take a quart and a pint of wheat flour, sift it
into a pan, and divide into three parts three quarters of a pound of
nice fresh butter. Cut up one piece into the pan of flour, and mix it
into a dough with a broad knife, adding, as you proceed, as little water
as will be barely sufficient. The water must be very cold. Roll out this
lump of paste, dredge it slightly with flour, fold it up, and roll it
out again. Then cover it with a second division of the butter, put on
the sheet of paste with the knife, and dispersed at equal distances.
Sprinkle it with flour, fold it, and roll out the sheet again. Put on
the remainder of the butter as before, in bits equally dispersed. Fold,
dredge, and roll out the dough into a rather thin sheet. Cut it into
small round cakes with the edge of a tumbler, or something like it,
using up the clippings of paste left at the last to make one more cake.
Have ready a hot griddle or oven. Put on the cakes so as not to touch
each other, and bake them light brown on both sides. Send them to table
hot, to be split and buttered. Mix and roll out these cakes as fast as
possible, and avoid handling them more than you need. Paste made
_slowly_ is never light or flakey. Mix quick and roll quick. This is a
good plain paste for fruit pot-pies or dumplings.
You may make common short cake for very healthy people, with two quarts
of flour, a quarter of a pound of fresh butter, and a quarter of a pound
of lard, mixed into the pan of meal with a very little cold water, and a
second quarter of lard spread all over the sheet of paste, after rolling
it out. Fold, sprinkle, and roll it out again into one round griddle
cake, or two if you have enough of dough. Take care, in baking, not to
have it smoked or blackened at the edge. When done, cut it into "pie
pieces," and send it to table to be split and buttered.
HALF MOONS.--Of this paste you may make half-moon pies. Cut the paste
into round cakes. On half the circle, lay plenty of stewed fruit well
sweetened, (for instance, stewed dried peach,) fold over it the other
half, pinch the two edges together, and crimp them. Bake them in an
oven, and eat them fresh. If you have fruit in the house ready stewed,
half-moon pies can be got up for a plain dessert on an emergency. Either
mince meat, or sausage meat, may be baked in half-moons. They will bake
very nicely, laid side by side, in large square tin pans, first dredged
slightly with flour.
SOFT MUFFINS.--Warm a quart of milk, and melt in it a quarter of a pound
of the best fresh butter, cut into bits. When melted, stir it about, and
set it away to cool. Beat four eggs till very thick and light, and stir
them gradually into a pan of milk, and butter when it is quite cold.
Then, by degrees, stir in enough of sifted flour to make a batter as
thick as you can well beat it. Then, at the last, stir in three
table-spoonfuls of baker's or brewer's yeast. Cover the pan of batter
with a double cloth, and set it on the hearth (or some other warm place)
to rise, but it must not be allowed to get hot. It should have risen
nearly to the top of the pan, and be covered with bubbles in about three
hours. The griddle being heated, grease it with nice butter tied in a
rag; take a ladleful of batter out of the pan, pour it into the ring,
and bake the muffins. Send them hot to table, and split and butter them.
These are superior to all muffins. Those who have eaten them will never
desire any others, if this receipt has been faithfully followed. Try it.
SALLY LUNN CAKE.--This is a favorite tea cake, and so universally liked
that it is well to make a liberal quantity of the mixture, and bake it
in two loaves. Sift into a large pan three pounds of fine flour. Warm in
a quart of milk half a pound of fresh butter, and add a small
tea-spoonful of salt, six eggs well beaten, and add, gradually, two wine
glasses of excellent fresh yeast. Mix the flour well into the pan, (a
little at a time) and beat the whole very hard. Divide this quantity
into two equal portions, and set it to rise in two pans. Cover it with
thick cloths, and set it on the hearth to rise. When quite light, grease
two loaf-pans with the same butter used for the cakes, and bake it in a
moderate oven, keeping up the heat steadily to the last. It should be
thoroughly done all through. Send it to table hot, cut in slices, but
the slices left standing as in a pound cake at a party.
The Sally Lunn mixture may be baked on a griddle, as muffins in muffin
rings, and split and buttered at table.
In mixing this cake, add neither sugar nor spice. They do not improve,
but spoil it, as would be found on trial. It is the best of plain tea
cakes, if properly made and baked.
DELAWARE CAKES.--This is a plain tea cake. Sift into a pan two quarts of
flour. Cut up half a pound of fresh butter, and rub it into the flour
with your hands. Beat five eggs very light and thick; make a hole in the
centre of the flour, and gradually stir the beaten eggs, in turn with a
pint of milk. Then add a jill of fine fresh yeast. Mix the whole
thoroughly with a broad knife. Transfer it to large square tin pans.
Cover it with a clean flannel, and set it on the hearth to rise. When it
is quite light, and cracked all over the surface, divide the dough into
cakes and bake them in muffin rings, on a griddle or in a stove. If
baked in one large cake, there is a risk of their being made heavy, by
cutting them when hot.
To make sweet cakes with the above mixture, add gradually to the flour
in the pan, half a pound of powdered sugar before you rub in the butter,
and after the eggs and milk. Stir in a wineglass of rosewater, or less,
if it is very strong, (which rosewater seldom is) and also it loses much
of its strength in cooking. Or, substitute the yellow rind and juice of
a lemon, and some powdered nutmeg. They will then be a cake for company;
otherwise, they will be for family teas.
Either plain or sweet they are very good. We rather prefer them plain.
If plain, omit even sugar. Sugar, without other flavoring, gives plain
tea cakes a faint sickly taste, and is better left out entirely, except
for children--and they like any kind of sweetness, however little.
MARYLAND BISCUIT.--Take two quarts of sifted wheat flour, and add a
small tea-spoonful of salt. Rub into the pan of flour a large quarter of
a pound of lard, and add, gradually, warm milk enough to make a very
stiff dough. Knead the lump of dough long and hard, and pound it on all
sides with a rolling-pin. Divide the dough into several pieces, and
knead and pound each piece separately. This must go on for two or three
hours, continually kneading and pounding, otherwise it will be hard,
tough, and indigestible. Then make it into small round thick biscuits,
prick them with a fork, and bake them a pale brown.
This is the most laborious of cakes, and also the most unwholesome, even
when made in the best manner. We do not recommend it; but there is no
accounting for tastes. Children should not eat these biscuits--nor grown
persons either, if they can get any other sort of bread.
When living in a town where there are bakers, there is no excuse for
making Maryland biscuit. Believe nobody that says they are not
unwholesome. Yet we have heard of families, in country places, where
neither the mistress nor the cook knew any other preparation of wheat
bread. Better to live on indian cakes.
HOME-MADE BREAD.--You cannot have good bread without good flour, good
yeast, good kneading, and good baking, all united. Like many other
things, the best flour is always the cheapest in the end. There is none
better than that which comes from the mills of Hiram Smith, Rochester,
New York. All flour should be kept in a dry place, damp being always
injurious to it. Good flour goes farther than that of inferior quality,
and is both whiter and lighter. No skill will avail either in making or
baking bread, if the flour is of bad quality. Flour will keep much
better if, as soon as a new barrel is brought in, the whole of it is
sifted, and divided in several buckets. Flour buckets, made for the
purpose, are short and wide, are broader at the bottom than the top, and
have handles and lids. They are to be had of all coopers. Yeast must
always be of the best quality, strong and fresh. With too much yeast the
bread will be bitter; with too little it will be heavy; with stale yeast
it will be heavy, sour, and dark-colored. If baked too little, it
becomes tough and clammy. We deprecate the practice of putting hartshorn
in bread. It gives it a bad taste; and even if it produces a sort of
factitious lightness, it also renders it tough and difficult to
masticate, however nice it may look. Also, it is very unwholesome.
The oven should be heated in time, to set in the bread as soon as ready.
When once it has risen to its utmost lightness, it will fall and turn
sour if permitted to stand. The only remedy for sour bread is, to melt
a table-spoonful of soda or pearlash in tepid water, and sprinkle it
over the dough, which must then be kneaded again, after it has rested
half an hour. In summer, do not begin your bread over night; it will
certainly be sour before morning. In winter you may do so, but keep it
all night in a warm (though not a hot) place. If the dough freezes, you
may throw it away at once.
To knead, double up your hands, put them deep into the dough, and work
it with your knuckles, exerting all your strength. When the dough sticks
to them no longer, but leaves your bent fingers clean and clear, it is
time to cease kneading, for you have done enough for that time.
Sift into a deep pan, or large wooden bowl, a peck of fine wheat flour,
(adding a large table-spoonful of salt,) and mix the water with half a
pint of strong fresh brewer's yeast, or near a whole pint if the yeast
is home-made. Pour this into the hole, in the middle of the heap of
flour. Mix in with a wooden spoon, a portion of the flour from the
surrounding edges of the hole so as to make a thick batter, and having
sprinkled dry flour over the top, let it rest for near an hour. This is
called "_setting the sponge_," or "_making the leaven_." When it has
swelled up to the surface, and burst through the coating of flour that
covered the hole, pour in as much more lukewarm water as will suffice to
mix the whole gradually into a dough. Knead it hard and thoroughly,
leaving no lumps in it, and continue to knead till the dough leaves
your hands. Throw over it a clean thick cloth, and set it in a warm
place to rise again. When it is quite light and cracked all over the
surface, divide it into loaves, and give each loaf a little more
kneading, and let it rest till it has risen as high as it will. Have
your oven quite ready, and (having transferred the loaves to pans,
sprinkled with flour,) bake them well. Try the heat of the oven by
previously throwing in a little flour. If it browns well, and you can
hold your hand in the heat while you count twenty, it is a good
temperature for bread. If the flour scorches black the oven is too hot,
so leave the oven open a little while till it becomes cooler. As soon as
the bread is quite done, take out the loaves, wrap each tightly in a
clean coarse cloth, damped by sprinkling it with water, and stand them
up on their edges. This will prevent the crust from becoming too hard.
Keep the loaves wrapped up after they are deposited in the bread box.
ROLLS--Are made as above, except that they are mixed with warm milk
instead of water, and a little fresh butter rubbed into the dough.
TWIST BREAD.--Before you put the dough into the baking pans, divide it
equally into long thick rolls, (smaller at the ends) and plait or twist
three together.
BRAN BREAD--Is made like any other, only of bran meal; and in setting
the sponge, put _wheat_ flour into the hole, and add to the liquid half
a tea-cupful of nice brown sugar. Bran bread should look very brown. It
should be eaten fresh. When stale, it is too dry and hard. Bran batter
cakes are made and baked like buckwheat.
RYE BREAD.--Is made like wheat bread, but that it requires more kneading
and baking. Rye batter cakes, made like buckwheat, should have one half
corn meal.
BREAD BISCUITS.--When making bread after the dough has risen very light,
take from it a quart or more; knead into it a quarter of a pound of
fresh butter, and form it into tall rolls. Bake them in an oven, and
when done break them apart, but do not cut them with a knife--or, bake
them in flat biscuits, to be split and buttered. Bread dough, with some
butter added to the mixture, will make plain cakes for children, with
the addition of white sugar, powdered cinnamon, some good raisins,
(stoned,) cut in half, and dredged well with flour, to prevent their
clodding or sinking. A beaten egg mixed into the dough is an
improvement. Children, (accustomed only to plain living,) like these
cakes very well, but they must be light and well baked.
BREAD CAKES.--Take slices of stale wheat bread, that has been well made
and light. There should be enough to fill a pint bowl, closely packed.
Put the bread into a deep dish, and pour boiling water upon it. While
the bread is soaking, mix in a crock or jar a pint of milk, and a pint
of wheat flour. Put the soaked bread into a cullender, and let the water
drain off. When the water is drained away, beat the bread _lightly_ with
a fork, but do not press or mash it. Beat two eggs very light and thick,
and gradually stir them into the flour and milk. Then stir in the bread.
Bake the mixture on a griddle in the manner of buckwheat cakes, and eat
them hot with butter. This quantity is for a small family of four
persons.
For a family of moderate size, take a quart of stale bread, a quart of
milk, a quart of flour, and four eggs.
For a large family, two quarts of bread, two quarts of milk, two quarts
of flour, and eight eggs. This quantity will not be more than sufficient
for a large family, as they will all like these cakes.
If you have not enough of stale bread in the house, send for a stale
loaf, rather than not have the proper proportion for the cakes.
MILK BISCUIT.--Warm a pint of milk on the top of the stove, and cut up
in it half a pound of fresh butter, to soften, but not to melt. Sift
into a pan two quarts of flour; make a hole in the middle of the flour,
and pour into it the milk and butter. Beat two eggs till very thick and
smooth, and pour them in also. Lastly, pour into the hole two
wine-glasses of strong fresh brewer's or baker's yeast; or, three of
good home-made yeast. Mix altogether with a broad knife, till it becomes
a lump of soft dough. Then knead it well on your pasteboard, and make it
into round rolls or balls. Knead every ball separately. Flatten them
with your hand into thick biscuits, and prick every one with a fork. Lay
them separately in buttered square pans, and set them to rise. If all is
right, they will be light in little more than an hour. When quite light,
(risen high and cracked all over) set them in a moderate oven, and bake
them a light brown. They should be eaten quite fresh.
RUSK.--Sift a quart of flour into a pan. Make a hole in the centre, and
pour in a quarter of a pound of fresh butter, cut up and softened in
half a pint of milk warmed on the stove. Beat two eggs very light, and
mix them gradually into the hole in the pan of flour, in turn with a
small wine-glass of rose water; or a table-spoonful of the rose water if
as strong as it should be, adding a large tea-spoonful of powdered mace,
nutmeg, and cinnamon. Lastly, a wine-glass and a half of fresh brewer's
yeast. Mix those articles well into the flour, till it becomes a lump of
soft dough. Knead it well on your pasteboard, and divide it into pieces
of equal size. Knead each piece separately. Form them so as to be tall
and high, when finished. Butter an iron pan, lay the rusks in it side by
side, and set them in a warm place to rise again. When quite light, bake
them in a moderate oven, and sift sugar over them when cool.
DRY RUSKS.--Dry rusks are used for infant's food, and for invalids. They
are made plain, without any butter, spice, or rose water, and after
being once baked are split, and baked over till they are all crisp and
browned on the inside. Use them dissolved, by pouring on a little warm
water or milk, and beat them with a spoon to a thick pap.
CROSS BUNS.--Pick clean a pound and a half of dried or Zante currants;
wash, drain, and dry them on a large flat dish placed in a slanting
position near the fire, or in the sun. It will be still better to
substitute for the currants a pound of Sultana (or seedless) raisins,
each raisin cut in half. When quite dry, dredge the fruit _thickly_ with
flour to prevent their sinking or clodding in the cake. Sift into a deep
pan two quarts of flour, and mix thoroughly with it a table-spoonful of
powdered cinnamon, and three quarters of a pound of powdered sugar. Cut
up three-quarters of a pound of fresh butter, into a large half pint of
rich milk. Warm it till the butter is quite soft, but not till it melts.
Make a hole in the centre of the pan of flour, and pour in the mixed
liquid, adding a jill (or two wine-glasses) of strong fresh yeast. Mix
in the flour by degrees, beginning round the edge of the hole, and
proceed gradually till you have the whole mass of ingredients well
incorporated. Cover the pan with a clean thick towel, and set it in a
warm place to rise. When it has risen high, and is cracked all over, mix
in a small tea-spoonful of dissolved soda. Flour your pasteboard, divide
the dough into equal portions, mix in the plums, and _slightly_ knead it
into round cakes the size of a small saucer. Place them on a large dish,
cover them, and set them again to rise in a warm place for half an hour.
Mark every one deeply with a cross, bake them brown, and when done brush
each bun lightly over with a glazing of white of egg, sweetened with
sugar.
CINNAMON BREAD.--On a bread-baking day, (having made more than your
usual quantity of wheat bread,) when the dough has risen quite light,
and is cracked all over the surface, take out as much as will weigh two
pounds. Mix into it a quarter of a pound of fresh butter, that has been
cut up and melted in a half pint of milk; and also, three beaten eggs.
Incorporate the butter, milk, and egg, thoroughly with the dough, and
then add (dissolved in a little tepid water,) a salt-spoonful (_not
more_) of soda. Have ready mixed in a bowl a pint of _brown_ sugar,
moistened with fresh butter, so as to make a stiff paste, and flavor it
with two heaped table-spoonfuls of powdered cinnamon. Form the cake into
the shape of a round loaf, and make deep incisions or cuts all over its
surface; filling them up with the cinnamon mixture pressed hard into the
cuts, pinching and closing the dough over them with your thumb and
finger to prevent the seasoning running out. Put the loaf into a round
pan, and set it into the oven to bake with the other bread. When cool,
glaze it over with white of egg, in which some powdered sugar has been
dissolved. Send it to table whole in form, but cut into loose slices.
Eat it fresh. All yeast cakes become dry and hard the next day.
This mixture may be baked in a square iron pan, and cut into square
cakes when cool.
WAFFLES.--We are indebted to the Germans for this cake, which, if this
receipt is exactly followed, will be found excellent. Warm a quart of
milk, and cut up in it a quarter of a pound of the best fresh butter,
and stir it about to soften in the warm milk. Beat eight eggs till very
thick and smooth, and stir them gradually into the milk and butter, in
turn with half a pound of sifted flour. Then add two table-spoonfuls of
strong fresh brewer's or baker's yeast. Cover the pan with a clean thick
cloth, and set it in a warm place to rise. When the batter has risen
nearly to the top, and is covered with bubbles, it is time to bake;
first stirring in a wine-glass of rose-water. Having heated your
waffle-iron in a good fire, grease it inside with the fresh butter used
for the waffle mixture, or with fresh lard; fill it, and shut the iron
closely. Turn it on the fire, that both sides of the cake may be equally
well done. Each side will require about three minutes baking. Take them
out of the iron by slipping a knife underneath. Then grease and prepare
the iron for another waffle. Butter them, and send them to the tea-table
"hot and hot;" and, to eat with this, a bowl or glass dish of sugar
flavored with powdered cinnamon.
In buying waffle irons choose them _very deep_, so as to make a good
impression when baked--if shallow, the waffle will look thin and poor.
Those that bake one waffle at a time are the handsomest and most
manageable.
SOFT CRULLERS.--Sift a pound and a half of flour, and have ready a pound
of powdered sugar. Heat in a round-bottomed sauce-pan a quart of water;
and when quite warm, stir the flour gradually into the water. In another
vessel set a pound of nice fresh butter over the fire, and when it
begins to melt, stir it, by degrees, into the flour and water. Then add,
gradually, the powdered sugar, and a grated nutmeg. Take the sauce-pan
off the fire, and beat the contents with a wooden spaddle, (which is far
better than a spoon) till they are thoroughly mixed. Next, having
beaten six eggs till very thick and light, stir them, gradually, into
the mixture, and then beat the whole very hard till it becomes a thick
batter. Add rose-water or lemon juice. Flour a pasteboard, and lay out
the batter upon it in the form of rings. The best and easiest way is to
pass it through a screw funnel.
Have ready on the fire a pot of boiling lard. Put in the crullers,
taking them off the board one at a time, on a broad-bladed knife. Boil
but a few at a time. They must be of a fine brown. Lift them out with a
perforated skimmer, draining back the lard into the pot. Lay them on a
large dish, and dredge them with sugar.
These, if properly managed, are far superior to all other crullers, but
they cannot be made in warm weather.
DOUGH-NUTS.--On baking day, take two pounds of very light bread dough
that has been made in the usual manner. Put it into a broad pan. Rub
into it half a pound of fresh butter, and half a pound of powdered
sugar, and a table-spoonful of mixed nutmeg and cinnamon. Wet it with
half a pint of milk, and mix in three well beaten eggs. Cover it, and
set by the fire to rise again. When quite light, flour your pasteboard,
and make the dough into oval balls; or, you may cut it into diamond
shapes, (handling it as little as possible.) Have ready, over the fire,
a pot of boiling lard. Drop the dough-nuts into it, and boil them; or
fry them brown in a frying-pan. Take them out one by one in a
perforated skimmer, draining back the lard into the pan. Spread them on
a large dish, and sift sugar over them. Eat them fresh; when heavy and
stale they are not fit. This is a German cake.
COMMON CRULLERS.--The above mixture for dough-nuts will make good
crullers. Flour your pasteboard, lay the dough upon it, roll it very
thick, and cut it into strips with a jagging iron. Take off short
pieces, and twist them into various forms. Throw them into a pot of
boiling lard. When done, drain the lard from them, spread them on a
large dish, and dredge them with powdered white sugar.
The Alpistera is a Spanish cruller, shaped like the five fingers united
at the wrist.
PLAIN DESSERTS.
MOLASSES PUDDING.--Sift into a pan a large quart of yellow indian meal.
Simmer over the fire a quart of milk, a pint of _West India molasses_,
stirred in while the milk is hot. Put the milk and molasses into a large
pan, and mix gradually into them the corn meal while they are quite
warm. Add a large table-spoonful of ground ginger, and a heaped
tea-spoonful of powdered cinnamon. Beat the whole mixture long and
hard, for on that will chiefly depend the lightness of the pudding, as
it has neither eggs, butter, nor yeast. If your batter seems too thin,
add, gradually, a little more corn meal; if too thick, a little more
milk and molasses.
Dip in hot water a large square pudding cloth. Spread it out in a pan,
dredge it well with flour, and then pour the pudding-mixture into it.
Tie it up, making the string very secure, but leave plenty of room
between the batter and the tying place, for the pudding to swell in
boiling, at least one-third. Put the pudding, directly, into a large
pot, and keep it steadily boiling for about three hours. Corn meal
requires long cooking. Turn the pudding twice with a fork. If the water
boils away too much, replenish it from a tea-kettle of hot water, kept
boiling for the purpose. If you pour in _cold_ water the pudding will
become hard and heavy, and be totally spoiled. Do not turn it out and
send it to table till wanted at dinner. Then dip it for a moment in cold
water, untie the string, and transfer it to a dish with a cover. Eat it
with molasses and butter; or make a sauce of drawn butter, flavored with
wine and nutmeg.
This pudding, if properly mixed, well beaten, and well boiled, will be
as light as if made with eggs, (the _West India_ molasses having that
property) and it will cut down rough or open grained, like a very light
sponge cake, unless the batter has been made too thick and stiff, and
not sufficiently beaten, and not allowed space enough to swell in
boiling. If made _too thin_, or not boiled well, the pudding will come
out a soft, shapeless mass. But if all is carefully managed, this (the
least costly of American puddings) will be found excellent for a plain
table, and perfectly wholesome. The flavor will be much improved by
adding to the cinnamon and ginger the grated yellow rind and juice of an
orange or lemon. If your first attempt at this pudding is a failure, try
it again--practice makes perfect.
For a large family, have two quarts of corn meal, two quarts of milk,
and one quart of _West India_ molasses; two table-spoonfuls of ginger,
and one of cinnamon.
What is left may be tied in a cloth, and boiled over again next day, for
half an hour or longer.
MOLASSES PIE.--Make a plain paste, allowing a quart of flour to a
quarter of a pound of fresh butter, and a quarter of a pound of lard.
Cut up the butter into the pan of flour, and rub it into a dough, with a
half tumbler of cold water. Too much water is injurious to any paste,
rendering it tough and hard. Roll out the paste into a sheet, and with a
broad knife spread all over it one-half of the lard. Sprinkle it with
flour, fold it, and roll it out again. Spread on the remainder of the
lard, dredge it slightly, fold it again, and then divide it into two
sheets. Line with one sheet the inside of a pie-dish, and fill it with
molasses, mixed with butter, and flavored with ginger and cinnamon, or
lemon or orange. Put on the other sheet of paste as a lid to the pie.
Crimp or notch the edges. Bake it of a pale brown, and send it to table
fresh, but not hot.
MOLASSES POT-PIE.--Make plenty of paste, allowing to _each quart_ of
flour a small half pound of finely minced suet. Line the pot
three-quarters up the sides with paste, and put in a quart of West India
molasses, flavored with ginger and cinnamon, lemon or orange grating,
and juice. Cover it with a lid of paste, _not fitting closely_ round its
edges, and cut a cross slit in the top. Have ready six or eight extra
pieces of suet paste, cut into squares, and boiled by themselves. When
the pie is done, put these little cakes (ready boiled) into the
molasses, having removed the lid or cover of the pie, and cut it up.
Take out the inside paste, and cut it in pieces also. Serve up the whole
in one large dish.
BATTER PUDDING.--Having beaten eight eggs till very thick and smooth,
stir them gradually into a pan of milk, in turn with eight
table-spoonfuls of flour, added by degrees. Give the whole a hard
stirring at last. Dip a square pudding cloth into hot water, shake it
out, dredge it with flour, and spread it over the inside of an empty
pan. Pour the pudding mixture into it. Gather up the cloth, leaving
ample space for the pudding to swell in boiling, and securing the
string tightly. Put the pudding into a large pot of boiling water, and
boil it fast and steadily for two hours. Turn it with a large fork once
or twice while boiling. When done, dip it for a moment in cold water,
that you may turn it out easily. Send it to table hot, and eat it with
any sauce you like, from molasses, or butter and sugar, to wine sauce.
This, if exactly followed, is the very best receipt for a plain batter
pudding. It may be made of corn meal, or wheat bread-crumbs, (eight
table-spoonfuls to eight eggs, and one quart of milk.) Corn meal
requires with it one or two spoonfuls of wheat flour for this pudding.
We cannot approve of boiling batter puddings in moulds, as they are
rarely allowed sufficient space for swelling, and are therefore tough
and solid. Also, it is frequently very difficult to get a hot pudding
out of a mould.
The above pudding is very nice baked in the dripping pan under a piece
of roast beef or veal.
FRITTERS.--Make the same mixture as for batter pudding. Eight eggs
beaten very light and thick, and stirred gradually into a quart of milk,
in turn with eight spoonfuls of flour; and, when all are united, beat
the whole very hard. In a large frying-pan melt a pound of lard, and
when it comes to a boil, put in with a large spoon a half tea-cupful of
batter. Fry them fast, a panful at a time, and as they require no
stirring they will soon be done. For the next panful, add half a pound
more of lard, and see that it is boiling well all the time. If there is
not enough of lard, or if it only simmers, the fritters will stick to
the bottom, and be heavy, dark, and greasy. Send them to table "hot and
hot," sprinkled with sugar. Eat them with sugar, cinnamon, and white
wine. This is the best possible receipt for plain fritters.
ORANGE FRITTERS.--For frying fruit fritters use nice fresh butter. Peel,
and cut into round slices (not very thin) some fine oranges, removing
the seeds carefully. Put into each fritter (while frying) a slice of
orange, and dredge with sugar. Eat them with sweetened orange juice.
These are fritters for company.
PEACH FRITTERS.--Take large ripe free-stone peaches, the best you can
get. Peel them, cut them in half, remove the stones, and put some loaf
sugar into the cavities from whence you took them. Have ready, in a
large frying-pan over the fire, an ample quantity of nice fresh butter,
boiling fast. Put in the batter, and to every spoonful allow half a
peach, laid on its back. When done take them up separately, and drain
the butter back into the pan. Serve up the fritters dredged with white
sugar. You may color these fritters pink by mixing in the batter a
little prepared alkanet, the chips tied up in a thin muslin bag, and
laid in a small saucer of sweet oil. Stir the colored oil into the
batter; it has no taste, but the color is beautiful. Fritters may be
colored green by mixing in the batter some of the juice obtained from
pounded spinach leaves.
APPLE OR QUINCE FRITTERS.--Pare and core some pippin or bell-flower
apples, or ripe quinces. Cut them into round slices, and fry one in
every fritter. Eat them with sweetened lemon juice. You may make
fritters with a large table-spoonful of any thick marmalade in the
centre. Or, with a large fresh oyster in the middle of each. Or, with a
table-spoonful of minced meat. These, also, are company fritters.
PANCAKES--Are very inferior to good fritters, and much more troublesome
to bake. They are the same ingredients mixed thinner; are also fried in
lard, and must be turned by tossing them over (one at a time) in the
frying-pan.
JUNKET.--Having turned a quart of rich milk, by stirring into it a half
tea-cupful of the water in which two or three square inches of rennet
has been soaked for several hours, set the milk in a covered pitcher, in
a warm place, till it becomes a firm curd, the whey separating from it,
and looking thin and greenish. Keep it on ice till just before it is
wanted for table. Then transfer it to a large bowl, and sweeten it well
with white sugar. Mix in two glasses of sweet wine, and grate over it a
nutmeg. It is very nice with extract of vanilla added to the wine, &c.
It is not a good way to preserve a rennet by cutting it into little
pieces, and keeping it in wine, stirring the wine into milk when you
wish to form a curd. If turned with rennet wine, the curd will never
separate completely from the whey, which will therefore be always thick
and whitish. By using rennet water, the whey will be pure, thin, and of
a light green, and the curd very white and firm. In Philadelphia market,
dried rennets (which will keep a year or two hanging up in a cool dry
closet) are universally used to make curds, and are always to be bought
at small prices. They are cured by salting them, and stretching on a
bent rod. To use this rennet, cut off a small bit, and soak it several
hours, or over night, in a cup of lukewarm water. Then stir this water
into the milk.
MILK POTTAGE OR FARMER'S RICE.--Take some rich milk, and put it on to
boil in a pot of sufficient size. When it has begun to boil, stir in, by
degrees, enough of wheat flour to make it about as thick as the general
consistence of rice milk, and boil it well, stirring it frequently down
to the bottom. Add a few blades of mace, or some powdered cinnamon.
Knead together some flour and fresh butter, forming a lump of white
paste. Divide the paste into small round dumplings about the size of a
cent, and put them to boil with the milk. When the pottage is well
boiled, take it up, and transfer it to a tureen or deep white-ware dish,
and make it very sweet with good brown sugar. Grate some nutmeg over the
surface.
This is an excellent addition to a winter supper-table, and is much
liked by children, for whom it is also good at the end of a plain
dinner. As a substitute for rice milk, it is better and more wholesome
than rice itself.
PLAIN RICE PUDDING.--Pick some rice, carefully removing from it the
husks, and all impurities; and if you find it the least sour or musty,
throw it away, and get some that is perfectly good. Wash it through two
or three waters, till it drains off quite clean. Stir a quarter of a
pound of this rice into a quart of good rich milk. If the milk is poor
and thin, and has been skimmed till it is blue, or mixed with water, the
pudding will be poor accordingly. In the country where cream is easily
to be obtained, add some to the milk which you use for the rice pudding.
Stir in also a quarter of a pound of good brown sugar, and a
tea-spoonful of powdered cinnamon. Set the pudding into an oven, and
bake till a brown skin covers the surface, and the rice is quite soft,
which you may ascertain by lifting a bit of the brown skin from the edge
and trying the rice. Eat it warm or cold. It is usual in the country to
put several of these rice puddings into the oven on baking days.
They will be greatly improved by the addition of two or three beaten
eggs, and a few bits of fresh butter, stirred in with the rice and
sugar. Also powdered cinnamon. Rice is in itself so tasteless, that it
requires good flavoring.
PLAIN BOILED RICE PUDDING.--Pick, wash, and drain a pound of rice.
Moisten it with a quart of milk. Have ready a pound of seedless raisins.
Dredge them well all over with flour to prevent their sinking. Stir them
gradually into the rice and milk. Boil it in a cloth, leaving ample
space for it to swell. Keep the water very hot all the time. Eat it with
butter and sugar, seasoned with ground cinnamon.
RICE CUPS.--Boil in water, in the usual manner, a pound or more of
cleaned rice till it is perfectly soft. Drain it well, and mix it with a
quart of milk, seasoned with a mixed table-spoonful of powdered cinnamon
and nutmeg or mace. Boil it a second time till all the grains are
dissolved into a smooth mass, and their form cannot be distinguished.
Mould it in large tea-cups, pint bowls, or blanc-mange moulds; and when
it has taken the desired form, turn it out on dishes, and serve up with
it a small tureen of wine sauce, or of boiled custard made very sweet,
and seasoned, by boiling in the milk of which the custard was made a
few peach leaves, or some bitter almonds broken up, or a broken-up stick
of cinnamon, to be taken out when it is done.
BREAD PUDDING.--Grate or crumble as much stale wheat bread (omitting the
crust) as will fill a pint bowl when done. Boil a pint of good milk with
a broken-up stick of cinnamon in it. Strain the milk, and pour it
(boiling) over the bread. Sweeten it with three large table-spoonfuls of
sugar. Stir in one or two large table-spoonfuls of fresh butter. Beat
four eggs till very thick and smooth, and add them, gradually, to the
mixture, when it is lukewarm. It will be much improved by the grated
peel and juice of a lemon or orange. Bake it in a deep dish or mould;
sift white sugar over it. Eat it warm, with sweet sauce flavored with
nutmeg.
BREAD AND BUTTER PUDDING.--Cut large even slices of yesterday's bread,
(_leaving on_ the crust) and spread them well with fresh butter. Strew
over them thickly half a pound of Zante currants, picked and washed.
Make a batter of four beaten eggs and a large pint of milk, seasoned
with powdered nutmeg or mace. Pour some of this batter into the bottom
of a deep white dish. Then put on as many slices of bread and currants
as will cover the bottom. Next, add the remainder of the batter, and
finish with slices of bread and butter strewed with currants. Bake till
the batter is set and firm. When done, serve it up warm.
A BROWN BETTY.--Pare, core, and slice thin some fine _juicy_ apples.
Cover with the apples the bottom of a large deep white-ware dish.
Sweeten them well with plenty of brown sugar; adding grated lemon or
orange peel. Strew over them a thick layer of bread-crumbs, and add to
the crumbs a _very few_ bits of fresh butter. Then put in another layer
of cut apples and sugar, followed by a second layer of bread-crumbs and
butter. Next more apples and sugar; then more bread-crumbs and butter;
repeat this till the dish is full, finishing it with bread-crumbs. Bake
it till the apples are entirely done and quite soft. Send it to table
hot. It will be improved (if in the country at cider-making season) by
adding to each layer of apples a very little sweet unfermented cider,
fresh from the press.
This pudding is in some places called an Apple Pandowdy. We believe it
is Brown Betty in the South; Pandowdy in the North. It is a good plain
pudding if the butter is fresh and sweet, and not too much of it. The
apples must be _juicy_ and _not_ sweet. Sweet apples never cook well.
SWEETENED SWEET POTATOS.--The sweet potatos should be all about the same
size, or else so large as to require splitting. Boil them till, on
probing them with a fork, you find them soft all through. Peel off the
skin, and trim off the sharp points of each end. Place them in a large
baking dish, and lay among them some pieces of fresh butter; sprinkle
powdered sugar _profusely_ over them and among them, especially in the
vacancies between the potatos. Set the dish into a moderate oven, and
bake slowly till the butter and sugar are all melted and blended
together, forming a nice crust. They should be eaten not with the meat,
but _after_ it. They make a good supper or luncheon dish, and a plain
dessert at dinner for plain-living people.
Sufficient butter and sugar will make the crust like a thick syrup, when
broken. They should be cooked this way only when in the height of their
season, and perfectly fresh and nice. When sweet potatos are old enough
to decay at the ends, give them up. Large sweet potatos may be first
boiled; then peeled and sliced thick, sprinkled thick with sugar, and
fried in fresh butter or lard; the lard well drained from them as they
are taken up. Eat _them_ with meat.
They are good boiled very soft, peeled and sent to table mashed, (while
hot) with fresh butter--or made into thick flat cakes, and browned on
the top.
It is a great waste to bake sweet potatos whole. If baked enough, (as
they seldom are) they "go all to skin."
APPLE DUMPLINGS.--For dumplings the apples should be large and
juicy--pippins, bellflowers, or the best you can get. Small sweet apples
make very poor dumplings. Having pared the apples, extract the cores
with a tin apple-corer, so as to leave them smooth and whole. Why is it
that so many families "have never had an apple corer in their house?"
They cost, at the utmost, but twenty-five cents, are to be had at all
the tinsmiths' and furnishing stores; and they screw out an apple core
in a minute; saving time and trouble. The apples being ready, make a
nice paste in the proportion of a small pint of finely-minced suet, to a
large quart of flour; one-half of the suet rubbed into the pan of flour,
(adding _a very little_ water) the other half sliced thin, and spread
all over the sheet of dough after it is rolled out; then folding it, and
rolling it out again. Cut the sheet of dough in as many circular pieces
as you have apples, allowing them large enough to close entirely over
the top, and rolling it thick enough to hold the apple securely without
danger of its breaking through. Put an apple on every piece of paste,
and fill with brown sugar the hole from whence the core was taken.
Squeeze on the sugar some fresh lemon juice, with the grated yellow
rind; or, add some powdered nutmeg or mace, or some rose-water. This
will make them very nice. They should be boiled in small cloths kept
clean for the purpose, dipped in hot water, and sprinkled with flour,
and room left for the dumpling to swell. Put them into a pot of boiling
water, and boil them steadily for near an hour. Serve them up very hot,
as they become heavy when cold. Eat with them butter and sugar, or cream
sauce.
PEACH DUMPLINGS.--Take large fine free-stone peaches. Peel them, cut
them in half, and extract the stones; fill the sockets with white sugar,
and put the two halves together. Make a nice suet paste, or, if more
convenient, of butter, but it must be quite fresh, and very nice. Allow
half a pound of butter to a large quart (or a pound) of sifted flour.
Rub half the butter into the pan of flour, and make it into a dough,
with a very little cold water. Too much water always makes tough heavy
paste. Then roll the paste into a sheet, and put on it with a knife the
remainder of the butter in regular bits. Fold it, roll it out again, and
divide it into circular pieces. Lay a peach on each. Gather up the dough
over the top, so as to form a well-shaped dumpling. Boil them in cloths
for full three-quarters of an hour or more. Eat them with cream sauce.
Dumplings of raspberries, or blackberries, may be made as above. Also,
of gooseberries or currants, made very sweet. Quinces preserved whole
make excellent dumplings.
APPLE PUDDINGS--Are made like large dumplings, with suet paste, and
flavored with lemon, or rose, or nutmeg. The apples must be sliced. The
pudding should be tied in a cloth; put into a pot of fast-boiling water,
kept steadily boiling for two hours or more, and sweetened with brown
sugar as soon as it is taken up, cutting a round piece of paste out of
the top, and putting in with the sugar a small piece of fresh butter.
Large puddings may be made in this manner of stoned cherries, damsons,
or plums, or of gooseberries, or currants--allowing plenty of fruit, and
making it very sweet; besides sending sugar to table with it.
ROLLED PUDDING.--Have ready a quart or more of apples stewed with _very
little_ water, sweetened with brown sugar, and flavored with lemon or
rose. Prepare a nice suet paste. Roll it out, and cut it into a square
sheet. Spread it _thickly_ with the stewed fruit, (not extending the
fruit quite to the edges of the dough) and roll it up as far as it will
go. Close it nicely at each end. Tie it in a cloth, dipped in hot water
and floured, and put it into a fast-boiling pot. Boil it well. Cut it
down in round slices. Eat it with butter and sugar beaten together, or
with cream sauce. You may make this pudding of any sort of thick
marmalade, spread over the sheet of paste; or, with ripe uncooked
currants, raspberries, or blackberries, mashed raw, sweetened, and
spread on thickly. This pudding is the same that common English people
call a "Jack in a blanket;" and sometimes "a Dog in a blanket." The
_blanket_ is supposed to mean the paste; the _dog_ is probably the
fruit.
FRUIT POT-PIES.--These are made in a pot lined with paste, interspersed
with small squares of the same dough, and covered with a paste lid. The
filling is of dried apples, peaches quartered, blackberries,
raspberries, ripe currants, or gooseberries; all well sweetened, and
cooked in their own juice, with a small tea-cupful of water at the
bottom to "start them." Both fruit and paste must be perfectly well
done.
Fruit pot-pies are easier made and cooked, than fruit puddings or
dumplings. We recommend them highly for plain tables. They require more
sugar when they are dished. A large _bain-marie_ is excellent for
cooking any sort of pot-pie, the water being all in the outside kettle.
PLAIN BAKED CUSTARD.--Boil a quart of milk, with a small bunch of green
peach leaves in it, or a half dozen of peach kernels broken up. When the
milk has boiled well strain it into a broad pan, and set it away to
cool. In a shallow pan beat six eggs till very light, thick, and smooth.
Stir them, gradually, into the milk, in turn with a tea-cup of white
sugar, and a tea-spoonful of powdered cinnamon or mace. Transfer the
mixture to a deep white dish, set it into the oven, and bake it till
the top is well browned, but not scorched. When done, set it away to
cool, and grate nutmeg over the surface.
BOILED CUSTARD.--Make exactly the above mixture; but instead of baking,
boil it in a porcelain lined sauce-pan, stirring it all the time. As
soon as it comes to a boil, take it immediately from the fire, or it
will curdle. Put it into a glass or china pitcher, and set it to cool. A
_bain-marie_ is excellent for boiled custard.
If custards are baked in cups, set them in an iron pan half full of warm
water. If too hot, or kept baking too long, they will be tough and
porous, and have whey at the bottom. So they will if the milk is warm
when the eggs are added. Good custards will cut down to the very bottom
as smooth and firm as the best blanc-mange.
APPLES BAKED WHOLE.--Never bake apples without paring and coring. They
will be found nearly all skin and core, and are troublesome and
inconvenient to eat. Have fine large apples; take off a thin paring, and
extract the core with a tin corer. Fill up the holes with brown sugar.
Place the apples, side by side, in a square tin pan, set them in an
oven, and bake them till, when tried with a fork, you find them soft all
through. Send them to table warm, but not burning hot. If you have
country cream to eat with them, so much the better.
BAKED PEARS.--Take good-sized pears. Small ones are not worth the
trouble of cooking. Peel them, split them in half, and remove the core,
the stem, and the blossom end. Strew them well with brown sugar, and lay
them on their backs in a large baking dish. A narrow slip of the yellow
rind of lemon or orange, (cut so thin as to look transparent,) will be a
great improvement, laid in the hollow of each pear. Also the juice
squeezed. Put into the dish sufficient molasses or steam-syrup to well
cover the pears. Place them in an oven, and bake them till they are
soft, but not till they break. If you have no lemon or orange, season
them with ground ginger or cinnamon.
The great pound pears are baked as above, with the addition of port wine
and a few cloves, and colored red with a little cochineal.
COUNTRY CHARLOTTE.--Slice or quarter some fine juicy apples, having
pared and cored them. Put them on a large dish, sweeten them well with
brown sugar, set them in the oven, and bake them till soft enough to
mash smoothly. Then cut some slices of bread, butter them slightly, and
dip every one in sweet cider fresh from the press. Let them soak in the
cider a short time, but not till they break. Take them out of the
cider, spread every one thickly with the mashed apple, (sprinkling on
more sugar) and send them to the dinner table in a deep dish or pan.
A PLAIN CHARLOTTE.--Stew very nicely any sort of ripe fruit, (currants,
gooseberries, blackberries, stoned cherries, or stoned plums,) and as
soon as you take them from the fire make them very sweet with brown
sugar. Prepare some large slices of buttered bread, with the crust pared
off. Cover each slice thickly with the stewed fruit. Lay some in the
bottom of a deep dish, and stand up others all round its sides. Fill up
the dish with the same, and sift white sugar over the surface.
It may be made of sliced sponge-cake, spread thickly with stewed dried
peaches.
GOOSEBERRY FOOL.--This foolish name signifies an excellent preparation
of gooseberries; stewed, mashed, and made very sweet with brown sugar.
Have ready in another dish a good boiled custard. When all has become
cool, mix well together in a large bowl the stewed gooseberries and the
custard, and season the mixture well with nutmeg. It will be found very
good.
Any other "fool" may be made in the same manner, of stewed fruit and
boiled custard. It saves the trouble and expense of making paste, or
can be prepared at a shorter notice. It is good either at dinner or
tea.
We hope somebody will think of a better name for it.
POTATO PASTE.--Boil three moderate-sized potatos till very soft. Then
peel and mash them fine and smooth. Put them into a deep pan, and mix
them well with a quart of flour and a half pint of lard; or what is
better, with that quantity of beef dripping, or the dripping of fresh
roast pork. Never for any sort of crust use mutton dripping. Having
mixed the mashed potato, dripping, and flour into a lump, roll it out
into a thick sheet. Sprinkle it with flour, and spread over it evenly a
thin layer of dripping or lard. Fold it again, and set it in a cool
place till wanted. It is good for meat pies, and for boiled meat
pudding, or any sort of dumplings.
VERY PLAIN PIE-CRUST.--Sift a quart of flour into a pan. Mix together,
with a knife, a quarter of a pound of fresh butter, and a quarter of a
pound of lard, and when they are well blended mix them with the flour,
and form them into a dough with as little water as possible--the water
being very cold. Use ice water in summer. Avoid touching the paste with
your hands, but use a knife almost entirely. If your hand is warm, do
not rub butter into flour with it, but manage all the mixing with a
knife. If you have a cool hand, you may rub the butter into the flour,
and reserve the lard to spread all over the sheet of dough. Roll it out
lightly. Dredge with flour, fold it, spread on the lard, and roll it
again. Divide it into two pieces, and roll out each of them. Trim the
edges nicely, and make them to fit your pie-dish. If one is for bottom
crust, roll it out thinnest towards the centre, having for this part of
the process a very small rolling-pin, but a finger long. Grease with
lard a deep dish, or soup plate, and line it with the bottom crust. Fill
it up with the fruit you intend for the pie, sweetened well with brown
sugar, and heaping the fruit high in the centre. Cover it with a lid of
paste, trim, and notch the edges neatly, and make a cross slit in the
top; set it in the oven, and bake it steadily till it is a light brown.
When it seems to be done, lift up a small piece at one side to try if
the fruit is soft. Apples for pies should be pared, cored, and sliced
very thin. If green, stew them before they are baked.
If you have saved enough of the dripping of roast beef, veal, or pork,
(skimmed and put away in a covered crock) it will be good shortening for
common pies--far superior to salt butter, and much lighter. Salt renders
pastry hard and heavy.
Never use suet for _baked_ paste. It is only for dumplings and pot-pies.
Bread dough, or any dough made with yeast, is not good when boiled,
becoming tough and leathery, and being very unwholesome.
Except in very plain country places a fruit pie, with two crusts,
(under and upper) is now seen but rarely. _Meat_ pies, or birds,
however, should have two crusts. The gravy is a great improvement to the
under one. English people usually make their fruit pies with a top-crust
only, putting a turned down tea-cup under the centre of the lid to
collect the juice, (of course removing the cup when the pie is cut.) It
is a good method in a country where the cost of flour is high.
Too much economy in the shortening will infallibly make the crust very
poor, hard, heavy, and unwholesome. If you cannot afford dessert paste,
do not attempt pies at all; but substitute a plain charlotte, or slices
of bread and butter, covered with stewed fruit, sweetened, and laid in a
deep dish.
COMMON FRUIT PIES.--Make the paste as above. For baking, use only apples
that are juicy, and rather sour. If green, stew them before they are put
in the pie, and make them very sweet with brown sugar. Peaches should be
peeled and quartered, leaving out the stones. Of cherries, take the
large red juicy pie cherries. Black cherries, (when baked) go all to
stones, and they are not worth the trouble of cooking, though very good
when eaten from the trees. Currants must be carefully stripped from the
stems, and made very sweet. Gooseberries must be "top and tailed," and
require great sweetening; so do cranberries. Blackberries make good
plain pies, and are very juicy if ripe. All pies should be well filled.
Pies may be made of ripe wild grapes, stewed in molasses or maple sugar.
EXCELLENT PLAIN PASTE.--Sift into a deep pan a quart and a pint of the
best superfine flour. Have ready (set on ice, and covered with a thick
double cloth) a pound of the very best fresh butter. When you want to
use it, cut it into four quarters. Cut one quarter into very little
bits, and with a broad knife mix it well into the flour, adding, by
degrees, a very little water, no more than half a tumbler. Some flour,
however, requires more water than others. Avoid touching the dough with
your hands, in case they should be warm. Take out the lump of dough,
dredge it with flour, and lay it on your pasteboard. Keep on a plate
near you a little extra flour for sprinkling and rolling. Roll out the
sheet of dough very thin, having floured the rolling-pin to prevent its
sticking. Place, with a knife, the second quarter of butter in little
bits all over the sheet of paste, at equal distances. Then fold it
square, (covering the butter with the corners of paste) dredge it, and
roll it out again to receive the third quarter of butter. Repeat this
again, till all the butter is in; always rolling very fast, and pressing
on _lightly_. You will see, towards the last, the paste puffing into
little blisters all over the surface; a sign of success. When the last
layer of butter is all in, roll the whole into a large sheet; roll it
round like a scroll, and put it away in a cold place, but not so cold
as to freeze it, for it will then be spoiled. When you are ready for it
bring it out, cut it down, and roll out each piece ready for use. There
is no better family paste than this, for all sorts of pies; meat or bird
pies, especially.
LEMON BREAD PUDDING.--Mince very fine a quarter of a pound of beef suet.
Have ready a pint and a half of finely-grated bread-crumbs. Prepare the
yellow rind of a large lemon, grated off from the white skin beneath,
and squeeze the juice among it. Mix together in a deep pan the
bread-crumbs and suet, adding four or five table-spoonfuls of powdered
sugar, and a tea-spoonful of mixed spice, cinnamon, nutmeg and mace.
Beat in a broad shallow pan five eggs till very smooth and thick. Add
them gradually to the other ingredients, a little at a time. Have ready
a square pudding-cloth, scalded and floured. Pour in the mixture, and
tie the cloth tightly, but not closely, as room must be left for the
pudding to swell in boiling. Put it into a pot of hot water, and boil it
steadily for two hours. Send wine sauce to table with it--or cold sauce,
of beaten butter, and sugar, and nutmeg.
If you use butter instead of suet, you can bake this pudding.
PLAIN PLUM PUDDING.--This is for a small plain-living family. Chop very
fine half a pound of nice fresh beef suet. Stone a half pound of very
good raisins, or use the sultana or seedless sort. Dredge them well on
all sides with flour to prevent their sinking to the bottom. Grate the
yellow rind of a large fresh lemon, and strain the juice into the saucer
on which you have grated the rind. It will be still better if you use
the rind and juice of an orange as well as of a lemon. Put into a bowl
half a pint of grated bread-crumbs, and a heaped table-spoonful of
flour, and pour on them a half pint of boiling milk. Beat in a shallow
pan four eggs till very thick and light. Mix the suet gradually into the
bread, adding alternately the beaten egg, (a little at a time) the lemon
and orange, and four heaped table-spoonfuls of sugar. Lastly, stir in by
degrees, the raisins, well floured. Put the mixture into a square
pudding-cloth spread out into a deep pan, and dipped in boiling water.
Tie it securely, leaving room to swell. Boil it three hours.
Eat with it a sauce of butter, sugar, and nutmeg, beaten together.
FINE DESSERTS.
THE BEST PUFF-PASTE.--To a pound of the best fresh butter allow a pound
of the finest flour, sifted into a deep pan. Have on a plate some
additional sifted flour for sprinkling and rolling in. Divide the pound
of butter into four equal parts, and three of those parts divide again
into two portions. Mix the first quarter of butter into the mass of
flour, cutting it with a broad-bladed knife. If your hands are naturally
warm, avoid touching the dough with them, as their heat will render it
heavy. Paste, to be very good, should be made on a marble slab. All
well-furnished kitchens or pastry rooms should be provided with
marble-topped tables, and marble mortars. Add gradually to the lump of
dough a _very little cold_ water, barely sufficient to moisten it with
the first quarter of butter, and mix it well with the aid of the broad
knife; but proceed as fast as you can, and do not work with it too long.
Too much water will render it tough, and too much working will make it
heavy. Then sprinkle the marble slab with some of the spare flour, take
the lump of paste from the pan, and roll it out into a sheet. Divide one
of the portions of butter into little bits, and with the knife disperse
them equally all over the sheet of paste. Then sprinkle it again with
flour, fold it up so as to cover the butter, and roll it out again.
Proceed in this manner till you have got in all the butter, rolling
always lightly, and you will soon see the surface of the dough puffing
up in little blisters, a sign that it is becoming light. Besides the
first mixing in the lump, the butter will then be put in with what are
called six turns. When baked, you will see that every turn makes a layer
or sheet. If you choose to multiply them, you may make nine sheets. We
have seen twelve. All this must be done fast and lightly. Then put away
the paste to cool for ten minutes before arranging it in the dishes.
This quantity will make two pies or four tarts. In baking, let the oven
be hot, and keep up a steady heat, so the paste may not fall after it
has first risen. When pale brown, it is done.
SHELLS.--For shells take the best puff paste, and line with it large
deep plates, the size of a soup-plate. They should have broad rims.
Notch the edges of the paste handsomely with a sharp penknife, and be
careful not to plaster on, afterwards, any bits by way of mending or
rectifying an error. When baked, every patch in the border will show
itself plainly. Bake the shells entirely empty, till pale brown all
over. When cool fill them, _quite up the top_, with whatever marmalade
or stewed fruit you have prepared for the purpose. In this way (baking
them empty,) the shells are thoroughly done, and not clammy and heavy at
the bottom, as they always are when filled _before_ baking. The fruit
requires no other cooking, having been done once already. Sift white
sugar over the surface. If for company whip some cream, sweeten it, and
flavor it with lemon, orange, pine-apple, strawberry or vanilla, and
pile it on the surface of the shell before it goes to table.
Small tarts may, in this way, be baked empty, for patty-pans, and filled
with ripe fruit, such as strawberries, raspberries, or grated
pine-apple, made very sweet, and creamed on the top--or you may fill the
shells with any sort of sweetmeats, either preserves or marmalade, or
with mince-meat. Shells may be made thus, and filled with stewed
oysters, or reed-birds, cooked previously, and served up warm; or with
nicely-dressed lobster. You may make lids for them of the same paste
baked by itself on a shallow plate, and when taken off fitting well as a
cover to put on afterwards before sending to table.
BORDERS OF PASTE.--These are made of fine puff-paste cut into handsome
patterns, or wreaths of leaves or flowers. They are laid round the broad
edge of the deep plate that contains a rich pudding, such as lemon,
orange, almond, cocoa-nut, pine-apple, &c.; the dish being full down to
the bottom and up to the top, and having no paste but the border round
the edge. They must be baked in the dish on which they come to table,
and not in tin or iron, as the pudding cannot be transferred. At
handsome tables, a pudding baked with a paste _under_ it (lining the
dish,) is now seen but seldom.
Instead of wreaths, you may make a puff-paste border by laying a thick
evenly cut band of paste round the flat rim of the dish, and notching
it, forming with a penknife small squares about an inch wide, and
turning one square up and one square down alternately, _cheveux de
frize_ fashion. Or you may make the squares near two inches wide and
turn over one corner sharp, leaving the other flat. This looks pretty
when baked, if the paste is _very puff_.
LEMON PUDDING.--To make two puddings take two fine large ripe lemons,
and rub them under your hand on a table. Grate off the thin yellow rind
upon a large lump of loaf sugar. Cut the lemon, and squeeze the juice
into a saucer through a strainer, to avoid the seeds. Put half a pound
of powdered white sugar into a deep earthen pan, (including the sugar on
which you have rubbed the lemons) and cut up in it half a pound of the
best fresh butter, adding the juice. Stir them to a light cream with a
wooden spaddle, which is shorter than a mush-stick, and flattened at one
end; that end rather thin, and rather broad. Beat in a shallow pan,
(with hickory rods) six eggs, till very thick and smooth, and stir them
gradually into the mixture. Have ready some of the best puff-paste, made
in the proportion of a pint or half a pound of very nice fresh butter to
a pint or half a pound of sifted flour. Take china or white-ware dishes
with broad rims. Butter the rim, and lay round it neatly a border of the
paste. _Put no paste inside the dish beneath the mixture._ Fill each
dish to the top with the pudding mixture, and set it immediately into
the oven. It will bake in about half an hour When done, and browned on
the surface, set it to cool, and send it to table in the dish it was
baked in.
Fine puddings are now made without an under crust, but merely a handsome
border of puff-paste laid round the edge, and helped with the pudding.
Sift sugar over the surface. This quantity will make one large pudding,
or two small ones.
To almost all puddings the flavor of lemon or orange is an improvement.
A genuine _baked_ lemon pudding, (such as was introduced by the justly
celebrated Mrs. Goodfellow,) and is well known at Philadelphia dinner
parties, must have _no flour_ or bread whatever. The mixture only of
butter, sugar, and eggs, (with the proper flavoring) and when baked it
cuts down smooth and shining, like a nice custard. Made this way, they
are among the most delicious of puddings; but, of course, are not
intended for children or invalids. We have already given numerous
receipts for _plain_ family desserts. In this _chapter_ the receipts are
"for company." The author was _really_ a pupil of Mrs. Goodfellow's, and
for double the usual term, and while there took notes of every thing
that was made, it being the desire of the liberal and honest
instructress that her scholars _should learn in reality_.
ALMOND PUDDING.--Blanch in hot water a quarter of a pound of shelled
sweet and two ounces of bitter almonds, and as you blanch them throw
them into a bowl of cold water. When all are thus peeled, take them out
singly, wipe them dry in a clean napkin, and lay them on a plate. Pound
them one at a time in a marble mortar till they become a smooth paste,
adding frequently a few drops of rose-water to make them light and
preserve their whiteness, mixing the bitter almonds with the sweet. As
you pound them, take out the paste and lay it in a saucer with a
tea-spoon. Without the rose-water they will become oily and
dark-colored. Without a few bitter almonds the others will be insipid.
The almonds may be thus prepared a day before they are wanted for use.
Cut up a large quarter of a pound of fresh butter in a large quarter of
a pound of powdered sugar, and stir them together with a spaddle till
very light and creamy. Add a large wine-glass of mixed wine and brandy,
and half a grated nutmeg. Beat, till they stand alone, the whites only
of six eggs, and stir them gradually into the butter and sugar, in turn
with the pounded almonds. Stir the whole very hard at the last. Put the
mixture into a deep dish with a broad rim, and fill it up to the top,
laying a border of puff-paste all round the rim. Serve up the pudding
cool, having sifted sugar over it.
_Boiled Almond Pudding_--Is made as above; only with whole eggs, both
yolks and whites beaten together. Boil it in a _bain-marie_ or in a
thick square cloth, in a pot of boiling water. When done, turn it out
and send it to table warm. Eat it with sugar, wet with rose-water.
_Orange Pudding_--Is made exactly like lemon pudding; the ingredients
in the same proportion, and baked without an under crust, having a
border of puff-paste all round the edge, and sent to table in the dish
it was baked in. These fine-baked puddings should have no addition
whatever of bread-crumbs or flour. They should cut down smooth and
glassy.
_Boiled Lemon or Orange Pudding_--Make the foregoing mixture either with
two lemons or two oranges, adding to the other ingredients a half pint
finely-crumbled sponge cake. Boil the mixture either in a _bain-marie_
or a thick pudding cloth, and serve it up warm. For sauce, have ready
butter and sugar beaten to a cream, and flavored well with lemon or
orange, and grated nutmeg.
COCOA-NUT PUDDING.--Break up a ripe cocoa-nut. Having peeled off the
brown skin, wash all the pieces of nut in cold water, and wipe them dry
on a clean napkin. Then grate the cocoa-nut _very fine_ into a pan, till
you have a quart. In a deep pan cut up a quarter of a pound of fresh
butter, and add a very light quarter of a pound of powdered white sugar.
Stir together (with a spaddle,) the butter and sugar till they are very
light and creamy, and add a grated nutmeg. Beat, (till they stand alone)
the _whites only_ of six eggs; the yolks may be reserved for soft
custards. Stir the beaten white of egg gradually into the pan of butter
and sugar, alternately with the grated cocoa-nut, a little at a time of
each, and a glass of mixed brandy and white wine. Stir the whole very
hard. Fill with it a broad-edged deep white dish, and lay a puff-paste
border all round the rim. Bake it light brown, and when cool sift white
sugar over it, serving it up in the dish it was baked in.
_Boiled Cocoa-nut Pudding._--For this make the above mixture, and boil
it in a mould, or in a _bain-marie_, with the water in the outside
kettle. Eat it either warm or cold.
SWEET POTATO PUDDING.--Wash, boil, and peel some fine sweet potatos.
Mash them, and rub them through a coarse sieve--this will make them
loose and light. If merely _mashed_ the pudding will clod and be heavy.
In a deep pan stir to a cream a quarter of a pound of fresh butter, and
a quarter of a pound of powdered sugar; adding a grated nutmeg, a
tea-spoonful of powdered cinnamon, a half glass of white wine, and a
half glass of brandy. Beat in a shallow pan three eggs, till very thick
and smooth, and stir them into the mixture of butter and sugar,
alternately with the sweet potato. At the last mix all thoroughly with a
very hard stirring. Put the mixture into a deep dish, and lay a border
of puff-paste all round the rim. Set the pudding immediately into a
rather brisk oven, and when cool sift white sugar over it. For two of
these puddings _double_ the quantities of all the ingredients.
_White Potato Pudding_--Is made exactly as above. Chestnut pudding
also--the large Spanish chestnuts, boiled, peeled, and mashed.
_Fine Pumpkin Pudding_--Also, allowing to the above ingredients a half
pint of stewed pumpkins, squeezed dry and rubbed through a sieve.
_Cashaw Pudding._--A similar pudding may be made of stewed cashaw, or
winter squash.
PINE-APPLE TART.--Take a fine large ripe pine-apple. Remove the leaves,
and quarter it without paring, standing up each quarter in a deep plate,
and grating it down till you come to the rind. Strew plenty of powdered
sugar over the grated fruit. Cover it, and let it rest for an hour. Then
put it into a porcelain kettle, and steam it in its own syrup till
perfectly soft. Have ready some empty shells of puff-paste, baked either
in patty-pans or in soup plates. When they are cool, fill them full with
the grated pine-apple; add more sugar, and lay round the rim a border of
puff-paste.
QUINCE PIES.--Wash well, pare, and core some fine ripe quinces, having
cut out all the blemishes. Put the cores and parings into a small
sauce-pan, and stew them in a little water, till all broken to pieces.
Then strain and save the quince water. Having quartered the quinces, or
sliced them in round slices, transfer them to a porcelain stew-pan, and
pour over the quinces water extracted from boiling the cores and
parings. Let them cook in this till quite soft all through. Make them
very sweet with powdered sugar, and fill with them two deep soup plates
that have been baked empty, with a puff paste border round the rims.
Fill them up to the top, (they are already cooked) and sift sugar over
them--or, you may pile on the surface of each some ice-cream. You may
cook the quinces whole, and lay one on each tart.
FINE APPLE PIES--May be made in the same manner, flavored with the
grated yellow rind and juice of a lemon. The apples should be fine juicy
pippins. If done whole, lay one on each patty-pan tart, and stick into
the core hole a slip of the yellow rind of lemon, pared so thin as to be
nearly transparent.
A MERINGUE PUDDING.--Rub off upon a large lump of _sugar_ the yellow
rind of two fine ripe lemons, and mix it with a pound of powdered loaf
sugar, adding the juice. Whip, to a stiff froth, the _whites only_ of
eight eggs; and then, gradually, beat in the sugar and lemon, adding a
heaped table-spoonful of the finest flour. Spread part of the mixture
thickly over the bottom of a deep dish, the rim of which has been
bordered with a handsome wreath of puff-paste, and baked. Lay upon it a
thick layer of stiff currant or strawberry jelly. Then fill up the
dish, and set it, a few minutes in a rather cool oven to brown slightly.
This pudding is for dinner company. If you use oranges, omit half the
grated peel.
You may flavor the meringue with vanilla. Split, and break up a small
vanilla bean, and boil it in a _very little_ cream till all the vanilla
flavor is extracted, the cream tasting of it strongly. Then strain it
well, and mix the vanilla cream with the white of egg. Or, a little
_home-made_ extract of vanilla will be still better. This is obtained by
splitting and breaking up some vanilla beans, and steeping them for a
week or two in a bottle of _absolute_ alcohol; then straining the
liquid, transferring it to a clean bottle, and keeping it closely
corked. Very little of what is called "Extract of Vanilla" is good, and
it is more expensive than to make it yourself. Also, what is generally
sold for essence of lemon is very inferior to real lemon juice.
JELLY OR MARMALADE PUDDING.--Divide the paste equally and line two
puff-paste shells. Bake them empty; and while baking, beat till very
light and thick, the yolks of six eggs. Mix the beaten egg with a
liberal portion of any nice kind of fruit, jelly or marmalade, and boil
it ten minutes in a sauce-pan, stirring it well. Take it up and set it
away to cool. When cold, fill with it the baked shells. Fill them up to
the top with the mixture, and before they go to table sift powdered
white sugar over the surface of the puddings.
CHEESE PUDDING.--Take a quarter of a pound of excellent cheese; rich,
but not strong or old. Cut it in small bits, and then beat it (a little
at a time) in a marble mortar. Add a quarter of a pound of the best
fresh butter. Cut it up, and pound it in the mortar with the cheese,
till perfectly smooth and well mixed. Beat five eggs till very thick and
smooth. Mix them, gradually, with the cheese and butter. Put the mixture
into a deep dish with a rim. Have ready some puff-paste, and lay a broad
border of it all round the edge, ornamenting it handsomely. Set it
immediately into a moderate oven, and bake it till the paste is browned,
and has risen very high all round the edge of the dish. Sift white sugar
over it before it goes to table.
It is intended that the cheese taste shall predominate. But, if
preferred, you may make the mixture very sweet by adding powdered sugar;
it may be seasoned with nutmeg and mace. Either way is good.
It may be baked in small patty-pans, lined at the bottom and sides with
puff-paste. Remove them from the tins as soon as they come out of the
oven, and place them on a large dish.
This pudding is very nice made of rich fresh cream cheese; the rind, of
course, being pared off. Cream cheese pudding will require sugar and
spice--that is, a heaped tea-spoonful of powdered nutmeg, mace, and
cinnamon, all mixed; two ounces of fresh butter, and six eggs.
FLORENDINES.--These are made of any sort of fruit, stewed in its own
juice or in sweetmeat syrup, but when practicable, without any water. A
pint of this fruit is mixed with half a pint of fresh butter, and half a
pint of powdered sugar stirred together to a light cream, and then mixed
with three well-beaten eggs, and the fruit stirred in alternately with
the beaten butter and sugar. Have ready baked shells of puff-paste,
ready to be filled with the mixture. The fruit may be apples, quinces,
peaches, gooseberries, currants, raspberries. Cranberries, gooseberries,
and currants, require additional sugar, as they are naturally very sour.
If you use plums or cherries for any sort of cooking, stone them first.
PEACH PIES.--Take a sufficient number of fine juicy freestone peaches.
Clingstones are very hard and insipid when raw, and still more tasteless
when cooked. Peel the peaches and quarter them, having removed the
stones. Stew them in their own juice, and while hot make them very sweet
with white sugar. When you put them to stew, place among them a bunch of
fresh green peach leaves, to be removed when the peaches are done. Or,
cook with them some peach kernels, blanched in hot water, to be picked
out when the stewing is finished. Peach leaves or kernels communicate a
flavor which to most persons is pleasant. Have ready some puff-paste
shells; baked, and beginning to cool. Fill them to the top with the
stewed peaches, and pile on them some whipped cream sweetened, and
flavored with noyau or rose-water.
A FRUIT CHARLOTTE.--Have ready a large fresh almond sponge cake, or lady
cake. Cut a round or circular piece to fit the bottom of a great glass
bowl. Also, about twelve or fourteen oblong slices, to stand up all
round to line the sides. Have ready two quarts or more of ripe
strawberries or raspberries. Mash the fruit to a jam, and having made it
very sweet with white sugar, spread it thickly over the pieces of cake.
Lay the circular piece of cake in the bottom of the bowl and stand up
the others all round the sides, all close to each other or wrapping over
a little. Proceed to fill the bowl with the fruit; and when half way up,
put on another layer of sliced cake spread with fruit. Then fill up with
fruit to the top. Have ready a quart of whipped cream flavored with
vanilla or bitter almonds. Heap it high on the bowl, and set it in a
cool place till it goes to table. This is a very fine article for a nice
dessert, and can be prepared at a short notice, and without going down
stairs, as it requires no cooking.
For the whipped cream, you may pile the bowl with any sort of white
ice-cream ready made, and if there is no fresh fruit in season,
substitute marmalade or fruit jelly.
If you have no large bowl you may serve up this charlotte in glass or
china saucers, laying in the bottom of each a circular slice of cake
spread over with ripe fruit or marmalade. Fill up with the same, and
finish with whipped cream, or ice-cream heaped on the top.
VANILLA CUSTARDS.--Split a vanilla bean, break it into small bits, and
boil it in a half pint of milk, till all the flavor of the vanilla is
extracted. Strain it through a very fine strainer, cover it, and set it
aside. Boil a quart of rich milk, and when it comes to a boil set it
away to cool. Beat eight eggs till very thick and smooth, (and when the
milk is cold) add that which is flavored with vanilla, and stir it in
gradually with a quarter of a pound of powdered white sugar. Divide the
mixture in custard cups, (filling them to the top) and set them into an
iron bake-pan filled with boiling water, reaching nearly to the the rim
of the cups. Put them into a moderate oven, and bake them a pale brown.
When cool, grate nutmeg, or lay a maccaroon on the top over each. Never
send custards warm to table. If well made, and baked not too much, there
will be no whey at the bottom of the cups, and the custards will be
smooth and firm all through, and have no spongy holes in them.
To make soft custards, omit the whites of all the eggs, and have a
double quantity of yolks. The whites may be used for almond or cocoa-nut
pudding, for lady cake, for meringue or icing, and for kisses or
maccaroons.
_Orange Custards._--Prepare four large ripe oranges, by rolling them
under your hand on a table to increase the juice. Use none of the peel
for these custards, but reserve it for something else. Beat in a shallow
pan twelve eggs till thick and smooth. Mix the orange juice with a
wineglass of cold water, and stir it gradually into the beaten egg, with
a small tumblerful of powdered sugar. There is no milk in these
custards. Divide them into custard cups, and beat them ten minutes. When
cold, grate nutmeg over them.
_Lemon Custard_--Is made in the above manner, with the juice of four
large lemons, (omitting the rind) a small wineglass of cold water,
twelve beaten eggs, and a quarter of a pound of powdered sugar. Any of
these fine custards may be boiled in a _bain-marie_, with water in the
outside kettle, and there is no way better. When boiled and cool, grate
in some nutmeg, and serve up the custard in a glass or china pitcher,
with saucers of the same to eat it from, or divide it in small glass
cups with handles to them.
Lemon or orange custards are very fine. They are made without milk.
_Chocolate Custard._--Make some strong chocolate, allowing a quarter of
a pound of the best, (which is Baker's prepared cocoa) to a quart of
rich milk; first mixing the milk and scraped chocolate to a smooth
paste. Boil them together a quarter of an hour. While warm, stir in two
or three table-spoonfuls of loaf sugar. Then set it away to cool. Have
ready eight well-beaten eggs, and stir them gradually into the
chocolate. Bake the mixture in cups, and serve them up with a chocolate
maccaroon laid on the top of each.
_Almond and Maccaroon Custard._--Boil in half a pint of rich milk a
handful of _bitter_ almonds, blanched and broken up. When highly
flavored, strain that milk and set it aside. Boil a quart of milk by
itself, and when cold stir in, gradually, eight well beaten eggs, adding
the flavored milk, and half a pint of powdered sugar. Stir the whole
very hard at the last. Bake it in cups, and when done and cold, lay on
the top of each a maccaroon with four others placed around it; five
maccaroons to each custard. Or, if the maccaroons are made in the house,
let every one be large enough to cover the top of the custard like a
lid.
FINE PLUM PUDDING.--This pudding is best when prepared, (all but the
milk and eggs,) the day before it is wanted. Seed and cut in half one
pound of the best bloom raisins; and pick, wash, and dry before the
fire, a pound of Zante currants, (commonly called plums.) Dredge the
fruit well with flour, to prevent its sinking or clogging. Take one
pound of fresh beef suet, freed from the skin and strings, and chopped
_very fine_; a pint of grated bread-crumbs, and half a pint of sifted
flour; a large quarter of a pound of the best sugar, a large
table-spoonful of powdered mace and cinnamon mixed, and two powdered
nutmegs--all the spice steeped in a half pint of mixed wine and brandy.
Put away these ingredients separately, closely covered, and let them
stand undisturbed all night. Next morning proceed to finish the pudding,
which requires at least six hours boiling. Beat nine eggs till very
thick and smooth, then add gradually a pint of rich milk, in turn with
the bread-crumbs and flour. Mix with the sugar the grated yellow rind
and juice of two large lemons or two oranges, and add gradually to the
mixture all the ingredients, stirring very hard. If you find it too
thick, add by degrees some more milk; if too thin, some more
bread-crumbs. But take care not to have too much bread or flour, or the
pudding will be solid and heavy. Dip a large strong cloth in boiling
water; shake it out, and spread it in a large pan. Dredge it lightly
with flour, and pour in the mixture. Tie it tightly, but leave
sufficient space for the pudding to swell in boiling. Put it into a pot
of fast-boiling water, and boil it steadily six hours or more, not
taking it up till wanted for table. Before turning it, dip the cloth for
a moment in cold water to make the pudding come out easily. Have ready
some slips of citron or of blanched sweet almonds, or both, and stick
them, liberally, all over the surface of the pudding after you have
dished it. Serve it up with wine sauce highly flavored, or with butter
and sugar beaten to a cream, and seasoned with nutmeg and rose. Do not
set the pudding on fire to burn out the liquor; that practice has had
its day, and is over. It was always foolish.
If you wish to send it to a distant place, (for instance, to some part
of the world where plum puddings are not known or not made) you may
preserve it, (after boiling it well,) by leaving it tied up in the cloth
it was cooked in; hanging it up in a cool dry place, and then packing it
well in a tin vessel having a close fitting cover. Paste a band of thick
white paper all around the place where the lid shuts down, and put into
a tight box the vessel that contains the pudding. When it arrives at its
destination, the friend who receives it will pare off thinly the
outside, and tying up the pudding in a fresh clean cloth, will boil it
over again for an hour or more; and when done the surface may be then
decorated with slips of citron or almond. It has been said that in this
way a plum pudding can be kept for _six_ months, as good as ever. It
cannot. But it may keep six _weeks_. Do not _fry_ or _broil_ plum
pudding that is left at dinner. The slices will be greasy and heavy. But
tie the piece that remains in a small cloth, and _boil_ it over again
for an hour. It will then be nearly as good as on the first day. Believe
in no wonders that you hear, of the long keeping of either plum pudding,
plum cake, or mince meat, which are all of the same family. However long
they may be preserved from absolute decomposition, these things are
always best when fresh.
MINCE PIES.--The best mince meat is made of fresh beef's tongue boiled,
peeled, and when quite cold, chopped very fine. The next best is of
beef's heart boiled and chopped. The next of cold roast beef. And the
next, of the lean of cold boiled beef, quite fresh, and cooked
especially for the purpose. All the meat must be fresh, and not minced
till entirely cold. To two large pounds of lean meat allow two small
pounds of nice kidney suet, cleared from skin and strings, and chopped
very small; two pounds of fine juicy apples, pared, cored, and minced;
two pounds of Zante currants, washed, and picked clean; two pounds of
fine bloom raisins, seeded and chopped, or of seedless sultana raisins
cut in half; two pounds of the best sugar; two large nutmegs, powdered;
a table-spoonful of ground cinnamon; the same quantity of ground ginger,
with the juice and grated yellow rind of six large lemons, or the juice
of six oranges, and their grated rind; a pint of Madeira or sherry, and
half a pint of brandy; lastly, half a pound of citron cut into slips,
rather large. If the citron is chopped small it cannot be distinguished
among the other ingredients, and its flavor is lost. When all is
prepared, mix well in a large pan the chopped meat, suet, and fruit.
Then, gradually add the spice, having steeped it in the liquor all the
preceding night, mixing the whole thoroughly, and putting in the citron
at the last. Line with fine puff-paste deep pie-dishes, or patty-pans.
Fill them, quite full of the mince, heaping it higher towards the
centre; and put on a lid, handsomely decorated with puff-paste
ornaments, and having a cross slit in the centre surrounded with paste
leaves or flowers. Set the pies immediately into a moderately brisk
oven, and bake them a light brown. Eat them warm. If baked the preceding
day, heat them again before they go to table. The foolish custom of
setting the pies on fire after they come to table, and causing a blue
blaze to issue from the liquor that is in them, is now obsolete, and
considered ungenteel and tavern-like. If this practice originated in a
polite desire to _frighten the ladies_, its purpose is already a
failure, for the ladies are not frightened; that is, not really.
Mincemeat will taste more fresh and pleasant if the apples are not added
till the day the pies are made. It should be kept well-secured from air
and damp, in stone jars closely covered. Whenever a jar is opened to
take out some for immediate use, pour in a large glass or two of brandy,
and stir it about. It is not true that mincemeat will keep all winter,
even by this preservative. It is sure to become musty (or worse,) before
two months. It is best to make fresh mincemeat at least three times
during the season. When the cold weather is over, do not attempt it,
unless a little for immediate use.
Mincemeat, with a double portion of excellent raisins, (cut in half,)
will do very well without currants, which are very troublesome to
prepare; and those imported of late years are rarely of good quality.
We have heard of West India mincemeat made with cold roast turkey;
chopped pine-apple; grated cocoa-nut; preserved ginger chopped, and
moistened with its own syrup; and seasoned with nutmeg and noyau.
The above mince pies are for company.
CALF'S FEET JELLY.--Select the largest and best calf's feet. Four is
called a set. Choose those that, after the hair has been well scalded
and scraped off, are prepared with the skins left on. There is much
glutinous substance in the skin itself, therefore it adds to the
strength and firmness of the jelly. The feet being made perfectly clean,
split them upwards as far as you can, and put them to boil in a gallon
of _very clear_ soft water. Boil them till they have all gone to pieces,
and the flesh is reduced to rags, and the liquid to one half. Strain the
liquid through a fine sieve into a white-ware pan, and set it away to
cool. When quite cold, it should be a cake of firm jelly. Take it out,
and scrape from it all the fat at the top and sediment at the bottom.
Press on the surface, some clean blotting paper, to remove any grease
that may yet remain about it. Cut the cake of jelly into pieces, and put
it into a _very clean_ porcelain kettle, with a large pint of sherry,
(inferior wine will spoil it,) a pound of the best loaf sugar, broken
small; the yellow rind of six lemons, pared so thin as to be
transparent, and their juice squeezed over the sugar through a strainer;
the _whites_ of six or seven eggs, with their shells mashed small. If
the jelly is to be moulded, add a quarter ounce of the best Russia
isinglass. Boil together all these ingredients for near twenty minutes.
Then take it off the fire, and let it stand undisturbed for about five
minutes, to settle. Next, have ready a pointed jelly bag, made of clean
white flannel. Spread it open, suspended by strings to a table edge. Set
a large tureen or white-ware pan beneath it, and let the jelly drip as
long as it will; but on no account squeeze or press the bag, as that
will spoil all, rendering the whole jelly cloudy or streaked. If it is
not quite clear at the first straining, empty the contents of the bag
into a basin, wash the bag clean, hang it up again, pour the jelly back,
wash the tureen or pan, and let the jelly pass into it again. Repeat
this straining if necessary. When quite clear, shape the jelly in
white-ware moulds, which have been setting two hours in cold water. When
the jelly is wanted, wrap round the moulds for a moment, a cloth dipped
in warm water, and turn it out on glass dishes. The ingredients that are
left in the bag may be boiled and strained over again for children. If
the jelly is _not_ to be moulded, you may omit the isinglass. In that
case break it up, and serve it in a glass bowl. It is now the general
opinion that jellies have a more lively taste when broken up, from the
numerous acute angles they present to the tongue and palate. We think
this opinion correct; and also they look brighter and more glittering,
and _go farther_.
_Apple Jelly_--Is far less expensive than that of calf's feet, and if
well made looks beautifully. It requires the very best and most juicy
apples, (for instance, two dozen large pippins or bell-flowers.) Wash
and wipe them well, (removing all blemishes,) pare, core, and slice or
quarter them. Put them into a _bain-marie_ or double kettle, with the
water outside, and let them boil till broken and dissolved, putting in
with them the grated yellow rind of four large lemons. Press and mash
the stewed apples through a very clean sieve, till you have extracted
all the juice. Measure it while warm, and allow to each quart a pound of
the finest powdered and sifted loaf sugar well mixed in, and the juice
of the lemons. Transfer it to a clean white flannel jelly bag, and let
it drip into a large white-ware pan. When quite clear, put it into
moulds, and set it on ice to congeal. When wanted, turn it out of the
moulds, (loosened by wrapping round their outsides cloths dipped a
minute in warm water) and serve it up in glass dishes.
_Siberian Jelly._--A fine pink-colored jelly may be made in the above
manner, of the red Siberian crab-apple, but it requires an _additional_
quarter of a pound of sugar to a pint of juice. Instead of lemon you may
flavor it, (after all the juice has done dripping) by mixing with
extract of rose, or strong rose-water, allowing a wine-glassful to each
quart of jelly. Rose-water, or extract of rose, evaporates so speedily
when over the fire, that it should never be added till the very last.
_Orange Jelly_--Is made in the proportion of a pint of strained orange
juice to a pound of loaf sugar, boiled with an ounce of isinglass, that
has first been melted over the fire by itself in a very little water.
Add the _yellow_ rind of the oranges pared from the white as thin as
possible. Give it one boil up, and strain it into the jelly-bag. When
clear, transfer it to moulds. Twelve large oranges will generally yield
a pint of juice. Lemon jelly is made in the same manner, but with more
sugar.
CURRANT JELLY.--The currants should be large, fine, and fully ripe. The
best and sweetest currants grow in the shade; and the largest, also. If
exposed to the full heat of our American sun, it turns them sour, dries
up the juice, and withers their growth. Gather them when fully ripe,
strip them from the stems into a cullender, and wash and drain them.
Transfer them to a large pan, and mash them well with a wooden beetle.
Then put the currants, with their juice, into a _bain-marie_ or double
kettle, and cook them with the water outside, stirring them hard to
bring out the juice. Simmer them for a quarter of an hour, and then
transfer them to a very clean sieve, and press them over a pan till no
more juice appears. Measure the juice, and to each pint allow a pound of
broken-up loaf sugar. Mix the sugar with the juice, put all into a
porcelain kettle, and boil it till the scum ceases to rise. If the sugar
is of excellent quality, (the best double-refined should be used for all
nice sweetmeats) it will need but little skimming, and leave no sediment
when poured off. Boil it twenty minutes with the sugar. To try if it is
done, take up a spoonful and hold it out in the open air. If it congeals
very soon, it is cooked enough. Put it warm into glass tumblers. Cut out
some white tissue paper into double rounds, exactly fitting the glasses.
Press these papers lightly on the surface of the jelly; and, next day,
tie over the top thick papers dipped in brandy, and set them in the sun
all that day if the weather is bright and warm.
All jellies of small fruit may be made in a similar manner; first
boiling the fruit by itself, and mashing it to get out all the juice.
Then boiling the berries again, _with the sugar_, for about twenty
minutes. The above receipt is equally good for grapes, blackberries, and
gooseberries. Black currant jelly (excellent for sore throats,) requires
but three quarters of a pound of sugar, the juice being very thick of
itself. Peaches, plums, damsons, and green gages, must be scalded,
peeled, and stoned, before boiling for jelly, and they require, at
least, a pound and a half of sugar to a pint of juice. It is better to
preserve them as marmalade than as jelly. Strawberries and raspberries
require no previous cooking; mash out the juice, strain it, allow a
pound of sugar to every pint of juice, and then boil them together
(skimming carefully) for about a quarter of an hour, or till they
congeal on being tried in the air.
WINE JELLY.--Wine jellies are seldom made except for company. The wine
must be of excellent quality; either port, madeira, or champagne. To a
quart of wine allow a pound of the best double-refined loaf sugar, and
an ounce of the best Russian isinglass. Melt the sugar (broken small) in
the wine. Melt the isinglass by itself in as much warm water as will
just cover it, and when quite dissolved, stir it into the mixed wine and
sugar. Boil all together, till on trial it becomes a firm jelly, which
will be very soon. If it does not congeal well, add some more dissolved
isinglass, and more sugar. Serve in moulds, and eat it on saucers. Jelly
is made in this manner of any nice sort of _liqueur_ or cordial. Also of
strong green tea, or very strong coffee; first made as usual, and then
boiled with loaf sugar and isinglass till they congeal. We do not
recommend them, except as some exhilaration to the fatigue of a party.
TRIFLE.--This is a very nice and very elegant party dish, and is served
in a large glass bowl. Put into the bottom of the bowl a pound of bitter
almond maccaroons. Pour on sufficient madeira or sherry to dissolve
them. Let them soak in it till soft and broken. Have ready a very rich
custard, flavored with vanilla bean (broken up and boiled by itself in a
little milk), and then strained into the quart of milk prepared for the
custard, which should be of ten eggs, (_using only the yolks_) and
sweetened with a quarter of a pound of powdered loaf sugar. It is best
and easiest to _bake_ the custard. It will be very rich and soft with
yolk of egg only. When the custard is cold lay it on the dissolved
maccaroons. Then add a thick layer of very nice marmalade. Rub off the
yellow rind of a large lemon or two on some pieces of loaf sugar, and
add to it some powdered sugar mixed with the lemon juice. Whip to a
strong froth a large quart (or more) of rich cream, gradually mixing
with it the lemon and sugar. Lastly, pile up the frothed cream high on
the glass bowl, and keep it on ice till it is sent to table. Instead of
lemon you may flavor the whipt cream with rose-water; it will require,
if not very strong, a wine-glassful. To give the cream a fine pink
color, tie up some alkanet chips in a thin muslin bag; lay the bag to
infuse in a tea-cup of plain cream, and then add the pink infusion to
the quart of cream as you froth it.
BLANCMANGE.--The best and finest blancmange is made with a set of
calves' feet, (singed but not skinned) boiled slowly in a gallon of
water till the meat drops from the bone; then strain it, and set it away
till next day, in a broad white-ware pan. Skim it well while boiling.
Next day it should be a solid cake of clear jelly. Scrape off all the
fat and sediment from the outside, cut the jelly into small bits, and
melt it over again. Boil in a porcelain kettle a pint of cream, and
when it has come to a boil, stir in six ounces of loaf sugar, and
whatever you intend for flavoring; either the milk, in which a handful
of bitter almonds has been boiled, (first being blanched and broken up)
or a vanilla bean split and cut to pieces, and boiled in a little milk
and strained. Or, it may be mixed with three ounces of chocolate,
(Baker's prepared cocoa is the best) scraped fine. When the flavoring
has had a boil with the sugar, stir into it, gradually, the melted
jelly, and transfer it to white-ware moulds that have set in cold water,
and are still damp. Stir it well, and when the blancmange is thickening,
and becoming hard to stir, set the moulds on ice, or in pans of cold
water in the cellar, and cease stirring. When quite congealed, dip the
moulds in lukewarm water, and turn out the blancmange on glass dishes.
You may color almond or vanilla blancmange a fine pink, by putting into
the cream chips of alkanet root tied in a small thin muslin bag, to be
removed as soon as the cream is highly colored. Or, it may be made green
by the infusion of spinach juice, obtained by pounding in a marble
mortar, and then boiling and straining.
Gelatine is now frequently used for blancmange and jelly, instead of
calves' feet or isinglass. It has no advantage but that of being more
speedily prepared than calves' feet, which must be boiled the day
before. Four cakes of gelatine are equal to four calves' feet. Before
using, they must be soaked for an hour or more in a pan of cold water,
then boiled with the other ingredients. Some persons think they
perceive an unpleasant taste in gelatine; perhaps they have heard of
what it is made.
When calves' feet cannot be obtained, pigs' feet will do very well, if
nobody knows it. Four feet of calves are equal to eight of pigs. They
are very glutinous, and have no perceptible taste.
FINEST BLANCMANGE.--Break up a half pound of the best double-refined
loaf sugar. On some of the pieces rub off the yellow rind of two large
lemons, having rolled them under your hand to increase the juice. Then
powder all the sugar, and mix with it, gradually, the juice of the
lemons, a pint of rich cream, and a large half pint (not less) of sherry
or madeira. Stir the mixture very hard till all the articles are
thoroughly amalgamated. Then stir in, gradually, a _second_ pint of
cream. Put into a small sauce-pan an ounce of the best Russia isinglass,
with one jill (or two common-sized wineglasses) of cold water. Boil it
till the isinglass is completely dissolved, stirring it several times
down to the bottom. When the melted isinglass has become lukewarm, stir
it gradually into the mixture, and then give the whole a hard stirring.
Have ready some white-ware moulds that have just been dipped and rinsed
in cold water. Fill them with the mixture, set them on ice, and in two
or three hours the blancmange will be congealed. When it is perfectly
firm, dip the moulds for a minute in lukewarm water, and turn out the
blancmange on glass dishes. This, if accurately made, is the finest of
blancmange. For company, you must have double, or treble, or four times
the quantity of ingredients; each article in due proportion.
FARINA.--Farina is a very fine and delicate preparation, made from the
inner part of the grain of new wheat. It is exceedingly nutritious, and
excellent either for invalids or for persons in health. It is now much
in use, and is to be had, in packages of a pound or half a pound, of the
best grocers and druggists, and is highly recommended by physicians for
gruel and panade. It also makes an excellent pudding, either boiled or
baked, prepared in the same manner as any flour pudding. For boiling
farina, nothing is so good as a _bain-marie_ or double kettle.
_For Farina Blancmange._--From a quart of rich milk take out a half
pint. Put the half pint into a small sauce-pan, and add to it a handful
of bitter almonds broken up; or a bunch of fresh peach leaves, or a
vanilla bean split, cut up, and tied in a thin muslin bag. When this
milk has boiled till very highly flavored, strain it into the pint and a
half, and set it over the fire in a porcelain kettle or a _bain-marie_.
When the milk has come to a boil, sprinkle in, gradually, a large half
pint or more (or four large heaping table-spoonfuls) of farina, stirring
it well--also sprinkling in and stirring, as if making thick mush. Let
it boil slowly a quarter of an hour after the farina is all in. When
done, remove it from the fire, and stir in two large table-spoonfuls of
sugar, and a wineglass of rose-water, or one of white wine. Transfer it
to a blancmange mould, (previously wet with cold water,) set it on ice,
and turn it out when ready for dinner. Eat it with sauce of wine, sugar,
and nutmeg.
FINE MARROW PUDDING.--Mince very small a quarter of a pound of nice beef
marrow, and grate or crumble half a pound of almond sponge cake. Cut in
half, a quarter of a pound of sultana or seedless raisins, chop two
peels of candied citron, mix them with the raisins, and dredge both
thickly with flour. Add a large heaped table-spoonful of loaf sugar, a
small nutmeg grated, and a wineglass of mixed wine and brandy. Mix all
these ingredients well, put them into a deep dish, lay a border of
puff-paste all round the rim, and fill the dish up to the top with a
nice custard made in the proportion of four eggs to a pint of
well-sweetened milk, flavored with either bitter almonds, rose-water,
peach-water, or vanilla. Bake this pudding half an hour. When cool, sift
sugar over it.
OMELETTE SOUFFLÉ.--Break six eggs, separating the yolks and whites. Give
them a slight stir, and strain the whites into one pan and the yolks
into another. Add to the yolks three large table-spoonfuls of powdered
loaf sugar, a heaped tea-spoonful of arrow-root flour, and twelve drops
of strong orange-flower water, and beat it till very thick and smooth.
Then beat the whites to a stiff froth, beginning slowly at first, but
gradually beating faster. Then add the beaten yolk very gently to the
whites. Have ready a silver or plated dish well-buttered. Use tin for
want of better, but it will not look well, as the omelette has to be
served up in the dish it was baked in. Place the dish with the mixture
in a hot oven, and watch it while baking. When it has well risen, and
seems very light, take it out of the oven for a moment; run a knife
round it, sift some sugar over it, set it again in the oven, and when
raised to its utmost take it out again, and serve it up as hot as
possible, with a spoon on the plate beside it. When once broken, it will
sink immediately. It is usual to send round the omelette soufflé at the
very last of the pastry course; the cook not beginning to make it till
the dinner has commenced. If not light when baked, give it up, and do
not send it to table at all. It is safest for an inexperienced housewife
to engage a French cook to come to the house with his own ingredients
and utensils, and make and bake the omelette soufflé while there. Still
though very fashionable, it is less delicious than many other desserts.
SUNDERLANDS.--Warm a quart of rich milk, and cut up in it half a pound
of the best fresh butter to soften in the milk, but not to oil. Beat
eight eggs till very light and thick, and then stir them gradually into
the pan of milk and butter, in turn with eight large table-spoonfuls of
sifted flour. Beat all very hard together, and then transfer the batter
to white tea-cups, slightly buttered, not filling them quite full. Set
them immediately into a brisk oven, and bake them about twenty minutes,
or till they are slightly browned, and have puffed up very light. As
soon as they are cool enough to handle without burning your fingers,
turn them out of the cups on a dish, cut a slit in the top of each, and,
taking a tea-spoon, fill them quite full of any sort of jelly or
marmalade; or if more convenient, with ripe strawberries or raspberries,
sweetened with powdered sugar, and mashed smoothly. When filled with
fruit, close the slit neatly with your fingers; and on the top of each
lay a large strawberry or raspberry, having first dredged the sunderland
with sugar.
_Cream Cakes_--Are made in the above manner, but baked in patty-pans.
When baked take them out, cut a slit in the _side_ of each; and having
prepared an ample quantity of rich boiled custard, made with yolk of
egg, and highly flavored (_after it has boiled_,) with lemon, orange,
vanilla, rose-water or peach-water, fill the cakes full of the custard,
closing the opening well by pinching it together. Sift powdered sugar
over them, and send them to table on a large china dish.
CREAM TART.--Make a fine puff-paste of equal quantities of fresh butter
and sifted flour; mixing into the pan of flour a heaped table-spoonful
of powdered sugar, and wetting it with a beaten egg. Rub one quarter of
the butter into the pan of flour. Divide the remainder of butter into
six, and roll it into the flour at six turns till it is all in. Have,
ready grated, the yellow rind and the juice of a large lemon or orange
mixed with a quarter of a pound of powdered loaf sugar; or a flavoring
of a split-up vanilla bean; or a dozen bitter almonds broken up, and
boiled in a very little milk. Mix the flavoring with a pint of rich
cream, and the well-beaten whites of three eggs. Take small deep pans,
line them all through with the paste rolled out very thin, and cut
square. Fill them with the cream, and turn the square pieces of paste a
little over it at the top, so as to form corners. Bake the tarts in a
brisk oven, and when cold, grate nutmeg over the surface.
Are these the cream tarts of the Arabian Nights?
ORANGE COCOA-NUT.--Break up a fine ripe cocoa-nut, and after peeling off
the brown skin, lay the pieces in cold water for a while. Then wipe them
dry with a clean towel, and grate them into a deep dish. Mix in, plenty
of powdered white sugar. Take some fine large oranges, very ripe and
juicy. Peel off all the rind, and slice the oranges rather thick. Cover
the bottom of a large glass bowl with sliced orange, (the first layer
being double, where the bowl is small) and strew among the slices
sufficient sugar. Then put in a thick layer of the grated cocoa-nut,
next another layer of orange--again a layer of cocoa-nut, and so on,
alternately, till the bowl is filled, finishing with cocoa-nut heaped
high. This is a handsome and delicious article for a supper-table, and a
nice _impromptu_ addition to the dessert at a dinner; and soon prepared,
as it requires no cooking. When the fruit is in season, a dessert for a
small company may consist entirely of orange cocoa-nut, raspberry
charlotte, and cream strawberries.
Never send oranges whole to table. To ladies they are unmanageable in
company.
_Creamed Strawberries._--Take fine large ripe strawberries. Hull or stem
them, and set them on ice till just before they are wanted. Divide them
into saucerfulls. If you have glass saucers, they will make a better
show than china. Put some powdered white sugar in the bottom of each
saucer. Fill them with strawberries, and then strew on a liberal
allowance of sugar, for American strawberries (however fine in
appearance) are seldom sweet. Have ready sufficient whipped cream, that
has been frothed with rods or with a tin cream-churn. Pile high a
portion of the whipt cream on each saucer of strawberries.
Strawberries are sometimes eaten with wine and sugar, when cream is not
convenient. With _milk_ they curdle, and are unwholesome--besides
tasting poorly.
_Creamed Pine-apple._--Cut into four pieces two large ripe pine-apples.
Stand them up successively in a deep dish, and grate them from the rind.
When all is grated, transfer it to a large glass bowl, and make it very
sweet by mixing in powdered white loaf sugar. Whip to a stiff froth a
sufficiency of rich cream, adding to it some sugar, and heap it high
upon the grated pine-apple.
_Peaches and Cream._--Take fine juicy freestone peaches. Pare them, and
cut them in slices. Put them, with their juice, into a large bowl, and
make them very sweet with powdered loaf sugar. Set them on ice, and let
them remain in the juice till wanted. Then send them to table with fresh
sugar sifted over the top. Set near them pitchers of plain cream, not
frothed.
If you cannot obtain cream, it is better to be satisfied with sugar
alone, than to substitute milk, with peaches, or any other fruit.
LEMON TAFFY.--Put into a porcelain-lined preserving kettle three pounds
of the best loaf sugar, and pour on it a pint and a half of very clear
water. When it has entirely dissolved, set it over the fire, and add a
table spoonful of fine cider vinegar to assist in clearing it as it
boils. Boil and skim it well, and when no more scum rises add the juice
of four large lemons or oranges. Let it boil till it will boil no
longer, stirring it well. When done transfer it to square tin pans, that
have been made very clean and bright, and that are slightly greased with
sweet oil. Set the taffy away to cool, first marking it with a knife,
while soft. Mark it in straight lines the broad or crossway of the pans.
If marked lengthways, the pieces will be too long. When the taffy is
cold, cut it according to the lines, in regular slips, like cocoa-nut
candy. It is for a handsome supper party. Serve it up in glass dishes.
Orange taffy is made in the same manner. These candies should be kept in
tin boxes.
_Cocoa-nut Candy_--Is made in the manner of taffy, using finely grated
cocoa-nut, instead of lemon or orange.
CHARLOTTE RUSSE.--Split, cut up, and boil a large vanilla bean in half a
pint of rich milk, till it is highly flavored, and reduced to one-half.
Then strain out the vanilla through a strainer so fine as to avoid all
the seeds. Mix the strained milk with half a pint of rich cream. Beat
five eggs till very smooth and thick. Strain them, and add them
gradually to the cream when it is entirely cold, to make a rich custard.
Set this custard over the fire (stirring it all the time) till it
simmers; but take it off before it comes to a boil, or it will curdle.
Set it on ice. Have ready in another sauce-pan an ounce of the best
Russia isinglass, boiled in half a pint of water, till it is all
dissolved into a thick jelly. When both are cold, (but not hard) mix the
custard and the isinglass together, and add four table-spoonfuls of
powdered loaf sugar. Then take a large lump of loaf sugar, and rub off
on it the yellow rind of two large lemons. Scrape off the lemon-grate
with a tea-spoon, and add it to the mixture, with the lump of sugar
powdered and crushed fine. Mix together the strained juice of the
lemons, and two glasses of madeira; dissolve in them the lemon-flavored
sugar, and mix it with a pint of rich cream that has been whipped with a
whisk to a strong froth. Add the whipped cream gradually to the custard,
starring very hard at the time, and also after the whole is mixed. Then
set it on ice.
Cover the bottom of a flat oval dish with a slice of almond sponge cake,
cut to fit. Prepare a sufficient number of oblong slices of the cake,
(all of the same size and shape) to go all round; with one extra slice,
in case they should not quite hold out. Dip every one in a plate of
beaten white of egg to make them adhere. Stand each of them up on one
end, round the large oval slice that lies at the bottom. Make them
follow each other evenly and neatly, (every one lapping a little way
over its predecessor) till you have a handsome wall of slices, cemented
all round by the white of egg. Fill it quite full with the custard
mixture. Cover the top with another oval slice of cake, cemented with a
little white of egg to the upper edge of the wall. Make a nice icing in
the usual way, of powdered sugar beaten into frothed white of egg, and
flavored with lemon, orange, or rose. Spread this icing thickly and
smoothly over the cake that covers the top of the charlotte, and
ornament it with a handsome pattern of sugar flowers. There is no
charlotte russe superior to this.
_Another Charlotte Russe._--Have a very nice circular lady cake. It
should be iced all over, and ornamented with sugar flowers. Take off the
top nicely, and without breaking or defacing, and hollow out the inside,
leaving the sides and bottom standing. The cake taken from the inside
may be cut in regular pieces and used at tea, or for other purposes.
Make a very fine boiled custard, according to the preceding receipt.
Fill with it the empty cake, as if filling a mould. Then put on the lid,
set the whole on ice, and when wanted serve it up on a glass or china
dish.
A charlotte that requires no cooking may be very easily made by
hollowing a nice circular almond sponge cake, and filling it with layers
of small preserves, and piling on the top whipped cream finely flavored.
For the walls of a charlotte russe you may use the oblong sponge cakes,
called Naples biscuits, or those denominated lady fingers, dipping them
first in beaten white of egg, standing them on end, and arranging them
so as to lap over each other in forming the wall. Arrange some of them
handsomely to cover the top of the custard.
ICE CREAM.--Pewter freezers for ice cream are better than those of block
tin; as in them the freezing goes on more gradually and thoroughly, and
it does not melt so soon, besides being smoother when done. The ice tub
should be large enough to allow ample space all round (six inches, at
least,) the freezer as it stands in the centre, and should have a plug
at the bottom (beneath the freezer) for letting out the water that drips
from the ice; that a large coarse woolen cloth should be folded, and
laid under it and around it. The ice should be broken up into small
bits, and mixed with coarse salt, in the proportion of a pound of salt
to five pounds of ice. Fill the tub within three inches of the top;
pounding and pressing down hard the mixed ice and salt. Have ready all
the ingredients. To every quart of _real_ rich cream mix in a pint of
milk, (not more) and half a pound of fine loaf sugar. The following are
the most usual flavorings, all the fruit being made very sweet. Ripe
strawberries or raspberries, mashed through a sieve till all the juice
is extracted; ripe juicy freestone peaches, pared, and cut in half, the
kernels being taken from the stones, are pounded, and mashed with the
fruit through a cullender; all the juice that can be mashed out of a
sliced pine-apple, the grated yellow rind and the juice of lemons or
oranges, allowing two to each quart of cream, and mixing the juice with
plenty of sugar before it is put to the cream. A handful of shelled
bitter almonds blanched, broken, and boiled by themselves in half a
pint of milk till all the almond flavor is extracted, and then strain
the bitter almond milk into the cream. For vanilla flavor, split and cut
up a vanilla bean, boil it by itself in a half pint of milk, and when
highly flavored, strain the vanilla milk into the cream. For chocolate
ice cream, scrape down a quarter of a pound of Baker's prepared cocoa,
and melt it in just water enough to cover it; then sweeten and mix it
gradually into a quart of rich milk, (boiling at the time) and then boil
and stir it till strong and smooth. Ice cream is spoiled by the addition
of eggs. Besides giving it a yellowish color, eggs convert it into mere
frozen custard, particularly if instead of using real cream, it is made
of milk thickened with arrow-root or flour. For company at least, ice
cream should be made in the best and most liberal manner, or else do not
attempt it. Mean ice cream is a very mean thing.
When all the ingredients are prepared and mixed, put the whole into the
freezer, and set it in the ice tub; and having put on the lid tightly,
take the freezer by the handle and turn it about very fast for five or
six minutes. Then remove the lid carefully, and scrape down the cream
from the sides with a spaddle or long-handled spoon. Repeat this
frequently while it is freezing, taking care to keep the sides clear,
stirring it well to the bottom, and keeping the tub well filled with
salt and ice outside the freezer.
After the cream has been well frozen in the freezer, transfer it to
moulds, pressing it in hard, so as to fill every part of the mould.
Then set the mould in a fresh tub of ice and salt, (using as before the
proportion of a pound of salt to five pounds of ice) and let it remain
undisturbed in the mould for an hour, not turning it out till it is time
to serve it up to the company. Then wrap a cloth, dipped in warm water,
round the outside of the moulds, open them, and turn out the frozen
cream on glass or china dishes, and serve it up immediately.
Unless ice cream is very highly flavored at the beginning, its taste
will be much weakened in the process of freezing.
The most usual form of ice cream moulds are pyramids, dolphins, doves,
and baskets of fruit. We have seen ice cream in the shape of a curly
lap-dog, and very well represented.
If you eat what is called strawberry ice cream looking of an exquisite
rose-pink color, there is no strawberry about it, either in tint or
taste. It is produced by alkanet or cochineal. Real strawberries do not
color so beautifully; neither do raspberries, or any other sort of red
fruit. But genuine fruit syrups may be employed for this purpose, having
at least the true taste. To make strawberry or raspberry syrup, prepare
first what is called simple syrup, by melting a pound of the best
double-refined loaf sugar in half a pint of cold water; and when melted,
boiling them together, and skimming it perfectly clean. Then stir in as
much fruit juice (mashed and strained,) as will give it a fine tinge,
and let it have one more boiling up.
_Vanilla Syrup._--Take six fine fresh vanilla beans. Split, and cut them
in pieces. Scrape the seeds loose in the pods with your finger nail, and
bruise and mash the shells. All this will increase the vanilla flavor.
Put all you can get of the vanilla into a small quart of what is called
by the druggist "absolute alcohol." Cork the bottle closely, and let the
vanilla infuse in it a week. Then strain it through a very fine strainer
that will not let out a single seed. Have ready half a dozen pint
bottles of simple syrup. Put into every bottle of the simple syrup a
portion of the strained infusion of vanilla. Cork it tightly and use it
for vanilla flavoring in ice creams, custards, blancmange, &c.
_Orange or Lemon Syrups_--Are made by paring off the yellow rind very
thin (after the fruit has been rolled under your hand on a table to
increase the juice,) then boiling the rind till the water is highly
flavored. Strain this water over the best loaf sugar, allowing two
pounds of sugar to a pint of juice. The sugar being melted, mix it with
the juice.
WATER ICES OR SHERBET.--Water ices are made of the juice of fruits, very
well sweetened, mixed with a little water, and frozen in the manner of
ice cream, to which they are by many persons preferred. They are all
prepared nearly in the same manner, allowing a pint of juice to a pint
of water, and a quarter of a pound of sugar. Mix it well, and then
freeze it in the manner of ice cream, and serve it up in glass bowls.
For lemon and orange sherbet, first roll the fruit on a table under your
hand; then take off a very thin paring of the yellow rind, and boil it
slowly in a very little water, till all the flavor is extracted. Next,
strain the flavored water into the cold water you intend to mix with the
juice, and make it very sweet with loaf sugar. Squeeze the juice into it
through a tin strainer to avoid the seeds. Stir the whole very hard, and
transfer it to a freezer. Orange water-ice is considered the best, if
well made. For pine-apple water-ice, pare, core, and slice fine _ripe_
apples very thin. Put them into a dish with thick layers of powdered
loaf sugar; cover the dish, and let them lie several hours in the sugar.
Then press out all the juice you can, from the pine-apple; mix it with a
little water, and freeze it. To two large pine-apples allow a half pound
of sugar, which has been melted in a quart of boiling water. This looks
very well frozen in a mould shaped like a pine-apple. _Orange_ sherbet
may be frozen in a pine-apple mould. It can be made so rich with orange
juice as to perfume the whole table.
_Roman Punch_--Is made of strong lemonade or orangeade, adding to every
quart a pint of brandy or rum. Then freeze it, and serve in saucers or a
large glass bowl. Put it into a porcelain kettle, and boil and skim it
till the scum ceases to rise. When cold, bottle it, seal the corks and
keep it in a cool place.
Syrup of strawberries, raspberries, currants and blackberries, is made
in a similar manner.
FLOATING ISLAND.--For one common-sized floating island have a round
thick jelly cake, lady cake, or almond sponge cake, that will weigh a
pound and a half, or two pounds. Slice it downwards, almost to the
bottom, but do not take the slices apart. Stand up the cake in the
centre of a glass bowl or a deep dish. Have ready a pint and a half of
rich cream, make it very sweet with sugar, and color it a fine green
with a tea-cupful of the juice of pounded spinach, boiled five minutes
by itself; strained, and made very sweet. Or for coloring pink you may
use currant jelly, or the juice of preserved strawberries. Whip to a
stiff froth another pint and a half of sweetened cream, and flavor it
with a large glass of mixed wine and brandy. Pour round the cake, as it
stands in the dish or bowl, the colored unfrothed cream, and pile the
whipped white cream all over the cake, highest on the top.
FINE CAKES.
PLUM CAKE.--In making very fine plum cake first prepare the fruit and
spice, and sift the flour (which must be the very best superfine,) into
a large flat dish, and dry it before the fire. Use none but the very
best fresh butter; if of inferior quality, the butter will taste through
every thing, and spoil the cake. In fact, all the ingredients should be
excellent, and liberally allowed. Take the best bloom or muscatel
raisins, seeded and cut in half. Pick and wash the currants or plums
through two waters, and dry them well. Powder the spice, and let it
infuse over night in the wine and brandy. Cut the citron into slips, mix
it with the raisins and currants, and dredge all the fruit very thickly,
on both sides, with flour. This will prevent its sinking or clodding in
the cake, while baking. Eggs should always be beaten till the frothing
is over, and till they become thick and smooth, as thick as a good
boiled custard, and quite smooth on the surface. If you can obtain
hickory-rods as egg-beaters, there is nothing so good; but if you cannot
get _them_, use the common egg-beaters, of thin fine wire. For stirring
butter and sugar you should have a spaddle, which resembles a short
mush-stick flattened at one end. Stir the butter and sugar in a deep
earthen pan, and continue till it is light, thick, and creamy. Beat eggs
always in a broad shallow earthen pan, and with a short quick stroke,
keeping your right elbow close to your side, and moving only your wrist.
In this way you may beat for an hour without fatigue. But to stir butter
and sugar is the hardest part of cake making. Have this done by a man
servant. His strength will accomplish it in a short time--also, let him
give the final stirring to the cake. If the ingredients are prepared as
far as practicable on the preceding day, the cake may be in the oven by
ten or eleven o'clock in the forenoon.
For a large plum cake allow one pound, (or a quart) of sifted flour; one
pound of fresh butter cut up in a pound of powdered loaf sugar, in a
deep pan; twelve eggs; two pounds of bloom raisins; two pounds of Zante
currants; half a pound of citron, either cut into slips or chopped
small; a table-spoonful of powdered mace and cinnamon, mixed; two grated
nutmegs; a large wine-glass of madeira (or more), a wine-glass of French
brandy, mixed together, and the spice steeped in it.
First stir the butter and sugar to a light cream, and add to them the
spice and liquor. Then beat the eggs in a shallow pan till very thick
and smooth, breaking them one at a time into a saucer to ascertain if
there is a bad one among them. One stale egg will spoil the whole cake.
When the eggs are very light, stir them gradually into the large pan of
butter and sugar in turn with the flour, that being the mixing pan.
Lastly, add the fruit and citron, a little at a time of each, and give
the whole a hard stirring. If the fruit is well floured it will not
sink, but it will be seen evenly dispersed all over the cake when baked.
Take a large straight-sided block tin pan, grease it inside with the
same butter used for the cake, and put the mixture carefully into it.
Set it immediately into a well-heated oven, and keep up a steady heat
while it is baking. When nearly done, the cake will shrink a little from
the sides of the pan; and on probing it to the bottom with a sprig from
a corn broom, or a splinter-skewer, the probe will come out clean.
Otherwise, keep the cake in the oven a little longer. If it cracks on
the top, it is a proof of its being very light. When quite done, take it
out. It will become hard if left to grow cold with the oven. Set it to
cool on an inverted sieve.
ICING.--Allow to the white of each egg a quarter of a pound of the best
loaf sugar, finely powdered; but if you find the mixture too thin, you
must add still more sugar. Put the white of egg into a shallow pan, and
beat it with small rods or a large silver fork, till it becomes a stiff
froth, and stands alone without falling. Then beat in the powdered
sugar, a tea-spoonful at a time. As you proceed, flavor it with lemon
juice. This will render the icing whiter and smoother, also improving
the taste. You may ice the cake as soon as it becomes lukewarm, without
waiting till it is quite cold. Dredge it lightly with flour to absorb
the grease from the outside; then wipe off the flour. With a broad knife
put some icing on the middle of the cake, and then spread it down,
thickly and evenly, all over the top and sides, smoothing it with
another knife dipped in cold water. When this is quite dry, spread on a
second coat of icing rather thinner than the first, and flavored with
rose. Set it a few minutes in the oven to harden the icing, leaving the
oven-door open; or place it beneath the stove. When the icing is quite
dry, you may ornament it with sugar borders and flowers; having ready,
for that purpose, some additional icing. By means of a syringe, (made
for the purpose, and to be obtained at the best furnishing stores) you
can decorate the surface of the cake very handsomely; but it requires
taste, skill, and practice. You may first cover the cake with pink,
brown, green, or other colored icing, and then take white icing to
decorate it, forming the pattern by moving your hand skilfully and
steadily over it, and pressing it out of the syringe as you go. An
easier way is to ornament the cake (when the top-icing is nearly dry,
but not quite,) with large strawberries or raspberries, or purple grapes
placed very near each other, and arranged in circles or patterns. Be
careful not to mash the berries.
_Warm Icing._--This is made in the usual proportion of the whites of
four eggs, beaten to stiff froth, and a pound of finely powdered loaf
sugar afterwards added to it, gradually. Then boil the egg and sugar in
a porcelain kettle, and skim it till the scum ceases to rise. Take it
off the fire, and stir into it sufficient orange juice, lemon juice, or
rose-water, to flavor it highly. Flour your cake--wipe off the flour,
put on the icing with a broad knife, and then smooth it with another
knife dipped in cold water. For this icing the cake should be warm from
the oven, and dried slowly and gradually afterwards. Warm icing is much
liked. It is very light; rises thick and high in cooling, and has a fine
gloss. Try it. The mixture called by the French a _meringue_, and used
for macaroons, kisses, and other nice articles, is made in the same
manner as icing for cakes, allowing a quarter of a pound of powdered
loaf sugar to every beaten white of egg.
POUND CAKE.--One of Mrs. Goodfellow's maxims was, "up-weight of flour,
and down-weight of every thing else"--and she was right, as the
excellence of her cakes sufficiently proved, during the thirty years
that she taught her art in Philadelphia, with unexampled success.
Therefore, allow for a pound cake a rather small pound of sifted flour;
a large pound of the best fresh butter, a large pound of powdered loaf
sugar, ten eggs, or eleven if they are small; a large glass of mixed
wine and brandy; a glass of rose-water; a grated nutmeg, and a heaped
tea-spoonful of mixed spice, powdered mace, and cinnamon. Put the sugar
into a _deep_ earthen pan, and cut up the butter among it. In cold
weather place it near the fire a few minutes, till the butter softens.
Next, stir it very hard with a spaddle till the mixture becomes very
light. Next, stir in, gradually, the spice, liquor, &c. Then beat the
eggs in a shallow pan with rods or a whisk, till light, thick, and
smooth. Add them gradually to the beaten batter and sugar, in turn with
the flour; and give the whole a hard stirring at the last. Have the oven
ready with a moderate heat. Transfer the mixture to a thick
straight-sided tin pan well greased with the best fresh butter, and
smooth the butter on the surface. Set it immediately into the oven, and
bake it with a steady heat two hours and a half, or more. Probe it to
the bottom with a twig from a corn broom. When it shrinks a little from
the pan it is done. When taken out, set it to cool on an inverted sieve.
When you ice it, flavor the icing with lemon or rose.
It should be eaten fresh, as it soon becomes very dry.
Pound cake is not so much in use as formerly, particularly for weddings
and large parties; lady cake and plum cake being now substituted. A
pound cake may be much improved by the addition of a pound of citron,
sliced, chopped well, dredged with flour to prevent its sinking, and
stirred gradually into the batter, in turn with the sifted flour and
beaten egg.
QUEEN CAKE--Is made in the same manner as pound cake, only with a less
proportion of flour, (fourteen ounces, or two ounces less than a pound)
as it must be baked in little tins; and small cakes require less flour
than large ones. Also, (besides a somewhat larger allowance of spice,
liquor, &c.) add the juice and grated yellow rind of a lemon or two, and
half a pound of sultana or seedless raisins, cut in half and dredged
with flour. Butter your small cake tins, and fill to the edge with the
batter. They will not run over the edge if well made, and baked with a
proper fire, but they will rise high and fine in the centre. Ice them
when beginning to cool, flavoring the icing with lemon or rose. Queen
cakes made _exactly_ as above are superlative.
ORANGE CAKES.--Make a mixture precisely as for queen cake, only omit the
wine, brandy, and rose-water, and substitute the grated yellow rind and
the juice of four large ripe oranges, stirred into the batter in turn
with the egg and flour. Flavor the icing with orange juice.
LEMON CAKES--Are also made as above, substituting for the oranges the
grated rind and juice of three lemons. To give a full taste, less lemon
is required than orange.
SPONGE CAKE.--Many persons suppose that sponge cake must be very easy to
make, because there is no butter in it. On the contrary, the want of
butter renders it difficult to get light. A really good sponge cake is a
very different thing from those numerous tough leathery compositions
that go by that name, and being flavored with nothing, are not worthy of
eating _as cake_, and are neither palatable nor wholesome as diet,
unless too fresh to have grown dry and hard. The best sponge cake we
know of is made as follows, and even that should be eaten the day it is
baked. Sift half a pound of flour, (arrow-root is still better,) in a
shallow pan; beat twelve eggs till very thick, light, and smooth. You
need not separate the yolks and whites, if you know the true way of
adding the flour. Beat a pound of powdered loaf sugar, gradually, (a
little at a time) into the beaten eggs, and add the juice and grated
yellow rinds of two large lemons or oranges. Lastly stir in the flour or
arrow root. It is all important that this should be done slowly and
lightly, and without stirring down to the bottom of the pan. Hold the
egg-beater perpendicularly or quite upright in one hand, and move it
round on the surface of the beaten egg, while with the other hand you
lightly and gradually sprinkle in the flour till all is in. If stirred
in hard and fast it will render the cake porous and tough, and dry and
hard when cold. Have ready either a large turban mould, or some small
oblong or square tins. Butter them nicely, transfer to them the cake
mixture, grate powdered sugar profusely over the surface to give it a
gloss like a very thin crust, and set it immediately into a brisk oven.
The small oblong cakes are called Naples biscuits, and require no icing.
A large turban cake may be iced plain, without ornament.
A _very light_ sponge cake, when sliced, will cut down rough and coarse
grained, and it is desirable to have it so.
_Lady Fingers_--Are mixed in the same manner, and of the same
ingredients as the foregoing receipt for the best sponge cake. When the
mixture is finished, form the cakes by shaping the batter with a
tea-spoon, upon sheets of soft white paper slightly damped, forming them
like double ovals joined in the centre. Sift powdered sugar over them,
and bake them in a quick oven till slightly browned. When cool, take
them off the papers. They are sometimes iced.
ALMOND SPONGE CAKE.--The addition of almonds makes this cake very
superior to the usual sponge cake. Sift half a pound of fine flour or
arrow root. Blanch in scalding water two ounces of shelled sweet
almonds, and two ounces of bitter ones, renewing the hot water when
expedient. When the skins are all off, wash the almonds in cold water,
(mixing the sweet and bitter) and wipe them dry. Pound them to a fine
smooth paste, (one at a time,) in a very clean marble mortar, adding, as
you proceed, plenty of rose-water to prevent their oiling. Then set them
in a cool place. Beat twelve eggs till very smooth and thick, and then
beat into them, gradually, a pound of powdered loaf sugar, in turn with
the pounded almonds. Lastly, add the flour, stirring it round slowly and
lightly on the surface of the mixture, as in common sponge cake. Have
ready a _deep_ square pan. Butter it nicely. Put the mixture carefully
into it, set it into the oven, and bake it till thoroughly done and
risen very high. When cool, cover it with plain white icing, flavored
with rose-water. With sweet almonds, always use a small portion of
bitter ones. Without them, _sweet_ almonds have little or no taste,
though they add to the richness of the cake.
SPANISH BUNS.--In a shallow pan put a half pint of rich unskimmed milk,
and cut up in it a half pound of the best fresh butter. Set it on the
stove, or near the fire, to warm and soften, but do not let it melt or
oil. When soft, stir it all through the milk with a broad knife, and
then set it away to cool. Sift into a broad pan half a pound of the
finest flour, and an additional quarter of a pound put on a plate by
itself. Beat four eggs in a shallow pan till very thick and smooth, and
mix them at once into the butter and sugar, adding the half pound of
flour. Stir in a powdered nutmeg, and two wine-glasses of strong yeast,
fresh from the brewer's, first removing the thin liquid or beer from the
top. Stir the mixture very hard with a knife, and then add,
_gradually_, half a pound of powdered white sugar. The buns will become
heavy if the sugar is thrown in all at once. It is important that it
should be added a little at a time. Then sprinkle in, by degrees, the
extra quarter of a pound of sifted flour, and lastly add a wine-glass of
strong rose-water. When all has been well stirred, butter (with fine
fresh butter,) an oblong iron or block-tin pan, and carefully put the
bun mixture into it. Cover it with a clean cloth, and set it near the
fire to rise. It may require five hours; therefore buns wanted for tea
should be made in the forenoon. When the batter has risen very high, and
is covered with bubbles, put the pan immediately into a moderate but
steady oven, and bake it. When cool, cut the buns into squares, and ice
each one separately, if for company; the icing being flavored with lemon
or orange juice. Otherwise, you may simply sift sugar over them. These
buns were first introduced by Mrs. Goodfellow; and in her school were
always excellently made, nothing being spared that was good, and the use
of soda and other alkalis being unknown in the establishment--hartshorn
in cakes would have horrified her.
LADY CAKE.--This cake must be flavored highly with bitter almonds;
without them, sweet almonds have little or no taste, and are useless in
lady cake. Blanch, in scalding water, three small ounces of shelled
bitter almonds, and then lay them in a bowl of very cold water.
Afterwards wipe them dry, and pound them (one at a time,) to a smooth
paste in a clean marble mortar; adding, as you proceed, a wine-glass of
rose-water to improve the flavor, and prevent their oiling, and becoming
heavy and dark. When done, set them away in a cool place, on a saucer.
Almonds are always lighter and better when blanched and pounded the day
before. Cut up three quarters of a pound of the best fresh butter in a
pound of powdered loaf sugar. Mix it in a deep earthen pan, and stir and
beat it with a spaddle till it becomes very light and creamy. Then,
gradually, stir in the pounded almonds. Take the _whites only_ of
seventeen or eighteen fresh eggs, and beat them in a shallow pan to a
stiff froth, till they stand alone. Then stir the beaten white of egg,
gradually, into the pan of creamed butter and sugar, in turn with three
small quarters of a pound (or a pint and a half,) of sifted flour of the
very best quality. Stir the whole very hard at the last, and transfer it
to a straight-sided tin pan, well greased with excellent fresh butter.
Set the pan immediately into an oven, and bake it with a moderate but
steady heat. When it has been baking rather more than two hours, probe
it by sticking down to the bottom a twig from a corn broom, or a very
narrow knife. If it comes out clean the cake is done; if clammy or
daubed, keep it longer in the oven. A cake when quite done generally
shrinks a little. When you take it out, set it to cool on an inverted
sieve. Ice a lady cake entirely with white, and ornament it with white
flowers. It is now much in use at weddings, and if well made, and quite
fresh, there is no cake better liked.
CINNAMON CAKE.--Cut up half a pound of fine fresh butter, and warm it
till soft in half a pint of rich milk. Sift a pound of fine flour into a
broad pan; make a hole in the centre, and pour into it the milk and
butter, having stirred them well together. Then, gradually, add a large
quarter of a pound of powdered sugar, and a heaped tea-spoonful of
powdered cinnamon. Beat three eggs very smooth and thick, and stir them
in, also a wine-glass and a half of strong fresh brewer's yeast, or two
glasses of fresh baker's yeast. Then mix, (having sprinkled some over
the top,) all the flour into the hole in the centre, so as to make a
soft dough. When all is well mixed cover it, and set it to rise in a
round straight-sided tin pan. Place it near the fire, and when quite
light and cracked all over the surface, flour your pasteboard well,
place the loaf upon it, and having prepared in a pint bowl a stiff
mixture of ground cinnamon, fresh butter, and brown sugar, beaten
together so as to stand alone, make numerous deep cuts or incisions all
over the surface on the sides and top of the cake; fill them with the
cinnamon mixture, and pinch each together so as to keep the seasoning
from coming out. Glaze it all over with beaten white of egg a little
sweetened. Then return the loaf to the pan, and bake it in a moderate
oven till thoroughly done. When cool, cut it down in slices like a pound
cake.
This dough may be divided into small round cakes, the size of a muffin,
and baked on tin or iron sheets, sifting sugar over them when cool. It
must have a high flavor of cinnamon.
WEST INDIA COCOA-NUT CAKE.--Cut up and peel some pieces of very ripe
cocoa-nut. Lay them for a while in cold water. Then take them out and
wipe them dry, and grate very fine as much as will weigh half a pound.
Beat eight eggs till very light, thick, and smooth. Have ready half a
pound of powdered loaf sugar, and stir it into the pan of beaten egg,
alternately with the grated cocoa-nut; adding a handful of sifted flour,
a powdered nutmeg, and a large glass of madeira or sherry, stirring the
whole very hard. Butter an oblong tin pan. Put in the mixture, set it
immediately into a quick oven, and bake it well. Set it to cool on an
inverted sieve; cut it into squares, and ice each square, flavoring the
icing with rose.
You may bake it in a large loaf; adding double portions of all the
ingredients, and ornamenting the icing handsomely.
_Sweet Potato Cake_--Is made like the above cocoa-nut cake. The sweet
potatos must be pared and grated _raw_, till you have as much as weighs
half a pound. Then proceed as above, and with the same ingredients and
proportions. You may boil and mash the sweet potatos; but be sure,
afterwards, to pass them through a coarse sieve, or they may chance to
clod and become heavy. If well made, and well flavored, this cake is
very nice.
GOLDEN CAKE.--The best time for making this cake is when ripe oranges
are plenty. For one cake select four large deep-colored oranges, and
roll each one under your hand upon a table to soften them, and increase
the juice. Weigh a pound of the best loaf sugar. On some of the largest
pieces rub off the yellow or outer rind of the oranges, omitting the
white entirely. The white or inner rind of oranges or lemons should
never be used for any thing. Cut the oranges, and squeeze their juice
through a strainer into a large saucer or a small deep plate. Powder all
the sugar, including that which has the orange zest upon it, and put it
into a deep earthen pan, with a pound of the best fresh butter cut up
among it. With a wooden spaddle stir the butter and sugar together, till
very light and creamy. In a shallow pan beat twelve eggs, omitting the
_whites_ of three. Sift into a dish a small quart of the best and finest
flour, and stir it gradually into the pan of butter and sugar and
orange, in turn with the beaten egg, a little at a time of each. Stir
the whole very hard; and when done, immediately transfer the batter to
square tin pans, greased with the same fresh butter that was used for
the cake. Many a fine cake has been spoiled, at last, by the poor
economy of greasing the pans with salt butter. Fill the pans to the top.
If the cake has been well made, and well beaten, there is no danger of
the batter running over the edges. Put it, immediately, into a quick
oven and bake it well, not allowing the heat to be lessened till the
cake is quite done. When cool, cut it into squares. If you ice it,
flavor the icing with orange juice.
Do not attempt to make this cake with yolk of egg only, by way of
improving the yellow color. Without any whites, it will assuredly be
tough and heavy. Cakes may be made light with white of egg only, but
never with yellow of egg only.
If you use soda, saleratus, hartshorn, or any of the alkalis, they will
entirely destroy the orange flavor, and communicate a bad taste of their
own.
SILVER CAKE.--Scald in a bowl of boiling water two ounces of shelled
bitter almonds. As you peel off the skins throw each almond into a bowl
of ice-cold water. When all are blanched, take them out, and wipe them
dry on a clean napkin. Put them, one at a time, into a very clean marble
mortar, and pound each one separately to a smooth paste, adding, as you
pound them, a few drops of strong rose-water, till you have used up a
large wine-glass full. As you remove the pounded almonds from the
water, lay them lightly and loosely on a plate. When all are done, put
them into a very cool place. In a deep earthen pan cut up a pound of
fresh butter into a pound of powdered sugar, and with a wooden spaddle
stir the butter and sugar together till perfectly light. Into another
pan sift three quarters of a pound of fine flour, and in a broad shallow
pan beat with small rods the whites only of eighteen eggs till they are
stiff enough to stand alone. Then, gradually, and alternately, stir into
the pan of beaten butter and sugar the flour, the beaten white of eggs,
and the pounded almonds. Give the whole a hard stirring at the last.
Transfer it to square tin pans greased with the same butter, and bake it
well. When cool, cut it into square cakes, and send it to table on china
plates, piled alternately with pieces of golden cake, handsomely
arranged. If you ice silver cake, flavor the icing with strong
rose-water.
These cakes, (gold or silver) if made as above, will be found delicious.
The yolk of egg left from the silver cake may be used for soft custards.
But yolk of egg alone, will not raise a cake; though white of egg will.
APEES.--Cut up a pound of fresh butter into two pounds of sifted flour,
and rubbing the butter very fine, and mixing in a pound of powdered
sugar, with a heaped tea-spoonful of mixed spice, nutmeg, mace, and
cinnamon, and four tea-spoonfuls of carraway seeds. Moisten the whole
with a large glass of white wine; and barely sufficient cold water to
make a stiff dough. Mix it well with a broad knife, and roll it out into
a sheet less than half an inch thick; then with the edge of a tumbler,
or a tin cake-cutter, divide it into round small cakes. Bake them in
oblong pans, (tin or iron) slightly buttered; and do not place them so
closely as to touch. Bake them in a quick oven, till they are of a pale
brown. These cakes are soon prepared, requiring neither eggs nor yeast.
MARMALADE MERINGUES.--Make a mixture as for apees, omitting only the
carraway seeds. Roll out the sheet of dough quite thin; cut it into
round flat cakes with the edge of a tumbler, and bake them a few
minutes, till lightly colored. Take them out of the oven and spread them
thickly with very nice marmalade, or with ripe strawberries or
raspberries, sweetened, and mashed without cooking. Have ready a stiff
meringue of beaten white of egg and sugar. Pile it high over the
marmalade on each cake. Heap it on with a spoon, so as quite to conceal
the marmalade, and do not smooth it on the top. It should stand up
_uneven_ as the spoon left it. Set it again in the oven for a minute or
two, to harden it.
JUMBLES.--Mix together, all at once, in a deep pan, a pound of butter
cut up in a pound of powdered sugar, a pound of sifted flour, and six
eggs, previously beaten very light in a pan by themselves. Add a
table-spoonful of powdered spice, (mixed nutmeg, mace, and cinnamon) and
a glass of mixed wine and brandy; or else a glass of rose water; or the
juice and grated yellow rind of a large lemon. Stir the whole very hard
till all the ingredients are thoroughly mixed, and become a soft dough.
Flour your hands and your pasteboard, and lay the dough upon it. Take
off equal portions from the lump, and with your hands form them into
round rolls, and make them into rings by joining together the two ends
of each. Place the jumbles (not so near as to touch,) in tin pans
slightly buttered, and bake them in a very brisk oven little more than
five or six minutes, or enough to color them a light brown. If the oven
is too cool, the jumbles will spread and run into each other. When cold,
sift sugar over them. _Jumbles_ may be made with yolks of eggs only, if
the whites are wanted for something else.
_Cocoa-nut Jumbles_--Are made as above, only with finely grated
cocoa-nut instead of flour, and with white of egg instead of yolk.
_Cocoa-nut Puffs._--Grate any quantity of cocoa-nut. Mix it with
powdered sugar and a little beaten white of egg, and lay it in small
heaps of equal size. On the top of each place a ripe strawberry,
raspberry, or any small preserved fruit, flattening a slight hollow, to
hold it without its rolling off.
SCOTCH CAKE.--Take a pound of fresh butter, a pound of powdered white
sugar, and two pounds of sifted flour. Mix the sugar with the flour, and
rub the butter into it, crumbled fine. Add a heaped table-spoonful of
mixed nutmeg and cinnamon. Put _no water_, but moisten it entirely with
butter. A small glass of brandy is an improvement. Roll it out into a
large thick sheet, and cut it into round cakes about the size of
saucers. Bake them on flat tins, slightly buttered. This cake is very
crumbly but very good, and of Scottish origin. It keeps well, and is
often sent from thence, packed in boxes.
JELLY CAKE.--For baking jelly cake you must have large flat tin pans
rather larger than a dinner plate. But a very clean soap-stone griddle
may be substituted, though more troublesome. Make a rich batter as for
pound cake, and bake it in single cakes, (in the manner of buckwheat, or
thicker) taking care to grease the tin or soap-stone with _excellent_
fresh butter. Have ready, enough of fruit jelly or marmalade, to spread
a thick layer all over each cake when it cools. Pile one on another very
evenly, till you have four, five, or half a dozen; and ice the surface
of the whole. Cut it down in triangular pieces like a pie. Jelly cake
is no longer made of sponge cake, which is going out of use for all
purposes, as being too often dry, tough, and insipid, and frequently not
so good as plain bread.
ALMOND MACAROONS.--The day before they are wanted, prepare three
quarters of a pound of shelled sweet almonds, and a quarter of a pound
of shelled bitter almonds; by scalding, blanching, and pounding them to
a smooth paste in a marble mortar, (one or two at a time) adding, as you
proceed, rose-water to prevent their oiling, and becoming dark and
heavy. Having beaten to a stiff froth the whites of six eggs, and
prepared a pound of powdered loaf sugar, beat the sugar into the egg a
spoonful at a time. Then mix in gradually the pounded almonds, and add a
grated nutmeg. Stir the whole very hard, and form the mixture into small
round balls. Then flatten slightly the surface of each. Butter slightly
some shallow tin pans. Place the macaroons not so close as to be in
danger of touching; and glaze them lightly with a little beaten white of
egg. Put them into a brisk oven, and bake them a light brown.
Ground-nut macaroons are made in the same manner.
_Chocolate Macaroons._--Scrape down, very fine, half a pound of Baker's
prepared cocoa. Beat to a stiff froth the white of four eggs, and beat
into the white of egg a pound of powdered loaf sugar, in turn with the
chocolate, adding a little sifted flour if the mixture appears too thin.
Grease the bottom of some oblong tin pans, very slightly, with sweet
oil. Having formed the mixture into small thick cakes, lay them (not
close,) in the pan, and bake them a few minutes. Sift sugar over them
while warm.
KISSES.--Having beaten to a stiff froth, till it stands alone, the
whites of eight eggs, mix with it, gradually, three quarters of a pound
of finely powdered loaf sugar, beating it in very hard, a spoonful at a
time, and as you proceed flavoring it with extract of vanilla, rose, or
lemon juice. If the meringue is not thoroughly beaten and very stiff,
the kisses will lose their shape and run in baking. Try one first, and
if that runs, beat a while longer before you bake the whole. Pile
portions of the meringue on sheets of letter paper, placing each heap
far apart. Smooth and shape them with a broad knife dipped in cold
water. Make them about the size and form of half eggs, with the flat
part downwards. Arrange them on a smooth hickory board, and set it in a
quick oven, (leaving the door open) and watch them well. A few minutes
will color them a pale brown, and that is all they require. Then take
them out, and set them to cool. When cool, slip a knife carefully under
each, and remove them from the paper. Then with your knife hollow the
meringue from the base of each kiss and scrape upwards toward the top,
being careful not to break through the outside or crust. Fill up this
vacancy with any sort of stiff jelly. Then clap two halves together, and
unite them at the base, by moistening the edges with a little of the
meringue that was left. Handle them very carefully throughout.
Large kisses, of twice or thrice the usual size, are introduced at
parties, filled with ice cream, or flavored calf's foot jelly.
It is very customary now to finish a fine charlotte russe with a thick
layer of this jelly at the top.
LAFAYETTE GINGERBREAD.--Cut up in a deep pan half a pound of the best
fresh butter, with a half pound of excellent brown sugar; and stir it to
cream with a spaddle. Add a pint of West India molasses, mixed with half
a pint of warm milk; four table-spoonfuls of ginger; a heaped
table-spoonful of mixed powdered cinnamon and powdered mace and nutmeg;
and a glass of brandy. Sift in a pound and a half of fine flour. Beat
six eggs till very light and thick, and mix them, alternately, into the
pan of butter, sugar, molasses, &c. At the last, mix in the yellow rind
(grated fine) of two large oranges and the juice. Stir the whole very
hard. Melt in one cup a very small level tea-spoonful of soda, and in
another a small level salt-spoon of tartaric acid. Dissolve them both in
lukewarm water, and see that both are quite melted. First stir the soda
into the mixture, and then put in the tartaric acid. On no account
exceed the quantity of the two alkalis, as if too much is used, they
will destroy entirely the flavoring, and communicate a very disagreeable
taste instead. Few cakes are the better for any of the alkaline powders,
and many sorts are entirely spoiled by them. Even in gingerbread they
should be used very sparingly, rather less than more of the prescribed
quantity. Having buttered, (with the same butter) a large round or
oblong pan, put in the mixture, and bake it in a moderate oven till
thoroughly done, keeping up a steady heat, but watching that it does not
burn. There is no gingerbread superior to this, if well made. Instead of
lemon or orange, cut in half a pound of seedless raisins, dredge them
well with flour, and stir them, gradually, into the mixture.
This is also called Franklin gingerbread.
GINGER NUTS.--Cut a pound of the best fresh butter into two pounds or
two quarts of sifted flour, and half a pound of fine brown sugar. Add
four heaped table-spoonfuls of ground ginger; a heaped table-spoonful of
powdered cinnamon, and the same quantity of mixed nutmeg and mace. Mix
all the ingredients thoroughly together; adding, gradually, a large pint
of West India molasses, and the grated yellow rind and juice of a lemon
or orange. Stir it very hard with a spaddle. Flour your hands, break
off pieces of the dough, and knead each piece a little; then flatten
them on the top. Make them the size of a quarter dollar. Or, (flouring
your pasteboard) roll out the dough, and cut out the ginger-nuts with
the edge of a small wine-glass. Bake them on buttered tins, having first
glazed them with a thin mixture of molasses and water. The same dough
may be baked in long straight sticks, divided by lines deeply marked
with a knife.
There are many other gingerbreads; but any of the soft sorts may be made
with little variation from the foregoing directions for Lafayette
gingerbread; and of the hard sort of ginger-nut preparation, the above
is the basis of the rest. If the receipts are liberally and exactly
followed, it will be found that to those two none are superior.
PIGEON PIE.--For this pie take six fine fat tame pigeons, carefully
cleaned and picked. Lay them in cold water for an hour, changing the
water twice during that time. This is to remove what is called "the
taste of the nest." Have ready the yolks of six hard-boiled eggs,
seasoned with powdered nutmeg. Place a bit of fresh butter rolled in
flour, in the inside of each pigeon, with its liver cut up, and with a
yolk of egg seasoned with powdered mace. Lay a nice tender beef steak,
or thin veal cutlet, in the bottom of a large deep dish, that has been
lined with puff-paste. Butter the steak, and dredge it with flour.
There must be meat enough to cover well the bottom of the pie dish. Lay
the pigeons upon it, with the breast downward, (their heads and feet cut
off, and their livers cut up, and put inside with the stuffing.) Fill up
the dish with water. Roll out and put on the lid of the pie, which you
may ornament with paste leaves or flowers, according to your taste. For
company, pigeon pies are expected to look handsome. It is no longer
fashionable to have the feet of the pigeons sticking out of the slit in
the top of the paste.
Moorfowl, pheasants, partridges, or quails, may be made into pies in the
above manner. It is usual, for partridge pies, to peel two fine sweet
oranges; and having divided them into quarters, carefully remove the
strings and seeds, and put the oranges into the birds without any other
stuffing. Instead of beef steak or veal cutlet, lay a thin slice of cold
ham in the bottom of the pie-dish.
This receipt, and the following, were accidentally omitted in their
proper places.
CHICKEN PIE.--Skin a pair of fine fowls, and cut them up. Save out the
necks, backs, feet, livers, and gizzards, and the ends of the pinions;
and seasoning them with a little pepper and salt add some trimmings or
spare bits of fresh beef or veal, and stew them in a small sauce-pan
with a little water, to make the gravy. Let them stew till all to rags,
and then strain off the liquid; and while hot, stir into it a beaten
egg and a bit of fresh butter, dredged with flour. In the mean time make
a nice puff-paste, and roll it out rather thick; divide it in two
circular sheets. Line with one sheet the bottom and sides of a deep pie
dish, and put in the best pieces of chicken. Lay among them four
hard-boiled eggs, sliced or quartered. Season well with powdered mace or
nutmeg. The gravy being strained, pour that into the pie, and finish at
the top with a layer of butter divided into small pieces, and dredge
with flour. This is what the old English cookery books mean when they
say--"Close the pie with a _lear_."
A chicken pie will be improved by the addition of a dozen or more large
fresh oysters, stewed. If you add oysters, take off the lid or upper
crust as soon as the pie is baked, and put in the oysters _then_; if put
in at the beginning, they will bake too long. Replace the lid nicely,
and send the pie to table hot.
The lid should have in the top a cross slit with a nice paste flower in
it. To make a paste flower roll out a straight narrow slip of paste,
about four or five inches wide. Roll it up with your fingers as if you
were rolling up a ribbon. Then with a sharp knife cut four clefts in the
upper half, and when baked, it will spread apart as like the leaves of a
flower.
SWEETMEATS.
No sweetmeats can either look well or taste well unless the fruit and
the sugar are of the best quality. As in all other branches of cookery,
it is false economy to provide bad or low-priced ingredients. It has of
late years been difficult to obtain _very_ good sugar at any price, so
much is adulterated with flour or ground starch. In the common powdered
sugar the flour is so palpable that we are surprised at its having any
sale at all; and the large quantity required to produce any perceptible
sweetness renders it totally unfit for sweetmeats, or indeed for any
thing else. The best brown sugar is better than this, having clarified
it with white of egg. To do this, allow to every pound of sugar the
beaten white of an egg, and a half pint of clear cold water. Having
poured the water on the sugar, let it stand to melt before it goes on
the fire. Then add the white of egg and put in on to boil. When it
boils, carefully take off the scum as it rises, and add when it is
boiling hard another jill or quarter pint of water for each pound of
sugar. Remove it from the fire when the scum ceases to rise, and let it
stand for a quarter of an hour to settle. Strain, and bottle it for use.
The best brown sugar _thus prepared_ will make a good syrup; and good
marmalade, when white sugar of the best quality is not to be obtained.
But for the nicest sweetmeats use always, if you can, the best
double-refined loaf.
In warm weather there is nothing better for a preserving fire than a
portable charcoal furnace placed out in the open air; as in a room with
the doors or windows shut the vapor of charcoal is deadly, and never
fails to produce suffocation. Of whatever the fire is made, it should be
clear and steady without smoke or blaze. Never use copper or bell-metal
for either preserving or pickling. For all such purposes employ only
iron, lined with what is called porcelain or enamel, but is in reality a
thick strong white earthen, first made at Delft, in Holland. This lining
will crack if the kettle is placed over a blaze, which it should never
be. All sweetmeats should be boiled with the lid off. If covered, the
steam having no means of escaping, returns upon them, and causes them to
look dark and unsightly. When done, put the sweetmeats warm into jars or
glasses, and leave them open a few hours that the watery particles may
evaporate, but have them all pasted and closely covered before night. Do
nothing to render your preserves hard, or firm, as it is called. It is
better to have them soft and tender. The old custom of steeping them for
days in salt and water, and then boiling them in something else to
remove the salt, is now considered foolish, and is seldom practised.
Put up jellies and small sweetmeats in common tumblers, laying on the
surface of each a double cover of white tissue paper cut exactly to fit,
and then put on another cover of thick white paper pleated and notched
where it descends below the edge, using always gum tragacanth paste,
which you should keep always in the house, as it requires no boiling;
and if in making it, a bit of corrosive sublimate (not larger than a
cherry-stone) is dissolved with the ounce of gum tragacanth and the half
pint of warm water, in a yellow or white-ware mug, and _stirred only
with a stick_, the paste will never spoil, and if kept covered, will be
found superior to all others. No metal must touch this cement, as it
will then turn black and spoil.
Keep your sweetmeats always in a dry place. But if after a while you see
a coat of mould on the surface, you need not throw them away, till you
have tried to recover them by carefully removing every particle of
mould, filling up the jars with fresh sugar, and setting them, one by
one, in a bottle of water, and in this way boiling them over again. But
if they have an unpleasant smell, and you see insects about them, of
course they must be thrown away. To purify jars, clean and scrape them,
and wash them thoroughly with ley and water, or with a solution of
soda--afterwards exposing them to the sun and air for a week or more.
_Jellies._--We have already given directions for various fruit jellies
in the chapter on Fine Desserts. They are all made nearly in the same
manner, using the juice of the fruit, and sufficient sugar to make it
congeal and to keep it. Jellies should always be bright and transparent,
and therefore require the best and ripest of fruit and the finest of
loaf sugar.
MARMALADE OR JAMS.--Marmalade or jams are the easiest sweetmeats to
make, and are useful for all sweetmeat purposes. They are all made
nearly in the same manner; and to be very good, and to keep well, at
least a pound of fine sugar should be allowed to every pound of
fruit--the fruit being quite ripe, freshly gathered, and of the best
kind.
_For Peach Marmalade_--Take fine, juicy free-stone peaches. Pare them;
cut them in half; remove the stones, and let them be saved and the
kernels extracted to use as bitter almonds. Cut up the peaches, and
allow for each pound a pound of sugar. Lay the peaches (with all the
sugar among them,) in a large pan or tureen, and let them rest for three
or four hours. Boil the peaches and sugar together in a porcelain kettle
(without a cover) for half an hour, skimming and stirring well. When it
becomes a thick smooth mass it is finished. Put it up in glass jars, and
leave it uncovered till cool; but not longer. The flavor will be much
improved by boiling with the peaches and sugar one or two handfuls of
the kernels, blanched and pounded; or else a bunch of fresh peach
leaves, to be removed afterward.
_Quince Marmalade_ is made in the same manner--first carefully removing
all the blemishes. Allow a pound of sugar to a pound of quinces. They
must boil longer than peaches. All marmalades must be cooked till the
form of the fruit is quite indistinguishable, and till it mashes into a
thick smooth mass. Quinces should be allowed to remain on the trees till
after the first frost, which greatly improves them. Persimmons and wild
grapes are not eatable till they are touched by the frost.
_Tomato Marmalade._--Make this when lemons are ripe and plenty. To every
two pounds of tomatos allow two pounds of sugar, and the grated yellow
rind and the juice of one lemon. The worst way of using lemons for any
purpose is to merely slice them. Depend on the slices for flavoring, and
they are wasted; the taste being scarcely perceptible. They should
always be first rolled under your hand, which increases the yield of
juice. Then grate off from the outside the _yellow_ rind only (the white
part of the rind is worse than useless,) and having cut the lemon,
squeeze the juice through a tin strainer to exclude the seeds, which
otherwise would be troublesome to pick out. The yellow rind and the
juice are all you need want of a lemon for any purpose of flavoring.
Scald the tomatos to make them peel easily, and mix the sugar thoroughly
with them. Boil them slowly for an hour in a porcelain kettle, skimming
carefully, and stirring well after each skimming. Then add the lemon
grate and the juice, and boil the marmalade another half hour, or till
it is a thick smooth mass.
_Pumpkin Marmalade._--Take a fine ripe high-colored pumpkin. Cut it up.
Empty it very clean of the seeds and strings; take off a thick paring.
Slice the pieces small and thin, and weigh them. To each pound of
pumpkin allow a pound of powdered sugar, and the grated peel and the
juice of one large lemon. Pumpkin sweetmeats require a high lemon
flavoring. Boil the pumpkin alone, till quite soft. Then mash it in a
cullender till the water is pressed out, and the pumpkin left dry.
Afterwards put it into a porcelain kettle, mix with it the sugar and
lemon, and boil it again till it becomes a thick jam. Cantaloupe
marmalade is made in the same way with lemon and sugar--also marmalade
of ripe figs.
_Plum Marmalade._--Choose plums that are fully ripe. Allow to each pound
a pound and a half of sugar. Scald them till the skins peel off easily,
and extract all the stones. Lay them in the sugar for two or three hours
or more, and then boil them till they become a thick smooth mass.
Green-gages the same.
_Raspberry Jam._--To every quart of fine ripe raspberries allow a pound
of best loaf sugar, powdered. Put them together into a broad white-ware
pan, and let them rest for two or three hours. Then boil them in an
uncovered porcelain kettle, taking off the scum carefully. When no more
scum rises, mash them, and boil them to a smooth thick marmalade. When
cold, put it up in half pint tumblers, and cover them with rounds of
double tissue paper, cut exactly to fit, and then with thick white
paper dipped in brandy.
_Strawberry Jam._--The strawberries must be quite ripe, and very fine.
Allow to each quart a pound of powdered loaf sugar. Put them into a
large white-ware pan; a layer of sugar and a layer of strawberries
alternately, finishing with strawberries on the top. Let them rest in
the sugar and juice three or four hours. Then boil and skim them till
they become very thick and smooth. When cold, put them up in tumblers,
with double tissue paper over the top. Blackberry jam is made in the
same manner.
_Gooseberry Jam._--Top and tail the gooseberries, which must be
thoroughly ripe, and with thin skins. They require to every pound of
fruit a pound and a half of sugar of the best sort. Mash them with a
wooden beetle, and put them with all the sugar into an uncovered
porcelain kettle, and boil and skim them. When half done add more sugar,
and continue boiling till they are a very thick marmalade. When cold,
cover the tumblers with brandy paper.
_Pine-apple Marmalade._--Take the best and ripest pine-apples; remove
the leaves, and split each pine-apple into four pieces, and cut out the
core from the centre. Stand the pieces upright in a deep dish, and, with
a large coarse grater grate down all the _flesh_ of the fruit, as it is
called. To every pint of grated pine-apple allow a pound of powdered
loaf sugar, and put them together in a large tureen. Let them rest two
hours. Then transfer the whole to a porcelain kettle. Leave it
uncovered; and boil, skim, and stir, till it becomes a very thick
marmalade. When cool, put it up in glass jars. It is a very nice
sweetmeat, particularly for shells or tarts.
_Grape Marmalade._--Take a sufficiency of fine grapes, thoroughly ripe.
Having picked them from the stems, mash them with a wooden beetle, and
then press them through a sieve. To every pint of the pulp allow a pound
of powdered sugar, well mixed in; let it stand an hour or two. Then boil
it, uncovered, in a porcelain kettle, skimming and stirring well, till
it is very thick and smooth. When cool, put it up in small marmalade
pots of white-ware with lids, and paste a band of thick white paper
round each, at the small crack where the cover fits on. A good marmalade
for the backwoods may be made of wild grapes and maple sugar.
_Cherry Marmalade._--If you cannot procure morellas, (the best of all
cherries for sweetmeats) use the large Virginia or carnation cherries.
Black cherries are unfit for cooking. Stem and stone your cherries,
saving all the juice you can. Allow a pound of powdered loaf sugar to
every pint of cherries. Boil the fruit and the sugar together,
uncovered, for an hour, skimming and stirring. When cool, put it in
white-ware marmalade pots and paste the lids.
_Orange Marmalade._--Quarter some large ripe oranges, and remove the
rind, the seeds, and the strings or filaments, taking care to save all
the juice. Put the pulp, with the juice, into a porcelain kettle, and
mix with it an equal quantity of strained honey, adding sufficient
powdered loaf sugar to render it very thick and sweet. The honey alone
will not make it sweet enough. Boil it uncovered, and skim it till very
thick, smooth, and clear. Taste it, and if necessary add more sugar, and
boil it longer. When cold, put it up in tumblers or white-ware marmalade
pots, and cover it securely. This marmalade is exquisite, and very
superior to any other.
_Orange Milk._--Take four dozen large ripe juicy oranges, and roll them
under your hand. Cut them in two; remove the seeds, and squeeze the
juice into a large clean stone jar. Have ready four pounds of the best
double-refined loaf sugar, dissolved in a gallon of French brandy. Pour
it into the jar that contains the orange juice; stir the mixture well,
and add the yellow rind of the oranges, pared so thin from the white as
to be transparent, and divide it into bits. Cover the jar, and let it
stand four days, stirring it frequently. Then take a gallon of new
unskimmed milk, (the morning's milk of that day,) boil it alone, and
when it comes to a hard boil pour it into the mixture of orange, sugar,
and brandy. Cover it closely, and let it stand till quite cold. Then
strain it into another vessel through a linen jelly bag. Bottle it
immediately, and seal the corks. It improves by keeping. To use it, pour
it out in half tumblers, and fill up with ice water, or serve it round
undiluted in small cordial glasses, after ice-cream. It is much
admired, and in orange countries may be made in large quantities. Lemon
milk is made in the same manner, having a larger proportion of sugar.
_Fruit in Syrups._--Make a syrup in the proportion of half a pint of
water to every pound of sugar, and a pint of the juice of any sort of
fine ripe fruit. Boil and skim it till very clear, but not till it
congeals or jellies. Then bottle it, and cork the bottles. As the fresh
fruit comes again into season, select the finest, largest, and ripest.
For instance, half fill a white-ware preserve jar with fine fresh
strawberries, and fill up from a bottle of strawberry syrup; or ripe
raspberries with raspberry syrup; currants, with currant syrup, &c.
Cover them closely till wanted for immediate use.
PRESERVED CITRON MELONS.--Take some fine citron melons; pare, core, and
cut them into slices. Then weigh them; and, to every six pounds of
melon, allow six pounds of the best double refined loaf sugar, and the
juice and yellow rind (grated very fine,) of four large fresh lemons,
and _a quarter_ of a pound of root ginger.
Put the slices of lemon into a preserving kettle, and boil them half an
hour or more, till they look _quite_ clear, and are so tender that a
broom twig will pierce through them. Then drain them; lay them in a
broad pan of cold water, cover them, and let them stand all night. In
the morning tie the root ginger in a thin muslin cloth, and boil it in
three pints of clear spring or pump water till the water is highly
flavored. Then take out the bag of ginger. Having broken up the sugar
put it into a clean preserving kettle, and pour the ginger water over
it. When the sugar is all melted set it over the fire, put in the grated
yellow peel of the lemons, and boil and skim it till no more scum rises.
Then put in the sliced citrons, and the juice of the lemons; and boil
them in the syrup till all the slices are quite transparent, and so soft
that a straw will go through them; but do not allow them to break. When
quite done, put the slices (while still warm,) into wide-mouthed glass
or white-ware jars, and gently pour on the syrup. Lay inside of each
jar, upon the top of the syrup, a round of white paper dipped in brandy.
Put on the lids of the jars, and tie leather over them.
This will be found a delicious sweetmeat; equal to any imported from the
West Indies, and far less expensive.
PINE-APPLES PRESERVED.--Take six fine large pine-apples, as ripe as you
can get them. Make them very clean, but do not, at first, pare off the
rind or cut off the leaves. The rind and leaves being left on while
boiling will _keep in_ the flavor of the fruit. Put the pine-apples
whole into a very large and very clean iron pot. Fill it up with cold
water, and boil the pine-apples till they are so tender that you can
pierce them through the rind to the core, with a splinter skewer or a
twig from a corn broom. Then take them out of the pot, and drain them.
When they are so cool as to be handled without inconvenience, remove the
leaves, and pare off the rind. Cut then into round slices about half an
inch thick, extracting the core from the centre as to leave a small
round hole in every slice. Weigh them, and to each pound of fruit allow
a pound of double refined loaf sugar, broken up and powdered. Cover the
bottom of a large dish or dishes with a thick layer of the sugar. On
this place a layer of pine-apple slices; then a layer of sugar; then a
layer of fruit, and so on till the slices are all thickly covered,
finishing with a layer of sugar at the top. Let them stand twenty-four
hours. Then drain the slices from the syrup, and lay them in wide jars.
Put all the syrup into a clear porcelain kettle, and boil and skim it
till the scum ceases to rise. Then pour it hot upon the pine-apple.
While warm, cover the jars closely with white paper cut to fit, and
dipped in brandy; and then tie on a piece of bladder. There is no better
way of preserving pine-apples, or that retains the flavor so well.
Quinces may be preserved in the same manner.
PRESERVED LEMONS OR ORANGES.--The fruit must be perfectly ripe, of the
best quality, with a smooth rind and fine color. Cut out from the stem
end of each, a piece not quite the size of a quarter dollar, and with a
small knife scoop out all the inside, keeping the rind as whole as
possible. Put the pulp and juice into a large bowl, and clear it from
the strings and seeds. Lay the skins in a tureen of cold ice water, and
change it twice during the day, (fresh water and fresh ice); and at
bedtime put ice only. Next morning boil the skins slowly in a porcelain
kettle with plenty of water, keeping them well covered. Continue to boil
till they are tender all through, and can easily be pierced with a
splinter skewer. Then drain them, and lay them in cold water
immediately. Take care to boil with them the small round pieces that
come out of the top. Make a thick jelly or marmalade of the pulp and
juice of these, and some additional fruit, allowing to a pint of juice a
pound of loaf sugar. When the jelly has been boiled till clear and firm
when held in the air, fill with it the skins so as to swell them out
into a good shape. Replace the small circular pieces that have been cut
off the top of the fruit, and tie them on securely with packthread, so
as to keep in the jelly. Next make a thin syrup, allowing to a pound of
broken-up loaf sugar half a pint of fresh juice, and the beaten white of
an egg. Boil and skim it till no more scum rises. Then having put the
oranges into large glass jars rather more than half full, pour the syrup
on them, filling up to the top.
_To Green Small Lemons or Limes._--Boil them first in a little hard
water, placing them in a porcelain kettle with a thick bed of fresh vine
leaves under them and a thick cover of vine leaves over them. Boil them
till green and tender in two or three waters, putting entirely fresh
vine leaves whenever you change the water, and persisting till they are
well greened. Then make holes in the stem end, and extract the pulp,
strings, and seeds, and proceed as directed in the last receipt. The
skins, as soon as empty, being laid in cold water, and then filled and
shaped out with lemon jelly, and the jars filled up warm with lemon
syrup. Or by putting a larger portion of sugar, and boiling the syrup
longer, you may candy it all over the surface of the fruit.
Green limes are preserved in the above manner, filling the skins with
lemon jelly. To candy the syrup use a double portion of sugar, and boil
it till it bubbles and sparkles in the kettle.
PEACHES PRESERVED.--Take the finest ripe free-stone peaches. Pare them,
cut them in half, and remove the stones. To every pound of peaches allow
a pound of double refined loaf sugar, and half the white of an egg
(slightly beaten) with half a pint of very clear soft water. Put the
sugar into a porcelain preserving kettle, mix it with the water and
white of egg, and when it has entirely dissolved, set it over the fire,
and boil and skim it till the scum ceases to rise, which will be very
soon, if the sugar is as good as it should be. There is no economy in
using inferior sugar for sweetmeats, as much of it will be lost in
skimming and sediment. In the mean time, boil in a little sauce-pan a
bunch of fresh green peach leaves that have been cleared from all dust;
or a handful of broken-up peach kernels. When the flavor is well
extracted, strain this water and mix it with the syrup. Then put in the
halved peaches, and boil them (uncovered) till quite clear and soft, but
not till they break. While warm, put them up with the syrup in glass or
white-ware jars.
Apricots are preserved in the same way.
_Preserved Green Gages._--Get the largest and ripest green gages, or egg
plums. Scald them in boiling water to make them peel easily; the skins
of all sorts of plums becoming very hard and tough when preserved.
Remove the stems; they are no ornament, and render them troublesome to
eat. Make a syrup in the usual way, allowing to each pound of plums a
pound of the finest loaf sugar, half a pint of water, and half a white
of egg. When well skimmed and boiled put in the plums, and boil them
gently till quite clear and soft, but not till broken. All plums may be
done in this manner. If not as ripe as possible, they will require to
each pound of fruit a pound and a half of the best sugar.
BRANDY PEACHES.--Take large juicy _free-stone_ peaches, not so ripe as
to burst or mash on being handled. Rub off the down from every one with
a clean thick flannel. Prick every peach down to the stone with a large
silver fork, and score them all along the seam or cleft. To _each_ pound
of peaches allow a pound of double-refined loaf sugar, broken-up small,
and a half pint of water mixed with half a white of egg, slightly
beaten. Put the sugar into a porcelain kettle, and pour the water upon
it. When it is quite melted give it a stirring, set it over the fire,
and boil and skim it till no more scum rises. Next put in the peaches,
and let them cook (uncovered) in the syrup till they look clear, or for
about half an hour, or till a straw will penetrate them. Then take the
kettle off the fire. Having allotted a pint of the very best white
brandy to each pound of peaches, mix it with the syrup, after taking out
the fruit with a wooden spoon, and draining it over the kettle. Put the
peaches into a large tureen. Let the syrup remain in the kettle a little
longer. Mix the brandy with it, and boil them together ten minutes, or
more. Transfer the peaches to large glass jars, (two thirds full,) and
pour the brandy and syrup over them, filling quite up to the top. When
cool, cover them closely, and tie some bladder over the lids.
_Green Gages_--Are brandied in the same manner. Also, large egg-plums.
Pears also, having first peeled them. To pear sweetmeats always add
lemon rind grated, and lemon juice.
PRESERVED TOMATOS.--This is an excellent and popular sweetmeat, when
flavored well with lemon, which is indispensable to making it palatable.
Also, it should be well penetrated with sugar, therefore it is best not
to attempt preserving tomatos whole. The best time for doing them is in
the height of the lemon season. The most convenient for preserving are
those with smooth even surfaces. If fluted or cleft they are difficult
to peel when scalded, as the skins do not strip off so easily. Having
weighed the tomatos, (which must be full-grown and quite ripe) allow to
every two pounds, two pounds of the best _brown_ sugar, a large spoonful
of ground ginger, and the juice and grated yellow rind of one large ripe
lemon, rolled awhile under your hand. Having scalded and peeled all the
tomatos, and mixed with the sugar a little beaten white of egg, put them
into a porcelain-lined preserving kettle, (uncovered,) and add,
gradually, the sugar. Boil the tomatos and sugar _slowly_ together, till
the scum ceases to appear. Then add, gradually, the lemons, (peel and
juice,) and boil slowly for an hour or more. The tomatos must all have
bursted, otherwise they will not keep, from the sugar not getting
sufficiently into them. When done, take them off the fire, and transfer
to glass jars the tomatos with their syrup.
For yellow preserves take yellow tomatos, scald and peel them, and prick
each with a silver fork. Lay them in a porcelain preserving kettle with
plenty of fresh vine leaves under and over them. Boil them with the vine
leaves till they become a finer yellow. Then wash out the kettle and
boil the tomatos, as above, with the _white_ sugar, and add the lemon.
_Green Tomatos Preserved._--Take green tomatos when they are full grown,
but have not yet begun to turn in the least red. Scald and peel them,
and lay them in a porcelain kettle with plenty of fresh vine leaves at
the bottom. Cover them thickly with another layer of vine leaves at the
top. Boil them very slowly with the vine leaves till they have all
turned yellow. Then take them out, and spread them on large dishes. Wash
the kettle, put in fresh vine leaves under and over the tomatos. They
should become a fine green with the second boiling in vine leaves;
otherwise repeat the greening. Then take them out, wash the kettle
again, and return the tomatos to it with _a pound and a half of white
sugar_ to each pound of tomatos. Boil and skim, till all is clear and
nice. Then add the grated yellow rind and the juice of one large lemon
to every pound of tomatos, and boil slowly an hour longer. All the
tomatos should burst, that the sugar may thoroughly enter the inside.
Before you cover the jars, stir into each an additional quarter or half
pound of powdered sugar. Green tomatos require a high flavoring of
lemon, as they have no peculiar taste of their own.
PRESERVED QUINCES.--Take the largest and ripest yellow quinces; after
they have remained on the trees till the first frost. Wipe them clean,
and boil them whole till they are tender all through, and can be easily
penetrated with a splinter skewer. Save and strain the water in which
they were boiled. When cool, pare and core the quinces, and carefully
remove the blemishes. To every pound of fruit allow a pound of the best
double-refined loaf sugar. Make a syrup of the water in which the
quinces were boiled, allowing half a pint of this water to every pound
of sugar. When melted, set it in a porcelain kettle over a moderate
fire, and boil and skim it till no more scum appears. Then put in the
fruit, either whole or quartered, or cut into circular slices about half
an inch thick; and boil it uncovered. When the quinces are quite clear
and soft, (but not the least broken) take them out, and spread them on
large flat dishes. Afterwards transfer them to large glass jars, rather
more than half filled; pour the syrup warm over them; and when cool
cover the jars, and tie pieces of bladder over the covers. You may boil,
by themselves, the cores and parings, in as much water as will cover
them well, till they are entirely dissolved. Then strain them through a
linen bag, and while hot stir in as much powdered loaf sugar as will
form a thick jelly. If the quinces have been preserved whole, fill up
with this jelly the holes left by the cores; or if sliced, spread the
jelly over the slices. Quinces soon become very hard and tough, unless
they have been well boiled by themselves, before putting them into the
sugar. Merely scalding or coddling them is not sufficient. If you have
not jelly for filling up the holes, substitute marmalade. To keep
quinces well, requires plenty of rich syrup.
PRESERVED CRAB-APPLES.--Take the finest Siberian crab-apples, which
being always red, and having a pleasant acid, are the only sort now used
for preserving. Rub each crab-apple with a dry clean flannel, and then
prick every one in several places with a large needle to prevent their
bursting. To every pound of fruit allow a pound and a half of
double-refined loaf sugar, and a pint of water. First make a syrup of
the sugar and water, boiling it in a porcelain kettle, and skimming it
till perfectly clear. Put in the crab-apples, adding for each pound the
juice and grated yellow rind of a large lemon. The lemon is
indispensable to this sweetmeat. Simmer them slowly in this syrup till
tender all through, so that they can be pierced with a twig of
broom-corn; but do not allow them to break. When done, put them up warm
in glass jars more than half full, and the syrup over them. You may
heighten the fine red color with a little prepared cochineal--that is,
cochineal powder kept in a bottle after being boiled with alum and cream
of tartar.
_Bellflower Apples or Large Pippins_--May be preserved whole in the
above manner. They look handsomely on a supper table, covered all over
with a thick meringue or icing flavored with lemon or rose, and spread
smoothly over every apple with a real rose-bud stuck in the top of each.
You may color the icing a beautiful pink, by mixing with it a little
prepared cochineal.
PRESERVED CHERRIES.--No cherries are worth preserving except morellas,
or the large Virginia red, or carnation cherries. Stem and stone them
carefully, saving the juice; and strew them thickly with powdered white
sugar. To a quart of cherries allow a pound of the best loaf sugar. Make
a syrup, allowing half a pint of water to a pound of sugar. Boil and
skim it, and when the scum has ceased to rise put in the cherries and
their juice, and give them a slow boil up. Put them up warm in glass or
white-ware jars, and tie bladder over the lids.
FINE PRESERVED STRAWBERRIES.--Have ready two sorts of strawberries, one
half being of the largest and finest scarlet sort, (not too ripe,) the
other smaller and less expensive, but quite ripe and perfectly fresh and
nice. Put the smaller ones into a porcelain kettle, having allowed three
quarters of a pound of double-refined loaf sugar to every quart of
fruit. Boil the sugar and small strawberries together; skimming well,
and stirring down to the bottom after every skimming, and mashing it to
a jam. When done, set it to cool in a large pan; wash the kettle clean,
or take another one, and make in it a clear syrup, allowing to each
pound of the best loaf sugar a _small_ half pint of water. When melted
set it over the fire, and boil and skim till the scum ceases to rise.
Put the large strawberries in this, and give them one boil up. If boiled
too long they will break. As soon as they have come to a boil take them
(one at a time,) with a silver tea-spoon, and lay them separately on
large flat dishes. Then mix the syrup with the jam thoroughly together,
and boil it a quarter of an hour. Put the large strawberries, one at a
time, into glass jars, (more than half full,) and fill up to the top
with the hot jam. When cool lay a round of brandy paper on the surface,
and secure the lids by tying pieces of bladder over them.
STRAWBERRIES IN WINE.--Put a small quart of fine large scarlet
strawberries into a glass jar, having sprinkled among them a quarter of
a pound of the best loaf sugar. Fill up the jar with madeira or sherry.
They are served at parties in small glass saucers, heaped on the top
with whipped cream, or with white ice cream. What is sold by many
confectioners as strawberry ice cream, has in reality no strawberries
about it; as may be known by its beautiful rose color, such as
strawberry juice never produces, particularly after being preserved with
sugar. This fine delicate pink tinge comes in reality from alkanet. Most
of what is called strawberry cordial, is in reality alcohol colored with
that elegant dye.
STRAWBERRY WINE.--Fill four glass jars holding each a quart, with fine
ripe strawberries that have been hulled or picked clean. Cover them;
set them in a large kettle of cold water, and place it in a moderate
heat till it gradually comes to a boil. Then let it boil but five
minutes. Cork the jars, and seal them closely before you take them out
of the water. Use the cement of two-thirds resin and one-third beeswax.
Keep the jar for four weeks in a dry cool place. By that time you will
find the strawberries with a thick white scum at the top, and a clear
juice at the bottom. Pour it into clean bottles, through a funnel with a
fine straining cloth. Cork the bottles, but do not drive the corks hard
down, lest the bottles should burst if too tight. Arrange the bottles on
the kitchen mantleshelf, where they may have some heat from the fire.
You will see when a vinous fermentation takes place. It may continue a
week. When it has entirely subsided, and is very clear, strain off the
liquid from the sediment into fresh bottles, and cork them tightly. When
you put them away, lay the bottles on their sides. This is a delicious
cordial, and requires no brandy in it.
_Preserved Gooseberries._--Top and tail the gooseberries, which should
be of two sorts, and as ripe as you can get. The best kind quite ripe,
large, and of a light amber color. Wash the others, and boil them in a
porcelain kettle with barely water enough to keep them from burning.
When they are soft and broken, mash the pulp through a sieve, or squeeze
it through a linen bag. Measure it, and to each pint allow a large pound
of powdered loaf sugar. Boil the sugar with the pulp, skimming and
stirring it till it begins to jelly. Then put in the large gooseberries,
and give them one boil up. When done take them out separately, and
spread them on a large flat dish. Continue to boil the syrup a while
longer, till you find it congeals well on holding out a spoonful in the
open air. Then put the large gooseberries into jars, and pour the syrup
over them while still hot and liquid. Put them up warm.
_Raspberries_--May be preserved as above, reserving the finest for
putting whole into the jelly. The large white raspberries make a fine
sweetmeat, done whole in jelly or jam of white currants.
Black currants should always be made into jelly or jam. They require
less sugar than other sweetmeats, (a quarter of a pound less) their
juice being naturally very thick.
COUNTRY PLUMS.--Gather your plums when perfectly ripe, and ready to fall
from the trees. Split them with a knife, and remove the stones. Spread
them out on large dishes, so as not to touch, and set them in the hot
sun on a sunny roof or balcony; taking them in every evening before
dark, and not putting them out till after the dew is off in the morning.
Repeat this for three or four days. Then pack them down in stone jars
with a large quantity of the best brown sugar, a layer of plums and a
layer of sugar alternately, (sugar being at the bottom and top) and
cover the jars closely. Let them remain undisturbed till February or
March. When opened, you will have plenty of rich syrup among them. They
make good spring pies, and will be prized for family use at that season.
_Country Grapes._--The little wild grapes have a very pleasant taste
after the first frost in the autumn, and should not be gathered till
that time. Until frosted, they are too sour to eat. To keep them all
winter, strip them from the stems and put them in stone jars with layers
of good brown sugar, till the jars are three parts full. Then fill up to
the top with West India molasses. They will make good winter pies, when
cranberries, dried peaches, and dried apples are scarce.
_Persimmon Jam._--Do not gather persimmons till late in the fall, when
they are well sweetened with the frost. They are unfit to eat till all
the leaves are off the trees, and till they are ripe enough to mash.
Then pack them in jars with plenty of brown sugar. Maple sugar will do.
In the back-woods they will be valued. When cooked they will be improved
by the addition of a little _sweet_ cider.
PICKLES.
For pickles the articles should all be fine and freshly gathered. They
are generally too hard to be cut or eaten conveniently, and there is too
much unnecessary fear of pickles proving soft. It is not now customary
to keep them for weeks in salt and water; two or three days will be
sufficient for this part of the process, and some kinds do not require
it at all. The arts of both preserving and pickling are of late years
much simplified. All pickles have nearly the same taste, and there is no
use (and much trouble) in multiplying varieties, when a few sorts of the
very best will be found amply sufficient for any table. One important
point to be always observed, is to use none but the most wholesome
vinegar, (the genuine cider,) as all that is made of drugs is
unwholesome to the eater and destructive to the pickles. On no
consideration boil them in brass, copper, or bell-metal--things which
fortunately are now nearly exploded from all kitchens; iron lined with
Delft, (called porcelain,) being universally substituted.
To green pickles boil them with a thick bed of fresh vine leaves, both
under and over them. This will first render them yellow; then boil them
again in a clean kettle with fresh vine leaves. If not green enough when
you think they are done, repeat the boiling again, with fresh vine
leaves and fresh water. Avoid eating pickles that are of a fine
verdigris green. They are greened with copper, and are poisonous.
If you cannot obtain vine leaves, you may green pickles by boiling them
with fresh cabbage leaves under and over. The first boiling will turn
them yellow, the second with new leaves should render them green. But
vine leaves are better and more certain. Put them up warm in stone or,
glass jars with broad flat corks; and tie kid leather over them.
INDIA PICKLE.--For this pickle you may use a variety of _young_ fruits
and vegetables. For instance, red cherries, grapes, plums, apricots,
young peaches, or lemons, limes, button-tomatos, cauliflowers sliced,
white cabbage sliced, hard-boiled eggs sliced, little onions,
nasturtions, small cucumbers, &c. Having nicely prepared these things,
put them all together into a large porcelain kettle, and scald them in a
strong brine made in the proportion of a quarter of a pound of fine salt
to a quart of boiling water. Pour it hot over the pickles, and let them
remain in it till next day. Then take them out, and drain off all the
brine through a sieve. Spread them out (so as not to touch,) on large
flat dishes or old japan servers, and set them in the hot sun for three
or four days; carefully taking them in at evening, and if the weather
becomes damp or cloudy. Afterwards put them into a cullender or sieve,
wash them well through cold water, and then wipe them all dry with a
coarse cloth. Put them into a large pan. Mix together a quarter pound of
grated horse-radish, sliced; two cloves of garlic; half a hundred small
white onions; two ounces of mace; a quarter of a pound of ground ginger;
two nutmegs, powdered; two pounds of powdered loaf sugar; half a bottle
of the best ground mustard; half a pound of yellow mustard seed, and an
ounce of turmeric powder, which must on no account be omitted, as a
yellow tinge is indispensable to this pickle. Mix all the seasoning with
sufficient excellent cider vinegar to render it liquid, and pour it over
the pickles in the pan, and then stir them up from the bottom. Let the
whole rest till cold. Then transfer it to stone jars. Have ready some
more vinegar, pour it boiling hot on the pickles, &c., but do not fill
up to the top, as they expand and rise.
PICKLED PEACHES.--Take eight fine large free-stone peaches, (white or
yellow,) when nearly but not quite ripe. Wipe off the down with a clean
flannel, and put them into a brine strong enough to bear up an egg. In
two days take them out, and drain them for several hours on an inverted
sieve. Tie in a piece of thin muslin one ounce of whole white pepper;
one of broken-up ginger; eight blades of mace, and two ounces of mustard
seed. Boil this seasoning for ten minutes in a quart of the best cider
vinegar. Lay the peaches in a broad-mouthed stone jar, with the bag of
spice at the bottom, and pour the vinegar boiling hot upon them. At the
top add a table-spoonful of salad oil. Put them up warm, and secure them
with broad flat corks, and rounds of leather tied on carefully.
_Peach Mangoes._--The above sort of peaches are best for mangoes. Steep
them in brine for two days. Cut a small piece out of each, and carefully
loose the stones from the inside with a small sharp knife. It will then
be easy to thrust them out of free-stone peaches, and none others should
be used, either for pickling or preserving. Make a filling for the
places that were occupied by the stones. For this purpose, use fresh
mustard seed moistened with vinegar; scraped horse-radish, powdered
ginger, a clove of garlic, or a minced shalot or very small onion, and a
very little chilli or red pepper minced very small. Also a little
powdered mace, and a little chopped peach. With this mixture stuff the
peaches hard. Replace the bits that were cut off, and tie them on firmly
with fine packthread, crossing the peach. Boil a quart of the best
vinegar, seasoned with white spices and mustard seed, tied up in muslin;
and when it has boiled ten minutes, pour it hot over the peach mangoes
in a stone jar. Add at the top a table-spoonful of salad oil; cork the
jar immediately, and tie leather over it. Where there is no dislike to
cloves, you may stick half a dozen into the outside of each peach; but
we think a few small bits of mace will be preferable, as the clove
taste will overpower every thing else.
MELON MANGOES.--Take the small green melons, used only for this purpose,
and let them lie in a strong brine for two days. Take them out and drain
them well. Cut a small square bit out of one side, and through this hole
extract all the seeds and filaments. Have ready a stuffing made of
grated horse-radish, white mustard seed, minced shalot, or a clove of
garlic chopped fine; a very little chilli or red pepper, and a little
powdered mace. Wet this stuffing well with vinegar, and then fill with
it the cavity of the mango. Replace the bit that was cut out, and tie it
in with packthread, crossing all over the melon. Then place the mangoes
in a stone jar. Have ready a sufficiency of the best vinegar, (a large
quart or more, for eight or ten mangoes,) boiled ten minutes, with a
seasoning of mustard seed, ginger, mace, grated horse-radish, and
chopped shalot or little onion, or a clove of garlic minced very
small--all tied in a bit of muslin. Pour the vinegar boiling hot over
the mangoes, having placed among them the bag of seasoning. Finish with
sweet oil at the top of the jar.
MUSHROOMS PICKLED.--For pickling, the small button mushrooms are best.
After cutting off the stalk closely, and with a sharp penknife peeling
off carefully their thin outside skin, measure two quarts, taking care
that they are all of the right sort, and freshly gathered; the outside
of a dull whitish color, and the underside of a fine pinkish salmon
tinge. If very white above and below, or if bright yellow, they are
poisonous. _Good_ mushrooms grow always in open fields or airy places;
never in woods or marshes. To pickle two quarts, prepare eight little
bags of very clear muslin; and tie up in each bag six blades of mace,
six slices of root ginger, and half a nutmeg broken up. Have ready four
glass jars, such as are considered to hold a quart. Lay a bag of spice
in the bottom of each. Having sprinkled the mushrooms well with salt,
let them rest till next day. Then divide the mushrooms and their liquor
into four pints. Put one pint into each jar, with a bag of spice at the
bottom, and another at the top. Pour on boiling cider vinegar of the
best quality, and finish with a table-spoonful of salad oil. Cork the
jars immediately, and tie leather carefully over the top. All mushrooms
turn brown on the under-side the day after they are gathered, and
sometimes sooner.
Boiling the spice in the vinegar will weaken the mushroom flavor. When
you open a jar of pickled mushrooms, immediately cork it again; tie on
the leather cover, and use it up as soon as possible. Therefore, pint
jars, with half a pint of mushrooms in each, are convenient.
BELL-PEPPERS PICKLED.--Take fine full-grown bell-peppers. Make a brine
in a stone jar of salt and water, strong enough to float an egg, and let
the peppers remain in it two days, putting a weight on the cover to keep
it down. Then take them out, wash them well in cold water, drain them,
and wipe them dry. Cut a slit in the side of each, and extract all the
seeds, as if left in, they will be entirely too hot. Through these slits
let all the water run out. Put them into a clean stone jar. Boil
sufficient of the best cider vinegar, interspersed with the muslin bags
of broken-up cinnamon, mace, and nutmeg. Pour it, boiling hot, on the
peppers in the jar. Distribute the bags of spice among the peppers, and
cork the jar warm. You may stuff the peppers in the manner of mangoes,
with pickled red cabbage finely shred, minced onions and minced
cucumbers pickled, and seasoned with a little mustard seed, ginger, and
mace. Tie up the slit with packthread, crossing all round. Fill up the
jars with vinegar, putting sweet oil on the top.
Your may green bell-peppers in the usual way, with vine leaves or
cabbage leaves.
All pickles should be kept in a dry place. If you find them mouldy they
are not always spoiled. Take them out of the jar, wipe off all the mould
carefully, and throw away the vinegar. Wash the jar very clean, scald
it, and set it in the sun to purify still more. Make a new pickle with
fresh seasoning, and put them into that.
PICKLED CAULIFLOWERS.--Take large, ripe, full-blown cauliflowers. Remove
the leaves and stalk, and divide the blossom into pieces or clusters of
equal size. Throw them into a porcelain kettle of boiling water, (adding
a little salt,) let them simmer, and skim them well. When they come to a
boil, take them up with a perforated skimmer, and lay them on a sieve to
drain. Put them into stone jars, (three parts full.) Season with mace
and nutmeg infused in sufficient of the best cider vinegar, and simmer
it for a quarter of an hour. When it comes to a boil take it off the
fire, and pour it hot over the cauliflower in the jar, filling quite up
to the top, and adding sweet oil at the last. Cover it while warm, and
tie leather over the top. If you wish to have the cauliflowers yellow,
boil with the vinegar some turmeric powder tied up in thin muslin. This
is a very nice pickle.
Broccoli is done in the same manner, but should be previously greened by
boiling it with vine leaves.
PICKLED BEETS WITH CABBAGE.--Take a large fine _red_ cabbage, wash it
well, and drain it. Quarter it, (having removed the stalk) and slice it
with a cabbage-cutter as for coldslaw. Boil some beets in the usual way
till quite tender, (they require a very long time) and while warm peel
and slice them in round pieces, or split them down, and cut them into
long bits. Lay them in a large stone jar, alternately with layers of
the shred cabbage, till the jar is more than half full. Have ready some
scalding vinegar that has been boiled with a seasoning of blades of mace
and sliced ginger root, and some nutmeg. Pour the vinegar, boiling hot,
upon the cabbage and beet, till you have the jars quite full. Finish
with a large table-spoonful of sweet oil. Cover the jar with leather,
and put it away warm.
PICKLED CUCUMBERS.--Take small young cucumbers, freshly gathered, and
free from blemishes. Make a brine strong enough to float an egg, and let
the cucumbers lie in it till they become yellow, stirring them down to
the bottom twice a day. Then pour off all the brine, wash the cucumbers
in cold water, and drain them. Lay a thick bed of fresh green vine
leaves in the bottom and sides of a porcelain kettle. Put in the
cucumbers, and pour on sufficient cold water to wet them all
plentifully. Then cover them, closely, with more vine leaves, and pour
on more water, packing the leaves well and pressing them down. Fill up
to the top with water and vine leaves, and cover the kettle closely to
keep in the steam. Hang it over a slow fire where there is no blaze, and
keep it _warm_ all night, but not _hot_. In the morning if the pickles
are not a fine deep green, remove the vine leaves and replace them with
a fresh supply. After this, they will be generally green enough; but if
not, continue till they are. Then drain the cucumbers on a sieve, and
transfer them to a very clean stone jar. To fifty cucumbers allow four
quarts of excellent vinegar, and a bit of alum about the size of a large
grain of corn, with half an ounce of mustard seed, half an ounce of
mace, a broken-up nutmeg, and half an ounce of root ginger, sliced. Tie
up the spice in three muslin bags, and boil them ten minutes in the
vinegar. Then take out and lay them among the cucumbers in the jar; one
to the bottom, one in the middle, and one at the top. Pour over them the
vinegar boiling hot; add a table-spoonful of sweet oil, and cork the jar
immediately, tying a leather over it. Keep wooden pickle spoons in the
pantry for taking out pickles, and always be careful to close the jar
immediately after.
You need not keep the bags of spice in the jars more than two or three
weeks.
PICKLED ONIONS.--Take the small silver-skinned white onions. Peel off
the outer skin. Make a brine strong enough to float an egg, skim it
well, and when it begins to cool pour it upon the onions. Let them stand
in it (closely covered,) till quite cold. Then take them out, peel off
another skin, and wash them through a cullender in cold water. Next,
boil them in milk till tender all through, so that you can easily pierce
them with a needle. Then drain off the milk. Measure them, and to a
quart of onions allow a quart of the best cider vinegar. Boil in the
vinegar two muslin bags tied up with broken-up nutmeg and mace. When it
has boiled, pour it hot over the onions in the jar; having laid one bag
of spice at the bottom, and one in the middle. The onions should fill
two thirds of the jar, and the vinegar the remainder. Finish with a
table-spoonful of salad oil, and cork the jar immediately, and tie on
the leather cover.
As onions pickled this way are generally much liked, it is well, when
doing them, to make several jars full.
_Cucumber and Onion Pickle._--To a dozen fine cucumbers allow three
large onions. Pare the cucumbers and peel the onions, and cut both into
thick slices. Sprinkle salt and pepper over them, and let them rest till
next day. Then drain them well, and put them into a stone jar. Pour
boiling vinegar over them. Close the jar, and set it in a warm place.
Next day repeat the boiling vinegar, and cork the jar. Next day repeat
it again, with a bag of mace, nutmeg, and ginger, boiled in the vinegar.
Then cork the jar, and tie it up. When the pickle is finished, divide it
in small stone jars, with sweet oil on the top of each.
WALNUTS OR BUTTERNUTS PICKLED--Gather them in early summer, when they
are full-grown, but so tender that a large needle will easily pierce
them all through. Rub off the outer skin with a coarse cloth, and then
lay them in salt and water for a week, changing the brine every other
day. Allow for this brine a small quarter of a pound of salt to a large
quart of water. Make enough to cover all the nuts well. Place a large
lid over the pan, and keep them closely from the air. The last day take
them out of the brine, drain them, and prick every one quite through in
several places with a large needle. Drain them again, spread them out on
large flat dishes, and set them to blacken for two days in the hot sun.
For a hundred nuts, allow a gallon of excellent cider vinegar, half an
ounce of black pepper-corns, half an ounce of cloves, half an ounce of
allspice, an ounce of root ginger, and an ounce of mace. Boil the spice
in the vinegar for ten minutes, tied up in eight small muslin bags. Then
take them out, and having divided the nuts in four stone jars,
distribute among them, equally, the bags of spice, and pour on the
vinegar hot, an equal portion in each jar. While warm, secure them with
flat corks, and tie leather over them. Done this way, you may begin to
use them in a week. If you have not enough of vinegar to fill the jars
up to the top, add some cold, and strew among the nuts some blades of
mace. Finish with a large spoonful of salad oil at the top of each jar.
PICKLED PLUMS.--Take large fine plums; perfect, and quite ripe. To every
quart of plums allow half a pound of the best white sugar powdered, and
a large pint of the best cider vinegar. Melt the sugar in the vinegar,
and put it with the fruit into a porcelain kettle; all the plums having
been previously pricked to the stone with a large needle. Lay among them
some small muslin bags filled with broken nutmeg, mace, and cinnamon;
and if you choose, a few cloves. Give them one boil up, skimming them
well. Put them warm into stone jars, with the bags interspersed, and
cork them immediately. Green gages may be done in this manner, first
rendering them greener by boiling with vine leaves in the usual way.
_Damsons Pickled._--Do these in the same manner as plums; but as they
are much more acid, allow brown sugar of the best kind. Plums or damsons
may be pickled plain, and with little trouble if full ripe, pricked with
a needle, and packed down in a stone jar with profuse layers of brown
sugar between the layers of fruit; the jars filled up with cold cider
vinegar, and putting sweet oil at the top.
_Pickled Cherries._--Take the largest and finest red cherries, fully
ripe. Morellas are the best. Either remove the stems entirely, or cut
them short, within two inches of the fruit. Have ready a large glass
jar. Fill it two thirds with fresh newly-gathered cherries, and then
fill up to the top with the best vinegar. Keep it well covered, and if
both fruit and vinegar are of excellent quality, no boiling is
necessary, and no spice, as the cherry flavor will be retained, and they
will not shrivel.
_Button Tomatos._--The small round tomatos, either red or yellow, will
keep perfectly, if put whole into cold vinegar of the _really_ best
quality. You may add a bag of spice if you choose.
_Nasturtion Seeds._--Keep a large glass jar of cold cider vinegar, and
put in the green seeds of nasturtions after the flowers are off, and the
seeds full-grown, but not hard. Remove the stalks. In this simple way
nasturtions will keep perfectly well, and are an excellent substitute
for capers with boiled mutton. They can be raised profusely, even in a
city garden, and the blossoms are very beautiful. With pepper-grass and
nasturtion flowers from your own garden, you can have a nice salad for a
summer evening tea-table.
The three pickles above (cherries, button tomatos, and nasturtion
seeds,) are cheap, easy, and palatable. Try them. To flavor them with
spice, boil the vinegar with a bag of spice in it, and pour it on hot,
leaving the bag among them in the jar.
PREPARATIONS FOR THE SICK.
CHICKEN BROTH.--Skin and cut up a fine full-grown fowl. If but little is
wanted, take only the dark meat for the broth, and put it into a pot
with a small quart of water, and slowly boil it to rags. Strain the
liquid and return it to the pot, and thicken it with two spoonfuls of
arrow root, if no vegetables are permitted. Otherwise, you may boil with
the chicken some sliced onion and sliced turnip, with a grated parsnip
and a sliced potato, straining out the vegetables with the shreds of
fowl. You may reserve the white meat of the breast and wings to make
another dish, if the patient is permitted to take it. This is the white
meat cut off the bones, and stewed slowly in fresh oyster liquid, with a
bit of nice butter. If the patient is well enough, stir in a beaten egg
just before the stew is taken from the fire.
_Oyster Soup for Invalids._--Remove the gristle from a dozen fine large
fresh oysters. Take half their liquor and mix it with an equal portion
of very good milk, seasoning it with three or four blades of mace, and a
stalk of celery scraped and cut into pieces. When it has boiled and been
skimmed well, strain it over the oysters, and let all simmer together
till the oysters are plumped, but do not let them come to a boil. Serve
it up in a bowl, with some milk biscuit to eat with it.
_Clam Soup for Invalids._--Where salt is permitted, cut up and boil
slowly in their own liquor a dozen or more small sand clams. When well
boiled and skimmed, strain the liquor into a clean sauce-pan, and
thicken it with bread crumbs, and a small bit of nice fresh butter. The
clams are of no further use. Throw them away.
MUTTON BROTH FOR THE SICK.--Take two pounds from a nice neck of mutton,
and leave out some of the fat if there seems too much. Cut the meat from
the bones, and put it into a pot with a large quart of water, and no
seasoning. Boil it till the meat is all in rags. Do not skim it, as the
fat on the surface is very healing, if without salt or pepper. When
done, strain it into a bowl. Let the patient eat with it a slice of very
light wheat bread, having the crust cut off. It is excellent for the
dysentery. When the patient is convalescent, a little seasoning may be
allowed, and some well-boiled mashed turnips stirred into the bowl of
soup with a boiled onion sliced, and a thickening of arrow-root or
farina, stirred in about half an hour before the soup is taken up. Pour
it off clear from the shreds of meat at the bottom.
_Veal Broth for Invalids._--Take a pound of knuckle of veal cut in
pieces, four calf's feet, split up. Boil them in a large quart of water,
till they are all reduced to rags. Then strain the liquid, and add to it
the soft part, only, of half a dozen fine oysters, and three or four
blades of mace. Set it again on the fire, and as soon as it simmers
well, take it off, and serve it up with very light milk biscuit, or
little bread rolls, to eat with it. Veal broth may be made with a piece
of knuckle of veal cut small, and boiled in the liquor of clams instead
of water. The clams themselves must be omitted, as they are always tough
and indigestible for an invalid, but their liquor adds a pleasant
relish to the insipidity of the veal. As the strength of the patient
improves, a grated carrot, a sliced onion, and some sliced turnip, may
be added to the veal from the beginning.
_Raw Oysters for the Sick._--Take large fine fresh oysters, and
carefully cut out the hard part or gristle. They are considered very
good for convalescents, being, when raw, cooling, refreshing, and
nutritious. Drain them well from the liquor, making them as dry as you
can; and if permitted, accompany the oysters with black pepper and
vinegar, and a plate of bread and butter.
_Birds._--Convalescents, not yet allowed to eat meat, can generally
relish birds nicely broiled, or stewed in their own gravy, with any
appropriate seasoning, and a little _fresh_ butter, if they are not very
fat. When dished, lay under each a piece of nice toast, dipped for a
minute in hot water.
_Beefsteak for Invalids._--When this can be eaten with an appetite,
there is no greater promoter of returning health; but it must be of the
best sirloin steak, very tender, well broiled, and thoroughly done on
both sides, the gravy being carefully saved to serve up with it, a
little fresh butter being added after the meat comes off the gridiron.
If the taste of onion is desired, merely rub the plate with a peeled
onion. A very tender lamb-chop well broiled may be eaten by way of
change; but a tenderloin steak is better. Avoid pork, or veal cutlets.
_Gravy Sippets._--For invalids who cannot yet eat meat, a light and
relishing preparation may be made with one or two slices of the best
wheat bread, divested of the crust, and spread on a hot plate, while
some nice well-skimmed gravy is poured over them; the gravy of roast
beef, veal, or mutton, that has had no butter about it. Gravy sippets
will form a variety to the usual broths, and other beginnings for the
resumption of animal food.
HERB TEAS.--Have one or more china or white-ware pots for the purpose of
making herb teas; and see that, after using, they are well washed, well
scalded and dried, and set open in the sun till wanted again. The herbs,
whether green or dried, should be of excellent quality, and picked very
clean from dust and stems. Having well-scalded the pot, take the
allotted quantity of the herb and put it in; then pour on the water,
which must be actually boiling at the time, and press the herbs down at
the bottom with a silver spoon. Then put on the lid closely, and
immediately stop up the spout with a small cork, or a wad of soft white
paper rolled tightly. This is to keep in the steam, and prevent the
strength of the herb from escaping. When sufficiently boiled, pour into
a pitcher with a lid, and through a strainer, as much of the tea as is
wanted. Strainers of block tin, with a handle and _very fine_ close
holes, are excellent for this and other purposes.
_Herb Candies._--Hoarhound candy, and many others, may be made of a
strong decoction or tea of the herb, thickened with loaf sugar, and
boiled, skimmed, and stirred till very thick and stiff. Then pour it
smoothly into a square tin pan and set it in a cool place to congeal.
While still soft, mark it in even squares with a knife. When quite cold
and hard, loosen it from the pan with a knife, and take it out. It is
good for coughs.
Peppermint candy is made in the same way, and is used for flatulence.
GRUEL.--Gruels, for patients who are unable to take any thing more
substantial, may be made of ground rice flour, arrow root, indian meal,
oatmeal grits, or farina. Mix to a paste, with water, two large
table-spoonfuls of any of the above articles; then stir the paste,
gradually, into a pint of water boiling on the fire, making it very
smooth and pressing out all the lumps. To prevent it boiling over, when
it has risen nearly to the top of the pan, remove it from the fire.
Sweeten it while hot, and, if permitted, add a little white wine with
nutmeg, and a small bit of fresh butter.
_Toast and Water._--Cut a large slice or two of the best wheat bread;
pare off all the crust; and with a long-handled toasting fork toast it
evenly on both sides, not allowing it to blacken or burn in any part.
While hot from the fire, plunge the toast immediately into a quart
pitcher of clear cold water. Cover the pitcher instantly, and let it
infuse for half an hour or more, without leaving off the cover. When
done, it should be of a very pale brown color.
JELLY WATER.--Stir a table-spoonful of currant jelly into a half pint
tumbler of ice water, if the patient is feverish. The jelly may be of
other fruit, and if not sweet enough add some loaf sugar. The juice of
any ripe fruit, made sweet and mixed with cold water, is a good
substitute when sweetmeats are not at hand. Warm drinks are now seldom
used, but to promote perspiration and carry off a cold. Tamarinds are in
themselves very cooling and pleasant, and make an agreeable drink
infused in water, either warm or cold.
CARRAGEEN BLANCMANGE.--Carrageen is a species of sea moss which becomes
glutinous when boiled, and is considered remarkably nutritious and
strengthening. It can also be rendered very palatable. It is found
abundantly on some parts of our sea-coast, and may be obtained of the
best druggists, very nicely cleaned and pressed. To a small loose
handful of carrageen allow a small quart of rich unskimmed milk, half a
pound of powdered white sugar, a stick of the best cinnamon broken-up,
six or seven blades of mace, and half a nutmeg, powdered. Having washed
the carrageen through two or three cold waters, and shaken it out to
remove the drops that hang about it, put it to a pint and a half of the
cold milk. Boil it half an hour in a covered porcelain kettle. Then take
it out, for if it boils too long the carrageen will taste too strongly.
In another vessel boil the remaining half pint of milk with the spices,
till very highly flavored. Then strain it into the carrageen milk, and
stir in, gradually, the half pound of powdered loaf sugar. Set the
porcelain kettle again over the fire, and let it boil fast for five
minutes longer. Then strain it into moulds or bowls previously wet with
cold water; and when it has well congealed, turn it out, and serve it up
with sweetened cream, flavored with rose-water or peach-water. If for an
invalid, who is not allowed spices, flavor it with rose-water only,
stirred in after the blancmange has been taken from the fire.
FARINA BLANCMANGE.--From a quart of rich milk take out half a pint. Put
the half pint into a small sauce-pan, and add (if permitted) sufficient
mace, nutmeg, and cinnamon to flavor it well; the spices being tied up
in a very thin muslin bag. Then add the flavored milk to the remainder,
having stirred in two heaped table-spoonfuls of powdered loaf sugar. Set
it over the fire in a porcelain kettle, and when it has come to a boil
sprinkle in, gradually, four large heaping table-spoonfuls of farina,
stirring it well. Keep it boiling a quarter of an hour after all the
farina is in. When done, strain it into blancmange moulds, and set it on
ice to congeal. If for an invalid not allowed spice, boil it plain, and
when taken from the fire stir in a wine-glass of rose-water. If
rose-water is boiled with it from the beginning, the strength and flavor
will evaporate.
_Farina Flummery._--Mix with a small pint of water a large pint of the
juice of ripe currants, or strawberries, or of stewed cranberries in
winter, made very sweet with white sugar. Boil the water and juice
together, and stir in gradually a quarter pound of farina, and then boil
it fifteen minutes longer. Afterwards transfer it to moulds, and set it
on ice till congealed.
_Farina Gruel._--Have some water boiling on the fire, and when it boils
fast, sprinkle in sufficient farina to make it moderately thick. Then
sweeten it with white sugar. If permitted, stir in some white wine, and
nutmeg grated.
BEEF TEA.--Take a pound of fine fresh beefsteak cut from the round,
without any fat. Chop it into small bits, and season it with a level
salt-spoon of salt. Put it into a wide-mouthed bottle, cork it closely,
and set it into a kettle of cold water, which must reach to the neck of
the bottle. Let it boil steadily for three hours, by which time the
essence will be all extracted from the beef. Then remove the cork, and
strain the liquid into a bowl, and skim it. It can be made still more
conveniently in a _bain-marie_ or double kettle; an article useful for
many purposes, particular in cookery for an invalid. Mutton or veal tea
are made in the same manner. Also chicken tea, or essence of any sort of
poultry or game.
_Chicken Panada._--Having skinned and cut up a fine full-grown chicken,
take the white meat from the breast and wings, and mince it small for
panada. The dark meat will do for chicken tea. Add to the panada a slice
of wheat bread crumbled and mixed in, and boil it in a _bain-marie_ with
the water outside; seasoning it (if permitted) with powdered mace or
nutmeg.
_Sweet Panada._--Mix with a pint of water a glass of madeira or sherry;
a heaped table-spoonful of powdered loaf sugar, half the yellow rind of
a lemon grated, and half the juice; and a half tea-spoonful of powdered
nutmeg or mace. Set the mixture over the fire, and as soon as it boils
add crumbled milk biscuit, or a rusk. Then give it another boil up.
BARLEY WATER.--Having washed clean two ounces of pearl barley, put it
into a sauce-pan with a quart of water, the grated rind and the juice of
a lemon, and two ounces of seeded raisins. Boil it slowly till the
liquid is reduced one half. Then strain it, and sweeten it, while warm,
with loaf sugar.
_Gum Arabic Water._--Take an ounce of the best and cleanest gum arabic.
Put it into a pitcher, and pour on a pint of boiling water, and stir
while dissolving. When cool, squeeze in (if permitted) the juice of a
lemon, and add loaf sugar enough to make it pleasantly sweet. Gum arabic
water, alone, is sometimes given to a patient, whom it is expedient to
keep very low as a preventive to inflammation.
_Tamarind Water._--This is a pleasant and cooling drink in fevers,
allowing half a pint of cold water to as many tamarinds as you can take
up with a table-spoon. Cover it, and let it stand for a few minutes.
_Apple Water._--Take four fine large juicy apples, (pippins or
bellflowers,) core and pare them, and bake them side by side in a tin
pan. When well done and quite soft all through, put them into a pitcher
and fill up with warm water. Simmer them over the fire, and when quite
soft mash them; and, if necessary, add more water till they become a
thick liquid that can be drank. Sweeten well with loaf sugar, and if
permitted, add some lemon juice or rose-water. Drink it cool.
_Egg Wine._--Break a nice fresh egg into a tumbler, and beat it till
smooth and thick. Add a heaped tea-spoonful of powdered loaf sugar, and
stir in a glass of the best port wine. This, when permitted, is very
strengthening and cheering for an invalid, to take about the hour of
noon or earlier. When wine is not allowed, you may beat the egg into a
glass of new unskimmed milk.
WHEY.--Milk can be converted into a curd by the infusion of rennet
water, white wine, lemon juice, tamarind juice, or vinegar, stirred into
good milk, covered and set in a warm place till the curd has formed, and
has separated from the whey which remains beneath it. Take off the curd
carefully, breaking it as little as possible, and put it into a deep
dish. Pour the whey into a pitcher. It should look clear, and greenish
rather than white, and have none of the milk curd remaining about it.
Set the pitcher on ice. It is an excellent drink in fevers. When
approved, the curd may be eaten in a saucer with sugar. For rennet whey,
cut a piece of dried rennet about two inches square, and wipe all the
salt from the outside, but do not wash it. Soak the bit of rennet for
several hours (or all night) in a small tea-cup of lukewarm water. Then
pour the rennet water into the milk. For wine whey, boil a jill of
sherry in a pint of milk, without stirring it.
TAPIOCA.--Having washed in cold water three heaped table-spoonfuls of
tapioca; drain it, put it into a clean quart bowl, pour on water enough
to cover it well, and soak it four hours. Then pour on as much more
water, transfer the whole to a porcelain skillet, in the bottom of which
you have laid the yellow peel of a fresh lemon, pared so thin as to be
transparent, and boil the tapioca gently till it looks quite clear. Then
take out the lemon peel, and stir in sufficient loaf sugar to make it
very sweet. If approved, flavor it with some madeira or sherry, and some
grated nutmeg. Tapioca may be boiled in plain milk, with no seasoning
but the sugar to sweeten it.
_Sago._--Pick and wash clean, in two cold waters, a half pint of sago.
Put it into a porcelain skillet, with the yellow rind of a lemon pared
transparent. Pour on it a quart of water, and let it all soak for two
hours. Then set it over the fire, and boil it, gently, till the lemon is
all to pieces and nearly dissolved, and the sago looks clear. Take out
the lemon peel, and stir in, if permitted, some sherry wine, sugar, and
grated nutmeg, and give it another boil.
If the above seasoning is not allowed, boil the sago in milk only, or
water only, till the liquid becomes thick and like a jelly.
_Sago Pudding for an invalid._--Boil three table-spoonfuls of _soaked_
sago in a pint of milk till quite soft. Add gradually three ounces of
white sugar, and set it away to cool. Beat three eggs till thick and
smooth, and stir them by degrees into the sago and milk. Grate in some
nutmeg, and bake the pudding in a deep dish. Tapioca pudding is made in
the same manner.
SWEETBREADS FOR INVALIDS.--Cut open two fine fresh sweetbreads, and lay
them in warm water till all the blood is discharged. Then transfer them
to a pan of cold water to blanch or whiten. Stew them in the strained
liquid of fresh oysters, till quite tender. When done, take out the
sweetbreads, remove the gristle or pipe, and serve them up warm, having
laid in the bottom of the dish a slice of nice toast that has been
dipped for a minute in hot water. If permitted, the oysters may be
cooked with the sweetbread, first removing the hard part.
STEWED SMELTS.--Smelts are considered a delicate and nutritious fish for
invalids. They are in season in winter, and early in the spring. Choose
them as large as you can find them. Having drawn and cleaned them, cut
off their heads and tails. Put sufficient water to cover them in a small
stew-pan, adding a very little powdered white sugar, and a few small
sprigs of parsley, or sweet marjoram. When the water boils lay in the
fish, and simmer them five minutes. Then stir in a very little arrow
root, mixed with a few drops of cold water, and let it stew ten minutes
longer. Serve up the stew in a small deep dish with a cover, and eat
with it some very light bread-roll. It will be a pleasant change from
the usual broths and infusions prepared for the sick.
_A Molasses Supper._--Make a thick slice of very nice toast, evenly
browned on both sides, but not the least burnt. Lay it in a pint bowl,
and pour over it a small half pint of the best _West India_ molasses,
having stirred into the molasses a heaped table-spoonful of ground
ginger. Mix the molasses with half a pint of hot water, and pour the
whole over the toast. Cover it with a plate for a few minutes, and eat
it while warm, previous to going to bed. This is a wholesome
strengthening palatable supper for an invalid, (as we know by
experience) and may be continued as long as the patient continues to
like it. It is always a good winter supper for children. The ginger must
on no account be omitted. If the molasses has turned a little sour, stir
in a salt-spoonful of soda.
To prevent a jug of molasses from running over when kept in a warm
place, pour out a little into another vessel, and leave the molasses jug
uncorked for two days. Then cork it tightly.
MISCELLANEOUS RECEIPTS.
TEA.--No metal (not even silver,) is good for tea-pots. All tea should
be made in china or queensware. Wedgewood (whether black or white)
imbibes much of the essence of the tea, and from constant use soon
becomes unpleasant. Britannia ware is exceedingly unwholesome for any
sort of cooking, as one fourth of the composition is copper. Block tin
for a common tea-pot is less objectionable, and much cheaper. All
tea-pots should, after using, be thoroughly emptied of the old leaves,
and washed very clean in warm water, and set open in the sun and air for
several hours. To make good tea, the tea itself, whether black or green,
must be of excellent quality. There is no economy in buying that which
is low-priced. Green tea, if fresh and good, and not adulterated will
look green in the cup, and have a fragrant odor. If it draws red, or
brown, or blackish, it is old or mixed with something wrong. Begin to
make your tea about a quarter of an hour before it is wanted. Scald the
tea-pot (twice over) with boiling water. Then put in the tea, allowing
three heaping table-spoonfuls to each person, and a pint of water,
actually boiling, when put in. Cover it closely with the lid, and set it
by the fire for ten or fifteen minutes to infuse. After the first cups
have gone round, put some fresh tea into the pot, and pour on it some
more boiling water, that the second cups may be as strong as the first,
having time to infuse. Weak tea for company is very mean. For those that
like it so, have a small pot of water on the server. If the water is not
boiling fast when poured on the tea, and is beginning to cool, the tea
will be flat and insipid, and the leaves will float on the surface of
the cups. There is then no remedy but to make some fresh.
COFFEE.--To drink coffee in perfection, a sufficient quantity for
breakfast should be roasted every morning, and ground hot, as it loses
much of its strength by keeping even for a few hours. The best coffee
roasters are iron cylinders, (standing on feet) with a door in one side,
and a handle that turns the cylinder round towards the fire or from it,
that the coffee may be equally done throughout. It must be roasted a
bright brown color, and on no account black or burnt. When about half
done, put in bits of fresh butter, allowing a table-spoonful to a pound
of coffee. Previous to roasting pick the coffee carefully, throwing away
the defective grains, and the stones or sand. Coffee should be ground
while warm in a mill kept solely for that purpose, and fastened up
against the kitchen wall.
For boiled coffee allow four ounces of ground coffee (or a quarter of a
pound) to a quart of water. When the water boils, stir in the coffee.
Give it one hard boil up. Then set it farther from the fire, and simmer
it for ten minutes, adding the white of an egg, (including the egg
shell,) or a small strip of isinglass. Pour out a large cup of the
coffee, and then (holding it high above the coffee-pot,) pour it back
again. Repeat this till wanted, and then set the coffee-pot beside the
fire, (but not over it.) For company, allow six ounces of coffee to a
quart of water. Keep the lid always on, but if when boiling hard it
rises and seems inclined to run over, remove it instantly from the fire
and set it back. Cream is indispensable to first-rate coffee; if not to
be obtained sweet, substitute rich milk boiling hot. On no consideration
fill up the coffee-pot with water. A percolator (to be had at the best
tin stores) makes excellent coffee without boiling, if properly managed.
CHOCOLATE.--There is no plain chocolate better than Baker's prepared
cacao, and none has so much of the true chocolate flavor. The foreign
chocolate is generally mixed with sugar, spice, and milk. It cannot be
made thick and strong, and therefore to many tastes is not agreeable. To
make a pint (or two large cupfuls of chocolate,) scrape down two ounces
on a plate, and moisten the chocolate with a jill of water, rubbing it
on the plate till quite smooth. Then boil it five minutes, and add a
small pint of water. When it has been well stirred with a wooden spoon,
and has come again to a boil, serve it as hot as possible, accompanied
by a saucer of fine loaf sugar, and a small jug of rich hot cream and a
plate of nice dry toast, or some milk biscuits or sponge cake. Milled
chocolate is made with rich unskimmed milk instead of water. The
chocolate mill is a deep pot, belonging to which is a stick with a broad
wheel-shaped bottom, the other end coming up through a hole in the lid.
Take this between your hands, and turn it round fast till the chocolate
is finely frothed. Then transfer it to large cups. Chocolate, after it
becomes cold, is unfit to drink. But if made with milk, you can convert
what is left into a custard or pudding, with the addition of more sugar
and some beaten egg. The low-priced chocolate is both unpalatable and
unwholesome, being adulterated with animal fat or lard, and made with
_old_ cacao beans.
MILK TOAST.--To a pint of nice rich milk allow a quarter of a pound of
excellent _fresh_ butter. Boil the milk, and as soon as it boils take it
off, and stir in the butter cut into pieces. When the butter has melted,
give it another boil up Have ready a deep plate with four rather thick
slices of bread, nicely and evenly toasted on both sides. Pour the milk
hot over the toast, and keep it covered till it goes to the breakfast
table. Send a spoon with it. Bread should always be toasted by a
long-handled fork, such as are made for the purpose. They cost but
twenty-five cents, and no kitchen should be without one.
BUTTERED TOAST.--Cut even slices of bread all of the same thickness, and
pare off the whole of the crust. With a long-handled toasting fork toast
it evenly on both sides, taking care that no part of it is burnt or
blackened. Butter the slices hot, as you take them off the fork, (using
none but nice fresh butter) and lay them evenly on a heated plate. Cover
them till they go to table.
All toast prepared for cookery, (to lay in the bottom of dishes,) should
have the crust pared off, and be dipped in hot water after toasting.
RASPBERRY VINEGAR.--Take a gallon of fine ripe raspberries. Put them
into a large deep earthen pan, and mash them well with a wooden beetle.
Then pour them with all their juice into a large and very clean linen
bag, and squeeze and press out their liquid into a vessel beneath.
Measure it, and to each pint of juice allow half a pint of the best and
clearest cider vinegar, and half a pound of fine loaf sugar, powdered.
First mix the juice and the vinegar, and give them a boil in a porcelain
kettle. Then stir in the sugar, gradually, adding to every two pounds
of sugar a beaten white of egg. Boil and skim till the scum ceases to
rise. When it is done, bottle it cold, cork it tightly, and seal the
corks. To use it, pour out half a tumbler of raspberry vinegar, and fill
up with ice water. It is a pleasant and cooling beverage in warm
weather, and for invalids who are feverish. Mixed with hot water, and
taken at bed-time, it is good for a cold.
_Strawberry Vinegar_--Is made in the above manner, carefully hulling
them. The strawberries must be of the finest kind, and fully ripe. These
vinegars are made with much less trouble than the usual way; and are
quite as good, if not better.
MACARONI.--In buying macaroni, choose that of a large pipe; see that it
is clean and white and that it has not been touched by insects. Half a
pound makes one dish. If _soaked_ before boiling it is apt to dissolve
or go to pieces, but wash and drain it through cold water in a sieve.
Have over the fire a large pan of boiling water, in which has been
melted a piece of fresh butter the size of an egg. If boiled steadily,
it will be quite tender in less than an hour; but do not boil it so long
that the pipes break up and lose their shape. Having drained it well
through a clean sieve, transfer it to a deep dish, dividing it into four
layers, having first cut it into even lengths of two or three inches.
Between the layers place on it seasoning of grated cheese of the very
best quality, and bits of fresh butter, with some powdered mace. On the
top layer, add to the covering of cheese and butter sufficient
bread-crumbs to form a slight crust all over the surface. Brown it with
a salamander or a red hot shovel. Or (omitting the cheese) you may dress
it with rich gravy of roast meat.
_For Sweet Macaroni._--Having boiled it in milk instead of water, drain
it, and mix with it powdered mace and nutmeg, with butter, sugar, and
rose or peach-water. Macaroni (like vermicelli) has in itself no taste,
but is only made palatable by the manner of dressing it. Good soup is
rather weakened than improved by the addition of macaroni.
COMMON OMELET.--Beat five eggs till very light and thick. Stir gradually
into the pan of eggs four table-spoonfuls of sifted flour. Thin the
batter with a large tea-cup of milk. Take a yeast powder; dissolve the
soda (from the blue paper) in a small quantity of tepid or lukewarm
water, and stir it into the batter. In another cup melt the tartaric
acid, (from the white paper;) stir that into the mixture, and stir the
whole very hard. Have ready in a frying-pan a large portion of lard,
boiling hot. Put in the omelet mixture, and fry it well. When one side
is done turn it, and fry the other. To flavor this omelet, mix gradually
into the batter either grated ham or smoked tongue; minced oysters;
minced onion; mixed with sweet marjoram, or else some mushrooms chopped
very fine.
_For a Sweet Omelet_, add to the above batter powdered sugar, nutmeg,
mace, and powdered cinnamon.
The custom is now to dish omelets without folding them over, it being
found that folding renders them heavy. Spread them out at full length on
a very hot dish. The batter for omelets should always be made in
sufficient quantity to allow them very thick.
There is no use in attempting to flavor an omelet, or any thing else,
with marmalade or lemon, if you put in soda. The alkalies destroy the
taste of every sort of fruit.
A PLAIN POTATO PUDDING.--Having pared a pound of fine large potatos, put
them into a pot, cover them well with cold water, and boil them gently
till tender all through. When done, lay each potato (one at a time,) in
a clean warm napkin, and press and wring it till all the moisture is
squeezed out, and the potato becomes a round, dry lump. Mince as fine as
possible a quarter of a pound of fresh beef suet, (divested of skin, and
strings.) Crumble the potato, and mix it well with the suet, adding a
small salt-spoon of salt. Add sufficient milk to make a thick batter,
and beat it well. Dip a strong square cloth in hot water, shake it out,
and dredge it well with flour. Tie the pudding in, leaving room for it
to swell, and put it into a large pot of hot water and boil it steady
for an hour. This is a good and economical family pudding.
ELLEN CLARK'S PUDDING.--Slice, rather thick, some fresh bread. Pare off
all the crust. Butter the bread on both sides, and lay it in a deep
dish. Fill up with molasses very profusely, having first seasoned the
molasses with ginger, ground cinnamon, and powdered mace or nutmeg. It
will be much improved by adding the grated yellow rind and the juice of
a large lemon or orange. Bake it till brown all over the top, and till
the bread and butter has absorbed the molasses; taking care not to let
it burn.
ARROW-ROOT BISCUIT.--Mix in a pan half a pint of arrow-root, and half a
pint of sifted wheat flour. Cut up a quarter of a pound of fresh butter,
and rub it into the pan of flour, crumbling the bits of butter so small
as to be scarcely visible. Mix a quarter of a pound of powdered white
sugar, and wet it with a beaten egg. Add gradually a very little cream,
just enough to make it into a stiff dough. Flavor it with the grated
yellow rind and juice of a lemon, and half a nutmeg grated. Roll out the
dough into thin sheets, and cut it out into biscuits with the edge of a
tumbler. Prick every biscuit all over with a fork. Lay them in square
pans slightly floured, and bake them immediately. They will be improved
by adding (at the last of the mixture) a table-spoonful of the best
rose-water. If rose-water is put into cakes _early_ in the mixing, much
of its strength will evaporate before baking. It should always be
deferred to the last. These are very nice tea biscuits.
ONTARIO CAKE.--Take a pint and a half (or three large breakfast cups,)
of sifted flour, and the same quantity of powdered white sugar, and half
a pint of milk; a quarter of a pint or half a cup of the best fresh
butter, and the grated yellow rind and juice of a large lemon. Have
ready four well-beaten eggs, and two table-spoonfuls of strong fresh
yeast.
Cut up the butter into the pan of flour. Add the milk and sugar
gradually, and then the beaten egg, and then the lemon; next the yeast.
Stir the whole very well, and set it to rise in a buttered pan. Place it
near the fire, and cover it with a clean flannel or a double cloth. When
it has risen and is quite light, and is cracked all over the surface,
transfer it to a square baking pan, put it immediately into the oven,
and bake it well. When cool, either ice it or sift white sugar over it,
and cut it into squares. Or, you may bake it in a round loaf, or in
small round cakes.
NEW-YEAR'S CAKE.--Stir together a pound of nice fresh butter, and a
pound of powdered white sugar, till they become a light thick cream.
Then stir in, gradually, three pounds of sifted flour. Add, by degrees,
a tea-spoonful of soda dissolved in a small tea-cup of milk, and then a
half salt-spoonful of tartaric acid, melted in a large table-spoonful of
warm water. Then mix in, gradually, three table-spoonfuls of fine
carraway seeds. Roll out the dough into sheets half an inch thick, and
cut it with a jagging iron into oval or oblong cakes, pricked with a
fork. Bake them immediately in shallow iron pans, slightly greased with
fresh butter. The bakers in New York ornament these cakes, with devices
or pictures raised by a wooden stamp. They are good plain cakes for
children.
GOOD YEAST.--Take two handfuls of hops. The best hops have a fresh light
green color, and a pleasant, lively smell. Pour on them two quarts of
boiling water, and let them boil five minutes after they have come to a
boil; not longer, for it makes them bitter. Then strain the liquid into
a pan, and add a table-spoonful of brown sugar and one of salt. When
lukewarm, stir in flour enough to make a thick batter. Add a jill and a
half of fresh baker's yeast. Set it in a warm place till it begins to
ferment; then keep it in the cellar well corked.
This yeast will continue good two weeks. When you open the jug to take
out some yeast, put in always a table-spoonful of flour before you cork
it up again.
A stone jug or pitcher is a good vessel for yeast. Wash it very clean in
hot water, always before you put in fresh yeast, and then rinse the jug
with water in which a spoonful of pearlash has been melted, letting the
pearlash water remain in it five or six minutes, and shaking it round
hard. Then rinse it with plain cold water.
All vessels that have contained acids should have pearlash or soda in
the rinsing water, and then be finished with plain water.
Never clean a bottle by rinsing it with shot. The lead is poisonous, and
has caused death. Some bits of raw potato chopped, and put in the water,
will clean the inside of bottles or jugs, and brighten decanters.
YEAST POWDERS.--Get two ounces of bicarbonate of soda, and one ounce of
tartaric acid. Divide the soda into equal portions, about a level
tea-spoonful in each, and the tartaric acid into level salt-spoonfuls.
By _level_ we mean that the article is not to be heaped in the least,
not rising above the edge of the spoon. Cut some papers of regular and
sufficient size, and fold them nicely. Put the soda into white papers,
and the tartaric acid into blue papers. Place an equal number of each in
a little square or oblong box, standing up the papers on their folded
edges. Dissolve them in two separate cups, in as much tepid water as
will cover the powder. They must be entirely melted before using. Stir
in the soda at the beginning, and the tartaric acid at the conclusion of
the batter or cake mixture.
We do not approve of the introduction of these substances into cakes.
They give a sort of factitious lightness very different from that
honestly produced by a liberal allowance of egg and butter, genuine
yeast, and good beating and stirring--but they destroy the taste of the
seasoning, and are certain destruction to the taste of lemon, orange,
strawberry, pine-apple, and every kind of fruit flavoring. The justly
celebrated Mrs. Goodfellow never used any of them in her school, and the
articles made there by her pupils, (of whom the author was one) were
such as no money can purchase in the present times. Any confectioner who
would _faithfully_ revive them could make a fortune by doing so.
The present introduction of hartshorn into bread and cakes is an
abomination, rendering the articles equally unpalatable and unwholesome.
Cannot the use of hartshorn in food be put down? Which of our _American_
doctors will write a book on "culinary poisons."
VINEGAR.--Mix together in a clean keg three gallons of clear rain water,
(that has been caught in a clean tub without running over the roof of a
house,) one quart of _West India_ molasses, and one pint of baker's
yeast. Cover it, and set it in a warm place where it will be exposed to
the summer sun. Remember to shake the cask every day. In three months it
will be excellent vinegar. Then transfer it to stone jugs, and keep it
closely corked. Begin it in May.
So much of the vinegar sold in stores is concocted of pernicious drugs,
that we recommend all families to make their own, or to buy it from a
cider farmer. Good cider, set in the sun, will after a while become good
vinegar.
What is shamefully called the best white wine vinegar is frequently a
slow poison, as may be known by its action upon oysters, pickles, &c. It
is quite clear and well to look at. Its taste is very sharp and pungent,
as to overpower and render every thing that is with it painfully sour,
and it has a singular and disagreeable smell when boiling. Oysters
cooked with this vinegar go immediately into rags, and are soon entirely
eaten up, or dissolved into a thin whitish liquid, fit for nothing but
to throw away.
Pickles the same. A punishment should be provided by law for persons who
manufacture and sell these deleterious compounds, of which we have now
so many, that it would indeed be well if we could make at home, as far
as possible, every thing we eat and drink.
PINK CHAMPAGNE--(_Domestic._)--Pick from the stems three quarts of fine
ripe red currants, and mix with them three quarts of ripe white
currants. Bruise them all. Put nine pounds of loaf sugar to melt in
three gallons of very clear soft water. Boil the water and sugar
together for half an hour, skimming carefully, and pour the liquid
boiling hot over the currants. When it is nearly cold, add a small
tea-cupful of excellent strong fresh yeast. Let it ferment for two days,
and then strain it into a small cask through a very clean hair sieve.
Put into the cask half an ounce of finely-chipped isinglass. Have rather
more liquor than will fill the cask at first, and keep it to fill up as
it works over. In about a fortnight bung it up. Let it remain in the
cask till April. Then transfer it to bottles, (putting into each a lump
of double-refined loaf sugar,) and letting them remain one day uncorked.
Then cork and wire them. They must stand upright in the cellar; but when
likely to be wanted, lay a few of them on their sides for a week.
SHERRY COBBLER.--Lay in the bottom of a large tumbler, two
table-spoonfuls of powdered loaf sugar, and squeeze over it (through a
strainer) the juice of a large lemon that has been softened by rolling
under your hand. Then half fill the tumbler with ice, broken very small.
Add a large glass of very good sherry wine. Take another tumbler, and
pour the liquid back and forward from glass to glass, till completely
mixed without stirring. Sip it through a clean straw, or one of the
tubes made on purpose.
MINT JULEP.--Cut two or three round slices from a fine ripe pine-apple
that has been pared; and take out the core or hard part from the centre
of each slice. A still better way is to split down the pine-apple into
four pieces, and grate two of the quarters with a coarse grater,
standing it upright while doing so. Put it into a large tumbler, and
cover the fruit with two or three heaped table-spoonfuls of powdered
loaf sugar. Add a large glass of the best brandy, and pour on cold water
till the tumbler is two-thirds full. Then put in a thick layer of finely
broken ice, till it almost reaches the top. Finish by sticking in a full
bunch of fresh green mint in handsome sprigs, that rise far above one
side of the tumbler; and at the other side place a clean straw, or one
of the tubes used for the same purpose.
CAROLINA PUNCH.--Mix together a tumbler of peach brandy and a tumbler of
water, the juice of two lemons, the yellow rinds of four, pared to
transparent thinness, and four large juicy free-stone peaches cut in
half, and the kernels of their stones blanched and broken up. If you
cannot obtain peaches, quarter and grate down a ripe pine-apple. Let all
these ingredients infuse with a quart of Jamaica spirits in a bowl for
two days before the punch is wanted. Keep it carefully covered with a
cloth. Then pour on sufficient cold water to make the punch of the
desired strength; and strain the liquid into another bowl, and put in a
large lump of ice. Serve it out in small glasses.
NECTAR.--Take two pounds of _the best_ raisins, seeded and chopped; the
grated yellow rind and the juice of four fine lemons, and two pounds of
loaf sugar, powdered. Put the sugar into a large porcelain kettle, and
melt it in a gallon of water. Boil and skim it for half an hour, and
while it is boiling hard, put in by degrees the raisins and lemons.
Continue the boiling about ten minutes. Put the mixture into a stoneware
crock, and cover it closely. Let it stand three days, stirring it down
to the bottom twice every day. Then strain it through a linen bag, and
bottle it, sealing the corks. It will be fit for use in a fortnight.
Take it in wine-glasses, with a bit of ice in each. This is a nice
temperance drink.
CHOCOLATE CARAMEL.--Take half a pint of rich milk, and put it to boil in
a porcelain kettle; scrape down a square and a half of Baker's
chocolate, put it into a very clean tin cup, and set on the top of a
stove till it becomes soft. Let the milk boil up _twice_. Then add,
gradually, the chocolate, and stir both over the fire till thoroughly
mixed and free from lumps. Stir in a half pint of the best white sugar
powdered, and half a jill (or four large table-spoonfuls,) of molasses.
Let the whole boil fast and constantly (so as to bubble,) for at least
one hour or more, till it is nearly as stiff as good mush. When all is
done add a small tea-spoonful of essence of vanilla, and transfer the
mixture to shallow tin pans, slightly greased with very nice sweet oil.
Set it on ice, or in a very cool place, and while yet soft mark it
deeply in squares with a very sharp knife. When quite hard, cut the
squares apart. If it does not harden well it has not been boiled long
enough, or fast enough.
EGGS TO BOIL.--The water must be boiling fast when the eggs are put in.
First wipe them clean all over, with a wet cloth. It is true that the
shells are never eaten, but still, if brought to table dirty and
discolored, they look slovenly, disgusting, and vulgar, such as are
never seen in good houses. Put them into water that is boiling fast; and
if desired very soft, four minutes will be sufficient. Six or eight
minutes will barely set the whites and yolks, and ten or twelve minutes
(in water that is really boiling,) will render them hard enough for
salad. In the egg-boilers that are set on the table no egg will ever
boil hard, as the water cools too soon. A _stale_ egg never boils hard.
Except in the spring, and late in the winter, there is often much
difficulty in obtaining good eggs, unless you have fowls of your own. If
an egg is really fresh, when held up against the light, the yolk looks
round and compact and the white clear and transparent; you may then
trust it. But if the yolk is thick, broken, and mixed among the white,
and the white is cloudy and muddled, it is certainly bad, and should be
thrown away. When tried in a pan of cold water the freshest will sink,
and the stale ones float on the surface. It requires strong brine to
bear up a good egg. Eggs may be preserved for keeping a few months, by
putting every one in fast boiling water for _one minute_. Then grease
them all over the outside with good melted fat, and wedge down close
together (layer above layer,) in a box of powdered charcoal. This
preserves them for a sea voyage of several weeks. The charcoal box must
be kept closely covered, and closed immediately whenever opened. Pack
the eggs with the small end downwards.
POACHED EGGS.--See that the eggs are quite fresh. Pour from a kettle of
boiling water enough to fill a broad shallow stew-pan. Break the eggs
into a saucer, (one at a time,) slip them carefully into the hot water,
and let them stand in it till the whites are set. Then put the pan over
a moderate fire; and, as soon as the water boils again, the eggs are
ready. The whites should be firm, and the yolks should appear in the
centre looking yellow through a thin transparent coating of the white.
Take them out carefully (one by one,) with an egg-slice. Have ready, for
each egg, a nice slice of toast of a light brown or yellow all over.
Trim off all the crust, and dip the toast for a minute in hot water.
Then butter it _slightly_ with fresh butter. Trim off neatly the ragged
and discolored white from the edge of each egg. Lay a poached egg in the
middle of every toast, and serve them up warm.
Instead of toast, you may lay beneath every egg a thin slice of ham,
that has been soaked, and nicely broiled and trimmed. Or, large thin
slices from the breast of a cold roast turkey, or cold fillet of roast
pork or veal. These are nice breakfast dishes.
_Scrambled Eggs._--Make a mixture as for an omelet, but instead of
frying put it into a sauce-pan, and when it has boiled five minutes take
it off, and chop and mix all the ingredients into confusion. Serve it up
hot in a deep dish. It is eaten at breakfast, and is by many preferred
to a fried omelet. You may season it with grated ham, tongue, or sweet
herbs.
EGG-NOGG.--Beat, till very light and thick, the yolks only of six eggs.
Stir the eggs, gradually, into a quart of rich unskimmed milk, and add
half a pound of powdered loaf sugar, a half pint of brandy, and a grated
nutmeg. Next beat three whites of the eggs by themselves, and stir them
quickly into the mixture. Divide it into two pitchers, and pour it back
and forward from one pitcher to the other till it has a fine froth. Then
serve it in a large china bowl, with a silver ladle in it, and
distribute it in glasses with handles.
_To Beat Eggs._--For beating eggs have a broad shallow earthen pan. If
beaten in tin, the coldness of the metal retards their lightness; for
the same reason, hickory rods are better than tin wire. Beat with a
short quick stroke, holding the egg rods in your right hand close to
your side, and do not exert your elbow, or use your arm violently with a
hard sweeping stroke; of this there is no necessity. If beaten in a
proper manner, (moving your hand _only_ at the wrist) the eggs will be
light long before you are fatigued. But you must continue beating till
after the froth has subsided, and the pan of eggs presents a smooth
thick surface, like a nice boiled custard. White of egg is done if it
stands stiff alone, and will not fall from the beater when held upon it.
Butter and sugar should always be stirred with a strong hickory spaddle,
which resembles a short mush stick, rather broad and flattened at one
end.
BRAN MUFFINS.--Take three quarts of bran, (unbolted wheat flour) and
sift it into a large pan. Warm three half pints of rich milk, mixing
with it half a common tumbler of _West India_ molasses. Cut up in the
warm milk and molasses two ounces or two large heaped table-spoonfuls of
fresh butter, and stir it about till well mixed all through. Then stir
all the liquid into the flour. Beat in a shallow pan three eggs till
very thick and light, and then stir them gradually into the pan of
flour, &c. Lastly, add two table-spoonfuls of strong fresh yeast. Cover
the mixture and set it to rise. When risen very light heat a griddle on
the oven of a stove, set muffin rings upon it, fill the rings nearly to
the top, and bake the muffins. Send them to table hot, pull them open
with your fingers, and butter them. They will be much liked if properly
made and baked.
COTTAGE CHEESE.--This is a good way of using up a pan of milk that is
found to be turning sour. Or you may turn it, on purpose, by stirring in
a spoonful of cider vinegar. Having covered it, set it in a warm place
till it becomes a curd. Then pour off the liquid, and tie up the curd in
a clean linen bag with a pointed end, and set a bowl under it to catch
the droppings; but do not squeeze it. After it has drained ten or twelve
hours, transfer the curd to a deep dish, enrich it with some cream, and
press and chop it with a large spoon till it is a soft mass; adding, as
you proceed, an ounce or more of nice fresh butter. Then set it on ice
till tea-time.
FRENCH HAM PIE.--Having soaked, boiled, and skinned a small ham of the
best quality, and taken out the bone, trim it into a handsome oval
shape. Of the trimmings make a rich gravy by stewing them in a sauce-pan
with a little water, and four pigs feet, (split up.) Have ready a
plentiful sufficiency of nice forcemeat made of cold roast chicken or
veal, minced suet, and grated bread-crumbs, butter, minced sweet
marjoram or tarragon, and some hard-boiled yolk of egg crumbled. Have
ready, prepared, a very nice puff paste; line with it the bottom and
sides of a large deep dish, and lay in it the oval ham, filling up at
the corners and all round with the forcemeat, and spreading a layer of
it on the top. Pour on gravy to moisten the whole, and put on the paste
intended for the lid. Notch the edges handsomely, and stick a flower or
tulip of paste in the cross slit at the top, and place a wreath of paste
leaves all round. Bake it light brown, and eat it warm or cold. It is a
fine dish for a dinner or supper party, or for a handsome luncheon or
breakfast.
_A Tongue Pie_--Is made in a similar manner of a boiled smoked tongue,
peeled and trimmed, and filled in with forcemeat. For a large company
have _two_ tongue pies, as it will be much liked, if made as above.
FIG PUDDING.--Take a pint of very ripe figs, (peeled,) cut them up and
mash them smooth with the grated yellow rind of a large ripe lemon or
orange, and the juice of two. Mix together a large spoonful of fresh
butter, and two table-spoonfuls of sugar, and stir the whole very hard.
Bake it in a deep dish, and eat it fresh, but not warm. Grate sugar over
the surface. When _ripe_ figs can be obtained, this pudding is much
liked.
POKE PLANT.--Early in the spring, the young green stalks of the
pokeberry plant, (when they are still mild and tender, and have not yet
acquired a reddish tinge or a strong unpleasant taste,) are generally
much liked as a vegetable, and are by many persons considered equal to
asparagus. They are brought in bundles to Philadelphia market. Wash and
drain them, and put them on to boil in a pot of cold water. When _quite
tender_ all through they are done. Dish them in the manner of asparagus,
laid on a toast dipped for a minute in hot water, and then buttered.
You may pour a very little drawn or melted butter over the poke.
RHUBARB TARTS.--Take large fresh stalks of the rapontica plant, such as
are full-grown and reddish. Peel off the thin skin, and cut them into
bits all of the same size, either one inch or two inches long. Wash them
in cold water through a cullender, (but do not drain them much,) and put
them into a stew-pan without any more water. Mix with them plenty of
good sugar, in the proportion of half a pound of sugar to a pint of
cut-up rhubarb stalks. Cover it, and stew it slowly till quite soft.
Then mash it into a smooth mass. Have some puff-paste shells baked
empty; and when cool, fill them to the top, and grate nutmeg and
powdered sugar thickly over them. The juice and grated yellow rind of a
lemon (added when the rhubarb is half stewed,) will be a pleasant
flavoring. This is sometimes called "spring-fruit" and "pie-plant." It
comes earlier, but is by no means so good as gooseberries. We do not
think it worth preserving, or making into a sweetmeat.
VOL-AU-VENT.--Have ready a large quantity of the best and lightest puff
paste. Roll it an inch thick, and then cut it neatly into shapes, either
square or circular. Bake every one separately on a flat tin pan, cutting
a round hole in the centre of each, and fitting in pieces of stale bread
to keep the holes open while baking. The cakes of paste should diminish
in size as they ascend to the top, but the holes should all be of
exactly the same dimensions. The lower cake, which goes at the bottom,
should be solid and not perforated at all. The small cake which finishes
the top of the pyramid must also be left solid, for a lid. When all the
cakes are baked and risen high, (as good puff-paste always does) take
them carefully off the baking plates; remove the bread that has kept the
centres open and in shape; brush over every cake, separately, with
beaten white of egg, and pile one upon another nicely and evenly so as
to form a pyramid. Have ready a very nice stew of oysters or game cut
small, and cooked with cream, &c. Fill the pyramid with this, and then
put on the top or lid, which may terminate in a flower of baked paste.
_A Sweet Vol-au-Vent_--May be filled with small preserves, or with ripe
strawberries or raspberries, made very sweet. Vol-au-vents are for
dinner, or supper parties. The paste should be peculiarly light. The
name _Vol-au-vent_ signifies, in French, something that will fly away in
the wind; which, however, it never does.
A SOUFFLÉ PUDDING.--Take eight rusks, or soft sugar-biscuits, or plain
buns. Lay them in a large deep dish, and pour on a pint of milk,
sufficient to soak them thoroughly. Cover the dish, and let them stand
undisturbed for about an hour and a half before dinner. In the mean
time, boil half a pint of milk in a small sauce-pan with a handful of
bitter almonds or peach kernels broken small, or a small bunch of fresh
peach-leaves, with two large sticks of cinnamon, broken up. Boil this
milk slowly, (keeping it covered,) and when it tastes strongly of the
flavoring articles, strain it, and set it away to cool. When cold, mix
it into another pint of milk, and stir in a quarter of a pound of
powdered loaf sugar. Beat eight eggs very light, and add them gradually
to the milk, so as to make a rich custard. After dinner has commenced,
beat and stir the soaked rusk very hard till it becomes a smooth mass,
and then, by degrees, add to it the custard. Stir the whole till
thoroughly amalgamated. Set the dish into a brisk oven, and bake the
pudding rather more than ten minutes. The yeast, &c., in the rusk, will
cause it to puff up very light. When done, send it to table warm, with
white sugar sifted over it. You may serve up with it as sauce sweetened
thick cream flavored with rose-water, and grated nutmeg, or powdered
loaf sugar and fresh butter stirred together in equal portions, and
seasoned with lemon or nutmeg.
ICED PLUM PUDDING.--Take two dozen sweet and half a dozen bitter
almonds. Blanch them in scalding water, and then throw them into a bowl
of cold water. Pound them one at a time in a mortar, till they become a
smooth paste, free from the smallest lumps. As you proceed, add
frequently a few drops of rose-water or lemon juice to make them light,
and prevent their oiling. Seed and cut in half a quarter of a pound of
the best bloom raisins. Mix with them a quarter of a pound of Zante
currants, picked, washed, and dried; and add to the raisins and currants
three ounces of citron, chopped. Mix the citron with the raisins and
currants, and dredge them all with flour to prevent their sinking or
clodding. Take a half pint of very rich milk; split a vanilla bean, and
cut it into pieces two or three inches long, and boil it in the milk
till the flavor of the vanilla is well extracted; then strain it out,
and mix the vanilla milk with a pint of rich cream, and stir in,
gradually, a half pound of powdered loaf sugar, and a nutmeg grated.
Then add the pounded almonds, and a large wine-glass of either
marasquino, noyau, curaçoa, or the very best brandy. Beat, in a shallow
pan, the yolks of eight eggs till very light, thick, and smooth, and
stir them gradually into the mixture. Simmer it over the fire, (stirring
it all the time,) but take it off just as it is about to come to a boil,
otherwise it will curdle. Then, while the mixture is hot, stir in the
raisins, currants, and citron. Set it to cool, and then add a large
tea-cupful of preserved strawberries or raspberries, half a dozen
preserved apricots or peaches; half a dozen preserved green limes; and
any other very nice and delicate sweetmeats. Then whip to a stiff froth
another pint of cream, and add it lightly to the mixture. Put the whole
into a large melon-mould that opens in the middle, and freeze it in the
usual way. It will take four hours to freeze it well. Do not turn it out
till just before it is wanted. Then send it to table on a glass dish. It
will be found delicious. Iced puddings are now considered indispensable
on fashionable supper tables or at dinner parties. There is no flour in
this pudding. The freezing will keep it together.
RENNETS.--Milk turned into a curd with wine is by no means so good as
that which is done with rennet-water alone. The curd and whey do not
separate so completely; the curd is less firm, and the whey less clear;
the latter being thick and white, instead of thin and greenish, as it
ought to be. Neither is it so light and wholesome as when turned with
rennet.
Rennets of the best quality can be had at all seasons in the
Philadelphia market; particularly in the lower part, called the Jersey
market. They are sold at twelve, eighteen, or twenty-five cents,
according to their size, and will keep a year or two; but have most
strength when fresh. You may prepare excellent rennets yourself at a
very trifling expense, by previously bespeaking them of a veal butcher;
a rennet being the stomach of a calf. Its form is a bag. As soon as you
get the rennet, empty out all its contents, and wipe it very clean,
inside and out; then rince it with cold water, but do not wash it much,
as washing will weaken its power of turning milk into curd. When you
have made it quite clean, lay the rennet in a broad pan, strew it over
on both sides with plenty of fine salt; cover it, and let it rest five
days. When you take it out of the pan, do not wipe or wash it, for it
must be stretched and dried with the salt on. For this purpose hold it
open like a bag, and slip within it a long, thick, smooth rod, bent into
the form of a large loop wide at the top, and so narrow at the bottom as
to meet together. Stretch the rennet tightly and smoothly over this bent
rod, on which it will be double, and when you have brought the two ends
of the rod together at the bottom, and tied them fast, the form will
somewhat resemble that of a boy's kite. Hang it up in a dry place, and
cut out a bit as you want it. A piece about two inches square will turn
one quart of milk; a piece of four inches, two quarts. Having first
washed off all the salt in several cold waters, and wiped the bit of
rennet dry, pour on it sufficient _lukewarm_ water to cover it well. Let
it stand several hours; then pour the rennet-water into the milk you
intend for the curd, and set it in a warm place. When the curd is
entirely formed, set the vessel on ice.
Rennet may be used with good effect before it has _quite_ dried.
AN EASY WAY OF MAKING BUTTER IN WINTER.--The following will be found an
excellent method of making butter in cold weather for family use. We
recommend its trial. Take, in the morning, the unskimmed milk of the
preceding evening, (after it has stood all night in a _tin_ pan,) and
set it over a furnace of hot coals, or in a stove; being careful not to
disturb the cream that has risen to the surface. Let it remain over the
fire till it simmers, and begins to bubble round the edges; but on no
account let it come to a boil. Then take the pan carefully off, (without
disturbing the cream) and carry it to a cool place, but not where it is
cold enough to freeze. In the evening take a spoon, and loosen the cream
round the sides of the pan. If very rich, it will be almost a solid
cake. Slip off the sheet of cream into another and larger pan, letting
as little milk go with it as possible. Cover it, and set it away. Repeat
the process for several days, till you have thus collected a sufficiency
of clotted cream to fill the pan. Then scald a wooden ladle, and beat
the cream hard with it during ten minutes. You will then have excellent
butter. Take it out of the pan, lay it on a flat dish, and with the
ladle squeeze and press it hard, till all the buttermilk is entirely
extracted and drained off. Then wash the butter in cold water, and work
a very little salt into it. Set it away in a cool place for three hours.
Then squeeze and press it again; also washing it a second time in cold
water. Make it up into pats, and keep it in a cool place.
The unskimmed morning's milk, of course, may also be used for this
purpose, after it has stood twelve hours. The simmering over the fire
adds greatly to the quantity of cream, by throwing all the oily part of
the milk to the surface; but if allowed to boil, this oleaginous matter
will again descend, and mix with the rest, so as not to be separated.
This is the usual method of making winter butter in the south of
England; and it is very customary in the British provinces of America.
Try it.
SWEET POTATO PONE.--Stir together till very light and white, three
quarters of a pound of fresh butter, and three quarters of a pound of
powdered white sugar, adding two table-spoonfuls of ginger. Grate a
pound and a half of sweet potato. Beat eight eggs very light, and stir
them gradually into the butter and sugar, in turn with the grated sweet
potato. Dissolve a tea-spoonful of saleratus or soda in a jill of sour
milk, and stir it in at the last, beating the whole very hard. Butter
the inside of a tin pan. Put in the mixture, and bake it four hours or
more. It should be eaten fresh, cut into slices.
RICE BREAD.--To a pint of well boiled rice add half a pint of wheat
flour, mixing them well together. Take six eggs, and beat the whites and
yolks separately. Having beaten the whites to a stiff froth, mix them
gradually with a pint of rich milk, and two large table-spoonfuls of
fresh butter, softened at the fire. Mix, by degrees, the yolks of the
eggs with the rice and flour. Then add the white-of-egg mixture, a
little at a time. Stir the whole very hard. Put it into a buttered tin
pan with straight or upright sides. Set it in a moderate oven, and bake
it an hour or more. Then turn it out of the pan, put it on a dish, and
send it warm to the breakfast table, and eat it with butter.
This cake may be baked, by setting the pan that contains it into an iron
dutch-oven, placed over hot coals. Heat the lid of the oven on the
inside, by standing it up before the fire while the rice-bread is
preparing; and, after you put it on, keep the lid covered with hot
coals.
Rice-bread may be made of ground rice flour, instead of whole rice.
RICE FLOUR BREAD.--Sift into a pan a pint and a half of rice flour, and
a pint and a half of fine wheat flour. Add two large table-spoonfuls of
fresh butter or lard, and mix in a pint and a half of milk. Beat four
eggs very light; then stir them gradually into the mixture. When the
whole has been well mixed, add, at the last, a small tea-spoonful of
soda or saleratus, dissolved in as much warm water as will cover it. Put
the whole into a buttered tin pan, set it immediately into a quick oven,
and bake it well. It is best when eaten fresh. Slice and butter it.
RICE FLOUR BATTER CAKES.--Melt a quarter of a pound of fresh butter, or
lard, in a quart of milk; but be careful not to let it begin to boil.
Divide the milk equally, by putting it into two pans. Beat three eggs
very light, and stir them into one half of the milk with the addition of
a large table-spoonful of wheat flour. Stir in as much ground rice flour
as will make a thick batter. Then put in a _small_ tea-cupful of strong
fresh yeast, and thin the batter with the remainder of the milk. Cover
it, and set it to rise. When it has risen high, and is covered with
bubbles, bake it on a griddle in the manner of buckwheat cakes. Send
them to table hot, and butter them.
Similar cakes may be made with indian meal instead of rice flour.
GROUND-NUT MACAROONS.--Take a sufficiency of ground-nuts, or pea-nuts,
that have been roasted in an iron pot over the fire; remove the shells,
and weigh a pound of the nuts. Put them into a pan of cold water, and
wash off the skins. Have ready some beaten white of egg. Pound the
ground-nuts (two or three at a time,) in a marble mortar, adding
frequently a little cold water to prevent their oiling. They must be
pounded to a smooth light paste; and, as you proceed, remove the paste
to a saucer or a plate. Beat, to a stiff froth, the whites of four eggs,
and then beat into it gradually a pound of powdered loaf sugar, and a
large tea-spoonful of powdered mace and nutmeg mixed. Then stir in, by
degrees, the pounded ground-nuts, till the mixture becomes very thick.
Flour your hands, and roll between them portions of the mixture, forming
each portion into a little ball. Lay sheets of white paper on flat
baking tins, and place on them the macaroons at equal distances,
flattening them all a little, so as to press down the balls into cakes.
Then sift powdered sugar over each. Place them in a brisk oven, with
more heat at the top than in the bottom. Bake them brown.
Almond macaroons may be made as above, mixing one quarter of a pound of
shelled bitter almonds, with three quarters of shelled sweet almonds.
For almond macaroons, instead of flouring your hands, you may dip them
in cold water; and when the macaroons are formed on the papers, go
slightly over every one with your fingers wet with cold water.
Macaroons may be made, also, of grated cocoa-nut mixed with beaten white
of egg and powdered sugar.
COLUMBIAN PUDDING.--Tie up closely in a bit of very thin muslin a split
vanilla bean, cut into pieces, and a broken-up stick of cinnamon. Put
this bag, with its contents, into half a pint of rich milk, and boil it
a long time till very highly flavored. Then take out the bag; set the
milk near the fire to keep warm in the pan in which it was boiled,
covering it closely. Slice thin a pound of almond sponge cake, and lay
it in a deep dish. Pour over it a quart of rich cream, with which you
must mix the vanilla-flavored milk, and leave the cake to dissolve in
it. Blanch, in scalding water, two ounces of shelled bitter almonds or
peach kernels, and pound them (one at a time,) to a smooth paste in a
marble mortar, pouring on each a few drops of rose-water or peach-water
to prevent their oiling. When the almonds are done, set them away in a
cold place till wanted. Beat eight eggs till very light and thick; and
having stirred together hard the dissolved cake and the cream, add them
gradually to the mixture in turn with the almond, and half a pound of
powdered loaf sugar, a little at a time of each. Butter a deep dish,
and put in the mixture. Set the pudding into a brisk oven and bake it
well. Have ready a star nicely cut out of a large piece of candied
citron, a number of small stars, all of equal size, as many as there are
States in the Union, and a sufficiency of rays or long strips also cut
out of citron. The rays should be wide at the bottom and run to a point
at the top. As soon as the pudding comes out of the oven, while it is
smoking, arrange these decorations. Put the large star in the centre,
then the rays so that they will diverge from it, narrowing off towards
the edge of the pudding. Near the edge place the small stars in a
circle.
Preserved citron-melon will be still better for this purpose than the
dry candied citron.
This is a very fine pudding; suitable for a dinner party, or a Fourth of
July dinner.
A WASHINGTON PUDDING.--Pick, and wash clean half a pound of Zante
currants; drain them, and wipe them in a towel, and then spread them out
on a flat dish, and place them before the fire to dry thoroughly.
Prepare about a quarter of a pound or half a pint of finely-grated
bread-crumbs. Have ready a heaping tea-spoonful of powdered mace,
cinnamon, and nutmeg mixed. When the currants are dry, dredge them
thickly on all sides with flour, to prevent their sinking or clodding in
the pudding while baking. Cut up in a deep pan half a pound of the best
fresh butter, and add to it half a pound of fine white sugar, powdered.
Stir the butter and sugar together with a wooden spaddle, till they are
very light and creamy. Then add a table-spoonful of wine, and a
table-spoonful of brandy. Beat in a shallow pan, eight eggs till
perfectly light, and as thick as a good boiled custard. Afterwards, mix
with them, gradually, a pint of rich milk and the grated bread-crumbs,
stirred in alternately. Next, stir this mixture, by degrees, into the
pan of beaten butter and sugar, and add the currants a few at a time.
Finish with a table-spoonful of strong rose-water; or a wine-glass full,
if it is not very strong. Stir the whole very hard. Butter a large deep
white dish, or two of soup-plate size. Put in the batter. Set it
directly into a brisk oven, and bake it well. When cold, dredge the
surface with powdered sugar. Serve it up in the dish in which it was
baked. You may ornament the tops with bits of citron cut into leaves and
forming a wreath; or with circles of preserved strawberries.
This will be found a very fine pudding. It must be baked in time to
become quite cold before dinner.
For currants, you may substitute raisins of the best quality; seeded,
cut in half, and well dredged with flour.
Instead of rose-water you may stir in the yellow rind (finely grated) of
one large lemon, or two small ones, and their juice also.
A COTTAGE PUDDING.--Take ripe currants, and having stripped them from
the stalks, measure as many as will make a heaping quart. Cover the
bottom of a deep dish with slices of bread, slightly buttered, and with
the crust cut off. Put a thick layer of currants on the bread, and then
a layer of sugar. Then other layers of bread, currants, and sugar, till
the dish is full; finishing at the top with very thin slices of bread.
Set it into the oven, and bake it half an hour. Serve it either warm or
cold; and eat it with sweetened cream.
Instead of currants you may take cherries, (first stoning them all,)
raspberries, ripe blackberries, or barberries, plums, (first extracting
the stones,) stewed cranberries, or stewed gooseberries. If the fruit is
previously stewed, the pudding will require but ten minutes' baking.
When it is sent to table, have sugar at hand in case it should not be
sweet enough.
ICE-CREAM CAKES.--Stir together, till very light, a quarter of a pound
of powdered sugar and a quarter of a pound of fresh butter. Beat six
eggs very light, and stir into them a half pint of rich milk. Add,
gradually, the eggs and milk to the butter and sugar, alternately with a
half pound of sifted flour. Add a glass of sweet wine and some grated
nutmeg. When all the ingredients are mixed, stir the batter very hard.
Then put it into small deep pans, or cups that have been well buttered,
filling them about two thirds with the batter. Set them immediately into
a brisk oven, and bake them brown. When done, remove them from the cups,
and place them to cool on an inverted sieve. When quite cold make a slit
or incision in the side of each cake. If very light, and properly baked,
they will be hollow in the middle. Fill up this cavity with ice cream,
carefully put in with a spoon, and then close the slit with your fingers
to prevent the cream running out. Spread them on a large dish. Either
send them to table immediately before the ice-cream melts or keep them
on ice till wanted.
WHIPPED CREAM MERINGUES.--Take the whites of eight eggs, and beat them
to a stiff froth that will stand alone. Then beat into them, gradually,
(a tea-spoonful at a time,) two pounds or more of finely-powdered loaf
sugar; continuing to add sugar till the mixture is very thick, and
finishing with lemon juice or extract of rose. Have ready some sheets of
white paper laid on a baking board, and with a spoon drop the mixture on
it in long oval heaps, about four inches in length. Smooth and shape
them with a broad-bladed knife, dipped occasionally in cold water. The
baking board used for this purpose should be an inch thick, and must
have a slip of iron beneath each end to elevate it from the floor of the
oven, so that it may not scorch, nor the bottoms of the meringues be
baked too hard. This baking-board must not be of pine wood, as a pine
board will communicate a disagreeable taste of turpentine. The oven must
be moderate. Bake the meringues of a light brown. When cool, take them
off the paper by slipping a knife nicely beneath the bottom of each.
Then push back or scoop out carefully a portion of the inside of each
meringue, taking care not to break them. Have ready some nice whipped
cream, made in the following proportion:--Take a quarter of a pound of
broken-up loaf sugar, and on some of the lumps rub off the yellow rind
of two large lemons. Powder the sugar, and then mix with it the juice of
the lemons, and grate in some nutmeg. Mix the sugar with a half pint of
sweet white wine. Put into a pan a pint of rich cream, and whip it with
rods or a wooden whisk, or mill it with a chocolate mill till it is a
stiff froth. Then mix in, gradually, the other ingredients; continuing
to whip it hard a while after they are all in. As you proceed, lay the
froth on an inverted sieve, with a dish underneath to catch the
droppings; which droppings must afterwards be whipped and added to the
rest. Fill the inside of each meringue with a portion of the whipped
cream. Then put two together, so as to form one long oval cake, joining
them nicely, so as to unite the flat parts that were next the paper,
leaving the inside filled with the whipped cream. Set them again in the
oven for a few minutes. They must be done with great care and nicety, so
as not to break. Each meringue should be about the usual length of a
middle finger. In dropping them on the paper, take care to shape the
oval ends handsomely and smoothly. They should look like very long
kisses.
CHOCOLATE PUFFS.--Beat very stiff the whites of three eggs, and then
beat in gradually half a pound of powdered loaf sugar. Scrape down very
fine three ounces of the best chocolate, (prepared cocoa is better
still,) and dredge it with flour to prevent its oiling; mixing the flour
well among it. Then add it gradually to the mixture of white of egg and
sugar, and stir the whole very hard. Cover the bottom of a square tin
pan with a sheet of fine white paper, cut to fit exactly. Place upon it
thin spots of powdered loaf sugar about the size of a half dollar. Pile
a portion of the mixture on each spot, smoothing it with the back of a
spoon or a broad knife, dipped in cold water. Sift white sugar over the
top of each. Set the pan into a brisk oven, and bake them a few minutes.
When cold, loosen them from the paper with a broad knife.
COCOA-NUT PUFFS.--Break up a large ripe cocoa-nut. Pare the pieces, and
lay them awhile in cold water. Then wipe them dry, and grate them as
finely as possible. Lay the grated cocoa-nut in well-formed heaps on a
large handsome dish. It will require no cooking. The heaps should be
about the circumference of a half dollar, and must not touch each other.
Flatten them down in the middle, so as to make a hollow in the centre of
each heap; and upon this pile some very nice sweetmeat. Make an
excellent whipped cream, well sweetened and flavored with lemon and
wine, and beat it to a stiff froth. Pile some of this cream high upon
each cake over the sweetmeats. If on a supper-table, you may arrange
them in circles round a glass stand.
FIG MARMALADE.--Take fine fresh figs that are perfectly ripe, such as
can only be obtained in countries where they are cultivated in
abundance. Weigh them, and to every two pounds of figs allow a pound and
a half of sugar, and the grated yellow rind of a large orange or lemon.
Cut up the figs, and put them into a preserving kettle with the sugar,
and orange or lemon rind, adding the juice. Boil them till the whole is
reduced to a thick smooth mass, frequently stirring it up from the
bottom. When done, put it warm into jars, and cover it closely.
CARRAWAY GINGERBREAD.--Cut up half a pound of fresh butter in a pint of
_West India_ molasses, and warm them together slightly till the butter
is quite soft. Then stir them well, and add gradually a half pound of
good brown sugar, a table-spoonful of powdered cinnamon, and two heaped
table-spoonfuls of ground ginger, or three, if the ginger is not very
strong. Sift two pounds or two quarts of flour. Beat four eggs till very
thick and light, and stir them gradually into the mixture, in turn with
the flour, and five or six large table-spoonfuls of carraway seeds, a
little at a time. Dissolve a very small tea-spoonful of pearlash or soda
in as much lukewarm water as will cover it. Then stir it in at the last.
Stir all very hard. Transfer it to a buttered tin pan with straight
sides, and bake it in a loaf in a moderate oven. It will require a great
deal of baking.
SEA-VOYAGE GINGERBREAD.--Sift two pounds of flour into a pan, and cut up
in it a pound and a quarter of fresh butter; rub the butter well into
the flour, and then mix in a pint of _West India_ molasses and a pound
of the best brown sugar. Beat eight eggs till very light. Stir into the
beaten egg two glasses or a jill of brandy. Add also to the egg a
tea-cupful of ground ginger, and a table-spoonful of powdered cinnamon,
with a tea-spoonful of soda melted in a little warm water. Wet the
flour, &c., with this mixture till it becomes a soft dough. Sprinkle a
little flour on your pasteboard, and with a broad knife spread portions
of the mixture thickly and smoothly upon it. The thickness must be equal
all through; therefore spread it carefully and evenly, as the dough will
be too soft to roll out. Then with the edge of a tumbler dipped in
flour, cut it out into round cakes. Have ready square pans, slightly
buttered; lay the cakes in them sufficiently far apart to prevent their
running into each other when baked. Set the pans into a brisk oven, and
bake the cakes well, seeing that they do not burn.
You may cut them out small with the lid of a cannister (or something
similar) the usual size of gingerbread nuts.
These cakes will keep during a long voyage, and are frequently carried
to sea. Many persons find highly-spiced gingerbread a preventive to
sea-sickness.
EXCELLENT GROUND RICE PUDDING.--Take half a pint from a quart of rich
milk, and boil in it a large handful of bitter almonds or peach kernels,
blanched and broken up; also half a dozen blades of mace, keeping the
sauce-pan closely covered. When the milk is highly flavored and reduced
to one half the quantity, take it off and strain it. Stir, gradually,
into the remaining pint and a half of milk, five heaping table-spoonfuls
of ground rice; set it over the fire in a sauce-pan, and let it come to
a boil. Then take it off, and while it is warm, mix in gradually a
quarter of a pound of fresh butter and a quarter of a pound of white
sugar. Afterwards, beat eight eggs as light as possible, and stir them
gradually into the mixture. Add some grated nutmeg. Stir the whole very
hard; put it into a deep dish, and set it immediately into the oven.
Keep it baking steadily for an hour. It should then be done. Eat it
cool, having sifted sugar over it.
CHOCOLATE MACAROONS.--Blanch half a pound of shelled sweet almonds, by
scalding them with boiling water, till the skins peel off easily. Then
throw them into a bowl of cold water, and let them stand awhile. Take
them out and wipe them separately. Afterwards set them in a warm place
to dry thoroughly. Put them, one at a time, into a marble mortar, and
pound them to a smooth paste, moistening them, as you proceed, with a
few drops of rose-water to prevent their oiling. When you have pounded
one or two, take them out of the mortar with a tea-spoon, and put them
into a deep plate beside you, and continue removing the almonds to the
plate till they are all done. Scrape down, as fine as possible, half a
pound of the best chocolate, or of Baker's prepared cocoa, and mix it
thoroughly with the pounded almonds. Then set the plate in a cool place.
Put the whites of eight eggs into a shallow pan, and beat them to a
stiff froth that will stand alone. Have ready a pound and a half of
finely-powdered loaf sugar. Stir it hard into the beaten white-of-egg, a
spoonful at a time. Then stir in, gradually, the mixture of almond and
chocolate, and beat the whole very hard. Drop the mixture in equal
portions upon thin white paper, laid on square tin pans; smoothing them
with a spoon into round cakes about the size of a half dollar. Dredge
the top of each lightly with powdered sugar. Set them into a quick
oven, and bake them a light brown. When done, take them off the paper.
BREAD FRITTERS.--Pick, wash, and dry half a pound of Zante currants, and
having spread them out on a flat dish, dredge them well with flour.
Grate some bread into a pan, till you have a pint of crumbs. Pour over
the grated bread a pint of boiling milk, into which you have stirred,
(as soon as taken from the fire,) a piece of fresh butter the size of an
egg. Cover the pan and let it stand an hour. Then beat it hard, and add
nutmeg, and a quarter of a pound of powdered white sugar, stirred in
gradually, and two table-spoonfuls of the best brandy. Beat six eggs
till very light, and then stir them by degrees into the mixture. Lastly,
add the currants a few at a time, and beat the whole very hard. It
should be a thick batter. If you find it too thin, add a little flour.
Have ready, over the fire, a hot frying-pan with boiling lard. Put in
the batter in large spoonfuls, (so as not to touch,) and fry the
fritters a light brown. Drain them on a perforated skimmer, or an
inverted sieve placed in a deep pan, and send them to table hot. Eat
them with wine, and powdered sugar.
TO KEEP FRESH BUTTER FOR FRYING STEWING, &c.--Take several pounds of
the _very best_ fresh butter. Cut it up in a large tin sauce-pan, or in
any clean cooking vessel lined with tin. Set it over the fire, and boil
and skim it during half an hour. Then pour it off, carefully, through a
funnel into a stone jar, and cover it closely with a bladder or leather
tied down over the lid. The butter having thus been separated from the
salt and sediment, (which will be found remaining at the bottom of the
boiling vessel,) if kept closely covered and set in a cool place, will
continue good for a month, and be found excellent for frying and
stewing, and other culinary purposes. Prepare it thus in May or June,
and you may use it in winter, if living in a place where fresh butter is
scarce at that season.
EXCELLENT MUTTON SOUP.--Having been accidentally omitted in its proper
place, we here insert a receipt for very fine mutton soup. Try it. If
for a large family, take two necks of mutton of the best quality, and
let the butcher disjoint it. To each pound of meat allow a quart of
water. Put it into a soup-pot, with a slice of ham, which will render
the soup sufficiently salt. Boil it slowly, and skim it well, till the
scum ceases to appear. If you have no ham, season the meat, when you
first put it in, with a tea-spoonful of salt. In the mean time prepare
the vegetables, but do not put them in till the meat has boiled to rags,
and all the scum has risen to the surface and been carefully removed. It
is then time to strain out the shreds of meat and bone, return the soup
to the pot, and add the vegetables. First, have ready the deep yellow
_outsides_ of three or four carrots grated, and stir them into the soup
to enrich it, and give it a fine color. Next, add turnips, potatos,
parsnips, salsify, celery, (including its green leaves from the top) and
onions that have been already peeled and boiled by themselves to render
them less strong. All the vegetables should be cut nicely into small
pieces of equal size, (as for Soup à la Julienne.) You may add some
boiled beets, handsomely sliced. And (if approved) strew in at the last
a handful of fresh leaves of the marygold flower, which adds a flavor to
some persons very agreeable. Put all these vegetables gradually into the
soup, (those first that require the longest boiling,) and when they are
all _quite done_ the soup is finished. If well made, with a liberal
allowance of meat and vegetables, and well boiled, it will be much
liked--particularly if served as Julienne soup, for company.
NEW ENGLAND CREAM CHEESE.--Take a large pan of rich unskimmed milk that
has set in the dairy all night, and is from pasture-fed cows in the
summer. Have ready a small tea-cup of rennet-water, in which a piece of
rennet, from four to six inches square, has been steeping several hours.
Stir the rennet-water into the pan of milk, and set it in a warm place
till it forms a firm curd. Tie up the curd in a clean linen bag, and
hang it up in the dairy with a pan under it to receive the droppings,
till it drips no longer. Then transfer the curd to a small cheese mould.
Cover it all over with a clean linen cloth, folded over the sides, and
well secured. Put a heavy weight on the top, so as to press it hard. The
wooden vessel in which you mould cream cheeses, should be a bottomless,
broad hoop, about the circumference of a dinner plate. Set it (before
you fill it with the curd) on a very clean table or large flat dish.
Turn it every day for four days, keeping it covered thickly all over
with fresh green grass, frequently renewed. When done, keep it in a dry
cool place, first rubbing the outside with fresh butter. When _once
cut_, use the whole cheese on that day, as it may spoil before the next.
Send it to the tea-table cut across in triangular or pie pieces.
MOLASSES CANDY.--Take three quarts of the best _West India_ molasses--no
other will do. Put it into a thick block-tin kettle, (or a _bain-marie_)
and stir in a pound and a half of the best and cleanest brown sugar.
Boil slowly and skim it well, (stirring it always after skimming,) and
taking care that it does not burn. Prepare the grated rind and the juice
of three large lemons or oranges, and stir them in after the molasses
and sugar have boiled long enough to become very thick. Continue to boil
and stir till it will boil no longer, and the spoon will no longer move.
Try some in a saucer, and let it get cold. If it is brittle, it is
done. Then take it from the fire, and transfer it immediately to shallow
square tin pans, that have been well greased with nice fresh butter or
sweet oil. Spread it evenly, and set it to cool.
While boiling, you may add three or four spoonfuls of shell-barks,
cracked clean from their shells, and divided into halves. Or the same
quantity of roasted pea-nuts or ground-nuts. With both nuts and lemon it
will be very good.
WORTH KNOWING.
THE BEST CEMENT FOR JARS.--Before preserving and pickling time, buy at a
druggist's, two ounces of the clearest and whitest gum tragacanth.
Obtain also two grains of corrosive sublimate, (indispensable to this
cement), and having picked the gum tragacanth clean, and free from dust
and dark or discolored particles, put it with the sublimate into a very
clean yellow or white-ware mug that holds a small quart and has a
close-fitting lid belonging to it. Then fill the vessel more than
two-thirds with very clean water, either warm or cold; and put on the
lid. Let it rest till next morning. Then stir it with an _unpainted_
stick, that will reach quite down to the bottom. Repeat the stirring
frequently through the day, always replacing the lid. In a few days the
cement will have risen to the top of the mug, and have become a fine,
clear, smooth paste, _far superior to any other_; and, by means of the
corrosive sublimate, it will keep perfectly well to an indefinite
period, if always closely covered, and having no sort of metal dipped
into it. On no account attempt to keep this paste in tin, or even in
silver. Both paste and metal will turn black and become spotted.
Remember this.
When going to put away your sweetmeats or pickles, this paste will come
into use, and be found invaluable. It is best to keep all these things
in small jars, as opening a large jar frequently, may injure its
contents by letting in the air. In a large family, or where many pickles
are eaten, those in most frequent use may be kept in stone-ware jars,
with a wooden spoon always at hand for taking them out when wanted. On
the surface of every jar of pickles, put one or two table-spoonfuls of
salad oil, and then cover the top of the jar closely with a circular
piece of bladder or thin leather. Next cut out a narrow band of the
same, and cement it on with gum tragacanth paste, (made as above), and
let it remain till you open the jar for use.
For sweetmeats, have glass or white-ware jars. Lay on the surface of
each a circular paper, cut to fit and dipped in brandy. Next, put on an
outside cover of bladder or thick white paper secured with a band of the
same, coated with tragacanth paste. When this cement is used, the jars
will not be infested with ants or other insects, the corrosive sublimate
keeping them out.
This paste should be at hand in every library or office, when wanted for
papers or books. It requires no boiling when made, and is always ready,
and never spoils. For a small quantity, take an ounce of the best gum
tragacanth and a grain of corrosive sublimate. Get a covered white or
yellow-ware mug that holds a pint; such a mug will cost but twelve
cents. Dissolve in less than a pint of water.
A BAIN-MARIE; OR, DOUBLE KETTLE.--These are most useful and satisfactory
utensils, as all who have tried them can certify. They are to be had of
various sizes at the best household furniture stores, and are made to
order by the chief tinsmiths. The French make great use of the
Bain-Marie; which, in some measure, accounts for the general superiority
of their cookery.
This utensil, as made in America, is a double kettle of the strongest
and best block-tin. The bottom of the outside kettle is of strong copper
or iron, well tinned, and _kept so_. The food, however, is all contained
in the inner kettle, which is of tin entirely. After the food is in,
(having with it no water whatever), put on the lid tightly, and through
the tube on the outside, pour into the outer kettle the water that is to
cook it. If it boils away too fast, replenish it with more water poured
in at the tube.
If it boils too slowly, quicken it by adding some salt put in at the
tube. Keep the kettle closely covered, except when removing the lid to
take off the scum; and do this quick and seldom. The superfluous steam
is all the time escaping through the top of the tube and through a very
small hole in the lid. Nothing cooked in this manner (with all the water
outside) can possibly burn or scorch. After every skimming, stir the
stew down to the bottom before you replace the lid. To cook in a
Bain-Marie, requires a strong, steady heat, well kept up; and you must
begin earlier than in the common way of stewing. This is an excellent
vessel for boiling custards, blancmanges, marmalades, and many other
nice things; as a good housewife will soon discover. Also, for making
beef tea and other preparations for invalids. It is well to keep a small
one purposely for a sick room.
If from deficiency of sugar, or being kept too warm, or not closely
covered, any of your sweetmeats turn sour, do not hastily throw them
away, but carefully remove the surface, (even if coated with blue
mould), add an additional portion of sugar so as to make them very
sweet, and put them into a Bain-Marie. Fill the outer kettle with _hot_
water, and boil it till you find the preserves restored to their proper
taste. Then put them up again in jars that have been well scalded,
rinsed, and sunned, and lay brandied paper on the surface of each.
Mouldy pickles may be recovered in a similar manner, adding fresh spices
and vinegar before you put them up again.
[Illustration: Bain-Marie; or, Double Kettle. (Pronounced _Bine
Maree_.)]
INDEX.
A.
A-la-mode beef, 150.
Almond and macaroon custards, 486.
Almond macaroons, 536.
Almond pudding, baked, 474.
Almond pudding, boiled, 475.
Almond sponge cake, 524.
Almond soup, 58.
Apees, 532.
Apple dumplings, 457.
Apples, baked whole, 461.
Apples, bellflower or pippins, 562.
Apple fritters or quince, 450.
Apple jelly, 492.
Apple pies, (fine) 479.
Apple pork pie, 224.
Apple sauce, 338.
Apple sauce, baked, 339.
Apple pudding, 458.
Apple water, 591.
Arrow-root biscuit, 603.
Artichokes, fried, 363.
Asparagus, new way, 371
Asparagus omelet, 366.
Asparagus oysters, 372.
Asparagus soup, 44.
Autumn soup, 61.
Aunt Lydia's corn cake, 425.
B.
Bacon, to prepare, 246.
Bacon, to boil, 247.
Bacon and beans, 248.
Bacon, broiled, 249.
Bacon, stewed, 250.
Baked fish, 79.
Baked soup, 76.
Baked tongue, 171.
Barley water, 590.
Bananas, fried, 358.
Batter pudding, 447.
Bean soup, 42.
Beans, (green,) 379.
Beef-a-la-mode, 151.
Beef bouilli, 152.
Beef, corned, 145.
Beef, corned, fried, 148.
Beef, (French,) 154.
Beef, corned, stewed, 153.
Beef, fresh, stewed, 155.
Beef, dried and smoked, 148.
Beefs heart, 161.
Beef with mushrooms, 160.
Beef with onions, 157.
Beef with oysters, 158.
Beef gumbo, 375.
Beef patties, 161.
Beef, spiced, 149.
Beef with potatoes, 159.
Beef, fresh, (stewed,) 155.
Beef, roasted, 138.
Beef, (smoked,) stewed, 154.
Beefsteaks, 141.
Beefsteaks, broiled, 142.
Beefsteaks, fried, 143.
Beefsteaks, stewed, 144.
Beefsteak with oysters, 156.
Beefsteak pie, 162.
Beefsteak pot-pie, 164.
Beefsteak pudding, 166.
Beefsteaks for invalids, 584.
Beef tea, 589.
Beef with tomatos, 156.
Beets, 387.
Beets, baked, 388.
Bell-peppers, pickled, 574.
Bird dumplings, 305.
Birds for larding, 305.
Birds for invalids, 584.
Birds in a grove, 304.
Birds with mushrooms, 303.
Biscuit sandwiches, 245.
Bologna sausages, 232.
Borders of paste, 472.
Boned turkey, 271.
Blackfish, and sea-bass, 83.
Blancmange, 497.
Blancmange, carrageen, 587.
Blancmange, finest, 499.
Bran muffins, 615.
Brandy green gages, 557.
Brandy peaches, 557.
Bread, 433.
Bran bread, 436.
Bread biscuit, 436.
Bread cakes, 437.
Bread, rye, 436.
Bread, home-made, 433.
Bread pudding, 454.
Bread-and-butter pudding, 454.
Bread, (twist,) 435.
Buckwheat cakes, 421.
Brine for pickling meat, 235.
Broccoli, 359.
Broccoli and eggs, 361.
Brown Betty, 455.
Browning for soups, 312.
Browned flour, 313.
Buns, (Spanish,) 525.
Butter, (clarified,) 310.
Butter, (melted,) 309.
Buttered toast, 599.
Butternuts to pickle, 578.
C.
Cabbage, boiled, 350.
Cabbage boiled an excellent way, 351.
Cabbage, forced, 353.
Cabbage, fried, 352.
Cabbage soup, 45.
Cabbage, red, 45.
Cale cannon, 352.
Catchup, (mushroom,) 324.
Catchup, (tomato,) 326.
Catchup, (walnut,) 325.
Calf's head, stewed, 205.
Calf's feet jelly, 491.
Camp catchup, 328.
Canvass-back ducks, 281.
Canvass-backs, broiled, 282.
Canvass-backs, (stewed,) 282.
Canvass-backs, (roasted,) 281.
Carolina punch, 610.
Carrots, 385.
Carrot soup, 50.
Carrots, stewed, 368.
Carrageen blancmange, 587.
Cashaw pudding, 478.
Catfish, fried, 87.
Cauliflower, boiled, 359.
Cauliflower, fried, 360.
Cauliflower macaroni, 360.
Cauliflower omelet, 359.
Cauliflowers, pickled, 575.
Celery, fried, 362.
Charlotte, (country,) 462.
Charlotte, plain, 463.
Charlotte russe, 507.
Champagne, (pink,) 608.
Cheese pudding, 481.
Chestnut soup, 50.
Chestnut pork, 220.
Cherry marmalade, 550.
Cherries, preserved, 563.
Cherries, pickled, 580.
Chicken salad, 384.
Chicken curry, 297.
Chickens, fricasseed, 289.
Chickens, stewed whole, 290.
Chicken broth for the sick, 581.
Chicken gumbo, 292.
Chicken-pie, 541.
Chicken pot-pie, 297.
Chicken soup, 55.
Chicken, (tomato,) 294.
Chicken and turkey patties, 295.
Chicken rice pudding, 295.
Chickens, fried, 287.
Chickens, broiled, 287.
Chitterlings, 201.
Chitterlings, baked, 203.
Chitterlings, fried, 202.
Chocolate, 597.
Chocolate caramel, 611.
Chocolate custards, 484.
Chocolate macaroons, 536.
Chowder, fine, 88.
Chowder, (Yankee,) 88.
Cinnamon bread, 440.
Cinnamon cake, 528.
Citron melons, preserved, 552.
Clam chowder, 89.
Clam fritters, 112.
Clam pie, 121.
Clams, scolloped, 113.
Clam soup, 74.
Clam soup for invalids, 582.
Cocoa-nut cake, 528.
Cocoa-nut jumbles, 534.
Cocoa-nut, (orange,) 504.
Cocoa-nut pudding, baked, 476.
Cocoa-nut pudding, boiled, 477.
Cocoa-nut puffs, 534.
Cocoa-nut soup, 57.
Codfish, (stewed,) 103.
Codfish, (boiled,) 84.
Codfish, (fried,) 103.
Codfish, salt, 86.
Coffee, 596.
Coloring for sauces, 310.
Corn cake, (Aunt Lydia's,) 426.
Corn soup, 38.
Cottage cheese, 616.
Country captain, 299.
Country grapes, 567.
Country plums, 566.
Country potatos, 348.
Crab-apples, preserved, 562.
Crabs, 136.
Crabs, (soft,) 122.
Crab fritters, soft, 113.
Cranberry sauce, 337.
Cream cakes, 503.
Creamed pine-apple, 506.
Cream and peaches, 506.
Creamed strawberries, 505.
Cream tarts, 504.
Cross buns, 439.
Crullers, (common,) 444.
Crullers, (soft,) 442.
Croquettes, (rice,) 296.
Cucumbers, (to prepare,) 369.
Cucumbers, stewed, 370.
Cucumbers, pickled, 576.
Cucumber catchup, 327.
Curry balls, 373.
Curried eggs, 300.
Curried chicken, 297.
Curry powder, 332.
Curry powder, (Madras,) 333.
Custards, baked, 460.
Custard, boiled, 461.
D.
Damson pickles, 580.
Damson sauce, 342.
Dressing for slaw, 354.
Dried apple sauce, 341.
Dried peach sauce, 341.
Dried and smoked beef, 148.
Doughnuts, 443.
Dumplings, (apple,) 457.
Dumplings, (peach,) 458.
Dumplings, (bird,) 305.
Dumpling, (sausage,) 231.
Ducks, boiled, 279.
Ducks, fricasseed, 280.
Ducks with peas, 280.
Ducks, roasted, 278.
Duck soup, 56.
Ducks, (terrapin,) 283.
Ducks, (canvas-back,) broiled, 282.
Ducks, (canvas-back,) plain, 281.
Ducks, (canvas-back,) roasted, 281.
Ducks, (canvas-back,) stewed, 282.
E.
East indian pickle, 569.
East India sauce for fish, 331.
Egg balls, 373.
Egg-plants, baked, 357.
Eggs, to beat, 615.
Eggs, to boil, 612.
Egg-nogg, 614.
Egg sauce, 316.
Eggs, poached, 613.
Eggs, scrambled, 614.
Egg wine, 591.
Ellen Clarke's pudding, 603.
Epicurean sauce, 331.
F.
Farina, 500.
Farina blancmange, 588.
Farina flummery, 589.
Farina gruel, 589.
Fast-day soup, 74.
Farmer's rice, 451.
Fennel sauce, 319.
Fig pudding, 617.
Filet gumbo, 293.
Fish, to clean, 77.
Fish, to bake, 79.
Fish cakes, 82.
Fish, to boil, 77.
Fish, to fry, 79.
Fish, spiced, 81.
Fish soup, 71.
Fish, to stew, 81.
Floating island, 515.
Florendines, 482.
Fillet of pork, 225.
Fillet of veal, 189.
Fowls, boiled, 285.
Fowls, pulled, 286.
Fowls, roasted, 284.
Fowl and oysters, 291.
French chicken pie, 291.
French ham pie, 616.
French pot-au-feu, 64.
French sour crout, 354.
French stew, 158.
French white soup, 56.
Friday soup, 75.
Fried oysters, 110.
Fritters, 448.
Fritters, (orange,) 449.
Fritters, (peach,) 449.
Fruit charlotte, 483.
Fruit pies, (common,) 466.
Fruit pot-pies, 460.
Fruit in syrups, 552.
G.
Game soup, 68.
Giblet pie, 277.
Gingerbread, (Lafayette,) 538.
Gingernuts, 539.
Golden cake, 530.
Gooseberry fool, 463.
Gooseberries preserved, 565.
Gooseberry sauce, 339.
Goose pie, 276.
Goose, to roast, 274.
Gravy sippets, 584.
Gravy, to make, 323.
Green beans, to boil, 379.
Green gages, to preserve, 557.
Green lemons or limes, 555.
Green Mayonnaise, 330.
Green peas, to boil, 378.
Green pea soup, 41.
Gruel, 586.
Gumbo, (beef,) 375.
Gumbo, (filet,) 293.
Gumbo, (chicken,) 292.
Gum arabic water, 590.
H.
Halibut, fried, 97.
Halibut, stewed, 104.
Hams, to cure, 236.
Ham, baked, 239.
Ham, boiled, 238.
Ham, brine for pickling, 235.
Ham, broiled, 241.
Ham, disguised, 243.
Ham, fried, 242.
Ham, fried, (nice,) 242.
Ham cake, 243.
Ham, (madeira,) 240.
Ham toast, 173.
Ham omelet, 244.
Ham, potted, 246.
Ham pie, (French,) 616.
Ham, sliced, 243.
Hashed cold meat, 193.
Hare, coated, 264
Herb teas, 585.
Herb candies, 585.
Hog's head cheese, 234.
Hominy, 392.
Horse-radish, 317.
I.
Ice cream, 510.
Icing, (warm,) 519.
Icing, 518.
Ice cream cakes, 632.
Ice water, (or sherbet,) 513.
Iced plum pudding, 621.
Indian corn, to boil, 391.
Indian mush, 412.
India pickle, 569.
Indian pudding, (fine,) 428.
Italian pork, 226.
Irish stew, 180.
J.
Jams or marmalade, 546.
Jam, strawberry, 549.
Jam, raspberry, 548.
Jellies, 545.
Jelly, apple, 492.
Jelly, calf's feet, 491.
Jelly cake, 535.
Jelly, currant, 494.
Jelly, (or marmalade,) pudding, 480.
Jelly, orange, 493.
Jelly, Siberian, 493.
Jelly, (Wine,) 496.
Jelly water, 587.
Jumbles, 534.
Jumbles, (cocoa-nut,) 534.
Junket, 450.
K.
Kebobbed mutton, 179.
Kebobbed veal, 197.
Kisses, 537.
Knuckle of veal and bacon, 196.
L.
Lady cake, 526.
Lady fingers, 524.
Lafayette gingerbread, 538.
Lamb, 181.
Lamb, larded, 186.
Larded tongue, 172.
Lamb chops, stewed, 185.
Lamb cutlets, 184.
Lamb pie, 187.
Lamb, roast, 182.
Lamb steaks, 183.
Lard, to prepare, 250.
Larded liver, 199.
Lemon cakes, 522.
Lemon catchup, 327.
Lemon custards, 485.
Lemon pudding, 473.
Lemon bread pudding, 468.
Lemons or limes, to preserve green, 555.
Lemon syrups, 513.
Lemon taffy, 506.
Lemons or oranges, preserved, 554.
Lettuce peas, 367.
Lettuce peas, plain, 368.
Lima beans, 380.
Liver, fried, 198.
Liver pie, 201.
Liver pudding, 234.
Liver rissoles, 200.
Liver, stewed, 200.
Lobsters, 132.
Lobster pudding, 136.
Lobster salad, (plain,) 133.
Lobster sauce, 137.
Lobster rissoles, 135.
Lobster salad, (fine,) 134.
Lobster soup, 71.
M.
Macaroni, 600.
Macaroni, (sweet,) 601.
Macaroons, (almond,) 536.
Macaroons, (ground-nut,) 628.
Macaroons, (chocolate,) 536.
Mackerel, broiled, 96.
Mackerel, fried, 97.
Madras curry powder, 333.
Mangoes, (peach,) 571.
Mangoes, (melon,) 572.
Marmalade meringues, 533.
Marmalade, (grape,) 550.
Marmalade, (cherry,) 550.
Marmalade, (orange,) 550.
Marmalade, (peach,) 546.
Marmalade, (plum,) 548.
Marmalade, (pumpkin,) 547.
Marmalade, (quince,) 546.
Marmalade, (pine-apple,) 549.
Marmalade, (tomato,) 547.
Maryland biscuit, 432.
Marrow pudding, 501.
Mayonnaise, (green,) 330.
Melongina or Egg-plant, 356.
Meringue pudding, 479.
Meringues, (whipped cream,) 633.
Meat pies, 163.
Milk biscuit, 437.
Milk pottage, 451.
Milk toast, 598.
Mince pies, 488.
Mint julep, 610.
Mint sauce, 317.
Mock turtle soup, 69.
Molasses pie, 446.
Molasses pot-pie, 447.
Molasses pudding, 444.
Molasses supper, 594.
Muffins, (soft,) 429.
Mush, 412.
Mushrooms with beef, 160.
Mushrooms, baked, 391.
Mushroom catchup, 324.
Mushroom omelet, 364.
Mushroom sauce, 321.
Mushrooms, pickled, 572.
Mushrooms, stewed, 390.
Mustard, (French,) 329.
Mutton, 173.
Mutton broth for invalids, 583.
Mutton, (boiled leg of,) 175.
Mutton, (boiled loin of,) 174.
Mutton chops, (broiled,) 177.
Mutton steaks, (fried,) 178.
Mutton chops with potatos, 179.
Mutton chops with tomatos, 178.
Mutton, (boiled,) (sauce for,) 175.
Mutton steaks, (stewed,) 176.
Mutton, kebobbed, 179.
N.
Nasturtions, pickled, 581.
Nectar, 611.
Noodle soup, 54.
New Year's cake, 605.
O.
Ochras, to boil, 375.
Ochras, dried, 374.
Omelet, (common,) 601.
Omelet soufflé, 501.
Omelet of sweetbreads, 213.
Onion custard, 358.
Onions, 376.
Onion eggs, 373.
Onions, pickled, 577.
Onion sauce, (fine,) 320.
Onion sauce, (plain,) 321.
Onions, (to roast,) 376.
Onions, (to stew,) 376.
Onion soup, 47.
Ontario cake, 604.
Orange cake, 522.
Orange or lemon custards, 484.
Orange cocoa-nut, 504.
Orange fritters, 449.
Orange jelly, 493.
Orange marmalade, 550.
Orange milk, 551.
Orange pudding, baked, 476.
Orange pudding, boiled, 476.
Oranges (or lemons,) preserved, 554.
Orange or lemon syrup, 513.
Oysters, broiled, 119.
Oysters, to choose, 108.
Oysters, to feed, 108.
Oysters, fried, 110.
Oyster fritters, 111.
Oysters, (French,) 110.
Oyster loaves, 117.
Oyster omelet, 118.
Oyster patties, 117.
Oysters, pickled, 115.
Oysters, pickled for keeping, 116.
Oyster pie, 120.
Oysters, roasted, 114.
Oysters, scolloped, 114.
Oysters, raw, for the sick, 584.
Oyster soup, 73.
Oyster soup, for invalids, 582.
Oysters, stewed, 109.
P.
Panada, (chicken,) 589.
Panada, (sweet,) 590.
Pancakes, 450.
Parsley, crimped, 319.
Parsley sauce, 318.
Parsnips, baked, 387.
Parsnips, boiled, 386.
Parsnips, fried, 386.
Parsnip fritters, 387.
Parsnip soup, 49.
Partridges, (pear fashion,) 301.
Partridges, roasted, 302.
Partridge, plain, 302.
Paste, (excellent plain,) 467.
Paste, (potato,) 464.
Paste puff, (the best,) 469.
Paste borders, 472.
Peas, to boil, 377.
Peas, stewed, 377.
Pea soup, (green,) 41.
Pea soup, (split,) 43.
Peas with lettuce, 367.
Peas, plain lettuce, 368.
Peaches and cream, 506.
Peach dumplings, 458.
Peach mangoes, 571.
Peach marmalade, 546.
Peaches, (brandied,) 557.
Peaches, pickled, 570.
Peaches, preserved, 556.
Pears, baked, 462.
Pepper-pot, 53.
Peppers, (bell,) pickled, 574.
Persimmon jam, 567.
Pheasants, roasted, 302.
Pickles, 568.
Pickled beets with cabbage, 575.
Pickled bell-peppers, 574.
Pickled button tomatos, 581.
Pickled butternuts, 578.
Pickled cauliflowers, 575.
Pickled cherries, 580.
Pickled cucumbers, 576.
Pickled cucumbers with onions, 578.
Pickled damsons, 580.
Pickles, East India, 569.
Pickled melon mangoes, 572.
Pickled mushrooms, 572.
Pickled nasturtions, 581.
Pickled onions, 577.
Pickled peaches, 570.
Pickled peach mangoes, 571.
Pickled plums, 579.
Pickled shrimps, 314.
Pickled walnuts, 578.
Pie, (crust,) very plain, 464.
Pigeon pie, 540.
Pigeons, roasted, 308.
Pig, to dress, 220.
Pig's feet, fried, 227.
Pine-apple marmalade, 549.
Pine-apples, preserved, 553.
Pine-apple tart, 478.
Pink champagne, 608.
Pink sauce, 334.
Planked shad, 106.
Plovers, roasted, 307.
Plum cake, 516.
Plums, preserved, 557.
Plums, pickled, 579.
Plum pudding, (plain,) 468.
Plum pudding, (fine,) 486.
Poke plant, 618.
Pot-au-feu, (French,) 64.
Pot-pies, 165.
Pot-pie, (terrapin,) 125.
Pumpkin, stewed, 389.
Pork, 216.
Pork and apples, 222.
Pork and beans, 228.
Pork with corn and beans, 229.
Pork with pea pudding, 230.
Pork, (Italian,) 226.
Pork, fillet, 225.
Pork olives, 227.
Pork pie, (apple,) 224.
Pork, (apple pot-pie,) 223.
Pork, to roast, 218.
Pork spare-ribs, roasted, 220.
Pork steaks, stewed, 222.
Pork steaks, fried, 223.
Pork, (sweet potato,) 219.
Portable soup, 51.
Potatos, boiled, 345.
Potatos, roasted, 346.
Potatos, baked, 347.
Potato cakes, 348.
Potatos, (country,) 348.
Potatos, fried, 348.
Potatos, (new,) 347.
Potatos, mashed, 347.
Potato paste, 464.
Potato pudding, (plain,) 602.
Potatos, stewed, 349.
Potato beef, 159.
Potato mutton chops, 179.
Potato soup, 50.
Pot-pie, (beefsteak,) 164.
Pot-pie, (chicken,) 297.
Poultry and game, 265.
Pound cake, 520.
Pudding, (almond,) baked, 474.
Pudding, (almond,) boiled, 475.
Pudding, (apple,) 458.
Pudding, (batter,) 447.
Pudding, (bread,) 454.
Pudding, bread and butter, 454.
Pudding, Brown Betty, 455.
Pudding, (cashaw,) 478.
Pudding, (cheese,) 481.
Pudding, (cocoa-nut,) 476.
Pudding, (cocoa-nut,) boiled, 477.
Pudding, (cottage,) 632.
Pudding, iced plum, 621.
Pudding, (Columbian,) 629.
Pudding, (Ellen Clarke's,) 603.
Pudding, lemon bread, 468.
Pudding, marrow, 501.
Pudding, plum, 486.
Pudding, plum, (plain,) 468.
Pudding, molasses, 444.
Pudding, rice, (baked,) 452.
Pudding, rice, (boiled,) 453.
Pudding, orange, 476.
Pudding, lemon or orange, (boiled,) 476.
Pudding, sweet potato, 477.
Pudding, white potato, 478.
Pudding, meringue, 479.
Pudding, marmalade or jelly, 480.
Pudding, pumpkin, (fine,) 478.
Pudding, pumpkin, (Yankee,) 390.
Pudding, rolled, 459.
Pumpkin, stewed, 389.
Q.
Quails, roasted, 302.
Queen cake, 522.
Quince marmalade, 546.
Quince pies, 478.
Quinces, preserved, 560.
R.
Rabbits, 259.
Rabbits, coated, 264.
Rabbits, fricasseed, 263.
Rabbits with onions, 261.
Rabbit pot-pie, 262.
Rabbits, pulled, 263.
Rabbits, roasted, 260.
Raspberry jam, 548.
Raspberries, preserved, 566.
Raspberry vinegar, 599.
Rhubarb tarts, 618.
Rice cups, 453.
Rice pie, 298.
Rice pudding, baked, 452.
Rice pudding, boiled, 453.
Rennets, 622.
Ripe peach sauce, 340.
Rissole patties, 198.
Rockfish, 82.
Reed birds, 308.
Rolls, 435.
Rolled pudding, 459.
Roman punch, 514.
Rusk, 438.
Rusks, (dry,) 439.
S.
Sage and onion sauce, 319.
Sago, 592.
Sago pudding, 593.
Salad, (chicken,) 384.
Sally Lunn, 430.
Salsify fritters, 355.
Salsify oysters, 356.
Salmi of partridges, 302.
Salmon, 90.
Salmon, baked, 93.
Salmon, boiled, 91.
Salmon, broiled, 94.
Salmon cutlets, 94.
Salmon, pickled, 95.
Salmon, roasted, 93.
Salmon trout, 101.
Sandwiches, 173.
Sausages, (Bologna,) 232.
Sausage meat, 231.
Sausage dumplings, 231.
Sauce, apple, 338.
Sauce, apple, baked, 339.
Sauce, apple, dried, 341.
Sauce, dried peach, 341.
Sauce, (broccoli,) 318.
Sauce, (cauliflower,) 318.
Sauce, chestnut, 343.
Sauce, (celery,) 316.
Sauce, (clam,) 315.
Sauce, (cranberry,) 337.
Sauce, (damson,) 342.
Sauce, (egg,) 316.
Sauce, (fennel,) 319.
Sauce, (gooseberry,) 339.
Sauce, (lobster,) 137, 313.
Sauce, mint, 317.
Sauce, mushroom, 321.
Sauce, (nasturtion,) 321.
Sauce, (onion,) plain, 321.
Sauce, (onion,) fine, 320.
Sauce, (onion and sage,) 319.
Sauce, (oyster,) 315.
Sauce, (parsley,) 318.
Sauce, pea-nut, 343.
Sauce, (peach,) ripe, 340.
Sauce, (prune,) 342.
Sauce, (pink,) 334.
Sauce, (pudding,) fine, 335.
Sauce, (pudding,) plain, 336.
Sauce, Robert, 330.
Sauce, (shrimp,) 314.
Sauce, (vanilla,) 336.
Sauce, (wine,) 334.
Sausage dumplings, 231.
Sausage and veal pie, 232.
Scolloped tomatos, 365.
Scotch cake, 535.
Seabass with tomatos, 101.
Sea-coast pie, 127.
Shad, to keep without corning, 105.
Shad, planked, 106.
Shells, 471.
Sherry cobbler, 609.
Short cake, 427.
Shrimps, 137.
Siberian jelly, 493.
Silver cake, 531.
Smelts, fried, 86.
Smelts for invalids, 594.
Soft crabs, 122.
Soft crullers, 442.
Soft muffins, 429.
Soufflé, (omelet,) 501.
Soups, 33.
Soup, almond, 58.
Soup, asparagus, 44.
Soup, autumn, 61.
Soup, baked, 76.
Soup, bean, 42.
Soup, (cabbage,) 45.
Soup, red cabbage, 45.
Soup, fine cabbage, 46.
Soup, cauliflower, 47.
Soup, clam, 74.
Soup, cocoa-nut, 57.
Soup, crab, 72.
Soup, corn, 38.
Soup, carrot, 50.
Soup, chestnut, 50.
Soup, chicken, 55.
Soup, duck, 56.
Soup, fast-day, 74.
Soup, fish, 71.
Soup, French white, 56.
Soup, Friday, 75.
Soup, game, 68.
Soup, green peas, 41.
Soup, lobster, 71.
Soup, mock turtle, 69.
Soup, mushroom, 37.
Soup, noodle, 54.
Soup, onion, 47.
Soup, oyster, 73.
Soup, parsnip, 49.
Soup, pea, green, 41.
Soup, peas, split, 43.
Soup, pepper-pot, 53.
Soup, portable, 51.
Soup, pot-au-feu, 64.
Soup, potato, 50.
Soup, spring, 59.
Soup, summer, 60.
Soup, squatters, 68.
Soup, tomato, 39.
Soup, family tomato, 40.
Soup, fine tomato, 40.
Soup, turnip, 48.
Soup, vegetable, 63.
Soup, venison, 39.
Soup, winter, 62.
Soup, wild duck, 66.
Southern stew, 196.
Sour crout, (French,) 354.
Soufflé pudding, 620.
Spanish buns, 525.
Spinach, 369.
Sponge cake, 523.
Squashes or cymlings, 388.
Stewed smoked beef, 149.
Stewed calf's head, 205.
Stewed peas, 366.
Stewed pumpkin, 389.
Store sauces, 333.
Strawberry jam, 549.
Strawberries, preserved, 563.
Strawberries in wine, 564.
Strawberry wine, 564.
Sweetbreads, baked, 215.
Sweetbread croquettes, 210.
Sweetbreads, fricasseed, 210.
Sweetbreads with cauliflower, 212.
Sweetbread omelet, 213.
Sweetbreads with oysters, 214.
Sweetbreads, to prepare, 209.
Sweetbreads for invalids, 593.
Sweetbread pies, 214.
Sweetbreads, stewed, 214.
Sweetbreads with tomatos, 211.
Sweetmeats, 543.
Sweet potatos, boiled, 380.
Sweet potatos, baked, 381.
Sweet potatos, mashed, 381.
Sweet potatos, stewed, 381.
Sweet potato pudding, 477.
Sweet potato cake, 529.
Sweet potatos, sweetened, 455.
Sunderlands, 503.
Sydney Smith's salad dressing, 382.
T.
Taffy, (lemon,) 506.
Tamarind-water, 591.
Tapioca, 592.
Tarragon sauce, 323.
Tarragon vinegar, 328.
Tea, 595.
Thatched house pie, 304.
Terrapins, 122.
Terrapins, dressed a new way, 124.
Terrapin pot-pie, 125.
Toast and water, 586.
Toast, buttered, 599.
Toast, (milk,) 598.
Tomato catchup, 326.
Tomato paste, 374.
Tomatos, pickled, 581.
Tomatos, preserved green, 559.
Tomatos, preserved, 558.
Tomatos with sea-bass, 101.
Tomato soup, 39.
Tomato soup, (fine,) 40.
Tomato soup, (family,) 40.
Tomato sweetbreads, 211.
Tongues, 170.
Tongue, baked, 171.
Tongue, larded, 172.
Tongue toast, 172.
Trifle, 496.
Tripe, to boil, 167.
Tripe, to fry, 169.
Tripe curry, 168.
Trout, 84.
Trout, baked, 85.
Trout, stewed, 85.
Trout with cream, 102.
Turbot, baked, 100.
Turbot, boiled, 99.
Turkey, boiled, 267.
Turkey, roasted, 270.
Turkey with oysters, 269.
Turkey, boned, 271.
Turnips, boiled, 382.
Turnip soup, 48.
Turtle, to dress, 128.
Turtle pastry, 131.
V.
Vanilla custards, 484.
Vanilla sauce, 336.
Vanilla syrup, 513.
Veal, 188.
Veal a-la-mode, 191.
Veal and bacon, 196.
Veal broth for the sick, 583.
Veal cutlets, 195.
Veal cutlets, in papers, 194.
Veal fillet, 189.
Veal fritters, 197.
Veal kebobbed, 197.
Veal, (knuckle,) with bacon, 196.
Veal, hashed, 190.
Veal loaf, 204.
Veal, minced, 205.
Veal pie, 204.
Veal olives, 207.
Veal with oysters, 206.
Veal rissoles, 208.
Veal steaks, 195.
Veal and sausage pie, 232.
Veal, (loin of,) roast, 189.
Veal, southern stew, 196.
Veal, (terrapin,) 192.
Vegetables, 343.
Vegetable soup, 63.
Venison, 252.
Venison ham, 259.
Venison, hashed, 255.
Venison pie, (fine,) 255.
Venison pie, (plain,) 257.
Venison pot-pie, 258.
Venison steaks, (broiled,) 253.
Venison, stewed, 254.
Venison haunch, (roasted,) 253.
Venison soup, 39.
Vinegar, 607.
Vinegar, (raspberry,) 599.
Vol-au-vent, 619.
Vol-au-vent, (sweet,) 620.
W.
Waffles, 441.
Walnut catchup, 325.
Walnuts, pickled, 578.
Washington pudding, 630.
Warm icing, 519.
West India cake, 529.
Whey, 591.
White thickening, 311.
White potato pudding, 478.
Wine jelly, 496.
Wine sauce, 334.
Wine, (strawberry,) 564.
Winter butter, (to make,) 624.
Winter soup, 62.
Woodcocks or snipes, to roast, 306.
Y.
Yankee chowder, 88.
Yankee pumpkin pudding, 390.
Yeast, (good,) 605.
Yeast powders, 606.
THE END.
* * * * *
Transcriber's Notes
Some minor obvious typographical errors have been corrected
silently.
Footnotes have been moved to underneath the paragraph they refer
to so as to not disrupt the flow of the text.
Missing page numbers are attributed to blank pages in the
original text.
Corrections made:
Pg. 20: "From the Pennslyvania [replaced with Pennsylvania]"
Pg. 65: "his excellent pot a [replaced with "au"] feu"
Pg. 146: "aid [replaced with "laid"] it a while in cold"
Pg. 201: "for any thing that has ham [added "in"] it,"
Pg. 202: "Taragon [replaced with "Tarragon"] vinegar is best."
Pg. 293: "a dish of beiled [replaced with "boiled"] rice to be
eaten"
Pg. 338: "looks very meanly--and thstes [replaced with "tastes"]
so."
Pg. 348: "beat them with a wooden spoon to reder [replaced with
"render"] them very light."
Pg. 464: "If you have a coo [last letter cut off, replaced with
"cool"] hand,"
Pg. 493: "loosened by wrapping round their ousides [replaced
with "outsides"] cloths"
Pg. 496: "either port, madeira, or chamaigne [replaced with
"champagne"]"
Pg. 496: "except as some exhiliration [replaced with
"exhilaration"]"
Pg. 536: "Ground-nut macaroon [replaced with "macaroons"] are made
in the same manner."
Pg. 563: "stirring down to the bottom after evey [replaced with
"every"] skimming,"
Pg. 575: "Brocoli [replaced with "Broccoli"] is done in the same
manner"
Pg. 583: "as soon as it simmers, [deleted comma] well [added
comma] take it off"
Pg. 620: "beat and stir the soaked rusk very had [replaced with
"hard"]"
Marjoram, marjoran (Pg. 357) and majoram (Pp. 90, 95, 602) are
used in the text, these have all been standardised to "marjoram"
as it was used in the majority.
The following index entries were corrected (corrections listed below in
square brackets):
Almond and macaroon custards, 484 [486]
Almond soup, 53 [58]
Arrow-root biscuit, 303. [603]
Beef, corned, fried, 143. [148]
Bird dumplings, 505. [305]
Birds for invalids, 384. [584]
Boned turkey, 279. [271]
Cheese pudding, 431. [481]
Chocolate, 527. [597]
Cinnamon cake, 440. [528]
Crab fritters, soft, 213. [113]
Crullers, (soft,) 422. [442]
Curry balls, 273. [373]
Doughnuts, 442. [443]
Eggs, scrambled, 612. [614]
Ellen Clarke's pudding, 303. [603]
Farino [Farina] flummery, 589.
French ham pie, 516. [616]
Gravy sippets, 584. [put in correct alphabetical order]
Gravy, to make, 223. [323]
Halibut, fried, 98. [97]
Ham, broiled, 243. [241]
Ice water, (or sherbet,) 523. [513]
Indian corn, to boil, 321. [391]
India pickle, 269. [569]
Indian pudding, (fine,) 428. [incorrect page number, unable to
locate]
Jam, raspberry, 549. [548]
Jelly, (or marmalade,) pudding, 431. [480]
Lamb pie, 189. [187]
Lemon custards, 484. [485]
Lemon syrups, 522. [513]
Meringue pudding, 480. [479]
Mint julep, 608. [610]
Mutton chops, (broiled,) 171. [177]
Orange or lemon syrup, 523. [513]
Pea soup, (green,) 42. [41]
Pork with pea pudding, 280. [230]
Pork steaks, fried, 228. [223]
Pudding, (apple,) 558. [458]
Pudding, (cottage,) 582. [632]
Pudding, (Ellen Clarke's,) 303. [603]
Pudding, lemon or orange, (boiled,) 426. [476]
Pudding, meringue, 480. [479]
Pudding, plum, (plain,) 469. [468]
Pudding, white potato, 476. [478]
Pudding, marmalade or jelly, 431. [480]
Quince pies, 479. [478]
Raspberry vinegar, 509. [599]
Rice pudding, baked, 442. [452]
Rice pudding, boiled, 443. [453]
Rissole patties, 198. [incorrect page number, unable to locate]
Sauce, chestnut, 348. [343]
Sauce, (gooseberry,) 389. [339]
Sauce, (lobster,) 187 [137], 313.
Sauce, pea-nut, 348. [343]
Sausage and veal pie, 282. [232]
Soufflé, (omelet,) 591. [501]
Soup, red cabbage, 46. [45]
Soup, corn, 88. [38]
Soup, oyster, 78. [73]
Soup, pea, green, 42. [41]
Soup, peas, split, 48. [43]
Soup, pepper-pot, 58. [53]
Soup, vegetable, 68. [63]
Stewed smoked beef, 145. [149]
Stewed calf's head, 206. [205]
Sweetbreads for invalids, 598. [593]
Sweet potatos, stewed, 358. [381]
Sweet potato cake, 528. [529]
Tarragon sauce, 223. [323]
Tomatos, pickled, 211. [581]
Tomatos with sea-bass, 365. [101]
Tomato soup, 89. [39]
Tongue toast, 178. [172]
Turtle, to dress, 628. [128]
Vanilla custards, 485. [484]
Vanilla syrup, 523. [513]
Vinegar, (raspberry,) 509. [599]
White potato pudding, 78. [478]
Yankee pumpkin pudding, [390].
Not changed:
Some entries in the index are not in alphabetical order.
Inconsistencies in word hyphenation, for example: backbone and
back-bone, table-spoonful and tablespoonful.
Inconsistencies in section title punctuation.
All French spelling.
Pg. 574: "Your may green bell-peppers in the usual way, with
vine leaves or cabbage leaves." [unsure as to the true meaning]
Variant spellings left unchanged:
canvas-back, canvass-back
Ellen Clarke's pudding, Ellen Clark's pudding
inclose, enclose
Indian meal, indian meal
macaroni, maccaroni
marigold, marygold
panada, panade
potato, potatoe
rince, rinse
trevet, trivet
*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Miss Leslie's New Cookery Book" ***
Copyright 2023 LibraryBlog. All rights reserved.