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Title: Modern cookery for private families
Author: Eliza Acton
Release date: December 23, 2023 [eBook #72482]
Language: English
Original publication: London: Longmans, Green, Reader, and Dyer, 1882
Credits: Aaron Adrignola and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MODERN COOKERY FOR PRIVATE FAMILIES ***
------------------------------------------------------------------------
MODERN COOKERY
FOR PRIVATE FAMILIES
BY ELIZA ACTON
_NEW EDITION_
LONDON
LONGMANS, GREEN, READER, AND DYER
1882.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
PREFACE.
-------
It cannot be denied that an improved system of practical domestic
cookery, and a better knowledge of its first principles, are still much
needed in this country; where, from ignorance, or from mismanagement in
their preparation, the daily waste of excellent provisions almost
exceeds belief. This waste is in itself a very serious evil where so
large a portion of the community often procure—as they do in
England—with painful difficulty, and with the heaviest labour, even
sufficient bread to sustain existence; but the amount of _positive
disease_ which is caused amongst us by improper food, or by food
rendered unwholesome by a bad mode of cooking it, seems a greater evil
still. The influence of diet upon health is indeed a subject of far
deeper importance than it would usually appear to be considered, if we
may judge by the profound indifference with which it is commonly
treated. It has occupied, it is true, the earnest attention of many
eminent men of science, several of whom have recently investigated it
with the most patient and laborious research, the results of which they
have made known to the world in their writings, accompanied, in some
instances, by information of the highest value as to the most profitable
and nutritious modes of preparing various kinds of viands. In arranging
the present enlarged edition of this volume for publication, I have
gladly taken advantage of such of their instructions (those of Baron
Liebig especially) as have seemed to me adapted to its character, and
likely to increase its real utility. These, I feel assured, if carefully
followed out, will much assist our progress in culinary art, and
diminish the unnecessary degree of expenditure which has hitherto
attended its operations; for it may safely be averred that good cookery
is the best and truest economy, turning to full account every wholesome
article of food, and converting into palatable meals, what the ignorant
either render uneatable, or throw away in disdain. It is a popular error
to imagine that what is called good cookery is adapted only to the
establishments of the wealthy, and that it is beyond the reach of those
who are not affluent. On the contrary, it matters comparatively little
whether some few dishes, amidst an abundant variety, be prepared in
their perfection or not; but it is of the utmost consequence that the
food which is served at the more simply supplied tables of the middle
classes should all be well and skilfully prepared, particularly as it is
from these classes that the men principally emanate to whose
indefatigable industry, high intelligence, and active genius, we are
mainly indebted for our advancement in science, in art, in literature,
and in general civilisation.
When both the mind and body are exhausted by the toils of the day, heavy
or unsuitable food, so far from recruiting their enfeebled powers,
prostrates their energies more completely, and acts in every way
injuriously upon the system; and it is no exaggeration to add, that many
a valuable life has been shortened by disregard of this fact, or by the
impossibility of obtaining such diet as nature imperatively required. It
may be urged, that I speak of rare and extreme cases; but indeed it is
not so; and the impression produced on me by the discomfort and the
suffering which have fallen under my own observation, has rendered me
extremely anxious to aid in discovering an efficient remedy for them.
With this object always in view, I have zealously endeavoured to
ascertain, and to place clearly before my readers, the most rational and
healthful methods of preparing those simple and essential kinds of
nourishment which form the staple of our common daily fare; and have
occupied myself but little with the elegant superfluities or luxurious
novelties with which I might perhaps more attractively, though not more
usefully, have filled my pages. Should some persons feel disappointed at
the plan I have pursued, and regret the omissions which they may
discover, I would remind them, that the fashionable dishes of the day
may at all times be procured from an able confectioner; and that part of
the space which I might have allotted to them is, I hope and believe,
better occupied by the subjects, homely as they are, to which I have
devoted it—that is to say, to ample directions for dressing vegetables,
and for making what cannot be purchased in this country—unadulterated
bread of the most undeniably wholesome quality; and those refreshing and
finely-flavoured varieties of preserved fruit which are so conducive to
health when judiciously taken, and for which in illness there is often
such a vain and feverish craving when no household stores of them can be
commanded.[1]
Footnote 1:
Many of those made up for sale are absolutely dangerous eating; those
which are not adulterated are generally so oversweetened as to be
distasteful to invalids.
Merely to please the eye by such fanciful and elaborate decorations as
distinguish many modern dinners, or to flatter the palate by the
production of new and enticing dainties, ought not to be the _principal_
aim, at least, of any work on cookery. “Eat,—_to live_” should be the
motto, by the spirit of which all writers upon it should be guided. I
must here obtrude a few words of personal interest to myself. At the
risk of appearing extremely egotistic, I have appended “_Author’s
Receipt_” and “_Author’s Original Receipt_” to many of the contents of
the following pages; but I have done it solely in self-defence, in
consequence of the unscrupulous manner in which large portions of my
volume have been appropriated by contemporary authors, without the
slightest acknowledgment of the source from which they have been
derived. I have allowed this unfairness, and much beside, to pass
entirely unnoticed until now; but I am suffering at present too severe a
penalty for the over-exertion entailed on me by the plan which I adopted
for the work, longer to see with perfect composure strangers coolly
taking the credit and the profits of my toil. The subjoined passage from
the preface of my first edition will explain in what this toil—so
completely at variance with all the previous habits of my life, and,
therefore, so injurious in its effects—consisted; and prevent the
necessity of recapitulating here, in another form, what I have already
stated in it. “Amongst the large number of works on cookery which we
have carefully perused, we have never yet met with one which appeared to
us either quite intended for, or entirely suited to the need of the
totally inexperienced! none, in fact, which contained the first
rudiments of the art, with directions so practical, clear, and simple,
as to be at once understood, and easily followed, by those who had no
previous knowledge of the subject. This deficiency, we have endeavoured
in the present volume to supply, by such thoroughly explicit and minute
instructions as may, we trust, be readily comprehended and carried out
by any class of learners; our receipts, moreover, with a few trifling
exceptions which are scrupulously specified, are confined to such as may
be _perfectly depended on_, from having been proved beneath our own roof
and under our own personal inspection. We have trusted nothing to
others; but having desired sincerely to render the work one of general
usefulness, we have spared neither cost nor labour to make it so, as the
very plan on which it has been written must of itself, we think,
evidently prove. It contains some novel features, calculated, we hope,
not only to facilitate the labours of the kitchen, but to be of service
likewise to those by whom they are directed. The principal of these is
the summary appended to the receipts, of the different ingredients which
they contain, with the exact proportion of each, and the precise time
required to dress the whole. This shows at a glance what articles have
to be prepared beforehand, and the hour at which they must be ready;
while it affords great facility as well, for an estimate of the expense
attending them. The additional space occupied by this closeness of
detail has necessarily prevented the admission of so great a variety of
receipts as the book might otherwise have comprised; but a limited
number, thus completely explained, may perhaps be more acceptable to the
reader than a larger mass of materials vaguely given.
“Our directions for boning poultry, game, &c., are also, we venture to
say, entirely new, no author that is known to us having hitherto
afforded the slightest information on the subject; but while we have
done our utmost to simplify and to render intelligible this, and several
other processes not generally well understood by ordinary cooks, our
first and best attention has been bestowed on those articles of food of
which the consumption is the most general, and which are therefore of
the greatest consequence; and on what are usually termed plain English
dishes. With these we have intermingled many others which we know to be
excellent of their kind, and which now so far belong to our national
cookery, as to be met with commonly at all refined modern tables.”
Since this extract was written, a rather formidable array of works on
the same subject has issued from the press, part of them from the pens
of celebrated professional gastronomers; others are constantly
appearing; yet we make, nevertheless, but slight perceptible progress in
this branch of our domestic economy. Still, in our cottages, as well as
in homes of a better order, goes on the “waste” of which I have already
spoken. It is not, in fact, cookery-books that we need half so much as
cooks really trained to a knowledge of their duties, and suited, by
their acquirements, to families of different grades. At present, those
who thoroughly understand their business are so few in number, that they
can always command wages which place their services beyond the reach of
persons of moderate fortune. Why should not _all_ classes participate in
the benefit to be derived from nourishment calculated to sustain
healthfully the powers of life? And why should the English, as a people,
remain more ignorant than their continental neighbours of so simple a
matter as that of preparing it for themselves? Without adopting blindly
foreign modes in anything merely because they _are_ foreign, surely we
should be wise to learn from other nations, who excel us in aught good
or useful, all that we can which may tend to remedy our own defects; and
the great frugality, combined with almost universal culinary skill, or
culinary knowledge, at the least—which prevails amongst many of them—is
well worthy of our imitation. Suggestions of this nature are not,
however, sufficient for our purpose. Something definite, practical, and
easy of application, must open the way to our general improvement.
Efforts in the right direction are already being made, I am told, by the
establishment of well-conducted schools for the early and efficient
training of our female domestic servants. These will materially assist
our progress; and if experienced cooks will put aside the jealous spirit
of exclusiveness by which they are too often actuated, and will impart
freely the knowledge they have acquired, they also may be infinitely
helpful to us, and have a claim upon our gratitude which ought to afford
them purer satisfaction than the sole possession of any secrets—genuine
or imaginary—connected with their craft.
The limits of a slight preface do not permit me to pursue this or any
other topic at much length, and I must in consequence leave my
deficiencies to be supplied by some of the thoughtful, and, in every
way, more competent writers, who, happily for us, abound at the present
day; and make here my adieu to the reader.
ELIZA ACTON
_London, May, 1855._
------------------------------------------------------------------------
VOCABULARY OF TERMS,
PRINCIPALLY FRENCH, USED IN MODERN COOKERY.
------------------
_Aspic_—fine transparent savoury jelly, in which cold game, poultry,
fish, &c., are moulded; and which serves also to decorate or
garnish them.
_Assiette Volante_—a dish which is handed round the table without ever
being placed upon it. Small _fondus_ in paper cases are often
served thus; and various other preparations, which require to be
eaten very hot.
_Blanquette_—a kind of fricassee.
_Boudin_—a somewhat expensive dish, formed of the French forcemeat
called _quenelles_, composed either of game, poultry, butcher’s
meat, or fish, moulded frequently into the form of a _rouleau_, and
gently poached until it is firm; then sometimes broiled or fried,
but as frequently served plain.
_Bouilli_—boiled beef, or other meat, beef being more generally
understood by the term.
_Bouillie_—a sort of hasty pudding.
_Bouillon_—broth.
_Casserole_—a stewpan; and the name also given to a rice-crust, when
moulded in the form of a pie, then baked and filled with a mince or
_purée_ of game, or with a _blanquette_ of white meat.
_Court Bouillon_—a preparation of vegetables and wine, in which (in
expensive cookery) fish is boiled.
_Consommé_—very strong rich stock or gravy.
_Croustade_—a case or crust formed of bread, in which minces, _purées_
of game, and other preparations are served.
_Crouton_—a sippet of bread.
_Entrée_—a first-course side or corner dish.[2]
Footnote 2:
Neither the roasts nor the removes come under the denomination of
_entrées_; and the same remark applies equally to the _entremets_
in the second course. Large standing dishes at the sides, such as
raised pies, _timbales_, &c., served usually in grand repasts,
are called _flanks_; but in an ordinary service all the
intermediate dishes between the joints and roasts are
distinguished by the name of _entrées_, or _entremets_.
_Entremets_—a second-course side or corner dish.
_Espagnole_, or Spanish sauce—a brown gravy of high savour.
_Farce_—forcemeat.
_Fondu_—a cheese _soufflé_.
_Gâteau_—a cake, also a pudding, as _Gâteau de Riz_; sometimes also a
kind of tart, as _Gâteau de Pithiviers_.
_Hors d’œuvres_—small dishes of anchovies, sardines, and other relishes
of the kind, served in the first course.
_Macaroncini_—a small kind of maccaroni.
_Maigre_—made without meat.
_Matelote_—a rich and expensive stew of fish with wine, generally of
carp, eels, or trout.
_Meringue_—a cake, or icing, made of sugar and whites of egg beaten to
snow.
_Meringué_—covered or iced with a meringue-mixture.
_Nouilles_—a paste made of yolks of egg and flour, then cut small like
vermicelli.
_Purée_—meat, or vegetables, reduced to a smooth pulp, and then mixed
with sufficient liquid to form a thick sauce or soup.
_Quenelles_—French forcemeat, for which see page 163.
_Rissoles_—small fried pastry, either sweet or savoury.
_Sparghetti_—Naples vermicelli.
_Stock_—the unthickened broth or gravy which forms the basis of soups
and sauces.
_Tammy_—a strainer of fine thin woollen canvas.
_Timbale_—a sort of pie made in a mould.
_Tourte_—a delicate kind of tart, baked generally in a shallow tin pan,
or without any: see page 574.
_Vol-au-vent_—for this, see page 357.
_Zita_—Naples maccaroni.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
------------------
CHAPTER I.
SOUPS.
Page
Ingredients which may all be 1
used for making Soup of
various kinds
A few directions to the Cook 2
The time required for boiling 4
down Soup or Stock
To thicken Soups 4
To fry Bread to serve with 5
Soup
Sippets _à la Reine_ 5
To make _Nouilles_ (an elegant 5
substitute for Vermicelli)
Vegetable Vermicelli 5
(Vegetables cut very fine
for Soups)
Extract of Beef, or very 6
strong Beef Gravy-Soup
(Baron Liebig’s receipt)
_Bouillon_ (the common Soup of 7
France), cheap and very
wholesome
Clear pale Gravy Soup, or 10
_Consommé_
Another receipt for Gravy Soup 10
Cheap clear Gravy Soup 11
_Glaze_ (Note) 11
Vermicelli Soup (_Potage au 12
Vermicelle_)
Semoulina Soup (_Soupe à la 12
Semoule_)
Macaroni Soup 13
Soup of _Soujee_ 13
_Potage aux Nouilles, or 14
Taillerine_ Soup
Sago Soup 14
Tapioca Soup 14
Rice Soup 14
White Rice Soup 15
Rice-Flour Soup 15
Stock for White-Soup 15
Mutton Stock for Soups 16
Mademoiselle Jenny Lind’s Soup 16
The Lord Mayor’s Soup 17
The Lord Mayor’s Soup 18
(Author’s receipt)
Cocoa-Nut Soup 19
Chestnut Soup 19
Jerusalem Artichoke, or 19
Palestine Soup
Common Carrot Soup 20
A finer Carrot Soup 20
Common Turnip Soup 21
A quickly made Turnip Soup 21
Potato Soup 21
Apple Soup 21
Parsnep Soup 22
Another Parsnep Soup 22
Westerfield White Soup 22
A richer White Soup 23
Mock-Turtle Soup 23
Old-fashioned Mock-Turtle 26
Good Calf’s-Head Soup (_not 27
expensive_)
_Soupe des Galles_ 28
_Potage à la Reine_ (a 29
delicate White Soup)
White Oyster Soup (or Oyster 30
Soup _à la Reine_)
Rabbit Soup _à la Reine_ 31
Brown Rabbit Soup 31
Superlative Hare Soup 32
A less expensive Hare Soup 32
Economical Turkey Soup 33
Pheasant Soup 33
Another Pheasant Soup 34
Partridge Soup 35
Mullagatawny 35
To boil Rice for Mullagatawny, 36
or for Curries
Good Vegetable Mullagatawny 37
Cucumber Soup 38
Spring Soup, and Soup _à la 38
Julienne_
An excellent Green Peas Soup 39
Green Peas Soup without meat 39
A cheap Green Peas Soup 40
Rich Peas Soup 41
Common Peas Soup 41
Peas Soup without meat 42
Ox-tail Soup 43
A cheap and good Stew Soup 43
Soup in haste 43
Veal or Mutton Broth 44
Milk Soup with Vermicelli (or 44
with Rice, Semoulina, Sago,
&c.)
Cheap Rice Soup 44
Carrot Soup Maigre 45
Cheap Fish Soups 46
Buchanan Carrot Soup 46
(excellent)
Observation 47
CHAPTER II.
FISH.
Page
To choose Fish 48
To clean Fish 50
To keep Fish 51
To sweeten tainted Fish 51
The mode of cooking best 51
adapted to different kinds
of Fish
The best mode of boiling Fish 53
Brine for boiling Fish 54
To render boiled Fish firm 54
To know when Fish is 55
sufficiently boiled, or
otherwise cooked
To bake Fish 55
Fat for frying Fish 55
To keep Fish hot for table 56
To boil a Turbot (_and when in 56
season_)
Turbot _à la Crême_ 57
Turbot _au Béchamel_ 57
Mould of cold Turbot with
Shrimp Chatney (refer to
Chapter VI.)
To boil a John Dory (_and when 58
in season_)
Small John Dories baked. Good 58
(Author’s receipt)
To boil a Brill 58
To boil Salmon (_and when in 59
season_)
Salmon _à la Genevese_ 50
Crimped Salmon 60
Salmon _à la St. Marcel_ 60
Baked Salmon over mashed 69
Potatoes
Salmon Pudding, to be served 60
hot or cold (_a Scotch
receipt. Good_)
To boil Cod Fish (_and when in 61
season_)
Slices of Cod Fish Fried 61
Stewed Cod 62
Stewed Cod Fish in brown sauce 62
To boil Salt Fish 62
Salt Fish _à la Maître 63
d’Hôtel_
To boil Cods’ Sounds 63
To fry Cods’ Sounds in batter 63
To fry Soles (_and when in 64
season_)
To boil Soles 64
Fillets of Soles 65
Soles _au Plat_ 66
Baked Soles (_a simple but 66
excellent receipt_)
Soles stewed in cream 67
To fry Whitings (_and when in 67
season_)
Fillets of Whitings 68
To boil Whitings (_French 68
receipt_)
Baked Whitings _à la 68
Française_
To boil Mackerel (_and when in 69
season_)
To bake Mackerel 69
Baked Mackerel or Whitings 70
(_Cinderella’s receipt.
Good_)
Fried Mackerel (_Common French 70
receipt_)
Fillets of Mackerel (_fried or 71
broiled_)
Boiled fillets of Mackerel 71
Mackerel broiled whole (_an 71
excellent receipt_)
Mackerel stewed with Wine 72
(_very good_)
Fillets of Mackerel stewed in 72
Wine (_excellent_)
To boil Haddocks (_and when in 73
season_)
Baked Haddocks 73
To fry Haddocks 73
To dress Finnan Haddocks 74
To boil Gurnards (_with 74
directions for dressing them
in other ways_)
Fresh Herrings. Farleigh 74
receipt (_and when in
season_)
To dress the Sea Bream 75
To boil Plaice or Flounders 75
(_and when in season_)
To fry Plaice or Flounders 75
To roast, bake, or broil Red 76
Mullet (_and when in
season_)
To boil Grey Mullet 76
The Gar Fish (_to bake_) 77
The Sand Launce, or Sand Eel 77
(_mode of dressing_)
To fry Smelts (_and when in 77
season_)
Baked Smelts 78
To dress White Bait. Greenwich 78
receipt (_and when in
season_)
Water Souchy (_Greenwich 78
receipt_)
Shad, Touraine fashion (_also 79
à la mode de Touraine_)
Stewed Trout. Good common 80
receipt (_and when in
season_)
To boil Pike (_and when in 80
season_)
To bake Pike (_common 81
receipt_)
To bake Pike (_superior 81
receipt_)
To stew Carp (_a common 82
country receipt_)
To boil Perch 82
To fry Perch or Tench 83
To fry Eels (_and when in 83
season_)
Boiled Eels (_German receipt_) 83
To dress Eels (_Cornish 84
receipt_)
Red Herrings _à la Dauphin_ 84
Red Herrings (_common English 84
mode_)
Anchovies fried in batter 84
CHAPTER III.
DISHES OF SHELL-FISH.
Page
Oysters, to cleanse and feed 85
(_and when in season_)
To scallop Oysters 86
Scalloped Oysters _à la Reine_ 86
To stew Oysters 86
Oyster Sausages (_a most 87
excellent receipt_)
To boil Lobsters (_and when in 88
season_)
Cold dressed Lobster and Crab 88
Lobsters fricasseed, or _au 89
Béchamel_ (_Entrée_)
Hot Crab or Lobster 89
Potted Lobsters 90
Lobster cutlets (_a superior 91
Entrée_)
Lobster Sausages 91
_Boudinettes_ of Lobsters, 92
Prawns, or Shrimps. _Entrée_
(_Author’s receipt_)
To boil Shrimps or Prawns 93
To dish cold Prawns 93
To shell Shrimps and Prawns 93
quickly and easily
CHAPTER IV.
GRAVIES.
Page
Introductory remarks 94
Jewish smoked Beef (_extremely 95
useful for giving flavour to
Soups and Gravies_)
To heighten the colour and 96
flavour of Gravies
Baron Liebeg’s Beef Gravy 96
(_most excellent for Hashes,
Minces, and other dishes
made of cold meat_)
Shin of Beef Stock for Gravies 97
Rich pale Veal Gravy or 97
_Consommé_
Rich deep coloured Veal Gravy 98
Good Beef or Veal Gravy 99
(_English receipt_)
A rich English brown Gravy 99
Plain Gravy for Venison 100
A rich Gravy for Venison 100
Sweet Sauce, or Gravy for 100
Venison
_Espagnole_, Spanish Sauce (_a 100
highly flavoured Gravy_)
_Espagnole_ with Wine 100
_Jus des Rognons_, or Kidney 101
Gravy
Gravy in haste 101
Cheap Gravy for a Roast Fowl 101
Another cheap Gravy for a Fowl 102
Gravy or Sauce for a Goose 102
Orange Gravy for Wild Fowl 102
Meat Jellies for Pies and 103
Sauces
A cheaper Meat Jelly 103
Glaze 104
_Aspic_, or clear savoury 104
Jelly
CHAPTER V.
SAUCES.
Page
Introductory remarks 105
To thicken Sauces 105
French thickening, or brown 106
_Roux_
White _Roux_, or French 106
thickening
_Sauce Tournée_, or pale 106
thickened Gravy
Béchamel 107
_Béchamel Maigre_ (_a cheap 108
white Sauce_)
Another common _Béchamel_ 108
Rich melted Butter 108
Melted Butter (_a good common 108
receipt_)
French melted Butter 109
Norfolk Sauce, or rich melted 109
Butter without Flour
White melted Butter 109
Burnt or browned Butter 109
Clarified Butter 110
Very good Egg Sauce 110
Sauce of Turkeys’ Eggs Sauce 110
(_excellent_)
Common Egg Sauce 110
Egg Sauce for Calf’s Head 111
English White Sauce 111
Very common White Sauce 111
Dutch Sauce 111
Fricassee Sauce 112
Bread Sauce 112
Bread Sauce with Onion 113
Common Lobster Sauce 113
Good Lobster Sauce 113
Crab Sauce 114
Good Oyster Sauce 114
Common Oyster Sauce 114
Shrimp Sauce 115
Anchovy Sauce 115
Cream Sauce for Fish 114
Sharp _Maître d’Hôtel_ Sauce 116
(_English receipt_)
French _Maître d’Hôtel_, or 116
Steward’s Sauce
_Maître d’Hôtel Sauce Maigre_, 117
or without Gravy
The Lady’s Sauce for Fish 117
Genevese Sauce, or _Sauce 117
Genevoise_
_Sauce Robert_ 118
_Sauce Piquante_ 118
Excellent Horseradish Sauce, 118
to serve hot or cold with
roast Beef
Hot Horseradish Sauce 119
Christopher North’s own Sauce 119
for many Meats
Gooseberry Sauce for Mackerel 120
Common Sorrel Sauce 120
Asparagus Sauce for Lamb 120
Cutlets
Caper Sauce 121
Brown Caper Sauce 121
Caper Sauce for Fish 121
Common Cucumber Sauce 121
Another common Sauce of 122
Cucumbers
White Cucumber Sauce 122
White Mushroom Sauce 122
Another Mushroom Sauce 123
Brown Mushroom Sauce 123
Common Tomata Sauce 123
A finer Tomata Sauce 124
Boiled Apple Sauce 124
Baked Apple Sauce 124
Brown Apple Sauce 125
White Onion Sauce 125
Brown Onion Sauce 125
Another brown Onion Sauce 125
_Soubise_ 126
_Soubise_ (_French receipt_) 126
Mild Ragout of Garlic, or 126
_l’Ail à la Bordelaise_
Mild Eschalot Sauce 127
A fine Sauce, or _Purée_ of 127
Vegetable Marrow
Excellent Turnip, or Artichoke 127
Sauce, for boiled Meat
Olive Sauce 128
Celery Sauce 128
White Chestnut Sauce 129
Brown Chestnut Sauce 129
Parsley-green, for colouring 129
Sauces
To crisp Parsley 130
Fried Parsley 130
Mild Mustard 130
Mustard, the common way 130
French Batter for frying 130
vegetables, and for Apple,
Peach, or Orange fritters
To prepare Bread for frying 131
Fish
Browned Flour for thickening 131
Soups and Gravies
Fried Bread-Crumbs 131
Fried Bread for Garnishing 131
SWEET PUDDING SAUCES, CHAPTER
XXII.
CHAPTER VI.
COLD SAUCES, SALADS, ETC.
Page
Superior Mint Sauce, to serve 132
with Lamb
Common Mint Sauce 132
Strained Mint Sauce 132
Fine Horseradish Sauce, to 133
serve with cold roast,
stewed, or boiled Beef
Cold _Maître d’Hôtel_, or 133
Steward’s Sauce
Cold Dutch or American Sauce, 133
for Salads of dressed
Vegetables, Salt Fish, or
hard Eggs
English Sauce for Salad, cold 134
Meat, or cold Fish
The Poet’s receipt for Salad 135
_Sauce Mayonnaise_, for 135
Salads, cold Meat, Poultry,
Fish, or Vegetables
Red or green _Mayonnaise_ 136
Sauce
Imperial _Mayonnaise_, an 136
elegant Jellied Sauce or
Salad dressing
_Remoulade_ 137
Oxford Brawn Sauce 137
Forced Eggs for garnishing 137
Salads
Anchovy Butter (_excellent_) 138
Lobster Butter 138
Truffled Butter, and Truffles 139
potted in Butter for the
Breakfast or Luncheon table
English Salads 140
French Salad 140
French Salad—Dressing 140
_Des Cerneaux_, or Walnut 141
Salad
Suffolk Salad 141
Yorkshire Ploughman’s Salad 141
An excellent Salad of young 141
Vegetables
Sorrel Salad, to serve with 142
Lamb Cutlets, Veal Cutlets,
or roast Lamb
Lobster Salad 142
An excellent Herring Salad 143
(_Swedish receipt_)
Tartar Sauce (_Sauce à la 143
Tartare_)
Shrimp Chatney (_Mauritian 144
receipt_)
Capsicum Chatney 144
CHAPTER VII.
STORE SAUCES.
Page
Observations 145
Chetney Sauce (_Bengal 146
receipt_)
Fine Mushroom Catsup 146
Mushroom Catsup (_another 148
receipt_)
Double Mushroom Catsup 148
Compound, or Cook’s Catsup 149
Walnut Catsup 149
Another good receipt for 150
Walnut Catsup
Lemon Pickle, or Catsup 150
Pontac Catsup for Fish 150
Bottled Tomatas, or Tomata 151
Catsup
Epicurean Sauce 151
Tarragon Vinegar 151
Green Mint Vinegar 152
Cucumber Vinegar 152
Celery Vinegar 152.
Eschalot, or Garlic Vinegar 152.
Eschalot Wine 153
Horseradish Vinegar 153
Cayenne Vinegar 153
Lemon Brandy for flavouring 153
Sweet Dishes
Dried Mushrooms 153
Mushroom Powder 154
Potato Flour, or Arrow Root 154
(_Fecule de Pommes de
Terre_)
To make Flour of Rice 154
Powder of Savoury Herbs 154
Tartar Mustard 154
Another Tartar Mustard 154
CHAPTER VIII.
FORCEMEATS.
Page
General remarks on Forcemeats 156
Good common Forcemeat for 157
Veal, Turkeys, &c., No. 1
Another good common Forcemeat, 157
No. 2
Superior Suet Forcemeat, No. 3 158
Common Suet Forcemeat, No. 4 158
Oyster Forcemeat, No. 5 159
Finer Oyster Forcemeat, No. 6 159
Mushroom Forcemeat, No. 7 159
Forcemeat for Hare, No. 8 160
Onion and Sage stuffing for 160
Geese, Ducks, &c., No. 9
Mr. Cooke’s Forcemeat for 161
Geese or Ducks, No. 10
Forcemeat Balls for Mock 161
Turtle Soups, No. 11
Egg Balls, No. 12 162
Brain Cakes, No. 13 162
Another receipt for Brain 162
Cakes, No. 14
Chestnut Forcemeat, No. 15 162
An excellent French Forcemeat, 163
No. 16
French Forcemeat, called 163
_Quenelles_, No. 17
Forcemeat for raised and other 164
cold Pies, No. 18
Panada, No. 19 165
CHAPTER IX.
BOILING, ROASTING, ETC.
Page
To boil Meat 167
_Poélée_ 169
_A Blanc_ 169
Roasting 169
Steaming 172
Stewing 173
Broiling 175
Frying 176
Baking, or Oven Cookery 178
Braising 180
Larding 181
Boning 182
To blanch Meat or Vegetables 182
Glazing 182
Toasting 183
Browning with Salamander 183
CHAPTER X.
BEEF.
Page
To choose Beef 184
When in season 184
To roast Sirloin or Ribs of 184
Beef
Roast Rump of Beef 186
To roast part of a Round of 186
Beef
To roast a Fillet of Beef 187
Roast Beef Steak 187
To broil Beef Steaks 187
Beef Steaks _à la Française_ 188
(_Entrée_)
Beef Steaks _à la Française_ 189
(another receipt) (_Entrée_)
Stewed Beef Steak (_Entrée_) 189
Fried Beef Steaks 189
Beef Stewed in its own Gravy 189
(_good and wholesome_)
Beef or Mutton Cake (_very 190
good_) (_Entrée_)
German Stew 190
Welsh Stew 191
A good English Stew 191
To stew Shin of Beef 192
French Beef _à la Mode_ 192
(_common receipt_)
Stewed Sirloin of Beef 193
To stew a Rump of Beef 194
Beef Palates (_Entrée_) 197
Beef Palates (_Neapolitan 195
mode_)
Stewed Ox-tails (_Entrée_) 195
Broiled Ox-tail (_good_) 195
(_Entrée_)
To salt and pickle Beef in 196
various ways
To salt and boil a round of 196
Beef
Hamburgh Pickle for Beef, 197
Hams, and Tongues
Another Pickle for Tongues, 197
Beef, and Hams
Dutch, or Hung Beef 197
Collared Beef 198
Collared Beef (_another 198
receipt_)
A common receipt for Salting 198
Beef
Spiced Round of Beef (_very 199
highly flavoured_)
Spiced Beef (_good and 199
wholesome_)
A miniature Round of Beef 199
Beef Roll, or _Canellon de 201
Bœuf_ (_Entrée_)
Minced Collops _au Naturel_ 201
(_Entrée_)
Savoury minced Collops 201
(_Entrée_)
A richer variety of minced 202
Collops (_Entrée_)
Scotch minced Collops 202
Beef Tongues 202
Beef Tongues (_a Suffolk 203
receipt_)
To dress Beef Tongues 203
Bordyke receipt for stewing a 203
Tongue
To roast a Beef Heart 204
Beef Kidney 204
Beef Kidney, a plainer way 205
An excellent hash of cold Beef 205
or Mutton
A common hash of cold Beef or 205
Mutton
Breslaw of Beef (_good_) 206
Norman Hash 206
French receipt for hashed 206
Bouilli
Baked minced Beef 207
Saunders 207
To boil Marrow-bones 207
Baked Marrow-bones 208
Clarified Marrow for keeping 208
Ox-cheek stuffed and baked 208
CHAPTER XI.
VEAL.
Page
Different joints of Veal 209
When in season 209
To take the hair from a Calf’s 210
Head with the skin on
Boiled Calf’s Head 210
Calf’s Head, the Warder’s way 211
(_an excellent receipt_)
Prepared Calf’s Head (_the 211
Cook’s receipt_)
Burlington Whimsey 212
Cutlets of Calf’s Head 213
(_Entrée_)
Hashed Calf’s Head (_Entrée_) 213
Cheap hash of Calf’s Head 213
To dress cold Calf’s Head, or 214
Veal, _à la maître d’hôtel_
(_English receipt_).
(_Entrée_)
Calf’s Head Brawn (_Author’s 215
receipt_)
To roast a Fillet of Veal 216
Fillet of Veal, _au Béchamel_, 216
with Oysters
Boiled Fillet of Veal 217
Roast Loin of Veal 217
Boiled Loin of Veal 218
Stewed Loin of Veal 218
Boiled Breast of Veal 218
To roast a Breast of Veal 219
To bone a Shoulder of Veal, 219
Mutton, or Lamb
Stewed Shoulder of Veal 219
(_English receipt_)
Roast Neck of Veal 220
Neck of Veal _à la Créme_, or 220
_au Béchamel_
Veal Goose (_City of London 220
receipt_)
Knuckle of Veal, _en ragout_ 221
Boiled Knuckle of Veal 221
Knuckle of Veal, with Rice or 221
Green Peas
Small _Pain de Veau_, or Veal 222
Cake (_Entrée_)
Bordyke Veal Cake (_good._) 222
(_Entrée_)
Fricandeau of Veal (_Entrée_) 223
Spring stew of Veal (_Entrée_) 224
Norman Harrico 224
Plain Veal Cutlets (_Entrée_) 225
Veal Cutlets _à l’Indienne_, 225
or Indian fashion (_Entrée_)
Veal Cutlets, or Collops, _à 226
la Française_ (_Entrée_)
Scotch Collops (_Entrée_) 226
Veal Cutlets, _à la mode de 226
Londres_, or London fashion
(_Entrée_)
Sweetbreads, simply stewed, 227
fricasseed, or glazed
(_Entrées_)
Sweetbread Cutlets (_Entrée_) 227
Stewed Calf’s Feet (_cheap and 228
good_)
Calf’s Liver stoved or stewed 228
To roast Calf’s Liver 229
Blanquette of Veal, or Lamb, 229
with Mushrooms (_Entrée_)
Minced Veal (_Entrée_) 230
Minced Veal with Oysters 231
(_Entrée_)
Veal Sydney (_good_) 231
Fricasseed Veal (_Entrée_) 231
Small _Entreés_ of 232
Sweetbreads, Calf’s Brains
and Ears, &c.
CHAPTER XII.
MUTTON AND LAMB.
Page
Different joints of Mutton 233
When in season 233
To choose Mutton 233
To roast a Haunch of Mutton 234
Roast Saddle of Mutton 235
To roast a Leg of Mutton 235
Superior receipt for roast Leg 235
of Mutton
Braised Leg of Mutton 236
Leg of Mutton boned and forced 236
A boiled Leg of Mutton, with 237
Tongue and Turnips (_an
excellent receipt_)
Roast or stewed Fillet of 238
Mutton
To roast a Loin of Mutton 238
To dress a Loin of Mutton like 239
Venison
Roast Neck of Mutton 239
To Roast a Shoulder of Mutton 239
The Cavalier’s broil 240
Forced Shoulder of Mutton 240
Mutton Cutlets stewed in their 240
own Gravy
To broil Mutton Cutlets 241
(_Entrée_)
China Chilo 241
A good family stew of Mutton 242
An Irish stew 242
A Baked Irish stew 243
Cutlets of cold Mutton 243
Mutton Kidneys _à la 243
Française_ (_Entrée_)
Broiled Mutton Kidneys 244
Oxford receipt for Mutton 244
Kidneys (_Breakfast dish or
Entrée_)
To roast a Fore Quarter of 244
Lamb
Saddle of Lamb 245
Roast Loin of Lamb 245
Stewed Leg of Lamb, with white 245
Sauce (_Entrée_)
Loin of Lamb stewed in butter 246
(_Entrée_)
Lamb or Mutton Cutlets, with 246
Soubise Sauce (_Entrée_)
Lamb Cutlets in their own 246
Gravy
Cutlets of cold Lamb 246
CHAPTER XIII.
PORK.
Page
Different joints of Pork 247
When in season 247
To choose Pork 247
To melt Lard 248
To preserve unmelted Lard for 248
many months
To roast a Sucking Pig 249
Baked Pig 250
Pig _à la Tartare_ (_Entrée_) 250
Sucking Pig, _en blanquette_ 250
(_Entrée_)
To roast Pork 251
To roast a Saddle of Pork 251
To broil or fry Pork Cutlets 251
Cobbett’s receipt for curing 252
Bacon
A genuine Yorkshire receipt 253
for curing Hams and Bacon
Kentish mode of cutting up and 254
curing a Pig
French Bacon for larding 254
To pickle Cheeks of Bacon and 257
Hams
Monsieur Ude’s receipt for 255
Hams superior to Westphalia
Super-excellent Bacon 256
Hams (_Bordyke receipt_) 256
To boil a Ham 256
To garnish and ornament Hams 257
in various ways
French receipt for boiling a 258
Ham
To bake a Ham 258
To boil Bacon 259
Bacon broiled or fried 259
Dressed Rashers of Bacon 259
Tonbridge Brawn 260
Italian Pork Cheese 260
Sausage-meat Cake, or _Pain de 261
Porc Frais_
Sausages 261
Kentish Sausage-meat 261
Excellent Sausages 262
Pounded Sausage-meat (_very 262
good_)
Boiled Sausages (_Entrée_) 262
Sausages and Chestnuts (_an 262
excellent dish._) (_Entrée_)
Truffled Sausages, or 263
_Saucisses aux truffles_
CHAPTER XIV.
POULTRY.
Page
To choose Poultry 264
To bone a Fowl or Turkey 265
without opening it
Another mode of boning a Fowl 265
or Turkey
To bone Fowls for Fricassees, 266
Curries, and Pies
To roast a Turkey 267
To boil a Turkey Poult 267
Turkey boned and forced (_an 268
excellent dish_)
Turkey _à la Flamande_, or 270
_dinde Poudrée_
To roast a Turkey 270
To roast a Goose (_and when in 271
season_)
To roast a green Goose 271
To roast a Fowl 272
Roast Fowl (_a French 272
receipt_)
To roast a Guinea Fowl 272
Fowl _à la Carlsfors_ 273
(_Entrée_)
Boiled Fowls 273
To broil a Chicken or Fowl 274
Fricasseed Fowls or Chickens 274
(_Entrée_)
Chicken Cutlets (_Entrée_) 275
Cutlets of Fowls, Partridges, 275
or Pigeons (_French
receipt_) (_Entrée_)
Fried Chicken, _à la Malabar_ 275
(_Entrée_)
Hashed Fowl (_Entrée_) 276
French, and other receipts for 276
minced Fowl (_Entrée_)
Minced Fowl (_French receipt_) 275
(_Entrée_)
_Fritot_ or _Friteau_ of cold 277
Fowls (_Entrée_)
Scallops of Fowls _au 277
Béchamel_ (_Entrée_)
Grillade of cold Fowls 277
Fowls _à la Mayonnaise_ 278
To roast Ducks (_and when in 278
season_)
Stewed Duck (_Entrée_) 278
To roast Pigeons (_and when in 279
season_)
Boiled Pigeons 279
CHAPTER XV.
GAME.
Page
To choose Game 281
To roast a Haunch of Venison 282
To stew a Shoulder of Venison 283
To Hash Venison 284
To roast a Hare 284
Roast Hare (_superior 285
receipt_)
Stewed Hare 286
To roast a Rabbit 286
To boil Rabbits 286
Fried Rabbit 287
To roast a Pheasant 287
_Boudin_ of Pheasant, _à la 288
Richelieu_ (_Entrée_)
To roast Partridges 288
Boiled Partridges 289
Partridges with Mushrooms 289
Broiled Partridge (_breakfast 290
dish_)
Broiled Partridge (_French 290
receipt_)
The French, or Red-legged 290
Partridge
To roast the Landrail or 291
Corn-Crake
To roast Black Cock and Gray 291
Hen (_and when in season_)
To roast Grouse 292
A _salmi_ of Moorfowl, 292
Pheasants, or Partridges
(_Entrée_)
French _salmi_, or hash of 292
Game (_Entrée_)
To roast Woodcocks or Snipes 293
(_and their season_)
To roast the Pintail or 294
Sea-Pheasant, with the
season of all Wild Fowl
To roast Wild Ducks 294
A _salmi_ or hash of Wild Fowl 294
CHAPTER XVI.
CURRIES, POTTED MEATS, ETC.
Page
Remarks on Curries 296
Mr. Arnott’s Currie Powder 297
Mr. Arnott’s Currie 297
A Bengal Currie 298
A dry Currie 298
A common Indian Currie 299
Selim’s Curries (Captain 300
White’s)
Curried Macaroni 300
Curried Eggs 301
Curried Sweetbreads 301
Curried Oysters 302
Curried Gravy 302
Potted Meats 303
Potted Ham (_an excellent 304
receipt_)
Potted Chicken, Partridge, or 305
Pheasant
Potted Ox Tongue 305
Potted Anchovies 306
Lobster Butter (Chapter VI.)
Potted Shrimps or Prawns 306
(_delicious_)
Potted Mushrooms (see Chapter
XVII.)
Moulded Potted Meat or Fish, 306
for the second course
Potted Hare 307
CHAPTER XVII.
VEGETABLES.
Page
Observations on Vegetables 308
To clear Vegetables from 309
Insects
To boil Vegetables green 309
Potatoes,—remarks on their 309
properties and importance
To boil Potatoes as in Ireland 310
To boil Potatoes (the 311
Lancashire way)
To boil new Potatoes 311
New Potatoes in Butter 312
To boil Potatoes (_Captain 312
Kater’s receipt_)
To roast or bake Potatoes 312
Scooped Potatoes (_Entremets_) 312
Crisped Potatoes, or 313
Potato-Ribbons
(_Entremets_), or to serve
with Cheese
Fried Potatoes (_Entremets_) 313
(_plainer receipt_)
Mashed Potatoes 313
English Potato-Balls, or 314
_Croquettes_
Potato _Boulettes_ 314
(_Entremets_) (_good_)
Potato _Rissoles_ (_French_) 315
Potatoes _à la Maître d’Hôtel_ 315
Potatoes _à la Crème_ 315
_Kohl_-Cannon, or Kale-Cannon 315
(_an Irish receipt_)
To boil Sea-Kale 316
Sea-Kale stewed in Gravy 316
(_Entremets_)
Spinach (_Entremets_) (_French 316
receipt_)
Spinach _à l’Anglaise_, or 317
English fashion
(_Entremets_)
Spinach (_common English 317
mode_)
Another common English receipt 317
for Spinach
To dress Dandelions like 318
Spinach, or as a Salad
(_very wholesome_)
Boiled Turnip Radishes 318
Boiled Leeks 318
Stewed Lettuces 319
To boil Asparagus 319
Asparagus points dressed like 319
Peas (_Entremets_)
To boil Green Peas 320
Green Peas _à la Française_, 320
or French fashion
(_Entremets_)
Green Peas with Cream 321
(_Entremets_)
To boil French Beans 321
French Beans _à la Française_ 321
(_Entremets_)
An excellent receipt for 322
French Beans _à la
Française_
To boil Windsor Beans 322
Dressed Cucumbers 322
Mandrang, or Mandram (_West 323
Indian receipt_)
Another receipt for Mandram 323
Dressed Cucumbers (_Author’s 323
receipt_)
Stewed Cucumbers (_English 323
mode_)
Cucumbers _à la Poulette_ 324
Cucumbers _à la Créme_ 324
Fried Cucumbers, to serve in 324
common hashes and minces
Melon 325
To boil Cauliflowers 325
Cauliflowers (_French 325
receipt_)
Cauliflowers with Parmesan 325
Cheese
Cauliflowers _à la Française_ 326
Brocoli 326
To boil Artichokes 326
Artichokes _en Salade_ (see
Chapter VI.)
Vegetable Marrow 327
Roast Tomatas (_to serve with 327
roast Mutton_)
Stewed Tomatas 327
Forced Tomatas (_English 327
receipt_)
Forced Tomatas (_French 328
receipt_)
Purée of Tomatas 328
To boil Green Indian Corn 329
Mushrooms _au Beurre_ 329
Potted Mushrooms 330
Mushroom-Toast, or _Croule aux 330
Champignons_ (_excellent_)
Truffles, and their uses 331
Truffles _à la Serviette_ 331
Truffles _à l’Italienne_ 331
To prepare Truffles for use 332
To boil Sprouts, Cabbages, 332
Savoys, Lettuces, or Endive
Stewed Cabbage 333
To boil Turnips 333
To mash Turnips 333
Turnips in white Sauce 334
(_Entremets_)
Turnips stewed in Butter 334
(_good_)
Turnips in Gravy 335
To boil Carrots 335
Carrots (_the Windsor 335
receipt_) (_Entremets_)
Sweet Carrots (_Entremets_) 336
Mashed (or Buttered) Carrots 336
(_a Dutch receipt_)
Carrots au Beurre, or Buttered 336
Carrots (_French receipt_)
Carrots in their own Juice (_a 337
simple but excellent
receipt_)
To boil Parsneps 337
Fried Parsneps 337
Jerusalem Artichokes 337
To fry Jerusalem Artichokes 338
(_Entremets_)
Jerusalem Artichokes _à la 338
Reine_
Mashed Jerusalem Artichokes 338
_Haricots Blancs_ 338
To boil Beet-Root 339
To bake Beet-Root 339
Stewed Beet-Root 340
To stew Red Cabbage (_Flemish 340
receipt_)
Brussels Sprouts 340
Salsify 341
Fried Salsify (_Entremets_) 341
Boiled Celery 341
Stewed Celery 341
Stewed Onions 342
Stewed Chestnuts 342
CHAPTER XVIII.
PASTRY.
Page
Introductory remarks 344
To glaze or ice Pastry 345
_Feuilletage_, or fine French 345
Puff Paste
Very good light Paste 346
English Puff Paste 346
Cream Crust (_very good_) 347
(_Author’s receipt_)
_Pâte Brisée_ (or French Crust 347
for hot or cold Meat Pies)
Flead Crust 347
Common Suet-Crust for Pies 348
Very superior Suet-Crust 348
Very rich short Crust for 349
Tarts
Excellent short Crust for 349
Sweet Pastry
_Bricche_ Paste 349
Modern Potato Pasty, an 350
excellent family dish
_Casserole_ of Rice 351
A good common English Game Pie 352
Modern Chicken Pie 353
A common Chicken Pie 353
Pigeon Pie 354
Beef-steak Pie 354
Common Mutton Pie 355
A good Mutton Pie 355
Raised Pies 356
A _Vol-au-Vent_ (_Entrée_) 357
A _Vol-au-Vent_ of Fruit 358
(_Entremets_)
A _Vol-au-Vent à la Créme_ 358
(_Entremets_)
Oyster Patties (_Entrée_) 359
Common Lobster Patties 359
Superlative Lobster Patties 359
(_Author’s receipt_)
Good Chicken Patties 359
(_Entrée_)
Patties _à la Pontife_, a 360
fast-day or _maigre_ dish
(_Entrée_)
Excellent Meat Rolls 360
Small _Vols-au-Vents_, or 361
Patty-cases
Another receipt for Tartlets 361
A Sefton, or Veal Custard 362
Apple Cake, or German Tart 362
_Tourte Meringuée_, or Tart 363
with royal icing
A good Apple Tart 363
Tart of very young green 364
Apples (_good_)
Barberry Tart 364
The Lady’s _Tourte_, and 364
Christmas _Tourte à la
Châtelaine_
_Genoises à la Reine_, or her 366
Majesty’s Pastry
Almond Paste 367
Tartlets of Almond Paste 367
Fairy Fancies (_Fantaisies des 368
Fées_)
Mincemeat (_Author’s receipt_) 368
Superlative Mincemeat 369
Mince Pies (_Entremets_) 369
Mince Pies Royal (_Entremets_) 370
The Monitor’s Tart, or _Tourte 370
à la Judd_
Pudding Pies (_Entremets_) 371
Pudding Pies (_a commoner 371
kind_)
Cocoa-Nut cheese-cakes 371
(_Entremets_) (_Jamaica
receipt_)
Common Lemon Tartlets 372
Madame Werner’s Rosenvik 372
cheese-cakes
Apfel Krapfen (_German 373
receipt_)
_Créme Pâtissière_, or Pastry 373
Cream
Small _Vols-au-Vent, à la 374
Parisienne_ (_Entremets_)
Pastry Sandwiches 374
Lemon Sandwiches 374
_Fanchonnettes_ (_Entremets_) 374
Jelly-Tartlets, or Custards 375
Strawberry Tartlets (_good_) 375
Raspberry Puffs 375
Creamed Tartlets 375
Ramakins _à l’Ude_, or 375
Sefton-Fancies
CHAPTER XIX.
SOUFFLÉS, OMLETS, ETC.
Page
_Soufflés_ 377
Louise Franks’ Citron 378
_Soufflé_
A _Fondu_, or Cheese _Souffle_ 379
Observations on Omlets, 380
Fritters, &c.
A common Omlet 380
An _Omlette Soufflé_ (_second 381
course, remove of roast_)
Plain Common Fritters 381
Pancakes 382
Fritters of Cake and Pudding 382
Mincemeat Fritters 383
Venetian Fritters (_very 383
good_)
Rhubarb Fritters 383
Apple, Peach, Apricot, or 384
Orange Fritters
_Brioche_ Fritters 384
Potato Fritters (_Entremets_) 384
Lemon Fritters (_Entremets_) 384
_Cannelons_ (_Entremets_) 385
_Cannelons_ of _Brioche_ paste 385
(_Entremets_)
_Croquettes_ of Rice 385
(_Entremets_)
Finer _Croquettes_ of Rice 386
(_Entremets_)
Savoury _Croquettes_ of Rice 386
(_Entrée_)
_Rissoles_ (_Entrée_) 387
Very savoury _Rissoles_ 387
(_Entrée_)
Small fried Bread Patties, or 387
_Croustades_ of various
kinds
Dresden Patties, or 387
_Croustades_ (_very
delicate_)
To prepare Beef Marrow for 388
frying _Croustades_, Savoury
Toasts, &c.
Small _Croustades_, or Bread 388
Patties, dressed in Marrow
(_Author’s receipt_)
Small _Croustades, à la Bonne 389
Maman_ (_the Grandmamma’s
Patties_)
Curried Toasts with Anchovies 389
To fillet Anchovies 389
Savoury Toasts 390
To choose Macaroni, and other 390
Italian Pastes
To boil Macaroni 391
Ribbon Macaroni 391
Dressed Macaroni 392
Macaroni à la Reine 393
SEMOULINA AND POLENTA _à 393
l’Italienne_ (_Good_) (_To
serve instead of Macaroni_)
CHAPTER XX.
BOILED PUDDINGS.
Page
General Directions 395
To clean Currants for Puddings 397
or Cakes
To steam a Pudding in a common 397
stewpan or saucepan
To mix Batter for Puddings 397
Suet Crust for Meat or Fruit 398
Pudding
Butter Crust for Puddings 398
Savoury Puddings 399
Beef-steak, or John Bull’s 399
Pudding
Small Beef-steak Pudding 400
Ruth Pinch’s Beef-steak 401
Pudding
Mutton Pudding 401
Partridge Pudding (_very 401
good_)
A Peas Pudding (_to serve with 401
Boiled Pork_)
Wine-sauce for Sweet Puddings 402
Common Wine-sauce 402
Punch-sauce for Sweet Puddings 402
Clear arrow-root-sauce (_with 403
receipt for Welcome Guest’s
Pudding_)
A German Custard Pudding-sauce 403
A delicious German 403
Pudding-sauce
Red Currant or Raspberry-sauce 404
(_good_)
Common Raspberry-sauce 404
Superior Fruit Sauces for 404
Sweet Puddings
Pine-apple Pudding-sauce 405
A very fine Pine-apple Sauce 405
or Syrup for Puddings, or
other Sweet Dishes
German Cherry-sauce 406
Common Batter Pudding 406
Another Batter Pudding 406
Black-cap Pudding 407
Batter Fruit Pudding 407
Kentish Suet Pudding 407
Another Suet Pudding 408
Apple, Currant, Cherry, or 408
other Fresh Fruit Pudding
A common Apple Pudding 409
Herodotus’ Pudding (_A genuine 409
classical receipt_)
The Publisher’s Pudding 410
Her Majesty’s Pudding 410
Common Custard Pudding 411
Prince Albert’s Pudding 411
German Pudding and Sauce 412
(_very good_)
The Welcome Guest’s own 412
Pudding (_light and
wholesome. Author’s
receipt_)
Sir Edwin Landseer’s Pudding 412
A Cabinet Pudding 413
A very fine Cabinet Pudding 414
Snowdon Pudding (_a genuine 414
receipt_)
Very good Raisin Puddings 415
The Elegant Economist’s 415
Pudding
Pudding _à la Scoones_ 416
Ingoldsby Christmas Puddings 416
Small and very light Plum 416
Pudding
Vegetable Plum Pudding (_cheap 417
and good_)
The Author’s Christmas Pudding 417
A Kentish Well-Pudding 417
Rolled Pudding 418
A Bread Pudding 418
A Brown Bread Pudding 419
A good boiled Rice Pudding 419
Cheap Rice Pudding 420
Rice and Gooseberry Pudding 420
Fashionable Apple Dumplings 420
Orange Snow-balls 420
Apple Snow-balls 421
Light Currant Dumplings 421
Lemon Dumplings (_light and 421
good_)
Suffolk, or hard Dumplings 421
Norfolk Dumplings 421
Sweet boiled Patties (_good_) 422
Boiled Rice, to be served with 422
stewed Fruits, Preserves, or
Raspberry Vinegar
CHAPTER XXI.
BAKED PUDDINGS.
Page
Introductory Remarks 423
A baked Plum Pudding _en 424
Moule_, or Moulded
The Printer’s Pudding 424
Almond Pudding 425
The Young Wife’s Pudding 425
(_Author’s receipt_)
The Good Daughter’s Mincemeat 426
Pudding (_Author’s receipt_)
Mrs. Howitt’s Pudding 426
(_Author’s receipt_)
An excellent Lemon Pudding 426
Lemon Suet Pudding 427
Bakewell Pudding 427
Ratifia Pudding 427
The elegant Economist’s 428
Pudding
Rich Bread and Butter Pudding 428
A common Bread and Butter 429
Pudding
A good baked Bread Pudding 429
Another baked Bread Pudding 430
A good Semoulina or _Soujee_ 430
Pudding
French Semoulina Pudding, or 430
_Gâteau de Semoule_
Saxe-Gotha Pudding, or 431
_Tourte_
Baden Baden Puddings 431
Sutherland, or Castle Puddings 432
_Madeleine_ Puddings (to be 432
served cold)
A good French Rice Pudding, or 433
_Gâteau de Riz_
A common Rice Pudding 433
Quite cheap Rice Pudding 434
Richer Rice Pudding 434
Rich Pudding _Meringué_ 434
Good ground Rice Pudding 435
Common ground Rice Pudding 435
Green Gooseberry Pudding 435
Potato Pudding 436
A Richer Potato Pudding 436
A good Sponge-cake Pudding 436
Cake and Custard, and various 437
other inexpensive Puddings
Baked Apple Pudding, or 437
Custard
Dutch Custard, or Baked 438
Raspberry Pudding
Gabrielle’s Pudding, or sweet 438
_Casserole_ of Rice
Vermicelli Pudding, with 439
apples or without, and
Puddings of _Soujee_ and
Semola
Rice _à la Vathek_, or Rice 440
Pudding _à la Vathek_
(_extremely good_)
Good Yorkshire Pudding 440
Common Yorkshire Pudding 441
Normandy Pudding (_good_) 441
Common baked Raisin Pudding 441
A richer baked Raisin Pudding 442
The Poor Author’s Pudding 442
Pudding _à la Paysanne_ 442
(_cheap and good_)
The Curate’s Pudding 442
A light baked Batter Pudding 443
CHAPTER XXII.
EGGS AND MILK.
Page
To preserve Eggs fresh for 444
many weeks
To cook Eggs in the shell 445
without boiling them (_an
admirable receipt_)
To boil Eggs in the shell 445
To dress the Eggs of the 446
Guinea Fowl and Bantam
To dress Turkeys’ Eggs 447
Forced Turkeys’ Eggs (or 447
Swans’), an excellent
_entremets_
To boil a Swan’s Egg hard 448
Swan’s Egg _en Salade_ 448
To poach Eggs of different 449
kinds
Poached Eggs with Gravy (_Œufs 449
Pochés au Jus. Entremets._)
_Œufs au Plat_ 450
Milk and Cream 450
Devonshire, or Clotted Cream 451
_Du Lait a Madame_ 451
Curds and Whey 451
Devonshire Junket 452
CHAPTER XXIII.
SWEET DISHES, OR ENTREMETS.
Page
To prepare Calf’s Feet Stock 453
To clarify Calf’s Feet Stock 454
To clarify Isinglass 454
Spinach Green, for colouring 455
Sweet Dishes, Confectionary,
or Soups
Prepared Apple or Quince Juice 456
Cocoa-nut flavoured Milk (for 456
Sweet Dishes, &c.)
Remarks upon _Compotes_ of 456
Fruit, or Fruit stewed in
Syrup
_Compote_ of Rhubarb 457
—— of Green Currants 457
—— of Green Gooseberries 457
—— of Green Apricots 457
—— of Red Currants 457
—— of Raspberries 458
—— of Kentish or Flemish 458
Cherries
—— of Morella Cherries 458
—— of the green Magnum Bonum, 458
or Mogul Plum
—— of Damsons 458
—— of ripe Magnum Bonums, or 458
Mogul Plums
—— of the Shepherd’s and other 458
Bullaces
—— of Siberian Crabs 458
—— of Peaches 459
Another receipt for stewed 459
Peaches
_Compote_ of Barberries for 459
Dessert
Black Caps, _par excellence_ 460
(for the Second Course, or
for Dessert)
_Gâteau de Pommes_ 460
_Gâteau_ of mixed Fruits 461
(_good_)
Calf’s Feet Jelly 461
(_entremets_)
Another receipt for Calf’s 462
Feet Jelly
Modern varieties of Calf’s 463
Feet Jelly
Apple Calf’s Feet Jelly 464
Orange Calf’s Feet Jelly 464
(_Author’s receipt_)
Orange Isinglass Jelly 465
Very fine Orange Jelly 465
(_Sussex Place receipt_)
Oranges filled with Jelly 466
Lemon Calf’s Feet Jelly 467
Constantia Jelly 467
Rhubarb Isinglass Jelly 468
(_Author’s original
receipt_) (_good_)
Strawberry Isinglass Jelly 468
Fancy Jellies, and Jelly in 469
Belgrave mould
Queen Mab’s Pudding (_an 470
elegant summer dish_)
_Nesselróde_ Cream 471
_Crême à la Comtesse_, or the 472
Countess’s Cream
An excellent Trifle 473
Swiss Cream, or Trifle (_very 473
good_)
Tipsy Cake, or Brandy Trifle 474
Chantilly Basket filled with 474
whipped Cream and fresh
Strawberries
Very good Lemon Cream, made 475
without Cream
Fruit Creams, and Italian 475
Creams
Very superior whipped 476
Syllabubs
Good common Blanc-mange, or 476
_Blanc Manger_ (_Author’s
receipt_)
Richer Blanc-mange 477
_Jaumange_, or _Jaune Manger_; 477
sometimes called Dutch
Flummery
Extremely good Strawberry 477
Blanc-mange, or Bavarian
Cream
Quince Blanc-mange 478
(_delicious_)
Quince Blanc-mange, with 478
Almond Cream
Apricot Blanc-mange, or _Crême 479
Parisienne_
Currant Blanc-mange 479
Lemon Sponge, or Moulded Lemon 480
Cream
An Apple Hedgehog, or 480
_Suédoise_
Imperial Gooseberry-fool 480
Very good old-fashioned boiled 481
Custard
Rich boiled Custard 481
The Queen’s Custard 481
Currant Custard 482
Quince or Apple Custards 482
The Duke’s Custard 482
Chocolate Custards 483
Common baked Custard 483
A finer baked Custard 483
French Custards or Creams 484
German Puffs 484
A _Meringue_ of Rhubarb, or 485
green Gooseberries
Creamed Spring Fruit, or 486
Rhubarb Trifle
_Meringue_ of Pears, or other 486
fruit
An Apple Charlotte, or 486
_Charlotte de Pommes_
Marmalade for the Charlotte 487
A Charlotte _à la Parisienne_ 486
A Gertrude _à la Créme_ 486
_Pommes au Beurre_ (Buttered 488
Apples) (_excellent_)
_Suédoise_ of Peaches 488
Aroce Doce, or Sweet Rice _à 489
la Portugaise_
Cocoa Nut _Doce_ 490
Buttered Cherries (_Cerises au 490
Beurre_)
Sweet Macaroni 490
Bermuda Witches 491
_Nesselróde_ Pudding 491
Stewed Figs (_a very nice 492
Compote_)
CHAPTER XXIV.
PRESERVES.
Page
General Remarks on the use and 493
value of Preserved Fruits
A few General Rules and 496
Directions for Preserving
To Extract the Juice of Plums 497
for Jelly
To weigh the Juice of Fruit 498
Rhubarb Jam 498
Green Gooseberry Jelly 498
Green Gooseberry Jam (_firm 499
and of good colour_)
To dry green Gooseberries 499
Green Gooseberries for Tarts 499
Red Gooseberry Jam 500
Very fine Gooseberry Jam 500
Jelly of ripe Gooseberries 500
(_excellent_)
Unmixed Gooseberry Jelly 501
Gooseberry Paste 501
To dry ripe Gooseberries with 501
Sugar
Jam of Kentish or Flemish 502
Cherries
To dry Cherries with Sugar (_a 502
quick and easy method_)
Dried Cherries (_superior 503
receipt_)
Cherries dried without Sugar 503
To dry Morella Cherries 504
Common Cherry Cheese 504
Cherry Paste (_French_) 504
Strawberry Jam 504
Strawberry Jelly, a very 505
superior Preserve (_new
receipt_)
Another very fine Strawberry 505
Jelly
To preserve Strawberries or 506
Raspberries, for Creams or
Ices, without boiling
Raspberry Jam 506
Very rich Raspberry Jam, or 506
Marmalade
Good Red or White Raspberry 507
Jam
Raspberry Jelly for flavouring 507
Creams
Another Raspberry Jelly (_very 508
good_)
Red Currant Jelly 508
Superlative Red Currant Jelly 509
(_Norman receipt_)
French Currant Jelly 509
Delicious Red Currant Jam 509
Very fine White Currant Jelly 510
White Currant Jam, a beautiful 510
Preserve
Currant Paste 510
Fine Black Currant Jelly 511
Common Black Currant Jelly 511
Black Currant Jam and 511
Marmalade
Nursery Preserve 512
Another good common Preserve 512
A good _Mélange_, or mixed 513
Preserve
_Groseillée_, (another good 513
Preserve)
Superior Pine-apple Marmalade 513
(_a new receipt_)
A fine Preserve of the green 514
Orange Plum (sometimes
called the Stonewood Plum)
Greengage Jam, or Marmalade 515
Preserve of the Magnum Bonum, 515
or Mogul Plum
To dry or preserve Mogul Plums 515
in syrup
Mussel Plum Cheese and Jelly 516
Apricot Marmalade 516
To dry Apricots (_a quick and 517
easy method_)
Dried Apricots (_French 517
receipt_)
Peach Jam, or Marmalade 518
To preserve or to dry Peaches 518
or Nectarines (_an easy and
excellent receipt_)
Damson Jam (_very good_) 519
Damson Jelly 519
Damson or Red Plum Solid 519
(_good_)
Excellent Damson Cheese 520
Red Grape Jelly 520
English Guava (_a firm, clear, 520
bright Jelly_)
Very fine Imperatrice Plum 521
Marmalade
To dry Imperatrice Plums (_an 521
easy method_)
To bottle Fruit for winter use 522
Apple Jelly 522
Exceedingly fine Apple Jelly 523
Quince Jelly 524
Quince Marmalade 523
Quince and Apple Marmalade 525
Quince Paste 525
Jelly of Siberian Crabs 526
To preserve Barberries in 526
bunches
Barberry Jam (_First and best 506
receipt_)
Barberry Jam (_second 527
receipt_)
Superior Barberry Jelly, and 527
Marmalade
Orange Marmalade (_a 527
Portuguese receipt_)
Genuine Scotch Marmalade 528
Clear Orange Marmalade 529
(_Author’s receipt_)
Fine Jelly of Seville Oranges 530
(_Author’s original
receipt_)
CHAPTER XXV.
PICKLES.
Page
Observations on Pickles 531
To pickle Cherries 532
To pickle Gherkins 532
To pickle Gherkins (_a French 533
receipt_)
To pickle Peaches, and Peach 534
Mangoes
Sweet Pickle of Lemon 534
(_Foreign receipt_) (_to
serve with roast meat_)
To pickle Mushrooms 535
Mushrooms in brine, for winter 536
use (_very good_)
To pickle Walnuts 536
To pickle Beet-Root 537
Pickled Eschalots (_Author’s 537
receipt_)
Pickled Onions 537
To pickle Lemons and Limes 538
(_excellent_)
Lemon Mangoes (_Author’s 538
original receipt_)
To pickle Nasturtiums 539
To pickle red Cabbage 539
CHAPTER XXVI.
CAKES.
Page
General Remarks on Cakes 540
To blanch and to pound Almonds 542
To reduce Almonds to a Paste 542
(_the quickest and easiest
way_)
To colour Almonds or 542
Sugar-grains, or
Sugar-candy, for Cakes or
Pastry
To prepare Butter for rich 543
Cakes
To whisk Eggs for light rich 543
Cakes
Sugar Glazings and Icings, for 543
fine Cakes and Pastry
Orange-Flower Macaroons 544
(_delicious_)
Almond Macaroons 544
Very fine Cocoa-nut Macaroons 545
Imperials (_not very rich_) 545
Fine Almond Cake 545
Plain Pound or Currant Cake 546
(or rich Brawn Brack or
Borrow Brack)
Rice Cake 546
White Cake 546
A good Sponge Cake 547
A smaller Sponge Cake (_very 547
good_)
Fine Venetian Cake or Cakes 547
A good Madeira Cake 548
A _Solimemne_ (a rich French 549
breakfast cake, or Sally
Lunn)
Banbury Cakes 549
_Meringues_ 550
Italian _Meringues_ 551
Thick, light Gingerbread 551
Acton Gingerbread 552
Cheap and very good Ginger 552
Oven-cake or Cakes
Good common Gingerbread 553
Richer Gingerbread 553
Cocoa-nut Gingerbread 553
(_original receipts_)
Delicious Cream Cake and Sweet 554
Rusks
A good light Luncheon-cake and 554
Brawn Brack
A very cheap Luncheon-biscuit, 555
or Nursery-cake
Isle of Wight Dough-nuts 556
Queen Cakes 556
Jumbles 556
A good Soda Cake 556
Good Scottish Short-bread 557
A _Galette_ 557
Small Sugar Cakes of various 558
kinds
Fleed, or Flead Cakes 558
Light Buns of different kinds 559
Exeter Buns 559
Threadneedle-street Biscuits 560
Plain Dessert Biscuits and 560
Ginger Biscuits
Good Captain’s Biscuits 560
The Colonel’s Biscuits 561
Aunt Charlotte’s Biscuits 561
Excellent Soda Buns 561
CHAPTER XXVII.
CONFECTIONARY.
Page
To clarify Sugar 562
To boil Sugar from Syrup to 563
Candy, or to Caramel
Caramel (_the quickest way_) 563
Barley-sugar 564
Nougat 564
Ginger-candy 565
Orange-flower Candy 565
Orange-flower Candy (_another 566
receipt_)
Cocoa-nut Candy 566
Everton Toffee 567
Chocolate Drops 567
Chocolate Almonds 568
Seville Orange Paste 568
CHAPTER XXVIII.
DESSERT DISHES.
Page
Dessert Dishes 569
Pearled Fruit, or Fruit _en 570
Chemise_
Salad of mixed Summer Fruits 570
Peach Salad 570
Orange Salad 571
Tangerine Oranges 571
Peaches in Brandy (_Rotterdam 571
receipt_)
Brandied Morella Cherries 571
Baked Compôte of Apples (_our 572
little lady’s receipt_)
Dried Norfolk Biffins 572
Normandy Pippins 572
Stewed _Pruneaux de Tours_, or 573
Tours dried Plums
To bake Pears 573
Stewed Pears 573
Boiled Chestnuts 574
Roasted Chestnuts 574
Almond Shamrocks (_very good 574
and very pretty_)
Small Sugar Soufflés 575
Ices 575
CHAPTER XXIX.
SYRUPS, LIQUEURS, ETC.
Page
Strawberry Vinegar, of 577
delicious flavour
Very fine Raspberry Vinegar 578
Fine Currant Syrup, or _Sirop 579
de Groseilles_
Cherry Brandy (_Tappington 579
Everard receipt_)
Oxford Punch 580
Oxford receipt for Bishop 580
Cambridge Milk Punch 581
To mull Wine (_an excellent 581
French receipt_)
A Birthday Syllabub 581
An admirable cool cup 582
The Regent’s, or George the 582
Fourth’s Punch
Mint Julep (_an American 582
receipt_)
Delicious Milk Lemonade 583
Excellent portable Lemonade 583
Excellent Barley Water (_Poor 583
Xury’s receipt_)
Raisin Wine, which, if long 583
kept, really resembles
foreign
Very good Elderberry Wine 584
Very Good Ginger Wine 584
Excellent Orange Wine 585
The Counsellor’s Cup 585
CHAPTER XXX.
COFFEE, CHOCOLATE, ETC.
Page
Coffee 587
To roast Coffee 588
A few general directions for 589
making Coffee
Excellent Breakfast Coffee 590
To boil Coffee 591
Café Noir 592
Burnt Coffee, or Coffee _à la 592
militaire_ (In France
vulgarly called _Gloria_)
To make Chocolate 592
A Spanish recipe for making 592
and serving Chocolate
To make Cocoa 593
CHAPTER XXXI.
BREAD.
Page
Remarks on Home-made Bread 594
To purify Yeast for Bread or 595
Cakes
The Oven 595
A few rules to be observed in 596
making Bread
Household Bread 596
Bordyke Bread (_Author’s 597
receipt_)
German Yeast (and Bread made 598
with German Yeast)
Professor Liebig’s Bavarian 599
Brown Bread (_very
nutritious and wholesome_)
English Brown Bread 599
Unfermented Bread 599
Potato Bread 600
Dinner or Breakfast Rolls 600
Geneva Rolls or Buns 601
Rusks 602
Excellent Dairy Bread, made 602
without Yeast (_Author’s
receipt_)
To keep Bread 603
To freshen stale Bread (and 603
Pastry, &c.) and preserve it
from mould
To know when Bread is 604
sufficiently baked
On the proper fermentation of 604
Dough
CHAPTER XXXII.
FOREIGN AND JEWISH COOKERY.
Page
Foreign and Jewish Cookery 605
Remarks on Jewish Cookery 606
Jewish Smoked Beef 606
Chorissa (or Jewish Sausage) 607
with Rice
To fry Salmon and other Fish 607
in Oil (_to serve cold_)
Jewish Almond Pudding 608
The Lady’s or Invalid’s new 608
Baked Apple Pudding
(_Author’s original receipt.
Appropriate to the Jewish
table_)
A few general directions for 609
the Jewish table
Tomata and other Chatnies 609
(_Mauritian receipt_)
Indian Lobster Cutlets 610
An Indian Burdwan (_Entrée_) 611
The King of Oude’s Omlet 611
_Kedgeree_ or _Kidgeree_, an 612
Indian breakfast-dish
A simple Syrian Pilaw 612
Simple Turkish or Arabian 613
Pilaw (_From Mr. Lane, the
Oriental traveller_)
A real Indian Pilaw 613
Indian receipt for Curried 614
Fish
Bengal Currie Powder, No. 1 614
_Risotto à la Mayonnaise_ 615
_Stufato_ (_a Neapolitan 615
receipt_)
Broiled Eels with sage 616
(_Entrée_) (_German receipt.
Good_)
A Swiss Mayonnaise 615
_Tendrons de Veau_ 617
_Poitrine de Veau Glacée_ 618
(Breast of Veal stewed and
glazed)
Breast of Veal simply stewed 618
_Compote de Pigeons_ (Stewed 619
Pigeons)
_Mai Trank_ (May Drink) 620
(_German_)
A Viennese Soufflé Pudding, 620
called _Salzburger Nockerl_
INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
TRUSSING.
Page
Remarks on Trussing xxxiii
General Directions for xxxiii
Trussing
To truss a Turkey, Fowl, xxxiv
Pheasant, or Partridge, for
roasting
To truss Fish xxxv
INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
CARVING.
Page
Remarks on Carving xxxvii
No. 1. Cod’s head and shoulder xxxviii
(and Cod fish generally)
No. 2. A Turbot xxxviii
No. 2a. Soles xxxviii
No. 3. Salmon xxxviii
No. 4. Saddle of Mutton xxxviii
No. 5. A Haunch of Venison (or xxxix
Mutton)
No. 6. Sirloin or Rump of Beef xxxix
No. 6a. Ribs of Beef xxxix
No. 6b. A round of Beef xxxix
No. 6c. A brisket of Beef xl
No. 7. Leg of Mutton xl
No. 8. Quarter of Lamb xl
No. 9. Shoulder of Mutton or xl
Lamb
No. 10. A Sucking Pig xl
No. 10a. A fillet of Veal xli
No. 10b. A loin of Veal xli
No. 11. A breast of Veal xli
No. 12. A tongue xli
No. 13. A calf’s head xli
No. 14. A ham xlii
No. 15. A pheasant xlii
No. 16. A boiled fowl xliii
No. 17. A roast fowl xliv
No. 18. A partridge xliv
No. 19. A woodcock xlv
No. 20. A pigeon xlv
No. 21. A snipe xlv
No. 22. A goose xlv
Ducks xlvi
No. 23. A wild duck xlvi
No. 24. A turkey xlvi
No. 25. A hare xlvii
No. 26. A fricandeau of veal xlvii
------------------------------------------------------------------------
INTRODUCTORY CHAPTERS.
----------
TRUSSING.
[Illustration:
Trussing Needles.
]
COMMON and untrained cooks are often deplorably ignorant of this branch
of their business, a knowledge of which is, nevertheless, quite as
essential to them as is that of boiling or roasting; for without it they
cannot, by any possibility, serve up dinners of decently creditable
appearance. We give such brief general directions for it as our space
will permit, and as our own observations enable us to supply; but it has
been truly said, by a great authority in these matters, that trussing
cannot be “_taught by words_;” we would, therefore, recommend, that
instead of relying on any written instructions, persons who really
desire thoroughly to understand the subject, and to make themselves
acquainted with the mode of entirely preparing all varieties of game and
poultry more especially for table, in the very best manner, should apply
for some _practical_ lessons to a first-rate poulterer; or, if this
cannot be done, that they should endeavour to obtain from some well
experienced and skilful cook the instruction which they need.
GENERAL DIRECTIONS FOR TRUSSING.
Before a bird is trussed, the skin must be entirely freed from any down
which may be on it, and from all the stubble-ends of the feathers;[3]
the hair also must be singed from it with lighted writing paper, care
being taken not to smoke nor blacken it in the operation. Directions for
cleansing the insides of birds after they are drawn, are given in the
receipts for dressing them, Chapters XIV. and XV. Turkeys, geese, ducks,
wild or tame, fowls, and pigeons, should all have the necks taken off
close to the bodies, but not the skin of the necks, which should be left
sufficiently long to turn down upon the backs for a couple of inches or
more, where it must be secured, either with a needle and coarse soft
cotton, or by the pinions of the birds when trussed.
Footnote 3:
This should be _particularly_ attended to.
[Illustration]
For boiling, all poultry or other birds must have the feet drawn off at
the first joint of the leg, or as shown in the engraving. (In the latter
case, the sinews of the joint must be slightly cut, when the bone may be
easily turned back as here.) The skin must then be loosened with the
finger entirely from the legs, which must be pushed back into the body,
and the small ends tucked quite under the apron, so as to be entirely
out of sight.
[Illustration]
The wings of chickens, fowls, turkeys, and pigeons, are left on entire,
whether for roasting or boiling. From geese, ducks, pheasants,
partridges, black game, moor-fowl, woodcocks, snipes, wild-fowl of all
kinds, and all small birds, the first two joints are taken off, leaving
but one joint on, thus:—
The feet are left on ducks, and those of tame ones are trussed as will
be seen at page 278, and upon roast fowls, pheasants, black and
moor-game, pigeons, woodcocks, and snipes. The thick coarse skin of the
legs of these must be stripped, or rubbed off with a hard cloth after
they have been held in boiling water, or over a clear fire for a few
minutes. The sharp talons must be pulled out, and the nails clipped. The
toes of the pigeons for roasting should be cut off.
Geese, sucking-pigs, hares, and rabbits have the feet taken off at the
first joint.
The livers and gizzards are served in the wings of roast turkeys and
fowls only.
The heads are still commonly left on pheasants, partridges, and black
game and moor-game; but the fashion is declining. Of this we shall speak
more particularly in the ensuing chapter.
Poultry and birds in general, except perhaps quite the larger kinds, are
more easily trussed into plump handsome form with twine and needles
proper to the purpose (for which see page 1), than with skewers. The
manner in which the legs and wings are confined is much the same for
all; the principal difference being in the arrangement of the former for
boiling, which has already been explained.
There is a present mode of trussing very large fowls for boiling or
stewing which to our taste is more novel than attractive. The feet are
left on, and after the skin has been loosened from them in every part,
the legs are thrust entirely into the body by means of a slight incision
made in the skin just above the first joint on the underside, the feet
then appear almost as if growing out of the sides of the breast: the
effect of this is not pleasing.
TO TRUSS A TURKEY, FOWL, PHEASANT OR PARTRIDGE, FOR ROASTING.
First draw the skin of the neck down over the back, and secure it from
slipping up; then thread a trussing needle of convenient size,[4] for
the occasion, with packthread or small twine (the former, from being the
most flexible, is best); pass it through the pinion of the bird, then
through the thick part of the thigh, which must be brought up close
_under the wing_, and in a straight line quite through the body, and
through the leg and pinion on the other side; draw them close, and bring
the needle back, passing it through the thick part of the leg, and
through the second joint of the pinion, should it be left on the bird;
tie it quite tight; and then to secure the legs, pierce the sidebone and
carry the twine over the legs, then pass the needle through the other
sidebone, and tie them close down. If skewers be used they should be
driven through the pinions and the legs, and a twine passed across the
back of the bird, and caught over the points of it, and then tied in the
centre of the back: this is only needful when the trussing is not firm.
Footnote 4:
These may be had, of various sizes, at any good ironmongers.
[Illustration]
When the head is left on a bird, it may still be trussed in the same
way, and the head brought round, as shown here, and kept in place by a
skewer passed through it, and run through the body. When the bird is
trussed entirely with skewers, the point of one is brought from the
other side, through the pinions and the thighs, and the head is fixed
upon it. The legs are then pressed as much as possible under the breast,
between it and the side-bones, where they are lettered _a b_. The
partridge in the engraving is shown with the skewers just withdrawn
after being roasted.
Hares, after being filled with forcemeat, and sewn or securely fastened
up with skewers, are brought into proper roasting form by having the
head fixed between the shoulders, and either fastened to the back by
means of a long skewer, run through the head quite into it, or by
passing one through the upper part of the shoulders and the neck
together, which will keep it equally well in place, though less thrown
back. The fore-legs are then laid straight along the sides of the hare,
and a skewer is thrust through them both and the body at the same time;
the sinews are just cut through under the hind-legs, and they are
brought forward as much as possible, and skewered in the same manner as
the others. A string is then thrown across, under the hare and over the
points of both skewers, being crossed before it is passed over the
second, and then tied above the back. The ears of a hare are left on;
those of a rabbit, which is trussed in the same way, are taken off.
[Illustration:
Paste Brush.
]
Joints of meat require but little arrangement, either for the spit or
for boiling. A fillet of veal must have the flap, or part to which the
fat adheres, drawn closely round the outside, and be skewered or bound
firmly into good shape: this will apply equally to a round of beef. The
skin or flank of loins of meat must be wrapped over the ends of the
bones, and skewered on the underside. _The cook should_ _be particularly
careful to separate the joints when it has not been done by the
butcher_, and necks of veal or mutton also, or much trouble will often
arise to the carver.
[Illustration:
Cutlet Bat.
]
To flatten and bring cutlets into uniform shape, a bat of this form is
used: and to egg or to cover them with clarified butter when they are to
be crumbed, a paste-brush should be at hand. Indeed, these and many
other small means and appliances, ought to be provided for every cook
who is expected to perform her duty in a regular and proper manner, for
they save much time and trouble, and their first expense is very slight;
yet many kitchens are almost entirely without them.
TO TRUSS FISH.
Salmon, salmon-peel, pike, and some few other large fish, are
occasionally trussed in the form of an S by passing a string through the
head, and tying it securely, then through the centre of the body, and
next round the tail, which should be turned the reverse way of the head,
and the whole should then be drawn closely together and well fastened.
Whitings and other fish of small size are trussed with the tails merely
skewered into their mouths. _Obs._—It is indispensable for cooks to know
how to carve neatly for pies, puddings, fricassees, and curries, at the
least, hares, rabbits, fowls, and other birds. For those who are quite
without experience in this branch of their business, the directions and
the illustrations in the next chapter for carving a fowl into joints,
will be found useful; and probably many of the other instructions also.
CARVING.
[Illustration:
Fish Carvers.
]
Whether the passing fashion of the day exact it of her or not, a
gentlewoman should always, for her own sake, be able to carve well and
easily, the dishes which are placed before her, that she may be
_competent_ to do the honours of a table at any time with propriety and
self-possession.[5] To gentlemen, and especially to those who mix much
in society, some knowledge of this art, and a certain degree of skill in
the exercise of it, are indispensable, if they would avoid the chance of
appearing often to great disadvantage themselves, and of causing
dissatisfaction and annoyance to others; for the uncouth operations of
bad carvers occasion almost as much discomfort to those who witness, as
they do generally of awkwardness and embarrassment to those who exhibit
them.
Footnote 5:
As this can only be accomplished by practice, young persons should be
early accustomed to carve at home, where the failure of their first
attempts will cause them much less embarrassment than they would in
another sphere, and at a later period of life.
The precise mode of carving various dishes must of course depend on many
contingencies. For a plain family-dinner, or where strict economy is an
imperative consideration, it must sometimes, of necessity, differ from
that which is laid down here. We have confined our instructions to the
fashion usually adopted in the world.
Carving knives and forks are to be had of many forms and sizes, and
adapted to different purposes: the former should always have a very keen
edge, and the latter two prongs only.
No. 1. COD’S HEAD AND SHOULDERS (AND COD FISH GENERALLY.)
The thick part of the back of this, as of all large fish—salmon
excepted—is the firmest and finest eating. It should be carved across,
rather thick, and, as much as possible, in unbroken slices, from _a_ to
_b_. The sound, which is considered a delicacy, lies underneath, and
lines the back-bone: it must be reached with a spoon in the direction
_c_. The middle of the fish, when served to a family party, may be
carved in the same manner, or in any other which convenience and economy
may dictate.
No. 2. A TURBOT.
In carving this most excellent fish, the rich gelatinous skin attached
to it, and a portion of the thick part of the fins, should be served
with every slice. If the point of the fish-knife be drawn down the
centre of the back through to the bone, in the lines _a b c_, and from
thence to _d d d_, the flesh may easily be raised upon the blade in
handsome portions,. The thickest parts of all flat fish are the best. A
brill and a John Dory are served exactly like a turbot.
SOLES.
The more elegant mode of serving these, and the usual one at good
tables, is to raise the flesh from the bones as from a turbot, which is
easily done when the fish are large; but when they are too small well to
admit of it, they must be divided across quite through the bone: the
shoulders, and thick part of the body, are the superior portions.
No. 3. SALMON.
It is customary to serve a slice of the thick part of the back of this
fish, which is marked from _a_ to _b_, with one of the thinner and
richer portions of it, shown by the line from _c_ to _d_. It should be
carved quite straight across, and the fine flakes of the flesh should be
preserved as entire as possible. Salmon-peel, pike, haddocks, large
whitings, and all fish which are served curled round, and with the backs
uppermost, are carved in the same manner; the flesh is separated from
the bone in the centre of the back, and taken off, on the outer side
first, in convenient portions for serving. The flesh of mackerel is best
raised from the bones by passing the fish-slice from the tail to the
head: it may then be divided in two.
No. 4. SADDLE OF MUTTON.
The manner of trussing this joint varies almost from season to season,
the mode which is considered in good taste one year being obsolete the
next, in families where passing fashions are closely observed. It seems
really immaterial whether it be served as shown in the engraving; or
whether two or three joints of the tail be left on and surrounded with a
paper frill. This joint is now trussed for roasting in the manner shown
in the engraving; and when it is dished a silver skewer replaces the one
marked _e_. It is likewise often still served in good families with only
two or three joints of the tail left on. The most usual mode of carving
it is in thin slices cut quite along the bone, on either side, in the
line _a_ to _b_; but it is sometimes sliced obliquely from _c_ to _d_:
this last fashion is rather gaining ground. The thick end of the joint
must then, of course, be to the left of the carver. A saddle of pork or
of lamb is carved exactly in the same manner.
No. 5. A HAUNCH OF VENISON (OR MUTTON.)
An incision must first be made entirely across the knuckle end of this
joint, quite down to the bone, in the line _a b_, to let the gravy
escape; it must then be carved in thin slices taken as deep as they can
be, the whole length of the haunch, from _c_ to _d_. A portion of the
fat should invariably be served with the venison.
No. 6. SIRLOIN OR RUMP OF BEEF.
As the very tender part of this favourite joint, which lies under the
bone, and is called the _fillet_, is preferred by many eaters, the beef
should be raised, and some slices be taken from it in the direction _a
b_, before the carver proceeds further. The slices should be cut quite
across the joint, from side to side, as indicated by the line from _c_
to _d_, in which direction the whole of the meat is occasionally carved,
though it is much more usual to slice the upper part from _e_ to _f_.
When the brown outside has been taken off this, it should be evenly
carved in thin slices, and served with some of the gravy in the dish,
and accompanied with horseradish very lightly and finely scraped, with
tufts of which the beef is commonly garnished.
RIBS OF BEEF.
Are carved in the same manner as the sirloin; but there is no fillet
attached to them.
A ROUND OF BEEF.
To carve this well, a very sharp-edged and thin-bladed knife is
requisite. A thick slice should first be taken entirely off the top of
the joint, leaving it very smooth; it should then be cut as thin and as
evenly as possible, and delicate slices of the fat or udder should be
served with the lean.
A BRISKET OF BEEF
Is carved in slices quite across the bones.
No. 7. LEG OF MUTTON.
This, whether roast or boiled, is dished as it lies in the engraving,
unless when fanciful eaters prefer the underside of the joint laid
uppermost, and carved quite across the middle, for the sake of the
finely grained meat which lies beneath the part commonly called the
Pope’s eye. In a general way, the mutton should be sliced, rather thick
than thin as directed by the line between _a b_; the fat will be found
in the direction _c d_.
No. 8. QUARTER OF LAMB.
The shoulder must be divided, and raised entirely from the breast in the
direction of the letters _a b c d_. A slice of butter sprinkled with
cayenne and salt is then usually laid between them, and a little
lemon-juice is added, or a cold _Mâitre d’Hôtel_ sauce is substituted
for these. The shoulder may then be removed into another dish or not, as
is most convenient. The brisket is next separated from the long bones in
the line _e f_, and carved in the direction g h; the rib-bones are
divided from _i i_ to _j j_. The choice of the different parts is
offered in serving them.
No. 9. SHOULDER OF MUTTON OR LAMB.
Commence by cutting from the outer edge direct to the bone of the
shoulder in the line _a b_, and carve as many slices from that part of
the joint as it will afford: then, if more be required, draw the knife
on either side of the ridge of the blade-bone in the direction _c c d
d_. The fat must be carved in the line _e f_. Some eaters have a
preference for the juicy, but not very finely-grained flesh on the
underside of the shoulder, which must be turned, for it to be carved.
For the mode of boning a shoulder of mutton or veal, and giving it a
more agreeable appearance, see 219.
No. 10. A SUCKING PIG.
Every part of a sucking pig is good, but some persons consider the flesh
of the neck which lies between the shoulders, and the ribs as the most
delicate portion of it. The shoulders themselves are preferred by
others. They should be taken off, and the legs also, by passing the
knife under them at the letters _a b c_. The ribs may then be easily
divided from _e_ to _d_. The flesh only of the larger joints should be
served to ladies; but gentlemen often prefer it sent to them on the
bones.
A FILLET OF VEAL.
There is no difference between the mode of carving this and a round of
beef; but the brown outside slice of the veal is much liked by many
eaters, and a portion of it should be served to them when it is known to
be so. The forcemeat must be reached by cutting deeply into the flap,
and a slice of it served always with the veal.
A LOIN OF VEAL.
This may be carved at choice quite across through the thick part of the
flesh, or in slices taken in the direction of the bones. A slice of the
kidney, and of the fat which surrounds it, should accompany the veal.
No. 11. A BREAST OF VEAL.
The brisket or gristles[6] of this joint must first be entirely
separated from the rib-bones by pressing the knife quite through it in
the line between _a_ and _b_; this part may then be divided as shown by
the letters _c c c d d d_, and the long bones or ribs may easily be
separated in the direction _e f_. The taste of those who are served
should be consulted as to the part of the joint which is preferred. The
sweetbread is commonly sent to table with a roast breast of veal, and
laid upon it: a portion of it should be served with every plate of the
breast.
Footnote 6:
The _tendons_ are literally the small white gristles themselves, which
are found under the flesh in this part of the joint. When freed from
the bone attached to them, they may be dressed in a variety of ways,
and are extremely good: but they require from four to six hours’
stewing to render them perfectly tender, even when each tendon is
divided into three or four slices. The upper flesh must be laid back
from the tendons before they are taken from the breast, not left
adhering to them. They are very good simply stewed in white gravy, and
served with green peas, _à la Française_, in the centre. The breast
entirely boned, forced, and rolled, makes a handsome dish, either
roasted or stewed.
No. 12. A TONGUE.
This is sliced, not very thin, through the thickest and best part, shown
by the letters _a b_. The fat of the root, when it is liked, must be
carved by turning the tongue, and cutting in the direction _c d_.
No. 13. A CALF’S HEAD.
[Illustration]
An entire calf’s head, served in its natural form, recalls too forcibly
the appearance of the living animal to which it has belonged not to be
very uninviting. Even when the half of one only is sent to table,
something of the same aspect remains, and as it is in every way
improved, and rendered most easy to carve when boned[7] and rolled, we
would recommend its being so prepared whenever it can be done without
difficulty. Our engraving does not give a very flattering representation
of it in that form, but having been dressed with the skin on, it was not
quite so easily brought into handsome shape as if it had been freed from
it; yet we would nevertheless advise its being generally retained. When
the head is served without being boned, it is carved across the cheek,
in the line from _a_ to _b_; the part which in flavour and appearance
resembles a sweetbread, and which is regarded as a delicacy, lies in the
direction indicated by the letters _c d_. The flesh of the eye is
another favourite morsel, which must be detached from the head by
passing the point of the carving knife deeply round the eye-hole, in the
circle marked _e e_.
Footnote 7:
This will be more easily accomplished by an experienced cook after the
head has been boiled for half an hour and then allowed to cool; but it
should not be left until cold before it is altogether prepared for
dressing. After the bones are removed, it should be laid on a clean
cloth, and the inside sprinkled over or rubbed with a little salt,
mace, and cayenne, well mixed together; the tongue may be laid upon,
and rolled up in it. It must be secured, first with a skewer, and then
bound tightly round with tape. It should be boiled or stewed extremely
tender; and is excellent when just covered with good stock, and
simmered for two hours, or when strong broth is substituted for this,
and the bones are added to it. The head may be glazed, and served with
rich brown gravy, or with the ordinary sauces if preferred; and it may
be eaten cold, with Oxford brawn sauce, which is compounded of brown
sugar, vinegar, mustard, and salt, mixed to the taste, with the
addition of oil when it is liked.
No. 14. A HAM.
Strict economists sometimes commence the carving of a ham at the
knuckle, and so gradually reach the choicer portion of it; but this
method is not at all to be recommended. It should be cut at once through
the thick part of the flesh, quite down to the bone, in the line _a b_,
and sliced very thin and evenly, without separating the fat from the
lean. The decoration of the ham No. 14, is formed by leaving on it a
portion of the rind at the knuckle in a semi-circle, and then trimming
it into scollops or points at pleasure; and the ornamental part of the
top is formed from the fat which is pared away from the thick end and
the edges. A paper ruffle, as will be seen, is wrapped round the bone of
the knuckle.
No. 15. A PHEASANT.
This bird was formerly always sent to table with the head on, but it was
a barbarous custom, which has been partially abandoned of late in the
best houses, and which it is hoped may soon be altogether superseded by
one of better taste. The breast is by far the finest part of a pheasant,
and it is carved in slices from pinion to pinion, in the lines _a a b
b_; the legs may then be taken off, in the direction _c d_. The bird,
when it is preferred so, may be entirely dismembered by the directions
for a fowl, No. 16. Black and moor-game are trussed and served like
pheasants. The breasts of both are very fine eating, and the thigh of
the black-cock is highly esteemed.
No. 16. A BOILED FOWL.
The boiled fowl of plate 6 is represented as garnished with branches of
parsley, which is an error, as they would be appropriate to it only if
it were cold, and it is seldom served so, being considered insipid.
Small tufts of cauliflower would have been in better keeping with it, as
the bird is supposed to be dished for the dinner-table. Unless it be for
large family parties, fowls are seldom carved there entirely into
joints; but when it is wished to divide them so, the fork should be
fixed firmly in the centre of the breast, and the leg, being first
disengaged from the skin, may be taken off with the wing in the line _a
b_; or, the wing being previously removed, by carving it down the line
to _b_, and there separating it from the neck-bone, the leg may be
released from the skin, and easily taken off, by cutting round it from
_a_ to _c_, and then turning it with the fork, back from the body, when
the joint will readily be perceived.
[Illustration]
After the leg and wing on the other side have been taken off in the same
manner, the merrythought must follow. To remove this, the knife must be
drawn through the flesh in the line _d e_, and then turned towards the
neck quite under the merrythought, which it will so lift from the
breast, in this form:—The neck-bones—which lie close under the upper
part of the wings, and are shaped thus—must next be disengaged from the
fowl, by putting the knife in at the top of the joint, dividing the long
part of the bone from the flesh, and breaking the short one off by
raising it up, and turning it from the body; the breast, which is shown
here, may then be divided from it by merely cutting through the tender
ribs on either side.
[Illustration]
It is seldom that further disjointing than this is required at table;
but when it is necessary to cut up the entire fowl, the remainder of it
must be laid with the back uppermost, and to take off the side-bones,
which are of this shape—the point of the knife must be pressed through
the back-bone, near the top, about half an inch from the centre, and
brought down towards the end of the back, quite through the bone, then
turned in the opposite direction, when the joints will separate without
difficulty. All which then remains to be done is, to lay the edge of the
knife across the middle of the only two undivided bones, and then with
the fork to raise the small end of the fowl, which will part them
immediately: to carve a boiled fowl or chicken in a more modern manner,
see the directions which follow. The breast, wings, and merrythought,
are the most delicate parts of a fowl. On the upper part of the sidebone
is the small round portion of flesh called the _oyster_, by many persons
considered as a great delicacy.
No. 17. A ROAST FOWL.
It is not usual to carve fowls entirely at table in the manner described
above. The wings, and any other joints are taken off only as they are
required. The breast of a very large fowl may be carved in slices like
that of a turkey; or the whole of that of a small one may be taken off
with the wings, as shown by the line _a b_. As the liver is a delicacy,
the handsomer mode of serving these last is to remove the gizzard, which
is seldom eaten, then to divide the liver, and to send an equal portion
of it with each wing. The whole of a roast fowl may be carved by the
directions we have already given for No. 16.
No. 18. A PARTRIDGE.
[Illustration]
When partridges are served to ladies only, or in parties where they are
present, it is now customary to take off the heads, to truss the legs
short, and to make them appear (in poulterer’s phrase) _all breast_. For
gentlemen’s dinners, the heads may be left on or not at choice. The most
ready mode of carving a partridge is to press back the legs, then to fix
the fork firmly in the inside of the back, and by passing the blade of
the knife flat under the lower part of the breast, to raise it, with the
wings, entire from the body, from which it easily separates. The breast
may then be divided in the middle, as shown by the line from _a_ to _b_
in the engraving here. This is by far the best and handsomest manner of
carving a partridge, but when the supply of game at table is small, and
it is necessary to serve three persons from the choicer parts of one
bird, a not very large wing should be taken off with the leg on either
side, in the line from _a_ to _b_ in No. 13, and sufficient of the
breast will still remain to send to a third eater. The high game-flavour
of the back of a partridge, as well as that of various other birds,[8]
is greatly relished by many persons.
Footnote 8:
A great man o the north eloquently describes that of a grouse as “the
most pungent, palate-piercing, wild bitter-sweet.”
No. 19. A WOODCOCK.
[Illustration]
The thigh and back are the most esteemed parts of a woodcock which,
being a small bird, may be carved entirely through the centre of the
breast and back, or distributed in the same manner as the partridge for
three, which we have described; or even carved down like a fowl, if
needful. In whatever way it is divided, however, a portion of the toast
which has received the trail, and on which it should always be sent to
table, must invariably be served to all who partake of it. The very old
fashion of trussing the bird with its own bill, by running it through
the thighs and body, is again adopted by very good cooks of the present
day; but the common method of preparing either woodcocks or snipes for
table is this: the trussing of the legs is, however, better shown at
Nos. 19 and 21 of Plate 6.
No. 20. A PIGEON.
The breast and wings of a pigeon may be raised in the same way as those
of a partridge (see No. 18); or the bird may be carved entirely through
in the line _a b_. For the second course, pigeons should be dished upon
young delicate water-cresses.
No. 21. A SNIPE.
This bird is trussed, roasted, and served exactly like a woodcock. It is
not of a size to require any carving, beyond dividing in two, if at all.
No. 22. A GOOSE.
The skin below the breast, called the apron, must first be cut off in a
circular direction as indicated by the letters _a a a_, when a glass of
port-wine or of claret, ready mixed with a teaspoonful of mustard, may
be poured into the body or not, at choice. Some of the stuffing should
then be drawn out with a spoon, and the neck of the goose, which ought
to be to the right and not to the left hand, as here, being turned a
little towards the carver, the flesh of the breast should be sliced in
the lines from _b b b_ to _c c c_, on either side of the bone. The wings
may then be taken off like those of any other bird, and then the legs,
which, in the engraving No. 22, are trussed so completely under the
apron as to render their outline scarcely distinguishable. Graceful and
well-skilled carvers never turn birds on their sides to remove any of
the joints, but those of a goose, unless it be very young, are sometimes
severed from it with difficulty; and the common directions for assisting
the process in that case are, to turn it on its side, and with the fork
to press down the small end of the leg; then to pass the knife quite
under it from the top down to the joint, when the leg should be turned
back from the bird with the fork, while the thigh-bone is loosened from
its socket with the knife. The end of the pinion marked _d_ is then held
down in the same manner, to facilitate the separation of the bones at
_e_, from which point the knife is drawn under the wing, which it takes
off. The merrythought of a goose is small, and, to remove it the knife
must first be turned a little _from_ the neck, after the flesh has been
cut through, and then passed under it, back towards the neck. For the
remainder of the carving, the directions for that of a fowl will
suffice.
DUCKS.
Tame ducks are served with the feet (which are liked by many people)
left upon them and trussed up over the backs. If large they may be
carved like a goose, but when very young may be disjointed like
chickens; the only material difference between them being the position
of the thigh-joints, which lie much further towards the back-bone than
those of a fowl.
No. 23. A WILD DUCK.
The breasts of wild-fowl are the only parts of them held in much
estimation, and these are carved in slices from the legs to the neck The
legs and pinions may, if required, be taken off exactly like those of a
pheasant.
No. 24. A TURKEY.
The carving of a turkey commences by taking slices off the breast, from
the letters _b b_ quite through the forcemeat, which lies under the
letter _a_, to _c c_: the greater part of the flesh of the wings is thus
taken off likewise. When the bird is boned and filled with sausage or
other forcemeat, the breast is carved entirely across in the direction
_d e_, nearly, or quite down to the back, which it is better not
altogether to divide at first, as the appearance of the turkey is not
then so good. When it has been prepared in the ordinary manner, after
the breast has been disposed of, the pinions and the legs may be taken
off, the first in the line from _f_ to _g_, and the latter by passing
the knife under it at _h_, and bringing it down to the joint at _i j_,
where it must be taken off in the line shown. The whole of the joints
being in form exactly like those of a fowl, may be separated in the same
manner. The gizzard is more commonly eaten broiled after having been
scored, and very _highly_ seasoned with cayenne and with a sufficiency
of salt, than in any other way. A slice or portion of the liver should
be served with the white flesh of the turkey as far as possible.
No. 25. A HARE.
A hare should be placed with its head to the left of the carver,
therefore the engraving No. 25 shows it turned in the wrong direction.
It is so very great an improvement to take out the back-bone before a
hare is roasted, that we would recommend it to be done wherever it can
be so without difficulty: it may then be carved in the line _a b_ quite
through, or only partially so at choice. When the bone remains in,
slices may be taken down the whole length of the back from _c c_ to _d
d_; the legs, which, next to the back, are considered the best eating,
may then be taken off in the direction _e f_ and the flesh divided from
or served upon them, after the small bones have been parted from the
thighs. The shoulders, which are not generally much esteemed, though
sometimes liked by sportsmen, may next be taken off by passing the knife
at the letters _g h_ between the joint and the body. When a hare is
young, the back is sometimes divided at the joints into three or four
parts, after being freed from the ribs and under-skin.
No. 26. A FRICANDEAU OF VEAL.
This is usually stewed, or rather braised sufficiently tender to be
divided with a spoon, and requires no carving; but the fat (or underpart
of the fillet) attached to it, marked _a a a_, which is sometimes, but
not invariably served with it now, may be carved in even slices. The
larding differs somewhat from that which we have described, but the mode
shown here allows the _fricandeau_ to be glazed with more facility.
The engraving of the _entrée_ No. 26 is intended merely to show the
manner of dishing the cutlets. They may be of mutton, lamb, veal, or
pork; and the centre may be filled with the sauce or stewed, vegetable
appropriate to either; as _soubise_, _purée_ of asparagus, of mushrooms,
or of tomatas; or _green peas à la Française_, stewed cucumbers, or
aught else that is suited to the kind of meat which is served.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
_Plate 1._
[Illustration:
1
COD’S HEAD.
]
[Illustration:
2
TURBOT.
]
[Illustration:
3
MIDDLE OF SALMON.
]
_H. Adlard, sc._
------------------------------------------------------------------------
_Plate 2._
[Illustration:
4
SADDLE OF MUTTON.
]
[Illustration:
5
HAUNCH OF VENISON.
]
[Illustration:
6
SIRLOIN OF BEEF.
]
_H. Adlard, sc._
------------------------------------------------------------------------
_Plate 3._
[Illustration:
7
LEG OF MUTTON.
]
[Illustration:
8
QUARTER OF LAMB.
]
[Illustration:
9
SHOULDER OF MUTTON.
]
_H. Adlard sc._
------------------------------------------------------------------------
_Plate 4._
[Illustration:
10
SUCKING PIG.
]
[Illustration:
11
BREAST OF VEAL.
]
_H. Adlard, sc._
------------------------------------------------------------------------
_Plate 5._
[Illustration:
12
OX-TONGUE.
]
[Illustration:
13
CALF’S HEAD.
]
[Illustration:
14
HAM.
]
_H. Adlard, sc._
------------------------------------------------------------------------
_Plate 6._
[Illustration:
15
PHEASANT.
]
[Illustration:
18
PARTRIDGE.
]
[Illustration:
19
WOODCOCK.
]
[Illustration:
16
BOILED FOWL.
]
[Illustration:
20
PIGEON.
]
[Illustration:
21
SNIPE.
]
[Illustration:
17
ROAST FOWL.
]
_H. Adlard, sc._
------------------------------------------------------------------------
_Plate 7._
[Illustration:
22
GOOSE.
]
[Illustration:
23
WILD DUCK.
]
[Illustration:
24
TURKEY.
]
_H. Adlard, sc._
------------------------------------------------------------------------
_Plate 8._
[Illustration:
26
ENTRÉE OF CUTLETS.
]
[Illustration:
25
HARE.
]
[Illustration:
27
FRICANDEAU OF VEAL.
]
_H. Adlard, sc._
------------------------------------------------------------------------
MODERN COOKERY.
--------------
[Illustration]
CHAPTER I.
=Soups.=
INGREDIENTS WHICH MAY ALL BE USED FOR MAKING SOUP OF VARIOUS
KINDS:—Beef—Mutton—Veal—Hams—Salted Pork—Fat Bacon—Pigs’ Ears and
Feet—Venison—Black and Moor Game—Partridges—Pheasants—Wild
Pigeons—Hares—Rabbits—Turkeys—Fowls—Tame Pigeons—Sturgeon—Conger
Eel, with all sorts of Fish usually eaten—All Shell-Fish—Every
kind of Vegetable and Herb fit for
food—Butter—Milk—Eggs—Rice—Sago—Arrow-Root—Indian
Corn—Hominy—Soujee—Tapioca—Pearl
Barley—Oatmeal—Polenta[9]—Macaroni—Vermicelli—Semoulina, and other
Italian Pastes.
Footnote 9:
The name given in English commerce to the maize flour or meal of
Italy.
THE art of preparing good, wholesome, palatable soups, _without great
expense_, which is so well understood in France, and in other countries
where they form part of the daily food of all classes of the people, has
hitherto been very much neglected in England;[10] yet it really presents
no difficulties which a little practice, and the most common degree of
care, will not readily overcome; and we strongly recommend increased
attention to it, not only on account of the loss and inconvenience which
ignorance of it occasions in many households, but because a better
knowledge of it will lead naturally to improvement in other branches of
cookery connected with it in which our want of skill is now equally
apparent.
Footnote 10:
The inability of servants to prepare delicately and well even a little
broth suited to an invalid, is often painfully evident in cases of
illness, not only in common English life, but where the cookery is
supposed to be of a superior order.
We have endeavoured to show by the list at the beginning of this chapter
the immense number of different articles of which soup may be in turn
compounded. It is almost superfluous to add, that it may be rendered at
pleasure exceedingly rich, or simple in the extreme; composed, in fact,
of all that is most choice in diet, or of little beyond herbs and
vegetables. From the varied produce of a well-stored kitchen garden, it
may be made excellent at a very trifling cost; and where fish is fresh
and abundant it may be cheaply supplied nearly equal in quality to that
for which a full proportion of meat is commonly used. It is best suited
to the colder seasons of the year when thickened well with rice,
semoulina, pearl barley, or other ingredients of the same nature; and
adapted to the summer months when lighter and more refreshing. Families
who have resided much abroad, and those accustomed to continental modes
of service, prefer it usually _in any form_ to the more solid and heavy
dishes which still often supersede it altogether at our tables[11]
(except at those of the more affluent classes of society, where it
appears, as a matter of course, in the daily bills of fare), and which
are so _oppressive_, not only to foreigners, but to all persons
generally to whom circumstances have rendered them unaccustomed diet;
and many a housekeeper who is compelled by a narrow income to adopt a
system of rigid domestic economy, would find it assist greatly in
furnishing comfortable meals in a very frugal manner, if the proper
modes of making it were fully comprehended as they ought to be.[12]
Footnote 11:
The popular taste in England, even at the present day, is far more in
favour of what is termed “_substantial_” food, than of any kind of
pottage.
Footnote 12:
We are unable to give further space to this subject here, but may
probably resume it at another part of the book, if practical.
The reader who desires to understand the _principles_ of soup-making is
advised to study with attention the directions for “Baron Liebeg’s
Extract of Beef,” in the present chapter, and the receipt for _bouillon_
which follows it.
A FEW DIRECTIONS TO THE COOK.
In whatever vessel soup is boiled, see that it be perfectly clean, and
let the inside of the cover and the rim be equally so. Wash the meat,
and prepare the vegetables with great nicety before they are laid into
it; and be careful to keep it always closely shut when it is on the
fire. Never, on any account, set the soup by in it, but strain it off at
once into a clean pan, and fill the stock-pot immediately with water;
pursue the same plan with all stewpans and saucepans directly they are
emptied.
Skim the soup thoroughly when it _first_ begins to boil, or it will not
be easy afterwards to render it clear; throw in some salt, which will
assist to bring the scum to the surface, and when it has all been taken
off, add the herbs and vegetables; for if not long stewed in the soup,
their flavour will prevail too strongly. Remember that the trimmings,
and the _bones_ of fresh meat, the necks of poultry, the liquor in which
a joint has been boiled, and the shank-bones of mutton, are all
excellent additions to the stock-pot, and should be carefully reserved
for it. The remains of roast poultry and game also will improve both the
colour and the flavour of broth or soup.
Let the soup be very slowly heated, and after it has been well skimmed,
and has boiled for a few minutes, draw it to the side of the stove and
keep it _simmering softly_, but without ceasing, until it is done; for
on this, as will hereafter be shown, its excellence principally depends.
Every good cook understands perfectly the difference produced by the
fast boiling, or the _gentle stewing_, of soups and gravies, and will
adhere strictly to the latter method.[13]
Footnote 13:
It is most difficult to render rapidly-boiled soup or gravy clear for
table; but that which is only simmered will clarify itself if allowed
to remain undisturbed for some little time (half an hour or so) after
it is withdrawn from the fire; it should then be poured very gently
from the sediment. Calf’s feet stock likewise may be converted into
transparent jelly with far greater facility when it has not been
thickened by too quick boiling, by which so many preparations in our
English kitchens are injured.
Pour boiling water, in small quantities at first, to the meat and
vegetables of which the soup is to be made when they have been fried or
browned; but otherwise, always add _cold_ water to the meat. Unless
precise orders to the contrary have been given, onions, eschalots, and
garlic, should be used for seasoning with great moderation; for not only
are they very offensive to many eaters, but to persons of delicate habit
their effects are sometimes extremely prejudicial; and it is only in
coarse cookery that their flavour is allowed ever strongly to prevail.
A small proportion of sugar, about an ounce to the gallon, will very
much improve the flavour of gravy-stock, and of all rich brown soups; it
may be added also to some others with advantage; and for this,
directions will be given in the proper places.
Two ounces of salt may be allowed for each gallon of soup or broth, in
which large quantities of vegetables are stewed; but an ounce and a half
will be sufficient for such as contain few or none; it is always easy to
add more if needful, but oversalting in the first instance is a fault
for which there is no remedy but that of increasing the proportions of
all the other ingredients, and stewing the whole afresh, which occasions
needless trouble and expense, even when time will admit of its being
done.
As no particle of fat should be seen floating on soup when sent to
table, it is desirable that the stock should be made the day before it
is wanted, that it may become quite cold; when the fat may be entirely
cleared off without difficulty.
When cayenne pepper is not mixed with rice-flour, or with any other
thickening, grind it down with the back of a spoon, and stir a little
liquid to it before it is thrown into the stewpan, as it is apt to
remain in lumps, and to occasion great irritation of the throat when
swallowed so.
Serve, not only soups and sauces, but all other dishes, _as hot as
possible_.
THE TIME REQUIRED FOR BOILING DOWN SOUP OR STOCK.
This must be regulated by several considerations; for though the mere
juices of meat require but little boiling after they have been fully
extracted by the slow heating recommended by Baron Liebeg, soup to which
many vegetables are added (winter vegetables especially) requires long
stewing to soften and to blend properly the flavour of _all_ the
ingredients which it contains, as that of no one in particular ought to
be allowed to predominate over the rest. We have in consequence retained
the old directions as to time, in many of the following receipts; but an
intelligent cook will soon ascertain from practice and observation how
and when to vary it with advantage. _Over-boiling_ renders all
preparations insipid, and causes undue reduction of them likewise: it is
a fault, therefore, which should be carefully avoided.
TO THICKEN SOUPS.
Except for white soups, to which arrow-root is, we think, more
appropriate, we prefer, to all other ingredients generally used for this
purpose, the finest and freshest rice-flour, which, after being passed
through a lawn sieve, should be thoroughly blended with the salt,
pounded spices, catsup, or wine, required to finish the flavouring of
the soup. Sufficient liquid should be added to it very gradually to
render it of the consistence of batter, and it should also be perfectly
smooth; to keep it so, it should be moistened sparingly at first, and
beaten with the back of a spoon until every lump has disappeared. The
soup should boil quickly when the thickening is stirred into it, and be
simmered for ten minutes afterwards. From an ounce and a half to two
ounces of rice-flour will thicken sufficiently a quart of soup.
Instead of this, arrow-root or the condiment known by the name of _tous
les mois_, which greatly resembles it, or potato flour, or the French
thickening called _roux_ (see Chapter V.), may be used in the following
proportions:—Two and a half ounces of either of the first three, to four
pints and a half of soup; to be mixed gradually with a little cold stock
or water, stirred into the boiling soup, and simmered for a minute.
Six ounces of flour with seven of butter, made into a _roux_, or merely
mixed together with a large knife, will be required to thicken a tureen
of soup; as much as half a pound is sometimes used; these must be added
by degrees, and carefully stirred round in the soup until smoothly
blended with it, or they will remain in lumps. We would, however,
recommend any other thickening rather than this unwholesome mixture.
All the ingredients used for soups should be fresh, and of good quality,
particularly Italian pastes of every kind (macaroni, vermicelli, &c.),
as they contract, by long keeping, a peculiarly unpleasant, musty
flavour.
Onions, freed from the outer skin, dried gradually to a deep brown, in a
slow oven, and flattened like Norfolk biffins, will keep for almost any
length of time, and are extremely useful for heightening the colour and
flavour of broths and gravies.[14]
Footnote 14:
The fourth part of one these dried onions (_des ognons brûlés_), of
moderate size, is sufficient for a tureen of soup. They are sold very
commonly in France, and may be procured in London at many good foreign
warehouses.
TO FRY BREAD TO SERVE WITH SOUP.
Cut some slices a quarter of an inch thick from a stale loaf; pare off
the crust and divide the bread into dice, or cut it with a small
paste-cutter into any other form. For half a pound of bread put two
ounces of the best butter into a frying-pan, and when it is quite
melted, add the bread; keep it turned over a gentle fire until it is
equally coloured to a very pale brown, then drain it from the butter,
and dry it on a soft cloth, or on a sheet of paper placed before a clear
fire upon a dish, or upon a sieve reversed.
SIPPETS À LA REINE.
Having cut the bread as for common sippets, spread it on a dish, and
pour over it a few spoonsful of thin cream, or of good milk: let it soak
for an hour, then fry it in fresh butter of a delicate brown, drain and
serve the sippets very hot.
TO MAKE NOUILLES.
(_An elegant substitute for Vermicelli._)
Wet with the yolks of four eggs, as much fine dry sifted flour as will
make them into a firm but very smooth paste. Roll it out as thin as
possible, and cut it into bands of about an inch and a quarter in width.
Dust them lightly with flour, and place four of them one upon the other.
Cut them obliquely into the finest possible strips; separate them with
the point of a knife, and spread them upon writing paper, so that they
may dry a little before they are used. Drop them gradually into the
boiling soup, and in ten minutes they will be done.
Various other forms may be given to this paste at will. It may be
divided into a sort of ribbon macaroni; or stamped with small
confectionary cutters into different shapes. It is much used in the more
delicate departments of cookery, and when cut as for soup, and prepared
as for the _Genoises à la Reine_ of Chapter XVIII. makes very superior
puddings, pastry, fritters, and other sweet dishes.
VEGETABLE VERMICELLI.
(_Vegetables cut very fine for soups._)
Cut the carrots into inch lengths, then pare them round and round in
ribands of equal thickness, till the inside is reached; next cut these
ribands into straws, or very small strips; celery is prepared in the
same way, and turnips also are first pared into ribands, then sliced
into strips; these last require less boiling than the carrots, and
attention must be paid to this, for if broken, the whole would have a
bad appearance in soup. The safer plan is to boil each vegetable
separately, till tolerably tender, in a little pale broth (in water if
this be not at hand), to drain them well, and put them into the soup,
which should be clear, only a few minutes before it is dished. For
cutting them small, in other forms, the proper instruments will be found
at the ironmonger’s.
EXTRACT OF BEEF; OR, VERY STRONG PLAIN BEEF GRAVY SOUP.
(_Baron Liebeg’s Receipt._)
OBSERVATION.—This admirable preparation is not only most valuable as a
restorative of the best kind for invalids who require light but highly
nutritious diet, it is also of the utmost utility for the general
purposes of the kitchen, and will enable a cook who can take skilful
advantage of it, to convert the _cold meat_ which often abounds so
inconveniently in an English larder, from our habit of having joints of
large size so much served, into good nourishing dishes, which the hashes
and minces of our common cookery _are not_, though they may answer well
enough as mere varieties of diet. We shall indicate in the proper
chapters the many other uses to which this _beef juice_—for such indeed
it is—will be found eminently adapted. Of its value in illness it is
impossible to speak too highly; and in every family, therefore, the
_exact_ mode of making it ought to be thoroughly understood. The
economist who may consider it expensive, must remember that drugs and
medical advice are usually far more so; and in cases of extreme debility
the benefit derived from it, when it is well prepared and judiciously
administered, is often remarkable. It should be given in small
quantities at first, and in its pure state. It may afterwards be varied
by the addition of vermicelli, semoulina, or other preparations of the
kind; and also by using for it a portion of mutton, calf’s head,
poultry, or game, when these suit a patient as well as the beef.
RECEIPT.—Take a pound of good, juicy beef (rump-steak is best for the
purpose), from which all the skin and fat that can possibly be separated
from it, has been cut away. Chop it up small like sausage-meat; then mix
it thoroughly with an exact pint of cold water, and place it on the side
of the stove to heat _very slowly indeed_; and give it an occasional
stir. It may stand two or three hours before it is allowed to simmer,
and will then require at the utmost but fifteen minutes of gentle
boiling. Professor Liebeg directs even less time than this, but the soup
then occasionally retains a raw flavour which is distasteful. Salt
should be added when the boiling first commences, and for invalids,
this, in general, is the only seasoning required. When the extract is
thus far prepared, it may be poured from the meat into a basin, and
allowed to stand until any particles of fat it may exhibit on the
surface can be skimmed off entirely, and the sediment has subsided and
left the soup quite clear (which it speedily becomes), when it may be
poured gently off, heated in a clean saucepan, and served at once. It
will contain all the nutriment which the meat will yield. The scum
should always be well cleared from the surface of the soup as it
accumulates.
To make light beef tea or broth, merely increase the proportion of water
to a pint and a half or a quart; but in all else proceed as above.
Meat (without fat or skin), 1 lb.; cold water, exact pint: heating 2
hours or more; to boil 15 minutes at the utmost. Beef tea or
broth.—Beef, 1 lb.; water, 1-1/2 pint or 1 quart.
_Obs._—To mingle vegetable diet in its best form with this extract, it
will be sufficient, as we have explained in “Cookery for Invalids,” to
boil down the kind of vegetable desired, sliced or cut up small, in a
very moderate quantity of water, until its juices are well drawn out;
then to strain off the liquid from it with slight pressure, and, when it
has become cold, to pour it to the chopped meat instead of water.
Several different sorts can be mixed together, and cooked in this way:
the water must boil before they are added to it.
They should be much more tender than when merely boiled for table, but
not reduced to pulp. The juice should remain clear; no salt should be
added; and it should be quite cold before it is stirred to the meat.
When the extract is wanted for gravy, a small portion of onion, and of
herbs, carrots, celery, and the other usual vegetables, may be stewed
together, to give it the requisite flavour.
About an inch square of the Jewish beef (see Chapter of FOREIGN
COOKERY), whether cooked or uncooked, will impart a fine savour to it;
the smoked surface of this should be pared off before it is used, and it
may be added in thin slices.
BOUILLON.
(_The Common Soup or Beef-Broth of France; cheap, and very wholesome._)
[Illustration]
This soup, or _broth_ as we should perhaps designate it in England, is
made once or twice in the week, in every family of respectability in
France; and by the poorer classes as often as their means will enable
them to substitute it for the vegetable or _maigre_ soups, on which they
are more commonly obliged to subsist. It is served usually on the first
day with slices of untoasted bread soaked in it; on the second, it is
generally varied with vermicelli, rice, or semoulina. The ingredients
are, of course, often otherwise proportioned than as we have given them,
and more or less meat is allowed according to the taste or circumstances
of the persons for whom the _bouillon_ is prepared; but the process of
making it is always the same, and is thus described (rather learnedly)
by one of the most skilful cooks in Europe: “The stock-pot of the French
artisan,” says Monsieur Carême, “supplies his principal nourishment; and
it is thus managed by his wife, who, without the slightest knowledge of
chemistry, conducts the process in a truly scientific manner. She first
lays the meat into an earthen stock-pot, and pours cold water to it in
the proportion of about two quarts to three pounds of the beef;[15] she
then places it by the side of the fire, where it slowly becomes hot; and
as it does so, the heat enlarges the fibre of the meat, dissolves the
gelatinous substances which it contains, allows the albumen (or the
muscular part which produces the scum) to disengage itself, and rise to
the surface, and the OZMAZOME (_which is the most savoury part of the
meat_) to be diffused through the broth. Thus, from the simple
circumstance of boiling it in the gentlest manner, a relishing and
nutritious soup will be obtained, and a dish of tender and palatable
meat; but if the pot be placed and kept over a quick fire, the _albumen_
will coagulate, harden the meat, prevent the water from penetrating it,
and the _ozmazome_ from disengaging itself; the result will be a broth
without flavour or goodness, and a tough, dry bit of meat.”
Footnote 15:
This is a large proportion of meat for the family of a French artisan,
a pound to the quart would be nearer the reality; but it is not the
refuse-meat which would be purchased by persons of the same rank in
England for making broth.
It must be observed in addition, that as the meat of which the
_bouillon_ is made, is almost invariably sent to table, a part of the
rump, the mouse-buttock, or the leg-of-mutton piece of beef, should be
selected for it; and the simmering should be continued only until this
is perfectly tender. When the object is simply to make good,
pure-flavoured, beef broth, part of the shin or leg, with a pound or two
of the neck, will best answer the purpose. When the _bouilli_ (that is
to say, the beef which is boiled in the soup), is to be served, bind it
into a good shape, add to it a calf’s foot if easily procurable, as this
much improves the quality of the _bouillon_; pour cold water to it in
the proportion mentioned above, and proceed, as Monsieur Carême directs,
to heat the soup _slowly_ by the side of the fire; remove carefully the
head of scum which will gather on the surface before the boiling
commences, and continue the skimming at intervals for about twenty
minutes longer, pouring in once or twice a little cold water. Next, add
salt in the proportion of two ounces to the gallon; this will cause a
little more scum to rise; clear it quite off and throw in three or four
turnips, as many carrots, half ahead of celery, four or five young
leeks, an onion stuck with six or eight cloves, a large half teaspoonful
of peppercorns, and a bunch of savoury herbs. Let the whole stew VERY
softly without ceasing, from four hours and a half to six hours,
according to the quantity: the beef in that time will be extremely
tender but not overdone. It will be excellent eating if properly
managed, and might often, we think, be substituted with great advantage
for the hard, half-boiled, salted beef so often seen at an English
table. It should be served with a couple of cabbages, which have been
first boiled in the usual way, then pressed very dry, and stewed for ten
minutes in a little of the broth, and seasoned with pepper and salt. The
other vegetables from the _bouillon_ may be laid round it or not at
choice. The soup if served on the same day must be strained, well
cleared from fat, and sent to table with fried or toasted bread, unless
the continental mode of putting slices or crusts of _untoasted_ bread
into the tureen, and soaking them for ten minutes in a ladleful or two
of the _bouillon_, be, from custom, preferred.
Beef, 8 to 9 lbs.; water, 6 quarts; salt, 3 oz. (more, if needed);
carrots, 4 to 6; turnips, 4 or 5; celery, one small head; leeks, 4 to 6;
one onion, stuck with 6 cloves; peppercorns, one small teaspoonful;
large bunch of savoury herbs (calf’s foot if convenient); to _simmer_ 5
to 6 hours.
_Obs. 1._—This broth forms in France the foundation of all richer soups
and gravies. Poured on fresh meat (a portion of which should be veal)
instead of water, it makes at once an excellent _consommé_ or strong
jellied stock. If properly managed, it is very clear and pale; and with
an additional weight of beef and some spoonsful of glaze, may easily be
converted into an amber-coloured gravy-soup, suited to modern taste.
_Obs. 2._—It is a common practice abroad to boil poultry, pigeons, and
even game, in the _=pot-au-feu=_ or soup-pot.[16] They should be
properly trussed, stewed in the broth just long enough to render them
tender, and served, when ready, with a _=good=_ sauce. A small ham, if
well soaked, washed exceedingly clean, and freed entirely from any rusty
or blackened parts, laid with the beef when the water is first added to
it, and boiled from three hours and a half to four hours in the
_bouillon_, is very superior in flavour to those cooked in water only,
and infinitely improves the soup, which cannot however so well be eaten
until the following day, when all the fat can easily be taken from it:
it would, of course, require no salt.
Footnote 16:
In wealthy families the soup is boiled in a metal soup-pot, called a
_=marmite=_.
CLEAR, PALE GRAVY SOUP OR CONSOMMÉ.
Rub a deep stewpan or soup-pot with butter, and lay into it three
quarters of a pound of ham freed entirely from fat, skin, and rust, four
pounds of leg or neck of veal, and the same weight of lean beef, all cut
into thick slices; set it over a clear and rather brisk fire, until the
meat is of a fine amber-colour; it must be often moved, and closely
watched, that it may not stick to the pan, nor burn. When it is equally
browned, lay the bones upon it, and pour in gradually four quarts of
boiling water. Take off the scum carefully as it rises, and throw in a
pint of cold water at intervals to bring it quickly to the surface. When
no more appears, add two ounces of salt, two onions, two large carrots,
two turnips, one head of celery, a faggot of savoury herbs, a dozen
cloves, half a teaspoonful of whole white pepper, and two large blades
of mace. Let the soup boil gently from five hours and a half to six
hours and a half; then strain it through a very clean fine cloth, laid
in a hair sieve. When it is perfectly cold, remove every particle of fat
from the top; and, in taking out the soup, leave the sediment untouched;
heat in a clean pan the quantity required for table, add salt to it if
needed, and a few drops of chili or of cayenne vinegar. Harvey’s sauce,
or very fine mushroom catsup, may be substituted for these. When thus
prepared the soup is ready to serve: it should be accompanied by pale
sippets of fried bread, or sippets _à la reine_. (At tables where
English modes of service entirely prevailed, clear gravy-soup, until
very recently, was always accompanied by dice, or sippets as they are
called, of delicately toasted bread. These are now seldom seen, but some
Italian paste, or nicely prepared vegetable, is served _in_ the soup
instead). Rice, macaroni in lengths or in rings, vermicelli, or
_nouilles_, may in turn be used to vary it; but they must always be
boiled apart, till tender, in broth or water, and well drained before
they are slipped into it. The addition of young vegetables, too, and
especially of asparagus, will convert it into superior spring-soup; but
they, likewise, must be separately cooked.
ANOTHER RECEIPT FOR GRAVY SOUP.
Instead of browning the meat in its own juices, put it with the onions
and carrots, into a deep stewpan, with a quarter of a pint of
_bouillon_, set it over a brisk fire at first, and when the broth is
somewhat reduced, let it boil gently until it has taken a fine colour,
and forms a glaze (or jelly) at the bottom of the stewpan; then pour to
it the proper quantity of water, and finish the soup by the preceding
receipt.[17]
Footnote 17:
The juices of meat, drawn out with a small portion of liquid, as
directed here, may easily be reduced to the consistency in which they
form what is called _glaze_; for particulars of this, see Chapter IV.
The best method, though perhaps not the easiest, of making the clear,
amber-coloured stock, is to pour a ladleful or two of pale but strong
beef-broth to the veal, and to boil it briskly until well reduced,
thrusting a knife when this is done into the meat, to let the juices
escape; then to proceed more slowly and cautiously as the liquid
approaches the state in which it would burn. It must be allowed to
take a dark amber-colour only, and the meat must be turned, and often
moved in it. When the desired point is reached, pour in more boiling
broth, and let the pan remain off the fire for a few minutes, to
detach and melt the glaze; then shake it _well_ round before the
boiling is continued. A certain quantity of deeply coloured glaze,
made apart, and stirred into strong, clear, pale stock, would produce
the desired effect of this, with much less trouble.
_Obs._—A rich, old-fashioned English brown gravy-soup may be made with
beef only. It should be cut from the bones, dredged with flour, seasoned
with pepper and salt, and fried a clear brown; then stewed for six
hours, if the quantity be large, with a pint of water to each pound of
meat, and vegetables as above, except onions, of which four
moderate-sized ones, also fried, are to be added to every three quarts
of the soup, which, after it has been strained and cleared from fat, may
be thickened with six ounces of fresh butter, worked up very smoothly
with five of flour. In twenty minutes afterwards, a tablespoonful of the
best soy, half a pint of sherry, and a little cayenne, may be added to
the soup, which will then be ready to serve.
CHEAP, CLEAR GRAVY SOUP.
The shin or leg of beef, if not large or coarse, will answer extremely
well for this soup, and afford at the same time a highly economical dish
of boiled meat, which will be found very tender, and very _palatable_
also, if it be served with a sauce of some piquancy. From about ten
pounds of the meat let the butcher cut evenly off five or six from the
thick fleshy part, and again divide the knuckle, that the whole may lie
compactly in the vessel in which it is to be stewed. Pour in three
quarts of cold water, and when it has been brought slowly to boil, and
been well skimmed, as directed for _bouillon_ (Page 8), throw in an
ounce and a half of salt, half a large teaspoonful of peppercorns, eight
cloves, two blades of mace, a faggot of savoury herbs, a couple of small
carrots, and the heart of a root of celery; to these add a mild onion or
not, at choice. When the whole has stewed very softly for four hours,
probe the larger bit of beef, and if quite tender, lift it out for
table; let the soup be simmered from two to three hours longer, and then
strain it through a fine sieve, into a clean pan. When it is perfectly
cold, clear off every particle of fat; heat a couple of quarts, stir in,
when it boils, half an ounce of sugar, a small tablespoonful of good
soy, and twice as much of Harvey’s sauce, or instead of this, of clear
and fine mushroom catsup. If carefully made, the soup will be perfectly
transparent and of good colour and flavour. A thick slice of lean ham
will improve it, and a pound or so of the neck of beef with an
additional pint of water, will likewise enrich its quality. A small
quantity of good broth may be made of the fragments of the whole boiled
down with a few fresh vegetables.
Brown caper, or hot horseradish sauce, or _sauce Robert_, or _sauce
piquante_, made with the liquor in which it is boiled, may be served
with the portion of the meat which is sent to table.
VERMICELLI SOUP.
(_Potage au Vermicelle._)
Drop very lightly, and by degrees, six ounces of vermicelli, broken
rather small, into three quarts of boiling bouillon or clear gravy soup;
let it simmer for half an hour[18] over a gentle fire, and stir it
often. This is the common French mode of making vermicelli soup, and we
can recommend it as a particularly good one for family use. In England
it is customary to soak, or to blanch the vermicelli, then to drain it
well, and to stew it for a shorter time in the soup; the quantity also,
must be reduced quite two ounces, to suit modern taste.
Footnote 18:
When of very fine quality, the vermicelli will usually require less
boiling than this. We have named to the reader, in another part of the
volume, Mr. Cobbett, 18, Pall Mall, as supplying all the Italian
pastes extremely good. There are, of course, _many_ other houses in
London where they may be procured equally so; but in naming Mr.
Cobbett, who is personally unknown to us, we merely give the result of
our own experience of many years. Some articles of _very_ superior
quality purchased for us at his warehouse by a person merely
commissioned to procure the best that could be had “_from Town_,”
first directed our attention to his house (a long established one, we
believe), which is justly noted, especially amongst affluent country
families, for the excellence of the goods which it sends out. We give
this explanation, because it seems invidious to select, from the large
number of deservedly celebrated establishments of the same class which
are to be found here, any _one_ in particular for mention in a work of
this nature.
Bouillon, or gravy soup, 3 quarts; vermicelli, 6 oz.; 30 minutes. Or,
soup, 3 quarts; vermicelli, 4 oz.; blanched in boiling water 5 minutes;
stewed in soup 10 to 15 minutes.
SEMOULINA SOUP.
(_Soupe à la Sémoule._)
Semoulina is used in the same way as the vermicelli. It should be
dropped very lightly and by degrees into the boiling soup, which should
be stirred all the time it is being added, and very frequently
afterwards; indeed, it should scarcely be quitted until it is ready for
table. Skim it carefully, and let it simmer from twenty to
five-and-twenty minutes. This, when the semoulina is good and fresh, is,
to our taste, an excellent soup.
Soup, 3 quarts; semoulina, 6 oz.; nearly, or quite 25 minutes.
MACARONI SOUP.
Throw four ounces of fine fresh[19] mellow Naples maccaroni into a pan
of fast-boiling water, with about an ounce of fresh butter, and a small
onion stuck with three or four cloves.[20] When it has swelled to its
full size, and become tender, drain it well, cut it into half-inch
lengths, and slip it into a couple of quarts of clear gravy-soup: let it
simmer for a few minutes, when it will be ready for table. Observe, that
the macaroni should be boiled quite tender; but it should by no means be
allowed to burst, nor to become pulpy. Serve grated Parmesan cheese with
it.
Footnote 19:
We must here repeat our warning against the use of long-kept macaroni,
vermicelli, or semoulina; as when stale they will render any dish into
which they are introduced quite unfit for table.
Footnote 20:
For white soups omit the onion.
Macaroni, 4 oz.; butter, 1 oz.; 1 small onion; 5 cloves; 3/4 hour, or
more. In soup, 5 to 10 minutes.
_Obs._—The macaroni for soups should always be either broken into short
lengths before it is boiled, or cut as above, or sliced quickly into
small rings not more than the sixth of an inch thick after it is boiled,
unless the _cut_ or ring macaroni, which may be purchased at the Italian
warehouses, be used; this requires but ten minutes’ boiling, and should
be dropped into the soup in the same way as vermicelli.[21] Four ounces
of it will be sufficient for two quarts of stock. It may be added to
white soup after having been previously boiled in water or veal-broth,
and well drained from it: it has a rather elegant appearance in clear
gravy-soup, but should have a boil in water before it is thrown into it.
Footnote 21:
For the different varieties of macaroni and vermicelli, and the time
required to boil each of them, see Chapter XXI.
If served in very clear bright stock (_consommé_), it should be boiled
apart until tender in a little good broth, which ought also to be clear
and entirely free from fat; then well drained, and put into the soup for
a minute, or into the tureen, the instant before the soup is dished.
SOUP OF SOUJEE.
The soujee is of Indian origin, but is now well manufactured in
England,[22] and is, we think, somewhat more delicate than semoulina in
flavour; and being made from wheat of the finest quality, is also quite
as nutritious, or more so. For each quart of soup allow two ounces of
soujee (the proportions can always be otherwise adapted to the taste
after the first trial); drop it gradually into the boiling liquid, and
simmer it for ten or twelve minutes. Bullock’s semola is another
preparation which may be used in exactly the same manner to thicken
soup; but both this and soujee are more expensive at present than
semoulina.
Footnote 22:
By Messrs. Stephens and Co., 2 White’s Row, Bishopsgate.
POTAGE AUX NOUILLES, OR TAILLERINE SOUP
Make into _nouille_-paste, with very fine dry flour, the yolks of four
fresh eggs, and when ready cut, drop it gradually into five pints of
boiling soup; keep this gently stirred for ten minutes, skim it well,
and serve it quickly. This is a less common, and a more delicately
flavoured soup than the vermicelli, provided always that the _nouilles_
be made with really fresh eggs. The same paste may be cut into very
small diamonds, squares, stars, or any other form, then left to dry a
little, and boiled in the soup until swollen to its full size, and
tender.
_Nouille_-paste of four eggs; soup, 5 pints: 10 minutes.
SAGO SOUP.
Wash in several waters, and float off the dirt from six ounces of fine
pearl sago; put it into three quarts of good cold gravy-stock; let it
stew gently from half to three quarters of an hour, and stir it
occasionally, that it may not burn nor stick to the stewpan. A quarter
of an ounce more of sago to each pint of liquid, will thicken it to the
consistence of peas-soup. It may be flavoured with half a wineglassful
of Harvey’s sauce, as much cayenne as it may need, the juice of half a
lemon, an ounce of sugar, and two glasses of sherry; or these may be
omitted, and good beef-broth may be substituted for the gravy-soup, for
a simple family dinner, or for an invalid; or, again, it may be
converted into inexpensive white soup by the addition of some cream
smoothly mixed with a dessertspoonful of arrow-root, or of thick cream
and new milk in equal portions. Veal broth would be the most appropriate
for this, or it might be made with half veal and half mutton.
Sago, 6 oz.; soup, 3 quarts: 30 to 45 minutes.
TAPIOCA SOUP.
This is made in the same manner, and with the same proportions as the
preceding soup, but it must be simmered from fifty to sixty minutes.
RICE SOUP.
In France, this soup is served well thickened with the rice, which is
stewed in it for upwards of an hour and a half, and makes thus, even
with the common _bouillon_ of the country, an excellent winter _potage_.
Wipe in a dry cloth, eight ounces of the best rice; add it, in small
portions, to four quarts of hot soup, of which the boiling should not be
checked as it is thrown in. When a clear soup is wanted wash the rice,
give it five minutes’ boil in water, drain it well, throw it into as
much boiling stock or well-flavoured broth as will keep it covered till
done, and simmer it very softly until the grains are tender but still
separate; drain it, drop it into the soup, and let it remain in it a few
minutes before it is served, but without simmering. When stewed in the
stock it may be put at once, after being drained, into the tureen, and
the clear _consommé_ may be poured to it.
An easy English mode of making rice-soup is this: put the rice into
plenty of cold water; when it boils throw in a small quantity of salt,
let it simmer for ten minutes, drain it well, throw it into the boiling
soup, and simmer it gently from ten to fifteen minutes longer.[23] An
extra quantity of stock must be allowed for the reduction of this soup
which is always considerable.
Footnote 23:
The Patna requires much less boiling than the Carolina.
WHITE RICE SOUP.
Throw four ounces of well-washed rice into boiling water, and in five
minutes after pour it into a sieve, drain it well, and put it into a
couple of quarts of good white boiling stock; let it stew until tender;
season the soup with salt, cayenne, and pounded mace; stir to it three
quarters of a pint of very rich cream, give it one boil, and serve it
quickly.
Rice, 4 oz.: boiled 5 minutes. Soup, 2 quarts: 3/4 hour or more.
Seasoning of salt, mace, and cayenne; cream, 3/4 pint: 1 minute.
RICE-FLOUR SOUP.
Mix to a smooth batter, with a little cold broth, eight ounces of fine
rice-flour, and pour it into a couple of quarts of fast-boiling broth or
gravy soup. Add to it a seasoning of mace and cayenne, with a little
salt if needful. It will require but ten minutes’ boiling. Soup, 2
quarts; rice-flour, 8 oz.: 10 minutes.
_Obs._—Two dessertspoonsful of currie-powder, and the strained juice of
half a moderate-sized lemon will greatly improve this soup: it may also
be converted into a good common white soup (if it be made of veal
stock), by the addition of three quarters of a pint of thick cream to
the rice.
STOCK FOR WHITE SOUP.
Though a knuckle of veal is usually preferred for this stock, part of
the neck will answer for it very well. Whichever joint be chosen, let it
be thoroughly washed, once or twice divided, and laid into a delicately
clean soup-pot, or well-tinned large stout iron saucepan, upon a pound
of lean ham, freed entirely from skin and fat, and cut into thick
slices; or, instead of this, one half a pound of the Jewish smoked beef,
of which we have already spoken, and from which the smoked surface, and
_all_ fat, must be carefully carved away.
Dutch or hung beef also will answer the same purpose, but similar
precautions must be observed with regard to the smoked portions of
either; as they would impart a very unpleasant flavour to any
preparation. Should _very_ rich soup be wished for, pour in a pint only
of cold water for each pound of meat, but otherwise a pint and a half
may be allowed. When the soup has been thoroughly cleared from scum,
which should be carefully taken off from the time of its first beginning
to boil, throw in an ounce of salt to the gallon (more can be added
afterwards if needed), two mild onions, a moderate-sized head of celery,
two carrots, a small teaspoonful of whole white pepper, and two blades
of mace; and let the soup stew very softly from five to six hours, if
the quantity be large: it should simmer until the meat falls from the
bones. The skin of a calf’s head, a calf’s foot, or an old fowl may
always be added to this stock with good effect. Strain it into a clean
deep pan, and keep it in a cool place till wanted for use.
Lean ham, 1 lb.; veal, 7 lbs; water, 4 to 6 quarts; salt, 1-1/2 oz.
(more if needed); onions, 2; celery, 1 head; carrots, 2; peppercorns, 1
teaspoonful; mace, 2 blades: 5 to 6 hours.
MUTTON-STOCK FOR SOUPS.
Equal parts of beef and mutton, with the addition of a small portion of
ham, or dried beef, make excellent stock, especially for winter-soups.
The necks of fowls, the bones of an undressed calf’s head, or of any
uncooked joint, may be added to it with advantage. According to the
quality of soup desired, pour from a pint to a pint and a half of cold
water to each pound of meat; and after the liquor has been well skimmed,
on its beginning to boil, throw in an ounce and a half of salt to the
gallon, two small heads of celery, three mild middling-sized onions,
three well-flavoured turnips, as many carrots, a faggot of thyme and
parsley, half a teaspoonful of white peppercorns, twelve cloves, and a
large blade of mace. Draw the soup-pot to the side of the fire, and boil
the stock as gently as possible for about six hours; then strain, and
set it by for use. Be particularly careful to clear it _entirely_ from
fat before it is prepared for table. One third of beef or _veal_, with
two of mutton, will make very good soup; or mutton only will answer the
purpose quite well upon occasion.
Beef, 4 lbs.; mutton, 4 lbs. (or, beef or veal from 2 to 3 lbs.; mutton
from 5 to 6 lbs.); water, 1 to 1-1/2 gallon; salt, 1-1/2 oz.; mild
turnips, 1 lb.; onions, 6 oz.; carrots, 3/4 lb.; celery, 6 to 8 oz.; 1
bunch of herbs; peppercorns, 1/2 teaspoonful; cloves, 12; mace, 1 large
blade: 6 hours.
_Obs._—Salt should be used sparingly at first for stock in which any
portion of ham is boiled; allowance should also be made for its
reduction, in case of its being required for gravy.
MADEMOISELLE JENNY LIND’S SOUP.
(_Authentic Receipt_)
This receipt does not merely bear the name of “Mademoiselle Lind,” but
is in reality that of the soup which was constantly served to her, as it
was prepared by her own cook. We are indebted for it to the kindness of
the very poplar Swedish authoress, Miss Bremer, who received it direct
from her accomplished countrywoman.[24]
Footnote 24:
We were informed by Miss Bremer that Mademoiselle Lind was in the
habit of taking this soup before she sang, as she found the sago and
eggs soothing to the chest, and beneficial to the voice.
The following proportions are for a tureen of this excellent _potage_:—
Wash a quarter of a pound of the best pearl sago until the water poured
from it is clear; then stew it quite tender and very thick in water or
thick broth (it will require nearly or quite a quart of liquid, which
should be poured to it cold, and heated slowly): then mix gradually with
it a pint of good boiling cream, and the yolks of four fresh eggs, and
mingle the whole carefully with two quarts of strong veal or beef stock,
which should always be kept ready boiling. Send the soup immediately to
table.
THE LORD MAYOR’S SOUP.
Wash thoroughly two sets of moderate sized pigs’ ears and feet from
which the hair has been carefully removed; add to them five quarts of
cold water, and stew them very gently with a faggot of savoury herbs,
and one large onion stuck with a dozen cloves, for nearly four hours,
when the ears may be lifted out; stew the feet for another hour, then
take them up, strain the soup, and set it in a cool place that it may
become cold enough for the fat to be quite cleared from it. Next, bone
the ears and feet, cut the flesh down into dice, throw a clean folded
cloth over it, and leave it so until the soup requires to be prepared
for table; then strew upon it two tablespoonsful of savoury herbs minced
small, half a saltspoonful of cayenne, a little white pepper, and some
salt. Put into a large saucepan half a pound of good butter, and when it
begins to simmer thicken it gradually with as much flour as it will
absorb; keep these stirred over a very gentle fire for ten minutes or
more, but do not allow them to take the slightest colour; pour the soup
to them by degrees, letting it boil up after each portion is added; put
in the meat, and half a pint of sherry; simmer the whole from three to
five minutes; dish the soup, and slip into it two or three dozens of
delicately fried forcemeat-balls. (See Chapter VIII.)
Pigs’ feet, 8; ears, 4; water, 5 quarts; bunch savoury herbs; 1 large
onion; cloves, 12: 3-1/2 to 4 hours, feet, 1 hour more. Butter, 1/2 lb.;
flour, 6 oz.[25]: 10 to 12 minutes. Minced herbs, 2 tablespoonsful;
cayenne and common pepper, each 1/2 saltspoonful; salt, 1/2 teaspoonful
or more; sherry, 1/2 pint: 3 to 5 minutes. Forcemeat-balls, 2 to 3
dozens.
Footnote 25:
The safer plan for an inexperienced cook is to weigh the flour, and
then to sprinkle it from a dredging-box into the butter.
_Obs._—We have given this receipt with the slightest possible variation
from the original, which we derived from a neighbourhood where the soup
made by it was extremely popular. We have better adapted it to our own
taste by the following alterations.
THE LORD MAYOR’S SOUP.
(_Author’s Receipt._)
We prefer to have this soup made, in part, the evening before it is
wanted. Add the same proportion of water to the ears and feet as in the
preceding directions; skim it thoroughly when it first boils, and throw
in a tablespoonful of salt, two onions of moderate size, a small head of
celery, a bunch of herbs, two whole carrots, a small teaspoonful of
white peppercorns, and a blade of mace. Stew these softly until the ears
and feet are perfectly tender, and, after they are lifted out, let the
liquor be kept _just simmering_ only, while they are being boned, that
it may not be too much reduced. Put the bones back into it, and stew
them as gently as possible for an hour; then strain the soup into a
clean pan, and set it by until the morrow in a cool place. The flesh
should be cut into dice while it is still warm, and covered with the
cloth before it becomes _quite_ cold. To prepare the soup for table
clear the stock from fat and sediment, put it into a very clean stewpan,
or deep saucepan, and stir to it when it boils, six ounces of the finest
rice-flour smoothly mixed with a quarter of a teaspoonful of cayenne,
three times as much of mace and salt, the strained juice of a lemon,
three tablespoonsful of Harvey’s sauce, and half a pint of good sherry
or Madeira. Simmer the whole for six or eight minutes, add more salt if
needed, stir the soup often, and skim it thoroughly; put in the meat and
herbs, and after they have boiled gently for five minutes, dish the
soup, add forcemeat-balls or not, at pleasure, and send it to table
quickly.
Moderate-sized pigs’ feet, 8; ears, 4; water, 5 quarts; salt, 1
tablespoonful; onions, 2; celery, 1 head; carrots, 2; bunch of herbs;
peppercorns, 1 small teaspoonful; mace, 1 blade: 3-1/2 to 4-1/2 hours.
Stock, 5 pints; rice-flour, 6 oz.; cayenne, 1/4 teaspoonful; mace and
salt, each 3/4 of a teaspoonful; juice of 1 lemon; Harvey’s sauce, 3
tablespoonsful; sherry or Madeira, 1/2 pint: 6 to 8 minutes. Savoury
herbs, 2 tablespoonsful: 5 minutes.
_Obs. 1._—Should the quantity of stock exceed five pints, an additional
ounce or more of rice must be used, and the flavouring be altogether
increased in proportion. Of the minced herbs, two-thirds should be
parsley, and the remainder equal parts of lemon thyme and winter
savoury, unless sweet basil should be at hand, when a teaspoonful of it
may be substituted for half of the parsley. To some tastes a seasoning
of sage would be acceptable; and a slice or two of lean ham will much
improve the flavour of the soup.
_Obs. 2._—Both this soup, and the preceding one, may be rendered very
rich by substituting strong _bouillon_ (see page 8) or good veal broth
for water, in making them.
COCOA-NUT SOUP.
Pare the dark rind from a very fresh cocoa-nut, and grate it down small
on an exceedingly clean, bright grater; weigh it, and allow two ounces
for each quart of soup. Simmer it gently for one hour in the stock,
which should then be strained closely from it, and thickened for table.
Veal stock, gravy-soup, or broth, 5 pints; grated cocoa-nut, 5 oz., 1
hour. Flour of rice, 5 oz.; mace, 1/2 teaspoonful; little cayenne and
salt; mixed with 1/4 pint of cream: 10 minutes.
Or: gravy-soup, or good beef broth, 5 pints: 1 hour. Rice flour, 5 oz.;
soy and lemon-juice, each 1 tablespoonful; finely pounded sugar, 1 oz.;
cayenne, 1/4 teaspoonful; sherry, 2 glassesful.
_Obs._—When either cream or wine is objected to for these soups, a
half-pint of the stock should be reserved to mix the thickening with.
CHESTNUT SOUP.
Strip the outer rind from some fine, sound Spanish chestnuts, throw them
into a large pan of warm water, and as soon as it becomes too hot for
the fingers to remain in it, take it from the fire, lift out the
chestnuts, peel them quickly, and throw them into cold water as they are
done; wipe, and weigh them; take three quarters of a pound for each
quart of soup, cover them with good stock, and stew them gently for
upwards of three quarters of an hour, or until they break when touched
with a fork; drain, and pound them smoothly, or bruise them to a mash
with a strong spoon, and rub them through a fine sieve reversed; mix
with them by slow degrees the proper quantity of stock; add sufficient
mace, cayenne, and salt to season the soup, and stir it often until it
boils. Three quarters of a pint of rich cream, or even less, will
greatly improve it. The stock in which the chestnuts are boiled can be
used for the soup when its sweetness is not objected to; or it may in
part be added to it.
Chestnuts, 1-1/2 lb.: stewed from 2/3 to 1 hour. Soup, 2 quarts;
seasoning of salt, mace, and cayenne: 1 to 3 minutes. Cream, 3/4 pint
(when used).
JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE, OR PALESTINE SOUP.
Wash and pare quickly some freshly-dug artichokes, and to preserve their
colour, throw them into spring water as they are done, but do not let
them remain in it after all are ready. Boil three pounds of them in
water for ten minutes; lift them out, and slice them into three pints of
boiling stock; when they have stewed gently in this from fifteen to
twenty minutes, press them with the soup, through a fine sieve, and put
the whole into a clean saucepan with a pint and a half more of stock;
add sufficient salt and cayenne to season it, skim it well, and after it
has simmered for two or three minutes, stir it to a pint of rich boiling
cream. Serve it immediately.
Artichokes, 3 lbs., boiled in water: 10 minutes. Veal stock, 3 pints 15
to 20 minutes. Additional stock, 1-1/2 pint; little cayenne and salt 2
to 3 minutes. Boiling cream, 1 pint.
_Obs._—The palest veal stock, as for white soup, should be used for
this; but for a family dinner, or where economy is a consideration
excellent mutton-broth, made the day before and perfectly cleared from
fat, will answer very well as a substitute; milk too may in part take
the place of cream when this last is scarce: the proportion of
artichokes should then be increased a little.
Vegetable-marrow, when young, makes a superior soup even to this, which
is an excellent one. It should be well pared, trimmed, and sliced into a
small quantity of boiling veal stock or broth, and when perfectly
tender, pressed through a fine sieve, and mixed with more stock and some
cream. In France the marrow is stewed, first in butter, with a large
mild onion or two also sliced; and afterwards in a quart or more of
water, which is poured gradually to it; it is next passed through a
tammy,[26] seasoned with pepper and salt, and mixed with a pint or two
of milk and a little cream.
Footnote 26:
Derived from the French _tamis_, which means a sieve or strainer.
COMMON CARROT SOUP.
The most easy method of making this favourite English soup is to boil
some highly coloured carrots quite tender in water slightly salted, then
to pound or mash them to a smooth paste, and to mix with them boiling
gravy soup or strong beef broth (_see Bouillon_) in the proportion of
two quarts to a pound and a half of the prepared carrots; then to pass
the whole through a strainer, to season it with salt and cayenne, to
heat it in a clean stewpan, and to serve it immediately. If only the red
outsides of the carrots be used, the colour of the soup will be very
bright; they should be weighed after they are mashed. Turnip soup may be
prepared in the same manner.
_Obs._—An experienced and observant cook will know the proportion of
vegetables required to thicken this soup appropriately, without having
recourse to weights and measures; but the learner had always better
proceed by _rule_.
Soup, 2 quarts; pounded carrot, 1-1/2 lb.; salt, cayenne: 5 minutes.
A FINER CARROT SOUP.
Scrape very clean, and cut away all blemishes from some highly-flavoured
red carrots; wash, and wipe them dry, and cut them into quarter-inch
slices. Put into a large stewpan three ounces of the best butter, and
when it is melted, add two pounds of the sliced carrots, and let them
stew gently for an hour without browning; pour to them then four pints
and a half of brown gravy soup, and when they have simmered from fifty
minutes to an hour, they ought to be sufficiently tender. Press them
through a sieve or strainer with the soup; add salt, and cayenne if
required; boil the whole gently for five minutes, take off all the scum,
and serve the soup as hot as possible.
Butter, 3 oz.; carrots, 2 lbs.: 1 hour. Soup, 4-1/2 pints: 50 to 60
minutes. Salt, cayenne: 5 minutes.
COMMON TURNIP SOUP.
Wash and wipe the turnips, pare and weigh them; allow a pound and a half
for every quart of soup. Cut them in slices about a quarter of an inch
thick. Melt four ounces of butter in a clean stewpan, and put in the
turnips before it begins to boil; stew them gently for three quarters of
an hour, taking care that they shall not brown, then have the proper
quantity of soup ready boiling, pour it to them, and let them simmer in
it for three quarters of an hour. Pulp the whole through a coarse sieve
or soup strainer, put it again on the fire, keep it stirred until it has
boiled three minutes or four, take off the scum, add salt and pepper if
required, and serve it very hot. Turnips, 3 lbs.; butter, 4 oz.: 3/4
hour. Soup, 2 quarts: 3/4 hour. Last time: three minutes.
A QUICKLY MADE TURNIP SOUP.
Pare and slice into three pints of veal or mutton stock or of good
broth, three pounds of young mild turnips; stew them gently from
twenty-five to thirty minutes, or until they can be reduced quite to
pulp; rub the whole through a sieve, and add to it another quart of
stock, a seasoning of salt and white pepper, and one lump of sugar: give
it two or three minutes’ boil, skim and serve it. A large white onion
when the flavour is liked may be sliced and stewed with the turnips. A
little cream improves much the colour of this soup.
Turnips, 3 lbs.; soup, 5 pints: 25 to 30 minutes.
POTATO SOUP.
Mash to a smooth paste three pounds of good mealy potatoes, which have
been steamed, or boiled very dry; mix with them by degrees, two quarts
of boiling broth, pass the soup through a strainer, set it again on the
fire, add pepper and salt, and let it boil for five minutes. Take off
entirely the black scum that will rise upon it, and serve it very hot
with fried or toasted bread. Where the flavour is approved, two ounces
of onions minced and fried a light brown, may be added to the soup, and
stewed in it for ten minutes before it is sent to table.
Potatoes, 3 lbs.; broth, 2 quarts: 5 minutes. (With onions, 2 oz.) 10
minutes.
APPLE SOUP.
(_Soupe à la Bourguignon._)
Clear the fat from five pints of good mutton broth, _bouillon_, or shin
of beef stock, and strain it through a fine sieve; add to it when it
boils, a pound and a half of good cooking apples, and stew them down in
it very softly to a smooth pulp; press the whole through a strainer, add
a small teaspoonful of powdered ginger and plenty of pepper, simmer the
soup for a couple of minutes, skim, and serve it very hot, accompanied
by a dish of rice, boiled as for curries.
Broth, 5 pints; apples, 1-1/2 lb.: 25 to 40 minutes. Ginger, 1
teaspoonful; pepper, 1/2 teaspoonful: 2 minutes.
PARSNEP SOUP.
Dissolve, over a gentle fire, four ounces of good butter, in a wide
stewpan or saucepan, and slice in directly two pounds of sweet tender
parsneps; let them stew very gently until all are quite soft, then pour
in gradually sufficient veal stock or good broth to cover them, and boil
the whole slowly from twenty minutes to half an hour; work it with a
wooden spoon through a fine sieve, add as much stock as will make two
quarts in all, season the soup with salt and white pepper or cayenne,
give it one boil, skim, and serve it very hot. Send pale fried sippets
to table with it.
Butter, 4-1/2 oz.; parsneps, 2 lbs.: 3/4 hour, or more. Stock, 1 quart;
20 to 30 minutes; 1 full quart more of stock; pepper, salt: 1 minute.
_Obs._—We can particularly recommend this soup to those who like the
peculiar flavour of the vegetable.
ANOTHER PARSNEP SOUP.
Slice into five pints of boiling veal stock or strong colourless broth,
a couple of pounds of parsneps, and stew them as gently as possible from
thirty minutes to an hour; when they are perfectly tender, press them
through a sieve, strain the soup to them, season, boil, and serve it
very hot. With the addition of cream, parsnep soup made by this receipt
resembles in appearance the Palestine soup.
Veal stock or broth, 5 pints; parsneps, 2 lbs.: 30 to 60 minutes. Salt
and cayenne: 2 minutes.
WESTERFIELD WHITE SOUP.
Break the bone of a knuckle of veal in one or two places, and put it on
to stew, with three quarts of cold water to the five pounds of meat;
when it has been quite cleared from scum, add to it an ounce and a half
of salt, and one mild onion, twenty corns of white pepper, and two or
three blades of mace, with a _little_ cayenne pepper. When the soup is
reduced one-third by slow simmering strain it off, and set it by till
cold; then free it carefully from the fat and sediment, and heat it
again in a very clean stewpan. Mix with it when it boils, a pint of
thick cream smoothly blended with an ounce of good arrow-root, two
ounces of very fresh vermicelli previously boiled tender in water
slightly salted and _well drained_ from it, and an ounce and a half of
almonds blanched and cut in strips: give it one minute’s simmer, and
serve it immediately, with a French roll in the tureen.
Veal, 5 lbs.; water, 3 quarts; salt, 1-1/2 oz.; 1 mild onion; 20 corns
white pepper; 2 large blades of mace: 5 hours or _more_. Cream, 1 pint;
almonds, 1-1/2 oz.; vermicelli, 1 oz.: 1 minute. Little thickening if
needed.
_Obs._—We have given this receipt without any variation from the
original, as the soup made by it—of which we have often partaken—seemed
always much approved by the guests of the hospitable country gentleman
from whose family it was derived, and at whose well-arranged table it
was very commonly served; but we would suggest the suppression of the
almond spikes, as they seem unsuited to the preparation, and also to the
taste of the present day.
A RICHER WHITE SOUP.
Pound very fine indeed six ounces of sweet almonds, then add to them six
ounces of the breasts of roasted chickens or partridges, and three
ounces of the whitest bread which has been soaked in a little veal
broth, and squeezed very dry in a cloth. Beat these altogether to an
extremely smooth paste; then pour to them boiling and by degrees, two
quarts of rich veal stock; strain the soup through a fine hair sieve,
set it again over the fire, add to it a pint of thick cream, and serve
it, as soon as it is at the point of boiling. When cream is very scarce,
or not easily to be procured, this soup may be thickened sufficiently
without it, by increasing the quantity of almonds to eight or ten
ounces, and pouring to them, after they have been reduced to the finest
paste, a pint of boiling stock, which must be again wrung from them
through a coarse cloth with very strong pressure: the proportion of meat
and bread also should then be nearly doubled. The stock should be well
seasoned with mace and cayenne before it is added to the other
ingredients.
Almonds, 6 oz.; breasts of chickens or partridges, 6 oz.; soaked bread,
3 oz.; veal stock, 2 quarts; cream, 1 pint.
_Obs. 1._—Some persons pound the yolks of four or five hard-boiled eggs
with the almonds, meat, and bread for this white soup; French cooks beat
smoothly with them an ounce or two of whole rice, previously boiled from
fifteen to twenty minutes.
_Obs. 2._—A good plain white soup maybe made simply by adding to a
couple of quarts of pale veal stock or strong well-flavoured veal broth,
a thickening of arrow-root, and from half to three quarters of a pint of
cream. Four ounces of macaroni boiled tender and well-drained may be
dropped into it a minute or two before it is dished, but the thickening
may then be diminished a little.
MOCK TURTLE SOUP.
To make a single tureen of this favourite English soup in the most
economical manner when there is no stock at hand, stew gently down in a
gallon of water four pounds of the fleshy part of the shin of beef, or
of the neck, with two or three carrots, one onion, a small head of
celery, a bunch of savoury herbs, a blade of mace, a half-teaspoonful of
peppercorns, and an ounce of salt. When the meat is quite in fragments,
strain off the broth, and pour it when cold upon three pounds of the
knuckle or of the neck of veal; simmer this until the flesh has quite
fallen from the bones, but be careful to stew it as softly as possible,
or the quantity of stock will be so much reduced as to be insufficient
for the soup. Next, take the half of a fine calf’s head _with the skin
on_, remove the brains, and then bone it[27] entirely, or let the
butcher do this, and return the bones with it; these, when there is
time, may be stewed with the veal to enrich the stock, or boiled
afterwards with the head and tongue. Strain the soup through a
hair-sieve into a clean pan, and let it drain closely from the meat.
When it is nearly or quite cold, clear off all the fat from it; roll the
head lightly round, leaving the tongue inside, or taking it out, as is
most convenient, secure it with tape or twine, pour the soup over, and
bring it gently to boil upon a moderate fire; keep it well skimmed, and
simmer it from an hour to an hour and a quarter; then lift the head into
a deep pan or tureen, add the soup to it, and let it remain in until
nearly cold, as this will prevent the edges from becoming dark. Cut into
quarter-inch slices, and then divide into dice, from six to eight ounces
of the lean of an undressed ham, and if possible, one of good flavour;
free it perfectly from fat, rind, and the smoked edges; peel and slice
four moderate-sized eschalots, or if these should not be at hand, one
mild onion in lieu of them. Dissolve in a well-tinned stewpan or thick
iron saucepan which holds a gallon or more, four ounces of butter; put
in the ham and eschalots, or onion, with half a dozen cloves, two
middling-sized blades of mace, a half-teaspoonful of peppercorns, three
or four very small sprigs of thyme, three teaspoonsful of minced
parsley, one of lemon thyme and winter savoury mixed, and when the
flavour is thought appropriate, the very thin rind of half a small fresh
lemon. Stew these as softly as possible for nearly or quite an hour, and
keep the pan frequently shaken: then put into a dredging box two ounces
of fine dry flour, and sprinkle it to them by degrees; mix the whole
well together, and after a few minutes more of gentle simmering, add
very gradually five full pints of the stock taken free of fat and
sediment, and made boiling before it is poured in; shake the pan
strongly round as the first portions of it are added, and continue to do
so until it contains from two to three pints, when the remainder may be
poured in at once, and the pan placed by the side of the fire that it
may boil in the gentlest manner for an hour. At the end of that time
turn the whole into a hair-sieve placed over a large pan, and if the
liquid should not run through freely, knock the sides of the sieve, but
do not force it through with a spoon, as that would spoil the appearance
of the stock. The head in the meanwhile should have been cut up, ready
to add to it. For the finest kind of mock turtle, only the skin, with
the fat that adheres to it, should be used; and this, with the tongue,
should be cut down into one inch squares, or if preferred into strips of
an inch wide. For ordinary occasions, the lean part of the flesh may be
added also, but as it is always sooner done than the skin, it is better
to add it to the soup a little later. When it is quite ready, put it
with the strained stock into a clean pan, and simmer it from three
quarters of an hour to a full hour: it should be perfectly tender,
without being allowed to break. Cayenne, if needed, should be thrown
into the stock before it is strained; salt should be used sparingly, on
account of the ham, until the whole of the other ingredients have been
mixed together, when a sufficient quantity must be stirred into the soup
to season it properly. A couple of glasses of good sherry or Madeira,
with a dessertspoonful of strained lemon-juice, are usually added two or
three minutes only before the soup is dished, that the spirit and
flavour of the wine may not have time to evaporate; but it is sometimes
preferred mellowed down by longer boiling. The proportion of lemon-juice
may be doubled at will, but much acid is not generally liked. We can
assure the reader of the excellence of the soup made by this receipt; it
is equally palatable and delicate, and not heavy or cloying to the
stomach, like many of the elaborate compositions which bear its name.
The fat, through the whole process, should be carefully skimmed off. The
ham gives far more savour, when used as we have directed, than when,
even in much larger proportion, it is boiled down in the stock. Two
dozens of forcemeat-balls, prepared by the receipt No. 11, Chap. VIII.,
should be dropped into the soup when it is ready for table. It is no
longer customary to serve egg-balls in it.
Footnote 27:
This is so simple and easy a process, that the cook may readily
accomplish it with very little attention. Let her only work the knife
close to the bone always, so as to take the flesh clean from it,
instead of leaving large fragments on. The jaw-bone may first be
removed, and the flesh turned back from the edge of the other.
First broth:—shin, or neck of beef, 4 lbs.; water, 4 quarts; carrots, 2
or 3; large mild onion, 1; celery, small head; bunch savoury herbs;
mace, 1 large blade; peppercorns, 1/2 teaspoonful; cloves, 6; salt, 1
oz.: 5 hours or more, _very gently_. For stock: the broth and 3 lbs.
neck or knuckle of veal (bones of head if ready): 4 to 5 hours. Boned
half-head with skin on and tongue, 1 to 1-1/4 hour. Lean of undressed
ham, 6 to 8 oz. (6 if _very_ salt); shalots, 4, or onion, 1; fresh
butter, 4 oz.; cloves, 6; middling-sized blades of mace, 2; peppercorns,
1/2 teaspoonful; _small_ sprigs of thyme, 3 or 4; minced parsley, 3
large teaspoonsful; minced savoury and lemon-thyme mixed, 1 small
teaspoonful (thin rind 1/2 small lemon, when liked): 1 hour. Flour, 2
oz.: 5 minutes. Stock, full five pints; flesh of head and tongue, 1-3/4
to 2 lbs.: 3/4 of an hour to 1 hour (salt, if needed, to be added in
interim). Good sherry or Madeira, 2 wineglassesful; lemon-juice, 1 to 2
dessertspoonsful; forcemeat-balls, 24.
_Obs. 1._—The beef, veal, bones of the head, and vegetables may be
stewed down together when more convenient: it is only necessary that a
really good, well flavoured, and rather deeply-coloured stock should be
prepared. A calf’s foot is always an advantageous addition to it, and
the skin of another calf’s head[28] a better one still.
Footnote 28:
Country butchers, in preparing a calf’s head for sale in the ordinary
way, take off the skin (or scalp), considered so essential to the
excellence of this soup, and frequently throw it away; it may,
therefore, often be procured from them at very slight cost, and is the
best possible addition to the mock turtle. It is cleared from the head
in detached portions with the hair on, but this may easily be removed
after a few minutes’ scalding as from the head itself, or the feet, by
the direction given in Chapter of _Sweet Dishes_. In London it is sold
entire, and very nicely prepared, and may be served in many forms,
besides being _added_ to soup with great advantage.
_Obs. 2._—A couple of dozens mushroom-buttons, cleaned with salt and
flannel, then wiped very dry, and sliced, and added to the ham and herbs
when they have been simmered together about half an hour, will be found
an improvement to the soup.
Claret is sometimes added instead of sherry or Madeira, but we do not
think it would in general suit English taste so well. From two to three
tablespoonsful of Harvey’s sauce can be stirred in with the wine when it
is liked, or when the colour requires deepening.
OLD-FASHIONED MOCK TURTLE.
After having taken out the brain and washed and soaked the head well,
pour to it nine quarts of cold water, bring it gently to boil, skim it
very clean, boil it if large an hour and a half, lift it out, and put
into the liquor eight pounds of neck of beef lightly browned in a little
fresh butter, with three or four thick slices of lean ham, four large
onions sliced, three heads of celery, three large carrots, a large bunch
of savoury herbs, the rind of a lemon pared very thin, a dessertspoonful
of peppercorns, two ounces of salt, and after the meat has been taken
from the head, all the bones and fragments. Stew these gently from six
to seven hours, then strain off the stock and set it into a very cool
place, that the fat may become firm enough on the top to be cleared off
easily. The skin and fat of the head should be taken off together and
divided into strips of two or three inches in length, and one in width;
the tongue may be carved in the same manner, or into dice. Put the
stock, of which there ought to be between four and five quarts, into a
large soup or stewpot; thicken it when it boils with four ounces of
fresh butter[29] mixed with an equal weight of fine dry flour, a
half-teaspoonful of pounded mace, and a third as much of cayenne (it is
better to use these sparingly at first, and to add more should the soup
require it, after it has boiled some little time); pour in half a pint
of sherry, stir the whole together until it has simmered for a minute or
two, then put in the head, and let it stew gently from an hour and a
quarter to an hour and a half: stir it often, and clear it perfectly
from scum. Put into it just before it is ready for table three dozens of
small forcemeat-balls; the brain cut into dice (after having been well
soaked, scalded,[30] and freed from the film), dipped into beaten yolk
of egg, then into the finest crumbs mixed with salt, white pepper, a
little grated nutmeg, fine lemon-rind, and chopped parsley fried a fine
brown, well drained and dried; and as many egg-balls, the size of a
small marble, as the yolks of four eggs will supply. (See Chapter VIII).
This quantity will be sufficient for two large tureens of soup; when the
whole is not wanted for table at the same time, it is better to add wine
only to so much as will be required for immediate consumption, or if it
cannot conveniently be divided, to heat the wine in a small saucepan
with a little of the soup, to turn it into the tureen, and then to mix
it with the remainder by stirring the whole gently after the tureen is
filled. Some persons simply put in the cold wine just before the soup is
dished, but this is not so well.
Footnote 29:
When the butter is considered objectionable, the flour, without it,
may be mixed to the smoothest batter possible, with a little cold
stock or water, and stirred briskly into the boiling soup: the spices
should be blended with it.
Footnote 30:
The brain should be blanched, that is, thrown into boiling water with
a little salt in it, and boiled from five to eight minutes, then
lifted out and laid into cold water for a quarter of an hour: it must
be wiped very dry before it is fried.
Whole calf’s head with skin on, boiled 1-1/2 hour. Stock: neck of beef,
browned in butter, 8 lbs.; lean of ham, 1/2 to 3/4 lb.; onions, 4; large
carrots, 3; heads of celery, 3; large bunch herbs; salt, 2 oz. (as much
more to be added when the soup is made as will season it sufficiently);
thin rind, 1 lemon; peppercorns, 1 dessertspoonful; bones and trimmings
of head: 8 hours. Soup: stock, 4 to 5 quarts; flour and butter for
thickening, of each 4 oz.; pounded mace, half-teaspoonful; cayenne,
third as much (more of each as needed); sherry, half pint: 2 to 3
minutes. Flesh of head and tongue, nearly or quite 2 lbs.: 1-1/4 to
1-1/2 hour. Forcemeat-balls, 36; the brain cut and fried; egg-balls, 16
to 24.
_Obs._—When the brain is not blanched it must be cut thinner in the form
of small cakes, or it will not be done through by the time it has taken
enough colour: it may be altogether omitted without much detriment to
the soup, and will make an excellent corner dish if gently stewed in
white gravy for half an hour, and served with it thickened with cream
and arrow-root to the consistency of good white sauce, then rather
highly seasoned, and mixed with plenty of minced parsley, and some
lemon-juice.
GOOD CALF’S HEAD SOUP.
(_Not expensive._)
Stew down from six to seven pounds of the thick part of a shin of beef
with a little lean ham, or a slice of hung beef, or of Jewish beef,
trimmed free from the smoky edges, in five quarts of water until reduced
nearly half, with the addition, when it first begins to boil, of an
ounce of salt, a large bunch of savoury herbs, one large onion, a head
of celery, three carrots, two or three turnips, two small blades of
mace, eight or ten cloves, and a few white or black peppercorns. Let it
boil _gently_ that it may not be too much reduced, for six or seven
hours, then strain it into a clean pan and set it by for use. Take out
the bone from half a calf’s head with the skin on (the butcher will do
this if desired), wash, roll, and bind it with a bit of tape or twine,
and lay it into a stewpan, with the bones and tongue; cover the whole
with the beef stock, and stew it for an hour and a half; then lift it
into a deep earthen pan and let it cool in the liquor, as this will
prevent the edges from becoming dry or discoloured. Take it out before
it is quite cold; strain, and skim all the fat carefully from the stock;
and heat five pints in a large clean saucepan, with the head cut into
small thick slices or into inch-squares. As quite the whole will not be
needed, leave a portion of the fat, but add every morsel of the skin to
the soup, and of the tongue also. Should the first of these not be
perfectly tender, it must be simmered gently till it is so; then stir
into the soup from six to eight ounces of fine rice-flour mixed with a
quarter-teaspoonful of cayenne, twice as much freshly pounded mace, half
a wineglassful of mushroom catsup,[31] and sufficient cold broth or
water to render it of the consistence of batter; boil the whole from
eight to ten minutes; take off the scum, and throw in two glasses of
sherry; dish the soup and put into the tureen some delicately and well
fried forcemeat-balls made by the receipt No. 1, 2, or 3, of Chapter
VIII. A small quantity of lemon-juice or other acid can be added at
pleasure. The wine and forcemeat-balls may be omitted, and the other
seasonings of the soup a little heightened. As much salt as may be
required should be added to the stock when the head first begins to boil
in it: the cook must regulate also by the taste the exact proportion of
cayenne, mace, and catsup, which will flavour the soup agreeably. The
fragments of the head, with the bones and the residue of the beef used
for stock, if stewed down together with some water and a few fresh
vegetables, will afford some excellent broth, such as would be highly
acceptable, especially if well thickened with rice, to many a poor
family during the winter months.
Footnote 31:
Unless _very good_ and pure in flavour, we cannot recommend the
addition of this or of any other catsup to soup or gravy.
Stock: shin of beef, 6 to 7 lbs.; water, 5 quarts: stewed down (with
vegetables, &c.) till reduced nearly half. Boned half-head with skin on
stewed in stock: 1-1/2 hour. Soup: stock, 5 pints; tongue, skin of head,
and part of flesh: 15 to 40 minutes, or more if not quite tender.
Rice-flour, 6 to 8 oz.; cayenne, quarter-teaspoonful; mace, twice as
much; mushroom catsup, 1/2 wineglassful: 10 minutes. Sherry, 2
wineglassesful, forcemeat-balls, 20 to 30.
SOUP DES GALLES.
Add to the liquor in which a knuckle of veal has been boiled the usual
time for table as much water as will make altogether six quarts, and
stew in it gently sixpennyworth of beef bones and sixpennyworth of
pork-rinds. When the boiling is somewhat advanced, throw in the skin of
a calf’s head; and in an hour afterwards, or when it is quite tender,
lift it out and set it aside till wanted. Slice and fry four large mild
onions, stick into another eight or ten cloves, and put them into the
soup after it has stewed from six to seven hours. Continue the boiling
for two or three hours longer, then strain off the soup, and let it
remain until perfectly cold. When wanted for table, take it quite clear
from the fat and sediment, and heat it anew with the skin of the calf’s
head cut into dice, three ounces of loaf sugar, four tablespoonsful of
strained lemon-juice, two of soy, and three wineglassesful of sherry;
give it one boil, skim it well, and serve it as hot as possible. Salt
must be added to it sparingly in the first instance on account of the
soy: a proper seasoning of cayenne or pepper must not, of course, be
omitted.
This receipt was given to the writer, some years since, as a perfectly
successful imitation of a soup which was then, and is still, she
believes, selling in London at six shillings the quart. Never having
tasted the original _Soupe des Galles_ she cannot say how far it is a
correct one; but she had it tested with great exactness when she
received it first, and found the result a very good soup prepared at an
extremely moderate cost. The pork-rinds, when long boiled, afford a
strong and flavourless jelly, which might be advantageously used to give
consistence to other soups. They may be procured during the winter,
usually at the butcher’s, but if not, at the porkshops: they should be
carefully washed before they are put into the soup-pot. When a knuckle
of veal cannot conveniently be had, a pound or two of the neck and a
morsel of scrag of mutton may instead be boiled down with the
beef-bones; or two or three pounds of neck or shin of beef: but these
will, of course, augment the cost of the soup.
POTAGE À LA REINE.
(_A Delicate White Soup._)
Should there be no strong veal broth, nor any white stock in readiness,
stew four pounds of the scrag or knuckle of veal, with a thick slice or
two of lean ham, a faggot of sweet herbs, two moderate-sized carrots,
and the same of onions, a large blade of mace, and a half-teaspoonful of
white peppercorns, in four quarts of water until reduced to about five
pints; then strain the liquor, and set it by until the fat can be taken
entirely from it. Skin and wash thoroughly, a couple of fine fowls, or
three young pullets, and take away the dark spongy substance which
adheres to the insides; pour the veal broth to them, and boil them
gently from three quarters of an hour to an hour; then lift them out,
take off all the white flesh, mince it small, pound it to the finest
paste, and cover it with a basin until wanted for use. In the mean time
let the bodies of the fowls be put again into the stock, and stewed
gently for an hour and a half; add as much salt and cayenne, as will
season the soup properly, strain it off when sufficiently boiled, and
let it cool; skim off every particle of fat; steep, in a small portion
of it, which should be boiling, four ounces of the crumb of light stale
bread sliced thin, and when it has simmered a few minutes, drain or
wring the moisture from it in a clean cloth, add it to the flesh of the
chickens, and pound them together until they are perfectly blended; then
pour the stock to them in very small quantities at first, and mix them
smoothly with it; pass the whole through a sieve or tammy, heat it in a
clean stewpan, stir to it from a pint to a pint and a half of boiling
cream, and add, should it not be sufficiently thick, an ounce and a half
of arrow-root, quite free from lumps, and moistened with a few spoonsful
of cold milk or stock.
REMARK.—This soup, and the two which immediately follow it, if made with
care and great nicety by the exact directions given here for them, will
be found very refined and excellent. For stock: veal, 4 lbs.; ham, 6
oz.; water, 4 quarts; bunch of herbs; carrots, 2; onions, 2; mace, large
blade; peppercorns, 1/2 teaspoonful; salt: 5 hours. Fowls, 2, or
pullets, 3: 3/4 to 1 hour; stewed afterwards 1 to 1-1/2 hour. Crumb of
bread, 4 oz.; cream, 1 to 1-1/2 pint; arrow-root (if needed), 1-1/2 oz.
_Obs._—Some cooks pound with the bread and chickens the yolks of three
or four hard-boiled eggs, but these improve neither the colour nor the
flavour of the _potage_.
WHITE OYSTER SOUP.
(_or Oyster Soup à la Reine._)
When the oysters are small, from two to three dozens for each pint of
soup should be prepared, but this number can of course be diminished or
increased at pleasure. Let the fish (which should be finely conditioned
natives) be opened carefully; pour the liquor from them, and strain it;
rinse them in it well, and beard them; strain the liquor a second time
through a lawn sieve or folded muslin, and pour it again over the
oysters. Take a portion from two quarts of the palest veal stock, and
simmer the beards in it from twenty to thirty minutes. Heat the soup,
flavour it with mace and cayenne, and strain the stock from the
oyster-beards into it. Plump the fish in their own liquor, but do not
let them boil; pour the liquor to the soup, and add to it a pint of
boiling cream; put the oysters into the tureen, dish the soup, and send
it to table quickly. Should any thickening be required, stir briskly to
the stock an ounce and a half of arrow-root entirely free from lumps,
and carefully mixed with a little milk or cream; or, in lieu of this,
when a _rich_ soup is liked, thicken it with four ounces of fresh butter
well blended with three of flour.
Oysters, 8 to 12 dozens; pale veal stock, 2 quarts; cream, 1 pint;
thickening, 1 oz. arrow-root, or butter, 4 oz., flour, 3 oz.
RABBIT SOUP À LA REINE.
Wash and soak thoroughly three young rabbits, put them whole into the
soup-pot, and pour on them seven pints of cold water or of clear veal
broth; when they have stewed gently about three quarters of an hour lift
them out, and take off the flesh of the backs, with a little from the
legs should there not be half a pound of the former; strip off the skin,
mince the meat very small, and pound it to the smoothest paste; cover it
from the air, and set it by. Put back into the soup the bodies of the
rabbits, with two mild onions of moderate size, a head of celery, three
carrots, a faggot of savoury herbs, two blades of mace, a
half-teaspoonful of peppercorns, and an ounce of salt. Stew the whole
softly three hours; strain it off, let it stand to settle, pour it
gently from the sediment, put from four to five pints into a clean
stewpan, and mix it very gradually while hot with the pounded
rabbit-flesh; this must be done with care, for if the liquid be not
added in very small portions at first, the meat will gather into lumps
and will not easily be worked smooth afterwards. Add as much pounded
mace and cayenne as will season the soup pleasantly, and pass it through
a coarse but very clean sieve; wipe out the stewpan, put back the soup
into it, and stir in when it boils, a pint and a quarter of good
cream[32] mixed with a tablespoonful of the best arrow-root: salt, if
needed, should be thrown in previously.
Footnote 32:
We give this receipt exactly as we had it first compounded, but less
cream and rather more arrow-root might be used for it, and would adapt
it better to the economist.
Young rabbits, 3; water, or clear veal broth, 7 pints: 3/4 of an hour.
Remains of rabbits; onions, 2; celery, 1 head; carrots, 3; savoury
herbs; mace, 2 blades; white peppercorns, a half-teaspoonful; salt, 1
oz.: 3 hours. Soup, 4 to 5 pints; pounded rabbit-flesh, 8 oz.; salt,
mace, and cayenne, if needed; cream, 1-1/4 pint; arrow-root, 1
tablespoonful (or 1-1/2 ounce).
BROWN RABBIT SOUP.
Cut down into joints, flour, and fry lightly, two full grown, or three
young rabbits; add to them three onions of moderate size, also fried to
a clear brown; on these pour gradually seven pints of boiling water,
throw in a large teaspoonful of salt, clear off all the scum with care
as it rises, and then put to the soup a faggot of parsley, four not very
large carrots, and a small teaspoonful of peppercorns; boil the whole
very softly from five hours to five and a half; add more salt if needed,
strain off the soup, let it cool sufficiently for the fat to be skimmed
clean from it, heat it afresh, and send it to table with sippets of
fried bread. Spice, with a thickening of rice-flour, or of wheaten flour
browned in the oven, and mixed with a spoonful or two of very good
mushroom catsup, or of Harvey’s sauce, can be added at pleasure to the
above, with a few drops of eschalot-wine, or vinegar; but the simple
receipt will be found extremely good without them.
Rabbits, 2 full grown, or 3 small; onions fried, 3 middling-sized;
water, 7 pints; salt, 1 large teaspoonful or more; carrots, 4, a faggot
of parsley; peppercorns, 1 small teaspoonful: 5 to 5-1/2 hours.
SUPERLATIVE HARE SOUP.
Cut down a hare into joints, and put into a soup-pot, or large stewpan,
with about a pound of lean ham, in thick slices, three moderate-sized
mild onions, three blades of mace, a faggot of thyme, sweet marjoram,
and parsley, and about three quarts of good beef stock. Let it stew very
gently for full two hours from the time of its first beginning to boil,
and more, if the hare be old. Strain the soup and pound together very
fine the slices of ham and all the flesh of the back, legs, and
shoulders of the hare, and put this meat into a stewpan with the liquor
in which it was boiled, the crumb of two French rolls, and half a pint
of port wine. Set it on the stove to simmer twenty minutes; then rub it
through a sieve, place it again on the stove till very hot, but do not
let it boil: season it with salt and cayenne, and send it to table
directly.
Hare, 1; ham, 12 to 16 oz.; onions, 3 to 6; mace, 3 blades; faggot of
savoury herbs; beef stock, 3 quarts: 2 hours. Crumb of 2 rolls; port
wine, 1/2 pint; little salt and cayenne: 20 minutes.
A LESS EXPENSIVE HARE SOUP.[33]
Footnote 33:
The remains of a roasted hare, with the forcemeat and gravy, are
admirably calculated for making this soup.
Pour on two pounds of neck or shin of beef and a hare well washed and
carved into joints, one gallon of cold water, and when it boils and has
been thoroughly skimmed, add an ounce and a half of salt, two onions,
one large head of celery, three moderate-sized carrots, a teaspoonful of
black peppercorns, and six cloves.
Let these stew very gently for three hours, or longer, should the hare
not be perfectly tender. Then take up the principal joints, cut the meat
from them, mince, and pound it to a fine paste, with the crumb of two
penny rolls (or two ounces of the crumb of household bread) which has
been soaked in a little of the boiling soup, and then pressed very dry
in a cloth; strain, and mix smoothly with it the stock from the
remainder of the hare; pass the soup through a strainer, season it with
cayenne, and serve it when at the point of boiling; if not sufficiently
thick, add to it a tablespoonful of arrow-root moistened with a little
cold broth, and let the soup simmer for an instant afterwards. Two or
three glasses of port wine, and two dozens of small forcemeat-balls, may
be added to this soup with good effect.
Beef, 2 lbs.; hare, 1; water, 1 gallon; salt, 1-1/2 oz.; onions, 2;
celery, 1 head; carrots, 3; bunch of savoury herbs; peppercorns, 1
teaspoonful; cloves, 6: 3 hours, or more. Bread, 2 oz.; cayenne,
arrow-root (if needed), 1 tablespoonful.
ECONOMICAL TURKEY SOUP.
The remains of a roast turkey, even after they have supplied the usual
mince and broil, will furnish a tureen of cheap and excellent soup with
the addition of a little fresh meat. Cut up rather small two pounds of
the neck or other lean joint of beef, and pour to it five pints of cold
water. Heat these very slowly; skim the liquor when it begins to boil,
and add to it an ounce of salt, a small, mild onion (the proportion of
all the vegetables may be much increased when they are liked), a little
celery, and the flesh and bones of the turkey, with any gravy or
forcemeat that may have been left with them. Let these boil gently for
about three hours; then strain off the soup through a coarse sieve or
cullender, and let it remain until the fat can be entirely removed from
it. It may then be served merely well thickened with rice[34] which has
previously been boiled very dry as for currie, and stewed in it for
about ten minutes; and seasoned with one large heaped tablespoonful or
more of minced parsley, and as much salt and pepper or cayenne as it may
require. This, as the reader will perceive, is a somewhat frugal
preparation, by which the residue of a roast turkey may be turned to
economical account; but it is a favourite soup at some good English
tables, where its very simplicity is a recommendation. It can always be
rendered _more expensive_, and of richer quality, by the addition of
lean ham or smoked beef,[35] a larger weight of fresh meat, and catsup
or other store-sauces.
Footnote 34:
It will be desirable to prepare six ounces of rice, and to use as much
of it as may be required, the reduction of the stock not being always
equal, and the same weight of rice therefore not being in all cases
sufficient. Rice-flour can be substituted for the whole grain and used
as directed for _Rice Flour Soup_, page 15.
Footnote 35:
As we have stated in our chapter of Foreign Cookery, the _Jewish_
smoked beef, of which we have given particulars there, imparts a
superior flavour to soups and gravies; and it is an economical
addition to them, as a small portion of it will much heighten their
savour.
Turkey soup _à la reine_ is made precisely like the _Potage à la Reine_
of fowls or pullets, of which the receipt will be found in another part
of this chapter.
PHEASANT SOUP.
Half roast a brace of well-kept pheasants, and flour them rather thickly
when they are first laid to the fire. As soon as they are nearly cold
take all the flesh from the breasts, put it aside, and keep it covered
from the air; carve down the remainder of the birds into joints, bruise
the bodies thoroughly, and stew the whole gently from two to three hours
in five pints of strong beef broth; then strain off the soup, and press
as much of it as possible from the pheasants. Let it cool; and in the
mean time strip the skins from the breasts, mince them small, and pound
them to the finest paste, with half as much fresh butter, and half of
dry crumbs of bread; season these well with cayenne, sufficiently with
salt, and moderately with pounded mace and grated nutmeg, and add, when
their flavour is liked, three or four eschalots previously boiled tender
in a little of the soup, left till cold, and minced before they are put
into the mortar. Moisten the mixture with the yolks of two or three
eggs, roll it into small balls of equal size, dust a little flour upon
them, skim all the fat from the soup, heat it in a clean stewpan, and
when it boils throw them in and poach them from ten to twelve minutes,
but first ascertain that the soup is properly seasoned with salt and
cayenne. We have recommended that the birds should be partially roasted
before they are put into the soup-pot, because their flavour is much
finer when this is done than when they are simply stewed; they should be
placed rather near to a brisk fire that they may be quickly browned on
the surface without losing any of their juices, and the basting should
be constant. A slight thickening of rice-flour and arrow-root can be
added to the soup at pleasure, and the forcemeat-balls may be fried and
dropped into the tureen when they are preferred so. Half a dozen
eschalots lightly browned in butter, and a small head of celery, may
also be thrown in after the birds begin to stew, but nothing should be
allowed to prevail ever the natural flavour of the game itself; and this
should be observed equally with other kinds, as partridges, grouse, and
venison.
Pheasants, 2. roasted 20 to 25 minutes. Strong beef broth, or stock, 5
pints: 2 to 3 hours. Forcemeat-balls: breasts of pheasants, half as much
dry bread-crumbs and of butter, salt, mace, cayenne; yolks of 2 or 3
eggs (and at choice 3 or 4 boiled eschalots).
_Obs._—The stock may be made of six pounds of shin of beef, and four
quarts of water reduced to within a pint of half. An onion, a large
carrot, a bunch of savoury herbs, and some salt and spice should be
added to it: one pound of neck of veal or of beef will improve it.
ANOTHER PHEASANT SOUP.
Boil down the half-roasted birds as directed in the foregoing receipt,
and add to the soup, after it is strained and re-heated, the breasts
pounded to the finest paste with nearly as much bread soaked in a little
of the stock and pressed very dry; for the proper manner of mixing them,
see _Potage à la Reine_, page 29. Half a pint of small mushrooms
cleaned as for pickling, then sliced rather thickly, and stewed from ten
to fifteen minutes without browning, in an ounce or two of fresh butter,
with a slight seasoning of mace, cayenne, and salt, then turned into the
mortar and pounded with the other ingredients, will be found an
excellent addition to the soup, which must be passed through a strainer
after the breasts are added to it, brought to the point of boiling, and
served with sippets _à la Reine_, or with others simply fried of a
delicate brown and well dried. We have occasionally had a small quantity
of delicious soup made with the remains of birds which have been served
at table; and where game is frequently dressed, the cook, by reserving
all the fragments for the purpose, and combining different kinds, may
often send up a good tureen of such, made at a very slight cost.
Pheasants, 2; stock, 5 pints; bread soaked in gravy (see Panada, Chapter
VIII), nearly as much _in bulk_ as the flesh of the breasts of the
birds; mushrooms, 1/2 pint, stewed in one or two oz. of butter 10 to 15
minutes, then pounded with flesh of pheasants. Salt, cayenne and mace,
to season properly.
PARTRIDGE SOUP.
This is, we think, superior in flavour to the pheasant soup. It should
be made in precisely the same manner, but three birds allowed for it
instead of two. Grouse and partridges together will make a still finer
one; the remains of roast grouse even, added to a brace of partridges,
will produce a very good effect.
MULLAGATAWNY SOUP.
Slice, and fry gently in some good butter three or four large onions,
and when they are of a fine equal amber-colour lift them out with a
slice and put them into a deep stewpot, or large thick saucepan; throw a
little more butter into the pan, and then brown lightly in it a young
rabbit, or the prime joints of two, or a fowl cut down small, and
floured. When the meat is sufficiently browned, lay it upon the onions,
pour gradually to them a quart of good boiling stock, and stew it gently
from three quarters of an hour to an hour; then take it out, and pass
the stock and onions through a fine sieve or strainer. Add to them two
pints and a half more of stock, pour the whole into a clean pan, and
when it boils stir to it two tablespoonsful of currie-powder mixed with
nearly as much of browned flour, and a little cold water or broth, put
in the meat, and simmer it for twenty minutes or longer should it not be
perfectly tender, add the juice of a small lemon just before it is
dished, serve it very hot, and send boiled rice to table with it. Part
of a pickled mango cut into strips about the size of large straws, is
sometimes served in this soup, after being stewed in it for a few
minutes; a little of the pickle itself should be added with it. We have
given here the sort of receipt commonly used in England for
mullagatawny, but a much finer soup may be made by departing from it in
some respects. The onions, of which the proportion may be increased or
diminished to the taste, after being fried slowly and with care, that no
part should be overdone, may be stewed for an hour in the first quart of
stock with three or four ounces of grated cocoa-nut,[36] which will
impart a rich mellow flavour to the whole. After all of this that can be
rubbed through the sieve has been added to as much more stock as will be
required for the soup, and the currie-powder and thickening have been
boiled in it for twenty minutes, the flesh of part of a calf’s head,[37]
previously stewed almost tender, and cut as for mock turtle, with a
sweetbread also parboiled or stewed in broth, and divided into
inch-squares, will make an admirable mullagatawny, if simmered in the
stock until they have taken the flavour of the currie-seasoning. The
flesh of a couple of calves’ feet, with a sweetbread or two, may, when
more convenient, be substituted for the head. A large cupful of thick
cream, first mixed and boiled with a teaspoonful of flour or arrow-root
to prevent its curdling, and stirred into the soup before the
lemon-juice, will enrich and improve it much.
Footnote 36:
That our readers to whom this ingredient in soups is new, may not be
misled, we must repeat here, that although the cocoa-nut when it is
young and fresh imparts a _peculiarly_ rich flavour to any
preparation, it is not liked by all eaters, and is better omitted when
the taste of a party is not known, and only one soup is served.
Footnote 37:
The scalp or skin only of a calf’s head will make excellent
mullagatawny, with good broth for stock; and many kinds of shell-fish
also.
Rabbit, 1, or the best joints of, 2, or fowl, 1; large onions, 4 to 6;
stock, 1 quart: 3/4 to 1 hour. 2-1/2 pints more of stock; currie-powder,
2 heaped tablespoonsful, with 2 of browned flour; meat and all simmered
together 20 minutes or more; juice of lemon, 1 small; or part of pickled
mango stewed in the soup 3 to 4 minutes.
Or,—onions, 3 to 6; cocoa-nut, 3 to 4 oz.; stock, 1 quart; stewed 1
hour. Stock, 3 pints (in addition to the first quart); currie-powder and
thickening each, 2 large tablespoonsful: 20 minutes. Flesh of part of
calf s head and sweetbread, 15 minutes or more. Thick cream, 1 cupful;
flour or arrow-root, 1 teaspoonful; boiled 2 minutes, and stirred to the
soup. Chili vinegar, 1 tablespoonful, or lemon-juice, 2 tablespoonsful.
_Obs. 1._—The brain of the calf’s head stewed for twenty minutes in a
little of the stock, then rubbed through a sieve, diluted gradually with
more of the stock, and added as thickening to the soup, will be found an
admirable substitute for part of the flour.
_Obs. 2._—Three or four pounds of a breast of veal, or an equal weight
of mutton, free from bone and fat, may take the place of rabbits or
fowls in this soup, for a plain dinner. The veal should be cut into
squares of an inch and a half, or into strips of an inch in width, and
two in length; and the mutton should be trimmed down in the same way, or
into very small cutlets.
_Obs. 3._—For an elegant table, the joints of rabbit or of fowl should
always be boned before they are added to the soup, for which, in this
case, a couple of each will be needed for a single tureen, as all the
inferior joints must be rejected.
TO BOIL RICE FOR MULLAGATAWNY SOUPS, OR FOR CURRIES.
The Patna, or small-grained rice, which is not so good as the Carolina,
for the general purposes of cookery, ought to be served with currie.
First take out the unhusked grains, then wash the rice in several
waters, and put it into a large quantity of cold water; bring it gently
to boil, keeping it uncovered, and boil it softly for fifteen minutes,
when it will be perfectly tender, and every grain will remain distinct.
Throw it into a _large_ cullender, and let it drain for ten minutes near
the fire; should it not then appear _quite_ dry, turn it into a dish,
and set it for a short time into a gentle oven, or let it steam in a
clean saucepan near the fire. It should neither be stirred, except just
at first, to prevent its lumping while it is still quite hard, nor
touched with either fork or spoon; the stewpan may be shaken
occasionally, should the rice seem to require it, and it should be
thrown lightly from the cullender upon the dish. A couple of minutes
before it is done, throw in some salt, and from the time of its
beginning to boil remove the scum as it rises.
Patna rice, 1/2 lb.; cold water, 2 quarts: boiled slowly, 15 minutes.
Salt, 1 large teaspoonful.
_Obs._—This, of all the modes of boiling rice which we have tried, and
they have been very numerous, is indisputably the best. The Carolina
rice answers well dressed in the same manner, but requires four or five
minutes longer boiling: it should never be served until it is quite
tender. One or two minutes, more or less, will sometimes, from the
varying quality of the grain, be requisite to render it tender.
GOOD VEGETABLE MULLAGATAWNY.
Dissolve in a large stewpan or thick iron saucepan, four ounces of
butter, and when it is on the point of browning, throw in four large
mild onions sliced, three pounds weight of young vegetable marrow cut in
large dice and cleared from the skin and seeds, four large or six
moderate-sized cucumbers, pared, split, and emptied likewise of their
seeds, and from three to six large acid apples, according to the taste;
shake the pan often, and stew these over a gentle fire until they are
tolerably tender; then strew lightly over and mix well amongst them,
three heaped tablespoonsful of mild currie powder, with nearly a third
as much of salt, and let the vegetables stew from twenty to thirty
minutes longer; then pour to them gradually sufficient boiling water
(broth or stock if preferred) to just cover them, and when they are
reduced almost to a pulp press the whole through a hair-sieve with a
wooden spoon, and heat it in a clean stewpan, with as much additional
liquid as will make two quarts with that which was first added. Give any
flavouring that may be needed, whether of salt, cayenne, or acid, and
serve the soup extremely hot. Should any butter appear on the surface,
let it be carefully skimmed off, or stir in a small dessertspoonful of
arrow-root (smoothly mixed with a little cold broth or water) to absorb
it. Rice may be served with this soup at pleasure, but as it is of the
consistence of winter peas soup, it scarcely requires any addition. The
currie powder may be altogether omitted for variety, and the whole
converted into a plain vegetable _potage_; or it may be rendered one of
high savour, by browning all the vegetables lightly, and adding to them
rich brown stock. Tomatas, when in season, may be substituted for the
apples, after being divided, and freed from their seeds.
Butter, 4 oz.; vegetable marrow, pared and scooped, 3 lbs.; large mild
onions, 4; large cucumbers, 4; or middling-sized, 6; apples, or large
tomatas, 3 to 6; 30 to 40 minutes. Mild currie-powder, 3 heaped
tablespoonsful; salt, one small tablespoonful 20 to 32 minutes. Water,
broth, or good stock, 2 quarts.
CUCUMBER SOUP.
Pare, split, and empty from eight to twenty[38] fine, well grown, but
not old cucumbers,—those which have the fewest seeds are best for the
purpose; throw a little salt over them, and leave them for an hour to
drain, then put them with the white part only of a couple of mild onions
into a deep stewpan or delicately clean saucepan, cover them nearly half
an inch with pale but good veal stock, and stew them gently until they
are perfectly tender, which will be in from three quarters of an hour to
an hour and a quarter; work the whole through a hair-sieve, and add to
it as much more stock as may be needed to make the quantity of soup
required for table; and as the cucumbers, from their watery nature, will
thicken it but little, stir to it when it boils, as much arrow-root,
rice-flour, or _tous les mois_ (see page 1), as will bring it to a good
consistence; add from half to a whole pint of boiling cream, and serve
the soup immediately. Salt and cayenne sufficient to season it, should
be thrown over the cucumbers while they are stewing. The yolks of six or
eight eggs, mixed with a dessertspoonful of chili vinegar, may be used
for this soup instead of cream; three dessertspoonsful of minced parsley
may then be strewed into it a couple of minutes before they are added:
it must not, of course, be allowed to boil after they are stirred in.
Footnote 38:
This is a great disparity of numbers; but some regard must be had to
expense, where the vegetable cannot be obtained with facility.
SPRING SOUP AND SOUP À LA JULIENNE.
Throw into three quarts of strong clear broth, or shin of beef stock, or
of _consommé_, half a pint each of turnips and carrots prepared by the
directions of page 20, or turned into any other shape that may be
preferred, with rather less of the solid part of some white celery
stems, and of leeks or of very mild onions[39] mixed. The latter must,
if used, be sliced, drawn into rings, and divided into slight shreds.
When these have simmered from twenty to thirty minutes, add the leaves
of one or two lettuces and a few of sorrel, trimmed or torn, about the
size of half-a-crown. Continue the gentle boiling until these are
tender, and add at the moment of serving half a pint of asparagus-points
boiled very green, and as many French beans cut into small lozenges, and
also boiled apart; or substitute green peas for these last.
Footnote 39:
Only a very _subdued_ flavour of these is, we think, admissible for a
delicate vegetable soup of any kind.
For the _Julienne_ soup, first stew the carrots, &c. tolerably tender in
a couple of ounces of butter; pour the stock boiling to them; skim off
all the fat from the surface, and finish as above. Sprigs of chervil,
spinach (boiled apart, and sparingly added), green onions, very small
tufts of brocoli or cauliflower, may all be used in these soups at
choice. Both the kind and the proportion of the vegetables can be
regulated entirely by the taste. Bread stamped out with a _very small_
round cutter, and dried a pale brown in the oven, is added sometimes to
this spring soup, but is, we should say, no improvement. Winter
vegetables should have three or four minutes’ previous boiling (or
blanching) before they are put into the soup.
AN EXCELLENT GREEN PEAS SOUP.
Take at their fullest size, but before they are of bad colour or
worm-eaten, three pints of fine large peas, and boil them as for table
(see Chapter XVII.) with half a teaspoonful of carbonate of soda in the
water, that they may be very green. When they are quite tender, drain
them well, and put them into a couple of quarts of boiling, pale, but
_good_ beef or veal stock, and stew them in it gently for half an hour;
then work the whole through a fine hair-sieve, put it into a clean pan
and bring it to the point of boiling; add salt, should it be needed, and
a small teaspoonful of pounded sugar; clear off the scum entirely, and
serve the soup as hot as possible. An elegant variety of it is made by
adding a half pint more of stock to the peas, and about three quarters
of a pint of asparagus points, boiled apart, and well drained before
they are thrown into it, which should be done only the instant before it
is sent to table.
Green peas, 3 pints: boiled 25 to 30 minutes, or more. Veal or beef
stock, 2 quarts (with peas): 1/2 an hour. Sugar, one small teaspoonful;
salt, if needed.
_Obs._—When there is no stock at hand, four or five pounds of shin of
beef boiled slowly down with three quarts of water to two, and well
seasoned with savoury herbs, young carrots, and onions, will serve
instead quite well. A thick slice of lean, undressed ham, or of Jewish
beef, would improve it.
Should a common English peas soup be wished for, make it somewhat
thinner than the one above, and add to it, just before it is dished,
from half to three quarters of a pint of young peas boiled tender and
well drained.
GREEN PEAS SOUP, WITHOUT MEAT.
Boil tender in three quarts of water, with the proportions of salt and
soda directed for them in Chapter XVII., one quart of large, full grown
peas; drain and pound them in a mortar, mix with them gradually five
pints of the liquor in which they were cooked, put the whole again over
the fire, and stew it gently for a quarter of an hour; then press it
through a hair-sieve. In the mean time, simmer in from three to four
ounces of butter,[40] three large, or four small cucumbers pared and
sliced, the hearts of three or four lettuces shred small, from one to
four onions, according to the taste, cut thin, a few small sprigs of
parsley, and, when the flavour is liked, a dozen leaves or more of mint
roughly chopped: keep these stirred over a gentle fire for nearly or
quite an hour, and strew over them a half-teaspoonful of salt, and a
good seasoning of white pepper or cayenne. When they are partially done
drain them from the butter, put them into the strained stock, and let
the whole boil gently until all the butter has been thrown to the
surface, and been entirely cleared from it; then throw in from half to
three quarters of a pint of young peas boiled as for eating, and serve
the soup immediately.
Footnote 40:
Some persons prefer the vegetables slowly fried to a fine brown, then
drained on a sieve, and well dried before the fire; but though more
savoury so, they do not improve the colour of the soup.
When more convenient, the peas, with a portion of the liquor, may be
rubbed through a sieve, instead of being crushed in a mortar; and when
the colour of the soup is not so much a consideration as the flavour,
they may be slowly stewed until perfectly tender in four ounces of good
butter, instead of being boiled: a few green onions, and some branches
of parsley may then be added to them.
Green peas, 1 quart; water, 5 pints: cucumbers, 3 to 6; lettuces, 3 or
4; onions, 1 to 4; little parsley; mint (if liked), 12 to 20 leaves;
butter, 3 to 4 oz.; salt, half-teaspoonful; seasoning of white pepper or
cayenne: 50 to 60 minutes. Young peas, 1/2 to 3/4 of a pint.
_Obs._—We must repeat that the peas for these soups must not be _old_,
as when they are so, their fine sweet flavour is entirely lost, and the
dried ones would have almost as good an effect; nor should they be of
inferior kinds. Freshly gathered marrowfats, taken at nearly or quite
their full growth, will give the best quality of soup. We are credibly
informed, but cannot assert it on our own authority, that it is often
made for expensive tables in early spring, with the young tender plants
or halms of the peas, when they are about a foot in height. They are cut
off close to the ground, like small salad, we are told, then boiled and
pressed through a strainer, and mixed with the stock. The flavour is
affirmed to be excellent.
A CHEAP GREEN PEAS SOUP.
Wash very clean and throw into an equal quantity of boiling water salted
as for peas, three quarts of the shells, and in from twenty to thirty
minutes, when they will be quite tender, turn the whole into a large
strainer, and press the pods strongly with a wooden spoon. Measure the
liquor, put two quarts of it into a clean deep saucepan, and when it
boils add to it a quart of full grown peas, two or even three large
cucumbers, as many moderate-sized lettuces freed from the coarser leaves
and cut small, one large onion (or more if liked) sliced extremely thin
and stewed for half an hour in a morsel of butter before it is added to
the soup, or gently fried without being allowed to brown; a branch or
two of parsley, and, when the flavour is liked, a dozen leaves of mint.
Stew these softly for an hour, with the addition of a small teaspoonful,
or a larger quantity if required of salt, and a good seasoning of fine
white pepper or of cayenne; then work the whole of the vegetables with
the soup through a hair-sieve, heat it afresh, and send it to table with
a dish of small fried sippets. The colour will not be so bright as that
of the more expensive soups which precede it, but it will be excellent
in flavour.
Pea-shells, 3 quarts; water, 3 quarts: 20 to 30 minutes. Liquor from
these, 2 quarts; full-sized green peas, 1 quart; large cucumbers, 2 or
3; lettuces, 3; onion, 1 (or more); little parsley; mint, 12 leaves;
seasoning of salt and pepper or cayenne: stewed 1 hour.
_Obs._—The cucumbers should be pared, quartered, and freed from the
seeds before they are added to the soup. The peas, as we have said
already more than once, should not be _old_, but taken at their full
growth, before they lose their colour: the youngest of the shells ought
to be selected for the liquor.
RICH PEAS SOUP.
Soak a quart of fine yellow split peas for a night, drain them well, and
put them into a large soup-pot with five quarts of good brown gravy
stock; and when they have boiled gently for half an hour, add to the
soup three onions, as many carrots, and a turnip or two, all sliced and
fried carefully in butter; stew the whole softly until the peas are
reduced to pulp, then add as much salt and cayenne as may be needed to
season it well, give it two or three minutes’ boil, and pass it through
a sieve, pressing the vegetables with it. Put into a clean saucepan as
much as may be required for table, add a little fresh stock to it should
it be too thick, and reduce it by quick boiling if too thin; throw in
the white part of some fresh celery sliced a quarter of an inch thick,
and when this is tender send the soup quickly to table with a dish of
small fried or toasted sippets. A dessertspoonful or more of
currie-powder greatly improves peas soup: it should be smoothly mixed
with a few spoonsful of it, and poured to the remainder when this first
begins to boil after having been strained.
Split peas, 1 quart: soaked one night. Good brown gravy soup, 5 quarts:
30 minutes. Onions and carrots browned in butter, 3 of each; turnips, 2:
2-1/2 to 3-1/2 hours. Cayenne and salt as needed. Soup, 5 pints; celery,
sliced, 1 large or 2 small heads: 20 minutes.
_Obs._—When more convenient, six pounds of neck of beef well scored and
equally and carefully browned, may be boiled gently with the peas and
fried vegetables in a gallon of water (which should be poured to them
boiling) for four or five hours.
COMMON PEAS SOUP.
Wash well a quart of good split peas, and float off such as remain on
the surface of the water; soak them for one night, and boil them with a
bit of soda the size of a filbert in just sufficient water to allow them
to break to a mash. Put them into from three to four quarts of good beef
broth, and stew them in it gently for an hour; then work the whole
through a sieve, heat afresh as much as may be required for table,
season it with salt and cayenne or common pepper, clear it perfectly
from scum, and send it to table with fried or toasted bread. Celery
sliced and stewed in it as directed for the rich peas soup, will be
found a great improvement to this.
Peas, 1 quart: soaked 1 night; boiled in 2 quarts or rather more of
water, 2 to 2-1/2 hours. Beef broth, 3 to 4 quarts: 1 hour. Salt and
cayenne or pepper as needed: 3 minutes.
PEAS SOUP WITHOUT MEAT.
To a pint of peas, freed from all that are worm-eaten, and well washed,
put five pints of cold water, and boil them tolerably tender; then add a
couple of onions (more or less according to the taste), a couple of fine
carrots grated, one large or two moderate-sized turnips sliced, all
gently fried brown in butter; half a teaspoonful of black pepper, and
three times as much of salt. Stew these softly, keeping them often
stirred, until the vegetables are sufficiently tender to pass through a
sieve; then rub the whole through one, put it into a clean pan, and when
it boils throw in a sliced head of celery, heighten the seasoning if
needful, and in twenty minutes serve the soup as hot as possible, with a
dish of fried or toasted bread cut into dice. A little chili vinegar can
be added when liked: a larger proportion of vegetables also may be
boiled down with the peas at pleasure. Weak broth, or the liquor in
which a joint has been boiled, can be substituted for the water; but the
soup is very palatable as we have given the receipt for it. Some persons
like it flavoured with a little mushroom catsup. All peas soup is
rendered more wholesome by the addition of a small quantity of
currie-paste or powder.
Split peas, 1 pint; water, 5 pints: 2 hours or more. Onions, 2; carrots,
2; large turnip, 1; pepper, 1/2 teaspoonful; salt, 1-1/2 teaspoonful: 1
to 1-1/2 hour. Celery, 1 head: 20 minutes.
OX-TAIL SOUP.
An inexpensive and very nutritious soup may be made of ox-tails, but it
will be insipid in flavour without the addition of a little ham, knuckle
of bacon, or a pound or two of other meat. Wash and soak three tails,
pour on them a gallon of cold water, let them be brought gradually to
boil, throw in an ounce and a half of salt, and clear off the scum
carefully as soon as it forms upon the surface; when it ceases to rise,
add four moderate-sized carrots, from two to four onions, according to
the taste, a large faggot of savoury herbs, a head of celery, a couple
of turnips, six or eight cloves, and a half-teaspoonful of peppercorns.
Stew these gently from three hours to three and a half, if the tails be
very large; lift them out, strain the liquor, and skim off all the fat;
divide the tails into joints, and put them into a couple of quarts or
rather more of the stock; stir in, when these begin to boil, a
thickening of arrow-root or of rice flour (see page 4), mixed with as
much cayenne and salt as may be required to flavour the soup well, and
serve it very hot. If stewed down until the flesh falls away from the
bones, the ox-tails will make stock which will be quite a firm jelly
when cold; and this, strained, thickened, and well flavoured with
spices, catsup, or a little wine, would, to many tastes, be a superior
soup to the above. A richer one still may be made by pouring good beef
broth instead of water to the meat in the first instance.
Ox-tails, 3; water, 1 gallon; salt, 1-1/2 oz.; carrots, 4; onions, 2 to
4; turnips, 2; celery, 1 head; cloves, 8; peppercorns, 1/2 teaspoonful;
faggot of savoury herbs: 3 hours to 3-1/2. For a richer soup, 5 to 6
hours. (Ham or gammon of bacon at pleasure, with other flavourings.)
_Obs._—To increase the savour of this soup when the meat is not served
in it, the onions, turnips, and carrots may be gently fried until of a
fine light brown, before they are added to it.
A CHEAP AND GOOD STEW SOUP.
Put from four to five pounds of the gristly part of the shin of beef
into three quarts of cold water, and stew it very softly indeed, with
the addition of the salt and vegetables directed for _bouillon_ (see
page 7), until the whole is very tender; lift out the meat, strain the
liquor, and put it into a large clean saucepan, add a thickening of
rice-flour or arrow-root, pepper and salt if needed, and a tablespoonful
of mushroom catsup. In the mean time, cut all the meat into small, thick
slices, add it to the soup, and serve it as soon as it is very hot. The
thickening and catsup may be omitted, and all the vegetables, pressed
through a strainer, may be stirred into the soup instead, before the
meat is put back into it.
SOUP IN HASTE.
Chop tolerably fine a pound of lean beef, mutton, or veal, and when it
is partly done, add to it a small carrot and one small turnip cut in
slices, half an ounce of celery, the white part of a moderate-sized
leek, or a quarter of an ounce of onion. Mince all these together, and
put the whole into a deep saucepan with three pints of cold water. When
the soup boils take off the scum, and add a little salt and pepper. In
half an hour it will be ready to serve with or without straining: it may
be flavoured at will, with cayenne, catsup, or aught else that is
preferred, or it may be converted into French spring broth, by passing
it through a sieve, and boiling it again for five or six minutes, with a
handful of young and well washed sorrel. Meat, 1 lb.; carrot, 2 oz.;
turnip, 1-1/2 oz.; celery, 1/2 oz.; onion, 1/4 oz. water, 3 pints: half
an hour. Little pepper and salt.
_Obs._—Three pounds of beef or mutton, with two or three slices of ham,
and vegetables in proportion to the above receipt, all chopped fine, and
boiled in three quarts of water for an hour and a half, will make an
excellent family soup on an emergency: additional boiling will of course
improve it, and a little spice should be added after it has been skimmed
and salted. It may easily be converted into carrot, turnip, or
ground-rice soup after it is strained.
VEAL OR MUTTON BROTH.
To each pound of meat add a quart of cold water, bring it gently to
boil, skim it very clean, add salt in the same proportion as for
_bouillon_ (see page 7), with spices and vegetables also, unless
_unflavoured_ broth be required, when a few peppercorns, a blade or two
of mace, and a bunch of savoury herbs, will be sufficient; though for
some purposes even these, with the exception of the salt, are better
omitted. Simmer the broth for about four hours, unless the quantity be
very small, when from two and a half to three, will be sufficient. A
little rice boiled down with the meat will both thicken the broth, and
render it more nutritious. Strain it off when done, and let it stand
till quite cold that the fat may be entirely cleared from it: this is
especially needful when it is to be served to an invalid.
Veal or mutton, 4 lbs.; water, 4 quarts; salt. (For vegetables, &c., see
page 7;) rice (if used), 4 oz.: 4 hours or more.
MILK SOUP WITH VERMICELLI.
Throw into five pints of boiling milk a small quantity of salt, and then
drop lightly into it five ounces of good fresh vermicelli; keep the milk
stirred as this is added, to prevent its gathering into lumps, and
continue to stir it very frequently from fifteen to twenty minutes, or
until it is perfectly tender. The addition of a little pounded sugar and
powdered cinnamon renders this a very agreeable dish. In Catholic
countries, milk soups of various kinds constantly supply the place of
those made with meat, on _maigre_ days; and with us they are sometimes
very acceptable, as giving a change of diet for the nursery or sick
room. Rice, semoulina, sago, cocoa-nut, and maccaroni may all in turn be
used for them as directed for other soups in this chapter, but they will
be required in rather smaller proportions with the milk.
Milk, 5 pints; vermicelli, 5 oz.: 15 to 20 minutes.
CHEAP RICE SOUP.
Place a gallon of water on the fire (more or less according to the
quantity of soup required), and when it boils, throw in a moderate-sized
tablespoonful of salt, and two or three onions, thickly sliced, a faggot
of sweet herbs, a root of celery, and three or four large carrots split
down into many divisions, and cut into short lengths. Boil these gently
for an hour and a half, or two hours, and then strain the liquor from
them. When time will permit, let it become cold; then for each quart,
take from three to four ounces of well washed rice, pour the soup on it,
heat it _very_ slowly, giving it an occasional stir, and stew it gently
until it is perfectly tender, and the potage quite thick. A moderate
seasoning of pepper, and an ounce or two of fresh butter well blended
with a teaspoonful of flour, may be thoroughly stirred up with the soup
before it is served; or, in lieu of the butter, the yolks of two or
three new-laid eggs, mixed with a little milk, may be carefully added to
it.
It may be more quickly prepared by substituting vermicelli, semoulina,
or soujee for the rice, as this last will require three quarters of an
hour or more of stewing after it begins to boil, and the three other
ingredients—either of which must be dropped gradually into the soup when
it is in full ebullition—will be done in from twenty to thirty minutes;
and two ounces will thicken sufficiently a quart of broth.
A large tablespoonful of Captain White’s currie-paste, and a small one
of flour, diluted with a spoonful or twos of the broth, or with a little
milk or cream, if perfectly mixed with the rice and stewed with it for
fifteen or twenty minutes before it is dished, render it excellent: few
eaters would discover that it was made without meat.
Good beef or mutton broth can be used instead of water for the above
soup, and in that case the vegetables sliced small, or rubbed through a
strainer, may be added to it before it is served.
CARROT SOUP MAIGRE.
Throw two ounces of salt into a gallon of boiling water, then add three
or four carrots quartered or thickly sliced, one onion or more according
to the taste, and a faggot of parsley, or some parsley roots. When these
have boiled gently for upwards of an hour, strain off the liquor and put
it back into the saucepan. Have ready more carrots, nicely scraped and
washed; split them down into strips about the size of large macaroni and
cut them into half finger lengths. Two quarts of these will not be too
much for persons who like the soup well filled with the vegetable; boil
them perfectly tender, and turn them with their liquor into the tureen,
first adding pepper sufficient to season it properly, and more salt if
needed. The proportion of carrots may be diminished, and a quart or more
of Brussels sprouts, boiled and drained, may be substituted for part of
them. Some persons have these soups thickened, or enriched as they
think, with flour and butter; but the latter ingredient should at least
be sparingly used; and any other kind of thickening is more wholesome. A
few ounces of vermicelli stewed in them for twenty minutes or rather
longer, will be found a very good one. Celery, leeks, and turnips may be
boiled down in the carrot-stock, or added when the fresh vegetables have
been stewed in it for about ten minutes.
CHEAP FISH SOUPS.
An infinite variety of excellent soups may be made of fish, which may be
stewed down for them in precisely the same manner as meat, and with the
same addition of vegetables and herbs. When the skin is coarse or rank
it should be carefully stripped off before the fish is used; and any
oily particles which may float on the surface should be entirely removed
from it.
In France, Jersey, Cornwall, and many other localities, the conger eel,
divested of its skin, is sliced up into thick cutlets and made into
soup, which we are assured by English families who have it often served
at their tables, is extremely good. A half-grown fish is best for the
purpose. After the soup has been strained and allowed to settle, it must
be heated afresh, and rice and minced parsley may be added to it as for
the turkey soup of page 32; or it may be thickened with rice-flour only,
or served clear. Curried fish-soups, too, are much to be recommended.
When broth or stock has been made as above with conger eel, common eels,
whitings, haddocks, codlings, fresh water fish, or any common kind,
which may be at hand, flakes of cold salmon, cod fish, John Dories, or
scallops of cold soles, plaice,[41] &c., may be heated and served in it;
and the remains of crabs or lobsters mingled with them. The large
oysters sold at so cheap a rate upon the coast, and which are not much
esteemed for eating raw, serve admirably for imparting flavour to soup,
and the softer portions of them may be served in it after a few minutes
of gentle simmering. Anchovy or any other store fish-sauce may be added
with good effect to many of these pottages if used with moderation.
Prawns and shrimps likewise would generally be considered an improvement
to them.
Footnote 41:
Some persons prefer the vegetables slowly fried to a fine brown, then
drained on a sieve, and well dried before the fire; but though more
savoury so, they do not improve the colour of the soup.
For more savoury preparations, fry the fish and vegetables, lay them
into the soup-pot, and add boiling, instead of cold water to them.
BUCHANAN CARROT SOUP.
(_Excellent._)
Make two quarts of soup by either of the foregoing receipts, using for
it good brown stock (for a common family dinner strong beef broth will
do). Mix smoothly with a little liquid, a tablespoonful of fine
currie-powder, and boil it in the soup for ten minutes; or instead of
this, season it rather highly with cayenne pepper, and then stir into it
from six ounces to half a pound of Patna rice boiled dry and tender as
for a currie. The whole may then remain by the side of the fire without
even simmering for ten minutes longer, and then be served immediately.
As a winter _potage_ this is generally much liked. A spoonful of
_Captain White’s_ currie-paste will flavour it very agreeably if
smoothly diluted, and simmered in it for two or three minutes: we prefer
it always to the powder. Three or four ounces of pearl-barley well
washed, soaked for some hours, and boiled extremely tender in broth or
water, may on occasion be substituted for the rice.
_Obs._—This receipt was, from inadvertence, omitted at its proper place,
page 20, where it ought to have been inserted after the carrot soups
which will be found there, and to which the reader is referred for the
method of preparing the present one in part.
OBSERVATION.
The present chapter already so far exceeds the limits within which it
ought to have been confined, that we are obliged to reserve several
additions which we were desirous of making to it, for the chance of
being able to insert them in an appendix.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER II.
=Fish.=
[Illustration:
TO CHOOSE FISH.
]
[Illustration:
Copper Fish or Ham Kettle.
]
The cook should be well acquainted with the signs of freshness and good
condition in fish, as they are most unwholesome articles of food when
stale, and many of them are also dangerous eating when they are out of
season. The eyes should always be bright, the gills of a fine clear red,
the body stiff, the flesh firm, yet elastic to the touch, and the smell
not disagreeable.
When all these marks are reversed, and the eyes are sunken, the gills
very dark in hue, the fish itself flabby and of offensive odour, it is
bad, and should be avoided. The chloride of soda, will, it is true,
restore it to a tolerably eatable state,[42] if it be not very much
over-kept, but it will never resemble in quality and wholesomeness fish
which is fresh from the water.
Footnote 42:
We have known this applied very successfully to salmon which from some
hours’ keeping in sultry weather had acquired a slight degree of
taint, of which no trace remained after it was dressed; as a general
rule, however, fish which is not _wholesomely fresh_ should be
rejected for the table.
[Illustration:
Mackerel Kettle.
]
A good turbot is thick, and full fleshed, and the under side is of a
pale cream colour or yellowish white; when this is of a bluish tint, and
the fish is thin and soft, it should be rejected. The same observations
apply equally to soles.
The best salmon and cod fish are known by a small head, very thick
shoulders, and a small tail; the scales of the former should be bright,
and its flesh of a fine red colour; to be eaten in perfection it should
be dressed as soon as it is caught, before the curd (or white substance
which lies between the flakes of flesh) has melted and rendered the fish
oily. In that state it is really crimp, but continues so only for a very
few hours; and it bears therefore a much higher price in the London
market then, than when mellowed by having been kept a day or two.
The flesh of cod fish should be white and clear before it is boiled,
whiter still after it is boiled, and firm though tender, sweet and mild
in flavour, and separated easily into large flakes. Many persons
consider it rather improved than otherwise by having a little salt
rubbed along the inside of the back-bone and letting it lie from
twenty-four to forty-eight hours before it is dressed,. It is sometimes
served crimp like salmon, and must then be sliced as soon as it is dead,
or within the shortest possible time afterwards.
Herrings, mackerel, and whitings, unless newly caught, are quite
uneatable. When they are in good condition their natural colours will be
very distinct and their whole appearance glossy and fresh. The herring
when first taken from the water is of a silvery brightness; the back of
the mackerel is of a bright green marked with dark stripes; but this
becomes of a coppery colour as the fish grows stale. The whiting is of a
pale brown or fawn colour with a pinkish tint; but appears dim and
leaden-hued when no longer fresh.
Eels should be alive and brisk in movement when they are purchased, but
the “horrid barbarity,” as it is truly designated, of skinning and
dividing them while they are so, is without excuse, as they are easily
destroyed “by piercing the spinal marrow close to the back part of the
skull with a sharp pointed knife or skewer. If this be done in the right
place all motion will instantly cease.” We quote Dr. Kitchener’s
assertion on this subject; but we know that the mode of destruction
which he recommends is commonly practised by the London fishmongers.
Boiling water also will immediately cause vitality to cease, and is
perhaps the most humane and ready method of destroying the fish.
Lobsters, prawns, and shrimps, are very stiff when freshly boiled, and
the tails turn strongly inwards; when these relax, and the fish are soft
and watery, they are stale; and the smell will detect their being so,
instantly, even if no other symptoms of it be remarked. If bought alive,
lobsters should be chosen by their weight and “liveliness.” The hen
lobster is preferred for sauce and soups, on account of the coral; but
the flesh of the male is generally considered of finer flavour for
eating. The vivacity of their leaps will show when prawns and shrimps
are fresh from the sea.
Oysters should close forcibly on the knife when they are opened: if the
shells are apart ever so little they are losing their condition, and
when they remain far open the fish are dead, and fit only to be thrown
away. Small plump natives are very preferable to the larger and coarser
kinds.
TO CLEAN FISH.
Let this be always done with the most scrupulous nicety, for nothing can
more effectually destroy the appetite, or disgrace the cook, than fish
sent to table imperfectly cleaned. Handle it lightly, and never throw it
roughly about, so as to bruise it; wash it well, but do not leave it
longer in the water than is necessary; for fish, like meat, loses its
flavour from being soaked. When the scales are to be removed, lay the
fish flat upon its side and hold it firmly with the left hand, while
they are scraped off with the right; turn it, and when both sides are
done, pour or pump sufficient water to float off all the loose scales;
then proceed to empty it; _and do this without opening it more than is
absolutely necessary for the purposes of cleanliness_. Be sure that not
the slightest particle of offensive matter be left in the inside; wash
out the blood entirely, and scrape or brush it away if needful from the
back-bone. This may easily be accomplished without opening the fish so
much as to render it unsightly when it is sent to table. When the scales
are left on, the outside of the fish should be well washed and wiped
with a coarse cloth, drawn gently from the head to the tail. Eels to be
wholesome should be skinned, but they are sometimes dressed without;
boiling water should then be poured upon them, and they should be left
in it from five to ten minutes before they are cut up. The dark skin of
the sole must be stripped off when it is fried, but it should be left on
it like that of a turbot when the fish is boiled, and it should be
dished with the white side upwards. Whitings are skinned before they are
egged and crumbed for frying, but for boiling or broiling, the skin is
left on them. The gills of all fish (the red mullet sometimes excepted),
must be taken out. _The fins of a turbot_, _which are considered a great
delicacy, should be left untouched_; but those of most other fish must
be cut off.
TO KEEP FISH.
We find that all the smaller kinds of fish keep best if emptied and
cleaned as soon as they are brought in, then wiped gently as dry as they
can be, and hung separately by the head on the hooks in the ceiling of a
cool larder, or in the open air when the weather will allow. When there
is danger of their being attacked by flies, a wire safe, placed in a
strong draught of air, is better adapted to the purpose. Soles in winter
will remain good for two days when thus prepared; and even whitings and
mackerel may be kept so without losing any of their excellence. Salt may
be rubbed slightly over cod fish, and well along the back-bone; but it
injures the flavour of salmon, the inside of which may be rubbed with
vinegar and peppered instead. When excessive sultriness renders all of
these modes unavailing, the fish must at once be partially cooked to
preserve it, but this should be avoided if possible, as it is very
rarely so good when this method is resorted to.
TO SWEETEN TAINTED FISH.
The application of strong vinegar, or of acetic acid (which may be
purchased at the chemists’), will effect this when the taint is but
slight. The vinegar should be used pure; and one wineglassful of the
acid should be mixed with two of water. Pour either of these over the
fish, and rub it on the parts which require it; then leave it untouched
for a few minutes, and wash it afterwards well, changing the water two
or three times. When the fish is in a worse state the chloride of soda,
from its powerful anti-putrescent properties, will have more effect: it
may be diluted, and applied in the same manner as the acid.
_Obs._—We have retained here the substance of the directions which we
had given in former editions of this book for _rendering eatable_ fish
(and meat) tainted by being closely packed or overkept; and it is true
that they may be deprived of their offensive flavour and odour by the
application of strong acids and other disinfecting agents,—Beaufoy’s
chloride of soda more especially—but we are very doubtful whether they
can by any process be converted into _unquestionably wholesome_ food,
unless from some accidental circumstance the mere surface should be
affected, or some small portion of them, which could be entirely cut
away. We cannot, therefore, conscientiously recommend the _false
economy_ of endangering health in preference to rejecting them for the
table altogether.
THE MODE OF COOKING BEST ADAPTED TO DIFFERENT KINDS OF FISH.
It is not possible, the reader will easily believe, to insert in a work
of the size of the present volume, all the modes of dressing the many
varieties of fish which are suited to our tables; we give, therefore,
only the more essential receipts in detail, and add to them such general
information as may, we trust, enable even a moderately intelligent cook
to serve all that may usually be required, without difficulty.
There is no better way of dressing a good turbot, brill, John Dory, or
cod’s head and shoulders, than plain but careful boiling. Salmon is
excellent in almost every mode in which it can be cooked or used. Boiled
entire or in crimped slices; roasted in a cradle-spit or Dutch oven;
baked; fried in small collops; collared; potted; dried and smoked;
pickled or soused (this is the coarsest and least to be recommended
process for it, of any); made into a raised or common pie, or a
potato-pasty; served cold in or with savoury jelly, or with a
_Mayonnaise_ sauce; or laid on potatoes and baked, as in Ireland, it
will be found Good.
Soles may be either boiled, or baked, or fried entire, or in fillets;
curried; stewed in cream; or prepared by any of the directions given for
them in the body of this chapter.
Plaice, unless when in full season and very fresh, is apt to be watery
and insipid; but taken in its perfection and carefully cooked, it is
very sweet and delicate in flavour. If large, it may be boiled with
advantage either whole or in fillets; but to many tastes it is very
superior when filleted, dipped into egg and bread-crumbs, and fried. The
flesh may also be curried; or the plaice may be converted into
water-souchy, or _soupe-maigre_: when small it is often fried whole.
Red mullet should always be _baked_, _broiled_, or _roasted_: it should
on no occasion be boiled.
Mackerel, for which many receipts will be found in this chapter, when
broiled _quite whole_, as we have directed, or freed from the bones,
divided, egged, crumbed, and fried, is infinitely superior to the same
fish cooked in the ordinary manner.
The whiting, when _very_ fresh and in season, is always delicate and
good; and of all fish is considered the best suited to invalids. Perhaps
_quite_ the most wholesome mode of preparing it for them, is to open it
as little as possible when it is cleansed, to leave the skin on, to dry
the fish well, and to broil it gently. It should be sent very hot to
table, and will require no sauce: twenty minutes will usually be
required to cook it, if of moderate size.
The haddock is sometimes very large. We have had it occasionally from
our southern coast between two and three feet in length, and it was then
remarkably good when simply boiled, even the day after it was caught,
the white curd between the flakes of flesh being like that of extremely
fresh salmon. As it is in full season in mid-winter, it can be sent to a
distance without injury. It is a _very_ firm fish when large and in
season; but, as purchased commonly at inland markets, is often neither
fine in size nor quality. _One_ of the best modes of cooking it is, to
take the flesh entire from the bones, to divide it, dip it into egg and
bread-crumbs, mixed with savoury herbs finely minced, and a seasoning of
salt and spice, and to fry it like soles. Other receipts for it will be
found in the body of this chapter.
The flesh of the gurnard is exceedingly dry, and somewhat _over firm_,
but when filled with well-made forcemeat and gently baked, it is much
liked by many persons. At good tables, it is often served in fillets
fried or baked, and richly sauced: in common cookery it is sometimes
boiled.
Portions only of the skate, which is frequently of _enormous_ size, are
used as food: these are in general cut out by the fisherman or by the
salesman, and are called the wings. The flesh is commonly served here
divided into long narrow fillets, called crimped skate, which are rolled
up and fastened, to preserve them in that form, while they are cooked.
In France, it is sent to table raised from the bones in large portions,
sauced with _beurre-noir_ (burned or browned butter), and strewed with
well-crisped parsley.
Trout, which is a delicious fish when stewed in gravy, either quite
simply, or with the addition of wine and various condiments, and which
when of small size is very sweet and pleasant, eating nicely fried, is
poor and insipid when plainly boiled.[43]
Footnote 43:
We have been informed by Mr. Howitt, the well-known author of several
highly interesting works on Germany, that this fish, when boiled the
instant it was caught—as he had eaten it often on the banks of some
celebrated German trout-streams—was most excellent, especially when it
was of large size; but, as a general rule, almost any other mode of
cooking is to be recommended for it in preference.
Pike, of which the flesh is extremely dry, is we think better baked than
dressed in any other way; but it is often boiled.
Carp should either be stewed whole in the same manner as trout, or
served cut in slices, in a rich sauce called a _matelote_.
Smelts, sand-eels, and white-bait, are always fried; the last two
sometimes after being dipped into batter.
THE BEST MODE OF BOILING FISH.
We have left unaltered in the following receipts the greater number of
our original directions for boiling fish, which were found when
carefully followed, to produce a good result; but Baron Liebeg and other
scientific writers explain clearly the principles on which the nutriment
contained in fish or flesh is best retained by bringing the surface of
either when it is cooked, into immediate contact with _boiling_ water;
and then (after a few minutes of ebullition) lowering the temperature by
the addition of cold water, and keeping it somewhat below the boiling
point for the remainder of the process. This method is at least worthy
of a trial, even if it be attended with a slight degree more of trouble
than those in general use; but when fish is served with a variety of
other dishes, the escape of some portion of its nutritious juices is of
less importance than when it forms the principal food of any part of the
community: in that case, the preservation of all the nourishment which
can be derived from it, is of real consequence.
_Directions._—Throw into as much water as will cover the fish entirely,
a portion of the salt which is to be added in cooking it, and when it
boils quickly take off the scum, lay in the fish, and let it boil
moderately fast from three to ten minutes, according to its weight and
thickness; then pour in as much cold water as there is of the boiling,
take out a part, leaving sufficient only to keep the fish well covered
until it is ready to serve; add the remainder of the salt, draw the
fish-kettle to the side of the fire, and keep the water _just
simmering_, and no more, until the fish is done.
The cook will understand that if a gallon of water be required to cover
the fish while it is cooking, that quantity must be made to boil; and
that a gallon of cold must be added to it after the fish has been laid
in, and _kept boiling_ for a very few minutes. For example:—A large
turbot or cod’s head for ten minutes; a moderate-sized plaice or John
Dory, about five; and whitings, codlings, and other small fish, from
three to four minutes. That one gallon must then be taken out of the
kettle, which should immediately be drawn from the fire, and placed at
the side of the stove, that the fish may be gradually heated through as
the water is brought slowly to the point of simmering.
The whole of the salt may be added after a portion of the water is
withdrawn, when the cook cannot entirely depend on her own judgment for
the precise quantity required.
_Obs._—This is the best _practical_ application that we can give of
Baron Liebeg’s instructions.
BRINE FOR BOILING FISH.
Fish is exceedingly insipid if sufficient salt be not mixed with the
water in which it is boiled, but the precise quantity required for it
will depend, in some measure, upon the kind of salt which is used. Fine
common salt is that for which our directions are given; but when the
Maldon salt, which is very superior in strength, as well as in other
qualities, is substituted for it, a smaller quantity must be allowed.
About four ounces to the gallon of water will be sufficient for small
fish in general; an additional ounce, or rather more, will not be too
much for cod fish, lobsters, crabs, prawns, and shrimps; and salmon will
require eight ounces, as the brine for this fish should be strong: the
water should always be perfectly well skimmed from the moment the scum
begins to form upon the surface.
Mackerel, whiting, and other small fish, 4 ounces of salt to a gallon of
water. Cod fish, lobsters, crabs, prawns, shrimps, 5 to 6 oz. Salmon, 8
ozs.
TO RENDER BOILED FISH FIRM.
Put a small bit of saltpetre with the salt into the water in which it is
boiled: a quarter of an ounce will be sufficient for a gallon.
TO KNOW WHEN FISH IS SUFFICIENTLY BOILED, OR OTHERWISE COOKED.
If the _thickest_ part of the flesh separates easily from the back-bone,
it is quite ready to serve, and should be withdrawn from the pan without
delay, as further cooking would be injurious to it. This test can easily
be applied to a fish which has been divided, but when it is entire it
should be lifted from the water when the flesh of the tail breaks from
the bone, and the eyes loosen from the head.
TO BAKE FISH.
A gentle oven may be used with advantage, for cooking almost every kind
of fish, as we have ascertained from our own observation; but it must be
subjected to a mild degree of heat only. This penetrates the flesh
gradually, and converts it into wholesome succulent food; whereas, a
_hot oven_ evaporates all the juices rapidly, and renders the fish hard
and dry. When small, they should be wrapped in oiled or buttered paper
before they are baked; and when filleted, or left in any other form, and
placed in a deep dish with or without any liquid before they are put
into the oven, a buttered paper should still be laid closely upon them
to keep the surface moist. Large pieces of salmon, conger eel, and other
fish of considerable size are sometimes in common cookery baked like
meat over potatoes pared and halved.
FAT FOR FRYING FISH.
This, whether it be butter, lard, or oil should always be excellent in
quality, for the finest fish will be rendered unfit for eating if it be
fried in fat that is rancid. When good, and used in sufficient quantity,
it will serve for the same purpose several times, if strained after each
frying, and put carefully away in a clean pan, provided always that it
has not been smoked nor burned in the using.
Lard renders fish more crisp than butter does; but fresh, pure olive-oil
(_salad oil_, as it is commonly called in England) is the _best_
ingredient which can be used for it, and as it will serve well for the
same purpose, many times in succession, if strained and carefully stored
as we have already stated, it is not in reality so expensive as might be
supposed for this mode of cooking. There should always be an ample
quantity of it (or of any other _friture_[44]) in the pan, as the fish
should be nearly covered with it, at the least; and it should cease to
bubble before either fish or meat is laid into it, or it will be too
much absorbed by the flesh, and will impart neither sufficient firmness,
nor sufficient colour.
Footnote 44:
The French term for fat of all kinds used in frying.
TO KEEP FISH HOT FOR TABLE.
Never leave it in the water after it is done, but if it cannot be sent
to table as soon as it is ready to serve, lift it out, lay the
fish-plate into a large and a very hot dish, and set it across the
fish-kettle; just dip a clean cloth into the boiling water, and spread
it upon the fish, place a tin cover over it, and let it remain so until
two or three minutes before it is wanted, then remove the cloth, and put
the fish back into the kettle for an instant that it may be as hot as
possible: drain, dish, and serve it immediately: the water should be
kept boiling the whole time.
TO BOIL A TURBOT.
[In season all the year.]
[Illustration:
Turbot.
]
A fine turbot, in full season, and well served, is one of the most
delicate and delicious fish that can be sent to table; but it is
generally an expensive dish, and its excellence so much depends on the
manner in which it is dressed, that great care should be taken to
prepare it properly. After it is emptied, wash the inside until it is
perfectly cleansed, and rub _lightly_ a little fine salt over the
outside, as this will render less washing and handling necessary, by at
once taking off the slime; change the water several times, and when the
fish is as clean as it is possible to render it, draw a sharp knife
through the thickest part of the middle of the back nearly through to
the bone.[45] _Never cut off the fins_ of a turbot when preparing it for
table, and remember that it is the dark side of the fish in which the
incision is to be made, to prevent the skin of the white side from
cracking. Dissolve in a well-cleaned turbot or common fish-kettle, in as
much cold spring water as will cover the fish abundantly, salt, in the
proportion of four ounces to the gallon; wipe the fish-plate with a
clean cloth, lay the turbot upon it with the white side upwards, place
it in the kettle, bring it slowly to boil, and clear off the scum
_thoroughly_ as it rises. Let the water only just simmer until the fish
is done, then lift it out, drain, and slide it gently on to a very hot
dish, with a hot napkin neatly arranged over the drainer. Send it
immediately to table with rich lobster sauce and good plain melted
butter. For a simple dinner, anchovy or shrimp sauce is sometimes served
with a small turbot. Should there be any cracks in the skin of the fish,
branches of curled parsley may be laid lightly over them, or part of the
inside coral of a lobster, rubbed through a fine hair-sieve, may be
sprinkled over the fish; but it’s better without either, when it is very
white and unbroken. When garnishings are in favour, a slice of lemon and
a tuft of curled parsley, may be placed alternately round the edge of
the dish. A border of fried smelts or of fillets of soles, was formerly
served round a turbot, and is always a very admissible addition, though
no longer so fashionable as it was. From fifteen to twenty minutes will
boil a moderate-sized fish, and from twenty to thirty a large one; but
as the same time will not always be sufficient for a fish of the same
weight, the cook must watch it attentively, and lift it out as soon as
its appearance denotes its being done.
Footnote 45:
This is the common practice even of the _best_ cooks, but is very
unscientific nevertheless. When the incision is made really into the
flesh the turbot should be cooked altogether on Liebeg’s plan, for
which see “The Best Mode of Boiling Fish,” in the preceding pages.
Moderate sized turbot, 15 to 20 minutes. Large, 20 to 30 minutes.
Longer, if of unusual size.
_Obs._—A lemon gently squeezed, and rubbed over the fish, is thought to
preserve its whiteness. Some good cooks still put turbot into _boiling_
water, and to prevent its breaking, tie it with a cloth tightly to the
fish-plate.
TURBOT À LA CRÊME.
Raise carefully from the bones the flesh of a cold turbot, and clear it
from the dark skin; cut it into small squares, and put it into an
exceedingly clean stewpan or saucepan; then make and pour upon it the
cream sauce of Chapter V., or make as much as may be required for the
fish by the same receipt, with equal proportions of milk and cream and a
little additional flour. Heat the turbot slowly in the sauce, but do not
allow it to boil, and send it very hot to table. The white skin of the
fish is not usually added to this dish, and it is of better appearance
without it; but for a family dinner, it may be left on the flesh, when
it is much liked. No acid must be stirred to the sauce until the whole
is ready for table.
TURBOT AU BÉCHAMEL, OR, IN BÉCHAMEL SAUCE.
Prepare the cold turbot as for the preceding receipt, but leave no
portion of the skin with it. Heat it in a rich _bechamel_ sauce, and
serve it in a _vol-au-vent_, or in a deep dish with a border of fried
bread cut in an elegant form, and made with one dark and one light
sippet, placed alternately. The surface may be covered with a half-inch
layer of delicately fried bread-crumbs, perfectly well drained and
dried; or they may be spread over the fish without being fried, then
moistened with clarified butter, and browned with a salamander.
FOR MOULD OF COLD TURBOT WITH SHRIMP CHATNEY, see Chapter VI.
TO BOIL A JOHN DORY.
[In best season from Michaelmas to Christmas, but good all the year.]
[Illustration:
John Dory.
]
The John Dory, though of uninviting appearance, is considered by some
persons as the most delicious fish that appears at table; in the general
estimation, however, it ranks next to the turbot, but it is far less
abundant in our markets, and is not commonly to be procured of
sufficient size for a handsome dish, except in some few parts of our
coast which are celebrated for it. It may easily be known by its yellow
gray colour, its one large dark spot on either side, the long filaments
on the back, a general thickness of form, and its very ugly head. It is
dressed in the same manner, and served usually with the same sauces as a
turbot, but requires less time to boil it. The fins should be cut off
before it is cooked.
SMALL JOHN DORIES BAKED.
(_Author’s Receipt—good._)
We have found these fish when they were too small to be worth cooking in
the usual way, excellent when quite simply baked in the following
manner, the flesh being remarkably sweet and tender, much more so than
it becomes by frying or broiling. After they have been cleaned, dry them
in a cloth, season the insides slightly with fine salt, dredge a little
flour on the fish, and stick a few very small bits of butter on them,
but only just sufficient to prevent their becoming dry in the oven; lay
them singly on a flat dish, and bake them very gently from fourteen to
sixteen minutes. Serve them with the same sauce as baked soles.
When extremely fresh, as it usually is in the markets of the coast, fish
thus simply dressed _au four_ is preferable to that more elaborately
prepared by adding various condiments to it after it is placed in a deep
dish, and covering it with a thick layer of bread-crumbs, moistened with
clarified butter.
The appearance of the John Dories is improved by taking off the heads,
and cutting away not only the fins but the filaments of the back.
TO BOIL A BRILL.
A fresh and full-sized brill always ranks high in the list of fish, as
it is of good appearance, and the flesh is sweet and delicate. It
requires less cooking than the turbot, even when it is of equal size;
but otherwise may be dressed and served in a similar manner. It has not
the same rich glutinous skin as that fish, nor are the fins esteemed.
They must be cut off when the brill is cleaned; and it may be put into
nearly boiling water, unless it be very large. Simmer it gently, and
drain it well upon the fish-plate when it is lifted out; dish it on a
napkin, and send lobster, anchovy, crab, or shrimp sauce to table with
it. Lobster coral, rubbed through a sieve, is commonly sprinkled over it
for a formal dinner. The most usual garnish for boiled flat fish is
curled parsley placed round it in light tufts; how far it is
_appropriate_, individual taste must decide.
Brill, moderate-sized, about 20 minutes; large, 30 minutes.
_Obs._—The _precise_ time which a fish will require to be boiled cannot
be given: it must be watched, and not allowed to remain in the water
after it begins to crack.
TO BOIL SALMON.
[In full season from May to August: may be had much earlier, but is
scarce and dear.]
To preserve the fine colour of this fish, and to _set the curd_ when it
is quite freshly caught, it is usual to put it into _boiling_, instead
of into cold water. Scale, empty, and wash it with the greatest nicety,
and be especially careful to cleanse all the blood from the inside. Stir
into the fish-kettle eight ounces of common salt to the gallon of water,
let it boil quickly for a minute or two, take off all the scum, put in
the salmon and boil it moderately fast, if it be small, but more gently
should it be very thick; and assure yourself that it is quite
sufficiently done before it is sent to table, for nothing can be more
distasteful, even to the eye, than fish which is under dressed.
From two to three pounds of the thick part of a fine salmon will require
half an hour to boil it, but eight or ten pounds will be done enough in
little more than double that time; less in proportion to its weight
should be allowed for a small fish, or for the thin end of a large one.
Do not allow the salmon to remain in the water after it is ready to
serve, or both its flavour and appearance will be injured. Dish it on a
hot napkin, and send dressed cucumber, and anchovy, shrimp, or lobster
sauce, and a tureen of plain melted butter to table with it.
To each gallon water, 8 oz. salt. Salmon, 2 to 3 lbs. (thick), 1/2 hour;
8 to 10 lbs., 1-1/4 hour; small, or thin fish, less time.
SALMON À LA GENEVESE.
A fashionable mode of serving salmon at the present day is to divide the
larger portion of the body into three equal parts; to boil them in
water, or in a marinade; and to serve them dished in a line, but not
close together, and covered with a rich Genevese sauce (for which see
Chapter V.) It appears to us that the skin should be stripped from any
fish over which the sauce is poured, but in this case it is not
customary.
CRIMPED SALMON.
Cut into slices an inch and a half, or two inches thick, the body of a
salmon _quite newly caught_; throw them into strong salt and water as
they are done, but do not let them soak in it; wash them well, lay them
on a fish-plate, and put them into fast boiling water, salted and well
skimmed. In from ten to fifteen minutes they will be done. Dish them on
a napkin, and send them very hot to table with lobster sauce, and plain
melted butter; or with the caper fish-sauce of Chapter V. The water
should be salted as for salmon boiled in the ordinary way, and the scum
should be cleared off with great care after the fish is in.
In boiling water, 10 to 15 minutes.
SALMON À LA ST. MARCEL.
Separate some cold boiled salmon into flakes, and free them entirely
from the skin; break the bones, and boil them in a pint of water for
half an hour. Strain off the liquor, put it into a clean saucepan and
stir into it by degrees when it begins to boil quickly, two ounces of
butter mixed with a large teaspoonful of flour, and when the whole has
boiled for two or three minutes add a teaspoonful of essence of
anchovies, one of good mushroom catsup, half as much lemon-juice or
chili vinegar, a half saltspoonful of pounded mace, some cayenne, and a
very little salt. Shell from half to a whole pint of shrimps, add them
to the salmon, and heat the fish very slowly in the sauce by the side of
the fire, but do not allow it boil. When it is very hot, dish and send
it quickly to table. French cooks, when they re-dress fish or meat of
any kind, prepare the flesh with great nicety, and then put it into a
stewpan, and pour the sauce upon it, which is, we think, better than the
more usual English mode of laying it into the boiling sauce. The cold
salmon may also be re-heated in the cream sauce of V., or in the _Mâitre
d’Hôtel_ sauce which follows it; and will be found excellent with
either. This receipt is for a moderate sized dish.
SALMON BAKED OVER MASHED POTATOES.
We are informed by a person who has been a resident in Ireland, that the
middle of a salmon is there often baked over mashed potatoes, from which
it is raised by means of a wire stand, as meat is in England. We have
not been able to have it tried, but an ingenious cook will be at no loss
for the proper method of preparing, and the time of cooking it. The
potatoes are sometimes merely pared and halved; the fish is then laid
upon them.
SALMON PUDDING, TO BE SERVED HOT OR COLD.
(_A Scotch Receipt—Good._)
Pound or chop small, or rub through a sieve one pound of cold boiled
salmon freed entirely from bone and skin; and blend it lightly but
thoroughly with half a pound of fine bread-crumbs a teaspoonful of
essence of anchovies, a quarter of a pint of cream, a seasoning of fine
salt and cayenne, and four well whisked eggs. Press the mixture closely
and evenly into a deep dish or mould, buttered in every part, and bake
it for one hour in a moderate oven.
Salmon, 1 lb.; bread-crumbs, 1/2 lb.; essence of anchovies, 1
teaspoonful; cream, 1/4 pint; eggs, 4; salt and cayenne; baked 1 hour.
TO BOIL COD FISH.
[In highest season from October to the beginning of February; in
perfection about Christmas.]
When this fish is large the head and shoulders are sufficient for a
handsome dish, and they contain all the choicer portion of it, though
not so much substantial eating as the middle of the body, which, in
consequence, is generally preferred to them by the frugal housekeeper.
Wash the fish, and cleanse the inside, and the back-bone in particular,
with the most scrupulous care; lay it into the fish-kettle and cover it
well with cold water mixed with five ounces of salt to the gallon, and
about a quarter of an ounce of saltpetre to the whole. Place it over a
moderate fire, clear off the scum perfectly, and let the fish boil
gently until it is done. Drain it well[46] and dish it carefully upon a
very hot napkin with the liver and the roe as a garnish. To these are
usually added tufts of lightly scraped horseradish round the edge. Serve
well-made oyster sauce and plain melted butter with it; or anchovy
sauce, when oysters cannot be procured. The cream sauce of Chapter V.,
is also an appropriate one for this fish.
Footnote 46:
This should be done by setting the fish plate across the kettle for a
minute or two.
Moderate size, 20 to 30 minutes. Large, 1/2 to 3/4 hour.
SLICES OF COD FISH FRIED.
Cut the middle or tail of the fish into slices nearly an inch thick,
season them with salt and white pepper or cayenne, flour them well, and
fry them of a clear equal brown on both sides; drain them on a sieve
before the fire, and serve them on a well-heated napkin, with plenty of
crisped parsley round them. Or, dip them into beaten egg, and then into
fine crumbs mixed with a seasoning of salt and pepper (some cooks add
one of minced herbs also), before they are fried. Send melted butter and
anchovy sauce to table with them. 8 to 12 minutes.
_Obs._—This is a much better way of dressing the thin part of the fish
than boiling it, and as it is generally cheap, it makes thus an
economical, as well as a very good dish: if the slices are lifted from
the frying-pan into a good curried gravy, and left in it by the side of
the fire for a few minutes before they are sent to table, they will be
found excellent.
STEWED COD.
Put into boiling water, salted as usual, about three pounds of fresh cod
fish cut into slices an inch and a half thick, and boil them gently for
five minutes; lift them out, and let them drain. Have ready heated in a
wide stewpan nearly a pint of veal gravy or of very good broth, lay in
the fish, and stew it for five minutes, then add four tablespoonsful of
extremely fine bread-crumbs, and simmer it for three minutes longer.
Stir well into the sauce a large teaspoonful of arrow-root quite free
from lumps, a fourth part as much of mace, something less of cayenne,
and a tablespoonful of essence of anchovies, mixed with a glass of white
wine and a dessertspoonful of lemon juice. Boil the whole for a couple
of minutes, lift out the fish carefully with a slice, pour the sauce
over, and serve it quickly.
Cod fish, 3 lbs.: boiled 5 minutes. Gravy, or strong broth, nearly 1
pint: 5 minutes. Bread-crumbs, 4 tablespoonsful: 3 minutes. Arrow-root,
1 large teaspoonful; mace, 1/4 teaspoonful; less of cayenne; essence of
anchovies, 1 tablespoonful; lemon-juice, 1 dessertspoonful; sherry or
Maidera, 1 wineglassful: 2 minutes.
_Obs._—A dozen or two of oysters, bearded, and added with their strained
liquor to this dish two or three minutes before it is served, will to
many tastes vary it very agreeably.
STEWED COD FISH, IN BROWN SAUCE.
Slice the fish, take off the skin, flour it well, and fry it quickly a
fine brown; lift it out and drain it on the back of a sieve, arrange it
in a clean stewpan, and pour in as much good boiling brown gravy as will
nearly cover it; add from one to two glasses of port wine, or rather
more of claret, a dessertspoonful of Chili vinegar, or the juice of half
a lemon, and some cayenne, with as much salt as may be needed. Stew the
fish very softly until it just begins to break, lift it carefully with a
slice into a very hot dish, stir into the gravy an ounce and a half of
butter smoothly kneaded with a large teaspoonful of flour, and a little
pounded mace, give the sauce a minute’s boil, pour it over the fish, and
serve it immediately. The wine may be omitted, good shin of beef stock
substituted for the gravy, and a teaspoonful of soy, one of essence of
anchovies, and two tablespoonsful of Harvey’s sauce added to flavour it.
TO BOIL SALT FISH.
When very salt and dry, this must be long soaked before it is boiled,
but it is generally supplied by the fishmongers nearly or quite ready to
dress. When it is not so, lay it for a night into a large quantity of
cold water, then let it lie exposed to the air for some time, then again
put it into water, and continue thus until it is well softened. Brush it
very clean, wash it thoroughly, and put it with abundance of cold water
into the fish kettle, place it near the fire and let it heat very slowly
indeed. Keep it just on the point of simmering, without allowing it ever
to _boil_ (which would render it hard), from three quarters of an hour
to a full hour, according to its weight; should it be quite small and
thin, less time will be sufficient for it; but by following these
directions, the fish will be almost as good as if it were fresh. The
scum should be cleared off with great care from the beginning. Egg sauce
and boiled parsneps are the usual accompaniment to salt fish, which
should be dished upon a hot napkin, and which is sometimes also thickly
strewed with chopped eggs.
SALT FISH, À LA MÂITRE D’HÔTEL.
Boil the fish by the foregoing receipt, or take the remains of that
which has been served at table, flake it off clear from the bones, and
strip away every morsel of the skin; then lay it into a very clean
saucepan or stewpan, and pour upon it the sharp _Mâitre d’Hôtel_ sauce
of Chapter IV.; or dissolve gently two or three ounces of butter with
four or five spoonsful of water, and a half-teaspoonful of flour; add
some pepper or cayenne, very little salt, and a dessertspoonful or more
of minced parsley. Heat the fish slowly quite through in either of these
sauces, and toss or stir it until the whole is well mixed; if the second
be used, add the juice of half a lemon, or a small quantity of Chili
vinegar just before it is taken from the fire. The fish thus prepared
may be served in a deep dish, with a border of mashed parsneps or
potatoes.
TO BOIL CODS’ SOUNDS.
Should they be highly salted, soak them for a night, and on the
following day rub off entirely the discoloured skin; wash them well, lay
them into plenty of cold milk and water, and boil them gently from
thirty to forty minutes, or longer should they not be quite tender.
Clear off the scum as it rises with great care, or it will sink and
adhere to the sounds, of which the appearance will then be spoiled.
Drain them well, dish them on a napkin, and send egg sauce and plain
melted butter to table with them.
TO FRY CODS’ SOUNDS IN BATTER.
Boil them as directed above until they are nearly done, then lift them
out, lay them on to a drainer, and let them remain till they are cold;
cut them across in strips of an inch deep, curl them round, dip them
into a good French or English batter, fry them of a fine pale brown,
drain and dry them well, dish them on a hot napkin, and garnish them
with crisped parsley.
TO FRY SOLES.
[In season all the year.]
All fish to fry well must be not only fresh but perfectly free from
moisture, particularly when they are to be dressed with egg and
bread-crumbs, as these will not otherwise adhere to them. Empty, skin,
and wash the soles with extreme nicety, from one to two hours before
they are wanted for table; and after having cleansed and wiped them very
dry both inside and out, replace the roes, fold and press them gently in
a soft clean cloth, and leave them wrapped in it until it is time to fry
them; or suspend them singly upon hooks in a current of cool air, which
is, perhaps, the better method of proceeding when it can be done
conveniently. Cover them equally in every part, first with some beaten
egg, and then with fine dry crumbs of bread, mixed with a _very little_
flour to make them adhere with more certainty: a small teaspoonful will
be sufficient for two large soles. Melt in a large and exceedingly clean
frying pan over a brisk and clear fire, as much very pure-flavoured lard
as will float the fish, and let it be sufficiently hot before they are
laid in to brown them quickly; for if this be neglected it will be
impossible to render them crisp or dry. When the fat ceases to bubble,
throw in a small bit of bread, and if it takes a good colour immediately
the soles may be put in without delay. An experienced cook will know,
without this test, when it is at the proper point; but the learner will
do better to avail herself of it until practice and observation shall
have rendered it unnecessary to her. Before the fish are laid into the
pan, take them by the head and shake the loose crumbs from them. When
they are firm, and of a fine amber-colour on one side, turn them with
care, passing a slice under them and a fork through the heads, and brown
them on the other. Lift them out, and either dry them well on a soft
cloth laid upon a sieve reversed, before the fire, turning them often,
or press them lightly in hot white blotting paper. Dish them on a
drainer covered with a hot napkin and send them to table without delay
with shrimp or anchovy sauce, and plain melted butter.
Very small soles will be done in six minutes, and large ones in about
ten. They may be floured and fried, without being egged and crumbed, but
this is not a very usual mode of serving them.
Small soles, 6 minutes; large, about 10 minutes.
TO BOIL SOLES.
The flesh of a fine fresh sole, when boiled with care, is remarkably
sweet and delicate: if very large it may be dressed and served as
turbot, to which it will be found little inferior in flavour. Empty it,
take out the gills, cut off the fins, and cleanse and wash it with great
nicety, but do not skin it; then either lay it into cold water in which
the usual proportion of salt has been dissolved, and heat it rather
slowly, and then simmer it from five to ten minutes, according to its
size; or boil it in the manner directed in the first pages of this
chapter. Drain it well on the fish-plate as it is lifted out, and dish
it on a napkin, the white side upwards, and serve it quickly with
anchovy, shrimp, or lobster sauce. It may also be sent to table thickly
covered with the Cream Fish Sauce, Caper Fish Sauce, or Lady’s Sauce, of
Chapter VI.; though this is a mode of service less to be recommended, as
the sauce cools more speedily when spread over the surface of the fish:
it is, however, the continental fashion, and will therefore find more
favour with some persons.
Very large sole, 5 to 10 minutes; moderate sized, 4 to 6 minutes.
FILLETS OF SOLES.
The word _fillet_, whether applied to fish, poultry, game, or butcher’s
meat, means simply the flesh of either (or of certain portions of it),
raised clear from the bones in a handsome form, and divided or not, as
the manner in which it is to be served may require. It is an elegant
mode of dressing various kinds of fish, and even those which are not the
most highly esteemed, afford an excellent dish when thus prepared. Soles
to be filletted with advantage should be large; the flesh may then be
divided down the middle of the back, next, separated from the fins, and
with a very sharp knife raised clear from the bones.[47] When thus
prepared, the fillets may be divided, trimmed into a good form, egged,
covered with fine crumbs, fried in the usual way, and served with the
same sauces as the whole fish; or each fillet may be rolled up, in its
entire length, if very small, or after being once divided if large, and
fastened with a slight twine, or a short thin skewer; then egged,
crumbed, and fried in plenty of boiling lard; or merely well floured and
fried from eight to ten minutes. When the fish are not very large, they
are sometimes boned without being parted in the middle, and each side is
rolled from the tail to the head, after being first spread with pounded
shrimps mixed with a third of their volume of butter, a few
bread-crumbs, and a high seasoning of mace and cayenne; or with pounded
lobster mixed with a large portion of the coral, and the same seasoning,
and proportion of butter as the shrimps; then laid into a dish, with the
ingredients directed for the _soles au plat_; well covered with crumbs
of bread and clarified butter, and baked from twelve to sixteen minutes,
or until the crumbs are coloured to a fine brown in a moderate oven.
Footnote 47:
A celebrated French cook gives the following instructions for raising
these fillets:—“them up by running your knife first between the bones
and the flesh, then between the skin and the fillet; by leaning pretty
hard on the table they will come off very neatly.”
The fillets may likewise be cut into small strips or squares of uniform
size, lightly dredged with pepper or cayenne, salt and flour, and fried
in butter over a brisk fire; then well drained, and sauced with a good
_béchamel_, flavoured with a teaspoonful of minced parsley.
SOLES AU PLAT.
Clarify from two to three ounces of fresh butter, and pour it into the
dish in which the fish are to be served; add to it a little salt, some
cayenne, a teaspoonful of essence of anchovies, and from one to two
glasses of sherry, or of any other dry white wine; lay in a couple of
fine soles which have been well cleaned and wiped very dry, strew over
them a thick layer of fine bread-crumbs, moisten them with clarified
butter, set the dish into a moderate oven, and bake the fish for a
quarter of an hour. A layer of shrimps placed between the soles is a
great improvement; and we would also recommend a little lemon-juice to
be mixed with the sauce.
Baked, 15 minutes.
_Obs._—The soles are, we think, better without the wine in this receipt.
They require but a small portion of liquid, which might be supplied by a
little additional butter, a spoonful of water or pale gravy, the
lemon-juice, and store-sauce. Minced parsley may be mixed with the
bread-crumbs when it is liked.
BAKED SOLES.
(_A simple but excellent Receipt._)
Fresh large soles, dressed in the following manner, are remarkably
tender and delicate eating; much more so than those which are fried.
After the fish has been skinned and cleansed in the usual way, wipe it
dry, and let it remain for an hour or more, if time will permit, closely
folded in a clean cloth; then mix with a slightly beaten egg about an
ounce of butter, just liquefied but not _heated_ at the mouth of the
oven, or before the fire; brush the fish in every part with this
mixture, and cover it with very fine dry bread-crumbs, seasoned with a
little salt, cayenne, pounded mace, and nutmeg. Pour a teaspoonful or
two of liquid butter into a flat dish which will contain the fish well;
lay it in, sprinkle it with a little more butter, press the bread-crumbs
lightly on it with a broad-bladed knife, and bake it in a moderate oven
for about twenty minutes. If two or more soles are required for table at
the same time, they should be placed separately, quite flat, in a large
dish, or each fish should be laid on a dish by itself. On our first
essay of this receipt, the fish dressed by it (it was baked for
twenty-five minutes in a very slack iron oven) proved infinitely nicer
than one of the same size which was fried, and served with it. The
difference between them was very marked, especially as regarded the
exceeding tenderness of the flesh of that which was baked; its
appearance, however, would have been somewhat improved by a rather
quicker oven. When ready to serve, it should be gently glided on to the
dish in which it is to be sent to table. About three ounces of
bread-crumbs, and two and a half of butter, will be sufficient for a
large pair of soles. They will be more perfectly encrusted with the
bread if dipped into, or sprinkled with it a second time, after the
first coating has been well moistened with the butter.
SOLES STEWED IN CREAM.
Prepare some very fresh middling sized soles with exceeding nicety, put
them into boiling water slightly salted, and simmer them for two minutes
only; lift them out, and let them drain; lay them into a wide stewpan
with as much sweet rich cream as will nearly cover them; add a good
seasoning of pounded mace, cayenne, and salt; stew the fish softly from
six to ten minutes, or until the flesh parts readily from the bones;
dish them, stir the juice of half a lemon to the sauce, pour it over the
soles, and send them immediately to table. Some lemon-rind may be boiled
in the cream, if approved; and a small teaspoonful of arrow-root, very
smoothly mixed with a little milk, may be stirred to the sauce (should
it require thickening) before the lemon-juice is added. Turbot and brill
also may be dressed by this receipt, time proportioned to their size
being of course allowed for them.
Soles, 3 or 4: boiled in water 2 minutes. Cream, 1/2 to whole pint;
salt, mace, cayenne: fish stewed, 6 to 10 minutes. Juice of half a
lemon.
_Obs._—In Cornwall the fish is laid at once into thick clotted cream,
and stewed entirely in it; but this method gives to the sauce, which
ought to be extremely delicate, a coarse fishy flavour which the
previous boil in water prevents.
At Penzance, grey mullet, after being scaled, are divided in the middle,
just covered with cold water, and softly boiled, with the addition of
branches of parsley, pepper and salt, until the flesh of the back parts
easily from the bone; clotted cream, minced parsley, and lemon-juice are
then added to the sauce, and the mullets are dished with the heads and
tails laid even to the thick parts of the back, where the fish were cut
asunder. Hake, too, is there divided at every joint (having previously
been scaled), dipped into egg, then thickly covered with fine
bread-crumbs mixed with plenty of minced parsley, and fried a fine
brown; or, the back-bone being previously taken out, the fish is sliced
into cutlets, and then fried.
TO FRY WHITINGS.
[In full season from Michaelmas to beginning of February.]
Clean, skin, and dry them thoroughly in a cloth, fasten their tails to
their mouths, brush slightly beaten eggs equally over them, and cover
them with the finest bread-crumbs, mixed with a little flour; fry them a
clear golden brown in plenty of boiling lard, drain and dry them well,
dish them on a hot napkin, and serve them with good melted butter, and
the sauce cruets, or with well made shrimp or anchovy sauce. A small
half-teaspoonful of salt should be beaten up with the eggs used in
preparing the whitings: two will be sufficient for half a dozen fish.
5 to 8 minutes, according to their size.
FILLETS OF WHITINGS.
Empty and wash thoroughly, but do not skin the fish. Take off the flesh
on both sides close to the bones, passing the knife from the tail to the
head; divide each side in two, trim the fillets into good shape, and
fold them in a cloth, that the moisture may be well absorbed from them;
dip them into, or draw them through, some beaten egg, then dip them into
fine crumbs mixed with a small portion of flour, and fry them a fine
light brown in lard or clarified butter; drain them well, press them in
white blotting-paper, dish them one over the other in a circle, and send
the usual sauce to table with them. The fillets may also be broiled
after being dipped into eggs seasoned with salt and pepper, then into
crumbs of bread, next into clarified butter, and a second time into the
bread-crumbs (or, to shorten the process, a portion of clarified butter
may be mixed with the eggs at first), and served with good melted
butter, or thickened veal gravy seasoned with cayenne, lemon-juice, and
chopped parsley.
Five minutes will fry the fillets, even when very large rather more time
will be required to broil them.
TO BOIL WHITINGS.
(_French Receipt_)
Having scraped, cleansed, and wiped them, lay them on a fish-plate, and
put them into water at the point of boiling; throw in a handful of salt,
two bay leaves, and plenty of parsley well washed and tied together; let
the fish _just simmer_ from five to ten minutes, and watch them closely
that they may not be overdone. Serve parsley and butter with them, and
use in making it the liquor in which the whitings have been boiled.
Just simmered from 5 to 10 minutes.
BAKED WHITINGS À LA FRANÇAISE.
Proceed with these exactly as with the _soles au plat_ of this chapter;
or, pour a little clarified butter into a deep dish, and strew it rather
thickly with finely-minced mushrooms mixed with a teaspoonful of
parsley, and (when the flavour is liked, and considered appropriate)
with an eschalot or two, or the white part of a few green onions, also
chopped very small. On these place the fish after they have been scaled,
emptied, thoroughly washed, and wiped dry: season them well with salt
and white pepper, or cayenne; sprinkle more of the herbs upon them; pour
gently from one to two glasses of light white wine into the dish, cover
the whitings with a thick layer of fine crumbs of bread, sprinkle these
plentifully with clarified butter, and bake the fish from fifteen to
twenty minutes. Send a cut lemon only to table with them. When the wine
is not liked, a few spoonsful of pale veal gravy can be used instead; or
a larger quantity of clarified butter, with a tablespoonful of water, a
teaspoonful of lemon-pickle and of mushroom catsup, and a few drops of
soy.
15 to 20 minutes.
TO BOIL MACKEREL.
[In full season in May, June, and July; may be had also in early
spring.]
[Illustration:
Mackerel.
]
Open the fish sufficiently to admit of the insides being _perfectly
cleansed_, but not more than is necessary for this purpose; empty them
with care, lay the roes apart, and wash both them and the mackerel
delicately clean. It is customary now to lay these, and the greater
number of other fish as well, into cold water when they are to be
boiled; formerly all were plunged at once into fast-boiling water. For
such as are small and delicate, it should be hot; they should be brought
gently to boil, and simmered until they are done; the scum should be
cleared off as it rises, and the usual proportion of salt stirred into
the water before the mackerel are put in. The roes are commonly replaced
in the fish; but as they sometimes require more boiling than the
mackerel themselves, it is better, when they are very large, to lay them
upon the fish-plate by their sides. From fifteen to twenty minutes will
generally be sufficient to boil a full-sized mackerel some will be done
in less time; but they must be watched and lifted out as soon as the
tails split, and the eyes are starting.
Dish them on a napkin, and send fennel or gooseberry sauce to table with
them, and plain melted butter also.
Small mackerel, 10 to 15 minutes; large, 15 to 20 minutes.
TO BAKE MACKEREL.
After they have been cleaned and well washed, wipe them very dry, fill
the insides with the forcemeat, No. 1 of Chapter VIII., sew them up,
arrange them, with the roes, closely together in a coarse baking-dish,
flour them lightly, strew a little fine salt over, and stick bits of
butter upon them; or pour some equally over them, after having just
dissolved it in a small saucepan. Half an hour in a moderate oven will
bake them. Oyster forcemeat is always appropriate for any kind of fish
which is in season while the oysters are so; but the mackerel are
commonly served, and are very good with that which we have named. Lift
them carefully into a hot dish after they are taken from the oven, and
send melted butter and a cut lemon to table with them.
1/2 hour.
BAKED MACKEREL, OR WHITINGS.
(_Cinderella’s Receipt—good._)
The fish for this receipt should be opened only so much as will permit
of their being emptied and perfectly cleansed. Wash and wipe them dry,
then fold them in a soft cloth, and let them remain in it awhile.
Replace the roes, and put the fish into a baking-dish of suitable size,
with a tablespoonful of wine, a few drops of chili vinegar, a little
salt and cayenne, and about half an ounce of butter, well-blended with a
saltspoonful of flour, for each fish. They must be turned round with the
heads and tails towards each other, that they may lie compactly in the
dish, and the backs should be placed downwards, that the sauce may
surround the thickest part of the flesh. Lay two buttered papers over,
and press them down upon them; set the dish into a gentle oven for
twenty minutes, take off the papers, and send the fish to table in their
sauce.
A few minutes more of time must be allowed for mackerel when it is
large, should the oven be _very_ slow.
Full-sized whitings are _excellent_ thus dressed if carefully managed,
and many eaters would infinitely prefer mackerel so prepared, to boiled
ones. The writer has port-wine always used for the sauce, to which a
rather full seasoning of chili vinegar, cayenne, and pounded mace, is
added; but sherry, Bucellas, or any other dry wine, can be used instead;
and the various condiments added to it, can be varied to the taste. This
receipt is a very convenient one, as it is prepared with little trouble,
and a stove-oven, if the heat be properly moderated, will answer for the
baking. It is an advantage to take off the heads of the fish before they
are dressed, and they may then be entirely emptied without being opened.
When preferred so, they can be re-dished for table, and the sauce poured
over them.
_Obs._—The dish in which they are baked, should be buttered before they
are laid in.
FRIED MACKEREL.
(_Common French Receipt._)
After the fish have been emptied and washed extremely clean, cut off the
heads and tails, split the bodies quite open, and take out the backbones
(we recommend in preference that the flesh should be taken off the bones
as in the following receipt), wipe the mackerel very dry, dust fine salt
and pepper (or cayenne) over them, flour them well, fry them a fine
brown in boiling lard, drain them thoroughly, and serve them with the
following sauce:—Dissolve in a small saucepan an ounce and a half of
butter smoothly mixed with a teaspoonful of flour, some salt, pepper, or
cayenne; shake these over a gentle fire until they are lightly coloured,
then add by slow degrees nearly half a pint of good broth or gravy, and
the juice of one large lemon; boil the sauce for a couple of minutes,
and serve it very hot. Or, instead of this, add a large teaspoonful of
strong made mustard, and a dessertspoonful of chili vinegar, to some
thick melted butter, and serve it with the fish. A spoonful of Harvey’s
sauce or of mushroom catsup can be mixed with this last at pleasure.
FILLETS OF MACKEREL.
(_Fried or Broiled._)
Take off the flesh quite whole on either side, from three fine mackerel,
which have been opened and properly cleaned; let it be entirely free
from bone, dry it well in a cloth, then divide each part in two, and dip
them into the beaten yolks of a couple of eggs, seasoned with salt and
white pepper, or cayenne; cover them equally with fine dry crumbs of
bread, and fry them like soles; or dip them into clarified butter, and
then again into the crumbs, and broil them over a very clear fire of a
fine brown. Dish them in a circle one over the other, and send them to
table with the _Mâitre d’Hôtel_ sauce of Chapter V., or with the one
which follows it. The French pour the sauce into the centre of the dish;
but for broiled fillets this is not so well, we think, as serving it in
a tureen. The roes of the fish, after being well washed and soaked, may
be dressed with them, or they may be made into patties. Minced parsley
can be mixed with the bread-crumbs when it is liked.
BOILED FILLETS OF MACKEREL.
After having taken off and divided the flesh of the fish, as above,
place it flat in one layer in a wide stewpan or saucepan, and just cover
the fillets with cold water; throw in a teaspoonful of salt, and two or
three small sprigs of parsley; bring the mackerel slowly to a boil,
clear off the scum with care, and after two or three minutes of slow
simmering try the fillets with a fork; if the thick part divides with a
touch, they are done. Lift them out cautiously with a slice; drain, and
serve them very hot with good parsley and butter; or strip off the skin
quickly, and pour a _Mâitre d’Hôtel_ sauce over them.
MACKEREL BROILED WHOLE.
(_An excellent Receipt._)
Empty and cleanse perfectly a fine and very fresh mackerel, but without
opening it more than is needful; dry it well, either in a cloth or by
hanging it in a cool air until it is stiff; make with a sharp knife a
deep incision the whole length of the fish on either side of the back
bone, and about half an inch from it, and with a feather put in a little
cayenne and fine salt, mixed with a few drops of good salad oil or
clarified butter. Lay the mackerel over a moderate fire upon a
well-heated gridiron which has been rubbed with suet; loosen it gently
should it stick, which it will do unless often moved; and when it is
equally done on both sides, turn the back to the fire. About half an
hour will broil it well. If a sheet of thickly-buttered writing-paper be
folded round it, and just twisted at the ends before it is laid on the
gridiron, it will be finer eating than if exposed to the fire; but
sometimes when this is done, the skin will adhere to the paper, and be
drawn off with it, which injures its appearance. A cold _Mâitre d’Hôtel_
sauce (see Chapter V.), may be put into the back before it is sent to
table. This is one of the very best modes of dressing a mackerel, which
in flavour is quite a different fish when thus prepared to one which is
simply boiled. A drop of oil is sometimes passed over the skin to
prevent its sticking to the iron. It may be laid to the fire after
having been merely cut as we have directed, when it is preferred so.
30 minutes; 25 if _small_.
MACKEREL STEWED WITH WINE.
(_Very good._)
Work very smoothly together a large teaspoonful of flour with two ounces
of butter, put them into a stewpan, and stir or shake them round over
the fire until the butter is dissolved; add a quarter of a teaspoonful
of mace, twice as much salt, and some cayenne; pour in by slow degrees
three glasses of claret; and when the sauce boils, lay in a couple of
fine mackerel well cleaned, and wiped quite dry; stew them very softly
from fifteen to twenty minutes, and turn them when half done; lift them
out, and dish them carefully; stir a teaspoonful of made mustard to the
sauce, give it a boil, and pour it over the fish. When more convenient,
substitute port wine and a little lemon-juice, for the claret.
Mackerel, 2; flour, 1 teaspoonful; butter, 2 oz.; seasoning of salt,
mace, and cayenne; claret, 3 wineglassesful; made mustard, 1
teaspoonful: 15 to 20 minutes.
FILLETS OF MACKEREL STEWED IN WINE.
(_Excellent._)
Raise the flesh entire from the bones on either side of the mackerel,
and divide it once, if the fish be small, but cut the whole into six
parts of equal size should they be large. Mix with flour, and dissolve
the butter as in the preceding receipt; and when it has simmered for a
minute, throw in the spice, a little salt, and the thinly pared rind of
half a small fresh lemon, lay in the fillets of fish, shake them over a
gentle fire from four to five minutes, and turn them once in the time;
then pour to them in small portions a couple of large wineglassesful of
port wine, a tablespoonful of Harvey’s sauce, a teaspoonful of soy, and
one of lemon-juice; stew the mackerel very softly until the thinner
parts begin to break, lift them out with care, dish and serve them in
their sauce as hot as possible. We can recommend the dish to our readers
as a very excellent one. A garnish of fried sippets can be placed round
the fish at will. A teaspoonful of made mustard should be stirred to the
sauce before it is poured over the fish.
Fillets of mackerel, 2; butter, 2 oz.; flour, 1 teaspoonful; rind of 1/2
lemon; salt, cayenne, pounded mace: 2 minutes. Fish, 4 to 5 minutes.
Port wine, two large glassesful; Harvey’s sauce, 1 tablespoonful; soy
and lemon-juice each, 1 teaspoonful: 4 to 6 minutes. Mustard, 1
teaspoonful.
_Obs._—Trout may be dressed by this receipt.
TO BOIL HADDOCKS.
In the best season in October, November, and December.
[Illustration:
Haddock.
]
Scrape the outsides very clean, open the fish, empty them, wash the
insides thoroughly, take out the gillet, curl the haddocks round, fasten
the tails to the mouths, arrange them on a fish-plate, and lay them into
hot water salted as for mackerel. Take off all the scum, and simmer them
from seven to ten minutes or longer, according to their size, which, as
we have said in the directions for “the best mode of cooking various
kind of fish,” at the commencement of this chapter, varies greatly, as
they are sometimes very large; they must then be brought more slowly to
boil, and more time must be allowed for them. Send them very hot to
table, with a tureen of melted butter, and one of anchovy sauce.
7 to 10 minutes.
_Obs._—In Scotland haddocks are skinned before they are boiled, and the
heads are taken off; but we see no advantage in this mode of dressing
them. Whitings, fresh herrings, and codlings, may all be dressed by this
receipt, the time only being varied according to the size of the fish.
BAKED HADDOCKS
After they have been cleaned, dry them thoroughly, then bake them, as
directed in the common receipt for pike, or fill them with oyster
forcemeat, or with No. 1 of Chapter VIII., if more convenient, and
proceed as for baked mackerel.
20 to 30 minutes; longer if very large.
TO FRY HADDOCKS
Follow the directions given for fillets of whitings; or, should a more
simple method be preferred, clean and dry the fish well, cut off the
heads and tails, take out the backbones, cut each fish in three, egg and
crumb them, fry them in boiling lard a fine golden brown, and serve
them, well drained and dried, with the same sauces as boiled haddocks.
TO DRESS FINNAN HADDOCKS.
These are slightly salted and dried. They are excellent eating, if
gently heated through upon the gridiron without being hardened; and are
served usually at the breakfast or supper table; a feather dipped in oil
may be passed over them before they are laid to the fire.
TO BOIL GURNARDS.
(_With directions for dressing them in other ways._)
[Illustration:
Gurnard.
]
It is more usual to fill gurnards with forcemeat, and to bake them, or
to have the flesh raised from the bones and dressed in fillets, than to
serve them simply boiled; they may, however, be cooked in any of the
modes directed for mackerel,[48] rather more time being allowed for
them, as they are much firmer-fleshed, thicker in the bodies, and
generally of larger size altogether. Cut off all the fins, take out the
gills, and empty and cleanse them like other fish, washing the insides
well; put them into hot water ready salted and skimmed, and boil them
gently from twenty minutes to half an hour; serve them with anchovy
sauce, or with parsley and butter rendered acid with chili vinegar,
lemon-juice, or caper-pickle.
Footnote 48:
Whitings or haddocks.
FRESH HERRINGS.
(_Farleigh Receipt._)
In season from May to October.
Scale and clean the fish with the utmost nicety, split them quite open,
and wash the insides with particular care; dry them well in a cloth,
take off the heads and tails, and remove the backbones; rub the insides
with pepper, salt, and a little pounded mace; stick small bits of butter
on them, and skewer two of the fish together as flat as possible, with
the skin of both outside; flour, and broil or fry them of a fine brown,
and serve them with melted butter mixed with a teaspoonful or more of
mustard, some salt, and a little vinegar or lemon-juice.
To broil from 20 to 25 minutes; to fry about 10 minutes.
TO DRESS THE SEA BREAM.
[Illustration:
Sea Bream.
]
The sea-bream, which is common in many of our markets, is not considered
a fish of first-rate quality; but if well broiled or baked, it will
afford a good, and generally a _cheap_, dish of excellent appearance,
the bream being of handsome size and form. Open and cleanse it
perfectly, but do not remove the scales; fold it in a dry cloth to
absorb the moisture which hangs about it; lay it over a gentle fire, and
broil it slowly, that the heat may gradually penetrate the flesh, which
is thick. Should any cracks appear on the surface, dredge a little flour
upon them. If of ordinary weight, the bream will require quite half an
hour’s broiling; it should be turned, of course, when partially done.
Send plain melted butter and anchovy sauce to table with it. In carving
it, remove the skin and scales, and serve only the flesh which lies
beneath them, and which will be very white and succulent. A more usual
and less troublesome mode of dressing the bream is to season the inside
slightly with salt and pepper or cayenne, to dust a little more salt on
the outside, spread a few bits of butter upon it, and send it to a
gentle oven. It is sometimes filled with common veal-stuffing, and then
requires to be rather longer baked; and it is often merely wrapped in a
buttered paper, and placed in a moderate oven for twenty-five or thirty
minutes.
TO BOIL PLAICE OR FLOUNDERS.
Plaice in season from May to January;
flounders in September, October, and November.
[Illustration:
Plaice.
]
After having emptied and well cleaned the fish, make an incision in the
back as directed for turbot; lay them into cold spring water; add salt
and saltpetre in the same proportion as for cod fish, and let them just
simmer for four or five minutes after the water first begins to boil, or
longer should their size require it, but guard against their being
broken. Serve them with plain melted butter. 4 to 5 minutes; longer if
needful.
TO FRY PLAICE OR FLOUNDERS.
Sprinkle them with salt, and let them lie for two or three hours before
they are dressed. Wash and clean them thoroughly, wipe them very dry,
flour them well, and wipe them again with a clean cloth; dip them into
egg, and fine bread-crumbs, and fry them in plenty of lard. If the fish
be large, raise the flesh in handsome fillets from the bones, and finish
them as directed for fillets of soles. _Obs._—Plaice is said to be
rendered less watery by beating it gently with a paste-roller before it
is cooked. It is very sweet and pleasant in flavour while it is in the
best season, which is from the end of May to about September.
TO ROAST, BAKE, OR BROIL RED MULLET.
[In best season through the summer: may be had all the year.]
[Illustration:
Red Mullet.
]
First wash and then dry the fish thoroughly in a cloth, but neither
scale nor open it, but take out the gills gently and carefully with the
small intestine which will adhere to them; wrap it closely in a sheet of
thickly buttered paper, tie this securely at the ends, and over the
mullet with packthread, and roast it in a Dutch oven, or broil it over a
clear and gentle fire, or bake it in a moderate oven: from twenty to
twenty-five minutes will be sufficient generally to dress it in either
way. For sauce, put into a little good melted butter the liquor which
has flowed from the fish, a small dessertspoonful of essence of
anchovies, some cayenne, a glass of port wine, or claret, and a little
lemon-juice. Remove the packthread, and send the mullet to table in the
paper case. This is the usual mode of serving it, but it is dished
without the paper for dinners of taste. _The plain red mullet_, shown at
the commencement of this receipt, is scarcely ever found upon our coast.
That which abounds here during the summer months is the striped red
mullet, or _surmullet_, which, from its excellence, is always in
request, and is therefore seldom cheap. It rarely exceeds twelve, or at
the utmost fourteen, inches in length.
20 to 30 minutes.
TO BOIL GREY MULLET.
[Illustration:
Grey Mullet.
]
This fish varies so much in size and quality, that it is difficult to
give exact directions for the time of cooking it. When quite young and
small, it may be boiled by the receipt for whitings, haddocks, and other
fish of about their size; but at its finest growth it must be laid into
cold water, and managed like larger fish. We have ourselves partaken of
one which was caught upon our eastern coast, that weighed ten pounds, of
which the flesh was quite equal to that of salmon, but its weight was,
we believe, an unusual one. Anchovy, or caper fish sauce, with melted
butter, may be sent to table with grey mullet.
THE GAR-FISH.
[Illustration:
Gar-Fish.
]
This is a fish of very singular appearance, elongated in form, and with
a mouth which resembles the bill of the snipe, from which circumstance
it is often called the snipe-fish. Its bones are all of a _bright green_
colour. It is not to be recommended for the table, as the skin contains
an oil of exceedingly strong rank flavour; when entirely divested of
this, the flesh is tolerably sweet and palatable. Persons who may be
disposed from curiosity to taste it will find either broiling or baking
in a gentle oven the best mode of cooking it. It should be curled round,
and the tail fastened into the bill. As it is not of large size, from
fifteen to twenty minutes will dress it sufficiently. Anchovy sauce,
parsley and butter, or plain melted butter, may be eaten with it.
SAND-LAUNCE, OR, SAND-EEL.
[Illustration:
Sand-Eel.
]
The sand-launce, which is abundant on many parts of our coast, and the
name of which is derived from its habit of burrowing in the sands when
the tide retires, may be distinguished from the larger species, the true
_sand-eel_, by its lighter colour and more transparent appearance, as
well as by its inferior size. The common mode of dressing the fish,
which is considered by many a great delicacy, is to divest them of their
heads, and to remove the insides with the gills, to dry them well in a
cloth with flour, and to fry them until crisp. They are sometimes also
dipped in batter like smelts. We have not ourselves had an opportunity
of testing them, but we have received the particulars which we have
given here from various friends who have resided where they were
plentiful. The _sand-eels_ are not so good as the smaller kind of these
fish called _launces_.
TO FRY SMELTS.
[In season from beginning of November to May.]
Smelts when quite fresh have a perfume resembling that of a cucumber,
and a peculiarly delicate and agreeable flavour when dressed. Draw them
at the gills, as they must not be opened; wash and dry them thoroughly
in a cloth; dip them into beaten egg-yolk, and then into the finest
bread-crumbs, mixed with a very small quantity of flour; fry them of a
clear golden brown, and serve them crisp and dry, with good melted
butter in a tureen. They are sometimes dipped into batter and then
fried; when this is done, we would recommend for them the French batter
of Chapter V.
3 to 4 minutes.
BAKED SMELTS.
Prepare them as for frying; pour some clarified butter into the dish in
which they are to be sent to table, arrange them neatly in it, with the
tails meeting in the centre, strew over them as much salt, mace, and
cayenne, mixed, as will season them agreeably, cover them smoothly with
a rather thick layer of very fine bread-crumbs, moisten them equally
with clarified butter poured through a small strainer, and bake the fish
in a moderately quick oven, until the crumbs are of a fine light brown.
A glass of sherry, half a teaspoonful of essence of anchovies, and a
dessertspoonful of lemon-juice, are sometimes poured into the dish
before the smelts are laid in.
About 10 minutes.
TO DRESS WHITE BAIT.
(_Greenwich Receipt._)
[In season in July, August, and September.]
This delicate little fish requires great care to dress it well. Do not
touch it with the hands, but throw it from your dish or basket into a
cloth, with three or four handsful of flour, and shake it well; then put
it into a bait sieve, to separate it from the superfluous flour. Have
ready a very deep frying-pan, nearly full of boiling fat, throw in the
fish, which will be done in an instant: they must not be allowed to take
any colour, for if browned, they are spoiled. Lift them out, and dish
them upon a silver or earthenware drainer, without a napkin, piling them
very high in the centre. Send them to table with a cut lemon, and slices
of brown bread and butter.
WATER SOUCHY.
(_Greenwich Receipt._)
This is a very simple and inexpensive dish, much served at the regular
fish-dinners for which Greenwich is celebrated, as well as at private
tables. It is excellent if well prepared; and as it may be made with
fish of various kinds when they are too small to present a good
appearance or to be palatable dressed in any other way, it is also very
economical. Flounders, perch, tench, and eels, are said to answer best
for water souchy; but very delicate soles, and several other varieties
of small white fish are often used for it with good effect: it is often
made also with slices of salmon, or of salmon-peel, freed from the skin.
Throw into rather more than sufficient water to just cover the quantity
of fish required for table, from half to three quarters of an ounce of
salt to the quart, a dozen corns of white pepper, a small bunch of green
parsley, and two or three tender parsley roots, first cut into inch
lengths, and then split to the size of straws. Simmer the mixture until
these last are tender, which will be in from half to a whole hour; then
lay in the fish delicately cleaned, cleared from every morsel of brown
skin, and divided into equal portions of about two inches in width. Take
off all the scum as it rises, and stew the fish softly from eight to
twelve minutes, watching it that it may not break from being overdone.
Two minutes before it is dished, strew in a large tablespoonful or more
of minced parsley, or some small branches of the herb boiled very green
in a separate saucepan (we prefer the latter mode); lift out the fish
carefully with a slice, and the parsley roots with it; pour over it the
liquor in which it has been boiled, but leave out the peppercorns. For a
superior water souchy, take all the bones out of the fish, and stew down
the inferior portions of it to a strong broth: about an hour will be
sufficient for this. Salt, parsley, and a little cayenne may be added to
it. Strain it off clear through a sieve, and use it instead of water for
the souchy. The juice of half a good lemon may be thrown into the stew
before it is served. A deep dish will of course be required for it. The
parsley-roots can be boiled apart when more convenient, but they give an
agreeable flavour when added to the liquor at first. Slices of brown or
white bread and butter must be sent to table always with water souchy:
the first is usually preferred, but to suit all tastes some of each may
be served with it.
SHAD, TOURAINE FASHION.
(_Alose à la mode de Touraine._)
[In season in April, May, and early part of June.]
Empty and wash the fish with care, but do not open it more than is
needful; fill it either with the forcemeat No. 1, or No. 2 of Chapter
VIII., and its own roe; then sew it up, or fasten it securely with very
fine skewers, wrap it in a thickly buttered paper, and broil it gently
for an hour over a charcoal fire. Serve it with caper sauce, or with
chili vinegar and melted butter.
We are indebted for this receipt to a friend who has been long resident
in Touraine, at whose table the fish is constantly served thus dressed,
and is considered excellent. It is likewise often gently stewed in the
light white wine of the country, and served covered with a rich
_béchamel_. Many fish more common with us than the shad might be
advantageously prepared in the same manner. The charcoal fire is not
indispensable: any one that is entirely free from smoke will answer. We
would suggest as an improvement, that oyster-forcemeat should be
substituted for that which we have indicated, until the oyster season
ends.
Broiled gently, 1 hour, more or less, according to the size.
STEWED TROUT.
(_Good common Receipt._)
[In season from May to August.]
[Illustration:
Trout.
]
Melt three ounces of butter in a broad stewpan, or well tinned iron
saucepan, stir to it a tablespoonful of flour, some mace, cayenne, and
nutmeg; lay in the fish after it has been emptied, washed very clean,
and wiped perfectly dry; shake it in the pan, that it may not stick, and
when lightly browned on both sides, pour in three quarters of a pint of
good veal stock, add a small faggot of parsley, one bay leaf, a roll of
lemon-peel, and a little salt: stew the fish _very gently_ from half to
three quarters of an hour, or more, should it be unusually fine. Dish
the trout, skim the fat from the gravy, and pass it through a hot
strainer over the fish, which should be served immediately. A little
acid can be added to the sauce at pleasure, and a glass of wine when it
is considered an improvement. This receipt is for one large or for two
middling-sized fish. We can recommend it as a good one from our own
experience.
Butter, 3 oz.; flour, 1 tablespoonful; seasoning of mace, cayenne, and
nutmeg; trout, 1 large, or 2 moderate-sized; veal stock, 3/4 pint;
parsley, _small_ faggot; 1 bay-leaf; roll of lemon-rind; little salt:
1/2 to 3/4 hour.
_Obs._—Trout may be stewed in equal parts of strong veal gravy, and of
red or white wine, without having been previously browned; the sauce
should then be thickened, and agreeably flavoured with lemon-juice, and
the usual store-sauces, before it is poured over the fish. They are also
good when wrapped in buttered paper, and baked or broiled: if very
small, the better mode of cooking them is to fry them whole. They should
never be plain boiled, as, though naturally a delicious fish, they are
then very insipid.
TO BOIL PIKE.
[In best season from September to February.]
[Illustration:
Pike.
]
Take out the gills, empty and clean the fish very thoroughly, and soak
it for half an hour with a cup of vinegar thrown into as much water as
will cover it well, should there be any danger of its having a muddy
taste.[49] Wipe the inside dry, and fill it with oyster-forcemeat, or
with common veal forcemeat made either with butter or with suet (for
which see Chapter VIII.); curl the fish round, and fasten it with the
tail in the mouth, lay it on a fish-plate, cover it well with cold
water, throw in some salt as soon as it boils, skim it well, and boil
the fish gently from half to a whole hour according to its size. Some
persons prefer the scales taken off the pike when it is prepared for
this mode of dressing; and many cooks still put the fish into _boiling_
water well salted and skimmed. Serve it with plain melted butter, or
anchovy sauce.
Footnote 49:
Soaking fish is always better avoided when it can be so; well washing
the inside with strong vinegar would perhaps remove the objectionable
flavour without it.
Moderate sized, 1/2 hour; large, 1 hour.
_Obs._—We must repeat that it is impossible to give for fish which
varies so much in quality as well as in size, directions for the exact
time which is required to cook it; a few minutes, more or less, must
often be allowed; and it should always be watched attentively, and
lifted from the water as soon as it is done.
TO BAKE PIKE.
(_Common Receipt._)
Pour warm water over the outside of the fish, and wipe it very clean
with a coarse cloth drawn from the head downwards, that the scales may
not be disturbed; then wash it well in cold water, empty, and cleanse
the inside with the greatest nicety, fill it either with the common
forcemeat No. 1, or with No. 4 of Chapter VIII., sew it up, fasten the
tail to the mouth, give it a slight dredging of flour, stick small bits
of butter thickly over it, and bake it from half to three quarters of an
hour, should it be of moderate size, and upwards of an hour, if it be
large. Should there not be sufficient sauce with it in the dish, melted
butter and a lemon, or anchovy sauce may be sent to table with it. When
more convenient the forcemeat may be omitted, and a little fine salt and
cayenne, with some bits of butter, put into the inside of the fish,
which will then require rather less baking. A buttered paper should
always be laid over it in the oven, should the outside appear likely to
become too highly coloured or too dry before the fish is done; and it is
better to wrap quite small pike in buttered paper at once before they
are sent to the oven.
Moderate-sized pike, 30 to 45 minutes; large pike, 1 to 1-1/4 hour.
TO BAKE PIKE.
(_Superior Receipt._)
Scale and wash the fish, take out the gills, then open it just
sufficiently to allow the inside to be emptied and _perfectly cleansed_,
but not more than is necessary for that purpose. Wipe it as dry as
possible in every part, then hang it for an hour or two on a hook in a
cool larder, or wrap it in a soft cloth. Fill the body with the
forcemeat No. 1 or 3, or with the oyster forcemeat of Chapter VIII.; sew
it up very securely, curl it round, and fasten the tail into the mouth
with a thin skewer, then dip it into the beaten yolks of two or more
eggs, seasoned with nearly half a teaspoonful of salt and a little
pepper or cayenne; cover it equally with the finest bread-crumbs, dip it
a second time into the egg and crumbs, then pour some clarified butter
gently over it, through a small strainer, and send it to a well heated
oven for an hour and a quarter or more, should it be _very_ large, but
for less time if it be only of moderate size. As it is naturally a very
dry fish, it should not be left in the oven after it is thoroughly done,
but it should never be sent to table until it is so. The crumbs of bread
are sometimes mixed with a sufficient quantity of minced parsley to give
the surface of the fish a green hue. Send plain melted butter, and brown
caper, or Dutch sauce to table with it.
TO STEW CARP.
(_A common Country Receipt._)
[Illustration:
Carp.
]
Scale and clean the fish with exceeding care, lay it into a stewpan, and
cover it with good cold beef or veal broth; add one small onion stuck
with a few cloves, a faggot of savoury herbs, three or four slices of
carrot, and a little salt, and stew the carp as gently as possible for
nearly an hour. Have ready some good brown gravy, mixed with a couple of
glassesful of port wine; add a squeeze of lemon-juice, dish the carp
very carefully, pour the sauce over, and serve it immediately. We would
recommend the Genevese Sauce, of Chapter V., as superior to any other
for this dish.
This receipt is for a fish which averages from five to six pounds in
weight, but the carp sometimes attains to a very large size; and
sufficient time to cook it perfectly should always be allowed for it.
TO BOIL PERCH.[50]
Footnote 50:
The figure of this fish is very disproportioned in size to that of the
carp and other kinds inserted here, as it is _quite small_ at its
fullest growth compared with the carp, which sometimes attains to a
great weight.
[Illustration:
Perch.
]
First wipe or wash off the slime, then scrape off the scales, which
adhere rather tenaciously to this fish; empty and clean the insides
perfectly, take out the gills, cut off the fins, and lay the perch into
equal parts of cold and of boiling water, salted as for mackerel: from
eight to ten minutes will boil them unless they are very large. Dish
them on a napkin, garnish them with curled parsley, and serve melted
butter with them, or _Maître d’Hôtel Sauce Maigre_.
Very good French cooks put them at once into boiling water and keep them
over a brisk fire for about fifteen minutes. They dress them also
without taking off the scales or fins until they are ready to serve,
when they strip the whole of the skin off carefully, and stick the red
fins into the middle of the backs; the fish are then covered with the
Steward’s sauce, thickened with eggs.
In warm water, 8 to 10 minutes; in boiling, 12 to 15 minutes.
TO FRY PERCH OR TENCH.
Scale, and clean them perfectly; dry them well, flour and fry them in
boiling lard. Serve plenty of crisped or fried parsley round them.
TO FRY EELS.
[In season all the year, but not so well-conditioned in April and May as
in other months.]
First kill, then skin, empty, and wash them as clean as possible; cut
them into four-inch lengths, and dry them well in a soft cloth. Season
them with fine salt, and white pepper, or cayenne, flour them thickly,
and fry them a fine brown in boiling lard; drain and dry them as
directed for soles, and send them to table with plain melted butter or
anchovy sauce. Eels are sometimes dipped into batter and then fried; or
into egg and fine bread-crumbs (mixed with minced parsley or not, at
pleasure), and served with plenty of crisped parsley round, and on them.
It is an improvement for these modes of dressing the fish to open them
entirely; and remove the bones: the smaller parts should be thrown into
the pan a minute or two later than the thicker portions of the bodies or
they will not be equally done.
BOILED EELS.
(_German Receipt._)
Pare a fine lemon, and strip from it entirely the white inner rind;
slice it, and remove the pips with care; put it with a blade of mace, a
small half-teaspoonful of white peppercorns, nearly twice as much of
salt, and a moderate-sized bunch of parsley, into three pints of cold
water, bring them gently to boil, and simmer them for twenty minutes;
let them become quite cold; then put in three pounds of eels skinned;
and cleaned with great nicety, and cut into lengths of three or four
inches; simmer them very softly from ten to fifteen minutes, lift them
with a slice into a very hot dish, and serve them with a good Dutch
sauce, or with parsley and butter acidulated with lemon-juice, or with
chili vinegar.
For boiled eels with sage (German Receipt), _see Chapter of Foreign
Cookery_.
EELS.
(_Cornish Receipt._)
Skin, empty, and wash as clean as possible, two or three fine eels, cut
them into short lengths, and just cover them with cold water; add
sufficient salt and cayenne to season them, and stew them very softly
indeed from fifteen to twenty minutes, or longer should they require it.
When they are nearly done, strew over them a teaspoonful of minced
parsley, thicken the sauce with a teaspoonful of flour mixed with a
slice of butter, and add a quarter of a pint or more of clotted cream.
Give the whole a boil, lift the fish into a hot dish, and stir briskly
the juice of half a lemon into the sauce; pour it upon the eels, and
serve them immediately: Very sweet thick cream is, we think, preferable
to clotted cream for this dish. The sauce should be of a good
consistence, and a dessertspoonful of flour will be needed for a large
dish of the stew, and from one and a half to two ounces of butter. The
size of the fish must determine the precise quantity of liquid and of
seasoning which they will require.
RED HERRINGS, À LA DAUPHIN.
Take off the heads, open the backs of the fish, and remove the
backbones: soak the herrings, should they be very dry, for two or three
hours in warm milk and water, drain and wipe them. Dissolve a slice of
fresh butter, and mix it with the beaten yolks of a couple of eggs and
some savoury herbs minced small: dip the fish into these, and spread
them thickly with fine bread-crumbs; broil them of a light brown, over a
moderate fire, and serve them on hot buttered toasts, sprinkled with a
little cayenne.
RED HERRINGS, COMMON ENGLISH MODE.
This fish is rendered infinitely more delicate by pouring boiling water
on it before it is dressed, and leaving it to soak for half an hour, or
more, should it be highly dried. The fresh Yarmouth bloaters do not
require this. Cut off the heads and tails, open the herrings at the
back, and warm them through before the fire, or upon the gridiron. They
may be rubbed with a bit of cold butter, and seasoned with a slight
sprinkling of pepper or cayenne, when these are liked, or served quite
plain.
ANCHOVIES FRIED IN BATTER.
Scrape very clean a dozen or more of fine anchovies, and soak them in
plenty of spring water from two to six hours: then wipe them dry, open
them, and take out the backbones, without dividing the fish. Season the
insides highly with cayenne, close the anchovies, dip them into the
French batter of Chapter V., or into a light English batter, and fry
them a pale amber-colour: in from four to five minutes they will be
quite sufficiently done.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER III.
=Dishes of Shell-Fish=
[Illustration]
OYSTERS.
[In season from September to April.]
THE old-fashioned plan of _feeding_ oysters with a sprinkling of oatmeal
or flour, in addition to the salt and water to which they were
committed, has long been rejected by all genuine amateurs of these
nutritious and excellent fish, who consider the plumpness which the
oysters are supposed to gain from the process, but poor compensation for
the flavour which they are sure to lose. To cleanse them when they first
come up from the beds, and to keep them in good condition for four or
five days, they only require to be covered with cold water, with five
ounces of salt to the gallon dissolved in it before it is poured on
them; this should be changed with regularity every twenty-four hours. By
following this plan with exactness they may be kept alive from a week to
ten days, but will remain in perfect condition scarcely more than half
that time. Oysters should be eaten always the instant they are opened.
Abroad they are served before the soup in the first course of a dinner,
arranged usually in as many plates as there are guests at table. In
England they are sometimes served _after_ the soup. A sense of
_appropriateness_ must determine how far the variations of fashion
should be followed in such matters.
_Obs._—We were accustomed formerly to have the brine which was supplied
to oysters intended to be kept for some days, changed twice in the
twenty-four hours; but we were informed by an oyster merchant in an
extensive business that once was sufficient.
TO SCALLOP OYSTERS.
Large coarse oysters should never be dressed in this way. Select small
plump ones for the purpose, let them be opened carefully, give them a
scald in their own liquor, wash them in it free from grit, and beard
them neatly. Butter the scallop shells and shake some fine bread-crumbs
over them; fill them with alternate layers of oysters, crumbs of bread,
and fresh butter cut into small bits; pour in the oyster-liquor, after
it has been strained, put a thick, smooth layer of bread-crumbs on the
top, moisten them with clarified butter,[51] place the shells in a Dutch
oven before a clear fire, and turn them often until the tops are equally
and lightly browned: send them immediately to table.
Footnote 51:
Common cooks merely stick small bits of butter on them.
Some persons like a little white pepper or cayenne, and a flavouring of
nutmeg added to the oysters; others prefer pounded mace. French cooks
recommend with them a mixture of minced mushrooms stewed in butter till
quite tender, and sweet herbs finely chopped. The fish is sometimes laid
into the shells after having been bearded only.
SCALLOPED OYSTERS À LA REINE.
Plump and beard the oysters, after having rinsed them well in their own
strained liquor; add to this about an equal quantity of very rich white
sauce, and thicken it, if needful, with half a teaspoonful of flour,
mixed with a small slice of butter, or with as much arrow-root only; put
in the oysters, and keep them at the point of simmering for three or
four minutes: lay them into the shells, and cover the tops thickly with
crumbs fried a delicate brown and well dried; or heap over them instead,
a layer of fine crumbs; pour clarified butter on them, and brown them
with a salamander.
TO STEW OYSTERS.
A pint of small plump oysters will be sufficient for a quite
moderate-sized dish, but twice as many will be required for a large one.
Let them be very carefully opened, and not mangled in the slightest
degree; wash them free from grit in their own _strained_ liquor, lay
them into a very clean stewpan or well-tinned saucepan, strain the
liquor a second time, pour it on them, and heat them slowly in it. When
they are just beginning to simmer, lift them out with a slice or a bored
wooden spoon, and take off the beards; add to the liquor a quarter of a
pint of good cream, a seasoning of pounded mace, and cayenne, and a
little salt, and when it boils, stir in from one to two ounces of good
butter, smoothly mixed with a large teaspoonful of flour; continue to
stir the sauce until these are perfectly blended with it, then put in
the oysters, and let them remain by the side of the fire until they are
very hot: they require so little cooking that, if kept for four or five
minutes nearly simmering, they will be ready for table, and they are
quickly hardened by being allowed to boil, or by too much stewing. Serve
them garnished with pale fried sippets.
Small plump oysters, 1 pint: their own liquor: brought slowly to the
point of simmering. Cream, 1/4 pint; seasoning of pounded mace and
cayenne; salt as needed; butter, 1 to 2 oz.; flour, 1 large teaspoonful.
_Obs._—A little lemon-juice should be stirred quickly into the stew just
as it is taken from the fire. Another mode of preparing this dish, is to
add the strained liquor of the oysters to about an equal quantity of
rich _bechamel_, with a little additional thickening; then to heat them
in it, after having prepared and plumped them properly. Or, the beards
of the fish may be stewed for half an hour in a little pale gravy, or
good broth, and this, when strained and mixed with the oyster-liquor,
may be brought to the consistency of cream with the French thickening of
Chapter V., or, with flour and butter, then seasoned with spice as
above: the process should be quite the same in all of these receipts,
though the composition of the sauce is varied. Essence of anchovies,
cavice, chili vinegar, or yolks of eggs can be added to the taste.
For Curried Oysters see Chapter XVI.
OYSTER SAUSAGES.
(_A most excellent Receipt._)
Beard, rinse well in their strained liquor, and mince but not finely,
three dozens and a half of plump native oysters, and mix them with ten
ounces of fine bread-crumbs, and ten of beef-suet chopped extremely
small; add a saltspoonful of salt, and one of pepper, or less than half
the quantity of cayenne, twice as much pounded mace, and the third of a
small nutmeg grated: moisten the whole with two unbeaten eggs, or with
the yolks only of three, and a dessertspoonful of the whites. When these
ingredients have been well worked together, and are perfectly blended,
set the mixture in a cool place for two or three hours before it is
used; make it into the form of small sausages or sausage cakes, flour
and fry them in butter of a fine light brown; or throw them into boiling
water for three minutes, drain, and let them become cold, dip them into
egg and bread-crumbs, and broil them gently until they are lightly
coloured. A small bit should be cooked and tasted before the whole is
put aside, that the seasoning may be heightened if required. The
sausages thus made are extremely good: the fingers should be well
floured in making them up.
Small plump oysters, 3-1/2 dozens; bread-crumbs, 10 oz.; beef suet, 10
oz.; seasoning of salt, cayenne, pounded mace, and nutmeg; unbeaten eggs
2, or yolks of 3.
TO BOIL LOBSTERS.
[In full season from April to October: may be had all the year.]
Choose them by the directions given at the commencement of this chapter,
and throw them into plenty of _fast-boiling_ salt and water, that life
may be destroyed in an instant.
To 1 gallon of water, 5 ounces salt: moderate sized lobster, 15 to 20
minutes; large lobster, 30 to 40 minutes; _very_ large, 1 hour or more.
COLD DRESSED LOBSTER AND CRAB.
[Illustration:
Dressed Lobster.
]
Before a lobster is sent to table take off the large claws, hold each of
them firmly with the edge upwards, and with a quick light blow from a
cutlet bat or ought else convenient for the purpose, crack the shell
without disfiguring the fish. Split the tail open with a very sharp
knife and dish the lobster in the manner shown in the engraving, either
with, or without a napkin under it. When the soft part of the body is
required to mix with the dressing, take it out before it is served, and
add it to the _remoulade_, or other sauce with which it is to be
mingled. The shrimp _chatney_ of Chapter VI. is a wholesome
accompaniment to this fish; which we must remark here should be
sparingly eaten, or altogether avoided, by persons in delicate health,
and especially at night. It is too much the fashion to serve it as a
supper dish at parties; and it sometimes produces dangerous attacks of
indigestion and other illness. The flesh of the crab is much lighter.
This is served in the shell, which should be entirely emptied and nicely
cleaned out; the sides filled with the white flesh divided into small
flakes, and the centre with the soft part or _cream_ as it is called.
[Illustration:
Dressed Crab.
]
The flesh of two crabs can be served in one shell when a dish of
handsome appearance is required, and the sauce can be mixed with it the
instant before it is sent to table, though it will be whiter, and of
better appearance without it. The centre may be filled with a red
Imperial _Mayonnaise_, when a good effect is wanted. For other
appropriate sauces see Chapter VI.
LOBSTERS, FRICASSEED, OR AU BÉCHAMEL. (ENTRÉE.)
Take the flesh from the claws and tails of two moderate-sized lobsters;
cut it into small scallops or dice; heat it slowly quite through in
about three quarters of a pint of good white sauce or _béchamel_; and
serve it when it is at the point of boiling, after having stirred
briskly to it a little lemon-juice just as it is taken from the fire.
The coral, pounded and mixed gradually with a few spoonsful of the
sauce, should be added previously. Good shin of beef stock made without
vegetables (see page 97), and somewhat reduced by quick boiling, if
mixed with an equal proportion of cream, and thickened with arrow-root,
will answer extremely well in a general way for this dish, which is most
excellent if well made. The sauce should never be thin; nor more than
sufficient in quantity to just cover the fish. For a second course dish,
only as much must be used as will adhere to the fish, which after being
heated should be laid evenly into the shells, which ought to be split
quite through the centre of the backs in their entire length, without
being broken or divided at the joint, and nicely cleaned. When thus
arranged, the lobster may be thickly covered with well dried, fine, pale
fried crumbs of bread, or with unfried ones, which must then be equally
moistened with clarified butter, and browned with a salamander. A small
quantity of salt, mace, and cayenne, may be required to finish the
flavouring of either of these preparations.
HOT CRAB, OR LOBSTER.
(_In season during the same time as Lobsters._)
Slice quite small, or pull into light flakes with a couple of forks, the
flesh of either fish; put it into a saucepan with a few bits of good
butter lightly rolled in flour, and heat it slowly over a gentle fire;
then pour over and thoroughly mix with it, from one to two teaspoonsful
or more of common or of chili vinegar; if with the former, add to it a
tolerable seasoning of cayenne. Grate in a little nutmeg, and when the
whole is well heated serve it immediately, either in the shell of the
crab or lobster, or in scallop-shells, and serve it plain, or with
bread-crumbs over, as in the preceding receipt. A spoonful or so of good
meat jelly is, we think, a great improvement to this dish, for which an
ounce and a half of butter will be quite sufficient.
This is sometimes called _Buttered Crab_.
POTTED LOBSTERS.
Separate carefully the flesh of freshly-boiled lobsters from the shells,
and from the tough red skin of the tails, mince the fish up quickly with
a very sharp knife, turn it immediately into a large mortar, and strew
over it a mixed seasoning of fine cayenne, pounded mace, lightly grated
nutmeg, and salt: this last should be sparingly used in the first
instance, and it should be reduced to powder before it is added. Pound
the lobsters to a perfect paste with from two to three ounces of firm
new butter to each fish if of large size, but with less should it be
small; and the lobster-coral previously rubbed through a sieve, or with
a portion of it only, should any part of it be required for other
purposes. When there is no coral, a fine colour may be given to the
mixture by stewing the red skin of the tails very softly for ten or
twelve minutes in part of the butter which is used for it, but which
must be strained and left to become perfectly cold before it is mingled
with the fish. The degree of seasoning given to the mixture can be
regulated by the taste; but no flavour should predominate over that of
the lobster itself; and for all delicate preparations, over-spicing
should be particularly avoided. A quart or more of fine brown shrimps,
if very fresh and quickly shelled at the instant of using, may be
chopped up and pounded with the lobsters with excellent effect. Before
the mixture is taken from the mortar it should be placed in a cool
larder, or set over ice for a short time, to render it firm before it is
pressed into the potting-pans or moulds. In putting it into these, be
careful to press it into a compact, even mass; smooth the surface, run a
little clarified butter over, when it is only _just liquid_, for if hot
it would prevent the fish from keeping—and send the lobster to table,
neatly garnished with light green foliage; or with ornamentally-cut
paper fastened round the mould; or with a small damask napkin tastefully
arranged about it.
_Obs._—By pounding separately part of the white flesh of the fish, freed
from every particle of the skin, and by colouring the remainder highly
with the coral of the lobster, and then pressing the two in alternate
and regular layers into a mould, a dish of pretty appearance is
produced, which should be turned out of the mould for table. Ham and
turkey (or any other white meat) are often potted in this way.
LOBSTER CUTLETS.
(_A Superior Entrée._)
Prepare and pound with exceeding nicety, by the preceding receipt for
Potted Lobsters, about three quarters of a pound of the flesh of a
couple of fine fresh lobsters, of which one must be a hen lobster; add
to it, when it is partially beaten, an ounce and a half of sweet new
butter, a saltspoonful of salt, and about two-thirds as much of mixed
mace and cayenne, with a dessertspoonful of the inside coral, the whole
of which should be rubbed with a wooden spoon through a hair sieve, to
be in readiness for use. When all these ingredients are well blended,
and beaten to the finest and smoothest paste, the mixture should be
tested by the taste, and the seasoning heightened if needful; but, as
the preparation is very delicate, it should not be over-spiced. Mould it
into the form of small cutlets about the third of an inch thick, stick
into each a short bit of the smallest claws, strew the coral lightly
over them so as to give them the appearance of being crumbed with it,
arrange them round the dish in which they are to be sent to table, place
them in a very gentle oven for eight or ten minutes only to heat them
through, or warm them in a Dutch or American oven, placed at some
distance from the fire, that the brilliant colour of the coral may not
be destroyed; and pour into the centre some good _béchamel_ (see page
108), or the Lady’s Sauce, or the Cream Sauce of Chapter IV. A very
white sauce best contrasts with the colour of the cutlets. This is an
excellent and elegant dish, of which an admirable variety is made by the
addition of three or four ounces of the freshest shrimps, quickly
shelled, and chopped before they are thrown into the mortar, with half
an ounce of butter and a little spice. All the coral can be added to the
cutlets at pleasure; but it is generally in request for many purposes,
and is required for this one only in part.
_Obs._—As lobsters are well known to be the most indigestible of shell
fish, and as they sometimes prove dangerously so to persons out of
health, these pounded preparations are the best and safest forms in
which they can be served: they should at all times be beaten to a
smooth, _fibreless_ paste, before they are taken from the mortar; and no
fish that is not entirely _fresh_ should ever be used for them. Prawns
may be advantageously served in the same manner.
For Indian Lobster Cutlets, see Chapter of Foreign Cookery.
LOBSTER SAUSAGES.
Let the fish be pounded as for the cutlets above or for _boudinettes_,
but mix half or more of the coral with the flesh of the lobsters; shape
it like small sausages, sprinkle them with the powdered coral, and heat
them through in a Dutch or American oven. They may be brushed with
clarified butter before the coral is strewed over them, but they
scarcely need it. A fierce degree of heat will destroy the excellence of
_all_ these preparations.
BOUDINETTES OF LOBSTERS, PRAWNS, OR SHRIMPS. (ENTRÉE).
(_Author’s Receipt._)
When the fish has been prepared as above, mould it in as many _very
small_ round cups as will suffice for a dish; heat them gently through
at the mouth of the oven or before the fire, and serve them dry, or with
a little rich white sauce, coloured with lobster-coral poured round, but
not upon them. These _boudinettes_ are delicious, made entirely of
shrimps or prawns, which it is an advantage to have prepared as follows,
either for this purpose or for potting simply, as they will then be
firmer, and will also remain good much longer:—Shell them quickly, and
touch them as little as possible in the process; put them into an
enamelled saucepan with about three ounces of butter to the quart, and
strew the spice upon them; place them by the side of a gentle fire that
they may heat through very gradually, and shake the saucepan round
occasionally to mingle the seasoning equally with them. Do not allow
them to boil, as that would render them tough, but when they are heated
quite through and the butter approaches the point of simmering, draw
them from the fire; let them remain for a few minutes in the saucepan,
then lay them very evenly and closely into the pans and pour the butter
on them; but let it be clear from sediment, or from any liquid which may
be perceptible at the bottom of the saucepan. When merely required for
_boudinettes_, the fish may be turned into a large pan or basin and left
until thoroughly cold, then chopped small upon a dish with the butter in
which they are imbedded, and pounded as usual; no additional butter will
be required for them, and part of that in which they have been heated
may be set aside for fish-sauce when the proportion of it directed here
is considered too large. As it should cover the shrimps entirely when
they are potted whole, sufficient to do so should be melted with them.
It is an excellent plan to dissolve it in a separate saucepan, to skim
it well, and after it has stood to become clear, to pour it gently over
the shrimps, leaving all the buttermilk behind. They should not be
placed immediately by the fire, or they will heat too quickly: they
should be set away from it until the butter has cooled upon them. If
carefully prepared, and agreeably seasoned, they will be excellent, and
can be sent to a great distance without detriment if packed so as to be
kept cool. The red shrimps may be substituted for the brown, when they
can be more easily procured.
_Obs._—Lobsters and shrimps, or prawns, in equal proportions, answer
_extremely_ well for _boudinettes_ as for potting.
TO BOIL SHRIMPS OR PRAWNS.
Throw them into plenty of fast boiling water, to which salt has been
added in the proportion of from five to six ounces to the gallon; take
off all the scum, boil the shrimps for five or six minutes, or rather
less should they be very small, and the prawns for about two minutes
longer. The shrimpers[52] of the coast frequently cook them in
sea-water, but the flavour is not then so agreeable as when fresh brine
is used for them. They are always unwholesome when not sufficiently
boiled; and even more so when they are stale. As soon as they are
tender, drain them well in a cullender, and spread them out on a soft
cloth to cool; or dish them on a napkin, and send them hot to table when
they are liked so. The large brown shrimps are considered the best, and
they are more easily shelled than the red ones: these last, however, are
sometimes preferred to them. Prawns, though superior to shrimps only in
_size_, are always much higher in price.
Footnote 52:
Or _pandlers_, as they are often called.
Shrimps, 5 to 6 minutes if large. Prawns, 6 to 8 minutes.
_Obs._—Ready-dressed shrimps or prawns may be preserved fit for eating
at least twelve hours longer than they would otherwise keep, by throwing
them for an instant into boiling salt and water, when they first begin
to lose their freshness, and then draining them as above.
TO DISH COLD PRAWNS.
When they are quite cold, dish them singly upon a very white napkin
neatly arranged over a saucer or small basin reversed in a dish, and
garnish the base with a wreath of curled parsley, or with small leaves
of the purple endive.
TO SHELL SHRIMPS AND PRAWNS QUICKLY AND EASILY.
This, though a most simple process, would appear, from the manner in
which it is performed by many people, to be a very difficult one; indeed
it is not unusual for persons of the lower classes, who, from lack of a
little skill, find it slow and irksome, to have resource to the
dangerous plan of eating the fish entire. It need scarcely be remarked
that very serious consequences may accrue from the shells being
swallowed with them, particularly when they are taken in large
quantities. Unless the fish be stale, when they are apt to break, they
will quit the shells easily if the head be held firmly in the right hand
and the tail in the other, and the fish be straightened entirely, then
the two hands pressed quickly towards each other, and the shell of the
tail broken by a slight vibratory motion of the right hand, when it will
be drawn of with the head adhering to it: a small portion, only will
then remain on at the other end, which can be removed in an instant.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER IV.
=Gravies.=
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.
[Illustration:
Gravy Kettle.
]
GRAVIES are not often required either in great variety, or in abundant
quantities, when only a moderate table is kept, and a clever cook will
manage to supply, at a trifling cost, all that is generally needed for
plain family dinners; while an unskilful or extravagant one will render
them sources of unbounded expense.[53] But however small the proportions
in which they are made, their _quality_ should be particularly attended
to, and they should be well adapted in flavour to the dishes they are to
accompany. For some, a high degree of savour is desirable, but for
fricassees, and other preparations of delicate white meats, this should
be avoided, and a soft, smooth sauce of refined flavour should be used
in preference to any of more piquant relish.
Footnote 53:
We know of an instance of a cook who stewed down two or three pounds
of beef to make gravy for a single brace of partridges; and who
complained of the meanness of her employers (who were by no means
affluent) because this was objected to.
Instead of frying the ingredients for brown gravies, which is usually
done in common English kitchens, French cooks pour to them at first a
small quantity of liquid, which is reduced by rapid boiling to what is
technically called _glaze_; particular directions for which will be
found in the next receipt to this, and also at pages 10 and 104. When
the glaze has acquired the proper colour, boiling broth should be added
in small portions, and well shaken round the stewpan to detach it
entirely; the meat may then be stewed gently for three or four hours
with a few mushrooms, should they be at hand, a bunch of parsley, and
some green onions, or with a Portugal onion instead.
A thick slice or two of an unboiled ham, is an almost indispensable
addition to rich soup or gravy, and to supply it in the most economical
manner, a large, highly cured one, or more, not over fatted, should be
kept for the purpose, and cut as required. The bones of undressed meat
will supply almost, or quite as good gravy-stock as the meat itself, if
well boiled down, particularly those of the loin, or neck of veal; and
as the flesh of these may be dressed in many ways advantageously without
them, the whole joint may be turned to excellent account by so dividing
it.
The necks of poultry, with the feet properly skinned, a few herbs, a
morsel or two of ham or of lean bacon, and such slight flavourings
beside as the spice-box can supply, with a few drops of good mushroom
catsup, will of themselves, if well managed, produce sufficient gravy to
serve with the birds from which they are taken; and if not wanted for
the purpose, they should always be stewed down, or thrown into the stock
pot, for which the shank bones of legs of mutton, and all trimmings of
meats should likewise be reserved. Excellent broth for the sick or for
the needy, may also be made of them at little cost, when they are not
required for other uses.
To deepen the colour of gravies, the thick mushroom _pressings_ of
Chapter VII., or a little soy (when its flavour is admissible), or
cavice [TN: illegible], or Harvey’s sauce, may be added to it; and for
some dishes, a glass of claret, or of port wine.
Vermicelli, or rasped cocoa-nut, lightly, and _very_ gently browned in a
small quantity of butter, will both thicken and enrich them, if about an
ounce of either to the pint of gravy be stewed gently in it, from half
an hour to an hour, and then strained out.
All the ingredients indicated at page 4, for giving consistency to
soups, will answer equally for gravies, which should not, however, be
too much thickened, particularly with the unwholesome mixture of flour
and butter, so commonly used for the purpose. Arrow-root or rice-flour,
or common flour gradually browned in a slow oven, are much better suited
to a delicate stomach. No particle of fat should ever be perceptible
upon them when they are sent to table; and when it cannot be removed by
skimming, they should be allowed to become sufficiently cold for it to
congeal, and be taken off at once without trouble. It may be cleared
from such as have not been thickened by passing them through a closely
woven cloth, which has previously been laid into, and well wrung from,
some cold water.
JEWISH SMOKED BEEF.
(_Extremely useful for giving flavour to soup and gravy._)
This beef, of which we have more fully spoken in Chapter XXXIV.[TN:
chapter missing], imparts a remarkably fine flavour to soup or gravy;
but great care must be taken in using it to cut _quite away_ all the
external parts which have been discoloured in the drying: the whole of
the surface, indeed, should be rather thickly pared off, or it will give
a _smoky_ taste to the gravy. An ounce or two of the lean thus cleared
from the outsides and from all skin and fat, and divided first into
thick slices, and then into small squares, will flavour a pint or more
of stock of any kind: it may be added to the meat in making Liebeg gravy
when it is first put into the stewpan.
TO HEIGHTEN THE COLOUR AND THE FLAVOUR OF GRAVIES.
This is best done by the directions given for making _Espagnole_. An
ounce or two of the lean of unboiled ham, cut into dice and coloured
slowly in a small stewpan, or smoothly-tinned iron saucepan, with less
than an ounce of butter, a blade of mace, two or three cloves, a
bay-leaf, a few small sprigs of savoury herbs, and an eschalot or two,
or about a teaspoonful of minced onion, and a little young parsley root,
when it can be had, will convert common shin of beef stock, or even
strong broth, into an excellent gravy, if it be gradually added to them
after they have stewed slowly for quite half an hour, and then boiled
with them for twenty minutes or more. The liquid should not be mixed
with the other ingredients until the side of the stewpan is coloured of
a reddish brown; and should any thickening be required, a teaspoonful of
flour should be stirred in well, and simmered for three or four minutes
before the stock is added; the pan should be strongly shaken round
afterwards, to detach the browning from it, and this must be done often
while the ham is stewing.
_Obs._—The cook who is not acquainted with this mode of preparing or
enriching gravies, will do well to make herself acquainted with it; as
it presents no difficulties, and is exceedingly convenient and
advantageous when they are wanted in small quantities, very highly
flavoured and well coloured. An unboiled ham, kept in cut, will be
found, as we have already said, a great economy for this, and other
purposes, saving much of the expense commonly incurred for gravy-meats.
As eschalots, when sparingly used, impart a much finer savour than
onions, though they are not commonly so much used in England, we would
recommend that a small store of them should always be kept.
BARON LIEBEG’s BEEF GRAVY.
(_Most excellent for hashes, minces, and other dishes made of cold
meat._)
For particulars of this most useful receipt, for extracting all its
juices from fresh meat of every kind in the best manner, the cook is
referred to the first part of the chapter on soups. The preparation, for
which minute directions are given there, if poured on a few bits of lean
ham lightly browned, with the other ingredients indicated above, will be
converted into gravy of fine flavour and superior quality.
With no addition, beyond that of a little thickening and spice, it will
serve admirably for dressing cold meat, in all the usual forms of
hashes, minces, _blanquettes_, &c., &c., and convert it into dishes as
nourishing as those of meat freshly cooked, and it may be economically
made in small quantities with any trimmings of _undressed_ beef, mutton,
or veal, mixed together, which are free from fat, and not sinewy:
flavour may be given to it at once by chopping up with them the lean
part only of a slice or two of ham, or of highly-cured beef.
SHIN OF BEEF STOCK FOR GRAVIES.
There is no better foundation for strong gravies than shin of beef
stewed down to a jelly (which it easily becomes), with the addition only
of some spice, a bunch of savoury herbs, and a moderate proportion of
salt; this, if kept in a cool larder, boiled softly for two or three
minutes every second or third day, and each time put into a clean,
well-scalded pan, will remain good for many days, and may easily be
converted into excellent soup or gravy. Let the bone be broken in one or
two places, take out the marrow, which, if not wanted for immediate use,
should be clarified, and stored for future occasions; put a pint and a
half of cold water to the pound of beef, and stew it very gently indeed
for six or seven hours, or even longer should the meat not then be quite
in fragments. The bones of calf’s feet which have been boiled down for
jelly, the liquor in which the head has been cooked, and any remains of
ham quite freed from the smoky parts, from rust, and fat, will be
serviceable additions to this stock. A couple of pounds of the neck of
beef may be added to six of the shin with very good effect; but for
white soup or sauces this is better avoided.
Shin of beef, 6 lbs.; water, 9 pints; salt, 1 oz.; large bunch of
savoury herbs; peppercorns, 1 teaspoonful; mace, 2 blades.
RICH PALE VEAL GRAVY, OR CONSOMMÉ.
The French, who have always at hand their stock-pot of good _bouillon_
(beef soup or broth), make great use of it in preparing their gravies.
It is added instead of water to the fresh meat, and when this, in
somewhat larger proportions, is boiled down in it, with the addition
only of a bunch of parsley, a few green onions, and a moderate seasoning
of salt, a strong and very pure-flavoured pale gravy is produced. When
the best joints of fowls, or of partridges have been taken for
fricassees or cutlets, the remainder may be stewed with a pound or two
of veal into a _consommé_, which then takes the name of chicken or of
game gravy. For a large dinner it is always desirable to have in
readiness such stock as can easily and quickly be converted into white
and other sauces. To make this, arrange a slice or two of lean ham in a
stewpan or saucepan with three pounds of the neck of veal once or twice
divided (unless the thick fleshy part of the knuckle can be had), and
pour to them three full pints of strong beef or veal broth; or, if this
cannot conveniently be done, increase the proportion of meat or diminish
that of the liquid, substituting water for the broth; throw in some salt
after the boiling has commenced, and the gravy has been well skimmed,
with one mild onion, a bunch of savoury herbs, a little celery, a
carrot, a blade of mace, and a half-saltspoonful of peppercorns; stew
those very gently for four hours; then, should the meat be quite in
fragments, strain off the gravy, and let it become sufficiently cold to
allow the fat to be entirely cleared from it. A handful of nicely
prepared mushroom-buttons will much improve its flavour; and the bones
of boiled calf’s feet, or the fresh ones of fowls, will be found
excellent additions to it. A better method of making it, when time and
trouble are not regarded, is to heat the meat, which ought to be free of
bones, quite through, with from a quarter to half a pint of broth only,
and when on probing it with the point of a knife no blood issues from
it, and it has been turned and equally done, to moisten it with the
remainder of the broth, which should be boiling.
Lean of ham, 6 to 8 oz.; neck or knuckle of veal, 3 lbs.; strong broth,
3 pints (or veal, 4 lbs., and water, 3 pints); salt; bunch of savoury
herbs; mild onion, 1; carrot, 1 large or 2 small; celery 1/2 small head;
mace, 1 large blade; peppercorns, 1/2 saltspoonful; 4 hours or more. Or:
ham, 1/2 lb.; veal, 4 lbs.; broth, third of a pint; nearly 1 hour.
Additional broth, 3 pints: 3-1/2 to 4-1/2 hours.
RICH DEEP-COLOURED VEAL GRAVY.
Lay into a large thick stewpan or saucepan, from half to three quarters
of a pound of undressed ham, freed entirely from fat, and from the
smoked edges, and sliced half an inch thick; on this place about four
pounds of lean veal, cut from the best part of the knuckle or from the
neck (part of the fillet, which in France is often used for it instead,
not being generally purchasable here, the butchers seldom dividing the
joint); pour to them about half a pint of good broth,[54] and place the
pan over a brisk fire until it is well reduced; then thrust a knife into
the meat, and continue the stewing more gently until a glaze is formed
as we have described at page 10. The latter part of the process must be
_very slow_; the stewpan must be frequently shaken, and the gravy
closely watched that it may not burn: when it is of a fine _deep_ amber
colour, pour in sufficient boiling broth to cover the meat, add a bunch
of parsley, and a few mushrooms and green onions. A blade or two of
mace, a few white peppercorns, and a head of celery, would, we think, be
very admissible additions to this gravy, but it is extremely good
without. Half the quantity can be made, but it will then be rather more
troublesome to manage.
Footnote 54:
When there is no provision of this in the house, the quantity may be
made with a small proportion of beef, and the trimmings of the veal,
by the directions for _Bouillon_, Chapter I.
Undressed ham, 8 to 12 oz.; lean veal, 4 lbs.; broth, 1/2 pint; 1 to 2
hours. Broth, 3 to 4 pints: bunch of parsley and green onions, or 1
Portugal onion; mushrooms, 1/4 to 1/2 pint: 1-1/2 to 2 hours.
GOOD BEEF OR VEAL GRAVY. (ENGLISH RECEIPT.)
Flour and fry lightly in a bit of good butter a couple of pounds of
either beef or veal; drain the meat well from the fat, and lay it into a
small thick stewpan or iron saucepan; pour to it a quart of boiling
water; add, after it has been well skimmed and salted, a large mild
onion sliced, very delicately fried, and laid on a sieve to drain, a
carrot also sliced, a small bunch of thyme and parsley, a blade of mace,
and a few peppercorns; stew these gently for three hours or more, pass
the gravy through a sieve into a clean pan, and when it is quite cold
clear it entirely from fat, heat as much as is wanted for table, and if
not sufficiently thick stir into it from half to a whole teaspoonful of
arrow-root mixed with a little mushroom catsup. Beef or veal, 2 lbs.;
water, 2 pints; fried onion, 1 large; carrot, 1; small bunch of herbs;
salt, 1 small teaspoonful or more; mace, 1 blade; peppercorns, 20: 3 to
3-1/2 hours.
A RICH ENGLISH BROWN GRAVY.
Brown lightly and carefully from four to six ounces of lean ham, thickly
sliced and cut into large dice; lift these out, and put them into the
pan in which the gravy is to be made; next, fry lightly also, a couple
of pounds of neck of beef dredged moderately with flour, and slightly
with pepper; put this, when it is done, over the ham; and then brown
gently and add to them two or three eschalots, or a Portugal onion;
should neither of these be at hand, one _not_ large common onion must be
used instead. Pour over these ingredients a quart of boiling water, or
of weak but well-flavoured broth; bring the whole slowly to a boil,
clear off the scum with great care, throw in a saltspoonful of salt,
four cloves, a blade of mace, twenty corns of pepper, a bunch of savoury
herbs, a carrot, and a few slices of celery: these last two may be fried
or not as is most convenient. Boil the gravy very softly until it is
reduced to little more than a pint; strain, and set it by until the fat
can be taken from it. Heat it anew, add more salt if needed and a little
mushroom catsup, cayenne-vinegar, or whatever flavouring it may require
for the dish with which it is to be served; it will seldom require any
thickening. A dozen small mushrooms prepared as for pickling, or two or
three morels, previously well washed and soaked, may be added to it at
first with advantage. Half this quantity of gravy will be sufficient for
a single tureen, and the economist can diminish a little the proportion
of meat when it is thought too much.
PLAIN GRAVY FOR VENISON.
Trim away the fat from some cutlets, and lay them into a stewpan; set
them over a clear fire, and let them brown a little in their own gravy;
then add a pint of boiling water to each pound of meat. Take off the
scum, throw in a little salt, and boil the gravy until reduced one half.
Some cooks broil the cutlets lightly, boil the gravy one hour, and
reduce it after it is strained. For appropriate gravy to serve with
venison, see “Haunch of Venison,” Chapter XV.
A RICH GRAVY FOR VENISON.
There are few eaters to whom this would be acceptable, the generality of
them preferring infinitely the flavour of the venison itself to any
which the richest gravy made of other meats can afford; but when the
flavour of a well-made _Espagnole_ is likely to be relished, prepare it
by the receipt of the following page, substituting plain _strong_ mutton
stock for the veal gravy.
SWEET SAUCE, OR GRAVY FOR VENISON.
Add to a quarter-pint of common venison gravy a couple of glasses of
port wine or claret, and half an ounce of sugar in lumps. Christopher
North’s sauce, mixed with three times its measure of gravy, would be an
excellent substitute for this.
ESPAGNOLE (SPANISH SAUCE).
_A highly-flavoured Gravy._
Dissolve a couple of ounces of good butter in a thick stewpan or
saucepan, throw in from four to six sliced eschalots, four ounces of the
lean of an undressed ham, three ounces of carrot, cut in small dice, one
bay leaf, two or three branches of parsley, and one or two of thyme, but
these last must be small; three cloves, a blade of mace, and a dozen
corns of pepper; add part of a root of parsley, if it be at hand, and
keep the whole stirred or shaken over a moderate fire for twenty
minutes, then add by degrees one pint of very strong veal stock or
gravy, and stew the whole gently from thirty to forty minutes; strain
it, skim off the fat, and it will be ready to serve.
Butter, 2 oz.; eschalots, 4 to 6; lean of undressed ham, 4 oz.; carrots,
3 oz.; bay leaf, 1; little thyme and parsley, in branches; cloves, 3;
mace, 1 blade; peppercorns, 12; little parsley root: fried gently, 20
minutes. Strong veal stock, or gravy, 1 pint: stewed very softly, 30 to
40 minutes.
ESPAGNOLE, WITH WINE.
Take the same proportions of ingredients as for the preceding
_Espagnole_, with the addition, if they should be at hand, of a dozen
small mushrooms prepared as for stewing; when these have fried gently in
the stewpan until it appears of a reddish colour all round, stir in a
tablespoonful of flour, and when it is lightly browned, add in small
portions, letting each one boil up before the next is poured in, and
shaking the pan well round, three quarters of a pint of hot and _good_
veal gravy, and nearly half a pint of Madeira or sherry. When the sauce
has boiled gently for half an hour, add to it a small quantity of
cayenne and some salt, if this last be needed; then strain it, skim off
the fat entirely should any appear upon the surface, and serve it very
hot. A smaller proportion of wine added a few minutes before the sauce
is ready for table, would perhaps better suit with English taste, as
with longer boiling its flavour passes off almost entirely. Either of
these _Espagnoles_, poured over the well bruised remains of pheasants,
partridges, or moor fowl, and boiled with them for an hour, will become
most admirable game gravy, and would generally be considered a
superlative addition to other roast birds of their kind, as well as to
the hash or salmi, for which see Chapter XV.
Ingredients as in preceding receipt, with mushrooms 12 to 18; Madeira,
or good sherry, 1/4 to 1/2 pint.
JUS DES ROGNONS, OR, KIDNEY GRAVY.
Strip the skin and take the fat from three fresh mutton kidneys, slice
and flour them; melt two ounces of butter in a deep saucepan, and put in
the kidneys, with an onion cut small, and a teaspoonful of fine herbs
stripped from the stalks. Keep these well shaken over a clear fire until
nearly all the moisture is dried up; then pour in a pint of boiling
water, add half a teaspoonful of salt, and a little cayenne or common
pepper, and let the gravy boil gently for an hour and a half, or longer,
if it be not thick and rich. Strain it through a fine sieve, and take
off the fat. Spice or catsup may be added at pleasure.
Mutton kidneys, 3; butter, 2 oz.; onion, 1; fine herbs, 1 teaspoonful:
1/2 hour. Water, 1 pint; salt, 1/2 teaspoonful; little cayenne, or black
pepper: 1-1/2 hour.
_Obs._—This is an excellent cheap gravy for haricots, curries, or hashes
of mutton; it may be much improved by the addition of two or three
eschalots, and a small bit or two of lean meat.
GRAVY IN HASTE.
Chop fine a few bits of lean meat, a small onion, a few slices of carrot
and turnip, and a little thyme and parsley; put these with half an ounce
of butter into a thick saucepan, and keep them stirred until they are
slightly browned; add a little spice, and water in the proportion of a
pint to a pound of meat; clear the gravy from scum, let it boil half an
hour, then strain it for use.
Meat, 1 lb.; 1 small onion; little carrot, turnip, thyme, and parsley;
butter, 1/2 oz.; cloves, 6; corns of pepper, 12; water, 1 pint: 1/2
hour.
CHEAP GRAVY FOR A ROAST FOWL.
When there is neither broth nor gravy to be had, nor meat of which
either can be made, boil the neck of the fowl after having cut it small,
in half a pint of water, with any slight seasonings of spice or herbs,
or with a little salt and pepper only; it should stew very softly for an
hour or more, or the quantity will be too much reduced. When the bird is
just ready for table, take the gravy from the dripping-pan, and drain
off the fat from it as closely as possible; strain the liquor from the
neck to it, mixing them smoothly, pass the gravy again through the
strainer, heat it, add salt and pepper or cayenne, if needed, and serve
it extremely hot. When this is done, the fowl should be basted with good
butter only, and well floured when it is first laid to the fire. Many
cooks always mix the gravy from the pan when game is roasted, with that
which they send to table with it, as they think that it enriches the
flavour; but to many persons it is peculiarly distasteful.
Neck of fowl; water, 1/2 pint; pepper, salt (little vegetable and spice
at choice): stewed gently, 1 hour; strained, stirred to the gravy of the
roast, well cleared from fat.
ANOTHER CHEAP GRAVY FOR A FOWL.
A little good broth added to half a dozen dice of lean ham, lightly
browned in a morsel of butter, with half a dozen corns of pepper and a
small branch or two of parsley, and stewed for half an hour, will make
excellent gravy of a common kind. When there is no broth, the neck of
the chicken must be stewed down to supply its place.
GRAVY OR SAUCE FOR A GOOSE.
Mince, and brown in a small saucepan, with a slice of butter, two ounces
of mild onion,. When it begins to brown, stir to it a teaspoonful of
flour, and in five or six minutes afterwards, pour in by degrees the
third of a pint of good brown gravy; let this simmer fifteen minutes;
strain it, bring it again to the point of boiling, and add to it a
teaspoonful of made mustard mixed well with a glass of port wine. Season
it with cayenne and pepper and _salt_, if this last be needed. Do not
let the sauce _boil_ after the wine is added, but serve it _very_ hot.
Onions, 2 oz.; butter, 1-1/2 oz.: 10 to 15 minutes. Flour, 1
teaspoonful: 5 to 6 minutes. Gravy, 1/3 pint: 15 minutes. Mustard, 1
teaspoonful; port wine, 1 glassful; cayenne pepper; salt. See also
Christopher North’s own sauce, page 119.
ORANGE GRAVY FOR WILD FOWL.
Boil for about ten minutes, in half a pint of rich and highly-flavoured
brown gravy, or _Espagnole_, half the rind of a Seville orange, pared as
thin as possible, and a small strip of lemon-rind, with a bit of sugar
the size of a hazel-nut. Strain it off, add to it a quarter pint of port
or claret, the juice of half a lemon, and a tablespoonful of Seville
orange-juice: season it with cayenne, and serve it as hot as possible.
Gravy, 1/2 pint; 1/2 the rind of a Seville orange; lemon-peel, 1 small
strip; sugar, size of hazel-nut: 10 minutes. Juice of 1/2 a lemon;
Seville orange-juice, 1 tablespoonful; cayenne. See also Christopher
North’s own sauce, page 119.
MEAT JELLIES FOR PIES AND SAUCES.
A very firm meat jelly is easily made by stewing slowly down equal parts
of shin of beef, and knuckle or neck of veal, with a pint of cold water
to each pound of meat; but to give it flavour, some thick slices of lean
unboiled ham should be added to it, two or three carrots, some spice, a
bunch of parsley, one mild onion, or more, and a moderate quantity of
salt; or part of the meat may be omitted, and a calf’s head, or the
scalp of one, very advantageously substituted for it, though the
flavouring must then be heightened, because, though very gelatinous,
these are in themselves exceedingly insipid to the taste. If rapidly
boiled, the jelly will not be clear, and it will be difficult to render
it so without clarifying it with the whites of eggs, which it ought
never to require; if very gently stewed, on the contrary, it will only
need to be passed through a fine sieve, or cloth. The fat must be
carefully removed, after it is quite cold. The shin of beef recommended
for this and other receipts, should be from the middle of the leg of
young heifer beef, not of that which is large and coarse.
Middle of small shin of beef, 3 lbs.; knuckle or neck of veal, 3 lbs.;
lean of ham, 1/2 lb.; water, 3 quarts; carrots, 2 large, or 3 small;
bunch of parsley; 1 mild onion, stuck with 8 cloves; 2 small bay-leaves;
1 large blade of mace; small saltspoonful of peppercorns; salt, 3/4 oz.
(more if needed): 5 to 6 hours’ very gentle stewing.
_Obs._—A finer jelly may be made by using a larger proportion of veal
than of beef, and by adding clear beef or veal broth to it instead of
water, in a small proportion at first, as directed in the receipt for
_consommé_, see page 98, and by pouring in the remainder when the meat
is heated through. The necks of poultry, any inferior joints of them
omitted from a fricassee or other dish, or an old fowl, will further
improve it much; an eschalot or two may at choice be boiled down in it,
instead of the onion, but the flavour should be scarcely perceptible.
A CHEAPER MEAT JELLY.
One calf’s foot, a pound and a half or two pounds of neck of veal or
beef, a small onion, a carrot, a bunch of parsley, a little spice, a bit
or two of quite lean ham, dressed or undressed, and five half pints of
water, boiled _very_ slowly for five or six hours will give a strong,
though not a highly-flavoured jelly. More ham, any bones of unboiled
meat, poultry, or game will, in this respect, improve it; and the liquor
in which fowls or veal have been boiled for table should, when at hand,
be used for it instead of water. These jellies keep much better and
longer when no vegetables are stewed down in them.
GLAZE.
This is merely _strong_, clear gravy or jelly boiled quickly down to the
consistence of thin cream; but this reduction must be carefully managed
that the glaze may be brought to the proper point without being burned;
it must be attentively watched, and stirred without being quitted for a
moment from the time of its beginning to thicken; when it has reached
the proper degree of boiling, it will jelly in dropping from the spoon,
like preserve, and should then be poured out immediately, or it will
burn. When wanted for use, melt it gently by placing the vessel which
contains it (see article _Glazing_, Chapter IX.) in a pan of boiling
water, and with a paste-brush lay it on to the meat, upon which it will
form a sort of clear varnish. In consequence of the very great reduction
which it undergoes, salt should be added to it sparingly when it is
made. Any kind of stock may be boiled down to glaze; but unless it be
strong, a pint will afford but a spoonful or two: a small quantity of
it, however, is generally sufficient, unless a large repast is to be
served. Two or three layers must be given to each joint. The jellies
which precede this will answer for it extremely well; and it may be made
also with shin of beef stock, for common occasions, when no other is at
hand.
ASPIC, OR CLEAR SAVOURY-JELLY.
Boil a couple of calf’s feet, with three or four pounds of knuckle of
veal, three quarters of a pound of lean ham, two large onions, three
whole carrots, and a large bunch of herbs, in a gallon of water, till it
is reduced more than half. Strain it off; when perfectly cold, remove
every particle of fat and sediment, and put the jelly into a very clean
stewpan, with four whites of eggs well beaten; keep it stirred until it
is nearly boiling; then place it by the side of the fire to simmer for a
quarter of an hour. Let it settle, and pour it through a jelly-bag until
it is quite clear. Add, when it first begins to boil, three blades of
mace, a teaspoonful of white peppercorns, and sufficient salt to flavour
it properly, allowing for the ham, and the reduction. French cooks
flavour this jelly with tarragon vinegar when it is clarified; cold
poultry, game, fish, plovers’ eggs, truffles, and various dressed
vegetables, with many other things often elaborately prepared, and
highly ornamental, are moulded and served in it, especially at large
_dejeuners_ and similar repasts. It is also much used to decorate raised
pies, and hams; and for many other purposes of the table.
Calf’s feet, 2; veal, 4 lbs.; ham, 3/4 lb.; onions, 2; carrots, 3;
herbs, large bunch; mace, 3 blades; white whole pepper, 1 teaspoonful;
water, 1 gallon: 5 to 6 hours. Whites of eggs, 4: 15 minutes.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER V.
=Sauces.=
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.
[Illustration:
_Bain Marie_, or Water Bath.
]
THE difference between good and bad cookery can scarcely be more
strikingly shown than in the manner in which sauces are prepared and
served. If well made, appropriate to the dishes they accompany, and sent
to table with them as hot as possible, they not only give a heightened
relish to a dinner, but they prove that both skill and taste have been
exerted in its arrangements. When coarsely or carelessly prepared, on
the contrary, as they too often are, they greatly discredit the cook,
and are anything but acceptable to the eaters. Melted butter, the most
common of all—the “_one sauce of England_,” as it is called by
foreigners, and which forms in reality the basis of a large number of
those which are served in this country—is often so ill prepared, being
either oiled or lumpy, or composed principally of flour and water, that
it says but little for the state of cookery amongst us. We trust that
the receipts in the present chapter are so far clearly given, that if
strictly followed they will materially assist the learner in preparing
tolerably palatable sauces at the least. The cut at the commencement of
the chapter exhibits a vessel called a _bain marie_, in which saucepans
are placed when it is necessary to keep their contents hot without
allowing them to boil: it is extremely useful when dinners are delayed
after they are ready to serve.
TO THICKEN SAUCES.
When this is done with the yolks of eggs, they should first be well
beaten, and then mixed with a spoonful of cold stock should it be at
hand, and with one or two of the boiling sauce, which should be stirred
very quickly to them, and they must in turn be stirred briskly to the
sauce, which may be held over the fire, and well shaken for an instant
afterwards, but never placed upon it, nor allowed to boil.
To the _roux_ or French thickening (which follows), the gravy or other
liquid which is to be mixed with it should be poured boiling and in
small quantities, the saucepan being often well shaken round, and the
sauce made to boil up after each portion is added. If this precaution be
observed, the butter will never float upon the surface, but the whole
will be well and smoothly blended: it will otherwise be difficult to
clear the sauce from it perfectly.
For invalids, or persons who object to butter in their soups or sauces,
flour only mixed to a smooth batter, and stirred into the boiling liquid
may be substituted for other thickening: arrow-root also used in the
same way, will answer even better than flour.
FRENCH THICKENING, OR BROWN ROUX.
For ordinary purposes this may be made as it is wanted for use; but when
it is required for various dishes at the same time or for cookery upon a
large scale, it can be prepared at once in sufficient quantity to last
for several days, and it will remain good for some time. Dissolve, with
a very gentle degree of heat, half a pound of good butter, then draw it
from the fire, skim it well, give time for it to settle, pour it gently
from the sediment into a very clean frying-pan, and place it over a slow
but clear fire. Put into a dredging box about seven ounces of fine dry
flour; add it gradually to the butter, shake the pan often as it is
thrown in, and keep the thickening constantly stirred until it has
acquired a clear light brown colour. It should be very slowly and
equally done, or its flavour will be unpleasant. Pour it into a jar, and
stir a spoonful or two as it is needed into boiling soup or gravy. When
the butter is not clarified it will absorb an additional ounce of flour,
the whole of which ought to be fine and dry. This thickening may be made
in a well-tinned stewpan even better than in a frying-pan, and if
simmered over a coal fire it should be placed high above it, and well
guarded from smoke.
WHITE ROUX, OR FRENCH THICKENING.
Proceed exactly as for the preceding receipt, but dredge in the flour as
soon as the butter is in full simmer, and be careful not to allow the
thickening to take the slightest colour: this is used for white gravies
or sauces.
SAUCE TOURNÉE, OR PALE THICKENED GRAVY.
Sauce tournée is nothing more than rich pale gravy made with veal or
poultry (see _Consommé_, Chapter IV.) and thickened with delicate white
_roux_. The French give it a flavouring of mushrooms and green onions,
by boiling some of each in it for about half an hour before the sauce is
served: it must then be strained, previously to being dished. Either
first dissolve an ounce of butter, and then dredge gradually to it
three-quarters of an ounce of flour, and proceed as for the preceding
receipt; or blend the flour and butter perfectly with a knife before
they are thrown into the stewpan, and keep them stirred without ceasing
over a clear and gentle fire until they have simmered for some minutes,
then place the stewpan high over the fire, and shake it constantly until
the _roux_ has lost the raw taste of the flour; next, stir very
gradually to it a pint of the gravy, which should be boiling. Set it by
the side of the stove for a few minutes, skim it thoroughly, and serve
it without delay.
Butter, 1 oz.; flour, 3/4 oz.; strong pale gravy, seasoned with
mushrooms and green onions, 1 pint.
_Obs._ 3.—With the addition of three or four yolks of very fresh eggs,
mixed with a seasoning of mace, cayenne, and lemon-juice, this becomes
_German sauce_, now much used for fricassees, and other dishes; and
minced parsley (boiled) and chili vinegar, each in sufficient quantity
to flavour it agreeably, convert it into a good fish sauce.
BÉCHAMEL.
This is a fine French white sauce, now very much served at good English
tables. It may be made in various ways, and more or less expensively;
but it should always be thick, smooth, and rich, though delicate in
flavour. The most ready mode of preparing it is to take an equal portion
of very strong, pale veal gravy, and of good cream (a pint of each for
example), and then, by rapid boiling over a very clear fire, to reduce
the gravy nearly half; next, to mix with part of the cream a
tablespoonful of fine dry flour, to pour it to the remainder, when it
boils, and to keep the whole stirred for five minutes or more over a
slow fire, for if placed upon a fierce one it would be liable to burn;
then to add the gravy, to stir and mix the sauce perfectly, and to
simmer it for a few minutes longer. All the flavour should be given by
the gravy, in which French cooks boil a handful of mushrooms, a _few_
green onions, and some branches of parsley before it is reduced: but a
good _béchamel_ may be made without them, with a strong _consommé_ (see
pale veal gravy, page 98) well reduced.
Strong pale veal gravy (flavoured with mushrooms or not), 1 pint:
reduced half. Rich cream, 1 pint; flour, 1 tablespoonful: 5 minutes.
With gravy, 4 or 5 minutes.
_Obs._—_Velouté_, which is a rather thinner sauce or gravy, is made by
simply well reducing the cream and stock separately, and then mixing
them together without any thickening.
BÉCHAMEL MAIGRE.
(_A cheap White Sauce._)
A good _béchamel_ may be made entirely without meat, when economy is an
object, or when no gravy is at hand. Put into a stewpan, or a
well-tinned and thick saucepan, with from two to three ounces of butter,
a carrot, and a couple of small onions, cut in slices, with a handful of
nicely-cleaned mushroom buttons, when these last can be easily procured;
and when they have stewed slowly for half an hour, or until the butter
is nearly dried up, stir in two tablespoonsful of flour, and pour in a
pint of new milk, a little at a time, shaking the stewpan well round,
that the sauce may be smooth. Boil the _béchamel_ gently for half an
hour; add a little salt, and cayenne; strain, and reduce it, if not
quite thick, or pour it boiling to the yolks of two fresh eggs.
ANOTHER COMMON BÉCHAMEL.
Cut half a pound of veal, and a slice of lean ham or smoked beef, into
small dice, and stew them in butter, with vegetables, as directed in the
foregoing receipt: stir in the same proportion of flour, then add the
milk, and let the sauce boil very gently for an hour. It should not be
allowed to thicken too much before it is strained.
_Obs._—Common _béchamel_, with the addition of a spoonful of
made-mustard, is an excellent sauce for boiled mutton.
RICH MELTED BUTTER.
This is more particularly required in general for lobster sauce, when it
is to be served with turbot or brill, and for good oyster sauce. Salmon
is itself so rich, that less butter is needed for it than for sauce
which is to accompany a drier fish. Mix to a very smooth batter a
dessertspoonful of flour, a half-saltspoonful of salt, and half a pint
of cold water: put these into a delicately clean saucepan, with from
four to six ounces of well-flavoured butter, cut into small bits, and
shake the sauce strongly round, almost without cessation, until the
ingredients are perfectly blended, and it is on the point of boiling;
let it simmer for two or three minutes, and it will be ready for use.
The best French cooks recommend its not being allowed to _boil_, as they
say it tastes less of flour if served when it is just at the point of
simmering.
Cold water, 1/2 pint; salt, 1/2 spoonful; flour, 1 dessertspoonful: 3 to
4 minutes. Butter, 4 to 6 oz.
MELTED BUTTER.
(_A good common Receipt._)
Put into a basin a large teaspoonful of flour, and a little salt, then
mix with them very gradually and very smoothly a quarter of a pint of
cold water; turn these into a small clean saucepan, and shake or stir
them constantly over a clear fire until they have boiled a couple of
minutes, then add an ounce and a half of butter cut small, keep the
sauce stirred until this is entirely dissolved, give the whole a
minute’s boil, and serve it quickly. The more usual mode is to put the
butter in at first with the flour and water; but for inexperienced or
unskilful cooks the safer plan is to follow the present receipt.
Water, 1/4 pint; flour, 1 teaspoonful: 2 minutes. Butter, 1-1/2 oz.; 1
minute.
_Obs._—To render this a _rich_ sauce, increase or even _double_ the
proportion of butter.
FRENCH MELTED BUTTER.
Pour half a pint of good but not very thick, boiling melted butter to
the well-beaten yolks of two or three fresh eggs, and stir them briskly
as it is added; put the sauce again into the saucepan, and shake it high
over the fire for an instant, but do not allow it to boil or it will
curdle. Add a little lemon-juice or vinegar, and serve it immediately.
NORFOLK SAUCE, OR RICH MELTED BUTTER WITHOUT FLOUR.
Put three tablespoonsful of water into a small saucepan, and when it
boils add four ounces of fresh butter; as soon as this is quite
dissolved, take the saucepan from the fire, and shake it round until the
sauce looks thick and smooth. It must not be allowed to boil after the
butter is added.
Water, 3 tablespoonsful; butter, 4 oz.
WHITE MELTED BUTTER.
Thicken half a pint of new milk with rather less flour than is directed
for the common melted butter, or with a little arrow-root, and stir into
it by degrees after it has boiled, a couple of ounces of fresh butter
cut small; do not cease to stir the sauce until this is entirely
dissolved, or it may become oiled, and float upon the top Thin cream,
substituted for the milk, and flavoured with a few strips of lemon-rind
cut extremely thin, some salt, and a small quantity of pounded mace, if
mixed with rather less flour, and the same proportion of butter, will
make an excellent sauce to serve with fowls or other dishes, when no
gravy is at hand to make white sauce in the usual way.
BURNT OR BROWNED BUTTER.
Melt in a frying-pan three ounces of fresh butter, and keep it stirred
slowly over a gentle fire until it is of a dark brown colour; then pour
to it a couple of tablespoonsful of good _hot_ vinegar, and season it
with black pepper and a little salt. In France this is a favourite sauce
with boiled skate, which is served with plenty of crisped parsley, in
addition, strewed over it. It is also often poured over poached eggs
there: it is called _beurre noir_.
Butter, 3 oz.; vinegar, 2 tablespoonsful; pepper; salt.
CLARIFIED BUTTER.
Put the butter into a very clean and well-tinned saucepan or enamelled
stewpan, and melt it gently over a clear fire; when it just begins to
simmer, skim it thoroughly, draw it from the fire, and let it stand a
few minutes that the buttermilk may sink to the bottom; then pour it
clear of the sediment through a muslin strainer or a fine hair-sieve;
put it into jars, and store them in a cool place. Butter thus prepared
will answer for all the ordinary purposes of cookery, and remain good
for a great length of time. In France, large quantities are melted down
in autumn for winter use. The clarified butter ordered for the various
receipts in this volume, is merely dissolved with a gentle degree of
heat in a small saucepan, skimmed, and poured out for use, leaving the
thick sediment behind.
VERY GOOD EGG SAUCE.
Boil four fresh eggs for quite fifteen minutes, then lay them into
plenty of fresh water, and let them remain until they are perfectly
cold. Break the shells by rolling them on a table, take them off,
separate the whites from the yolks, and divide all of the latter into
quarter-inch dice; mince two of the whites tolerably small, mix them
lightly, and stir them into the third of a pint of rich melted butter or
of white sauce: serve the whole as hot as possible.
Eggs, 4: boiled 15 minutes, left till cold. The yolks of all, whites of
2; third of pint of good melted butter or white sauce. Salt as needed.
SAUCE OF TURKEYS’ EGGS.
(_Excellent._)
The eggs of the turkey make a sauce much superior to those of the common
fowl. They should be gently boiled in plenty of water for twenty
minutes. The yolks of three, and the whites of one and a half, will make
a very rich sauce if prepared by the directions of the foregoing
receipt. The eggs of the guinea fowl also may be converted into a
similar sauce with ten minutes’ boiling. Their delicate size will render
it necessary to increase the number taken for it.
COMMON EGG SAUCE.
Boil a couple of eggs hard, and when quite cold cut the whites and yolks
separately; mix them well, put them into a very hot tureen, and pour
boiling to them a quarter of a pint of melted butter, stir, and serve
the sauce immediately.
Whole eggs, 2; melted butter, 1/4 pint.
EGG SAUCE FOR CALF’S HEAD.
This is a provincial sauce, served sometimes with fish, and with calf’s
head likewise. Thicken to the proper consistence with flour and butter
some good pale veal gravy, throw into it when it boils from one to two
large teaspoonsful of minced parsley, add a slight squeeze of
lemon-juice, a little cayenne, and then the eggs.
Veal gravy, 1/2 pint; flour, 1-1/2 oz.; butter, 2 oz.; minced parsley, 1
dessertspoonful; lemon-juice, 1 teaspoonful; little cayenne; eggs, 3 to
4.
ENGLISH WHITE SAUCE.
Boil softly in half a pint of well-flavoured pale veal gravy a few very
thin strips of fresh lemon-rind, for just sufficient time to give their
flavour to it; stir in a thickening of arrow-root, or of flour and
butter, add salt if needed, and mix with the gravy a quarter of a pint
of boiling cream. For the best kind of white sauce, see béchamel, page
107.
Good pale veal gravy, 1/2 pint; third of 1 lemon-rind: 15 to 20 minutes.
Freshly pounded mace, third of saltspoonful; butter, 1 to 2 oz.; flour,
1 teaspoonful (or arrow-root an equal quantity); cream, 1/4 pint.
VERY COMMON WHITE SAUCE.
The neck and the feet of a fowl, nicely cleaned, and stewed down in half
a pint of water, until it is reduced to less than a quarter of a pint,
with a thin strip or two of lemon-rind, a small blade of mace, a small
branch or two of parsley, a little salt, and half a dozen corns of
pepper, then strained, thickened, and flavoured by the preceding
receipt, and mixed with something more than half the quantity of cream,
will answer for this sauce extremely well; and if it be added, when
made, to the liver of the chicken, previously boiled for six minutes in
the gravy, then bruised to a smooth paste, and passed through a sieve,
an excellent liver sauce. A little strained lemon-juice is generally
added to it when it is ready to serve: it should be stirred very briskly
in.
DUTCH SAUCE.
Put into a small saucepan the yolks of three fresh eggs, the juice of a
large lemon, three ounces of butter, a little salt and nutmeg, and a
wineglassful of water. Hold the saucepan over a clear fire, and keep the
sauce stirred until it _nearly_ boils: a little cayenne may be added.
The safest way of making all sauces that will curdle by being allowed to
boil, is to put them into a jar, and to set the jar over the fire in a
saucepan of boiling water, and then to stir the ingredients constantly
until the sauce is thickened sufficiently to serve.
Yolks of eggs, 3; juice, 1 lemon; butter, 3 oz.; little salt and nutmeg;
water, 1 wineglassful; cayenne at pleasure.
_Obs._—A small cupful of veal gravy, mixed with plenty of blanched and
chopped parsley, may be used instead of water for this sauce, when it is
to be served with boiled veal, or with calf’s head.
FRICASSEE SAUCE.
Stir briskly, but by degrees, to the well-beaten yolks of two large or
of three small fresh eggs, half a pint of common English white sauce;
put it again into the saucepan, give it a shake over the fire, but be
extremely careful not to allow it to boil, and just before it is served
stir in a dessertspoonful of strained lemon-juice. When meat or chickens
are fricasseed, they should be lifted from the saucepan with a slice,
drained on it from the sauce, and laid into a very hot dish before the
eggs are added, and when these are just set, the sauce should be poured
on them.
BREAD SAUCE.
Pour quite boiling, on half a pint of the finest bread-crumbs, an equal
measure of new milk; cover them closely with a plate, and let the sauce
remain for twenty or thirty minutes; put it then into a delicately clean
saucepan, with a small saltspoonful of salt, half as much pounded mace,
a little cayenne, and about an ounce of fresh butter; keep it stirred
constantly over a clear fire for a few minutes, then mix with it a
couple of spoonsful of good cream, give it a boil, and serve it
immediately. When cream is not to be had, an additional spoonful or two
of milk must be used. The bread used for sauce should be _stale_, and
lightly grated down into extremely small crumbs, or the preparation will
look rough when sent to table. Not only the crust, but all heavy-looking
or imperfectly baked portions of it, should be entirely pared off, and
it should be pressed against the grater only so much as will reduce it
easily into crumbs. When stale bread cannot be procured, the new should
be sliced thin, or broken up small, and beaten quite smooth with a fork
after it has been soaked. As some will absorb more liquid than others,
the cook must increase a little the above proportion should it be
needed. Equal parts of milk and of thin cream make an excellent bread
sauce: more butter can be used to enrich it when it is liked.
Bread-crumbs and new milk, each 1/2 pint (or any other measure); soaked
20 to 30 minutes, or more. Salt, small saltspoonful; mace, half as much;
little cayenne; butter, 1 oz.; boiled 4 to 5 minutes. 2 to 4 spoonsful
of good cream (or milk): 1 minute. Or: bread-crumbs, 1/2 pint; milk and
cream, each 1/4 pint; and from 2 to 4 spoonsful of either in addition.
_Obs._—Very pale, strong veal gravy is sometimes poured on the
bread-crumbs, instead of milk; and these, after being soaked, are boiled
extremely dry, and then brought to the proper consistence with rich
cream. The gravy may be highly flavoured with mushrooms when this is
done.
BREAD SAUCE WITH ONION.
Put into a very clean saucepan nearly half a pint of fine bread-crumbs,
and the white part of a large _mild_ onion cut into quarters; pour to
these three-quarters of a pint of new milk, and boil them very gently,
keeping them often stirred until the onion is perfectly tender, which
will be in from forty minutes to an hour. Press the whole through a
hair-sieve, which should be as clean as possible; reduce the sauce by
quick boiling should it be too thin; add a seasoning of salt and grated
nutmeg, an ounce of butter, and four spoonsful of cream; and when it is
of a proper thickness, dish, and send it quickly to table.
Bread-crumbs, nearly 1/2 pint; white part of 1 large mild onion; new
milk, 3/4 pint: 40 to 60 minutes. Seasoning of salt and grated nutmeg;
butter, 1 oz.; cream, 4 tablespoonsful: to be boiled till of a proper
consistence.
_Obs._—This is an excellent sauce for those who like a _subdued_ flavour
of onion in it; but as many persons object to any, the cook should
ascertain whether it be liked before she follows this receipt.
COMMON LOBSTER SAUCE.
Add to half a pint of good melted butter a tablespoonful of essence of
anchovies, a small half-saltspoonful of freshly pounded mace, and less
than a quarter one of cayenne. If a couple of spoonsful of cream should
be at hand, stir them to the sauce when it boils; then put in the flesh
of the tail and claws of a small lobster cut into dice (or any other
form) of equal size. Keep the saucepan by the side of the fire until the
fish is quite heated through, but do not let the sauce boil again: serve
it very hot. A small quantity can be made on occasion with the remains
of a lobster which has been served at table.
Melted butter, 1/2 pint; essence of anchovies, 1 tablespoonful; pounded
mace, small 1/2 saltspoonful; less than 1/4 one of cayenne; cream (if
added), 2 tablespoonsful; flesh of small lobster.
GOOD LOBSTER SAUCE.
Select for this a perfectly fresh hen lobster; split the tail carefully,
and take out the inside coral; pound half of it in a mortar very
smoothly with less than an ounce of butter, rub it through a hair-sieve,
and put it aside. Cut the firm flesh of the fish into dice of not less
than half an inch in size; and when these are ready, make as much _good_
melted butter as will supply the quantity of sauce required for table,
and if to be served with a turbot or other large fish to a numerous
company, let it be plentifully provided. Season it slightly with essence
of anchovies, and well with cayenne, mace, and salt; add to it a few
spoonsful of rich cream, and then mix a small portion of it very
gradually with the pounded coral; when this is sufficiently liquefied
pour it into the sauce, and stir the whole well together; put in
immediately the flesh of the fish, and heat the sauce thoroughly by the
side of the fire without allowing it to boil, for if it should do so its
fine colour would be destroyed. The whole of the coral may be used for
the sauce when no portion of it is required for other purposes.
CRAB SAUCE.
The flesh of a fresh well-conditioned crab of moderate size is more
tender and delicate than that of a lobster, and may be converted into an
excellent fish sauce. Divide it into small flakes, and add it to some
good melted butter, which has been flavoured as for either of the sauces
above. A portion of the cream contained in the fish may first be
smoothly mingled with the sauce.
GOOD OYSTER SAUCE.
At the moment they are wanted for use, open three dozen of fine plump
native oysters; save carefully and strain their liquor, rinse them
separately in it, put them into a very clean saucepan, strain the liquor
again, and pour it to them; heat them slowly, and keep them from one to
two minutes at the simmering point, without allowing them to _boil_, as
that will render them hard. Lift them out and beard them neatly; add to
the liquor three ounces of butter smoothly mixed with a large
dessertspoonful of flour; stir these without ceasing until they boil,
and are perfectly mixed; then add to them gradually a quarter of a pint,
or rather more, of new milk, or of thin cream (or equal parts of both),
and continue the stirring until the sauce boils again; add a little
salt, should it be needed, and a small quantity of cayenne in the finest
powder; put in the oysters, and keep the saucepan by the side of the
fire until the whole is thoroughly hot and begins to simmer, then turn
the sauce into a well-heated tureen, and send it immediately to table.
Small plump oysters, 3 dozen; butter, 3 oz.; flour, 1 large
dessertspoonful; the oyster liquor; milk or cream, full 1/4 pint; little
salt and cayenne.
COMMON OYSTER SAUCE.
Prepare and plump two dozen of oysters as directed in the receipt above;
add their strained liquor to a quarter of a pint of _thick_ melted
butter made with milk, or with half milk and half water; stir the whole
until it boils, put in the oysters, and when they are quite heated
through send the sauce to table without delay. Some persons like a
little cayenne and essence of anchovies added to it when it is served
with fish; others prefer the unmixed flavour of the oysters.
Oysters, 2 dozens; their liquor; melted butter, 1/4 pint. (Little
cayenne and 1 dessertspoonful of essence of anchovies when liked.)
SHRIMP SAUCE.
The fish for this sauce should be very fresh. Shell quickly one pint of
shrimps and mix them with half a pint of melted butter, to which a few
drops of essence of anchovies and a little mace and cayenne have been
added. As soon as the shrimps are heated through, dish, and serve the
sauce, which ought not to boil after they are put in. Many persons add a
few spoonsful of rich cream to all shell-fish sauces. Shrimps, 1 pint;
melted butter, 1/2 pint; essence of anchovies, 1 teaspoonful; mace, 1/4
teaspoonful; cayenne, very little.
ANCHOVY SAUCE.
To half a pint of good melted butter add three dessertspoonsful of
essence of anchovies, a quarter of a teaspoonful of mace, and a rather
high seasoning of cayenne; or pound the flesh of two or three fine
mellow anchovies very smooth, mix it with the boiling butter, simmer
these for a minute or two, strain the sauce if needful, add the spices,
give it a boil, and serve it.
Melted butter, 1/2 pint; essence of anchovies, 3 dessertspoonsful; mace,
1/4 teaspoonful; cayenne, to taste. Or, 3 large anchovies finely
pounded, and the same proportions of butter and spice.
CREAM SAUCE FOR FISH.
Knead very smoothly together with a strong-bladed knife, a _large_
teaspoonful of flour with three ounces of good butter; stir them in a
very clean saucepan or stewpan over a gentle fire until the butter is
dissolved, then throw in a little salt and some cayenne, give the whole
one minute’s simmer, and add, very gradually, half a pint of good cream;
keep the sauce constantly stirred until it boils, then mix with it a
dessertspoonful of essence of anchovies, and half as much chili vinegar
or lemon-juice. The addition of shelled shrimps or lobsters cut in dice,
will convert this at once into a most excellent sauce of either. Pounded
mace may be added to it with the cayenne; and it may be thinned with a
few spoonsful of milk should it be too thick. Omit the essence of
anchovies, and mix with it some parsley boiled very green and minced,
and it becomes a good sauce for poultry.
Butter, 3 oz.; flour, 1 _large_ teaspoonful: 2 to 3 minutes. Cream, 1/2
pint; essence of anchovies, 1 large dessertspoonful (more if liked);
chili vinegar or lemon-juice, 1 teaspoonful; salt, 1/4 saltspoonful.
SHARP MAÎTRE D’HÔTEL SAUCE.
(_English Receipt._)
For a rich sauce of this kind, mix a dessertspoonful of flour with four
ounces of good butter, but with from two to three ounces only for common
occasions; knead them together until they resemble a smooth paste, then
proceed exactly as for the sauce above, but substitute good pale veal
gravy, or strong, pure-flavoured veal broth, or shin of beef stock
(which if well made has little colour), for the cream; and when these
have boiled for two or three minutes, stir in a tablespoonful of common
vinegar and one of chili vinegar, with as much cayenne as will flavour
the sauce well, and some salt, should it be needed; throw in from two to
three dessertspoonsful of finely-minced parsley, give the whole a boil,
and it will be ready to serve. A tablespoonful of mushroom catsup or of
Harvey’s sauce may be added with the vinegar when the colour of the
sauce is immaterial. It may be served with boiled calf’s head, or with
boiled eels with good effect; and various kinds of cold meat and fish
may be re-warmed for table in it, as we have directed in another part of
this volume. With a little more flour, and a flavouring of essence of
anchovies, it will make, without the parsley, an excellent sauce for
these last, when they are first dressed.
Butter, 2 to 4 oz.; flour, 1 dessertspoonful; pale veal gravy or strong
broth, or shin of beef stock, 1/2 pint; cayenne; salt, if needed; common
vinegar, 1 tablespoonful; chili vinegar, 1 tablespoonful. (Catsup or
Harvey’s sauce, according to circumstances.)
FRENCH MAÎTRE D’HÔTEL,[55] OR STEWARD’S SAUCE.
Footnote 55:
The Maître d’Hôtel is, properly, the _House Steward_.
Add to half a pint of rich, pale veal gravy, well thickened with the
white _roux_ of page 108, a good seasoning of pepper, salt, minced
parsley, and lemon-juice; or make the thickening with a small
tablespoonful of flour, and a couple of ounces of butter; keep these
stirred constantly over a very gentle fire from ten to fifteen minutes,
then pour the gravy to them boiling, in small portions, mixing the whole
well as it is added, and letting it boil up between each, for unless
this be done the butter will be likely to float upon the surface. Simmer
the sauce for a few minutes, and skim it well, then add salt should it
be needed, a tolerable seasoning of pepper or of cayenne in fine powder,
from two to three teaspoonsful of minced parsley, and the strained juice
of a small lemon. For some dishes, this sauce is thickened with the
yolks of eggs, about four to the pint. The French work into their sauces
generally a small bit of fresh butter just before they are taken from
the fire, to give them mellowness: this is done usually for the _Maître
d’Hôtel Sauce_.
MAÎTRE D’HÔTEL SAUCE MAIGRE,[56] OR WITHOUT GRAVY.
Footnote 56:
Maigre, made without meat.
Substitute half a pint of good melted butter for the gravy, and add to
it the same seasonings as above. A double quantity of these sauces will
be needed when they are required to cover a large fish; in that case
they should be thick enough to adhere to it well. Melted butter, 1/2
pint; seasoning of salt and pepper, or cayenne; minced parsley, 2 to 3
teaspoonsful; juice, 1 small lemon.
For COLD MAÎTRE D’HÔTEL SAUCE, see Chapter VI.
THE LADY’S SAUCE.
(_For Fish._)
Pound to a very smooth paste the inside coral of a lobster with a small
slice of butter, and some cayenne; rub it through a hair-sieve, gather
it together, and mix it very smoothly with from half to three-quarters
of a pint of _sauce tournée_ or of cream fish-sauce, previously well
seasoned with cayenne and salt, and moderately with pounded mace; bring
it to the _point_ of boiling only; stir in quickly, but gradually, a
tablespoonful of strained lemon-juice, and serve it very hot. When
neither cream nor gravy is at hand, substitute _rich_ melted butter
mixed with a dessertspoonful or two of essence of anchovies, and well
seasoned. The fine colour of the coral will be destroyed by boiling.
This sauce, which the French call _Sauce à l’Aurore_, may be served with
brill, boiled soles, gray mullet, and some few other kinds of fish: it
is quickly made when the lobster butter of Chapter VI. is in the house.
Coral of lobster, pounded; cream sauce, or _sauce tournée_ (thickened
pale veal gravy), 1/2 to 3/4 pint; lemon-juice, 1 tablespoonful; salt,
cayenne, and mace, as needed. Or: _rich_ melted butter, instead of other
sauce; essence of anchovies, 2 dessertspoonsful; other seasoning, as
above.
_Obs._—The proportion of spices here must, of course, depend on the
flavouring which the gravy or sauce may already have received.
GENEVESE SAUCE, OR SAUCE GÉNÉVOISE.
Cut into dice three ounces of the lean of a well-flavoured ham, and put
them with half a small carrot, four cloves, a blade of mace, two or
three very small sprigs of lemon thyme and of parsley, and rather more
than an ounce of butter, into a stewpan; just simmer them from
three-quarters of an hour to a whole hour, then stir in a teaspoonful of
flour; continue the slow stewing for about five minutes, and pour in by
degrees a pint of good boiling veal gravy, and let the sauce again
simmer softly for nearly an hour. Strain it off, heat it in a clean
saucepan, and when it boils, stir in a wineglassful and a half of good
sherry or Madeira, two tablespoonsful of lemon-juice, some cayenne, a
little salt if needed, and a small tablespoonful of flour very smoothly
mixed with two ounces of butter. Give the whole a boil after the
thickening is added, pour a portion of the sauce over the fish (it is
served principally with salmon and trout), and send the remainder very
hot to table in a tureen.
Lean of ham, 3 oz.; 1/2 small carrot; 4 to 6 cloves; mace, 1 large
blade; thyme and parsley, 3 or 4 _small_ sprigs of each; butter, 1 to
1-1/2 oz.: 50 to 60 minutes. Veal gravy, 1 pint: 3/4 to 1 hour. Sherry
or Madeira, 1-1/2 glassful; lemon-juice, 2 tablespoonsful; seasoning of
cayenne and salt; flour, 1 tablespoonful; butter, 2 oz.: 1 minute.
_Obs._—A teaspoonful or more of essence of anchovies is usually added to
the sauce, though it is scarcely required.
SAUCE ROBERT.
Cut four or five large onions into small dice, and brown them in a
stewpan, with three ounces of butter and a dessertspoonful of flour.
When of a deep yellow brown, pour to them half a pint of beef or of veal
gravy, and let them simmer for fifteen minutes; skim the sauce, add a
seasoning of salt and pepper, and at the moment of serving, mix a
dessertspoonful of made mustard with it.
Large onions, 4 or 5; butter, 3 oz.; flour, dessertspoonful; 10 to 15
minutes. Gravy, 1/2 pint: 15 minutes. Mustard, dessertspoonful.
SAUCE PIQUANTE.
Brown lightly in an ounce and a half of butter a tablespoonful of minced
eschalots or three of onions; add a teaspoonful of flour when they are
partially done; pour to them half a pint of gravy or of _good_ broth,
and when it boils add three chilies, a bay-leaf, and a very small bunch
of thyme. Let these simmer for twenty minutes; take out the thyme and
bay-leaf, add a high seasoning of black pepper, and half a wineglassful
of the best vinegar. A quarter of a teaspoonful of cayenne may be
substituted for the chilies.
Eschalots, 1 tablespoonful, or three of onions; flour, 1 teaspoonful;
butter, 1-1/2 oz.: 10 to 15 minutes. Gravy or broth, 1/2 pint; chilies,
3; bay-leaf; thyme, small bunch: 20 minutes. Pepper, plenty; vinegar,
1/2 wineglassful.
EXCELLENT HORSERADISH SAUCE.
(_To serve hot or cold with roast beef._)
Wash and wipe a stick of _young_ horseradish, scrape off the outer skin,
grate it as small as possible on a fine grater, then with two ounces (or
a couple of large tablespoonsful) of it mix a small teaspoonful of salt
and four tablespoonsful of good cream; stir in briskly, and by degrees,
three dessertspoonsful of vinegar, one of which should be chili vinegar
when the horseradish is mild. To heat the sauce, put it into a small and
delicately clean saucepan, hold it over, but do not place it _upon_ the
fire, and stir it without intermission until it is near the point of
simmering; but do not allow it to boil, or it will curdle instantly.
Horseradish pulp, 2 oz. (or 2 _large_ tablespoonsful); salt, 1
teaspoonful; good cream, 4 tablespoonsful; vinegar, 3 dessertspoonsful
(of which one should be chili when the root is mild).
_Obs._—Common English salad-mixture is often added to the grated
horseradish when the sauce is to be served cold.
HOT HORSERADISH SAUCE.
(_To serve with boiled or stewed meat or fish._)
Mix three ounces of young tender grated horseradish with half a pint of
good brown gravy, and let it stand by the side of the fire until it is
on the point of boiling; add salt if required, a teaspoonful of made
mustard, and a dessertspoonful of garlic or of eschalot vinegar; or the
same quantity of chili vinegar, or twice as much common vinegar.
Some cooks stew the horseradish in vinegar for ten minutes, and, after
having drained it from this, mix it with nearly half a pint of thick
melted butter.
Horseradish, grated, 3 oz.; brown gravy, 1/2 pint; made mustard, 1
teaspoonful; eschalot or garlic vinegar, 1 dessertspoonful (or chili
vinegar, the same quantity, or common vinegar twice as much).
CHRISTOPHER NORTH’S OWN SAUCE FOR MANY MEATS.
Throw into a small basin a heaped saltspoonful of _good_ cayenne pepper,
in very fine powder, and half the quantity of salt;[57] add a small
dessertspoonful of well-refined, pounded, and sifted sugar; mix these
thoroughly; then pour in a tablespoonful of the strained juice of a
fresh lemon, two of Harvey’s sauce, a teaspoonful of the very best
mushroom catsup (or of cavice), and a small wineglassful of port wine.
Heat the sauce by placing the basin in a saucepan of boiling water, or
turn it into a jar, and place this in the water. Serve it directly it is
ready with geese or ducks, tame or wild; roast pork, venison, fawn, a
grilled blade-bone, or any other broil. A slight flavour of garlic or
eschalot vinegar may be given to it at pleasure. Some persons eat it
with fish. It is good cold; and, if bottled directly it is made, may be
stored for several days. It is the better for being mixed some hours
before it is served. _The proportion of cayenne may be doubled when a
very pungent sauce is desired._
Footnote 57:
_Characteristically, the salt_ of this sauce ought, perhaps, to
prevail more strongly over the _sugar_, but it will be found for most
tastes sufficiently _piquant_ as it is.
_Good_ cayenne pepper in fine powder, 1 _heaped_ saltspoonful; salt,
half as much; pounded sugar, 1 small dessertspoonful; strained
lemon-juice, 1 tablespoonful; Harvey’s sauce, 2 tablespoonsful; best
mushroom catsup (or cavice), 1 teaspoonful; port wine, 3 tablespoonsful,
or small wineglassful. (Little eschalot, or garlic vinegar at pleasure.)
_Obs._—This sauce is exceedingly good mixed with the brown gravy of a
hash or stew, or with that which is served with game or other dishes.
GOOSEBERRY SAUCE FOR MACKEREL.
Cut the stalks and tops from half to a whole pint of quite young
gooseberries, wash them well, just cover them with cold water, and boil
them very gently indeed, until they are tender; drain and mix them with
a small quantity of melted butter, made with rather less flour than
usual. Some eaters prefer the mashed gooseberries without any addition;
others like that of a little ginger. The best way of making this sauce
is to turn the gooseberries into a hair-sieve to drain, then to press
them through it with a wooden spoon, and to stir them in a clean stewpan
or saucepan over the fire with from half to a whole teaspoonful of
sugar, just to soften their extreme acidity, and a bit of fresh butter
about the size of a walnut. When the fruit is not passed through the
sieve it is an improvement to seed it.
COMMON SORREL SAUCE.
Strip from the stalks and the large fibres, from one to a couple of
quarts of freshly-gathered sorrel; wash it very clean, and put it into a
well-tinned stewpan or saucepan (or into an enamelled one, which would
be far better), without any water; add to it a small slice of good
butter, some pepper and salt, and stew it gently, keeping it well
stirred until it is exceedingly tender, that it may not burn; then drain
it on a sieve, or press the liquid well from it; chop it as fine as
possible, and boil it again for a few minutes with a spoonful or two of
gravy, or the same quantity of cream or milk, mixed with a
half-teaspoonful of flour, or with only a fresh slice of good butter.
The beaten yolk of an egg or two stirred in just as the sorrel is taken
from the fire will soften the sauce greatly, and a saltspoonful of
pounded sugar will also be an improvement.
ASPARAGUS SAUCE, FOR LAMB CUTLETS.
Green cut the tender points of some young asparagus into half-inch
lengths, or into the size of peas only; wash them well, then drain and
throw them into plenty of boiling salt and water. When they are quite
tender, which may be in from ten to fifteen minutes, turn them into a
hot strainer and drain the water thoroughly from them; put them, at the
instant of serving, into half a pint of thickened veal gravy (see _sauce
tournée_, page 106), mixed with the yolks of a couple of eggs, and well
seasoned with salt and cayenne, or white pepper, or into an equal
quantity of good melted butter: add to this last a squeeze of
lemon-juice. The asparagus will become yellow if reboiled, or if left
long in the sauce before it is served.
Asparagus points, 1/2 pint: boiled 10 to 15 minutes, longer if not quite
tender. Thickened veal gravy, 1/2 pint; yolks of eggs, 2. Or: good
melted butter, 1/2 pint; lemon-juice, small dessertspoonful, seasoning
of salt and white pepper.
CAPER SAUCE.
Stir into the third of a pint of good melted butter from three to four
dessertspoonsful of capers; add a little of the vinegar, and dish the
sauce as soon as it boils. Keep it stirred after the berries are added:
part of them may be minced and a little chill vinegar substituted for
their own. Pickled nasturtiums make a very good sauce, and their flavour
is sometimes preferred to that of the capers. For a large joint,
increase the quantity of butter to half a pint.
Melted butter, third of pint; capers, 3 to 4 dessertspoonsful.
BROWN CAPER SAUCE.
Thicken half a pint of good veal or beef gravy as directed for _sauce
tournée_, and add to it two tablespoonsful of capers, and a
dessertspoonful of the pickle liquor, or of chili vinegar, with some
cayenne if the former be used, and a proper seasoning of salt.
Thickened veal, or beef gravy, 1/2 pint; capers, 2 tablespoonsful; caper
liquor or chili vinegar, 1 dessertspoonful.
CAPER SAUCE FOR FISH.
To nearly half a pint of very rich melted butter add six spoonsful of
_strong_ veal gravy or jelly, a tablespoonful of essence of anchovies,
and some chili vinegar or cayenne, and from two to three tablespoonsful
of capers. When there is no gravy at hand substitute a half wineglassful
of mushroom catsup, or of Harvey’s sauce; though these deepen the colour
more than is desirable.
COMMON CUCUMBER SAUCE.
Pare, slice, dust slightly with pepper and with flour, two or three
young cucumbers, and fry them a fine brown in a little butter, or
dissolve an ounce and a half in a small stewpan or iron saucepan, and
shake them in it over a brisk fire from twelve to fifteen minutes; pour
to them by degrees nearly half a pint of strong beef broth, or of brown
gravy; add salt, and more pepper if required; stew the whole for five
minutes, and send the sauce very hot to table. A minced onion may be
browned with the cucumbers when it is liked, and a spoonful of vinegar
added to them before they are served.
Cucumbers, 2 or 3; butter, 1-1/2 oz.; broth or gravy, nearly 1/2 pint;
salt, pepper.
ANOTHER COMMON SAUCE OF CUCUMBERS.
Cucumbers which have the fewest seeds are best for this sauce. Pare and
slice _two_ or _three_, should they be small, and put them into a
saucepan, in which two ounces, or rather more, of butter have been
dissolved, and are beginning to boil; place them high over the fire,
that they may stew as softly as possible, without taking colour, for
three-quarters of an hour, or longer should they require it; add to them
a good seasoning of white pepper and some salt, when they are half done;
and just before they are served stir to them half a teaspoonful of
flour, mixed with a morsel of butter; strew in some minced parsley, give
it a boil, and finish with a spoonful of good vinegar.
WHITE CUCUMBER SAUCE.
Quarter some young quickly-grown cucumbers, without many seeds in them;
empty them of these, and take off the rinds. Cut them into inch lengths,
and boil them from fifteen to eighteen minutes in salt and water; press
the water from them with the back of a spoon, and work them through a
sieve; mix them with a few spoonsful of _béchamel_, or thick white
sauce; do not let them _boil_ again, but serve them very hot. A sauce of
better flavour is made by boiling the cucumbers in veal gravy well
seasoned, and stirring in the beaten yolks of two or three eggs, and a
little chili vinegar or lemon-juice, at the instant of serving. Another
also of cucumbers sliced, and stewed in butter, but without being at all
browned, and then boiled in pale veal gravy, which must be thickened
with rich cream, is excellent. A _morsel_ of sugar improves this sauce.
Cucumbers, 3: 15 to 18 minutes. White sauce, 1/4 pint.
WHITE MUSHROOM SAUCE.
Cut off the stems closely from half a pint of small button mushrooms;
clean them with a little salt and a bit of flannel, and throw them into
cold water, slightly salted, as they are done; drain them well, or dry
them in a soft cloth, and throw them into half a pint of boiling
_béchamel_ (see page 108), or of white sauce made with very fresh milk,
or thin cream, thickened with a tablespoonful of flour and two ounces of
butter. Simmer the mushrooms from ten to twenty minutes, or until they
are quite tender, and dish the sauce, which should be properly seasoned
with salt, mace, and cayenne.
Mushrooms, 1/2 pint; white sauce, 1/2 pint; seasoning of salt, mace, and
cayenne: 10 minutes.
ANOTHER MUSHROOM SAUCE.
Prepare from half to a whole pint of very small mushroom-buttons with
great nicety, and throw them into an equal quantity of _sauce tournée_;
when they are tender add a few spoonsful of rich cream, give the whole a
boil, and serve it. Either of these sauces may be sent to table with
boiled poultry, breast of veal, or veal cutlets: the _sauce tournée_
should be thickened rather more than usual when it is to be used in this
receipt.
Mushrooms and _sauce tournée_ each, 1/2 to whole pint: stewed till
tender. Cream, 4 to 8 tablespoonsful.
BROWN MUSHROOM SAUCE.
Very small flaps, peeled and freed entirely from the fur, will answer
for this sauce. Leave them whole or quarter them, and stew them tender
in some rich brown gravy; give a full seasoning of mace and cayenne, add
thickening and salt if needed, and a tablespoonful of good mushroom
catsup.
COMMON TOMATA SAUCE.
Tomatas are so juicy when ripe that they require little or no liquid to
reduce them to a proper consistence for sauce; and they vary so
exceedingly in size and quality that it is difficult to give precise
directions for the exact quantity which in their unripe state is needed
for them. Take off the stalks, halve the tomatas, and gently squeeze out
the seeds and watery pulp; then stew them softly with a few spoonsful of
gravy or of strong broth until they are quite melted. Press the whole
through a hair-sieve, and heat it afresh with a little additional gravy
should it be too thick, and some cayenne, and salt. Serve it very hot.
Fine ripe tomatas, 6 or 8; gravy or strong broth, 4 tablespoonsful: 1/2
to 3/4 hour, or longer if needed. Salt and cayenne sufficient to season
the sauce, and two or three spoonsful more of gravy if required.
_Obs._—For a large tureen of this sauce, increase the proportions; and
should it be at first too liquid, reduce it by quick boiling. When
neither gravy nor broth is at hand, the tomatas may be stewed perfectly
tender, but very gently, in a couple of ounces of butter, with some
cayenne and salt only, or with the addition of a very little finely
minced onion; then rubbed through a sieve, and heated, and served
without any addition, or with only that of a teaspoonful of chili
vinegar; or, when the colour is not a principal consideration, with a
few spoonsful of rich cream, smoothly mixed with a little flour to
prevent its curdling. The sauce must be stirred without ceasing should
the last be added, and boiled for four or five minutes.
A FINER TOMATA SAUCE.
Stew very gently a dozen fine red tomatas, prepared as for the preceding
receipt, with two or three sliced eschalots, four or five chilies or a
capsicum or two (or in lieu of either, with a quarter of a teaspoonful
of cayenne pepper), a few small dice of lean ham, and half a cupful of
rich gravy. Stir these often, and when the tomatas are reduced quite to
a smooth pulp, rub them through a sieve; put them into a clean saucepan,
with a few spoonsful more of rich gravy, or _Espagnole_, add salt if
needed, boil the sauce stirring it well for ten minutes, and serve it
very hot. When the gravy is exceedingly good and highly flavoured, the
ham may be omitted: a dozen small mushrooms nicely cleaned may also be
sliced and stewed with the tomatas, instead of the eschalots, when their
flavour is preferred, or they may be added with them. The exact
proportion of liquid used is immaterial, for should the sauce be too
thin it may be reduced by rapid boiling, and diluted with more gravy if
too thick.
BOILED APPLE SAUCE.
Apples of a fine cooking sort require but a very small portion of liquid
to boil down well and smoothly for sauce, if placed over a gentle fire
in a close-shutting saucepan, and simmered as softly as possible until
they are well broken; and their flavour is injured by the common mode of
adding so much to them, that the greater part must be drained off again
before they are sent to table. Pare the fruit quickly, quarter it, and
be careful entirely to remove the cores; put one tablespoonful of water
into a saucepan before the apples are thrown in, and proceed, as we have
directed, to simmer them until they are nearly ready to serve: finish
the sauce by the receipt which follows.
Apples, 1/2 lb.; water, 1 tablespoonful; stewed very softly: 30 to 60
minutes.
_Obs._—These proportions are sufficient only for a small tureen of the
sauce, and should be doubled for a large one.
For this, and all other preparations, apples will be whiter if just
dipped into fresh water the instant before they are put into the
stewpan. They should be quickly lifted from it, and will stew down
easily to sauce with only the moisture which hangs about them. They
should be watched and often gently stirred, that they may be equally
done.
BAKED APPLE SAUCE.
(_Good._)
Put a tablespoonful of water into a quart basin, and fill it with good
boiling apples, pared, quartered, and _carefully_ cored: put a plate
over, and set them into a moderate oven for about an hour, or until they
are reduced quite to a pulp; beat them smooth with a clean wooden spoon,
adding to them a little sugar and a morsel of fresh butter, when these
are liked, though they will scarcely be required.
The sauce made thus is far superior to that which is boiled. When no
other oven is at hand, a Dutch or an American one would probably answer
for it; but we cannot assert this on our own experience.
Good boiling apples, 1 quart: baked 1 hour (more or less according to
the quality of the fruit, and temperature of the oven); sugar, 1 oz.;
butter, 1/2 oz.
BROWN APPLE SAUCE.
Stew gently down to a thick and perfectly smooth marmalade, a pound of
pearmains, or of any other well-flavoured boiling apples, in about the
third of a pint of rich brown gravy: season the sauce rather highly with
black pepper or cayenne, and serve it very hot. Curry sauce will make an
excellent substitute for the gravy when a very piquant accompaniment is
wanted for pork or other rich meat.
Apples pared and cored, 1 lb.; good brown gravy, third of pint 3/4 to
1-1/4 hour. Pepper or cayenne as needed.
WHITE ONION SAUCE.
Strip the skin from some large white onions, and after having taken off
the tops and roots cut them in two, throw them into cold water as they
are done, cover them plentifully with more water, and boil them very
tender; lift them out, drain, and then press the water thoroughly from
them; chop them small, rub them through a sieve or strainer, put them
into a little rich melted butter mixed with a spoonful or two of cream
or milk, and a seasoning of salt, give the sauce a boil, and serve it
very hot. Portugal onions are superior to any others, both for this and
for most other purposes of cookery.
For the finest kind of onion sauce, see _Soubise_, page 126, which follows.
BROWN ONION SAUCE.
Cut off both ends of the onions, and slice them into a saucepan in which
two ounces of butter have been dissolved; keep them stewing gently over
a clear fire until they are lightly coloured; then pour to them half a
pint of brown gravy, and when they have boiled until they are perfectly
tender, work the sauce altogether through a strainer, season it with a
little cayenne, and serve it very hot.
ANOTHER BROWN ONION SAUCE.
Mince the onions, stew them in butter until they are well coloured, stir
in a dessertspoonful of flour, shake the stewpan over the fire for three
or four minutes, pour in only as much broth or gravy as will leave the
sauce tolerably thick, season, and serve it.
SOUBISE.
(_English Receipt._)
Skin, slice, and mince quickly two pounds’ weight of the white part only
of some fine mild onions, and stew them in from two to three ounces of
good butter over a very gentle fire until they are reduced to a pulp,
then pour to them three-quarters of a pint of rich veal gravy; add a
seasoning of salt and cayenne, if needed; skim off the fat entirely,
press the sauce through a sieve, heat it in a clean stewpan, mix it with
a quarter of a pint of rich boiling cream, and serve it directly.
Onions, 2 lbs.; butter, 2 to 3 oz.: 30 minutes to 1 hour. Veal gravy,
3/4 pint; salt, cayenne: 5 minutes. Cream, 1/4 pint.
SOUBISE.
(_French Receipt._)
Peel some fine white onions, and trim away all tough and discoloured
parts; mince them small, and throw them into plenty of boiling water;
when they have boiled quickly for five minutes drain them well in a
sieve, then stew them very softly indeed in an ounce or two of fresh
butter until they are dry and perfectly tender; stir to them as much
_béchamel_ as will bring them to the consistence of very thick pea-soup,
pass the whole through a strainer, pressing the onion strongly that none
may remain behind, and heat the sauce afresh, without allowing it to
boil. A small half-teaspoonful of pounded sugar is sometimes added to
this _soubise_.
White part of onions, 2 lbs.: blanched 5 minutes. Butter, 2 oz.: 30 to
50 minutes. Béchamel, 3/4 to 1 pint, or more.
_Obs._—These sauces are served more frequently with lamb or mutton
cutlets than with any other dishes; but they would probably find many
approvers if sent to table with roast mutton, or boiled veal. Half the
quantity given above will be sufficient for a moderate-sized dish.
MILD RAGOUT OF GARLIC, OR, L’AIL À LA BORDELAISE.
Divide some fine cloves of garlic, strip off the skin, and when all are
ready throw them into plenty of boiling water slightly salted; in five
minutes drain this from them, and pour in as much more, which should
also be quite boiling; continue to change it every five or six minutes
until the garlic is quite tender: throw in a moderate proportion of salt
the last time to give it the proper flavour. Drain it thoroughly, and
serve it in the dish with roast mutton, or put it into good brown gravy
or white sauce for table. By changing very frequently the water in which
it is boiled, the root will be deprived of its naturally pungent flavour
and smell, and rendered extremely mild: when it is not wished to be
quite so much so, change the water every ten minutes only.
Garlic, 1 pint: 15 to 25 minutes, or more. Water to be changed every 5
or 6 minutes; or every 10 minutes when not wished so _very_ mild. Gravy
or sauce, 1 pint.
MILD ESCHALOT SAUCE.
Prepare and boil from half to a whole pint of eschalots by the preceding
receipt; unless very large, they will be tender in about fifteen
minutes, sometimes in less, in which case the water must be poured from
them shortly after it has been changed for the second time. When grown
in a suitable soil, and cultivated with care, the eschalots are
sometimes treble the size that they are under other circumstances; and
this difference must be allowed for in boiling them. Drain them _well_,
and mix them with white sauce or gravy, or with good melted butter, and
serve them very hot.
A FINE SAUCE, OR PURÉE OF VEGETABLE MARROW.
Pare one or two half-grown marrows and cut out all the seeds; take a
pound of the vegetable, and slice it, with one ounce of mild onion, into
a pint of strong veal broth or of pale gravy; stew them very softly for
nearly or quite an hour; add salt and cayenne, or white pepper, when
they are nearly done; press the whole through a fine and delicately
clean hair-sieve; heat it afresh, and stir to it when it boils about the
third of a pint of rich cream. Serve it with boiled chickens, stewed or
boiled veal, lamb cutlets, or any other delicate meat. When to be served
as a purée, an additional half-pound of the vegetable must be used; and
it should be dished with small fried sippets round it. For a _maigre_
dish, stew the marrow and onion quite tender in butter, and dilute them
with half boiling water and half cream.
Vegetable marrow, 1 lb.; mild onion, 1 oz.; strong broth or pale gravy,
1 pint: nearly or quite 1 hour. Pepper or cayenne, and salt as needed;
good cream, from 1/4 to 3/4 of pint. For purée, 1/2 lb. more of marrow.
EXCELLENT TURNIP, OR ARTICHOKE SAUCE FOR BOILED MEAT.
Pare, slice, and boil quite tender, some finely-grained mild turnips,
press the water from them thoroughly, and pass them through a sieve.
Dissolve a slice of butter in a clean saucepan, and stir to it a large
teaspoonful of flour, or mix them smoothly together before they are put
in, and shake the saucepan round until they boil: pour to them very
gradually nearly a pint of thin cream (or of good milk mixed with a
portion of cream), add the turnips with a half-teaspoonful or more of
salt, and when the whole is well mixed and very hot, pour it over boiled
mutton, veal, lamb, or poultry. There should be sufficient of the sauce
to cover the meat entirely;[58] and when properly made it improves
greatly the appearance of a joint. A little cayenne tied in a muslin may
be boiled in the milk before it is mixed with the turnips. Jerusalem
artichokes make a more delicate sauce of this kind even than turnips;
the weight of both vegetables must be taken after they are pared.
Footnote 58:
The objection to _masking_ a joint with this or any other sauce is,
that it speedily becomes cold when spread over its surface: a portion
of it at least should be served very hot in a tureen.
Pared turnips or artichokes, 1 lb.; fresh butter, 1-1/2 oz.; flour, 1
large teaspoonful (twice as much if all milk be used); salt, 1/2
teaspoonful or more; cream, or cream and milk mixed, from 3/4 to 1 pint.
OLIVE SAUCE.
Remove the stones from some fine French or Italian olives by paring the
fruit close to them, round and round in the form of a corkscrew: they
will then resume their original shape when done. Weigh six ounces thus
prepared, throw them into boiling water, let them blanch for five
minutes; then drain, and throw them into cold water, and leave them in
it from half an hour to an hour, proportioning the time to their
saltness; drain them well, and stew them gently from fifteen to
twenty-five minutes in a pint of very rich brown gravy or _Espagnole_
(see Chapter IV.); add the juice of half a lemon, and serve the sauce
very hot. Half this quantity will be sufficient for a small party.
Olives, stoned, 6 oz.; rich gravy, 1 pint: 15 to 25 minutes. Juice, 1/2
lemon.
_Obs._—In France this sauce is served very commonly with ducks, and
sometimes with beef-steaks, and with stewed fowl.
CELERY SAUCE.
Slice the white part of from three to five heads of young tender celery;
peel it if not very young, and boil it in salt and water for twenty
minutes. If for white sauce put the celery, after it has been well
drained, into half a pint of veal broth or gravy, and let it stew until
it is quite soft; then add an ounce and a half of butter, mixed with a
dessertspoonful of flour, and a quarter of a pint of thick cream or the
yolks of three eggs. The French, after boiling the celery, which they
cut very small, for about twenty minutes, drain and _chop_ it; then put
it with a slice of butter into a stewpan, and season it with pepper,
salt, and nutmeg; they keep these stirred over the fire for two or three
minutes, and then dredge in a dessertspoonful of flour: when this has
lost its raw taste, they pour in a sufficient quantity of white gravy to
moisten the celery, and to allow for twenty minutes’ longer boiling. A
very good common celery sauce is made by simply stewing the celery cut
into inch-lengths in butter, until it begins to be tender; and then
adding a spoonful of flour, which must be allowed to brown a little, and
half a pint of _good_ broth or beef gravy, with a seasoning of pepper or
cayenne.
Celery, 3 to 5 heads: 20 minutes. Veal broth, or gravy, 1/2 pint; 20 to
40 minutes. Butter, 1-1/2 oz.; flour, 1 dessertspoonful; cream, 1/4
pint, or three yolks of eggs.
WHITE CHESTNUT SAUCE.
Strip the outer rind from six ounces of sound sweet chestnuts, then
throw them into boiling water, and let them simmer for two or three
minutes, when the second skin will easily peel off. Add to them three
quarters of a pint of good cold veal gravy, and a few strips of lemon
rind, and let them stew gently for an hour and a quarter. Press them,
with the gravy, through a hair-sieve reversed and placed over a deep
dish or pan, as they are much more easily rubbed through thus than in
the usual way: a wooden spoon should be used in preference to any other
for the process. Add a little cayenne and mace, some salt if needed, and
about six tablespoonsful of rich cream. Keep the sauce stirred until it
boils, and serve it immediately.
Chestnuts without their rinds, 6 oz.; veal gravy, 1 pint; rind of 1/2
lemon: 1-1/4 hour. Salt; spice; cream, 6 tablespoonsful.
_Obs._—This sauce may be served with turkey, with fowls, or with stewed
veal cutlets.
BROWN CHESTNUT SAUCE.
Substitute rich brown gravy for the veal stock, omit the lemon-rind and
cream, heighten the seasonings, and mix the chestnuts with a few
spoonsful of _Espagnole_ or highly flavoured gravy, after they have been
passed through the sieve.
PARSLEY-GREEN, FOR COLOURING SAUCES.
Gather a quantity of young parsley, strip it from the stalks, wash it
very clean, shake it as dry as possible in a cloth, pound it in a
mortar, press all the juice closely from it through a hair-sieve
reversed, and put it into a clean jar; set it into a pan of boiling
water, and in about three minutes, if _gently_ simmered, the juice will
be poached sufficiently; lay it then upon a clean sieve to drain, and it
will be ready for use.
Spinach-green, for which particular directions will be found at the
commencement of Chapter XXIV., is prepared in the same manner. The juice
of various herbs pounded together may be pressed from them through a
sieve and added to cold sauces.
TO CRISP PARSLEY.
Wash some branches of young parsley well, drain them from the water, and
swing them in a clean cloth until they are quite dry; place them on a
sheet of writing paper in a Dutch oven, before a brisk fire, and keep
them frequently turned until they are quite crisp. They will become so
in from six to eight minutes.
FRIED PARSLEY.
When the parsley has been prepared as for crisping, and is _quite_ dry,
throw it into plenty of lard or butter, which is on the point of
boiling; take it up with a skimmer the instant it is crisp, and drain it
on a cloth spread upon a sieve reversed, and placed before the fire.
MILD MUSTARD.
Mustard for instant use should be mixed with milk, to which a spoonful
or two of very thin cream may be added.
MUSTARD THE COMMON WAY.
The great art of mixing mustard is to have it perfectly smooth, and of a
proper consistency. The liquid with which it is moistened should be
added to it in small quantities, and the mustard should be well rubbed,
and beaten with a spoon. Mix half a teaspoonful of salt with two ounces
of the flour of mustard, and stir to them by degrees sufficient boiling
water to reduce it to the appearance of a thick batter: do not put it
into the mustard-glass until it is cold. Some persons like a
half-teaspoonful of sugar in the finest powder mixed with it. It ought
to be sufficiently diluted always to drop easily from the spoon; and to
bring it to this state more than a quarter of a pint, and less than
_half_ a pint of liquid will be needed for four ounces of the best
Durham mustard.
For Tartar mustard see Chapter VII.
FRENCH BATTER.
(_For frying vegetables, and for apple, peach, or orange fritters._)
Cut a couple of ounces of good butter into small bits, pour on it less
than a quarter of a pint of boiling water, and when it is dissolved add
three quarters of a pint of cold water, so that the whole shall not be
quite milk warm; mix it then by degrees and very smoothly with twelve
ounces of fine dry flour and a _small_ pinch of salt if the batter be
for fruit fritters, but with more if for meat or vegetables. Just before
it is used, stir into it the whites of two eggs beaten to a solid froth;
but previously to this, add a little water should it appear too thick,
as some flour requires more liquid than other to bring it to the proper
consistence; this is an exceedingly light crisp batter, excellent for
the purposes for which it is named.
Butter, 2 oz.; water, from 3/4 to nearly 1 pint; little salt; flour, 3/4
lb.; whites of 2 eggs, beaten to snow.
TO PREPARE BREAD FOR FRYING FISH.
Cut thick slices from the middle of a loaf of light stale bread, pare
the crust entirely from them, and dry them gradually in a cool oven
until they are crisp quite through; let them become cold, then roll or
beat them into fine crumbs, and keep them in a dry place for use. To
strew over hams or cheeks of bacon, the bread should be left all night
in the oven, which should be sufficiently heated to brown, as well as to
harden it: it ought indeed to be entirely converted into
equally-coloured crust. It may be sifted through a dredging-box on to
the hams after it has been reduced almost to powder.
BROWNED FLOUR FOR THICKENING SOUPS AND GRAVIES.
Spread it on a tin or dish and colour it, without burning, in a gentle
oven or before the fire in a Dutch or American oven: turn it often, or
the edges will be too much browned before the middle is enough so. This,
blended with butter, makes a convenient thickening for soups or gravies
of which it is desirable to deepen the colour; and it requires less time
and attention than the French _roux_ of page 10.
FRIED BREAD-CRUMBS.
Grate lightly into very fine crumbs four ounces of stale bread, and
_shake_ them through a cullender;[59] without rubbing or touching them
with the hands. Dissolve two ounces of fresh butter in a frying-pan,
throw in the crumbs, and stir them constantly over a moderate fire,
until they are all of a clear golden colour; lift them out with a
skimmer, spread them on a soft cloth, or upon white blotting paper, laid
upon a sieve reversed, and dry them before the fire. They may be more
delicately prepared by browning them in a gentle oven without the
addition of butter.
Footnote 59:
This is not necessary when they are lightly and finely grated of
uniform size.
Bread, 4 oz.; butter, 2 oz.
FRIED BREAD FOR GARNISHING.
Cut the crumb of a stale loaf in slices a quarter of an inch thick; form
them into diamonds or half diamonds, or shape them with a paste-cutter
in any another way; fry them in fresh butter, some of a very pale brown
and others a deeper colour; dry them well, and place them alternately
round the dish that is to be garnished. They may be made to adhere to
the edge of the dish when they are required for _ornament_ only, by
means of a little flour and white of egg brushed over the side which is
placed on it: this must be allowed to dry before they are served.
For SWEET-PUDDING SAUCES, see Chapter XX.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER VI.
=Cold Sauces, Salads, etc.=
SUPERIOR MINT-SAUCE.
(_To serve with lamb._)
THE mint for this sauce should be fresh and young, for when old it is
tough and indigestible. Strip the leaves from the stems, wash them with
great nicety, and drain them on a sieve, or dry them in a cloth; chop
them very fine, put them into a sauce-tureen, and to three heaped
tablespoonsful of the mint add two of pounded sugar; let them remain a
short time well mixed together, then pour to them gradually six
tablespoonsful of good vinegar. The sauce thus made is excellent, and
far more wholesome than when a larger proportion of vinegar and a
smaller one of sugar is used for it; but, after the first trial, the
proportions can easily be adapted to the taste of the eaters.
COMMON MINT-SAUCE.
Two tablespoonsful of mint, one _large_ tablespoonful of pale brown
sugar, well mixed together, and a quarter of a pint of vinegar, stirred
until the sugar is entirely dissolved.
STRAINED MINT SAUCE.
Persons with whom the mint in substance disagrees can have the flavour
of the herb without it, by mixing the ingredients of either of the
preceding receipts, and straining the sauce after it has stood for two
or three hours; the mint should be well pressed when this is done. The
flavour will be the more readily extracted if the mint and sugar are
well mixed, and left for a time before the vinegar is added.
FINE HORSERADISH SAUCE.
(_To serve with cold, roast, stewed, or boiled beef._)
The root for this excellent sauce should be young and tender, and grated
down on a very fine bright grater, quite to a pulp, after it has been
washed, wiped, and scraped free from the outer skin. We have given the
proportions for it in the preceding chapter, but repeat them here.
Horseradish, 2 heaped tablespoonsful; salt, 1 moderate teaspoonful; rich
cream, 4 tablespoonsful; good vinegar, 3 dessertspoonsful (of which one
may be chili vinegar when the root is mild.) When the other ingredients
are smoothly mingled, the vinegar must be stirred briskly to them in
very small portions. A few drops of garlic or shalot vinegar can be
added to them when it is liked.
COLD MAÎTRE D’HÔTEL, OR STEWARD’S SAUCE.
Work well together until they are perfectly blended, two or three ounces
of good butter, some pepper, salt, minced parsley, and the strained
juice of a sound lemon of moderate size. The sauce thus prepared is
often put into broiled fish; and laid in the dish _under_ broiled
kidneys, beef-steaks, and other meat.
For 2 oz. butter, 1 _heaped_ teaspoonful young minced parsley; juice of
1 lemon; 1 small saltspoonful salt; seasoning of white pepper.
_Obs._—The proportion of parsley may be doubled when a larger quantity
is liked: a little fine cayenne would often be preferred to the pepper.
COLD DUTCH OR AMERICAN SAUCE, FOR SALADS OF DRESSED VEGETABLES, SALT
FISH, OR HARD EGGS.
Put into a saucepan three ounces of good butter very smoothly blended
with a quite small teaspoonful of flour, and add to them a large
wineglassful of cold water, half as much sharp vinegar (or very fresh,
strained, lemon-juice) a saltspoonful of salt, and half as much cayenne
in fine powder. Keep these shaken briskly round, or stirred over a clear
fire, until they form a smooth sauce and boil rapidly; then stir them
very quickly to the beaten yolks of four fresh eggs, which will
immediately give the sauce the consistence of custard; pour it hot over
the salad, and place it on ice, or in a very cool larder until it is
quite cold: if properly made, it will be very thick and smooth, and
slightly _set_, as if it contained a small portion of isinglass. A
dessertspoonful of parsley,—or of tarragon,—can be mingled with it at
_pleasure_, or any flavour given to it with store-sauces which is liked.
It converts flakes of salt-fish, sliced potatoes (new or old), and hard
eggs, into excellent salads.
ENGLISH SAUCE FOR SALAD, COLD MEAT, OR COLD FISH.
The first essential for a smooth, well-made English salad dressing is to
have the yolks of the eggs used for it sufficiently hard to be reduced
easily to a perfect paste. They should be boiled at least fifteen
minutes, and should have become _quite_ cold before they are taken from
the shells; they should also be well covered with water when they are
cooked, or some parts of them will be tough, and will spoil the
appearance of the sauce by rendering it lumpy, unless they be worked
through a sieve, a process which is always better avoided if possible.
To a couple of yolks broken up and mashed to a paste with the back of a
wooden spoon, add a small saltspoonful of salt, a large one of pounded
sugar, a few grains of fine cayenne, and a teaspoonful of cold water;
mix these well, and stir to them by degrees a quarter of a pint of sweet
cream; throw in next, stirring the sauce briskly, a tablespoonful of
strong chili vinegar, and add as much common or French vinegar as will
acidulate the mixture agreeably. A tablespoonful of either will be
sufficient for many tastes, but it is easy to increase the proportion
when more is liked. Six tablespoonsful of olive oil, of the purest
quality, may be substituted for the cream: it should be added in very
small portions to the other ingredients, and stirred briskly as each is
added until the sauce resembles custard. When this is used, the water
should be omitted. The piquancy of this preparation—which is very
delicate, made by the directions just given—may be heightened by the
addition of a little eschalot vinegar, Harvey’s sauce, essence of
anchovies, French mustard, or tarragon vinegar; or by bruising with the
eggs a morsel of garlic, half the size of a hazel-nut: it should always,
however, be rendered as appropriate as may be to the dish with which it
is to be served.
_Obs. 1._—As we have before had occasion to remark, garlic, when very
sparingly and judiciously used, imparts a remarkably fine savour to a
sauce or gravy, and neither a strong nor a coarse one, as it does when
used in larger quantities. The veriest morsel (or, as the French call
it, a mere _soupçon_) of the root, is sufficient to give this agreeable
piquancy, but unless the proportion be extremely small, the effect will
be quite different. The Italians dress their salads upon a round of
delicately toasted bread, which is rubbed with garlic, saturated with
oil, and sprinkled with cayenne, before it is laid into the bowl: they
also eat the bread thus prepared, but with less of oil, and untoasted
often, before their meals, as a digester.
_Obs. 2._—French vinegar is so infinitely superior to English in
strength, purity, and flavour, that we cannot forbear to recommend it in
preference for the use of the table. We have for a long time past been
supplied with some of most excellent quality (labelled _Vinaigre de
Bordeaux_) imported by the Messrs. Kent & Sons, of Upton-on-Severn, who
supply it largely, we believe, both to wholesale and retail venders in
town and country.
THE POET’S RECEIPT FOR SALAD.[60]
Footnote 60:
_Note._—This receipt, though long privately circulated amongst the
friends and acquaintance of its distinguished and regretted author,
now (with permission) appears for the first time in print. We could
not venture to deviate by a word from the original, but we would
suggest, that the mixture forms almost a substitute for salad, instead
of a mere dressing. It is, however, an admirable compound for those to
whom the slight flavouring of onion is not an objection.
“Two large potatoes, passed through kitchen sieve
Unwonted softness to the salad give;
Of mordent mustard, add a single spoon,
Distrust the condiment which bites so soon;
But deem it not, thou man of herbs, a fault,
To add a double quantity of salt;
Three times the spoon with oil of Lucca crown,
And once with vinegar, procured from town;
True flavour needs it, and your poet begs
The pounded yellow of two well-boiled eggs;
Let onion atoms lurk within the bowl,
And, scarce suspected, animate the whole;
And lastly, in the flavoured compound toss
A magic teaspoon of anchovy sauce:
Then, though green turtle fail, though venison’s tough,
And ham and turkey are not boiled enough,
Serenely full, the epicure may say—
Fate cannot harm me,—I have dined to-day.”
Two well-boiled potatoes, passed through a sieve; a teaspoonful of
mustard; two teaspoonsful of salt; one of essence of anchovy; about a
quarter of a teaspoonful of very finely-chopped onions, well bruised
into the mixture; three tablespoonsful of oil; one of vinegar; the yolks
of two eggs, hard boiled. Stir up the salad immediately before dinner,
and stir it up thoroughly.
N.B.—As this salad is the result of great experience and reflection, it
is hoped young salad makers will not attempt to make any improvements
upon it.
SAUCE MAYONNAISE.
(_For salads, cold meat, poultry, fish, or vegetables._)
This is a very fine sauce when all the ingredients used for it are good;
but it will prove an uneatable compound to a delicate taste unless it be
made with oil of the purest quality.
Put into a large basin the yolks only of two very fresh eggs, carefully
freed from specks, with a little salt and cayenne; stir these well
together, then add about a teaspoonful of the purest salad oil, and work
the mixture round with a wooden spoon until it appears like cream. Pour
in by slow degrees nearly half a pint of oil, continuing at each
interval to work the sauce as at first until it resumes the smoothness
of cream, and not a particle of the oil remains visible; then add a
couple of tablespoonsful of plain French or of tarragon vinegar, and one
of cold water to whiten the sauce. A bit of clear veal jelly the size of
an egg will improve it greatly. The reader who may have a prejudice
against the unboiled eggs which enter into the composition of the
Mayonnaise, will find that the most fastidious taste would not detect
their being raw, if the sauce be well made; and persons who dislike oil
may partake of it in this form, without being aware of its presence,
provided always that it be perfectly fresh, and pure in flavour, for
otherwise it will be easily perceptible.
Yolks of fresh unboiled eggs, 2; salt, 1/2 saltspoonful, or rather more;
cayenne; oil, full third of pint; French or tarragon vinegar, 2
tablespoonsful; cold water, 1 tablespoonful; meat jelly (if at hand),
size of an egg.
RED OR GREEN MAYONNAISE SAUCE.
Colour may be given either to the preceding or to the following _Sauce
Mayonnaise_ by mingling with it some hard lobster-coral reduced to
powder by rubbing it through a very fine hair-sieve: the red hue of this
is one of the most brilliant and beautiful that can be seen, but the
sauce for which it is used can only be appropriately served with fish or
fish-salads. Spinach-green will impart a fine tint to any preparation,
but its flavour is objectionable: that of parsley-green is more
agreeable. Directions for both of these are contained in the previous
chapter.
IMPERIAL MAYONNAISE.
(_An elegant jellied sauce, or salad-dressing._)
Put into a bowl half a pint of aspic, or of any very clear pale jellied
stock (that made usually for good white soup will serve for the purpose
excellently); add to it a couple of spoonsful of the purest olive-oil,
one of sharp vinegar, and a little fine salt and cayenne. Break up the
jelly quite small with the points of a whisk of osier-twigs, stir the
ingredients well together, and then whisk them gently until they are
converted into a smooth white sauce. This receipt was derived originally
from an admirable French cook,[61] who stood _quite_ at the head of his
profession; but as he was accustomed to purvey for the tables of kings
and emperors, his directions require some curtailment and simplifying to
adapt them to the resources of common English life. He directs the
preparation to be mixed and worked—to use a technical expression—over
_ice_, which cannot always be commanded, except in opulent
establishments, and in large towns. It is not, however, essential to the
success of this sauce, which will prove extremely good if made and kept
in a cool larder; or, if the bowl in which it is mingled be placed in a
pan of cold water, into which plenty of saltpetre and sal-ammoniac,
roughly powdered, are thrown at the moment it is set into it. In this
country a smaller proportion of oil, and a larger one of acid, are
usually preferred to the common French salad-dressings, in which there
is generally a very small portion of vinegar. To some tastes a spoonful
or two of cream would improve the present Mayonnaise, which may be
varied also with chili, tarragon, or other flavoured vinegar. It should
be served heaped high in the centre of the salad, for which, if large,
double the quantity directed _here_ should be prepared.
Footnote 61:
Monsieur Carême, to whose somewhat elaborate but admirable works,
published thirty years or more since, all modern cooks appear to be
specially indebted.
REMOULADE.
This differs little from an ordinary English salad-dressing. Pound very
smoothly indeed the yolks of two or three hard-boiled eggs with a
teaspoonful of mustard, half as much salt, and some cayenne, or white
pepper. Mix gradually with them, working the whole well together, two or
three tablespoonsful of oil and two of vinegar. Should the sauce be
curdled, pour it by degrees to the yolk of a raw egg, stirring it well
round as directed for the Mayonnaise. A spoonful of tarragon, cucumber,
or eschalot-vinegar, may be added with very good effect; and to give it
increased relish, a teaspoonful of cavice, or a little of Harvey’s
sauce, and a dessertspoonful of chili vinegar may be thrown into it.
This last is an excellent addition to all cold sauces, or
salad-dressings.
Hard yolks of 2 or of 3 eggs; mustard, 1 teaspoonful (more when liked);
salt, 1/2 teaspoonful; pepper or cayenne; oil, 3 tablespoonsful;
vinegar, 2. If curdled, yolk of 1 raw egg. Good additions: tarragon or
eschalot, or cucumber-vinegar, 1 tablespoonful; chili vinegar, 1
dessertspoonful; cavice or Harvey’s sauce at pleasure.
_Obs._—A dessertspoonful of eschalots, or a _morsel_ of garlic, very
finely minced, are sometimes pounded with the yolks of eggs for this
sauce.
OXFORD BRAWN SAUCE.
Mingle thoroughly a tablespoonful of brown sugar with a teaspoonful of
made mustard, a third as much of salt, some pepper, from three to four
tablespoonsful of very fine salad-oil, and two of strong vinegar; or
apportion the same ingredients otherwise to the taste.
FORCED EGGS FOR GARNISHING SALAD.
Pound and press through the back of a hair-sieve the flesh of three very
fine, or of four moderate-sized anchovies, freed from the bones and
skin. Boil six fresh eggs for twelve minutes, and when they are
perfectly cold, halve them lengthwise, take out the yolks, pound them to
a paste with a third of their volume of fresh butter, then add the
anchovies, a quarter of a teaspoonful of mace, and as much cayenne as
will season the mixture well; beat these together thoroughly, and fill
the whites of egg neatly with them. A _morsel_ of garlic, perfectly
blended with the other ingredients, would to some tastes improve this
preparation: a portion of anchovy-butter, or of potted ham, will supply
the place of fish in it very advantageously.
Eggs, 6; anchovies, 4; butter, size of 2 yolks; mace, 1/4 teaspoonful;
cayenne, third as much.
ANCHOVY BUTTER.
(_Excellent._)
Scrape the skin quite clear from a dozen fine mellow anchovies, free the
flesh entirely from the bones, and pound it as smooth as possible in a
mortar; rub it through the back of a hair-sieve with a wooden spoon;
wipe out the mortar, and put back the anchovies with three quarters of a
pound of very fresh butter, a small half-saltspoonful of cayenne, and
more than twice as much of finely grated nutmeg, and freshly pounded
mace; and beat them together until they are thoroughly blended. If to
serve cold at table, mould the butter in small shapes, and turn it out.
A little rose pink (which is sold at the chemists’) is sometimes used to
give it a fine colour, but it must be sparingly used, or it will impart
an unpleasant flavour, and we cannot much recommend its use: it should
be well pounded, and very equally mixed with it. For kitchen use, press
the butter down into jars or pattypans, and keep it in a cool place.
Fine anchovies, 12; butter, 3/4 lb.; cayenne, small 1/2 saltspoonful;
nutmeg and mace, each more than twice as much; rose pink (if used), 1/2
teaspoonful.
This proportion differs from potted anchovies only in the larger
proportion of butter mixed with the fish, and the milder seasoning of
spice. It will assist to form an elegant dish if made into pats, and
stamped with a tasteful impression, then placed alternately with pats of
lobster-butter, and decorated with light foliage. It is generally eaten
with much relish when carefully compounded, and makes excellent
sandwiches. To convert it into a good fish sauce, mix two or three
ounces of it with a teaspoonful of flour and a few spoonsful of cold
water, or of pale veal stock, and keep them constantly stirred until
they boil. The butter should not be moulded directly it is taken from
the mortar, as it is then very soft from the beating. It should be
placed until it is firm in a very cool place or over _ice_, when it can
be done conveniently.
LOBSTER BUTTER.
Pound to the smoothest possible paste the coral of one or two fresh hen
lobsters, mix with it about an equal proportion of fresh firm butter,
and a moderate seasoning of mace and cayenne, with a little salt if
needed. Let the whole be thoroughly blended, and set it aside in a cool
larder, or place it over ice until it is sufficiently firm to be made
into pats. Serve it garnished with curled parsley, or with any light
foliage which will contrast well with its brilliant colour. The coral
may be rubbed through a fine sieve before it is put into the mortar, and
will then require but little pounding.
An excellent preparation is produced by mingling equal proportions of
lobster and of anchovy butter in the mortar, or one-third of the anchovy
with two of lobster: to this some of the white flesh of the latter can
be added to give another variety, after it has been prepared by the
receipt for _boudirettes_, Chapter III.
TRUFFLED BUTTER (AND TRUFFLES POTTED IN BUTTER.)
(_For the breakfast or luncheon table._)
Cut up a pound of sweet fresh butter, and dissolve it gently over a
clear fire; take off the scum which will gather thickly upon it, and
when it has simmered for three or four minutes, draw it from the fire,
and let it stand until all the buttermilk has subsided; pour it softly
from this upon six ounces of ready-pared sound French truffles, cut into
small, but rather thick, slices, and laid into a delicately clean
enamelled saucepan; add a full seasoning of freshly pounded mace and
fine cayenne, a small saltspoonful of salt, and half a not large nutmeg.
When the butter has become quite cold, proceed to heat the truffles
slowly, shaking the saucepan often briskly round, and stew them as
gently as possible for twenty minutes, or longer should they not then be
very tender. If allowed to heat, and to boil quickly, they will become
_hard_, and the preparation, as regards the _truffles_, will be a
comparative failure. Lift them with a spoon into quite dry earthen or
china pans, and pour the butter on them; or add to them sufficient of it
only to cover them well and to exclude the air, and pot the remainder of
the butter apart: it will be finely flavoured, and may be eaten by
delicate persons to whom the truffle itself would be injurious. It may
also be used in compounding savoury sauces, and for moistening small
_croustades_ before they are fried or baked. The truffles themselves
will remain good for months when thus prepared, if kept free from damp;
and in flavour they will be found excellent. The parings taken from them
will also impart a very agreeable savour to the butter, and will serve
extremely well for it for immediate use. They will also be valuable as
additions to gravies or to soups.
We should observe, that the juice which will have exuded from the
truffles in the stewing will cause the preparation to become mouldy, or
otherwise injure it, if it be put into the pans either with them or with
the butter. The truffles must be well drained from it when they are
taken from the saucepan, and the butter must remain undisturbed for a
few minutes, when it can be poured clear from the juice, which will have
subsided to the bottom of the pan. We have given here the result of our
first experiment, which we found on further trial to answer perfectly.
ENGLISH SALADS.
The herbs and vegetables for a salad cannot be too freshly gathered;
they should be carefully cleared from insects and washed with scrupulous
nicety; they are better when not prepared until near the time of sending
them to table, and should not be sauced until the instant before they
are served. Tender lettuces, of which the stems should be cut off, and
the outer leaves be stripped away, mustard and cress, young radishes,
and occasionally chives or small green onions (when the taste of a party
is in favour of these last) are the usual ingredients of summer salads.
(In early spring, as we have stated in another chapter, the young white
leaves of the dandelion will supply a very wholesome and excellent
salad, of which the slight bitterness is to many persons as agreeable as
that of the endive.) Half-grown cucumbers sliced thin, and mixed with
them, are a favourite addition with many persons. In England it is
customary to cut the lettuces extremely fine; the French, who object to
the _flavour of the knife_, which they fancy this mode imparts, break
them small instead. Young celery alone, sliced and dressed with a rich
salad mixture, is excellent: it is still in some families served thus
always with roast pheasants.
Beet-root, baked or boiled, blanched endive, small salad-herbs which are
easily raised at any time of the year, celery, and hardy lettuces, with
any ready-dressed vegetable, will supply salads through the winter.
Cucumber vinegar is an agreeable addition to these.
FRENCH SALAD.
In winter this is made principally of beautifully-blanched endive,
washed delicately clean and broken into small branches with the fingers,
then taken from the water and shaken dry in a basket of peculiar form,
appropriated to the purpose,[62] or in a fine cloth; then arranged in
the salad bowl, and strewed with herbs (tarragon generally, when in
season) minced small: the dressing is not added until just before the
salad is eaten. In summer, young lettuces are substituted for the
endive, and intermixed with a variety of herbs, some of which are not
generally cultivated in England.
Footnote 62:
Salad-baskets are also to be found in many good English kitchens, but
they are not in such general use here as on the continent.
FRENCH SALAD DRESSING.
Stir a saltspoonful of salt and half as much pepper into a large
spoonful of oil, and when the salt is dissolved, mix with them four
additional spoonsful of oil, and pour the whole over the salad; let it
be _well_ turned, and then add a couple of spoonsful of tarragon
vinegar; mix the whole thoroughly, and serve it without delay. The salad
should not be dressed in this way until the instant before it is wanted
for table: the proportions of salt and pepper can be increased at
pleasure, and common or cucumber vinegar may be substituted for the
tarragon, which, however, is more frequently used in France than any
other.
Salt, 1 spoonful: pepper, 1/2 as much; oil, 5 saladspoonsful; tarragon,
or other vinegar, 2 spoonsful.
DES CERNEAUX, OR WALNUT SALAD.
This is a common summer salad in France, where the growth of walnuts is
generally abundant, but is not much served in England; though the sweet
flavour of the just-formed nut is very agreeable. Take the walnuts when
a pin will pierce them _easily_, pare them down to the kernels, and toss
them gently, just before they are served, in a French or English
salad-dressing (the former would generally be preferred we think), and
turn them into the salad-bowl for table.
SUFFOLK SALAD.
Fill a salad-bowl from half to three parts full with very tender
lettuces shred small, minced lean of ham, and hard-boiled eggs, or their
yolks only also minced, placed in alternate layers; dress the mixture
with English salad sauce, but do not pour it into the bowl until the
instant of serving. A portion of cold chicken (or veal), cut in thin
slices about the size of a shilling, may be added when convenient; the
ham and eggs also may be sliced instead of being minced, and the whole
neatly arranged in a chain or otherwise round the inside of the bowl.
YORKSHIRE PLOUGHMAN’S SALAD.
Mix treacle and vinegar, in the proportion of one tablespoonful of the
first to two of the latter; add a little black pepper, and eat the sauce
with lettuces shred small (with an intermixture of young onions when
they are liked).
AN EXCELLENT SALAD OF YOUNG VEGETABLES.
Pare off the coarse, fibrous parts from four or five artichoke bottoms,
boiled quite tender, well drained, and freed carefully from the insides;
cut them into quarters, and lay them into the salad-bowl; arrange over
them some cold new potatoes and young carrots sliced moderately thin,
strew minced tarragon, chervil, or any other herbs which may be better
liked, thickly over the surface, and sauce the salad with an English or
French dressing just before it is sent to table. Very young French beans
cut into short lozenge-shaped lengths, or asparagus points, can be added
to this dish at pleasure; or small tufts of cauliflower may be placed
round it. When these additions are made, the herbs are better omitted: a
little of the liquor of pickled Indian mangoes may be advantageously
mixed with the sauce for this salad, or in lieu of it some chili vinegar
or cayenne pepper. The Dutch or American sauce of the previous pages
would also make an appropriate dressing for it.
SORREL SALAD.
(_To serve with Lamb-cutlets, Veal cutlets, or Roast Lamb_.)
This, though a very agreeable and refreshing salad, is not to be
recommended when there is the slightest tendency to disorder of the
system; for the powerful acid of the uncooked sorrel might in that case
produce serious consequences.[63]
Footnote 63:
It should be especially avoided when dysentery, or other diseases of a
similar nature, are prevalent. We mention this, because if more
general precaution were observed with regard to diet, great suffering
would, in many instances, be avoided.
Take from the stems some very young tender sorrel, wash it delicately
clean, drain it well, and shake it dry in a salad-basket, or in a soft
cloth held by the four corners; arrange it lightly in the bowl, and at
the instant of serving, sauce it simply with the preceding French
dressing of oil with a small portion of vinegar, or with a _Mayonnaise_
mixed with _chili_ instead of a milder vinegar. The sorrel may be
divided with the fingers and mingled with an equal proportion of very
tender lettuces; and, when it is not objected to,[64] mixed tarragon may
be strewed thickly upon them. To some tastes a _small_ quantity of green
onions or of eschalots would be more agreeable.
Footnote 64:
The peculiar flavour of this fine aromatic herb is less generally
relished in England than in many other countries; but when it is not
disliked it may be used with great advantage in our cookery: it is
easily cultivated, and quite deserves a nook in every kitchen-garden.
LOBSTER SALAD.
First, prepare a sauce with the coral of a hen lobster, pounded and
rubbed through a sieve, and very gradually mixed with a good
_mayonnaise_, _remoulade_, or English salad-dressing of the present
chapter. Next, half fill the bowl or more with small salad herbs, or
with young lettuces finely shred, and arrange upon them spirally, or in
a chain, alternate slices of the flesh of a large lobster, or of two
middling-sized ones, and some hard-boiled eggs cut thin and evenly.
Leave a space in the centre, pour in the sauce, heap lightly some small
salad on the top, and send the dish immediately to table. The coral of a
second lobster may be intermingled with the white flesh of the fish with
very good effect; and the forced eggs of page 137 may be placed at
intervals round the edge of the bowl as a decoration, and an excellent
accompaniment as well. Another mode of making the salad is to lay the
split bodies of the fish round the bowl, and the claws, freed carefully
from the shells, arranged high in the centre on the herbs; the soft part
of the bodies may be mixed with the sauce when it is liked; but the
colour will not then be good.
_Obs._—The addition of cucumber in ribbons (see Author’s Receipt,
Chapter XVII.), laid lightly round it, is always an agreeable one to
lobster salad: they may previously be sauced, and then drained from
their dressing a little.
A more wholesome and safer mode of imparting the flavour of the
cucumber, however, is to use for the salad vinegar in which that
vegetable has been steeped for some hours after having been cut up
small.
AN EXCELLENT HERRING SALAD.
(_Swedish Receipt._)
Soak, skin, split, and bone a large Norway herring; lay the two sides
along a dish, and slice them slopingly (or substitute for this one or
two fine Dutch herrings). Arrange in symmetrical order over the fish
slices of cooked beet-root, cold boiled potatoes, and pickled gherkins;
then add one or two sharp apples chopped small, and the yolks and
whites, separately minced, of some hard-boiled eggs, with any thing else
which may be at hand, and may serve to vary tastefully the decoration of
the dish. Place these ingredients in small heaps of well-contrasting
colours on the surface of the salad, and lay a border of curled celery
leaves or parsley round the bowl. For sauce, rub the yolk of one
hard-boiled egg quite smooth with some salt; to this add oil and vinegar
as for an ordinary salad, and dilute the whole with some thick sour
cream.
_Obs._—“Sour cream” is an ingredient not much approved by English taste,
but it enters largely into German cookery, and into that of Sweden, and
of other northern countries also. About half a pound of cold beef cut
into small thin shavings or collops, is often added to a herring-salad
abroad: it may be either of simply roasted or boiled, or of salted and
smoked meat.
TARTAR SAUCE.
(_Sauce à la Tartare_).
Add to the preceding _remoulade_, or to any other sauce of the same
nature, a teaspoonful or more of made mustard, one of finely-minced
shalots, one of parsley or tarragon, and one of capers or of pickled
gherkins, with a rather high seasoning of cayenne, and some salt if
needed. The tartar-mustard of the previous chapter, or good French
mustard, is to be preferred to English for this sauce, which is usually
made very pungent, and for which any ingredients can be used to the
taste which will serve to render it so. Tarragon vinegar, _minced
tarragon_ and eschalots, and plenty of oil, are used for it in France,
in conjunction with the yolks of one or two eggs, and chopped capers, or
gherkins, to which olives are sometimes added.
SHRIMP CHATNEY.
(_Mauritian Receipt._)
Shell with care a quart of fresh shrimps (for the mode of doing this see
Chapter III.), mince them quickly upon a dish with a large sharp knife,
then turn them into a mortar and pound them to a perfectly smooth paste.
Next, mix with them very gradually two or three spoonsful of salad oil
of the best quality, some young green chilies chopped small (or when
these cannot be procured, some _good_ cayenne pepper as a substitute),
some young onions finely minced, a little salt if required, and as much
vinegar or strained lemon juice as will render the sauce pleasantly
acid. Half a saltspoonful or more of powdered ginger is sometimes used
in addition to the above ingredients.
When they are preferred, two or three small shalots minced and well
bruised with the shrimps may be substituted for the onions.[65] The
proportion of oil should be double that of the vinegar used; but in this
preparation, as in all others of the same nature, individual taste must
regulate the proportion of the most powerful condiments which enter into
its composition. All chatneys should be _quite thick_, almost of the
consistence of mashed turnips, or stewed tomatas, or stiff bread sauce.
They are served with curries; and also with steaks, cutlets, cold meat,
and fish. In the East the native cooks crush to a pulp upon a stone
slab, and with a stone roller, the ingredients which we direct to be
pounded. On occasion the fish might be merely minced. When beaten to a
paste, they should be well separated with a fork as the chilies, &c.,
are added.
Footnote 65:
The sauce can be made without either when their flavour is not liked.
CAPSICUMB CHATNEY.
Slice transversely and very thin, into a bowl or pan of spring water,
some large tender green capsicumbs, and let them steep for an hour or
two; then drain, and dress with oil, vinegar, and salt.
For TOMATA and SAUSAGE CHATNEY, see CHAPTER OF FOREIGN COOKERY.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER VII.
=Store Sauces.=
[Illustration:
Mushrooms, Eschalots, and Tomatas.
]
OBSERVATIONS.
A WELL selected stock of these will always prove a convenient resource
in simple cookery for giving colour and flavour to soups, gravies, and
made dishes; but unless the consumption be considerable, they should not
be over-abundantly provided, as few of them are improved by age, and
many are altogether spoiled by long keeping, especially if they be not
perfectly secured from the air by sound corking, or if stored where
there is the slightest degree of damp. To prevent loss, they should be
examined at short intervals, and at the first appearance of mould or
fermentation, such as will bear the process should be reboiled, and put,
when again quite cold, into clean bottles; a precaution often especially
needful for mushroom catsup when it has been made in a wet season, or
when it has not been very carefully prepared. This, with essence of
anchovies, walnut catsup, Harvey’s sauce, cavice, lemon-pickle, chili,
cucumber, and eschalot vinegar, will be all that is commonly needed for
family use; but there is at the present day an extensive choice of these
stores on sale, some of which are excellent.
CHETNEY SAUCE.
(_Bengal Receipt_).
[Illustration:
Garlic.
]
Stone four ounces of good raisins, and chop them small, with half a
pound of crabs, sour apples, unripe bullaces,[66] or of any other hard
acid fruit. Take four ounces of coarse brown sugar, two of powdered
ginger, and the same quantity of salt and cayenne pepper; grind these
ingredients separately in a mortar, as fine as possible; then pound the
fruits well, and mix the spices with them, one by one; beat them
together until they are perfectly blended, and add gradually as much
vinegar as will make the sauce of the consistence of thick cream. Put it
into bottles with an ounce of garlic, divided into cloves, and cork it
tightly.
Footnote 66:
Hard acid fruit in a crude state is, we think, an ingredient not much
to be recommended; and it is always better to deviate a little from
“an approved receipt” than to endanger health by the use of
ingredients of a questionable character. Gooseberries or tomatas,
after being subjected to a moderate degree of heat, might be eaten
with far less hazard.
Stoned raisins, 4 oz.; crabs, or other acid fruit, 1/2 lb.; coarse
sugar, 4 oz.; powdered ginger, 2 oz.; salt, 2 oz.; cayenne pepper, 2
oz.; garlic, 1 oz.; vinegar, enough to dilute it properly.
_Obs._—This favourite oriental sauce is compounded in a great variety of
ways; but some kind of acid fruit is essential to it. The mango is used
in India; here gooseberries, while still hard and green, are sometimes
used for it; and ripe red chilies and tomatas are mixed with the other
ingredients. The sauce keeps better if it be exposed to a gentle degree
of heat for a week or two, either by the side of the fire, or in a full
southern aspect in the sun: the heat of a _very slow_ oven, in which it
might be left for a night, would probably have a still better effect. In
this case it must be put into a jar or bottles, and well secured from
the air. Half a pound of gooseberries, or of these and tamarinds from
the shell, and green apples mixed, and the same weight of salt, stoned
raisins, brown sugar, powdered ginger, chilies, and garlic, with a pint
and a half of vinegar, and the juice of three large lemons, will make
another genuine Bengal chetney.
FINE MUSHROOM CATSUP.
One of the very best and most useful of store sauces is good _home-made_
mushroom catsup, which, if really well prepared, imparts an agreeable
flavour to any soup or sauce with which it is mingled, and at the same
time heightens the colour without imparting the “bitter sweetness” which
the burnt sugar used as “browning” in clumsy cookery so often does. The
catsup ought, in fact, to be rather the pure _essence of mushrooms_,
made with so much salt and spice only as are required to preserve it for
a year or longer, than the compound of mushroom-juice, anchovies,
shalots, allspice, and other condiments of which it is commonly
composed, especially for sale.
_Directions to be observed in making and for keeping the catsup._—Let
the mushrooms be collected when the weather is dry, for if gathered
during, or immediately after rain, the catsup made with them will not
keep well.
Cut off the stalk-ends to which the earth adheres, before the mushrooms
are broken up, and throw them aside, as they should never be used for
the catsup. Reject also such of the flaps as are worm-eaten or decayed.
Those which are too stale for use may be detected by the smell, which is
very offensive.
When the mushroom first opens, the underside is of a fine pale salmon
colour; this changes soon to a sort of ashy-brown, which deepens almost
to black as the mushroom passes from its maturity to a state of decay.
As it yields a greater abundance of juice when it is fully ripe, it is
usually taken in that state for these sauces; but catsup of fine and
delicate flavour, though somewhat pale in colour, can be made even of
mushroom-buttons if they be sliced up small and turned often in the
liquid which will be speedily drawn from them by the application of
salt; a rather smaller proportion of which should be mingled with them
than is directed for the following receipt.
Every thing used in preparing the catsup should be delicately clean and
_very dry_. The bottles in which it is stored, after being dried in the
usual way, should be laid into a cool oven for an hour or two before
they are filled, to ensure their being free from the slightest degree of
moisture, but they must be _quite cold_ before the catsup is poured into
them. If the corks be sealed so as to exclude the air effectually, or if
well-cleansed bits of bladder first dried, and then rendered flexible
with a little spirit of any kind (spirits of wine is convenient for such
purposes), be tied closely over them, and the bottles can be kept in a
cool place free from damp, the catsup will remain good for a long time.
MUSHROOM CATSUP.
_Receipt_:—Break up small into a deep earthen pan, two gallons of large
ripe mushroom-flaps, and strew amongst them three quarters of a pound of
salt, reserving the larger portion of it for the top. Let them remain
two days, and stir them gently with a wooden spoon often during the
time; then turn them into a large stewpan or enamelled saucepan, heat
them slowly, and simmer them for fifteen or twenty minutes. Strain the
liquor closely from them without pressure; strain and measure it; put it
into a very clean stewpan, and boil it quickly until it is reduced
nearly half. For every quart allow half an ounce of black peppercorns
and a drachm of mace; or, instead of the pepper, a quarter of a
teaspoonful (ten grains) of _good_ cayenne; pour the catsup into a clean
jug or jar, lay a folded cloth over it, and keep it in a cool place
until the following day; pour it gently from the sediment, put into
small bottles, cork them well, and rosin them down. A teaspoonful of
salad oil may be poured into each bottle before it is corked, the better
to exclude the air from the catsup.
Mushrooms, 2 gallons; salt, 3/4 lb.; to macerate three or four days. To
each quart of liquor, 1/2 oz. black pepper, or quarter of a teaspoonful
of cayenne; and 1 drachm of mace: to be reduced nearly half.
_Obs. 1._—Catsup made thus will not be too salt, nor will the flavour of
the mushrooms be overpowered by that of the spices; of which a larger
quantity, and a greater variety, can be used at will.
We can, however, answer for the excellence of the present receipt from
long experience of it. When the catsup is boiled down quite early in the
day, it may be bottled the same night: it is necessary only, that it
should _perfectly cold_ before this is done.
_Obs. 2._—When the mushrooms are crushed, or mashed, as some authors
direct, the liquor will necessarily be very thick; it is better to
proceed as above, and then to boil the liquor which may afterwards be
extracted from the mushrooms by pressure, with the sediment of the
catsup, and sufficient cloves, pepper, allspice, and ginger, to flavour
it highly: this _second_ catsup will be found very useful to mix with
common thickened sauces, hashes, and stews.
MUSHROOM CATSUP.
(_Another Receipt._)
Break a peck of large mushrooms into a deep earthenpan; strew three
quarters of a pound of salt amongst them, and set them into a very cool
oven for one night, with a fold of cloth or paper over them. The
following day strain off the liquor, measure, and boil it for fifteen
minutes; then, for each quart, add an ounce of black pepper, a quarter
of an ounce of allspice, half an ounce of ginger, and two large blades
of mace, and let it boil fast for twenty minutes longer. When thoroughly
cold, put it into bottles, cork them well, and dip the necks into melted
bottle-cement, or seal them so as to secure the catsup from the air.
Mushrooms, 1 peck; salt, 3/4 lb. Liquor to boil, 15 minutes. To each
quart, 1/2 oz. black pepper; 1/4 oz. allspice; 1/2 oz. ginger; 2 blades
mace: 20 minutes.
DOUBLE MUSHROOM CATSUP.
On a gallon of fresh mushrooms strew three ounces of salt, and pour to
them a quart of ready-made catsup (that which is a year old will do if
it be perfectly good); keep these stirred occasionally for four days,
then drain the liquor very dry from the mushrooms, and boil it for
fifteen minutes with an ounce of whole black pepper, a drachm of mace,
an ounce of ginger, and three or four grains only of cayenne.
Mushrooms, 1 gallon; salt, 3 oz.; mushroom catsup, 1 quart; peppercorns,
1 oz.; mace, 1 drachm; ginger, 1 oz.; cayenne, 3 to 4 grains: 15
minutes.
COMPOUND, OR COOK’S CATSUP.
Take a pint and a half of mushroom catsup when it is first made, and
ready boiled (the double is best for the purpose), simmer in it for five
minutes an ounce of small eschalots nicely peeled; add to these half a
pint of walnut catsup, and a wineglassful of cayenne vinegar, or of
chili vinegar; give the whole one boil, pour it out, and when cold,
bottle it with the eschalots in it.
Mushroom catsup, 1-1/2 pint; eschalots, 1 oz.; walnut catsup or pickle,
1/2 pint; cayenne or chili vinegar, 1 wineglassful.
WALNUT CATSUP.
The vinegar in which walnuts have been pickled, when they have remained
in it a year, will generally answer all the purposes for which this
catsup is required, particularly if it be drained from them and boiled
for a few minutes, with a little additional spice, and a few eschalots;
but where the vinegar is objected to, it may be made either by boiling
the expressed juice of young walnuts for an hour, with six ounces of
fine anchovies, four ounces of eschalots, half an ounce of black pepper,
a quarter of an ounce of cloves, and a drachm of mace, to every quart;
or as follows:—
Pound in a mortar a hundred young walnuts, strewing amongst them as they
are done half a pound of salt; then pour to them a quart of strong
vinegar, and let them stand until they have become quite black, keeping
them stirred three or four times a day; next add a quart of strong old
beer, and boil the whole together for ten minutes; strain it, and let it
remain until the next day; then pour it off clear from the sediment, add
to it half a pound of anchovies, one large head of garlic bruised, half
an ounce of nutmegs bruised, the same quantity of cloves and black
pepper, and two drachms of mace: boil these together for half an hour,
and the following day bottle and cork the catsup well. It will keep for
a dozen years. Many persons add to it, before it is boiled, a bottle of
port wine; and others recommend a large bunch of sweet herbs to be put
in with the spice.
1st Recipe. Expressed juice of walnuts, 1 quart; anchovies, 6 oz.;
eschalots, 4 oz.; black pepper, 1/2 oz.; cloves, 1/4 oz.; mace, 1
drachm: 1 hour.
2nd. Walnuts, 100; salt, 1/2 lb.; vinegar, 1 quart; to stand till black.
Strong beer, 1 quart; anchovies, 1/2 lb.; 1 head garlic; nutmegs, 1/2
oz.; cloves, 1/2 oz.; black pepper, 1/2 oz.; mace, 2 drachms: 1/2 hour.
ANOTHER GOOD RECEIPT FOR WALNUT CATSUP.
Beat a hundred green walnuts in a large marble mortar until they are
thoroughly bruised and broken, and then put them into a stone jar, with
half a pound of eschalots, cut in slices, one head of garlic, half a
pound of salt, and two quarts of vinegar; let them stand for ten days,
and stir them night and morning. Strain off the liquor, and boil it for
half an hour with the addition of two ounces of anchovies, two of whole
pepper, half an ounce of cloves, and two drachms of mace; skim it well,
strain it off, and when it is quite cold pour it gently from the
sediment (which may be reserved for flavouring common sauces) into small
dry bottles, secure it from air by sound corking, and store it in a dry
place.
Walnuts, 100; eschalots, 1/2 lb.; garlic, 1 head, salt, 1/2 lb.;
vinegar, 2 quarts: 10 days. Anchovies, 2 oz.; black pepper, 2 oz.; mace,
1/4 oz.; cloves, 1/2 oz.: 1/2 hour.
LEMON PICKLE OR CATSUP.
Either divide six small lemons into quarters, remove all the pips that
are in sight, and strew three ounces of salt upon them, and keep them
turned in it for a week, or, merely make deep incisions in them, and
proceed as directed for pickled lemons. When they have stood in a warm
place for eight days, put into a stone jar two ounces and a half of
finely-scraped horseradish, and two ounces of eschalots, or one and a
half of garlic; to these add the lemons with all their liquor, and pour
on them a pint and a half of boiling vinegar in which half an ounce of
bruised ginger, a quarter of an ounce of whole white pepper, and two
blades of mace have been simmered for two or three minutes. The pickle
will be fit for use in two or three months, but may stand four or five
before it is strained off.
Small lemons, 6; salt, 3 oz.: 8 days. Horseradish, 2-1/2 oz.; eschalots,
2 oz., or garlic 1-1/2 oz.; vinegar, 1-1/2 pint; ginger, 1/2 oz.; whole
white pepper, 1/4 oz.; mace, 2 blades: 3 to 6 months.
_Obs._—These highly-flavoured compounds are still much in favour with a
certain class of housekeepers; but they belong exclusively to _English_
cookery: they are altogether opposed to the practice of the French
_cuisine_, as well as to that of other foreign countries.
PONTAC CATSUP FOR FISH.
On one pint of ripe elderberries stripped from the stalks, pour three
quarters of a pint of boiling vinegar, and let it stand in a cool oven
all night; the next day strain off the liquid without pressure, and boil
it for five minutes with a half-teaspoonful of salt, a small race of
ginger, a blade of mace, forty corns of pepper, twelve cloves and four
eschalots. Bottle it with the spice when it is quite cold.
BOTTLED TOMATAS, OR TOMATA CATSUP.
Cut half a peck of ripe tomatas into quarters; lay them on dishes and
sprinkle over them half a pound of salt. The next day drain the juice
from them through a hair-sieve into a stewpan, and boil it for half an
hour with three dozens of small capsicums and half a pound of eschalots;
then add the tomatas, which should be ready pulped through a strainer.
Boil the whole for thirty minutes longer; have some clean wide-necked
bottles, kept warm by the fire, fill them with the catsup while it is
quite hot; cork, and dip the necks into melted bottle-resin or cement.
Tomatas, 1/2 peck; salt, 1/2 lb.; capsicums, 3 doz.; eschalots, 1/2 lb.:
1/2 hour. After pulp is added, 1/2 hour.
_Obs._—This receipt has been kindly contributed by a person who makes by
it every year large quantities of the catsup, which is considered
excellent: for sauce it must be mixed with gravy or melted butter. We
have not ourselves been able to make trial of it.
EPICUREAN SAUCE.
Mix well, by shaking them in a bottle, a wineglassful of Indian soy,
half a pint of chili vinegar, half a pint of walnut catsup, and a pint
and a half of the best mushroom catsup. These proportions make an
excellent sauce, either to mix with melted butter, and to serve with
fish, or to add to different kinds of gravy; but they can be varied, or
added to, at pleasure.
Indian soy, 1 wineglassful; chili vinegar, 1/2 pint; walnut catsup, 1/2
pint; mushroom catsup, 1-1/2 pint.
TARRAGON VINEGAR.
Gather the tarragon just before it blossoms, which will be late in July,
or early in August; strip it from the larger stalks, and put it into
small stone jars or wide-necked bottles, and in doing this twist some of
the branches so as to bruise the leaves and wring them asunder; then
pour in sufficient distilled or very pale vinegar to cover the tarragon;
let it infuse for two months, or more: it will take no harm even by
standing all the winter. When it is poured off, strain it very clear,
put it into small dry bottles, and cork them well. Sweet basil vinegar
is made in exactly the same way, but it should not be left on the leaves
more than three weeks. The jars or bottles should be filled to the neck
with the tarragon before the vinegar is added: its flavour is strong and
peculiar, but to many tastes very agreeable. It imparts quite a foreign
character to the dishes for which it is used.
GREEN MINT VINEGAR.
Slightly chop, or bruise, freshly-gathered mint, and put it into
bottles; fill them nearly to the necks, and add vinegar as for tarragon:
in forty days, strain it off, and bottle it for use. The mint itself,
ready minced for sauce, will keep well in vinegar, though the colour
will not be very good. The young leaves stripped from the stems, should
be used for this preparation.
CUCUMBER VINEGAR.
First wipe, and then, without paring, slice into a stone jar some young
and quickly-grown cucumbers; pour on them as much boiling vinegar as
will cover them well, with a teaspoonful of salt, and two-thirds as much
of peppercorns to the pint and a half of vinegar: it may remain on them
for a month, or even for two, if well defended from the air: it should
then be strained, allowed to settle, and poured quite clear into small
dry bottles, which should be well corked. A mild onion can be intermixed
with the cucumbers, when its flavour is considered an improvement.
CELERY VINEGAR.
Throw into a pint and a half of ready boiling vinegar a few grains of
cayenne, or half an ounce of peppercorns, a large saltspoonful of salt,
and a pint of the white part of the roots and stems of some fine fresh
celery sliced up thin: let it boil for two or three minutes, turn it
into a stone jar, and secure it well from the air as soon as it is cold.
It may be strained off and bottled in three or four weeks, but may
remain as many months in the jar without injury.
ESCHALOT, OR GARLIC VINEGAR.
On from four to six ounces of eschalots or on two of garlic peeled and
bruised, pour a quart of the best vinegar; stop the jar or bottle close,
and in a fortnight or three weeks the vinegar may be strained off for
use: a few drops will give a sufficient flavour to a sauce, or to a
tureen of gravy.
Eschalots, 4 to 6 oz.; or, garlic, 2 to 4 oz.; vinegar, 1 quart: 15 to
21 days.
_Obs._—These roots may be used in smaller or in larger proportion, as a
slighter or a stronger flavour of them is desired, and may remain longer
in the vinegar without any detriment to it.
ESCHALOT WINE.
This is a far more useful preparation even than the preceding one, since
it can be used to impart the flavour of the eschalot to dishes for which
acid is not required. Peel and slice, or bruise, four ounces of
eschalots, put them into a bottle, and add to them a pint of sherry; in
a fortnight pour off the wine, and should it not be strongly flavoured
with the eschalots, steep in it two ounces more, for another fortnight;
a half-teaspoonful of cayenne may be added at first. The bottle should
be shaken occasionally, while the eschalots are infusing, but should
remain undisturbed for the last two or three days, that the wine may be
clear when it is poured off to bottle for keeping. Sweet-basil wine is
made by steeping the fresh leaves of the herb in wine, from ten to
fifteen days.
Eschalots, 4 oz.; sherry, 1 pint: 15 days, or more.
HORSERADISH VINEGAR.
On four ounces of young and freshly-scraped horseradish pour a quart of
boiling vinegar, and cover it down closely: it will be ready for use in
three or four days, but may remain for weeks, or months, before the
vinegar is poured off. An ounce of minced eschalot may be substituted
for one of the horseradish, if the flavour be liked.
CAYENNE VINEGAR.
Put from a quarter to half an ounce of the best cayenne pepper into a
bottle, and pour on it a pint of pale vinegar. Cork it closely, and
shake it well every two or three days. It may remain any length of time
before it is poured off, but will very soon be ready for use.
Good cayenne pepper, 1/4 to 1/2 oz.; vinegar, 1 pint: infuse from 2
weeks to 12 months.
LEMON BRANDY.
(_For flavouring sweet dishes._)
Fill any sized wide-necked bottle lightly with the very thin rinds of
fresh lemons, and cover them with good brandy; let them remain for a
fortnight or three weeks only, then strain off the spirit and keep it
well corked for use: a few apricot-kernels blanched and infused with the
lemon-rind will give it an agreeable flavour.
DRIED MUSHROOMS.
Peel small, sound, freshly-gathered flaps, cut off the stems, and scrape
out the fur entirely; then arrange the mushrooms singly on tins or
dishes, and dry them as gradually as possible in a gentle oven. Put
them, when they are done, into tin canisters, and store them where they
will be secure from damp. French cooks give them a single boil in water,
from which they then are well drained, and dried, as usual. When wanted
for table, they should be put into cold gravy, slowly heated, and gently
simmered, until they are tender.
MUSHROOM POWDER.
When the mushrooms have been prepared with great nicety, and dried, as
in the foregoing receipt, pound them to a very fine powder; sift it, and
put it immediately into small and _perfectly dry_ bottles; cork and seal
them without delay, for if the powder be long exposed to the air, so as
to imbibe any humidity, or if it be not well secured from it in the
bottles, it will be likely to become putrid: much of that which is
purchased, even at the best Italian warehouses, is found to be so, and,
as it is sold at a very high price, it is a great economy, as well as a
surer plan, to have it carefully prepared at home. It is an exceedingly
useful store, and an excellent addition to many dishes and sauces. To
insure its being good, the mushrooms should be gathered in dry weather,
and if any addition of spices be made to the powder (some persons mix
with it a seasoning of mace and cayenne), they should be put into the
oven for a while before they are used: but even these precautions will
not be sufficient, unless the powder be stored in a very dry place after
it is bottled. A teaspoonful of it, with a quarter of a pint of strong
veal gravy, as much cream, and a small dessertspoonful of flour, will
make a good _béchamel_ or white sauce.
EXCELLENT POTATO FLOUR, OR ARROW-ROOT.
(_Fecule de Pommes de terre._)
Grate into a large vessel full of cold water, six pounds of sound mealy
potatoes, and stir them well together. In six hours pour off the water,
and add fresh, stirring the mixture well; repeat this process every
three or four hours during the day, change the water at night, and the
next morning pour it off; put two or three quarts more to the potatoes,
and turn them directly into a hair-sieve, set over a pan to receive the
flour, which may then be washed through the sieve, by pouring water to
it. Let it settle in the pan, drain off the water, spread the
potato-sediment on dishes, dry it in a slow oven, sift it, and put it
into bottles or jars, and cork or cover them closely. The flour thus
made will be beautifully white, and perfectly flavourless. It will
remain good for years.
_Obs._—This admirable farina, or _starch_ of potatoes, is now much more
widely known and vended in England than it was some years since. It can
at present be procured at most foreign warehouses and general grocers’;
but we would recommend its being _home-made_ by the directions given
above, which we have had closely followed for many years with the best
possible success.
TO MAKE FLOUR OF RICE.
Take any quantity of whole rice, wash it thoroughly, changing the water
several times; drain and press it in a cloth, then spread it on a dish,
and dry it perfectly; beat it in a mortar to a smooth powder, and sift
it through a fine sieve. When used to thicken soup or sauces, mix it
with a small quantity of cold water or of broth, and pour it to them
while they are boiling.
This flour, when newly made, is of much purer flavour than any usually
prepared for sale.
POWDER OF SAVOURY HERBS.
All herbs which are to be dried for storing should be gathered in fine
weather; cleared from dirt and decayed leaves; and dried quickly, but
without scorching, in a Dutch oven before the fire, or in any other that
is not too much heated. The leaves should then be stripped from the
stalks, pounded, sifted, and closely corked in separate bottles; or
several kinds may be mixed and pounded together for the convenience of
seasoning in an instant gravies, soups, forcemeats, and made dishes:
appropriate spices, celery-seed, and dried lemon-peel, all in fine
powder, can be added to the herbs.
TARTAR MUSTARD.
Rub four ounces of the best Durham mustard very smooth with a full
teaspoonful of salt, and wet it by degrees with strong horseradish
vinegar, a dessertspoonful of cayenne, or of chili vinegar, and one or
two of tarragon vinegar when its flavour is not disliked. A quarter of a
pint of vinegar poured boiling upon an ounce of scraped horseradish, and
left for one night, closely covered, will be ready to use for this
mustard, but it will be better for standing two or three days.
Durham mustard, 4 oz.; salt, large teaspoonful; cayenne, or chili
vinegar, 1 dessertspoonful; horseradish vinegar, third of pint.
_Obs._—This is an exceedingly pungent compound, but has many approvers.
ANOTHER TARTAR MUSTARD.
Mix the salt and mustard smoothly, with equal parts of horseradish
vinegar, and of chili vinegar. Mustard made by these receipts will keep
long, if put into jars or bottles and closely corked. Cucumber,
eschalot, or any other of the flavoured vinegars for which we have given
receipts, may in turn be used for it, and mushroom, gherkin, or India
pickle-liquor, likewise.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER VIII.
=Forcemeats.=
GENERAL REMARKS.
[Illustration:
Weighing Machine.
]
THE coarse and unpalatable compounds so constantly met with under the
denomination of forcemeat, even at tables otherwise tolerably well
served, show with how little attention they are commonly prepared.
Many very indifferent cooks pique themselves on never doing any thing by
rule, and the consequence of their throwing together at random (or “by
guess” as they call it) the ingredients which ought to be proportioned
with exceeding exactness is repeated failure in all they attempt to do.
Long experience, and a very correct eye may, it is true, enable a person
to dispense with weights and measures without hazarding the success of
their operations; but it is an experiment which the learner will do
better to avoid.
A large marble or Wedgwood mortar is indispensable in making all the
finer kinds of forcemeat; and equally so indeed for many other purposes
in cookery; no kitchen, therefore, should be without one;[67] and for
whatever preparation it may be used, the pounding should be continued
with patience and perseverance until not a single lump or fibre be
perceptible in the mass of the articles beaten together. This
particularly applies to potted meats, which should resemble the
smoothest paste; as well as to several varieties of forcemeat. Of these
last it should be observed, that such as are made by the French method
(see _quenelles_, page 163) are the most appropriate for an elegant dinner,
either to serve in soups or to fill boned poultry of any kind; but when
their exceeding lightness, which to foreigners constitutes one of their
great excellences, is objected to, it may be remedied by substituting
dry crumbs of bread for the panada, and pounding a small quantity of the
lean of a boiled ham, with the other ingredients: however, this should
be done only for the balls.
Footnote 67:
Two or three mortars, varying in size, should be in every household
where it is expected that the cookery should be well conducted: they
are often required also for many other domestic purposes, yet it is
not unusual to find both these and scales, weights, and measures of
every kind, altogether wanting in English kitchens.
No particular herb or spice should be allowed to predominate powerfully
in these compositions; but the whole of the seasonings should be taken
in such quantity only as will produce an agreeable savour when they are
blended together.
NO. 1. GOOD COMMON FORCEMEAT, FOR ROAST VEAL, TURKEYS, &C.
Grate very lightly into exceedingly fine crumbs, four ounces of the
inside of a stale loaf, and mix thoroughly with it, a quarter of an
ounce of lemon-rind pared as thin as possible, and minced extremely
small; the same quantity of savoury herbs, of which two-thirds should be
parsley, and one-third thyme, likewise finely minced, a little grated
nutmeg, a half teaspoonful of salt, and as much common pepper or cayenne
as will season the forcemeat sufficiently. Break into these, two ounces
of good butter in very small bits, add the unbeaten yolk of one egg, and
with the fingers work the whole well together until it is smoothly
mixed. It is usual to chop the lemon-rind, but we prefer it lightly
grated on a fine grater. It should always be _fresh_ for the purpose, or
it will be likely to impart a very unpleasant flavour to the forcemeat.
Half the rind of a moderate-sized lemon will be sufficient for this
quantity; which for a large turkey must be increased one-half.
Bread-crumbs, 4 oz.; lemon-rind, 1/4 oz. (or grated rind of 1/2 lemon);
mixed savoury herbs, minced, 1/4 oz.; salt, 1/2 teaspoonful; pepper, 1/4
to 1/3 of teaspoonful; butter, 2 oz.; yolk, 1 egg.
_Obs._—This, to our taste, is a much nicer and more delicate forcemeat
than that which is made with suet, and we would recommend it for trial
in preference. Any variety of herb or spice may be used to give it
flavour, and a little minced onion or eschalot can be added to it also;
but these last do not appear to us suited to the meats for which the
forcemeat is more particularly intended. Half an ounce of the butter may
be omitted on ordinary occasions: and a portion of marjoram or of sweet
basil may take the place of part of the thyme and parsley when preferred
to them.
NO. 2. ANOTHER GOOD COMMON FORCEMEAT.
Add to four ounces of bread-crumbs two of the lean of a boiled ham,
quite free from sinew, and _very_ finely minced; two of good butter, a
dessertspoonful of herbs, chopped small, some lemon-grate, nutmeg, a
little salt, a good seasoning of pepper or cayenne and one whole egg, or
the yolks of two. This may be fried in balls of moderate size, for five
minutes, to serve with roast veal, or it may be put into the joint in
the usual way.
Bread-crumbs, 4 oz.; lean of ham, 2 oz.; butter, 2 oz.; minced herbs, 1
dessertspoonful; lemon-grate, 1 teaspoonful; nutmeg, mace, and cayenne,
together, 1 small teaspoonful; little salt; 1 whole egg, or yolks of 2.
NO. 3. SUPERIOR SUET FORCEMEAT, FOR VEAL, TURKEYS, &C.
Mix well together six ounces of fine stale crumbs, with an equal weight
of beef-kidney suet, chopped extremely small, a large dessertspoonful of
parsley, mixed with a little lemon-thyme, a teaspoonful of salt, a
quarter one of cayenne, and a saltspoonful or rather more of mace and
nutmeg together; work these up with three unbeaten egg-yolks, and three
teaspoonsful of milk; then put the forcemeat into a large mortar, and
pound it perfectly smooth. Take it out, and let it remain in a cool
place for half an hour at least before it is used; then roll it into
balls, if it be wanted to serve in that form; flour and fry them gently
from seven to eight minutes, and dry them well before they are dished.
Beef suet finely minced, 6 oz.; bread-crumbs, 6 oz.; parsley, mixed with
little thyme, 1 large dessertspoonful; salt, 1 teaspoonful; mace, large
saltspoonful, and one fourth as much cayenne; unbeaten egg-yolks, 3;
milk, 3 teaspoonsful: well pounded. Fried in balls, 7 to 8 minutes, or
poached, 6 to 7.
_Obs._—The finely grated rind of half a lemon can be added to this
forcemeat at pleasure; and for some purposes a _morsel_ of garlic, or
three or four minced eschalots, may be mixed with it before it is put
into the mortar.
NO. 4. COMMON SUET FORCEMEAT.
Beef suet is commonly used in the composition of this kind of forcemeat,
but we think that veal-kidney suet, when it could be obtained, would
have a better effect; though the reader will easily comprehend that it
is scarcely possible for us to have every variety of every receipt which
we insert put to the test; in some cases we are compelled merely to
suggest what appear to us likely to be improvements. Strip carefully
every morsel of skin from the suet, and mince it small; to six ounces
add eight of bread-crumbs, with the same proportion of herbs, spice,
salt, and lemon-peel, as in the foregoing receipt, and a couple of whole
eggs, which should be very slightly beaten, after the specks have been
taken out with the point of a small fork. Should more liquid be
required, the yolk of another egg, or a spoonful or two of milk, may be
used. Half this quantity will be sufficient for a small joint of veal,
or for a dozen balls, which, when it is more convenient to serve it in
that form, may be fried or browned beneath the roast, and then dished
round it, though this last is not a very refined mode of dressing them.
From eight to ten minutes will fry them well.
NO. 5. OYSTER FORCEMEAT.
Open carefully a dozen of fine plump natives, take off the beards,
strain their liquor, and rinse the oysters in it. Grate four ounces of
the crumb of a stale loaf into fine light crumbs, mince the oysters but
not too small, and mix them with the bread; add an ounce and a half of
good butter broken into minute bits, the grated rind of half a small
lemon, a small saltspoonful of pounded mace, some cayenne, a little
salt, and a large teaspoonful of parsley. Mingle these ingredients well,
and work them together with the unbeaten yolk of one egg and a little of
the oyster liquor, the remainder of which can be added to the sauce
which usually accompanies this forcemeat.
Oysters, 1 dozen; bread-crumbs, 4 oz.; butter, 1-1/2 oz.; rind 1/2 small
lemon; mace, 1 saltspoonful; some cayenne and salt; minced parsley, 1
large teaspoonful; yolk 1 egg; oyster-liquor, 1 dessertspoonful: rolled
into balls, and fried from 7 to 10 minutes, or poached from 5 to 6
minutes.
_Obs. 1._—In this preparation the flavour of the oysters should prevail
entirely over that of all the other ingredients which are mixed with
them.
_Obs. 2._—The oyster-sausages of Chapter III. will serve excellently for
forcemeat also.
NO. 6. A FINER OYSTER FORCEMEAT.
Pound the preceding forcemeat to the smoothest paste, with the addition
only of half an ounce of fresh butter, should it be sufficiently dry to
allow of it. It is remarkably good when thus prepared, and may be
poached or fried in balls for soups or made dishes, or used to fill
boned fowls, or the breasts of boiled turkeys with equally good effect.
NO. 7. MUSHROOM FORCEMEAT.
Cut closely off the stems of some small, just-opened mushrooms, peel
them, and take out the fur. Dissolve an ounce and a half of good butter
in a saucepan, throw them into it with a little cayenne and a slight
sprinkling of mace, and stew them softly, keeping them well shaken, from
five to seven minutes; then turn them into a dish, spread them over it,
and raise one end, that the liquid may drain from them. When they are
quite cold, mince, and then mix them with four ounces of fine
bread-crumbs, an ounce and a half of good butter, and _part_ of that in
which they were stewed should the forcemeat appear too moist to admit of
the whole, as the yolk of one egg, at the least, must be added, to bind
the ingredients together; strew in a saltspoonful of salt, a third as
much of cayenne, and about the same quantity of mace and nutmeg, with a
teaspoonful of grated lemon-rind. The seasonings must be rather
sparingly used, that the flavour of the mushrooms may not be overpowered
by them. Mix the whole thoroughly with the unbeaten yolk of one egg, or
of two, and use the forcemeat poached in small balls for soup, or fried
and served in the dish with roast fowls, or round minced veal; or to
fill boiled fowls, partridges, or turkeys.
Small mushrooms, peeled and trimmed, 4 oz.; butter 1-1/2 oz.; slight
sprinkling mace and cayenne: 5 to 7 minutes. Mushrooms minced;
bread-crumbs, 4 oz.; butter, 1-1/2 oz. (with part of that used in the
stewing); salt, 1 saltspoonful; third as much of cayenne, of mace, and
of nutmeg; grated lemon-rind, 1 teaspoonful; yolk of 1 or 2 eggs. In
balls, poached, 5 to 6 minutes; fried, 6 to 8 minutes.
_Obs._—This, like most other forcemeats, is improved by being well
beaten in a large mortar after it is entirely mixed.
NO. 8. FORCEMEAT FOR HARE.
The first receipt of this chapter will be found very good for hare
without any variation; but the liver boiled for three minutes and finely
minced, may be added to it when it is thought an improvement: another
half ounce of butter, and a small portion more of egg will then be
required. A couple of ounces of rasped bacon, and a glass of port-wine,
are sometimes recommended for this forcemeat, but we think it is better
without them, especially when slices of bacon are used to line the hare.
A flavouring of minced onion or eschalot can be added when the taste is
in its favour; or the forcemeat No. 3 may be substituted for this
altogether.
NO. 9. ONION AND SAGE STUFFING, FOR PORK, GEESE, OR DUCKS.
Boil three large onions from ten to fifteen minutes, press the water
from them, chop them small, and mix with them an equal quantity of
bread-crumbs, a heaped tablespoonful of minced sage, an ounce of butter,
a half saltspoonful of pepper, and twice as much of salt, and put them
into the body of the goose; part of the liver boiled for two or three
minutes and shred fine, is sometimes added to these, and the whole is
bound together with the yolk of one egg or two; but they are quite as
frequently served without. The onions can be used raw, when their very
strong flavour is not objected to, but the odour of the whole dish will
then be somewhat overpowering.
Large onions, 3; boiled 20 to 30 minutes. Sage, 2 to 3 dessertspoonsful
(or 1/2 to 3/4 oz.); butter, 1 oz.; pepper, 1/2 teaspoonful; salt, 1
teaspoonful.
The body of a goose is sometimes entirely filled with mashed potatoes,
seasoned with salt and pepper only; or mixed with a small quantity of
eschalot, onion, or herb-seasonings.
NO. 10. MR. COOKE’S FORCEMEAT FOR DUCKS OR GEESE.
Two parts of chopped onion, two parts of bread-crumbs, three of butter,
one of pounded sage, and a seasoning of pepper and salt. This receipt we
have not proved.
NO. 11. FORCEMEAT BALLS FOR MOCK TURTLE SOUPS.
The French forcemeat, No. 17 of the present Chapter, is the most refined
and appropriate forcemeat to serve in mock turtle, but a more solid and
highly seasoned one is usually added to it in this country. In very
common cookery the ingredients are merely chopped small and mixed
together with a moistening of eggs; but when the trouble of pounding and
blending them properly is objected to, we would recommend the common
veal forcemeat No. 1, in preference; as the undressed veal and suet,
when merely minced, do not produce a good effect. Four ounces each of
these, with an ounce or so of the lean of a boiled ham, and three ounces
of bread-crumbs, a large dessertspoonful of minced parsley, a small
portion of thyme or marjoram, a saltspoonful of white pepper, twice as
much or more of salt, a little cayenne, half a small nutmeg, and a
couple of eggs, well mixed with a fork first to separate the meat, and
after the moistening is added, with the fingers, then rolled into balls,
and boiled in a little soup for twelve minutes, is the manner in which
it is prepared; but the reader will find the following receipt very
superior to it:—Rasp, that is to say, scrape with a knife clear from the
fibre, four ounces of veal, which should be cut into thick slices, and
taken quite free from skin and fat; chop it fine, and then pound it as
smoothly as possible in a large mortar, with three ounces of the rasped
fat of an unboiled ham of good flavour or of the finest bacon, and one
of butter, two ounces of bread-crumbs, a tablespoonful of the lean of a
boiled ham, should it be at hand, a good seasoning of cayenne, nutmeg,
and mace, mixed together, a heaped dessertspoonful of minced herbs, and
the yolks of two eggs; poach a small bit when it is mixed, and add any
further seasoning it may require; and when it is of good flavour, roll
it into balls of moderate size, and boil them twelve minutes; then drain
and drop them into the soup. No forcemeat should be boiled in the soup
itself, on account of the fat which would escape from it in the process;
a little stock should be reserved for the purpose.
Very common:—Lean of neck of veal, 4 oz.; beef-kidney suet, 4 oz., both
finely chopped; bread-crumbs, 3 oz.; minced parsley, large
dessertspoonful; thyme or marjoram, _small_ teaspoonful; lean of boiled
ham, 1 to 2 oz.; white pepper, 1 saltspoonful; salt, twice as much; 1/2
small nutmeg; eggs, 2: in balls, 12 minutes.
Better forcemeat:—Lean veal rasped, 4 oz.; fat of unboiled ham, or
finest bacon, 3 oz; butter, 1 oz.; bread-crumbs, 2 oz.; lean of boiled
ham, minced, 1 large tablespoonful; minced herbs, 1 heaped
dessertspoonful; full seasoning of mace, nutmeg, and cayenne, mixed;
yolks of eggs, 2: 12 minutes.
NO. 12. EGG BALLS.
Boil four or five new-laid eggs for ten or twelve minutes, and lay them
into fresh water until they are cold. Take out the yolks, and pound them
smoothly with the beaten yolk of one raw egg, or more, if required; add
a little salt and cayenne, roll the mixture into balls the size of
marbles, and boil them for two minutes. Half a teaspoonful of flour is
sometimes worked up with the eggs.
Hard yolks of eggs, 4; 1 raw; little salt and cayenne: 2 minutes.
NO. 13. BRAIN CAKES.
Wash and soak the brains well in cold water, and afterwards in hot; free
them from the skin and large fibres, and boil them in water, slightly
salted, from two to three minutes; beat them up with a teaspoonful of
sage very finely chopped, or with equal parts of sage and parsley, half
a teaspoonful or rather more of salt, half as much mace, a little white
pepper or cayenne, and one egg; drop them in small cakes into the pan,
and fry them in butter a fine light brown: two yolks of eggs will make
the cakes more delicate than the white and yolk of one. A teaspoonful of
flour and a little lemon-grate are sometimes added.
NO. 14. ANOTHER RECEIPT FOR BRAIN CAKES.
Boil the brains in a little good veal gravy very gently for ten minutes;
drain them on a sieve, and when cold cut them into thick dice; dip them
into beaten yolk of egg, and then into very fine bread-crumbs, mixed
with salt, pounded spices, and fine herbs minced extremely small; fry
them of a light brown, drain and dry them well, and drop them into the
soup or hash after it is dished. When broth or gravy is not at hand, the
brains may be boiled in water.
NO. 15. CHESTNUT FORCEMEAT.
Strip the outer skin from some fine sound chestnuts, then throw them
into a saucepan of hot water, and set them over the fire for a minute or
two, when they may easily be blanched like almonds. Put them into cold
water as they are peeled. Dry them in a cloth, and weigh them. Stew six
ounces of them _very_ gently from fifteen to twenty minutes, in just
sufficient strong veal gravy to cover them. Take them up, drain them on
a sieve, and when cold pound them perfectly smooth with half their
weight of the nicest bacon rasped clear from all rust or fibre, or with
an equal quantity of fresh butter, two ounces of dry bread-crumbs, a
small teaspoonful of grated lemon rind, one of salt, half as much mace
or nutmeg, a moderate quantity of cayenne, and the unbeaten yolks of two
or of three eggs. This mixture makes most excellent forcemeat cakes,
which must be moulded with a knife, a spoon, or the fingers, dipped in
flour; more should be dredged over, and pressed upon them, and they
should be slowly fried from ten to fifteen minutes.
Chestnuts, 6 oz.; veal gravy, 1/3 of a pint: 15 to 20 minutes. Bacon or
butter, 3 oz.; bread-crumbs, 2 oz.; lemon-peel and salt, 1 teaspoonful
each.
NO. 16. AN EXCELLENT FRENCH FORCEMEAT.
Take six ounces of veal free from fat and skin, cut it into dice and put
it into a saucepan with two ounces of butter, a large teaspoonful of
parsley finely minced, half as much thyme, salt, and grated lemon-rind,
and a sufficient seasoning of nutmeg, cayenne, and mace, to flavour it
pleasantly. Stew these _very_ gently from twelve to fifteen minutes,
then lift out the veal and put into the saucepan two ounces of
bread-crumbs; let them simmer until they have absorbed the gravy yielded
by the meat; keep them stirred until they are as dry as possible; beat
the yolk of an egg to them while they are hot, and set them aside to
cool. Mince and pound the veal, add the bread to it as soon as it is
cold, beat them well together, with an ounce and a half of fresh butter,
and two of the finest bacon, quite freed from rust, and scraped clear of
skin and fibre; put to them the yolks of two small eggs and mix them
well; then take the forcemeat from the mortar, and set it in a very cool
place until it is wanted for use. Veal, 6 oz.; butter, 2 oz.; minced
parsley, 1 teaspoonful; thyme, salt, and lemon-peel, each 1/2
teaspoonful; little nutmeg, cayenne, and mace: 12 to 15 minutes.
Bread-crumbs, 2 oz.; butter, 1-1/2 oz.; rasped bacon, 2 oz.; yolk of
eggs, 2 to 3.
_Obs._—When this forcemeat is intended to fill boned fowls, the livers
of two or three boiled for four minutes, or stewed with the veal for the
same length of time, then minced and pounded with the other ingredients,
will be found a great improvement; and, if mushrooms can be procured,
two tablespoonsful of them chopped small, should be stewed and beaten
with it also. A small portion of the best end of the neck will afford
the quantity of lean required for this receipt, and the remains of it
will make excellent gravy.
NO. 17. FRENCH FORCEMEAT CALLED QUENELLES.
This is a peculiarly light and delicate kind of forcemeat, which by good
French cooks is compounded with exceeding care. It is served abroad in a
variety of forms, and is made of very finely-grained white veal, or of
the undressed flesh of poultry, or of rabbits, rasped quite free from
sinew, then chopped and pounded to the finest paste, first by itself,
and afterwards with an equal quantity of boiled calf’s udder or of
butter, and of _panada_, which is but another name for bread soaked in
cream or gravy and then dried over the fire until it forms a sort of
paste. As the three ingredients should be equal in _volume_, not in
weight, they are each rolled into a separate ball before they are mixed,
that their size may be determined by the eye. When the fat of the fillet
of veal (which in England is not often divided for sale, as it is in
France) is not to be procured, a rather less proportion of butter will
serve in its stead. The following will be found a very good, and not a
troublesome receipt for veal forcemeat of this kind.
Rasp quite clear from sinew, after the fat and skin have been entirely
cleared from it, four ounces of the finest veal; chop, and pound it
well: if it be carefully prepared there will be no necessity for passing
it through a sieve, but this should otherwise be done. Soak in a small
saucepan two ounces of the crumb of a stale loaf in a little rich but
pale veal gravy or white sauce; then press and drain as much as possible
of the moisture from it, and stir it over a gentle fire until it is as
dry as it will become without burning: it will adhere in a ball to the
spoon, and leave the saucepan quite dry when it is sufficiently done.
Mix with it, while it is still hot, the yolk of one egg, and when it is
quite cold, add it to the veal with three ounces of very fresh butter, a
quarter of a teaspoonful of mace, half as much cayenne, a little nutmeg,
and a saltspoonful of salt. When these are perfectly beaten and well
blended together, add another whole egg after having merely taken out
the specks: the mixture will then be ready for use, and may be moulded
into balls, or small thick oval shapes a little flattened, and poached
in soup or gravy from ten to fifteen minutes. These _quenelles_ may be
served by themselves in a rich sauce as a corner dish, or in conjunction
with other things. They may likewise be first poached for three or four
minutes, and left on a drainer to become cold; then dipped into egg and
the finest bread-crumbs and fried, and served as _croquettes_.
NO. 18. FORCEMEAT FOR RAISED AND OTHER COLD PIES.
The very finest sausage-meat highly seasoned, and made with an equal
proportion of fat and lean, is an exceedingly good forcemeat for veal,
chicken, rabbit, and some few other pies; savoury herbs minced small may
be added to heighten its flavour if it be intended for immediate eating;
but it will not then remain good quite so long, unless they should have
been previously dried. To prevent its being too dry, two or three
spoonsful of cold water should be mixed with it before it is put into
the pie. One pound of lean veal to one and a quarter of the pork-fat is
sometimes used, and smoothly pounded with a high seasoning of spices,
herbs, and eschalots, or garlic; but we cannot recommend the
introduction of these last into pies unless they are especially ordered:
mushrooms or truffles may be mixed with any kind of forcemeat with far
better effect. Equal parts of veal and fat bacon, will also make a good
forcemeat for pies, if chopped finely, and well spiced.
Sausage-meat, well seasoned. Or: veal, 1 lb.; pork-fat, 1-1/2 lb.; salt,
1 oz.; pepper, 1/4 to 1/2 oz.; fine herbs, spice, &c., as in forcemeat
No. 1, or sausage-meat. Or: veal and bacon, equal weight, seasoned in
the same way.
PANADA.
This is the name given to the soaked bread which is mixed with the
French forcemeats, and which renders them so peculiarly delicate. Pour
on the crumb of two or three rolls, or on that of any other very light
bread, as much good boiling broth, milk, or cream, as will cover and
moisten it well; put a plate over to keep in the steam, and let it
remain for half an hour, or more; then drain off the superfluous liquid,
and squeeze the panada dry by wringing it in a thin cloth into a ball;
put it into a small stewpan or enamelled saucepan, and pour to it as
much only of rich white sauce or of gravy as it can easily absorb, and
stir it constantly with a wooden spoon over a clear and gentle fire,
until it forms a very dry paste and adheres in a mass to the spoon; when
it is in this state, mix with it thoroughly the unbeaten yolks of two
fresh eggs, which will give it firmness, and set it aside to become
quite cold before it is put into the mortar. The best French cooks give
the highest degree of savour that they can to this panada, and add no
other seasoning to the forcemeats of which it forms a part: it is used
in an equal proportion with the meat, and with the calf’s udder or
butter of which they are composed, as we have shown in the preceding
receipt for _quenelles_. They stew slowly for the purpose, a small bit
of lean ham, two or three minced eschalots, a bay-leaf, a few mushrooms,
a little parsley, a clove or two, and a small blade of mace in a little
good butter, and when they are sufficiently browned, pour to them as
much broth or gravy as will be needed for the panada; and when this has
simmered from twenty to thirty minutes, so as to have acquired the
proper flavour without being much reduced, they strain it over, and boil
it into the bread. The common course of cookery in an English kitchen
does not often require the practice of the greater niceties and
refinements of the art: and _trouble_ (of which the French appear to be
perfectly regardless when the excellence of their preparations is
concerned) is there in general so much thought of, and exclaimed
against, that a more summary process would probably meet with a better
chance of success.
A quicker and rougher mode of making the panada, and indeed the
forcemeat altogether, is to pour strong veal broth or gravy upon it, and
after it has soaked, to boil it dry, without any addition except that of
a little fine spice, lemon-grate, or any other favourite English
seasoning. Minced herbs, salt, cayenne, and mace, may be beaten with the
meat, to which a small portion of well-pounded ham may likewise be added
at pleasure.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER IX.
=Boiling, Roasting, etc.=
A THOROUGH practical knowledge of the processes described in the present
chapter will form a really good cook far sooner and more completely than
any array of mere receipts can do, however minutely they may be
explained; they should, therefore, be well studied and comprehended,
before any attempt is made to compound difficult dishes; and the
principles of roasting, boiling, stewing, and baking, at least, ought to
be clearly understood by every servant who undertakes the duties of what
is called _plain cookery_, which is, in fact, of more importance than
any other, because it is in almost universal request in this country for
families of moderate fortune; and any person who excels in it will
easily become expert in what are considered the higher branches of the
art.
In a vast number of English kitchens the cookery fails from the hurried
manner in which it is conducted, and from the excess of heat produced by
the enormous coal-fires constantly kept burning there at all seasons,
without which ignorant servants imagine no dinner can be properly
cooked; a mistake which cannot fail quickly to become apparent to the
most inexperienced reader who will give a patient trial to the slow
methods of cooking recommended in the following pages. These will be
found to combine exceeding economy in the consumption of fuel, with a
degree of superiority in the food prepared by them, which would scarcely
be credited unless it were put to the test. In stewing, and baking in
closely covered vessels, this superiority is more particularly
remarkable; and we would willingly give a far larger space to so useful
a subject than our limits will permit: we are, however, compelled,
though with regret, to restrict ourselves to such details as we have now
supplied in various parts of this volume.
TO BOIL MEAT.
[Illustration:
Iron Boiler.
]
Boiling, in the usual English manner, is the least advantageous of all
modes of cooking meat, because a large portion of the nourishment which
it contains is withdrawn from it in the process, and it is usually very
insipid in flavour.
We have already given, at the commencement of Chapter I., the substance
of Liebeg’s instructions for scientific boiling; but for the convenience
of the reader, we will briefly recapitulate them here, with such
additions as our own observation has enabled us to supply.
In making soup, gravy, or savoury jelly of any kind, the principal
object is to extract from the meat used for the preparation, all the
nutriment and savour which it can be made to yield. This is effected by
putting it into _cold_ water, and heating it very slowly indeed, and
then keeping it for a specified time at the point of boiling, or letting
it simmer in the gentlest manner; but when the meat itself is required
for food, its nutritious juices must be prevented from escaping as much
as possible, which is done by plunging it into fast boiling water for a
few minutes, to contract the pores of the surface (to harden it, in
fact), and adding immediately afterwards as much cold water as will
reduce the whole to a moderate temperature. Part of the water should
then be taken away, as meat should never be cooked in a larger quantity
than is absolutely needed to keep it entirely covered until it is ready
to serve; for this reason it should be always boiled in a vessel nearly
of its own size.
Large joints should be neatly trimmed, washed extremely clean, and
skewered or bound firmly into good shape, when they are of a nature to
require it; brought to boil over a moderate fire, and simmered until
they are done, the scum being carefully and entirely cleared from the
surface of the water, as it gathers there, which will be principally
from within a few minutes of its beginning to boil, and during a few
minutes afterwards. If not thoroughly skimmed off at the proper time, it
will sink, and adhere to the joint, giving it a very uninviting
appearance.
Pickled or salted meat requires longer boiling than fresh; and that
which is smoked and dried longer still: this last should always be laid
into _cold_ water, slowly heated, and if, from any circumstances, time
cannot have been allowed for soaking it properly and there is a
probability of its being too salt when served, it should be brought very
softly to boil in a large quantity of water, which should in part be
changed as soon as it becomes quite briny, for as much more that is
ready boiling.
It is customary to lay rounds of beef, and other large joints, upon a
fish-plate, or to throw some wooden skewers under them, to prevent their
sticking to the vessel in which they are cooked; and it is as well to
take the precaution, though unless they be placed over a very fierce
fire, they cannot be in danger of this. The time allowed for them is
about the same as for roasting, from fifteen to twenty minutes to the
pound. For cooking rounds of beef, and other ponderous joints, a pan of
this form is very convenient.
[Illustration:
Large Stock-pot.
]
By means of two almost equally expensive preparations, called a
_poêlée_, and a _blanc_, the insipidity which results from boiling meat
or vegetables in water only may be removed, and the whiteness of either
will be better preserved. Turkeys, fowls, sweetbreads, calf’s brains,
cauliflowers, and artichoke bottoms, are the articles for which the
_poêlée_ and the _blanc_ are more especially used in expensive foreign
cookery: the reader will judge by the following receipts how far they
are admissible into that of the economist.
POÊLÉE.
Cut into large dice two pounds of lean veal, and two pounds of fat bacon
cured without saltpetre, two large carrots, and two onions; to these add
half a pound of fresh butter, put the whole into a stewpan, and stir it
with a wooden spoon over a gentle fire until the veal is very white, and
the bacon is partially melted; then pour to them three pints of clear
boiling broth or water, throw in four cloves, a small bunch or two of
thyme and parsley, a bay-leaf, and a few corns of white pepper; boil
these gently for an hour and a half, then strain the _poêlée_ through a
fine sieve, and set it by in a cool place. Use it instead of water for
boiling the various articles we have already named: it will answer for
several in succession, and will remain good for many days. Some cooks
order a _pound_ of butter in addition to the bacon, and others
substitute beef-suet in part for this last.
A BLANC.
Put into a stewpan one pound of fat bacon rasped, one pound of beef-suet
cut small, and one pound of butter; the strained juice of two lemons, a
couple of bay-leaves, three cloves, three carrots, and three onions
divided into dice, and less than half a pint of water. Simmer these
gently, keeping them often stirred, until the fat is well melted, and
the water has evaporated; then pour in rather more than will be required
for the dish which is to be cooked in the _blanc_; boil it softly until
all the ingredients have given out their full flavour, skim it well, add
salt if needed, and strain it off for use. A calf’s head is often boiled
in this.
ROASTING.
[Illustration:
Bottle Jack.[68]
]
Footnote 68:
The bottle-jack is wound up like a watch, by means of a key, and turns
very regularly until it has run down.
Roasting, which is quite the favourite mode of dressing meat in this
country, and one in which the English are thought to excel, requires
unremitting attention on the part of the cook rather than any great
exertion of skill. Large kitchens are usually fitted with a smoke-jack,
by means of which several spits if needful can be kept turning at the
same time; but in small establishments, a roaster which allows of some
economy in point of fuel is more commonly used. That shown in the print
is of very advantageous construction in this respect, as a joint may be
cooked in it with a comparatively small fire, the heat being strongly
reflected from the screen upon the meat: in consequence of this, it
should never be placed very close to the grate, as the surface of the
joint would then become dry and hard.
[Illustration:
Improved Spring Jack.
]
A more convenient form of roaster, with a spit placed horizontally, and
turned by means of a wheel and chain, of which the movement is regulated
by a spring contained in a box at the top, is of the same economical
order as the one above; but eaters of very delicate taste urge, as an
objection to this apparatus, as well as to that shown above, that the
meat cooked in either, derives from the tin by which it is closely
surrounded, the flavour of _baked_ meat. The bottle-jack, with a common
roasting-screen containing shelves for warming plates and dishes, and
other purposes, is not liable to the same objection. To roast well with
it (or with a smoke-jack), make up a fire proportioned in width and
height to the joint which is to be roasted, and which it should surpass
in dimensions every way, by two or three inches. Place some
moderate-sized lumps of coal on the top; let it be free from smoke and
ashes in front; and so compactly arranged that it will neither require
to be disturbed, nor supplied with fresh fuel, for some considerable
time after the meat is laid down. Spit or suspend the joint, and place
it very far from the fire at first; keep it constantly basted, and when
it is two parts done, move it nearer to the fire that it may be properly
browned; but guard carefully against its being burned. A few minutes
before it is taken from the spit, sprinkle a little fine salt over it,
baste it thoroughly with its own dripping, or with butter, and dredge it
with flour: as soon as the froth is well risen, dish, and serve the
meat. Or, to avoid the necessity of the frothing which is often greatly
objected to on account of the raw taste retained by the flour, dredge
the roast liberally soon after it is first laid to the fire; the flour
will then form a savoury incrustation upon it, and assist to prevent the
escape of its juices. When meat or poultry is wrapped in buttered paper
it must not be floured until this is removed, which should be fifteen or
twenty minutes before either is served.
Baron Liebeg, whom we have already so often quoted, says, that roasting
should be conducted on the same principle as boiling; and that
sufficient heat should be applied to the surface of the meat at once, to
contract the pores and prevent the escape of its juices; and that the
remainder of the process should be _slow_. When a joint is first laid to
the fire, therefore, it should be placed for twenty minutes or half an
hour sufficiently near to effect this, without any part, and the fat
especially, being allowed to acquire more than the slightest colour, and
then drawn back and finished by the directions at the end of this
section.
The speedy application of very hot basting-fat to every part of the
meat, would probably be attended with the same result as subjecting it
to the full action of the fire. It is certain that roasts which are
constantly and carefully basted are always very superior to those which
are neglected in this respect.
Remember always to draw back the dripping-pan when the fire has to be
stirred, or when fresh coals are thrown on, that the cinders and ashes
may not fall into it.
When meat is very lean, a slice of butter, or a small quantity of
clarified dripping, should be melted in the pan to baste it with at
first; though the use of the latter should be scrupulously avoided for
poultry, or any delicate meats, as the flavour it imparts is to many
persons peculiarly objectionable. Let the spit be kept bright and clean,
and wipe it before the meat is put on; balance the joint well upon it,
that it may turn steadily, and if needful secure it with screw-skewers.
A cradle spit, which is so constructed that it contains the meat in a
sort of framework, instead of passing through it, may be often very
advantageously used instead of an ordinary one, as the perforation of
the meat by this last must always occasion some escape of the juices;
and it is, moreover, particularly to be objected to in roasting joints
or poultry which have been boned and filled with forcemeat. The cradle
spit (for which see “Turkey Boned and Forced,” Chapter XIV.) is much
better suited to these, as well as to a sucking pig, sturgeon, salmon,
and other large fish; but it is not very commonly to be found in our
kitchens, many of which exhibit a singular scantiness of the
conveniences which assist the labours of the cook.
For heavy and substantial joints, a quarter of an hour is generally
allowed for every pound of meat; and with a sound fire and frequent
basting, will be found sufficient when the process is conducted in the
usual manner; but by the _slow method_, as we shall designate it, almost
double the time will be required. Pork, veal, and lamb, should always be
well roasted; but many eaters prefer mutton and beef rather
underdressed, though some persons have a strong objection to the sight
even of any meat that is not thoroughly cooked.
Joints which are thin in proportion to their weight, require less of the
fire than thick and solid ones. Ribs of beef, for example, will be
sooner ready to serve than an equal weight of the rump, round, or
sirloin; and the neck or shoulder of mutton, or spare rib of pork, than
the leg.
When to preserve the succulence of the meat is more an object than to
economise fuel, beef and mutton should be laid at twice the usual
distance from the fire, after the surface has been thoroughly heated, as
directed by Liebeg, and allowed to remain so until they are perfectly
heated through; the roasting, so managed, will of course be _slow_; and
from three hours and a half to four hours will be necessary to cook by
this method a leg of mutton of ordinary size, for which two hours would
amply suffice in a common way; but the flesh will be remarkably tender,
and the flow of gravy from it most abundant. It should not be drawn near
the fire until within the last half or three quarters of an hour, and
should then be placed only so close as to brown it properly. No kind of
roast indeed should at any time be allowed to take colour too quickly;
it should be heated gradually, and kept at least at a moderate distance
from the fire until it is nearly done, or the outside will be dry and
hard, if not burned while the inside will be only half cooked.
STEAMING.
[Illustration:
Saucepan with Steamer.
]
[Illustration]
The application of steam to culinary purposes is becoming very general
in our kitchens at the present day, especially in those of large
establishments, many of which are furnished with apparatus for its use,
so admirably constructed and so complete, that the process may be
conducted on an extensive scale with very slight trouble to the cook;
and with the further advantage of being _at a distance from the fire_,
the steam being conveyed by pipes to the vessels intended to receive it.
Fish, butcher’s meat, poultry, vegetables, puddings, maccaroni, and
rice, are all subjected to its action, instead of being immersed in
water, as in simple boiling: and the result is to many persons perfectly
satisfactory; though, as there is a difference of opinion amongst
first-rate cooks, with regard to the comparative merits of the two modes
of dressing _meat_ and _fish_, a trial should be given to the steaming
on a small scale, before any great expenses are incurred for it, which
may be done easily with a common saucepan or boiler, fitted like the one
shown above, with a simple tin steamer. Servants not accustomed to the
use of these, should be warned against boiling in the vessel itself any
thing of coarse or strong flavour, when the article steamed is of a
delicate nature. The vapour from soup containing onions, for example,
would have a very bad effect on a sweet pudding, and on many other
dishes. Care and discretion, therefore, must be exercised on this point.
By means of a kettle fixed over it, the steam of the boiler in the
kitchen range may be made available for cooking, in the way shown by the
engraving, which exhibits fish, potatoes, and their sauces, all in
progress of steaming at the same time.[69] The limits of our work do not
permit us to enter at much length upon this subject, but the reader who
may wish to understand the nature of steam, and the various modes in
which its agency may be applied to domestic purposes, will do well to
consult Mr. Webster’s excellent work,[70] of which we have more
particularly spoken in another chapter. The quite inexperienced cook may
require to be told, that any article of food which is to be cooked by
steam in a saucepan of the form exhibited in the first of the engravings
of this section, must be prepared exactly as for boiling, and laid into
the sort of strainer affixed to the top of the saucepan; and that water,
or some other kind of liquid, must be put into the saucepan itself, and
kept boiling in it, the lid being first closely fixed into the steamer.
Footnote 69:
Invented and sold by Mr. EVANS, Fish-street Hill.
Footnote 70:
_Encyclopædia of Domestic Economy._ LONGMAN & CO.
Footnote 71:
Securely closed with a band of paste passed round the edges, and
pressed tightly over them. The lute or luting used for chemical
apparatus is of a kind of clay.
STEWING.
[Illustration:
Hot Plate.
]
This very wholesome, convenient, and _economical_ mode of cookery is by
no means so well understood nor profited by in England as on the
continent, where its advantages are fully appreciated. So very small a
quantity of fuel is necessary to sustain the gentle degree of ebullition
which it requires, that this alone would recommend it to the careful
housekeeper; but if the process be skilfully conducted, meat softly
stoved or stewed, in close-shutting, or luted[71] vessels, is in every
respect equal, if not superior, to that which is roasted; but it must be
_simmered_ only, and in the gentlest possible manner, or, instead of
being tender, nutritious, and highly palatable, it will be dry, hard,
and indigestible. The common cooking stoves in this country, as they
have hitherto been constructed, have rendered the exact regulation of
heat which stewing requires rather difficult; and the smoke and blaze of
a large coal fire are very unfavourable to many other modes of cookery
as well. The French have generally the advantage of the embers and ashes
of the wood which is their ordinary fuel; and they have always, in
addition, a stove of this construction, in which charcoal or _braise_
(for explanation of this word, see remarks on preserving, Chapter XXV.)
only is burned; and upon which their stewpans can, when there is
occasion, be left uncovered, without the danger of their contents being
spoiled, which there generally is with us. It is true, that of late
great improvements have been made in our own stoves; and the hot plates,
or _hearths_ with which the kitchens of good houses are always
furnished, are admirably adapted to the simmering system; but when the
cook has not the convenience of one, the stewpans must be placed on
trivets high _above_ the fire, and be constantly watched, and moved, as
occasion may require, nearer to, or further from the flame.
[Illustration]
No copper vessels from which the inner tinning is in the slightest
degree worn away should be used ever for this or for any other kind of
cookery; or not health only, but life itself, may be endangered by
them.[72] We have ourselves seen a dish of acid fruit which had been
boiled without sugar in a copper pan from which the tin lining was half
worn away, _coated with verdigris_ after it had become cold; and from
the careless habits of the person who had prepared it, the chances were
greatly in favour of its being served to a family afterwards, if it had
not been accidentally discovered. Salt acts upon the copper in the same
manner as acids: vegetables, too, from the portion of the latter which
they contain, have the same injurious effect, and the greatest danger
results from allowing preparations containing any of these to become
cold (or cool) in the stewpan, in contact with the exposed part of the
copper in the inside. Thick, well-tinned iron saucepans will answer for
all the ordinary purposes of common English cookery, even for stewing,
provided they have tightly-fitting lids to prevent the escape of the
steam; but the copper ones are of more convenient form, and better
adapted to a superior order of cookery.
Footnote 72:
Sugar, being an antidote to the poisonous effects of verdigris, should
be plentifully taken, dissolved in water, so as to form a syrup, by
persons who may unfortunately have partaken of any dish into which
this dangerous ingredient has entered.
The enamelled stewpans and saucepans which have now very much superseded
the old-fashioned metal ones for many purposes, are peculiarly suited,
from the nicety of the composition with which they are lined, and which
resembles earthenware, to the preparation of fine preserves, and all
very delicate compounds, as well as to those of milk, and of various
articles of diet adapted to invalids; and they possess the further
advantage of being easily kept beautifully clean. Care should be taken
not to allow anything which they may contain to burn to them, which it
will quickly do if they be placed flat upon a fierce fire; and when this
has once occurred, there will always be some difficulty in preventing
their contents from adhering to them where they have been burned. They
should always be filled with water immediately after being emptied, and
will then merely require to be well washed and rinsed with more boiling
water; but when they have been neglected, strong soda and water should
be boiled in them for a few minutes.
BROILING.
[Illustration:
A Conjuror.
]
Broiling is the best possible mode of cooking and of preserving the
flavour of several kinds of fish, amongst which we may specify mackerel
and whitings; it is also incomparably superior to frying for steaks and
cutlets, especially of beef and mutton; and it is far better adapted
also, to the preparation of food for invalids; but it should be
carefully done, for if the heat be too fierce, the outside of the meat
will be scorched and hardened so as to render it uneatable; and if, on
the contrary, it be too gentle, the gravy will be drawn out, and yet the
flesh will remain so entirely without firmness, as to be unpleasant
eating. A brisk fire, _perfectly free from smoke_, a very clean
gridiron, tender meat, a dish and plates as hot as they can be, and
great despatch in sending it to table when done, all are essential to
the serving of a good broil. The gridiron should be heated, and rubbed
with mutton suet before the meat is laid on, and it should be placed
slopingly over the fire, that the fat may run off to the back of the
grate, instead of falling on the live coals and smoking the meat; if
this precaution should not prevent its making an occasional blaze, lift
the gridiron quickly beyond the reach of the smoke, and hold it away
until the fire is clear again. Steaks and chops should be turned often,
that the juices may be kept in, and that they may be equally done in
every part. If, for this purpose, it should be necessary for want of
steak-tongs to use a fork, it should be passed through the outer skin or
fat of the steak, but never stuck into the lean, as by that means much
of the gravy will escape. Most eaters prefer broiled beef or mutton,
rather underdressed; but lamb or pork cutlets should always be
thoroughly cooked. When a fowl or any other bird is cut asunder before
it is broiled, the inside should first be laid to the fire: this should
be done with kidneys also. Fish is less dry and of better flavour, as
well as less liable to be smoked, if it be wrapped in a thickly buttered
sheet of writing paper before it is placed on the gridiron. For the more
delicate-skinned kinds, the bars should be rubbed with chalk instead of
suet when the paper is omitted. Cutlets, or meats of any other form,
when egged and crumbed for broiling, should afterwards be dipped into
clarified butter or sprinkled with it plentifully, as the egg-yolk and
bread will otherwise form too dry a crust upon it. French cooks season
their cutlets both with salt and pepper, and brush a little oil or
butter over them to keep them moist; but unless this be done, no
seasoning of salt should be given them until they are just ready to be
dished: the French method is a very good one. Steaks or cutlets may be
quickly cooked with a sheet or two of lighted paper only, in the
apparatus shown in the preceding page, and called a conjuror. Lift off
the cover and lay in the meat properly seasoned, with a small slice of
butter under it, and insert the lighted paper in the aperture shown in
the plate; in from eight to ten minutes the meat will be done, and found
to be remarkably tender, and very palatable: it must be turned and moved
occasionally during the process. This is an especially convenient mode
of cooking for persons whose hours of dining are rendered uncertain by
the nature of their avocations. For medical men engaged in extensive
country practice it has often proved so; and we would especially
recommend it to the notice of emigrants, to whom it would often prove
invaluable. The part in which the meat is placed is of block tin, and
fits closely into the stand, which is of sheet iron. The conjuror from
which our design was drawn, was purchased in a country town in Essex,
and was exceedingly well made, and very cheap. We find on inquiry that
the maker has quitted the place, or we would insert his address.
FRYING.
[Illustration:
Sauté Pan.
]
This is an operation, which, though apparently very simple, requires to
be more carefully and skilfully conducted than it commonly is. Its
success depends principally on allowing the fat to attain the exact
degree of heat which shall give firmness, without too quick browning or
scorching, before anything is laid into the pan; for, if this be
neglected, the article fried will be saturated with fat, and remain pale
and flaccid. When the requisite degree of colour is acquired before the
cooking is complete, the pan should be placed high above the fire, that
it may be continued slowly to the proper point. Steaks and cutlets
should be seasoned with salt and pepper and dredged on both sides
lightly with flour before they are laid into the pan, in which they
should be often moved and turned that they may be equally done, and that
they may not stick nor burn to it. From ten to fifteen minutes will fry
them. They should be evenly sliced, about the same thickness as for
broiling, and neatly trimmed and divided in the first instance. Lift
them into a hot dish when done; pour the fat from the pan, and throw in
a small slice of butter; stir to this a large teaspoonful of flour,
brown it gently, and pour in by degrees a quarter of a pint of hot broth
or water; shake the pan well round, add pepper, salt, and a little good
catsup, or any other store sauce which may be preferred to it, and pour
the gravy over the steaks: this is the most common mode of saucing and
serving them.
Minute directions for fish, vegetables, omlets, and different
preparations of batter, are given in their proper places; but we must
again observe, that a very small frying pan (scarcely larger than a
dinner-plate) is necessary for many of these; and, indeed, the large and
_thick_ one suited to meat and fish, and used commonly for them is
altogether unfit for nicer purposes.
The _sauté-pan_, shown in the preceding page, is much used by French
cooks instead of a frying-pan; it is more particularly convenient for
tossing quickly over the fire small collops, or aught else which
requires but little cooking.
All fried dishes, which are not sauced, should be served extremely dry
upon a neatly-folded damask cloth: they are best drained upon a sieve
reversed placed before the fire.
[Illustration:
Wire Basket for Frying.
]
A wire basket of this form is convenient for frying parsley and other
herbs. It must be placed in a pan well filled with fat, and lifted out
quickly when the herbs are done: they may likewise be crisped in it over
a clear fire, without any fat.
[Illustration:
Wire Lining of Frying-pan.
]
[Illustration:
Modern Sauté Pan.
]
The frying-pans fitted with wire linings that lift in and out of them,
which have lately come much into use in good kitchens, are so
excellently adapted to save trouble, and so convenient for preparing
delicately light patties, _croquettes_, _rissoles_, and other dishes of
a similar nature, that no cook who is expected to serve them in the best
manner should be without one. They should all be arranged upon this wire
lining, and plunged together into the boiling fat; and well drained on
it when they are lifted out.
BAKING, OR OVEN COOKERY.
[Illustration:
Nottingham Jar.
]
The improved construction of the ovens connected with all modern cooking
stoves, gives great facility at the present day for _home baking_, even
in very small establishments; and without this convenience it is
impossible for justice to be done to the person who conducts the
cookery; as many and great disadvantages attend the sending to a public
oven; and it is very discouraging to a servant who has prepared her
dishes with nicety and skill, to have them injured by the negligence of
other persons. One of the best modes of cooking with which we are
acquainted is by means of a jar, resembling in form that shown above,
well pasted down, and covered with a fold of thick paper, and then
placed in a gentle oven. Rice is most excellent when thus slowly baked
with a certain proportion of liquid, either by itself, or mingled with
meat, fish, or fruit; but we must reserve for another volume particulars
of this little system of _slow oven-cookery_, in which for some years
past we have had numberless experiments made with almost uniform
success: it is especially suited to invalids, from preserving the
_entire_ amount of nourishment contained in the articles of food dressed
by it; and it is to their use that we hope to appropriate it.
[Illustration:
American Oven.[73]
]
Footnote 73:
We have scarcely done justice in the former editions of this work to
these very useful little ovens, which we have found, after long trial,
better adapted to some purposes than brick or iron ones, because
preparations which require it, (those of Indian corn, for example) can
be heated in them more gradually; and when once the management of them
is understood, they will answer admirably for delicate sweet puddings,
and for cakes, with the advantage of requiring but a very moderate
fire.
The oven may be used with advantage for many purposes for which it is
not commonly put into requisition. Calves’ feet, covered with a proper
proportion of water, may be reduced to a strong jelly if left in it for
some hours; the half-head, boned and rolled, will be found excellent
eating, if laid, with the bones, into a deep pan and baked quite tender
in sufficient broth or water, to keep it covered in every part until
done; good soup also may be made in the same way, the usual ingredients
being at once added to the meat, with the exception of the vegetables,
which will not become tender if put into cold liquid, and should
therefore be thrown in after it begins to simmer. Baking is likewise one
of the best modes of dressing various kinds of fish: pike and red mullet
amongst others. Salmon cut into thick slices, freed from the skin, well
seasoned with spice, mixed with salt (and with minced herbs, at
pleasure), then arranged evenly in a dish, and covered thickly with
crumbs of bread, moistened with clarified butter, as directed in Chapter
II., for baked soles, and placed in the oven for about half an hour,
will be found very rich and highly flavoured. Part of the middle of the
salmon left entire, well cleaned, and thoroughly dried, then seasoned,
and securely wrapped in two or three folds of thickly buttered paper,
will also prove excellent eating, if gently baked. (This may likewise be
roasted in a Dutch oven, either folded in the paper, or left without it,
and basted with butter.) Hams, when freshly cured, and not over salted,
if neatly trimmed, and covered with a coarse paste, are both more juicy,
and of finer flavour baked than boiled. Savoury or pickled beef too, put
into a deep pan with a little gravy, and plenty of butter or chopped
suet on the top, to prevent the outside from becoming dry; then covered
with paste, or with several folds of thick paper, and set into a
moderate oven for four or five hours, or even longer, if it be of large
weight, is an excellent dish. A goose, a leg of pork, and a sucking pig,
if properly attended to while in the oven, are said to be nearly, or
quite as good as if roasted; but baking is both an unpalatable and an
unprofitable mode of cooking joints of meat in general, though its great
convenience to many persons who have but few other facilities for
obtaining the luxury of a hot dinner renders it a very common one. It is
usual to raise meat from the dish in which it is sent to the oven by
placing it, properly skewered, on a stand, so as to allow potatoes or a
batter pudding to be baked under it. A few button onions, freed from the
outer skin, or three or four large ones, cut in halves, are sometimes
put beneath a shoulder of mutton. Two sheets of paper spread separately
with a thick layer of butter, clarified marrow, or any other fat, and
fastened securely over the outside of a joint, will prevent its being
too much dried by the fierce heat of the oven. A few spoonsful of water
or gravy should be poured into the dish with potatoes, and a little salt
sprinkled over them. A celebrated French cook recommends _braising in
the oven_; that is to say, after the meat has been arranged in the usual
manner, and just brought to boil over the fire, that the braising pan,
closely stopped, should be put into a moderate oven, for the same length
of time as would be required to stew the meat perfectly tender.
BRAISING.
[Illustration:
English Braising-pan.
]
Braising is but a more expensive mode of stewing meat. The following
French recipe will explain the process. We would observe, however, that
the layers of beef or veal, in which the joint to be braised is
imbedded, can afterwards be converted into excellent soup, gravy, or
glaze; and that there need, in consequence, be no waste nor any
unreasonable degree of expense attending it; but it is a troublesome
process, and quite as good a result may be obtained by simmering the
meat in very strong gravy. Should the flavour of the bacon be considered
an advantage, slices of it can be laid over the article braised, and
secured to it with a fillet of tape.
“_To braise the inside_ (or _small fillet_, as it is called in France)
_of a sirloin of beef_: Raise the fillet clean from the joint; and with
a sharp knife strip off all the skin, leaving the surface of the meat as
smooth as possible; have ready some strips of unsmoked bacon, half as
thick as your little finger, roll them in a mixture of thyme finely
minced, spices in powder, and a little pepper and salt. Lard the fillet
quite through with these, and tie it round with tape in any shape you
choose. Line the bottom of a stewpan (or braising-pan) with slices of
bacon; next put in a layer of beef or veal, four onions, two bay-leaves,
two carrots, and a bunch of sweet herbs, and place the fillet on them.
Cover it with slices of bacon, put some trimmings of meat all round it,
and pour on to it half a pint of good beef broth or gravy. Let it stew
as gently as possible for two hours and a half; take it up, and keep it
very hot; strain, and reduce the gravy by quick boiling until it is
thick enough to glaze with; brush the meat over with it; put the rest in
the dish with the fillet, after the tape has been removed from it, and
send it directly to table.”
Equal parts of Madeira and gravy are sometimes used to moisten the meat.
No attempt should be made to braise a joint in any vessel that is not
very nearly of its own size.
[Illustration:
Copper Stewpan.[74]
]
Footnote 74:
The line which passes round this stewpan just above the handle, is a
mistake of the designer, and conveys an erroneous idea of the form of
the cover, and it ought to have been omitted.
A round of buttered paper is generally put over the more delicate kinds
of braised meat, to prevent their being browned by the fire, which in
France is sometimes put round the lid of the braising-pan, in a groove
made on purpose to contain it. The embers of a wood fire mixed with the
hot ashes, are best adapted to sustain the regular but gentle degree of
heat required for this mode of cooking.
Braising pans are of various forms. They are often shaped like a
ham-kettle, and sometimes like the design at the commencement of this
section; but a stewpan of modern form, or any other vessel which will
admit of embers being placed upon the lid, will answer for the purpose
as well. Common cooks sometimes stew meat in a mixture of butter and
water, and _call it braising._
LARDING.
[Illustration:
Larding Pins.
]
Cut into slices, of the same length and thickness, some bacon of the
finest quality; trim away the outsides, place the slices evenly upon
each other, and with a sharp knife divide them obliquely into small
strips of equal size. For pheasants, partridges, hares, fowls, and
_fricandeaux_, the bacon should be about the eighth of an inch square,
and two inches in length; but for meat which is to be larded quite
through, instead of on the outside merely, the bits of bacon (properly
called lardoons) must be at least the third of an inch square.
In general, the breasts only of birds are larded, the backs and thighs
of hares, and the whole of the upper surface of a _fricandeau_: these
should be thickly covered with small lardoons, placed at regular
intervals, and in lines which intersect each other, so as to form rather
minute diamonds.
The following directions for larding a pheasant will serve equally for
poultry, or for other kinds of game:—
Secure one end of the bacon in a slight larding-needle, and on the point
of this take up sufficient of the flesh of the bird to hold the lardoon
firmly; draw the needle through it, and part of the bacon, of which the
two ends should be left of equal length. Proceed thus, until the breast
of the pheasant is entirely garnished with lardoons, when it ought to
resemble in appearance a cake thickly stuck with strips of almonds.
The larger strips of bacon, after being rolled in a high seasoning of
minced herbs and spices, are used to lard the _inside_ of meat, and they
should be proportioned to its thickness, as they must be passed quite
through it. For example: a four-inch slice from a rump of beef will
require lardoons of very nearly that length, which must be drawn through
with a large larding-pin, and left in it, with the ends just out of
sight on either side.
In France, truffles, anchovies, slices of tongue, and of fat, all
trimmed into proper shape, are occasionally used for larding. The bacon
employed there for the purpose is cured without any saltpetre (as this
would redden the white meats), and it is never smoked: the receipt for
it will be found in Chapter XIII.
A turkey is sometimes larded with alternate lardoons of fat bacon and of
bullock’s tongue, which has been pickled but not dried: we apprehend
that the lean of a half-boiled ham, of good colour, would answer the
purpose quite as well, or better.
Larding the surface of meat, poultry, or game, gives it a good
appearance, but it is a more positive improvement to meat of a dry
nature to interlard the inside with large lardoons of well-seasoned,
delicate, striped English bacon.
BONING.
Very minute directions being given in other parts of our volume for
this, we confine ourselves here to the following rules:—in disengaging
the flesh from it, work the knife always _close to the bone_, and take
every care not to pierce the outer skin.
TO BLANCH MEAT OR VEGETABLES.
This is merely to throw either into a pan of boiling water for a few
minutes, which gives firmness to the first, and is necessary for some
modes of preparing vegetables.
The breast only of a bird is sometimes held in the water while it boils,
to render it firm for larding. To preserve the whiteness of meat, and
the bright green of vegetables, they are lifted from the water after
they have boiled a few minutes, and are thrown immediately into spring
water, and left till cold.
5 to 10 minutes.
GLAZING
[Illustration]
This process we have explained at the article _Glaze_, Chapter IV. The
surface of the meat should be covered evenly, with two or three separate
layers of the glaze, which, if properly made, soon becomes firm. A ham
should be well dried in the oven before it is laid on. Cutlets of all
kinds may be glazed before they are sent to table, with very good
effect. The figure above represents a glaze-pot and brush, used for
heating and applying the preparation: a jar placed in a pan of boiling
water may be substituted for the first, when it is not at hand.
TOASTING.
[Illustration]
A very cheap apparatus, by which chops can be dressed before a clear
fire, is shown by the first of these figures; and the second is
peculiarly convenient when bread or muffins are required to be toasted
expeditiously and in large quantities, without much time and attention
being bestowed upon them.
TO BROWN THE SURFACE OF A DISH WITHOUT BAKING OR PLACING IT AT THE FIRE.
This is done with a salamander, as it is called, formed like the
engraving below; it is heated in the fire, and held over the dish
sufficiently near to give it colour. It is very much used in a superior
order of cookery. A kitchen shovel is sometimes substituted for it on an
emergency.
[Illustration]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER X.
=Beef.=
[Illustration]
No.
1. Sirloin.
2. Rump.
3. Edge-bone.
4. Buttock, or Round.
5. Mouse Buttock.
6. Veiny Piece.
7. Thick Flank.
8. Thin Flank.
9. Leg.
10. Fore Rib. (Five Ribs.)
11. Middle Rib. (Four Ribs.)
12. Chuck Rib. (Three Ribs.)
13. Shoulder, or Leg of Mutton Piece.
14. Brisket.
15. Clod.
16. Neck.
17. Shin.
18. Cheek.
TO CHOOSE BEEF.
Beef is in reality in season through the entire year, but it is best
during the winter months, when it will hang a sufficient time to become
tender before it is dressed. Meat of a more delicate nature is better
adapted for the table in summer. The _Christmas beef_ of England is too
much celebrated to require any mention here.
If young and freshly killed, the lean of ox-beef will be smoothly
grained, and of a fine, healthy, carnation-red, the fat rather white
than yellow, and the suet white and firm. Heifer-beef is more closely
grained, and rather less bright of colour, the bones are considerably
smaller, and the fat of a purer white.
Of bull-beef we only speak to warn our readers that it is of all meat
the coarsest and the most rank in flavour. It may be known by its dark
hue, its close tough fibre, and the scanty proportion, bad appearance,
and strong odour of its fat.
In choice and well-fed beef, the lean will be found intergrained with
fat: very lean meat is generally of an inferior quality.
The ribs, the sirloin, and the rump, are the proper joints for roasting.
The round, or buttock, the edgebone, the second round, or mouse-buttock,
the shin, the brisket, the shoulder or leg of mutton piece, and the
clod, may be boiled or stewed. The neck is generally used for soup or
gravy; and the thin flank for collaring. The best steaks are cut from
the middle of the rump; the next best from the veiny piece, or from the
chuck-rib. The inside of the sirloin, commonly used for the purpose in
France, makes by far the most delicate steaks; but though _exceedingly_
tender, they are considered by some English epicures to be wanting in
flavour.
The finest part of the sirloin is the chump-end, which contains the
larger portion of the fillet; of the ribs, the middle ones are those
generally preferred by experienced housekeepers.
TO ROAST SIRLOIN, OR RIBS OF BEEF.
Let the joint hang as long as it can possibly be kept perfectly sweet.
When it is first brought in, remove the pipe of marrow which runs along
the back-bone; and cut out the kernels from the fat. Be very careful in
summer to guard it from flies; examine it frequently in warm or damp
weather; and scrape off with a knife, or wipe away with a dry cloth, any
moisture which may appear on the surface: when this has been done, dust
some powdered ginger or pepper over it. Unless the joint should be very
large, its appearance will be improved by taking off the ends of the
bones, which may then be salted for a few days, and afterwards boiled.
Spit the beef firmly; place it near the fire to render the surface firm,
as directed in the article _Roasting_, of Chapter IX.; then draw it to a
distance and let it remain so until the heat has well penetrated the
interior; and, if from prejudice the old method be still preferred, heat
it very gradually in the first instance (in either case baste it
constantly), and let it be drawn nearer to the fire for the last half
hour or more of roasting, merely to brown it well. Persons who object to
meat being _frothed_ for table, have it dredged with flour when it is
first placed at the fire, and sprinkled with fine salt when it is nearly
done. It is not necessary to paper the fat of beef, as many cooks
direct, if proper attention be given to it while roasting.
As a general rule, it may be observed, that when the steam from the meat
draws strongly towards the fire, it is nearly or quite ready to serve.
The time required to roast it will depend on the state of the
weather,[75] the size and strength of the fire, the thickness of the
joint, the use or non-use of a meat-screen or reflector, the general
temperature of the kitchen, and other contingencies. A quarter of an
hour for each pound of meat is commonly allowed for solid, heavy joints,
and, if the directions we have given be attended to, this will not be
found too much even for persons who prefer beef somewhat rare: it must
be left longer at the fire if wished very thoroughly roasted, and quite
double the usual time when the plan we have noticed at page 172, is
adopted. When likely to be sent to table hashed, minced, or dressed a
second time in any way, the juices of the meat should be dried up as
little as possible when it is first cooked.
Footnote 75:
The meat will be much sooner done in hot weather than in cold. If
frozen, it must be thawed _very gradually_ before it is put to the
fire, or no length of time will roast it; this will be effected better
by laying it into cold water for some hours before it is wanted, than
by any other means.
ROAST RUMP OF BEEF.
As this joint is generally too much to serve whole, as much of it as
will form a handsome dish should be cut from the chump end to roast. It
must be managed as the sirloin, to which it is commonly preferred by
connoisseurs. When boned and rolled into the form of a fillet of veal,
as it sometimes is, nearly or quite an additional hour should be allowed
to dress it.
TO ROAST PART OF A ROUND OF BEEF.
The natural division of the meat will show where the silver side of the
round is to be separated from the upper or tongue side, which is the
proper part for roasting, and which will be found equally good and
profitable for the purpose, if allowed to hang as long as it can be kept
sweet before it is dressed. Care should be taken in dividing the meat,
not to pierce the inner skin. The silver side, with the udder, if there
should be one to the joint, may be pickled, spiced, or simply salted,
and will be excellent either way. The outside fat should be drawn
tightly round the remainder of the beef, which must be firmly skewered,
or bound with tape, to keep it in form. It will require long roasting at
a strong, steady fire, and should be kept constantly basted.
Beef, 14 lbs.: 4-1/2 to 5 hours.
_Obs._—We think that larding the beef quite through with large lardoons
of firm fat, of udder, or of bacon, would be an improvement; and we
ought also to observe, that unless it be delicate and of fine quality,
it will not answer well for roasting.
TO ROAST A FILLET OF BEEF.
Raise the fillet from the inside of the sirloin, or from part of it,
with a sharp knife; leave the fat on, trim off the skin, lard it
through, or all over, or roast it quite plain; baste it with butter, and
send it very hot to table, with tomata sauce, or _sauce piquante_, or
eschalot sauce, in a tureen. It is sometimes served with brown gravy and
currant jelly; it should then be garnished with forcemeat-balls, made as
for hare. If not very large, an hour and a quarter will roast it well
with a brisk fire.
_Obs._—The remainder of the joint may be boned, rolled, and roasted, or
braised; or made into meat cakes; or served as a miniature round of
beef.
1-1/4 hour.
ROAST BEEF STEAK.
If extremely tender, a large slice from the middle of the rump will make
an excellent small dish of roast meat, when a joint is not easily to be
procured. Let it be smoothly cut, from an inch to an inch and a half
thick, flattened on a table, and the inside sprinkled with a little fine
salt and cayenne, or common pepper. Make a roll of forcemeat, as No. 1,
Chapter VIII., adding, at pleasure, a flavouring of minced onion or
eschalot, and increasing the quantity of spices; place this on one end
of the steak, and roll it up tightly in it; skewer and bind the meat so
that the forcemeat cannot escape; fasten a buttered paper over it, and
roast it an hour and a half, or more, according to its size. Twenty
minutes before it is served, take off the paper and flour the meat,
which should be kept well basted with butter all the time it is
roasting. Send brown gravy to table with it, and pour a little over the
beef.
1-1/2 hour, or more.
TO BROIL BEEF STEAKS.
The steaks should be from half to three quarters of an inch thick,
equally sliced, and freshly cut from the middle of a well kept, finely
grained, and tender rump of beef. They should be neatly trimmed, and
once or twice divided, if very large. The fire, as we have already said
in the general directions for broiling (page 175), must be strong and
clear. The bars of the gridiron should be thin, and not very close
together. When they are thoroughly heated, without being sufficiently
burning to scorch the meat, wipe and rub them with fresh mutton suet;
next pepper the steaks slightly, but never season them with salt before
they are dressed; lay them on the gridiron, and when done on one side,
turn them on the other, being careful to catch, in the dish in which
they are to be sent to table, any gravy which may threaten to drain from
them when they are moved. Let them be served the _instant_ they are
taken from the fire; and have ready at the moment, dish, cover, and
plates, as hot as they can be. From eight to ten minutes will be
sufficient to broil steaks for the generality of eaters, and more than
enough for those who like them but partially done.
Genuine amateurs seldom take prepared sauce or gravy with their steaks,
as they consider the natural juices of the meat sufficient. When any
accompaniment to them is desired, a small quantity of choice mushroom
catsup may be warmed in the dish that is heated to receive them; and
which, when the not very refined flavour of a raw eschalot is liked, as
it is by some eaters, may previously be rubbed with one, of which the
large end has been cut off. A thin slice or two of fresh butter is
sometimes laid under the steaks, where it soon melts and mingles with
the gravy which flows from them. The appropriate tureen sauces for
broiled beef steaks are onion, tomata, oyster, eschalot, hot
horseradish, and brown cucumber, or mushroom sauce.
_Obs. 1._—We have departed a little in this receipt from our previous
instructions for broiling, by recommending that the steaks should be
turned but _once_, instead of “often,” as all great authorities on the
subject direct. By trying each method, our readers will be able to
decide for themselves upon the preferable one: we can only say, that we
have never eaten steaks so excellent as those which have been dressed
_exactly_ in accordance with the receipt we have just given, and we have
taken infinite pains to ascertain the really best mode of preparing this
very favourite English dish, which so constantly makes its appearance
both carelessly cooked and ill served, especially at private tables.
_Obs. 2._—It is a good plan to throw a few bits of charcoal on the fire
some minutes before the steaks are laid down, as they give forth a
strong heat without any smoke: a coke fire is also advantageous for
broiling them.
The upright gridirons, by which meat is rather _toasted_ than broiled,
though used in many kitchens, and generally pronounced exceedingly
convenient where they have been tried, do not appear to as so well
adapted for dressing steaks as those of less modern fashion, which are
placed _over_, instead of before the fire.
BEEF STEAKS À LA FRANÇAISE.
The inside of the sirloin freed from skin and cut evenly into round
quarter-inch slices, should properly be used for these; but when it
cannot be obtained, part of the rump must be substituted for it. Season
the steaks with fine salt and pepper, brush them with a little clarified
butter, and broil them over a clear brisk fire. Mix a teaspoonful of
parsley minced extremely fine, with a large slice of fresh butter, a
little cayenne, and a small quantity of salt. When the steaks are done,
put the mixture into the dish intended for them, lay them upon it, and
garnish them plentifully with fried potatoes. It is an improvement to
squeeze the juice of half a lemon on the butter before the meat is
heaped over it. The potatoes should be sliced rather thin, coloured of a
fine brown, and placed evenly round the meat.
BEEF STEAKS À LA FRANÇAISE (ENTRÉE).
(_Another Receipt._)
Cut the beef into small thin steaks as above, season them with fine salt
and pepper, dredge them lightly with flour, and fry them in butter over
a brisk fire; arrange them in a chain round a very hot dish, and pour
into the centre the olive sauce of Chapter V.
STEWED BEEF STEAK (ENTRÉE).
This may be cut from one to two inches thick, and the time of stewing it
must be proportioned to its size. Dissolve a slice of butter in a large
saucepan or stewpan, and brown the steak on both sides, moving it often
that it may not burn; then shake in a little flour, and when it is
coloured pour in by degrees rather more than sufficient broth or water
to cover the meat. When it boils, season it with salt, take off the
scum, slice in one onion, a carrot or two, and half a turnip; add a
small bunch of sweet herbs, and stew the steak very softly from two
hours and a half to three hours. A quarter of an hour before it is
served, stir well into the gravy three teaspoonsful of rice flour
smoothly mixed with a little cayenne, half a wineglassful of mushroom
catsup, and a slight seasoning of spice. A teaspoonful of currie powder,
in addition, will improve both the flavour and the appearance of the
sauce. The onion is sometimes browned with the meat; and the quantity is
considerably increased. Eschalots may be used instead, where their
strong flavour is approved. A few button-mushrooms, stewed from twenty
to thirty minutes with the meat, will render the catsup unnecessary.
Wine, or any favourite store sauce, can be added at will.
2-1/2 to 3 hours.
FRIED BEEF STEAK.
We have little to add here to the directions of Chapter IX., which are
sufficient to enable the cook to send a dish of fried steaks to table
properly dressed. Currie sauce, highly _onioned_, is frequently served
with them.
BEEF STEAK STEWED IN ITS OWN GRAVY.
(_Good and wholesome._)
Trim all the fat and skin from a rump steak of nearly an inch thick, and
divide it once or twice; just dip it into cold water, let it drain for
an instant, sprinkle it on both sides with pepper, and then flour it
rather thickly; lay it quite flat into a well-tinned iron saucepan or
stewpan, which has been rinsed with cold water, of which three or four
tablespoonsful should be left in it. Place it over (not upon) a _very_
gentle fire, and keep it just simmering from an hour and a half to an
hour and three quarters, when, if the meat be good, it will have become
perfectly tender. Add salt to it when it first begins to boil, and turn
it when rather more than half done. A couple of spoonsful of gravy, half
as much catsup, and a slight seasoning of spice, would, to many tastes,
improve this dish, of which, however, the great recommendation is its
wholesome simplicity, which renders it suitable to the most delicate
stomach. A thick mutton cutlet from the middle of the leg is excellent
dressed thus.
1-1/2 to 1-3/4 hour.
BEEF OR MUTTON CAKE.
(_Very good._)
Chop two pounds of lean and very tender beef or mutton, with three
quarters of a pound of beef suet; mix them well, and season them with a
dessertspoonful of salt, nearly as much pounded cloves, a teaspoonful of
pounded mace, and half a teaspoonful of cayenne. Line a round baking
dish with thin slices of fat bacon, press the meat closely into it,
smooth the top, and cover it with bacon, set a plate on it with a
weight, and bake it two hours and a quarter. Take off the bacon, and
serve the meat hot, with a little rich brown gravy, or set it by until
cold, when it will be equally good. The fat of the meat which is used
for this dish can be chopped up with it instead of suet, where it is
liked as well; and onion, or eschalot, shred fine, minced savoury herbs,
grated lemon-peel, rasped bacon, or mushrooms cut small, may in turn be
added to vary it in flavour.
Lean beef or mutton, 2 lbs.; suet, 3/4 lb.; salt and cloves in powder,
each a dessertspoonful; mace, 1 teaspoonful; half as much cayenne: baked
2-1/4 hours.
_Obs._—A larger portion of suet or of fat will render these cakes
lighter, but will not otherwise improve them: they may be made of veal
or of venison, but one-third of mutton suet or of fat bacon should be
mixed with this last.
GERMAN STEW.
Cut into about three-inch squares, two pounds and a half of the leaner
part of the veiny piece of beef, or of any joint which is likely to be
tender, and set it on to stew, with rather less than a quart of cold
broth or water, and one large onion sliced. When these begin to boil,
add a teaspoonful of salt, and a third as much of pepper, and let them
simmer gently for an hour and a half. Have ready some young white
cabbages, parboiled; press the water well from them, lay them in with
the beef, and let the whole stew for another hour. More onions, and a
seasoning of mixed spices, or a few bits of lean bacon, or of ham, can
be added to this stew when a higher flavour is desired; but it is very
good without.
Beef, 2-1/2 lbs.; water, or broth, 1-3/4 pint; onion, 1; salt, 1
teaspoonful; third as much pepper: 1-1/2 hour. Parboiled cabbages, 3 or
4: 1 hour.
WELSH STEW.
Take the same proportions of beef, and of broth or water, as for the
German Stew. When they have simmered gently for an hour, add the white
part of from twenty to thirty leeks, or two dozens of button onions, and
five or six young mild turnips, cut in slices, a small lump of white
sugar, nearly half a teaspoonful of white pepper and more than twice as
much salt. Stew the whole softly from an hour and a quarter to an hour
and a half, after the vegetables are added.
Beef and water as above: 1 hour. Leeks, 20 to 30: or small onions, 24;
young turnips, 6; small lump of sugar; white pepper, nearly 1/2
teaspoonful; salt, twice as much: 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 hour.
A GOOD ENGLISH STEW.
On three pounds of tender rump of beef, freed from skin and fat, and cut
down into about two-inch squares, pour rather more than a quart of cold
broth or gravy. When it boils add salt if required, and a little
cayenne, and keep it just simmering for a couple of hours; then put to
it the grated rind of a large lemon, or of two small ones, and half an
hour after, stir to it a tablespoonful of rice-flour, smoothly mixed
with a wineglassful of mushroom catsup, a dessertspoonful of
lemon-juice, and a teaspoonful of soy: in fifteen minutes it will be
ready to serve. A glass and a half of port, or of white wine, will
greatly improve this stew, which may likewise be flavoured with the
store-sauce of page 146, or with another, which we find excellent for
the purpose, made with half a pint of port wine, the same of
mushroom-catsup, a quarter pint of walnut pickle, a tablespoonful of the
best soy, and a dessertspoonful of cayenne-vinegar, all well shaken
together and poured into a bottle containing the thin rind of a lemon
and two fine mellow anchovies, of moderate size. A few delicately fried
forcemeat-balls may be slipped into it after it is dished.
_Obs._—The limits of our work will not permit us to devote a further
space to this class of dishes, but an intelligent cook will find it easy
to vary them in numberless ways. Mushrooms, celery, carrots, sweet
herbs, parboiled new potatoes, green peas, rice, and currie-powder may
be advantageously used for that purpose. Ox-tails, just blanched and cut
into joints, will be found excellent substitutes for the beef: mutton
and veal also may be dressed in the same way. The meat and vegetables
can be browned before broth or water is poured to them; but though,
perhaps, more savoury, the stew will then be much less delicate. Each
kind of vegetable should be allowed something more than sufficient time
to render it perfectly tender, but not so much as would reduce it to
pulp.
TO STEW SHIN OF BEEF.
Wash, and set it on to stew in sufficient cold water to keep it just
covered until it is done. When it boils, take off the scum and put an
ounce and a quarter of salt to the gallon of water. It is usual to add a
few cloves and some black pepper, slightly bruised and tied up loosely
in a fold of muslin, two or more onions, a root of celery, a bunch of
savoury herbs, four or five carrots, and as many turnips, either whole
or sliced: if to be served with the meat, the two last will require a
little more than the ordinary time of boiling, but otherwise they may be
simmered with the meat from the beginning. Give the beef from four to
five hours’ gentle stewing; and serve it with part of its own liquor
thickened and flavoured, or quite plain. An excellent dish for a family
may be made by stewing the thick fleshy part of the shin or leg, in
stock made of the knuckle, with a few bits of lean ham, or a slice of
hung beef from which the smoked edges have been carefully pared away,
and some spice, salt, and vegetables: by frying these last before they
are thrown into the soup-pot the savour of the stew will be greatly
heightened; and a tureen of good soup may be made of its remains, after
it has been served at table.
Ox-cheek, after having been soaked for four or five hours, and washed
with great nicety, may be dressed like the shin; but as it has little
flavour, the gravy should be strained, and quite cleared from fat, then
put into a clean saucepan, and thickened as soon as it boils, with the
following mixture:—three dessertspoonsful of rice-flour, nearly a
wineglassful of catsup, a teaspoonsful of currie-powder, or a little
powdered ginger and cayenne. When these have stewed for ten minutes,
dish the head, pour the sauce over, and serve it.
Shin of beef, 4 to 5 hours. Ox-cheek, 2 to 3 hours.
FRENCH BEEF À LA MODE.
(_A common Receipt._)
Take seven or eight pounds of a rump of beef (or of any other tender
joint), free from bone, and skewer it firmly into a good shape. Put two
ounces of butter into a thick saucepan or stewpan, and when it boils
stir to it a tablespoonful of flour; keep these well shaken over a
gentle fire until they are of a fine amber colour; then lay in the beef,
and brown it on both sides, taking care that it shall not stick to the
pan. Pour to it by slow degrees, letting each portion boil before the
next is added or the butter will float upon the surface and be difficult
to clear off afterwards, three quarters of a pint of hot water or gravy;
add a bunch of savoury herbs, one large or two small carrots cut in
thick slices, two or three moderate-sized onions, two bay-leaves, and
sufficient pepper and salt to season the gravy. Let the meat simmer
gently from four to five hours, and turn it when it is half done. When
ready to serve, lift the beef into a hot dish, lay the vegetables round,
and pour the gravy over it, after having taken out the herbs and skimmed
away the fat. In France, half or the whole of a calf’s foot is stewed
with the beef, which is there generally larded with thick lardoons of
fat bacon. (For larding, see Chapter X.) Veal dressed in this way is
even better than beef. The stewpan used for either should be as nearly
of the size of the meat as possible.
Beef, 7 to 8 lbs.: 4 to 5 hours.
STEWED SIRLOIN OF BEEF.
As a matter of convenience we have occasionally had this joint stewed
instead of roasted, and have found it excellent. Cut out the inside or
fillet as entire as possible, and reserve it for a separate dish; then
remove the bones with care, or let the butcher do this. Spread the meat
flat on a table and cover the inside with thin slices of striped bacon,
after having first strewed over it a mixed seasoning of a small
teaspoonful of salt, half as much mace or nutmeg, and a moderate
quantity of pepper or cayenne. Roll and bind the meat up firmly, lay it
into a stewpan or thick iron saucepan nearly of its size, and add the
bones and as much good beef broth as will nearly cover the joint. Should
this not be at hand, put a few slices of lean ham or bacon under the
beef, and lay round it three pounds of neck or knuckle of veal, or of
stewing beef divided into several parts; then pour to it cold water
instead of broth. In either case, so soon as it has boiled a few minutes
and been well cleaned from scum, throw in a large faggot of savoury
herbs, three or four carrots, as many leeks, or a large onion stuck with
a dozen cloves; and an hour later two blades of mace, and half a
teaspoonful of peppercorns. Stew the beef _very_ gently indeed from four
to five hours, and longer, should the joint be large: serve it with a
good _Espagnole sauce piquante_, or brown caper sauce. Add what salt may
be needed before the vegetables are thrown in; and, after the meat is
lifted out, boil down to soup or gravy the liquor in which it has been
stewed. To many tastes it would be an improvement to flour and brown the
outside of the beef in butter before the broth or water is poured to it:
it may also be stewed (but somewhat longer) half-covered with rich
gravy, and turned when partially done. Minced eschalots may be strewed
over the inside before it is rolled, when their strong savour is
relished, or veal forcemeat may supply their place.
TO STEW A RUMP OF BEEF.
This joint is more easily carved, and is of better appearance when the
bones are removed before it is dressed. Roll and bind it firmly with a
fillet of tape, cover it with strong cold beef broth or gravy, and stew
it very gently indeed from six hours to between seven and eight; add to
it, after the scum has been well cleared off, one large or two
moderate-sized onions stuck with thirty cloves, a head of celery, two
carrots, two turnips, and a large faggot of savoury herbs. When the beef
is perfectly tender quite through, which may be known by probing it with
a sharp thin skewer, remove the fillets of tape, dish it neatly, and
serve it with a rich _Espagnole_, and a garnish of forced tomatas, or
with a highly-flavoured brown English gravy, and stewed carrots in the
dish: for these last the mild preparation of garlic or eschalots, of
page 122, may be substituted with good effect. They should be well
drained, laid round the meat, and a little brown gravy should be poured
over the whole.
This is the most simple and economical manner of stewing the beef; but
should a richer one be desired, half roast the joint, and stew it
afterwards in strong gravy to which a pint of mushrooms, and a pint of
sherry or Madeira, should be added an hour before it is ready for table.
Keep it hot while a portion of the gravy is thickened with a well-made
brown roux (see Chapter IV.), and seasoned with salt, cayenne, and any
other spice it may require. Garnish it with large balls of forcemeat
highly seasoned with minced eschalots, rolled in egg and bread-crumbs,
and fried a fine golden brown.
Plainly stewed from 6 to 7 or 8 hours. Or: half roasted then stewed from
4 to 5 hours.
_Obs._—Grated horseradish, mixed with some well-thickened brown gravy, a
teaspoonful of mustard, and a little lemon-juice or vinegar, is a good
sauce for stewed beef.
BEEF PALATES. (ENTRÉE.)
First rub them well with salt, to cleanse them well; then wash them
thoroughly in several waters, and leave them to soak for half an hour
before they are dressed. Set them over the fire in cold water, and boil
them gently until the skin will peel off, and the palates are tolerably
tender. It is difficult to state the exact time required for this, as
some will be done in two hours and a half, and others in not less than
from four to five hours. When thus prepared, the palates may be cut into
various forms, and simmered until fit to serve in rich brown gravy,
highly flavoured with ham, cayenne, wine, and lemon-peel; or they will
make an excellent currie. As they are very insipid of themselves, they
require a sauce of some piquancy, in which, after they have been peeled
and trimmed, they should be stewed from twenty to thirty minutes, or
until they are perfectly tender. The black parts of them must be cut
away, when the skin is taken off. An onion, stuck with a few cloves, a
carrot sliced, a teaspoonful of whole white pepper, a slice of butter,
and a teaspoonful of salt, may be boiled with the palates in the first
instance; and they will be found very good, if sent to table in the
curried gravy of Chapter XVI., or in the Soubise of Chapter VI., made
thinner than the receipts direct.
Boiled from 2-1/2 to 4 or 5 hours. Stewed from 20 to 30 minutes.
_Obs._—A French cook of some celebrity, orders the palates to be laid on
the gridiron until the skin can be easily peeled or scraped off; the
plan seems a good one, but we have not tried it.
BEEF PALATES.
(_Neapolitan Mode._)
Boil the palates until the skin can be easily removed, then stew them
very tender in good veal broth, lay them on a drainer and let them cool;
cut them across obliquely into strips of about a quarter-inch in width,
and finish them by either of the receipts for dressing maccaroni, which
will be found in Chapters XVIII. and XX.
STEWED OX-TAILS.
They should be sent from the butcher ready jointed. Soak and wash them
well, cut them into joints or into lengths of two or three joints, and
cover them with cold broth or water. As soon as they boil remove the
scum, and add a half-teaspoonful of salt or as much more as may be
needed, and a little common pepper or cayenne, an onion stuck with half
a dozen cloves, two or three small carrots, and a branch or two of
parsley. When these have simmered for two hours and a quarter, try the
meat with a fork, and should it not be perfectly tender, let it remain
over the fire until it is so. Ox-tails sometimes require nearly or quite
three hours’ stewing: they may be served with the vegetables, or with
the gravy strained from them, and thickened like the English stew of the
present chapter.
Ox-tails, 2; water or broth to cover them; salt, 1/2 teaspoonful, or
more; little pepper or cayenne; onion, 1; cloves, 6; carrots, 2 or 3;
parsley, 2 or 3 branches: 2-1/2 to 3 hours.
BROILED OX-TAIL. (ENTRÉE.)
(_Very good._)
When the ox-tail is ready for the stewpan, throw it into plenty of
boiling water slightly salted, and simmer it for fifteen minutes; then
take it up and put it into fresh water to cool; wipe it, and lay it
round in a small stewpan without dividing it, just cover it with good
beef gravy, and stew it gently until very tender; drain it a little,
sprinkle over it a small quantity of salt and cayenne, dip it into
clarified butter and then into some fine bread-crumbs, with which it
should be thickly covered, lay it on the gridiron, and when equally
browned all over serve it immediately. If more convenient the ox-tail
may be set into the oven or before the fire, until properly coloured: it
may likewise be sent to table without broiling, dished upon stewed
cabbage or in its own gravy thickened, and with tomata sauce, in a
tureen.
TO SALT AND PICKLE BEEF, IN VARIOUS WAYS.
Let the meat hang a couple of days in mild weather, and four or five in
winter, before it is salted or pickled. During the heat of summer it is
better to immerse it entirely in brine, that it may be secured alike
from the flies, and from the danger of becoming putrid. Trim it, and
take out the kernels from the fat; then rub a little fine dry salt over
it, and leave it until the following day; drain it well from the blood,
which will be found to have flowed from it, and it will be ready for any
of the following modes of curing, which are all excellent of their kind,
and have been well proved.
In very cold weather, the salt may be applied quite warm to the meat: it
should always be perfectly dry, and reduced to powder.
Saltpetre hardens and renders the meat indigestible; sugar, on the
contrary, mellows and improves it much; and it is more tender when cured
with bay salt than when common salt is used for it.
TO SALT AND BOIL A ROUND OF BEEF.
Mix an ounce of saltpetre, finely powdered, with half a pound of very
coarse sugar, and rub the beef thoroughly with them; in two days add
three quarters of a pound of common salt, well dried and beaten; turn
and rub the meat well in every part with the pickle for three weeks,
when it will be fit to dress. Just wash off the salt, and skewer the
beef as round and as even as possible; bind it tightly with broad tape,
cover it with cold water, place it over a rather brisk fire, and after
it boils draw it to the side of the stove and let it simmer gently for
at least five hours. Carrots, mashed turnips, or cabbages, are usually
served with boiled beef; and horseradish stewed for ten minutes in equal
parts of vinegar and water, then pressed well from them, and mixed with
some rich melted butter, is a good sauce for it.
Beef, 20 lbs.; coarse sugar, 1/2 lb.; saltpetre, 1 oz.: 2 days. Salt,
3/4 lb.: 21 days. Boil 5 hours, or more.
_Obs._—Beef cured by this receipt if properly boiled, is tender, of good
colour and flavour, and not over salt. The rump, edgebone, and brisket
may be salted, or pickled in the same way as the round.
HAMBURGH PICKLE FOR BEEF, HAMS, AND TONGUE.
Boil together, for twenty minutes, two gallons of water, three pounds of
bay salt, two pounds of coarse sugar, two ounces of saltpetre, and two
of black pepper, bruised, and tied in a fold of muslin; clear off the
scum thoroughly, as it rises, pour the pickle into a deep earthen pan,
and when it is quite cold lay in the meat, of which every part must be
perfectly covered with it. A moderate-sized round of beef will be ready
for table in a fortnight; it should be turned occasionally in the brine.
Five pounds of common salt may be substituted for the quantity of bay
salt given above; but the meat will not be so finely flavoured.
Water, 2 gallons; bay-salt, 3 lbs.; saltpetre, 2 oz.; black pepper, 2
oz.; sugar, 2 lbs.: 20 minutes.
ANOTHER PICKLE FOR TONGUES, BEEF, AND HAMS.
To three gallons of spring water add six pounds of common salt, two
pounds of bay-salt, two pounds of common loaf sugar, and two ounces of
saltpetre. Boil these over a gentle fire, and be careful to take off all
the scum as it rises: when quite cold it will be fit for use. Rub the
meat to be cured, with fine salt, and let it drain for a day in order to
free it from the blood; then immerse it in the brine, taking care that
every part of it shall be covered. Young pork should not remain more
than from three to five days in the pickle; but hams for drying may be
left in it for a fortnight at least; tongues will be ready in rather
less time. Beef may remain from one week to two, according to its size,
and the degree of saltness desired for it. A little experience will soon
teach the exact time required for the different kinds of meat. When the
pickle has been in use for about three months, boil it up again gently,
and take the scum carefully off. Add to it three pounds of common salt,
four ounces of sugar, and one of saltpetre: it will remain good for many
months.
Water, 3 gallons; common salt, 6 lbs.; bay salt, 2 lbs.; loaf sugar, 2
lbs.; saltpetre, 2 oz.: boil 20 to 30 minutes.
DUTCH, OR HUNG BEEF.
For fourteen pounds weight of the round, the rump, or the thick flank of
beef, mix two ounces of saltpetre with the same quantity of coarse
sugar; rub the meat with them in every part, and let it remain for two
days, then add one pound of bay salt, four ounces of common salt, and
one ounce of ground black pepper. Rub these ingredients thoroughly into
the beef, and in four days pour over it a pound of treacle; rub and turn
it daily for a fortnight; drain, and send it to be smoked. When wanted
for table, put it into plenty of boiling water, boil it slowly, and
press it under a heavy weight while hot. A slice of this beef, from
which the edges have been carefully trimmed, will serve to flavour soups
or gravies as well as ham.
Beef, 14 lbs.; saltpetre and coarse sugar, each 2 oz.: 2 days. Bay salt,
1 lb.; common salt, 4 oz.: pepper, 1 oz.: 4 days. Treacle, 1 lb.: 14
days.
_Obs._—Three quarters of a pound of coarse sugar may be rubbed into the
meat at first, and the treacle may be altogether omitted; cloves and
mace, too, may be added in the same proportion as for spiced beef.
COLLARED BEEF.
Only the thinnest part of the flank, or the ribs, which are not so
generally used for it, will serve conveniently for collaring. The first
of these should be hung in a damp place for a day or two, to soften the
outer skin; then rubbed with coarse sugar, and left for a couple of
days; when, for eight pounds of the meat, one ounce of saltpetre and
half a pound of salt should be added. In ten days it will be fit to
dress. The bones and tough inner skin must be removed, and the beef
sprinkled thickly on the under side with parsley and other savoury herbs
shred small, before it is rolled, which should be done very tightly: it
must then be secured with a cloth, and bound as closely as possible with
broad tape. It will require nearly or quite five hours of gentle
boiling, and should be placed while hot under a weight, or in a press,
without having the tape and cloth removed.
Beef, 8 lbs.; sugar, 3 oz.; salt, 8 oz.: 10 days. Boil 5 hours.
COLLARED BEEF.
(_Another way._)
Mix half an ounce of saltpetre with the same quantity of pepper, four
ounces of bay salt, and four of common salt; with these rub well from
six to seven pounds of the thin flank, and in four days add seven ounces
of treacle; turn the beef daily in the pickle for a week or more; dip it
into water, bone it and skin the inside, roll and bind it up very
tightly, lay it into cold water, and boil it for three hours and a half.
We have found beef dressed by this receipt extremely good: herbs can, of
course, be added to it as usual. Spices and juniper berries would to
many tastes improve it, but we give the receipt simply as we have been
accustomed to have it used.
Thin flank, 6 to 7 lbs.; bay salt, and common salt, each 4 oz.;
saltpetre, 1/2 oz.; pepper, 1/2 oz.: 4 days. Treacle, 7 oz.: 8 to 10
days. Boiled 3-1/2 hours.
A COMMON RECEIPT FOR SALTING BEEF.
One ounce of saltpetre, and a pound of common salt, will be sufficient
for sixteen pounds of beef. Both should be well dried, and finely
powdered; the saltpetre rubbed first equally over the meat, and the salt
next applied in every part. It should be rubbed thoroughly with the
pickle and turned daily, from a week to ten days. An ounce or two of
sugar mixed with the saltpetre will render the beef more tender and
palatable.
Beef, 16 lbs.; saltpetre, 1 oz.; salt, 1 lb.: 7 to 10 days.
SPICED ROUND OF BEEF.
(_Very highly flavoured._)
Rub the beef well in every part with half a pound of coarse brown sugar,
and let it remain two days; then reduce to powder, and mix thoroughly
before they are applied to the meat, two ounces of saltpetre, three
quarters of a pound of common salt, a quarter of a pound of black
pepper, three ounces of allspice, and four of bruised juniper-berries.
Rub these ingredients strongly and equally over the joint, and do so
daily for three weeks, turning it at the same time. Just wash off the
spice, and put the beef into a tin, or covered earthen pan as nearly of
its size as possible, with a cup of water or gravy; cover the top
thickly with chopped beef-suet, and lay a coarse thick crust over the
pan; place the cover on it, and bake the meat from five to six hours in
a moderate oven, which should not, however, be sufficiently fierce to
harden the outside of the joint, which, if properly managed will be
exceedingly tender. Let it cool in the pan; and clear off the suet
before it is dished. It is to be served cold, and will remain good for a
fortnight.
Beef, 20 to 25 lbs. weight; sugar, 3 oz.: 2 days. Saltpetre, 2 oz.;
common salt, 3/4 lb.; black pepper, 4 oz.; allspice, 3 oz.;
juniper-berries, 4 oz.: 21 days. Baked 5 to 6 hours.
_Obs._—We have not ourselves tested this receipt, but the meat cured by
it has received such high commendation from several of our friends who
have partaken of it frequently, that we think we may safely insert it
without. The proportion of allspice appears to us more than would be
agreeable to many tastes, and we would rather recommend that part of it
should be omitted, and that a portion of nutmeg, mace, and cloves,
should be substituted for it; as we have found these spices to answer
well in the following receipt.
SPICED BEEF.
(_Good and wholesome._)
For twelve pounds of the round, rump, or thick flank of beef, take a
large teaspoonful of freshly-pounded mace, and of ground black pepper,
twice as much of cloves, one small nutmeg, and a quarter of a
teaspoonful of cayenne, all in the finest powder. Mix them well with
seven ounces of brown sugar, rub the beef with them and let it lie three
days; add to it then half a pound of fine salt, and rub and turn it once
in twenty-four hours for twelve days. Just wash, but do not soak it;
skewer, or bind it into good form, put it into a stewpan or saucepan
nearly of its size, pour to it a pint and a half of good beef broth, and
when it begins to boil, take off the scum, and throw in one small onion,
a moderate-sized faggot of thyme and parsley, and two large, or four
small carrots. Let it simmer quite softly for four hours and a half, and
if not wanted to serve hot, leave it in its own liquor until it is
nearly cold. This is an excellent and far more wholesome dish than the
hard, bright-coloured beef which is cured with large quantities of salt
and saltpetre: two or three ounces of juniper-berries may be added to it
with the spice, to heighten its flavour.
Beef, 12 lbs.; sugar, 7 oz.; mace and black pepper, each, 1 large
teaspoonful; cloves, in powder, 1 large dessertspoonful; nutmeg, 1;
cayenne, 1/4 teaspoonful: 3 days. Fine salt, 1/2 lb.: 12 days. Beef
broth (or bouillon), 1-1/2 pint; onion, 1 small; bunch of herbs;
carrots, 2 large, or 4 small: stewed 4-1/2 hours.
_Obs._—We give this receipt _exactly_ as we have often had it used, but
celery and turnips might be added to the gravy; and when the appearance
of the meat is much considered, three-quarters of an ounce of saltpetre
may be mixed with the spices; the beef may also be plainly boiled in
water only, with a few vegetables, or baked in a deep pan with a little
gravy. No meat must ever be left to cool in the stewpan or saucepan in
which it is cooked; it must be lifted into a pan of its own depth, and
the liquor poured upon it.
A MINIATURE ROUND OF BEEF.
“Select a fine rib of beef, and have it cut small or large in width
according to your taste; it may thus be made to weigh from five to
twelve pounds, or more. Take out the bone, and wrap the meat round like
a fillet of veal, securing it with two or three wooden skewers; place it
in a strong pickle for four or five days, and then cook it, taking care
that it does not boil, but only simmers, from forty minutes, or more,
according to its size. It is best to put it on in hot water, as it will
not draw the gravy so much as cold. Many persons adjust a rib of beef in
this way for roasting: let them try it salted, and they need not envy
the possessor of the finest round of beef.” We give the receipt to our
readers in its original form, and we can assure them, from our own
experience, that it is a good one; but we would recommend that, in
dressing the meat, quite the usual time for each pound of it should be
allowed. When boned and rolled at the butcher’s, the skewers should be
removed when it is first brought in; it should be well wiped with a dry
cloth, or washed with a little fresh brine, and a small quantity of salt
and saltpetre should be rubbed over the inside, it may then be firmly
bound with tape, and will be quite ready to boil when taken from the
pickle. The sirloin, after the inside fillet is removed, may be cured
and dressed in the same way, and will be found super-excellent if the
beef be well fatted and properly kept. The Hamburgh pickle (see page
197) is perhaps the best for these joints. Part of the rump, taken clear
of bone, answers admirably when prepared by this receipt.
BEEF ROLL, OR CANELLON DE BŒUF. (ENTRÉE.)
Chop and mix thoroughly two pounds of lean and very tender beef with one
pound of slightly striped bacon; season them with a large teaspoonful of
pepper, a little salt, a small nutmeg, or two-thirds as much mace, the
grated rind of a lemon, or a teaspoonful of thyme and parsley finely
minced. Form the whole into a thick rouleau, wrap a buttered paper round
it, enclose it in a paste made of flour and water, and send it to a
moderate oven for a couple of hours. Remove the paper and the crust, and
serve the meat with a little brown gravy. Lamb and veal are excellent
dressed in this way, particularly when mixed with plenty of mushrooms.
Brown cucumber sauce should be served with the lamb; and currie, or
oyster sauce, when there are no mushrooms, with the veal. A flavouring
of onion or of eschalot, where it is liked, can be added at pleasure to
the beef: suet, or the fat of the meat, may be substituted for the
bacon.
Beef, 2 lbs.; bacon, 1 lb.; pepper, 1/4 oz.; little salt; small nutmeg;
rind of 1 lemon, or savoury herbs, 1 tablespoonful: baked 2 hours.
MINCED COLLOPS AU NATUREL.
Mince finely a pound of very tender rump steak, free from fat or skin;
season it with a moderate quantity of pepper and salt, set it over a
gentle fire, and keep it stirred with a fork until it is quite hot that
it may not gather into lumps. Simmer it very slowly in its own gravy
from ten to twelve minutes, and then, should it be too dry, add a little
boiling water, broth, or gravy; stew it for two minutes longer, and
serve it directly.
These collops are particularly suited to persons in delicate health, or
of weak digestion; and when an extra dish is required at a short notice,
from the expedition with which they may be dressed, they are a
convenient resource.
10 to 12 minutes.
SAVOURY MINCED COLLOPS.
Make a little thickening (see Brown _Roux_, Chapter V.) with about an
ounce and a half of butter, and a dessertspoonful of flour; when it
begins to be coloured, shake lightly into it a large teaspoonful of
finely-shred parsley or mixed savoury herbs, two-thirds as much of salt,
and half the quantity of pepper. Keep these stirred over a gentle fire
until the thickening is of a deep yellow brown; then add a pound of
rump-steak, finely minced, and keep it well separated with a fork until
it is quite hot; next pour to it gradually half a cupful of boiling
water, and stew the collops very gently for ten minutes. Before they are
served, stir to them a little catsup, chili vinegar or lemon-juice: a
small quantity of minced onion, eschalot, or a _particle_ of garlic, may
be added at first to the thickening when the flavour is not objected to.
A RICHER VARIETY OF MINCED COLLOPS.
Omit the minced herbs from the thickening, and season it with cayenne
and a small quarter of a teaspoonful of pounded mace. Substitute beef
gravy for the boiling water, and when the collops are nearly done, fill
a wineglass with one fourth of mushroom catsup, and three of port wine,
and stir these to the meat. Serve the collops very hot, and garnish them
with alternate forcemeat balls (see No. 1, Chapter VIII.) and fried
sippets. If flavoured with a little gravy made from the bones of a roast
hare, and served with currant jelly, these collops will scarcely be
distinguished from game.
SCOTCH MINCED COLLOPS.
“Chop the beef small, season it with salt and pepper, put it, in its raw
state, into small jars, and pour on the top some clarified butter. When
wanted for use put the clarified butter into a frying-pan, and slice
some onions into the pan and fry them. Add a little water to them, and
put in the minced meat. Stew it well, and in a few minutes it will be
fit to serve.”
BEEF TONGUES.
These may be cured by any of the receipts which we have already given
for pickling beef, or for those which will be found further on for hams
and bacon. Some persons prefer them cured with salt and saltpetre only,
and dried naturally in a cool and airy room. For such of our readers as
like them highly and richly flavoured we give our own method of having
them prepared, which is this:—“Rub over the tongue a handful of fine
salt, and let it drain until the following day; then, should it weigh
from seven to eight pounds, mix thoroughly an ounce of saltpetre, two
ounces of the coarsest sugar, and half an ounce of black pepper; when
the tongue has been well rubbed with these, add three ounces of bruised
juniper-berries; and when it has laid two days, eight ounces of bay
salt, dried and pounded; at the end of three days more, pour on it half
a pound of treacle, and let it remain in the pickle a fortnight after
this; then hang it to drain, fold it in brown paper, and send it to be
smoked over a wood fire for two or three weeks. Should the peculiar
flavour of the juniper-berries prevail too much, or be disapproved, they
may be in part, or altogether, omitted; and six ounces of sugar may be
rubbed into the tongue in the first instance when it is liked better
than treacle.”
Tongue, 7 to 8 lbs.; saltpetre, 1 oz.; black pepper, 1/2 oz.; sugar, 2
oz.; juniper-berries, 3 oz.: 2 days. Bay salt, 8 oz.: 3 days. Treacle,
1/2 lb.: 14 days.
_Obs._—Before the tongue is salted, the root end, which has an unsightly
appearance, should be trimmed away: it is indeed usual to take it off
entirely, but some families prefer part of it left on for the sake of
the fat.
BEEF TONGUES.
(_A Suffolk Receipt._)
For each very large tongue, mix with half a pound of salt two ounces of
saltpetre and three quarters of a pound of the coarsest sugar; rub the
tongues daily, and turn them in the pickle for five weeks, when they
will be fit to be dressed, or to be smoked.
1 large tongue; salt, 1/2 lb.; sugar, 3/4 lb.; saltpetre, 2 oz.: 5
weeks.
TO DRESS BEEF TONGUES.
When taken fresh from the pickle they require no soaking, unless they
should have remained in it much beyond the usual time, or have been
cured with a more than common proportion of salt; but when they have
been smoked and highly dried, they should be laid for two or three hours
into cold, and as much longer into tepid water, before they are dressed:
if extremely dry, ten or twelve hours must be allowed to soften them,
and they should always be brought very slowly to boil. Two or three
carrots and a large bunch of savoury herbs, added after the scum is
cleared off, will improve them. They should be simmered until they are
extremely tender, when the skin will peel from them easily. A highly
dried tongue of moderate size will usually require from three and a half
to four hours’ boiling; an unsmoked one about an hour less; and for one
which has not been salted at all a shorter time will suffice.
BORDYKE RECEIPT FOR STEWING A TONGUE.
After the tongue has been soaked, trimmed, and washed with extreme
nicety, lay it into a vessel of fitting size, and place round it three
or four pounds of the neck, or of any other lean cuttings of beef, with
some bones of undressed veal, and pour in sufficient cold water to keep
it covered until it is done; or, instead of this, use strong unseasoned
beef broth made with the shin, and any odd bits or bones of veal which
may be at hand. Let the tongue be brought to boil very gradually, that
it may be plump and tender. Remove the scum when it first rises, and
when it is quite cleared off add a large faggot of parsley, thyme, and
winter savoury, three carrots, a small onion, and one mild turnip. After
three hours and a half of gentle simmering, probe the tongue, and if
sufficiently done peel off the skin and serve it quickly. If not wanted
hot for table, lay it upon a very clean board or trencher, and fasten it
down to it by passing a carving fork through the root, and a smaller one
through the tip, drawing the tongue straight with the latter before it
is fixed in the board; let it remain thus until it is quite cold. It is
much the fashion at present to glaze hams and tongues, but this should
never be attempted by a cook not well acquainted with the manner of
doing it, and the proper flavour and appearance of the glaze. For
directions to make it, see page 104. Where expense is not regarded,
three or four pounds of veal may be added to the beef in this receipt,
or the tongue may be stewed in a prepared gravy made with equal parts of
beef and veal, and vegetables as above, but without salt: this may
afterwards be converted into excellent soup. A fresh or an unsmoked
tongue may be dressed in this way, but will require less time: for the
former, salt must be added to the gravy.
TO ROAST A BEEF HEART.
Wash and soak the heart very thoroughly, cut away the lobes, fill the
cavities with a veal forcemeat (No. 1, Chapter VIII.), secure it well
with a needle and twine, or very coarse thread, and roast it at a good
fire for an hour and a half, keeping it basted plentifully with butter.
Pour melted butter over it, after it is dished, and send it to table as
hot as possible. Many persons boil the heart for three quarters of an
hour before it is put to the fire, and this is said to render it more
delicate eating; the time of roasting must of course be proportionately
diminished. Good brown gravy may be substituted for the melted butter,
and currant jelly also may be served with it.
1-1/2 hour, or more.
BEEF KIDNEY.
Slice the kidney rather thin, after having stripped off the skin and
removed the fat; season it with pepper, salt, and grated nutmeg, and
sprinkle over it plenty of minced parsley, or equal parts of parsley and
eschalots chopped very small. Fry the slices over a brisk fire, and when
nicely browned on both sides, stir amongst them a teaspoonful of flour,
and pour in by degrees a cup of gravy and a glass of white wine; bring
the sauce to the point of boiling, add a morsel of fresh butter and a
tablespoonful of lemon-juice, and pour the whole into a hot dish
garnished with fried bread. This is a French receipt, and a very
excellent one.
BEEF KIDNEY.
(_A plainer way._)
Trim, and cut the kidney into slices; season them with salt and pepper,
and dredge them well with flour; fry them on both sides, and when they
are done through lift them out, empty the pan, and make gravy for them
with a small slice of butter, a dessertspoonful of flour, pepper and
salt, and a cup of boiling water; shake these round and give them a
minute’s simmering: add a little mushroom catsup, lemon juice, eschalot
vinegar, or any store sauce that will give a good flavour. Minced herbs
are to many tastes an improvement to this dish, to which a small
quantity of onion shred fine can be added when it is liked.
6 to 9 minutes.
AN EXCELLENT HASH OF COLD BEEF.
Put a slice of butter into a thick saucepan, and when it boils throw in
a dessertspoonful of minced herbs, and an onion (or two or three
eschalots) shred small: shake them over the fire until they are lightly
browned, then stir in a tablespoonful of flour, a little cayenne, some
mace or nutmeg, and half a teaspoonful of salt. When the whole is well
coloured, pour to it three-quarters of a pint or more of broth or gravy,
according to the quantity of meat to be served in it. Let this boil
gently for fifteen minutes; then strain it, add half a wineglassful of
mushroom or of compound catsup, lay in the meat, and keep it by the side
of the fire until it is heated through and is on the point of simmering,
but be sure not to let it boil. Serve it up in a very hot dish, and
garnish it with fried or toasted sippets of bread.
A COMMON HASH OF COLD BEEF OR MUTTON.
Take the meat from the bones, slice it small, trim off the brown edges,
and stew down the trimmings with the bones well broken, an onion, a
bunch of thyme and parsley, a carrot cut into thick slices, a few
peppercorns, four cloves, some salt, and a pint and a half of water.
When this is reduced to little more than three quarters of a pint,
strain it, clear it from the fat, thicken it with a large
dessertspoonful of rice flour, or rather less of arrow-root, add salt
and pepper if needed, boil the whole for a few minutes, then lay in the
meat and heat it well. Boiled potatoes are sometimes sliced hot into a
very common hash.
_Obs._—The cook should be reminded that if the meat in a hash or mince
be allowed to boil, it will immediately become hard, and can then only
be rendered eatable by very _long stewing_, which is by no means
desirable for meat which is already sufficiently cooked.
BRESLAW OF BEEF.
(_Good._)
Trim the brown edges from half a pound of undressed roast beef, shred it
small, and mix it with four ounces of fine bread-crumbs, a teaspoonful
of minced parley, and two-thirds as much of thyme, two ounces of butter
broken small, half a cupful of gravy or cream, a high seasoning of
pepper and cayenne and mace or nutmeg, a small teaspoonful of salt, and
three large eggs well whisked. Melt a little butter in a deep dish, pour
in the beef, and bake it half an hour; turn it out, and send it to table
with brown gravy in a tureen. When cream or gravy is not at hand, an
additional egg or two and rather more butter must be used. We think that
grated lemon-rind improves the breslaw. A portion of fat from the joint
can be added where it is liked. The mixture is sometimes baked in
buttered cups.
Beef, 1/2 lb.; bread-crumbs, 4 oz.; butter, 2 oz.; gravy or cream, 1/2
cupful; parsley, 1 teaspoonful; thyme, two-thirds of teaspoonful; eggs,
3 or 4, if small; salt, 1 teaspoonful; pepper and nutmeg, 1/2
teaspoonful each: bake 1/2 hour.
NORMAN HASH.
Peel and fry two dozens of button onions in butter until they are
lightly browned, then stir to them a tablespoonful of flour, and when
the whole is of a deep amber shade, pour in a wineglassful and a half of
red wine, and a large cup of boiling broth or water; add a seasoning of
salt and common pepper or cayenne, and a little lemon-pickle catsup or
lemon-juice, and boil the whole until the onions are quite tender; cut
and trim into small handsome slices the remains of either a roast or
boiled joint of beef, and arrange them in a clean saucepan; pour the
gravy and onions on them, and let them stand for awhile to imbibe the
flavour of the sauce; then place the hash near the fire, and when it is
thoroughly hot serve it immediately, without allowing it to boil.
FRENCH RECEIPT FOR HASHED BOUILLI.
Shake over a slow fire a bit of butter the size of an egg, and a
tablespoonful of flour; when they have simmered for a minute, stir to
them a little finely-chopped onion, and a dessertspoonful of minced
parsley; so soon as the whole is equally browned, add sufficient pepper,
salt, and nutmeg to season the hash properly, and from half to three
quarters of a pint of boiling water or of bouillon. Put in the beef cut
into small but thick slices; let it stand by the fire and heat
gradually; and when near the point of boiling thicken the sauce with the
yolks of three eggs, mixed with a tablespoonful of lemon-juice. For
change, omit the eggs, and substitute a tablespoonful of catsup, and
another of pickled gherkins minced or sliced.
BAKED MINCED BEEF.
Mince tolerably fine, with a moderate proportion of its own fat, as much
of the inside of a cold roast joint as will suffice for a dish: that
which is least done is best for the purpose. Season it rather highly
with cayenne and mace or nutmeg, and moderately with salt; add, when
they are liked, one or two eschalots minced small, with a few chopped
mushrooms either fresh or pickled, or two tablespoonsful of mushroom
catsup. Mix the whole well with a cupful of _good_ gravy, and put it
into a deep dish. Place on the top an inch-thick layer of bread-crumbs,
moisten these plentifully with clarified butter passed through a small
strainer over them, and send the mince to a slow oven for twenty
minutes, or brown it in a Dutch oven.
SAUNDERS.
Spread on the dish in which the saunders are to be served, a layer of
smoothly mashed potatoes, which have been seasoned with salt and mixed
with about an ounce of butter to the pound. On these spread equally and
thickly some underdressed beef or mutton minced and mixed with a little
of the gravy that has run from the joint, or with a few spoonsful of any
other; and season it with salt, pepper, and a small quantity of nutmeg.
Place evenly over this another layer of potatoes, and send the dish to a
moderate oven for half an hour. A very superior kind of saunders is made
by substituting fresh meat for roasted; but this requires to be baked an
hour or something more. Sausage-meat highly seasoned may be served in
this way, instead of beef or mutton.
TO BOIL MARROW BONES.
Let the large ends of the bones be sawed by the butcher, so that when
they are dished they may stand upright; and if it can be done
conveniently, let them be placed in the same manner in the vessel in
which they are boiled. Put a bit of paste, made with flour and water,
over the ends where the marrow is visible, and tie a cloth tightly over
them; take the paste off before the bones are sent to table, and serve
them, placed upright in a napkin, with slices of dry toasted bread
apart. When not wanted for immediate use, they may be partially boiled,
and set into a cool place, where they will remain good for many days.
Large marrow bones, 2 hours; moderate sized, 1-1/2 hour. To keep; boil
them 1-1/2 hour, and from 1/2 to 3/4 hour more when wanted for table.
BAKED MARROW BONES.
When the bones have been sawed to the length of a deep pie-dish, wash
and wipe them dry, lay them into it, and cover them entirely with a good
batter. Send them to a moderate oven for an hour or more, and serve them
in the batter.
CLARIFIED MARROW FOR KEEPING.
Take the marrow from the bones while it is as fresh as possible; cut it
small, put it into a very clean jar, and melt it with a gentle heat,
either in a pan of water placed over the fire, or at the mouth of a cool
oven; strain it through a muslin, let it settle for a minute or two, and
pour it, clear of sediment, into small jars. Tie skins, or double folds
of thick paper, over them as soon as the marrow is cold, and store it in
a cool place. It will remain good for months.
OX-CHEEK STUFFED AND BAKED.
(_Good, and not expensive._)
Cleanse, with the greatest nicety, a fresh ox-cheek by washing, scraping
it lightly with a knife, and soaking out the blood; then put it into
plenty of warm water, and boil it gently for about an hour. Throw in a
large teaspoonful of salt, and carefully remove all the scum as it rises
to the surface. Let it cool after it is lifted out, and then take away
the bones, remembering always to work the knife close to them, and to
avoid piercing the skin. When the cheek has become cold, put into it a
good roll of forcemeat, made by the receipt Nos. 1, 2, or 3, of Chapter
IX., or substitute the oyster or mushroom forcemeat which follows; but
in any case increase the quantity one-half at least: then skewer or bind
up the cheek securely, and send it to a moderate oven for an hour or an
hour and a half. It should be baked until it is exceedingly tender quite
through. Drain it well from fat, dish it, withdraw the skewers, or
unbind it gently, and either sauce it with a little good brown gravy, or
send it to table with melted butter in a tureen, a cut lemon, and
cayenne, or with any sauce of Chapter V., which may be considered more
appropriate.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER XI.
=Veal.=
[Illustration]
No.
1. Loin, Best End.
2. Loin, Chump End.
3. Fillet.
4. Hind Knuckle.
5. Fore Knuckle.
6. Neck, Best End.
7. Neck, Scrag End.
8. Blade Bone.
9. Breast, Best End.
10. Breast, Brisket End.
In season all the year, but scarce and expensive in mid-winter, and very
early spring.
TO CHOOSE VEAL.
VEAL should be fat, finely grained, white, firm, and not overgrown: for
when very large it is apt to be coarse and tough. It is more difficult
to keep than any other meat except pork, and should never be allowed to
acquire the slightest taint before it is dressed, as any approach to
putridity renders it equally unwholesome and offensive to the taste. The
fillet, the loin, the shoulder, and the best end of the neck, are the
parts generally selected for roasting; the breast and knuckle are more
usually stewed or boiled, although the former is excellent roasted. The
udder or firm white fat of the fillet, is much used by French cooks
instead of butter, in the composition of their forcemeats: for these, it
is first well boiled, then left until quite cold, and afterwards
thoroughly pounded before it is mixed with the other ingredients. The
head and feet of the calf are valuable articles of food, both for the
nutriment which the gelatinous parts of them afford, and for the great
variety of modes in which they may be dressed. The kidneys, with the
rich fat that surrounds them, and the sweetbreads, are well known
delicacies; the liver and the heart also are very good eating; and no
meat is so generally useful for rich soups and gravies as veal.
TO TAKE THE HAIR FROM A CALF’S HEAD WITH THE SKIN ON.
It is better to do this before the head is divided; but if only the half
of one with the skin on can be procured, it must be managed in the same
way. Put it into plenty of water which is on the point of simmering but
which does not positively boil, and let it remain in until it does so,
and for five or six minutes afterwards, but at the first full bubble
draw it from the fire and let it merely scald; then lift it out, and
with a knife that is _not_ sharp scrape off the hair as closely as
possible. The butchers have an instrument on purpose for the operation;
but we have had the head look quite as well when done in the manner we
have just described, as when it has been sent in ready prepared by them.
After the hair is off, the head should be _well_ washed, and if it
cannot be cooked the same day, it must be wiped extremely dry before it
is hung up; and when it has not been divided, it should be left whole
until the time approaches for dressing it. The brain must then be taken
out, and both that and the head well soaked and washed with the greatest
nicety. When the half head only is scalded, the brain should first be
removed. Calves’ feet are freed from the hair easily in the same manner;
indeed, we find it a better mode of having it cleared from them than the
one we have given in Chapter XXII., though that is practised by many
good butchers.
BOILED CALF’S HEAD.
When the head is dressed with the skin on, which many persons prefer,
the ear must be cut off quite close to it; it will require three
quarters of an hour or upwards of additional boiling, and should be
served covered with fried crumbs: the more usual mode, however, is to
boil it without the skin. In either case first remove the brain, wash
the head delicately clean, and soak it for a quarter of an hour; cover
it plentifully with cold water, remove the scum as it rises with great
care, throw in a little salt, and boil the head gently until it is
perfectly tender. In the mean time, wash and soak the brains first in
cold and then in warm water, remove the skin or film, boil them in a
small saucepan from fourteen to sixteen minutes, according to their
sage, and when they are done, chop and mix them with eight or ten size
leaves boiled tender and finely minced; or, if preferred, with boiled
parsley instead; warm them in a spoonful or two of melted butter, or
white sauce; skin the tongue, trim off the root, and serve it in a small
dish with the brains round it. Send the head to table very hot with
parsley and butter poured over it, and some more in a tureen. A cheek of
bacon, or very delicate pickled pork, is the usual accompaniment to
boiled calf’s head.
We have given here the common English mode of serving this dish, by some
persons considered the best, and by others, as exceedingly insipid. On
the continent, tomata sauce takes place of the parsley and butter; and
rich oyster or Dutch sauce, are varieties often substituted for it in
this country.
With the skin on, from 2-1/4 to 2-3/4 hours; without the skin, from
1-1/4 to 1-3/4 hour.
CALF’S HEAD, THE WARDER’S WAY.
(_An excellent Receipt._)
Boil the half-head until tolerably tender; let it cool, and bone it
entirely; replace the brain, lay the head into a stewpan, and simmer it
gently for an hour in rich gravy. From five-and-twenty to thirty minutes
before it is dished, add half a pint of mushroom-buttons. Thicken the
gravy, if needful, with rice flour or with flour and butter, and serve
plenty of forcemeat-balls round the head. For dishes of this kind, a
little sweet-basil wine, or a few sprigs of the herb itself, impart a
very agreeable flavour. When neither these nor mushrooms are within
reach, the very thin rind of a small but fresh lemon may be boiled in
the gravy, and the strained juice added at the instant of serving.
Boiled from 1 to 2 hours; stewed 1 hour.
_Obs._—The skin, _with the ear_, may be left on the head for this
receipt, and the latter slit into narrow strips from the tip to within
an inch and a half of the base; which will give it a feathery and
ornamental appearance, the head may then be glazed or not at pleasure.
PREPARED CALF’S HEAD.
(_The Cook’s Receipt._)
Take away the brains and tongue from the half of a calf’s head, and then
remove the bones, being careful in doing so to keep the knife as close
to them as possible, and to avoid piercing the outer skin: in this
consists the whole art of boning, in which an attentive cook may easily
render herself expert. Next wash the head and dry it in a clean cloth;
sprinkle over the inside a little pounded mace, and cayenne or white
pepper; roll it up tightly, and bind it round with tape or twine. Lay
into a small stewpot three or four pounds of neck of veal or of beef,
twice or thrice divided, and place the head upon it with the bones well
broken; pour in half a gallon of cold water, or as much as will suffice
to keep the head covered until it is done, and simmer it very gently
from an hour and a quarter to an hour and three quarters. When it is
extremely tender, lift it out, and if wanted for table, remove the
binding, and serve it very hot, with currie sauce, rich oyster sauce, or
egg sauce and brown gravy; but should the remains, or the whole of it be
required for the following receipts, pour no gravy over it: in the
latter case do not take off the tape for several hours. The tongue may
be stewed with the head, but will require rather less time. We do not
think it needful to repeat in every receipt our directions for adding
salt to, and removing carefully the scum from, meat that is stewed or
boiled, but the cook must not neglect either. When the trouble of boning
is objected to, it can be dispensed with for some of the dishes which
follow, but not for all. After the head is taken out, boil the gravy
until it is well reduced, and rich: it should be strongly jellied when
cold. A bone of ham, or a slice of hung beef will much improve its
flavour; but vegetables must be avoided if it be wanted to keep: a
little spice and a faggot of parsley may be added to it, and a calf’s
foot will be sure to give it the requisite degree of firmness. This
receipt is for a head without the skin.
BURLINGTON WHIMSEY.
Set aside until quite cold half a calf’s head dressed by the preceding
receipt. If, on cutting it, the gelatinous part should not appear
perfectly tender, pare it off closely from the head, weigh, and mince
it; put it into a pint of good gravy, and stew it gently from ten to
fifteen minutes. Mince as much more of the head as will make up a pound
in weight after the edges are trimmed off, and part of the fat is taken
away; add to this three ounces of the lean of a boiled ham finely
chopped, the grated rind of a large lemon, three teaspoonsful of parsley
and one of thyme shred very small, three quarters of a teaspoonful of
mace, half a small nutmeg grated, a teaspoonful of salt, and a
half-quarter one of cayenne; stir the whole well together, and put it,
with half a pint more of gravy, to the portion which has been already
simmered. When the whimsey has boiled _softly_ from four to five
minutes, pour it into moulds or pans, in which slices of the tongue have
been evenly arranged, and when quite cold it will turn out very firmly.
It may be garnished, before it is sent to table, with branches of
parsley, which should, however, be perfectly dry; and when served for
supper or luncheon, it may be accompanied by a salad dressing.
Calf’s head, 1 lb.; lean of ham, 3 oz.; gravy, 1-1/2 pint; rind of 1
large lemon; parsley, 3 teaspoonsful; thyme and salt, each 1
teaspoonful; mace, 3/4 teaspoonful; 1/2 nutmeg; cayenne, 1/8 part of
teaspoonful: 5 minutes.
_Obs._—The remains of a plain boiled head may be made to serve for this
dish, provided the gravy used with it be well jellied and of high
flavour. Slices from the small end of a boiled and smoked ox-tongue,
from their bright colour improve greatly its appearance. It should be
tasted before it is poured out, that salt or any other seasoning may be
added if needful. After three or four days’ keeping, should any mould
appear upon the surface, take it off, re-melt the whimsey, and give it
two minutes’ boil. For change, the herbs may be omitted, and the
quantity of ham increased, or some minced tongue substituted for it.
CUTLETS OF CALF’S HEAD.
Prepare, by the Cook’s Receipt, half a calf’s head with or without the
skin on; only, in the latter case, allow more time for the boiling. When
it is quite cold, remove the fillets of tape, and cut the head into
slices of half an inch thick, brush them with yolk of egg, and dip them
into fine bread-crumbs, seasoned with the grated rind of half a lemon,
half a teaspoonful of minced savoury herbs, some cayenne, and a little
of the lean of a boiled ham chopped very small, should this last be at
hand. Fry the cutlets in butter of a fine light brown, make some gravy
in the pan as for veal cutlets, and add to it the juice of half a lemon;
or mix a large teaspoonful of currie-powder, and one of flour, very
smoothly with the butter, shake them over the fire for four or five
minutes, and let the gravy simmer as much longer, after the water is
added; or serve the cutlets, covered with good mushroom sauce.
HASHED CALF’S HEAD. (REMOVE.)
When the whole of this dish has to be prepared, make for it a quart of
stock, and proceed in all else as directed for mock turtle soup (page
24); but after the head has been parboiled, cut down a full pound and a
half of it for the hash, and slice it small and thick, instead of
dividing it into dice. Make the brains into cakes (see page 162), and
garnish the dish with forcemeat-balls, rolled in egg, and in the finest
bread-crumbs, then fried a delicate brown, and well drained, and dried
upon a warm sieve reversed. The wine and other seasonings should be the
same as for the soup. Rich gravy, 1 quart; flesh of calf’s head, full
1-1/2 lb.; wine, and other seasonings, as for mock turtle soup.
_Obs._—The gravy for this should be stewed with ham, eschalots, &c.,
exactly as for the soup.
CHEAP HASH OF CALF’S HEAD.
Take the flesh from the bone of a cold boiled head, and put it aside
until wanted; take about three pints of the liquor in which it was
cooked; break the bones, and stew them down with a small bunch of
savoury herbs, a carrot, or two should they be small, a little carefully
fried onion, four cloves, a dozen corns of pepper, and either a slice or
two of lean ham or of smoked beef. When the liquid is reduced nearly
half, strain it, take off the fat, thicken it with a little well made
roux, or, if more convenient, with flour and butter, stirred into it,
when it boils, or with rice flour or arrow-root, mixed with a little
spice, mushroom catsup, or Harvey’s sauce, and a small quantity of lemon
pickle or chili vinegar. Heat the meat slowly in the sauce when it is
ready, but do not allow it to boil. The forcemeat, No. 1, of Chapter
VIII., may be rolled into balls, fried, and served round it. The gravy
should be _well_ seasoned. A little of Liebeg’s extract of beef (see
Chapter I.), or as much good beef broth as may be required for the hash,
will convert this into a really good dish. For preparations which are of
themselves insipid, the _Jewish_ beef, of which we have often already
spoken, is an admirable addition.
TO DRESS COLD CALF’S HEAD OR VEAL
À LA MÂITRE D’HÔTEL. (GOOD.)
(_English Receipt._)
Cut into small delicate slices, or into scollops of equal size,
sufficient cold calf’s head or veal for a dish. Next knead very smoothly
together with a knife two ounces of butter, and a small dessertspoonful
of flour; put these into a stewpan or well tinned saucepan, and keep
them stirred or shaken over a gentle fire until they have simmered for a
minute or two, but do not let them take the slightest colour; then add
to them in very small portions (letting the sauce boil up after each is
poured in) half a pint of pale veal gravy, or of good shin-of-beef
stock, and when the whole is very smoothly blended, and has boiled for a
couple of minutes, mix together and stir to it a tablespoonful of common
vinegar, a dessertspoonful of chili vinegar, a little cayenne, a
tablespoonful of good mushroom catsup, and a _very small_ bit of sugar;
and when the sauce again boils, strew a tablespoonful of minced parsley
over the meat, lay it in, and let it stand by the fire until it is quite
heated through, but do not allow it to boil: if kept just at the
simmering point for ten or twelve minutes it may be served perfectly hot
without. The addition of the mushroom catsup converts this into an
English sauce, and renders it in colour, as well as in flavour, unlike
the French one which bears the same name, and which is acidulated
generally with lemon-juice instead of vinegar. Pickled mushrooms are
sometimes added to the dish: the parsley when it is objected to may be
omitted, and the yolks of two or three eggs mixed with a little cream
may be stirred in, but not allowed to boil, just before the meat is
served. When veal is used for this hash instead of calf’s, it should be
cut into slices not much larger than a shilling, and freed entirely from
fat, sinew, and the brown edges. When neither broth nor gravy is at
hand, a morsel or two of lean ham, and a few of the trimmings or bones
of the head or joint, may be boiled down to supply its place.
Sufficient cold calf’s head, or meat, for a dish; butter, 2 oz.; flour,
1 small dessertspoonful; gravy, or strong broth, 1/2 pint; vinegar, and
mushroom catsup, of each 1 tablespoonful; chili vinegar, 1
dessertspoonful; _small_ bit of sugar; little cayenne, and salt if
needed; parsley, 1 tablespoonful (pickled mushrooms or not at pleasure).
_Obs._—Soles or cod-fish are very good, if raised neatly from the bones,
or _flaked_, and heated in this _Mâitre d’Hôtel_ sauce.
CALF’S HEAD BRAWN.
(_Author’s Receipt._)
The half of a fine large calf’s head with the skin on, will best answer
for this brawn. Take out the brains, and bone it entirely, or get the
butcher do this; rub a little fine salt over, and leave it to drain for
ten or twelve hours; next wipe it dry, and rub it well in every part
with three quarters of an ounce of saltpetre finely powdered (or with an
ounce should the head be _very_ large) and mixed with four ounces of
common salt, and three of bay-salt, also beaten fine; turn the head
daily in this pickle for four or five days, rubbing it a little each
time; and then pour over it four ounces of treacle, and continue to turn
it every day, and baste it with the brine very frequently for a month.
Hang it up for a night to drain, fold it in brown paper, and send it to
be smoked where wood only is burned, from three to four weeks. When
wanted for table, wash and scrape it very clean, but do not soak it; lay
it, with the rind downwards, into a saucepan or stewpan, which will hold
it easily; cover it _well_ with cold water, as it will swell
considerably in the cooking; let it heat rather slowly, skim it
thoroughly when it first begins to simmer, and boil it as gently as
possible from an hour and three quarters to a couple of hours or more,
should it not then be _perfectly_ tender quite through; for unless
sufficiently boiled, the skin, which greatly resembles brawn, will be
unpleasantly tough when cold. When the fleshy side of the head is done,
which will be twenty minutes or half an hour sooner than the outside,
pour the water from it, leaving so much only in the stewpan as will just
cover the gelatinous part, and simmer it until this is thoroughly
tender. The head thus cured is very highly flavoured, and most excellent
eating. The receipt for it is entirely new, having originated with
ourselves. We give the reader, in addition, the result of our _first_
experiment with it, which was entirely successful:—“A half calf’s head,
not very large, without the skin, pickled with three ounces of common
salt, two of bay-salt, half an ounce of saltpetre, one ounce of brown
sugar, and _half an ounce of pepper_, left four days; then three ounces
of treacle added, and the pickling continued for a month; smoked nearly
as long, and boiled between one hour and a half, and two hours.” The
pepper was omitted in our second trial, because it did not improve the
appearance of the dish, although it was an advantage in point of
flavour. Juniper-berries might, we think, be added with advantage, when
they are liked; and cayenne tied in a muslin might supply the place of
the pepper. It is an infinite improvement to have the skin of the head
left on.
TO ROAST A FILLET OF VEAL.
Take out the bone and put a good roll of forcemeat (No. 1, Chapter
VIII.) under the flap, dividing first, with a sharp knife, the skin from
the meat sufficiently to admit the quantity required; secure it well,
truss the veal firmly into good shape, place it at a distance from the
fire at first, and baste it with butter. The outside will have a richer
crust of browning if the meat be washed, wiped tolerably dry, and well
floured before it is laid to the fire. It should be carefully watched,
and basted often, that the fat may not burn. Pour melted butter over it
after it is dished, and serve with it a boiled cheek of bacon and a
lemon. Roast it from three hours and a half, to four hours and a half,
according to its size.
FILLET OF VEAL, AU BÉCHAMEL, WITH OYSTERS.
Roast, in the usual way, a delicate fillet of veal, and in preparing it
for the spit be careful to bind it up tightly, so that no cavity may be
left where the bone has been taken out. While it is at the fire, plump
gently in their own strained liquor, without allowing them to boil, half
a pint of fine native oysters, and, after having freed them from the
beards, set them aside; then boil the beards for fifteen or twenty
minutes in nearly three quarters of a pint of good veal stock, or in
strong veal broth, made for the purpose; strain them out, add the liquor
of the oysters, also passed through a muslin or other fine strainer, and
convert the broth into rich white sauce, of which there should be a full
pint. When the veal is ready to serve, take it from the spit, dish it in
a very hot dish, and cut out quickly from the centre in a cup-like form,
about a pound of the meat, leaving a wide margin round the joint, to be
carved in the usual way. Mince, as rapidly as possible, the white part
of the veal which has been cut from the fillet, and the plumped oysters;
put the whole into the white sauce, which should be ready heated, bring
it to the _point_ of boiling, pour it into the fillet, and send it
immediately to table. The joint should be placed under a well-heated
cover, while the mince is in course of preparation, and be kept near the
fire.
When the knuckle of veal has been sent in with the fillet, a few thick
slices from it may be taken for the sauce; but it should be boiled down
sufficiently early to allow it to cool, and to have every particle of
fat removed from it before it is used. A pound of the meat ought to
make, with the addition of the oyster liquor, sufficient gravy for the
sauce. When expense is not a consideration, the _béchamel_ of Chapter V.
may be made for it, and the fillet may be filled up entirely with whole
oysters heated in it; or these may be intermixed with the veal cut into
shilling-sized collops. Mushroom-buttons, stewed white in butter, can be
substituted for the oysters, when their season is past; and very small
forcemeat balls, delicately fried, may then be piled entirely over the
open part of the fillet.
Persons who may take exception at the idea of _oysters with roast veal_,
as not being in accordance with the common etiquette of the table, are
recommended to give the innovation a trial before they reject its
adoption.
BOILED FILLET OF VEAL.
A small and delicately white fillet should be selected for this purpose.
Bind it round with tape, after having washed it thoroughly; cover it
well with cold water, and bring it gently to boil; watch, and clear off
carefully, the scum as it rises, and be, at the same time, very cautious
not to allow the water to become smoked. Let the meat be _gently
simmered_ from three hours and a half to four and a half, according to
its weight. Send it to table with rich white sauce, and a boiled tongue;
or make for it in the first instance the oyster forcemeat of Chapter
VIII., and serve with the veal a tureen of well-made oyster sauce.
3-1/2 to 4-1/2 hours.
ROAST LOIN OF VEAL.
It is not usual to stuff a loin of veal, but we greatly recommend the
practice, as an infinite improvement to the joint. Make the same
forcemeat as for the fillet; and insert it between the skin and the
flesh just over the ends of the bones. Skewer down the flap, place the
joint at a moderate distance from a sound fire, keep it constantly
basted, and be especially careful not to allow the kidney fat to burn:
to prevent this, and to ensure the good appearance of the joint, a
buttered paper is often fastened round the loin, and removed about half
an hour before it is taken from the fire. It is the fashion in some
counties to serve _egg-sauce_ and brown gravy with roast loin, or breast
of veal.
The cook will scarcely need to be told that she must separate the skin
from the flank, with a sharp knife, quite from the end, to the place
where the forcemeat is to be put, and then skewer the whole very
securely. When the veal is not papered, dredge it well with flour soon
after it is laid to the fire.
2 to 2-1/2 hours.
BOILED LOIN OF VEAL.
If dressed with care and served with good sauces, this, when the meat is
small and white is an excellent dish, and often more acceptable to
persons of delicate habit than roast veal. Take from eight to ten pounds
of the best end of the loin, leave the kidney in with all its fat,
skewer or bind down the flap, lay the meat into cold water, and boil it
_as gently as possible_ from two hours and a quarter to two and a half,
clearing off the scum perfectly, as in dressing the fillet. Send it to
table with well-made oyster sauce, or _béchamel_, or with white sauce
well flavoured with lemon-juice, and with parsley, boiled, pressed dry,
and finely chopped.
2-1/4 to 2-1/2 hours.
STEWED LOIN OF VEAL.
Take part of a loin of veal, the chump end will do; put into a large,
thick, well-tinned iron saucepan, or into a stewpan, about a couple of
ounces of butter, and shake it over a moderate fire until it begins to
brown; flour the veal well all over, lay it into the saucepan, and when
it is of a fine, equal, light brown, pour gradually in veal broth,
gravy, or boiling water to nearly half its depth; add a little sauce,
one or two sliced carrots, a small onion, or more when the flavour is
much liked, and a bunch of parsley; stew the veal very softly for an
hour or rather more; then turn it, and let it stew for nearly or quite
another hour, or longer should it not be perfectly tender. As none of
our receipts have been tried with large, coarse veal, the cooking must
be regulated by that circumstance, and longer time allowed should the
meat be of more than moderate size. Dish the joint, skim all the fat
from the gravy, and strain it over the meat; or keep the joint hot while
it is rapidly reduced to a richer consistency. This is merely a plain
family stew.
BOILED BREAST OF VEAL.
Let both the veal and the sweetbread be washed with exceeding nicety,
cover them with cold water, clear off the scum as it rises, throw in a
_little_ salt, add a bunch of parsley, a large blade of mace, and twenty
white peppercorns; simmer the meat from an hour to an hour and a
quarter, and serve it covered with rich onion sauce. Send it to table
very hot. The sweetbread may be taken up when half done, and curried, or
made into cutlets, or stewed in brown gravy. When onions are objected
to, substitute white sauce and a cheek of bacon for them, or parsley and
butter, if preferred to it.
1 to 1-1/4 hour.
TO ROAST A BREAST OF VEAL.
Let the caul remain skewered over the joint till with within half an
hour of its being ready for table: place it at a moderate distance from
a brisk fire, baste it constantly, and in about an hour and a half
remove the caul, flour the joint, and let it brown. Dish and pour melted
butter over it, and serve it with a cut lemon, and any other of the
usual accompaniments to veal. It may be garnished with fried balls of
the forcemeat (No. 1, Chapter VIII.) about the size of a walnut.
2 to 2-1/2 hours.
TO BONE A SHOULDER OF VEAL, MUTTON, OR LAMB.
[Illustration:
Shoulder of Veal boned.
]
Spread a clean cloth upon a table or dresser, and lay the joint flat
upon it, with the skin downwards; with a sharp knife cut off the flesh
from the inner side nearly down to the blade bone, of which detach the
edges first, then work the knife _under_ it, keeping it always _close to
the bone_, and using all possible precaution not to pierce the outer
skin; when it is in every part separated from the flesh, loosen it from
the socket with the point of the knife, and remove it; or, without
dividing the two bones, cut round the joint until it is freed entirely
from the meat, and proceed to detach the second bone. That of the
knuckle is frequently left in, but for some dishes it is necessary to
take it out; in doing this, be careful not to tear the skin. A most
excellent grill may be made by leaving sufficient meat for it upon the
bones of a shoulder of mutton, when they are removed from the joint: it
will be found very superior to the broiled blade-bone of a _roast_
shoulder, which is so much liked by many people.
STEWED SHOULDER OF VEAL.
(_English Receipt._)
Bone a shoulder of veal, and strew the inside thickly with savoury herbs
minced small; season it well with salt, cayenne, and pounded mace; and
place on these a layer of ham cut in thin slices and freed from rind and
rust. Roll up the veal, and bind it tightly with a fillet; roast it for
an hour and a half, then simmer it gently in good brown gravy for five
hours; add forcemeat balls before it is dished; skim the fat from the
gravy, and serve it with the meat. This receipt, for which we are
indebted to a correspondent on whom we can depend, and which we have not
therefore considered it necessary to test ourselves, is for a joint
which weighs ten pounds before it is boned.
ROAST NECK OF VEAL.
The best end of the neck will make an excellent roast. A forcemeat may
be inserted between the skin and the flesh, by first separating them
with a sharp knife; or the dish may be garnished with the forcemeat in
balls. From an hour and a half to two hours will roast it. Pour melted
butter over it when it is dished, and serve it like other joints. Let it
be floured when first laid to the fire, kept constantly basted, and
always at a sufficient distance to prevent its being scorched.
1-1/2 to 2 hours.
For the forcemeat, see No. 1, Chapter VIII. From 8 to 10 minutes will
fry the balls.
NECK OF VEAL À LA CRÊME.
(_Or Au Béchamel._)
Take the best end of a neck of white and well-fed veal, detach the flesh
from the ends of the bones, cut them sufficiently short to give the
joint a good square form, fold and skewer the skin over them, wrap a
buttered paper round the meat, lay it at a moderate distance from a
clear fire, and keep it well basted with butter for an hour and a
quarter; then remove the paper and continue the basting with a pint, or
more, of _béchamel_ or of rich white sauce, until the veal is
sufficiently roasted, and well encrusted with it. Serve some _béchamel_
under it in the dish, and send it very hot to table. For variety, give
the _béchamel_ in making it a high flavour of mushrooms, and add some
small buttons stewed very white and tender, to the portion reserved for
saucing the joint.
2 to 2-1/4 hours.
VEAL GOOSE.
(_City of London receipt._)
“This is made with the upper part of the flank of a loin of veal (or
sometimes that of the fillet) covered with a stuffing of sage and
onions, then rolled, and roasted or broiled. It is served with brown
gravy and apple sauce, is extremely savoury, and has many admirers.” We
transcribe the exact receipt for this dish, which was procured for us
from a house in the city, which is famed for it. We had it tested with
the skin of the best end of a fine _neck_ of veal, from which it was
pared with something more than an inch depth of the flesh adhering to
it. It was roasted one hour, and answered extremely well. It is a
convenient mode of dressing the flank of the veal for eaters who do not
object to the somewhat coarse savour of the preparation. When the
_tendrons_ or gristles of a breast, or part of a breast of veal, are
required for a separate dish, the remaining portion of the joint may be
dressed in this way after the bones have been taken out; or, without
removing them, the stuffing may be inserted under the skin.
KNUCKLE OF VEAL EN RAGOUT.
Cut in small thick slices the flesh of a knuckle of veal, season it with
a little fine salt and white pepper, flour it lightly, and fry it in
butter to a pale brown, lay it into a very clean stewpan or saucepan,
and just cover it with boiling water; skim it clean, and add to it a
faggot of thyme and parsley, the white part of a head of celery, a small
quantity of cayenne, and a blade or two of mace. Stew it very softly
from an hour and three quarters to two hours and a half. Thicken and
enrich the gravy if needful with rice-flour and mushroom catsup or
Harvey’s sauce, or with a large teaspoonful of flour, mixed with a slice
of butter, a little good store-sauce and a glass of sherry or Madeira.
Fried forcemeat balls of No. 1, Chapter VIII. may be added at pleasure.
With an additional quantity of water, or of broth (made with the bones
of the joint), a pint and a half of young green peas stewed with the
veal for an hour will give an agreeable variety of this dish.
BOILED KNUCKLE OF VEAL.
After the joint has been trimmed and well washed, put it into a vessel
well adapted to it in size, for if it be very large, so much water will
be required that the veal will be deprived of its flavour; it should be
well covered with it, and _very gently_ boiled until it is perfectly
tender in every part, but not so much done as to separate from the bone.
Clear off the scum with scrupulous care when the simmering first
commences, and throw in a small portion of salt; as this, if sparingly
used, will not redden the meat, and will otherwise much improve it.
Parsley and butter is usually both poured over, and sent to table with a
knuckle of veal, and boiled bacon also should accompany it. From the
sinewy nature of this joint, it requires more than the usual time of
cooking, a quarter of an hour to the pound not being sufficient for it.
Veal 6 to 7 lbs.: 2 hours or more.
KNUCKLE OF VEAL WITH RICE.
Pour over a small knuckle of veal rather more than sufficient water to
cover it; bring it slowly to a boil; take off all the scum with great
care, throw in a teaspoonful of salt, and when the joint has simmered
for about half an hour, throw in from eight to twelve ounces of well
washed rice, and stew the veal gently for an hour and a half longer, or
until both the meat and rice are perfectly tender. A seasoning of
cayenne and mace in fine powder with more salt, should it be required,
must be added twenty or thirty minutes before they are served. For a
superior stew good veal broth may be substituted for the water.
Veal, 6 lbs.; water, 3 to 4 pints; salt, 1 teaspoonful: 30 to 40
minutes. Rice, 8 to 12 oz.: 1-1/2 hour.
_Obs._—A quart or even more of full grown green peas added to the veal
as soon as the scum has been cleared off will make a most excellent
stew. It should be well seasoned with white pepper, and the mace should
be omitted. Two or three cucumbers, pared and freed from the seeds, may
be sliced into it when it boils, or four or five young lettuces shred
small may be added instead. Green onions also, when they are liked, may
be used to give it flavour.
SMALL PAIN DE VEAU, OR, VEAL CAKE.
Chop separately and very fine, a pound and a quarter of veal quite free
from fat and skin, and six ounces of beef kidney-suet; add a teaspoonful
of salt, a full third as much of white pepper and of mace or nutmeg,
with the grated rind of half a lemon, and turn the whole well together
with the chopping-knife until it is thoroughly mixed; then press it
smoothly into a small round baking dish, and send it to a _moderate_
oven for an hour and a quarter. Lift it into a clean hot dish, and serve
it plain, or with a little brown gravy in a tureen. Three ounces of the
lean of a boiled ham minced small, will very much improve this cake, of
which the size can be increased at will, and proportionate time allowed
for dressing it. If baked in a _hot_ oven, the meat will shrink to half
its proper size, and be very dry. When done, it should be of a fine
light brown, and like a cake in appearance.
Veal, 1-1/4 lb.; beef-suet, 6 oz.; salt, 1 teaspoonful; pepper and mace,
or nutmeg, 3/4 teaspoonful each; rind of 1/2 lemon; ham (when added) 3
oz.; baked 1-1/4 hour.
BORDYKE VEAL CAKE.
(_Good._)
Take a pound and a half of veal perfectly clear of fat and skin, and
eight ounces of the nicest striped bacon; chop them separately, then mix
them well together with the grated rind of a small lemon, half a
teaspoonful of salt, a fourth as much of cayenne, the third part of a
nutmeg grated, and a half-teaspoonful of freshly pounded mace When it is
pressed into the dish, let it be somewhat higher in the centre than at
the edge; and whether to be served hot or cold, lift it out as soon as
it comes from the oven, and place it on a strainer that the fat may
drain from it; it will keep many days if the under side be dry. The
bacon should be weighed after the rind, and any rust it may exhibit,
have been trimmed from it. This cake is excellent cold, better indeed
than the preceding one; but slices of either, if preferred hot, may be
warmed through in a Dutch oven, or on the gridiron, or in a few
spoonsful of gravy. The same ingredients made into small cakes, well
floured, and slowly fried from twelve to fifteen minutes, then served
with gravy made in the pan as for cutlets, will be found extremely good.
Veal, 1-1/2 lb.; striped bacon, 8 oz.; salt and mace, 1 teaspoonful
each; rind of lemon, 1; third of 1 nutmeg; cayenne, 4 grains; baked
1-1/4 to 1-1/2 hour.
FRICANDEAU OF VEAL. (ENTRÉE).
French cooks always prefer for this dish, which is a common one in their
own country, that part of the fillet to which the fat or udder is
attached;[76] but the flesh of the finer part of the neck or loin,
raised clear from the bones, may be made to answer the purpose nearly or
quite as well, and often much more conveniently, as the meat with us is
not divided for sale as in France; and to purchase the entire fillet for
the sake of the fricandeau would render it exceedingly expensive. Lay
the veal flat upon a table or dresser, with the skin uppermost, and
endeavour, with one stroke of an exceedingly sharp knife, to clear this
off, and to leave the surface of the meat extremely smooth; next lard it
thickly with small _lardoons_, as directed for a pheasant (page 181),
and make one or two incisions in the underside with the point of a
knife, that it may the better imbibe the flavour of the seasonings. Take
a stewpan, of sufficient size to hold the fricandeau, and the proper
quantity of vegetables compactly arranged, without much room being left
round the meat. Put into it a couple of large carrots, cut in thick
slices, two onions of moderate size, two or three roots of parsley,
three bay leaves, two small blades of mace, a branch or two of lemon
thyme, and a little cayenne, or a saltspoonful of white peppercorns.
Raise these high in the centre of the stewpan, so as to support the
meat, and prevent its touching the gravy. Cover them with slices of very
fat bacon, and place the fricandeau gently on them; then pour in as much
good veal broth, or stock, as will nearly cover the vegetables without
reaching to the veal. A calf’s foot, split in two, may with advantage be
laid under them in the first instance. Stew the fricandeau _very_ gently
for upwards of three hours, or until it is found to be extremely tender
when probed with a fine skewer or a larding-pin. Plenty of live embers
must then be put on the lid of the stewpan for ten minutes or a quarter
of an hour, to render the lardoons firm. Lift out the fricandeau and
keep it hot; strain and reduce the gravy very quickly, after having
skimmed off every particle of fat; glaze the veal, and serve it on a
ragout of sorrel, cucumbers, or spinach. This, though rather an
elaborate receipt, is the best we can offer to the reader for a dish,
which is now almost as fashionable with us as it is common on the
Continent. Some English cooks have a very summary method of preparing
it; they merely lard and boil the veal until they can “cut it with a
spoon.” then glaze and serve it with “brown gravy in the dish.” This may
be very tolerable eating, but it will bear small resemblance to the
French fricandeau.
Footnote 76:
Called by them the _noix_.
3-1/2 to 4 hours.
SPRING-STEW OF VEAL.
Cut two pound of veal, free from fat, into small half-inch thick
cutlets; flour them well, and fry them in butter with two small
cucumbers sliced, sprinkled with pepper, and floured, one moderate sized
lettuce, and twenty-four green gooseberries cut open lengthwise and
seeded. When the whole is nicely browned, lift it into a thick saucepan,
and pour gradually into the pan half a pint, or rather more, of boiling
water, broth, or gravy. Add as much salt and pepper as it requires. Give
it a minute’s simmer, and pour it over the meat, shaking it well round
the pan as this is done. Let the veal stew gently from three quarters of
an hour to an hour. A bunch of green onions cut small may be added to
the other vegetables if liked; and the veal will eat better, if slightly
seasoned with salt and pepper before it is floured; a portion of fat can
be left on it if preferred.
Veal 2 lbs.; cucumbers, 2; lettuce, 1; green gooseberries, 24; water or
broth, 1/2 pint or more: 3/4 to 1 hour.
NORMAN HARRICO.
Brown in a stewpan or fry lightly, after having sprinkled them with
pepper, salt, and flour, from two to three pounds of veal cutlets. If
taken from the neck or loin, chop the bones very short, and trim away
the greater portion of the fat. Arrange them as flat as they can be in a
saucepan; give a pint of water a boil in the pan in which they have been
browned, and pour it on them; add a small faggot of parsley, and, should
the flavour be liked, one of green onions also. Let the meat simmer
softly for half an hour; then cover it with small new potatoes which
have had a single boil in water, give the saucepan a shake, and let the
harrico stew very gently for another half hour, or until the potatoes
are quite done, and the veal is tender. When the cutlets are thick and
the potatoes approaching their full size, more time will be required for
the meat, and the vegetables may be at once divided: if extremely young
they will need the previous boil. Before the harrico is served, skim the
fat from it, and add salt and pepper should it not be sufficiently
seasoned. A few bits of lean ham, or shoulder of bacon browned with the
veal, will much improve this dish, and for some tastes, a little acid
will render it more agreeable. Very delicate pork chops may be dressed
in the same way. A cutlet taken from the fillet and freed from fat and
skin, answers best for this dish. Additional vegetables, cooked apart,
can be added to it after it is dished. Peas boiled very green and well
drained, or young carrots sliced and stewed tender in butter, are both
well suited to it.
Veal, 2 to 3 lbs.; water (or gravy), 1 pint; new potatoes 1-1/2 to 2
lbs.; faggot, parsley, and green onions: 1 hour or more.
PLAIN VEAL CUTLETS.
Take them if possible free from bone, and after having trimmed them into
proper shape, beat them with a cutlet-bat or paste-roller until the
fibre of the meat is thoroughly broken; flour them well to prevent the
escape of the gravy, and fry them from twelve to fifteen minutes over a
fire which is not sufficiently fierce to burn them before they are quite
cooked through: they should be of a fine amber brown, and _perfectly
done_. Lift them into a hot dish, pour the fat from the pan, throw in a
slice of fresh butter, and when it is melted, stir or dredge in a
dessertspoonful of flour; keep these shaken until they are
well-coloured, then pour gradually to them a cup of gravy or of boiling
water; add pepper, salt, a little lemon-pickle or juice, give the whole
a boil, and pour it over the cutlets: a few forcemeat balls fried and
served with them, is usually a very acceptable addition to this dish,
even when it is garnished or accompanied with rashers of ham or bacon. A
morsel of _glaze_, or of the jelly of roast meat, should when at hand be
added to the sauce, which a little mushroom powder would further
improve: mushroom sauce, indeed, is considered by many epicures, as
indispensable with veal cutlets. We have recommended in this one
instance that the meat should be thoroughly _beaten_, because we find
that the veal is wonderfully improved by the process, which, however, we
still deprecate for other meat.
12 to 15 minutes.
VEAL CUTLETS A L’INDIENNE, OR INDIAN FASHION. (ENTRÉE.)
Mix well together four ounces of very fine stale bread-crumbs, a
teaspoonful of salt, and a tablespoonful of the best currie powder. Cut
down into small well-shaped cutlets or collops, two pounds of veal free
from fat, skin, or bone; beat the slices flat, and dip them first into
some beaten egg-yolks, and then into the seasoned crumbs; moisten them
again with egg, and pass them a second time through bread-crumbs. When
all are ready, fry them in three or four ounces of butter over a
moderate fire, from twelve to fourteen minutes. For sauce, mix smoothly
with a knife, a teaspoonful of flour and an equal quantity of
currie-powder, with a small slice of butter; shake these in the pan for
about five minutes, pour to them a cup of gravy or boiling water, add
salt and cayenne if required and the strained juice of half a lemon;
simmer the whole till well flavoured, and pour it round the cutlets. A
better plan is, to have some good currie sauce ready prepared to send to
table with this dish; which may likewise be served with only well-made
common cutlet gravy, from the pan, when much of the pungent flavour of
the currie-powder is not desired.
Bread-crumbs, 4 oz.; salt, 1 teaspoonful; currie powder, 1
tablespoonful; veal, 2 lbs.: 12 to 14 minutes.
_Obs._—These cutlets may be broiled; they should then be well beaten
first, and dipped into clarified butter instead of egg before they are
passed through the curried seasoning.
VEAL CUTLETS, OR COLLOPS, À LA FRANÇAISE. (ENTRÉE.)
Cut the veal into small, thin, round collops of equal size, arrange them
evenly in a sauté-pan, or in a small frying-pan, and sprinkle a little
fine salt, white pepper, and grated nutmeg on them. Clarify, or merely
dissolve in a clean saucepan with a gentle degree of heat, an ounce or
two of good butter, and pour it equally over the meat. Set the pan aside
until the dinner-hour, then fry the collops over a clear fire, and when
they are lightly browned, which will be in from four to five minutes,
lift them into a hot dish, and sauce them with a little _Espagnole_, or
with a gravy made quickly in the pan, and flavoured with lemon-juice and
cayenne. They are excellent even without any sauce.
3 to 4 minutes.
SCOTCH COLLOPS. (ENTRÉE.)
Prepare the veal as for the preceding receipt, but dip the collops into
beaten egg and seasoned bread-crumbs, and fry them directly in good
butter, over a moderate fire, of a light golden brown; drain them well
in lifting them from the pan, and sauce them like the collops _à la
Française_.
VEAL CUTLETS À LA MODE DE LONDRES, OR, LONDON FASHION. (ENTRÉE.)
Raise the flesh entire from the upper side of the best end of a neck of
veal, free it from the skin, and from the greater portion of the fat,
slice it equally into cutlets little more than a quarter of an inch
thick, brush them with egg, strew them with fine bread-crumbs, and fry
them of a light brown. Toast, or fry apart as many small slices of bacon
as there are cutlets, and let them be trimmed nearly to the same shape;
place them alternately on their edges round the inside of a hot dish (so
as to form a sort of chain), and pour into the middle some rich gravy
made in the pan, and very slightly flavoured with eschalot; or
substitute for this some good brown mushroom sauce. Savoury herbs,
grated lemon-rind, nutmeg or mace, salt, and white pepper or cayenne,
should be mixed with the bread-crumbs, in the proportions directed at
page 213, for cutlets of calf’s head; or they may be varied at pleasure.
A cheek of bacon is best adapted to this dish.
SWEETBREADS SIMPLY DRESSED. (ENTRÉE.)
In whatever way sweetbreads are dressed, they should first be well
soaked in lukewarm water, then thrown into boiling water to _blanch_
them, as it is called, and to render them firm. If lifted out after they
have boiled from five to ten minutes according to their size, and laid
immediately into fresh spring water to cool, their colour will be the
better preserved. They may then be gently stewed for three quarters of
an hour in veal gravy, which with the usual additions of cream, lemon,
and egg-yolks, may be converted into a fricassee sauce for them when
they are done; or they may be lifted from it, _glazed_, and served with
good Spanish gravy; or, the glazing being omitted, they may be sauced
with the sharp _Maître d’Hôtel_ sauce of page 117. They may also be
simply floured, and roasted in a Dutch oven, being often basted with
butter, and frequently turned. A full sized sweetbread, after having
been blanched, will require quite three quarters of an hour to dress it.
Blanched 5 to 10 minutes. Stewed 3/4 hour or more.
SWEETBREAD CUTLETS. (ENTRÉE.)
Boil the sweetbreads for half an hour in water or veal broth, and when
they are perfectly cold, cut them into slices of equal thickness, brush
them with yolk of egg, and dip them into very fine bread-crumbs seasoned
with salt, cayenne, grated lemon-rind, and mace; fry them in butter of a
fine light brown, arrange them in a dish placing them high in the
centre, and pour _under_ them a gravy made in the pan, thickened with
mushroom powder and flavoured with lemon-juice; or, in lieu of this,
sauce them with some rich brown gravy, to which a glass of sherry or
Madeira has been added. When it can be done conveniently, take as many
slices of a cold boiled tongue as there are sweetbread cutlets; pare the
rind from them, trim them into good shape, and dress them with the
sweetbreads, after they have been egged and seasoned in the same way;
and place each cutlet upon a slice of tongue when they are dished. For
variety, substitute _croutons_ of fried bread stamped out to the size of
the cutlets with a round or fluted paste or cake cutter. The crumb of a
stale loaf, very evenly sliced, is best for the purpose.
STEWED CALF’S FEET.
(_Cheap and Good._)
This is an excellent family dish, highly nutritious, and often very
inexpensive, as the feet during the summer are usually sold at a low
rate. Wash them with nicety, divide them at the joint, and split the
claws; arrange them closely in a thick stewpan or saucepan, and pour in
as much cold water as will cover them about half an inch: three pints
will be sufficient for a couple of large feet. When broth or stock is at
hand, it is good economy to substitute it for the water, as by this
means a portion of strong and well-flavoured jellied gravy will be
obtained for general use, the full quantity not being needed as sauce
for the feet. The whole preparation will be much improved by laying a
thick slice of the lean of an unboiled ham, knuckle of bacon, hung beef,
or the end of a dried tongue, at the bottom of the pan, before the other
ingredients are added; or, when none of these are at hand, by supplying
the deficiency with a few bits of lean beef or veal: the feet being of
themselves insipid, will be much more palatable with one or the other of
these additions. Throw in from half to three quarters of a teaspoonful
of salt when they begin to boil, and after the scum has been all cleared
off, add a few branches of parsley, a little celery, one small onion or
more, stuck with half a dozen cloves, a carrot or two, a large blade of
mace, and twenty corns of whole pepper; stew them softly until the flesh
will part entirely from the bones; take it from them, strain part of the
gravy, and skim off all the fat, flavour it with catsup or any other
store sauce, and thicken it, when it boils, with arrow-root or flour and
butter; put in the flesh of the feet, and serve the dish as soon as the
whole is very hot. A glass of wine, a little lemon juice, and a few
forcemeat balls, will convert this into a very superior stew; a handful
of mushroom-buttons also simmered in it for half an hour before it is
dished, will vary it agreeably.
Calf’s feet (large), 2; water, 3 pints; salt, 1/2 to 1/3 teaspoonful;
onions, 1 to 3; cloves, 6; peppercorns, 20; mace, large blade; little
celery and parsley; carrots, 1 or 2: stewed softly, 2-1/2 to 3-1/4
hours. Mushroom catsup, 1 tablespoonful; flour, or arrow-root, 1 large
teaspoonful; butter, 1 to 2 oz. Cayenne, to taste.
CALF’S LIVER STOVED, OR STEWED.
From three to four pounds of the best part of the liver will be
sufficient for a dish of moderate size. First lard it quite through by
the directions of page 181, with large lardoons, rolled in a seasoning
of spice, and of savoury herbs very finely minced; then lay it into a
stewpan or saucepan just fitted to its size, and pour in about half a
pint of broth or gravy; heat it very gently, and throw in, when it
begins to simmer, a sliced carrot, a small onion cut in two, a small
bunch of parsley, and a blade of mace; stew the liver as softly as
possible over a very slow fire from two hours and a half to three hours;
thicken the gravy with a little brown roux (see page 107), or with a
dessertspoonful of browned flour; add a couple of glasses of white wine,
and a little spice if needed, and serve it very hot, after having taken
out the herbs and vegetable.
The liver may be stewed without being larded; it may likewise be browned
all over in a carefully made _roux_, before the gravy is poured to it:
this must then be made to boil, and be added in small portions, the
stewpan being well shaken round as each is thrown in. The wine can be
altogether omitted; or a wineglassful of port mixed with a little
lemon-juice, may take the place of sherry. After the liver has been
wiped very dry, minced herbs may be strewed thickly over it before it is
laid into the stewpan; and it may be served in its own gravy, or with a
_sauce piquante_.
Liver, 3 to 4 lbs: 2 to 3 hours.
TO ROAST CALF’S LIVER.
Take the whole or part of a fine white sound liver, and either lard it
as a fricandeau upon the surface, or with large strips of
highly-seasoned bacon in the inside (see Larding, page 181); or should
either of these modes be objected to, merely wrap it in a well buttered
paper, and roast it from an hour to an hour and a quarter at a moderate
distance from a clear fire, keeping it constantly basted. Remove the
paper, and froth the liver well from ten to fifteen minutes before it is
done. It should be served with a sauce of some piquancy, such as a
_poivrade_, or brown eschalot, in addition to some good gravy. French
cooks steep the liver over-night in vinegar, with a sliced onion and
branches of savoury herbs laid over it: this whitens and renders it
firm. As an economical mode, some small bits of the liver may be trimmed
off, floured, and lightly fried with a sliced onion, and stewed down for
gravy in three quarters of a pint of water which has been poured into
the pan, with the addition of a few peppercorns, and a small bunch of
herbs. A seasoning of salt must not be forgotten, and a little lemon
pickle, or juice, would generally be considered an improvement.
1 to 1-1/4 hour.
BLANQUETTE OF VEAL OR LAMB, WITH MUSHROOMS.
(ENTRÉE.)
Slice very thin the white part of some cold veal, divide and trim it
into scallops not larger than a shilling, and lay it into a clean
saucepan or stewpan. Wipe with a bit of new flannel and a few grains of
salt, from a quarter to half a pint of mushroom-buttons, and slice them
into a little butter which just begins to simmer; stew them in it from
twelve to fifteen minutes, without allowing them to take the slightest
colour; then lift them out and lay them on the veal. Pour boiling to
them a pint of _sauce tournée_ (see page 108); let the _blanquette_
remain near, but not close to the fire for awhile: bring it nearer, heat
it slowly, and when it is on the point of boiling mix a spoonful or two
of the sauce from it with the well beaten yolks of four fresh eggs; stir
them to the remainder; add the strained juice of half a small lemon;
shake the saucepan above the fire until the sauce is just set, and serve
the _blanquette_ instantly.
Cold veal, 3/4 lb.; mushrooms, 1/4 to 1/2 pint: stewed in 1-1/2 oz.
butter, 12 to 15 minutes. Sauce _tournée_, or thickened veal gravy, 1
pint; yolks of eggs, 4; lemon-juice, 1 tablespoonful.
_Obs._—Any white meat may be served _en blanquette_. The mushrooms are
not indispensable for it, but they are always a great improvement. White
sauce substituted for the thickened veal gravy will at once convert this
dish into an inexpensive English fricassee. Mace, salt, and cayenne,
must be added to either preparation, should it require seasoning.
MINCED VEAL.
When there is neither gravy nor broth at hand, the bones and trimmings
of the meat must be boiled down to furnish what is required for the
mince. As cold meat is very light in weight, a pound of the white part
of the veal will be sufficient for a dish, and for this quantity a pint
of gravy will be needed. Break down the bones of the joint well, add the
trimmings of the meat, a small bunch of savoury herbs, a slice or two of
carrot or of celery, a blade of mace, a few white peppercorns, and a bit
or two of lean ham, boiled, or unboiled if it can be had, as either will
improve the flavour of the mince. Pour to these a pint and a half of
water, and stew them gently for a couple of hours; then strain off the
gravy, let it cool, and clear it entirely from the fat. Cut the white
part of the veal small with a very sharp knife, after all the gristle
and brown edges have been trimmed away. Some persons like a portion of
fat minced with it, others object to the addition altogether. Thicken
the gravy with a teaspoonful and a half of flour smoothly mixed with a
small slice of butter, season the veal with a saltspoonful or more of
salt, and half as much white pepper and grated nutmeg, or pounded mace;
add the lightly-grated rind of half a small lemon; mix the whole well,
put it into the gravy, and heat it thoroughly by the side of the fire
without allowing it to boil; serve it with pale toasted sippets in and
round the dish. A spoonful or two of cream is always an improvement to
this mince.
MINCED VEAL AND OYSTERS.
The most elegant mode of preparing this dish is to mince about a pound
of the whitest part of the inside of a cold roast fillet or loin of
veal, to heat it without allowing it to boil, in a pint of rich white
sauce, or _béchamel_, and to mix with it at the moment of serving, three
dozens of small oysters ready bearded, and plumped in their own strained
liquor, which is also to be added to the mince; the requisite quantity
of salt, cayenne, and mace should be sprinkled over the veal before it
is put into the sauce. Garnish the dash with pale fried sippets of
bread, or with _fleurons_[77] of brioche, or of puff-paste. Nearly half
a pint of mushrooms minced, and stewed white in a little butter, may be
mixed with the veal instead of the oysters; or should they be very small
they may be added to it whole: from ten to twelve minutes will be
sufficient to make them tender. Balls of delicately fried
oyster-forcemeat laid round the dish will give another good variety of
it.
Footnote 77:
_Fleurons_, flowers, or flower-like figures, cut out with tin shapes.
Veal minced, 1 lb.; white sauce, 1 pint; oysters, 3 dozen, with their
liquor; or mushrooms, 1/2 pint, stewed in butter 10 to 12 minutes.
VEAL-SYDNEY. (GOOD.)
Pour boiling on an ounce and a half of fine bread-crumbs nearly half a
pint of good veal stock or gravy, and let them stand till cool; mix with
them then, two ounces of beef-suet shred very small, half a pound of
cold roast veal carefully trimmed from the brown edges, skin, and fat,
and finely minced; the grated rind of half a lemon, nearly a teaspoonful
of salt, a little cayenne, the third of a teaspoonful of mace or nutmeg,
and four well-beaten eggs. Whisk up the whole well together, put it into
a buttered dish, and bake it from three quarters of an hour to an hour.
Cream may be used instead of gravy when more convenient, but this last
will give the better flavour. A little clarified butter put into the
dish before the other ingredients are poured in will be an improvement.
Bread-crumbs, 1-1/2 oz.; gravy or cream, nearly 1/2 pint; beef-suet, 2
oz.; cold veal, 1/2 lb.; rind of 1/2 lemon; salt, small teaspoonful;
third as much mace and nutmeg; little cayenne; eggs, 4 large or 5 small:
3/4 to 1 hour.
FRICASSEED VEAL.
Divide into small, thick, handsome slices of equal size, about a couple
of pounds of veal, quite free from fat, bone, and skin; dissolve a
couple of ounces of butter in a wide stewpan, and just as it begins to
boil lay in the veal, and shake it over the fire until it is quite firm
on both sides, but do not allow it to take the slightest colour. Stir in
a tablespoonful of flour, and when it is well mixed with the cutlets,
pour gradually to them, shaking the pan often, sufficient boiling veal
gravy to almost cover them. Stew them gently from fifteen to sixteen
minutes, or longer should they not be perfectly tender. Add a flavouring
of mace, some salt, a quarter-pint of rich cream, a couple of egg-yolks,
and a little lemon-juice, observing, when the last are added, the
directions given for a _blanquette_ of veal, page 229. Strips of
lemon-rind can be stewed in the gravy at pleasure. Two or three dozens
of mushroom-buttons, added twenty minutes before it is served, will much
improve this fricassée.
SMALL ENTRÉES OF SWEETBREADS, CALF’S BRAINS AND EARS, &c. &c.
For tables of which the service consists rather of a great variety of
light dishes (_entrées_) than of substantial English fare, the ears,
brains, sweetbreads, gristles or _tendrons_, and the tail of a calf, may
be dressed in many different ways to supply them; but they require a
really good style of cookery, and many adjuncts to render them available
for the purpose, as they do not possess much decided natural flavour,
and their insipidity would be apt to tire if it were not relieved by the
mode of preparing them. We shall give some few especial receipts for
them in the chapter on Foreign Cookery, should sufficient space remain
open for us to admit them; and insert here only such slight general
directions as may suffice for preparing some of them in a simple form;
as they are not in reality of first-rate importance. All of them may be
served with good curried, or highly-flavoured tomato-sauce, after having
been stewed in strong broth or gravy. The brains and sweetbreads cut
into small dice or scallops, and mixed with _béchamel_, or with common
white sauce, may be used to fill small _vol-au-vents_, or patty cases.
The ears are usually filled in part with forcemeat, or a preparation of
the brains, and placed upright when dished; and the upper part is cut
into narrow fringe-like strips. For “_Tendrons de Veau_,” and “Breast of
veal rolled and stewed,” the reader is referred to Chapter XXXIV.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER XII.
=Mutton.=
[Illustration]
No.
1. Leg.
2. Best End of Loin.
3. Chump End of Loin.
4. Neck, Best End.
5. Neck, Scrag End.
6. Shoulder.
7. Breast.
A Saddle is the Two Loins.
A Chine, the Two Necks.
Mutton is best suited for table in autumn, winter, and early spring. It
is not considered quite so good when grass-lamb is in full season, nor
during the sultry months of summer.
TO CHOOSE MUTTON.
THE best mutton is small-boned, plump, finely-grained, and short-legged;
the lean of a dark, rather than of a bright hue, and the fat white and
clear: when this is yellow, the meat is rank, and of bad quality. Mutton
is not considered by experienced judges to be in perfection until it is
nearly or quite five years old; but to avoid the additional expense of
feeding the animal so long, it is commonly brought into the market at
three years old. The leg and the loin are the superior joints; and the
preference would probably be given more frequently to the latter, but
for the superabundance of its fat, which renders it a not very
economical dish. The haunch consists of the leg and the part of the loin
adjoining it; the saddle, of the two loins together, or of the undivided
_back_ of the sheep: these last are always roasted, and are served
usually at good tables, or for company-dinners, instead of the smaller
joints. The shoulder, dressed in the ordinary way, is not very highly
esteemed, but when boned, rolled, and filled with forcemeat, it is of
more presentable appearance, and to many tastes, far better eating;
though some persons prefer it in its natural form, accompanied by stewed
onions. It is occasionally boiled or stewed, and covered with rich onion
sauce. The flesh of that part of the neck which is commonly called the
“best end,” or the _back ribs_, and which adjoins the loin, is the most
succulent and tender portion of the sheep, and makes an excellent small
roast, and is extremely good served as cutlets, after being divested of
the superabundant fat. It is likewise very frequently boiled; but so
cooked it makes but an unsightly and insipid dish, though an idea
prevails in this country that it is a very wholesome one. Cutlets (or
_chops_, as the butchers term them) are commonly taken from the loin,
and are generally charged at a higher rate than _joints_ of mutton, in
consequence, probably, of the constant demand for them. They may
likewise be cut from the saddle, but will then be very large, and of no
better quality than when the two loins which form the saddle are divided
in the usual way, though a certain degree of fashion has of late been
accorded to them.[78] The scrag, or that part of it which joins the
head, is seldom used for any other purpose than making broth, and should
be taken off before the joint is dressed. Cutlets from the thick end of
the loin are commonly preferred to any others, but they are frequently
taken likewise from the best end of the neck (sometimes called the
_back-ribs_) and from the middle of the leg. Mutton kidneys are dressed
in various ways, and are excellent in many. The trotters and the head of
a sheep may be converted into very good dishes, but they are scarcely
worth the trouble which is required to render them palatable. The loin
and the leg are occasionally cured and smoked like hams or bacon.
Footnote 78:
Many years since, these “_saddle-back_” cutlets were supplied to us by
a country butcher, and though of very fine South Down mutton, had no
particular importance attached to them, nor were they considered as
remarkably new.
TO ROAST A HAUNCH OF MUTTON.[79]
Footnote 79:
We recommend Liebig’s directions for roasting (page 171), to be
applied here, and for the joints which follow.
This joint should be well kept, and when the larder-accommodations of a
house not are good, the butcher should be requested to hang it the
proper time. Roast it carefully at a large sound fire, and let it remain
at a considerable distance for at least a couple of hours; then draw it
nearer, but never sufficiently so to burn or injure the fat. Keep it
constantly basted; flour it soon after it is laid to the fire, instead
of frothing it, as this latter mode is not generally relished, though
fashion is in its favour. In from three and a half to four hours, the
haunch will be done, and it will require something less of time when not
kept back at first, as we have advised. Serve it with a good
_Espagnole_, or with plain mutton-gravy and currant-jelly. This joint,
when the meat is of very fine quality, may be dressed and served exactly
like venison.
3-1/2 to 4 hours. 5 hours or more by the _slow_ method.
ROAST SADDLE OF MUTTON.
This is an excellent joint, though not considered a very economical one.
It is usual for the butcher to raise the skin from it before it is sent
in, and to skewer it on again, that in the roasting the juices of the
meat may be better preserved, and the fat prevented from taking too much
colour, as this should be but delicately browned. In less than half an
hour before the mutton is done, remove the skin, and flour the joint
lightly after having basted it well. Our own great objection to frothed
meat would lead us to recommend that the skin should be taken off half
an hour earlier, and that the joint should be kept at sufficient
distance from the fire to prevent the possibility of the fat being
burned; and that something more of time should be allowed for the
roasting. With constant basting, great care, and good management, the
cook may always ensure the proper appearance of this, or of any other
joint (except, perhaps, of a haunch of venison) without having recourse
to papering or pasting, or even to replacing the skin; but when
unremitted attention cannot be given to this one part of the dinner, it
is advisable to take all precautions that can secure it from being
spoiled.
2-1/2 to 2-3/4 hours. More if _very_ large.
TO ROAST A LEG OF MUTTON.
In a cool and airy larder a leg of mutton will hang many days with
advantage, if the kernel be taken out, and the flap wiped very dry when
it is first brought in; and it is never tender when freshly killed: in
warm weather it should be well dredged with pepper to preserve it from
the flies. If washed before it is put upon the spit, it should be wiped
as dry as possible afterwards, and well floured soon after it is laid to
the fire. When the excellence of the joint is more regarded than the
expense of fuel, it should be roasted by what we have denominated the
_slow method_; that is to say, it should be kept at a considerable
distance from the fire, and remain at it four hours instead of two: it
may be drawn nearer for the last twenty or thirty minutes to give it
colour. The gravy will flow from it in great abundance when it is cut,
and the meat will be very superior to that roasted in the usual way.
When this plan is not pursued, the mutton should still be kept quite a
foot from the fire until it is heated through, and never brought
sufficiently near to scorch or to harden any part. It should be
_constantly basted_ with its own fat, for if this be neglected, all
other precautions will fail to ensure a good roast; and after it is
dished a little fine salt should be sprinkled lightly on it, and a
spoonful or two of boiling water ladled over. This is the most palatable
mode of serving it, but it may be frothed when it is preferred so,
though we would rather recommend that the flour should be dredged on in
the first instance, as it then prevents the juices of the meat from
escaping, and forms a savoury coating to it; while the raw taste which
it so often retains with mere frothing is to many eaters especially
objectionable.
Leg of mutton, 7 to 8 lbs.: slow method 4 hours, common method 1-3/4 to
2 hours.
_Obs._—Many common cooks injure their roasts exceedingly by pouring
abundance of hot water over them, “_to make gravy_” as they call it.
This should never be done. The use of any portion may, perhaps, be
rationally objected to; but when the joint is not carefully cooked it is
sometimes very dry without it. A few spoonsful of Liebeg’s extract of
meat will supply excellent gravy for this, or for any other dish of
roasted meat.
BRAISED LEG OF MUTTON.
Take out the bone as far as the first joint by the directions of the
following receipt; roll some large strips of bacon in a seasoning of
mixed spice, and of savoury herbs minced extremely fine or dried and
reduced to powder, and with these lard the inside of the boned portion
of the joint; or fill the cavity with forcemeat highly seasoned with
eschalot or garlic. Sew up the meat, and place it in a braising-pan or
ham-kettle nearly of its size, with slices of bacon under and over it,
two or three onions, four or five carrots, two bay leaves, a large bunch
of savoury herbs, a few bones, or bits of undressed mutton or veal, and
about three quarters of a pint of gravy. Stew the meat as softly as
possible from four to five hours, and keep live embers on the pan (or,
as this mode of cooking is not general in England, set the mutton, if it
can be done conveniently, into a moderately-heated oven, after having
luted the edges of the vessel in which it is arranged with a bit of
coarse paste); lift it out, strain the gravy, reduce it quickly to
glaze, and brush the meat with it; or merely strain, free it from fat,
and pour it over the mutton. White beans (_haricots blancs_), boiled
tender and well drained, or a mild ragout of garlic or eschalots, may be
laid in the dish under it. The joint can be braised equally well without
any part of it being boned.
3 to 5 hours.
LEG OF MUTTON BONED AND FORCED.
Select for this dish a joint of South Down or of any other
delicate-sized mutton, which has been kept sufficiently long to render
it very tender. Lay it on a clean cloth spread upon a table, and turn
the underside upwards. With a sharp-edged boning-knife cut through the
middle of the skin, from the knuckle to the first joint, and raise it
from the flesh on the side along which the bone runs, until the knife is
just above it, then cut through the flesh down to the bone; work the
knife round it in every part till you reach the socket; next remove the
flat bone from the large end of the joint, and pass the knife freely
round the remaining one, as it is not needful to take it out clear of
the meat; when you again reach the middle joint, loosen the skin round
it with great care, and the two bones can then be drawn out without
being divided. This being done, fill the cavities with the forcemeat,
No. 1. (Chapter VIII.), adding to it a somewhat high seasoning of
eschalot, garlic, or onion; or cut out with the bone, nearly a pound of
the inside of the mutton, chop it fine with six ounces of delicate
striped bacon, and mix with it thoroughly three quarters of an ounce of
parsley, and half as much of thyme and winter savoury, all minced
extremely small; a half teaspoonful of pepper (or a third as much of
cayenne); the same of mace, salt, and nutmeg, and either the grated rind
of a small lemon, or four eschalots finely shred. When the lower part of
the leg is filled, sew the skin neatly together where it has been cut
open, and tie the knuckle round tightly, to prevent the escape of the
gravy. Replace the flat bone at the large end, and with a long needle
and twine, draw the edges of the meat together over it. If it can be
done conveniently, it is better to roast the mutton thus prepared in a
cradle spit or upon a bottle-jack, with the knuckle downwards. Place it
at first far from the fire, and keep it constantly basted. It will
require nearly or quite three hours’ roasting. Remove the twine before
it is served, and send it very hot to table with some rich brown gravy.
A BOILED LEG OF MUTTON WITH TONGUE AND TURNIPS.
(_An excellent Receipt._)
Trim into handsome form a well-kept, but perfectly sweet leg of mutton,
of middling weight; wash, but do not soak it; lay it into a vessel as
nearly of its size as convenient, and pour in rather more than
sufficient cold water[80] to cover it; set it over a good fire, and when
it begins to boil take off the scum, and continue to do so until no more
appears; throw in a tablespoonful of salt (after the first skimming),
which will assist to bring it to the surface, and as soon as the liquor
is clear, add two moderate-sized onions stuck with a dozen cloves, a
large faggot of parsley, thyme, and winter savoury, and four or five
large carrots, and half an hour afterwards as many turnips. Draw the pan
to the side of the fire, and let the mutton be simmered _gently_ from
two hours to two and a half, from the time of its first beginning to
boil. Serve it with caper, brown cucumber, or oyster sauce. If stewed
_softly_, as we have directed, the mutton will be found excellent
dressed thus; otherwise, it will but resemble the unpalatable and
ragged-looking joints of fast-boiled meat, so constantly sent to table
by common English cooks. Any undressed bones of veal, mutton, or beef,
boiled with the joint will improve it much, and the liquor will then
make excellent soup or _bouillon_. A small smoked ox-tongue boiled very
tender will generally be much approved as an accompaniment to the
mutton, though it is out of the usual course to serve them together:
innovation on established usages is, however, sometimes to be
recommended. The tongue should be garnished with well-prepared mashed
turnips, moulded with a tablespoon into the form of a half-egg, and sent
to table as hot as possible; or the turnips may be dished apart.
Footnote 80:
We have left this receipt unaltered, instead of applying to it Baron
Liebeg’s directions for his improved method of boiling meat, because
his objections to the immersion of the joint in _cold_ water are
partially obviated, by its being placed immediately over a sound fire,
and heated quickly; and the mutton is very good thus dressed.
2 to 2-1/2 hours.
ROAST OR STEWED FILLET OF MUTTON.
Cut some inches from either end of a large and well-kept leg of mutton,
and leave the fillet shaped like one of veal. Remove the bone, and fill
the cavity with forcemeat (No. 1, Chapter VIII.), which may be flavoured
with a little minced eschalot, when its flavour is liked: more forcemeat
may be added by detaching the skin sufficiently on the flap side to
admit it. When thus prepared, the fillet may be roasted, and served with
currant-jelly and brown gravy, or with only melted butter poured over
it; or it may be stewed gently for nearly or quite four hours, in a pint
of gravy or broth, after having been floured and browned all over in a
couple of ounces of butter: it must then be turned every hour that it
may be equally done. Two or three small onions, a faggot of herbs, a
couple of carrots sliced, four or five cloves, and twenty whole
peppercorns can be added to it at will.
Roasted 2 hours, or stewed 4 hours.
_Obs._—At a large fire, half an hour less of time will roast the mutton
sufficiently for English taste in general.
TO ROAST A LOIN OF MUTTON.
The flesh of the loin of mutton is superior to that of the leg, when
roasted; but to the frugal housekeeper this consideration is usually
overbalanced by the great weight of fat attached to it; this, however,
when economy is more considered than appearance, may be pared off and
melted down for various kitchen uses. When thus reduced in size, the
mutton will be soon roasted. If it is to be dressed in the usual way,
the butcher should be desired to take off the skin; and care should be
taken to preserve the fat from being ever so lightly burned: it should
be managed, indeed, in the same manner as the saddle, in every respect,
and carved also in the same way, either in its entire length or in
oblique slices.
Without the fat, 1 to 1-1/2 hour; with 1-1/4 to 1-3/4 hour.
TO DRESS A LOIN OF MUTTON LIKE VENISON.
Skin and bone a loin of mutton, and lay it into a stewpan, or
braising-pan, with a pint of water, a large onion stuck with a dozen
cloves, half a pint of port wine and a spoonful of vinegar; add, when it
boils, a small faggot of thyme and parsley, and some pepper and salt:
let it stew three hours, and turn it often. Make some gravy of the
bones, and add it at intervals to the mutton when required. This receipt
comes to us so strongly recommended by persons who have partaken
frequently of the dish, that we have not thought it needful to prove it
ourselves.
3 hours.
ROAST NECK OF MUTTON.
This is a very favourite joint in many families, the flesh being more
tender and succulent than that even of the loin; and when only a small
roast is required, the best end of the neck of mutton, or the middle, if
divested of a large portion of the fat and cut into good shape, will
furnish one of appropriate size and of excellent quality. Let the ends
be cut quite even and the bones short, so as to give a handsome
squareness of form to the meat. The butcher, if directed to do so, will
chop off the chine bone, and divide the long bones sufficiently at the
joints to prevent any difficulty in separating them at table. From four
to five pounds weight of the neck will require from an hour to an hour
and a quarter of roasting at a clear and brisk, but not _fierce_, fire.
It should be placed at a distance until it is heated through, and then
moved nearer, and kept _thoroughly basted_ until it is done. Tomatas
baked or roasted may be sent to table with it; or a little plain gravy
and red currant-jelly; or it may be served without either.
When the entire joint, with the exception of the scrag-end (which should
always be taken off), is cooked, proportionate time must be allowed for
it.
TO ROAST A SHOULDER OF MUTTON.
Flour it well, and baste it constantly with its own dripping; do not
place it close enough to the fire for the fat to be in the slightest
degree burned, or even too deeply browned. An hour and a half will roast
it, if it be of moderate size. Stewed onions are often sent to table
with it. A shoulder of mutton is sometimes boiled, and smothered with
onion sauce.
1-1/2 hour.
THE CAVALIER’S BROIL.
Half roast or stew, or parboil, a small, or moderate-sized shoulder of
mutton; lift it into a hot dish, score it on both sides down to the
bone, season it well with fine salt and cayenne or pepper, and finish
cooking it upon the gridiron over a brisk fire. Skim the fat from any
gravy that may have flowed from it, and keep the dish which contains it
quite hot to receive the joint again. Warm a cupful of pickled
mushrooms, let a part of them be minced, and strew them over the broil
when it is ready to be served; arrange the remainder round it, and send
it instantly to table. The reader will scarcely need to be told that
this is an excellent dish.
FORCED SHOULDER OF MUTTON.
Cut off all the flesh from the inside of the joint down to the
blade-bone, and reserve it for a separate dish. It may be lightly
browned with some turnips or carrots, or both, and made into a small
harrico or stewed simply in its own gravy, or it will make in part, a
pie or pudding. Bone the mutton (see page 219), flatten it on a table,
lay over the inside some thin and neatly-trimmed slices of striped
bacon, and spread over them some good veal forcemeat (No. 1, Chapter
VIII.) to within an inch of the outer edge; roll the joint up tightly
towards the knuckle (of which the bone may be left in or not, at
pleasure), secure it well with tape or twine, and stew it gently in good
gravy, from four hours to four and a half.
4 to 4-1/2 hours.
_Obs._—In France it is usual to substitute _sausage-meat_ for the bacon
and veal stuffing in this dish, but it does not appear to us to be well
suited to it.
MUTTON CUTLETS STEWED IN THEIR OWN GRAVY.
(_Good._)
Trim the fat entirely from some cutlets taken from the loin; just dip
them into cold water, dredge them moderately with pepper, and
plentifully on both sides with flour; rinse a thick iron saucepan with
spring water, and leave three or four tablespoonsful in it; arrange the
cutlets in one flat layer, if it can be done conveniently, and place
them over a very gentle fire; throw in a little salt when they begin to
stew, and let them simmer as _softly as possible_, but without ceasing,
from an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half. If dressed with great
care, which they require, they will be equally tender, easy of
digestion, and nutritious; and being at the same time free from
everything which can disagree with the most delicate stomach, the
receipt will be found a valuable one for invalids. The mutton should be
of good quality, but the excellence of the dish mainly depends on its
being _most gently stewed_; for if allowed to boil quickly all the gravy
will be dried up, and the meat will be unfit for table. The cutlets must
be turned when they are half done: two or three spoonsful of water or
gravy may be added to them should they not yield sufficient moisture; or
if closely arranged in a single layer at first, water may be poured in
to half their depth. The advantage of this receipt is, that none of the
nutriment of the meat is lost; for that which escapes from the cutlets
remains in the gravy, which should all be served with them: any fat
which may be perceived upon it should be carefully skimmed off. Cold
broth used for it instead of water will render it extremely good.
1-1/4 to 1-3/4 hour.
TO BROIL MUTTON CUTLETS. (ENTRÉE.)
These may be taken from the loin, or the best end of the neck, but the
former are generally preferred. Trim off a portion of the fat, or the
whole of it, unless it be liked; pepper the cutlets, heat the gridiron,
rub it with a bit of the mutton suet, broil them over a brisk fire, and
turn them often until they are done; this, for the generality of eaters,
will be in about eight minutes, if they are not more than half an inch
thick, which they should not be. French cooks season them with pepper
and salt, and brush them lightly with dissolved butter or oil, before
they are laid to the fire, and we have found the cutlets so managed
extremely good.
Lightly broiled, 7 to 8 minutes. Well done, 10 minutes.
_Obs._—A cold Maître d’Hôtel sauce may be laid under the cutlets when
they are dished; or they may be served quite dry, or with brown gravy;
or with good melted butter seasoned with mushroom catsup, cayenne, and
chili vinegar or lemon-juice.
CHINA CHILO
Mince a pound of an undressed loin or leg of mutton, with or without a
portion of its fat; mix with it two or three young lettuces shred small,
a pint of young peas, a teaspoonful of salt, half as much pepper, four
tablespoonsful of water, from two to three ounces of good butter, and,
if the flavour be liked, a few green onions minced. Keep the whole well
stirred with a fork over a clear and gentle fire until it is quite hot,
then place it closely covered by the side of the stove, or on a high
trivet, that it may stew as softly as possible for a couple of hours.
One or even two half-grown cucumbers, cut small by scoring the ends
deeply as they are sliced, or a quarter of a pint of minced mushrooms
may be added with good effect; or a dessertspoonful of currie-powder and
a large chopped onion. A dish of boiled rice should be sent to table
with it.
Mutton, 1 pint; green peas, 1 pint: young lettuces, 2; salt, 1
teaspoonful; pepper, 1/2 teaspoonful; water, 4 tablespoonsful; butter, 2
to 3 oz.: 2 hours. Varieties: cucumbers, 2; or mushrooms minced, 1/4
pint; or currie-powder, 1 dessertspoonful, and 1 large onion.
A GOOD FAMILY STEW OF MUTTON.
Put into a broad stewpan or saucepan, a flat layer of mutton chops,
freed entirely from fat and from the greater portion of the bone, or in
preference a cutlet or two from the leg, divided into bits of suitable
size, then just dipped into cold water, seasoned with pepper, and
lightly dredged with flour; on these put a layer of mild turnips sliced
half an inch thick, and cut up into squares; then some carrots of the
same thickness, with a seasoning of salt and black pepper between them;
next, another layer of mutton, then plenty of vegetables, and as much
weak broth or cold water as will barely cover the whole; bring them
slowly to a boil, and let them just simmer from two to three hours,
according to the quantity. One or two minced onions may be strewed
between the other vegetables when their flavour is liked. The savour of
the dish will be increased by browning the meat in a little butter
before it is stewed, and still more so by frying the vegetables lightly
as well, before they are added to it. A head or two of celery would to
many tastes improve the flavour of the whole. In summer, cucumber, green
onions, shred lettuces, and green peas may be substituted for the winter
vegetables.
Mutton, free from fat, 2-1/2 lbs.; turnips, 3 lbs; carrots, 3 lbs.;
celery (if added), 2 small heads: 2 to 3 hours.
_Obs._—The fat and trimmings of the mutton used for this and for other
dishes into which only the lean is admissible, may be turned to useful
account by cutting the whole up rather small, and then boiling it in a
quart of water to the pound, with a little spice, a bunch of herbs and
some salt, until the fat is nearly dissolved: the liquid will then, if
strained off and left until cold, make tolerable broth, and the cake of
fat which is on the top, if again just melted and poured free of
sediment into small pans, will serve excellently for common pies and for
frying kitchen dinners. Less water will of course produce broth of
better quality, and the addition of a small quantity of fresh meat or
bones will render it very good.
AN IRISH STEW.
Take two pounds of small thick mutton cutlets with or without fat,
according to the taste of the persons to whom the stew is to be served;
take also four pounds of good potatoes, weighed after they are pared;
slice them thick, and put a portion of them in a flat layer into a large
thick saucepan or stewpan; season the mutton well with pepper, and place
some of it on the potatoes; cover it with another layer, and proceed in
the same manner with all, reserving plenty of the vegetable for the top;
pour in three quarters of a pint of cold water, and add, when the stew
begins to boil, an ounce of salt; let it simmer gently for two hours,
and serve it very hot. When the addition of onion is liked, strew some
minced over the potatoes.
Mutton cutlets, 2 lbs.; potatoes, 4 lbs.; pepper, 1/2 oz.; salt, 1 oz.;
water, 3/4 pint: 2 hours.
_Obs._—For a real Irish stew the potatoes should be boiled to a mash: an
additional quarter of an hour may be necessary for the full quantity
here, but for half of it two hours are quite sufficient.
A BAKED IRISH STEW.
Fill a brown upright Nottingham jar with alternate layers of mutton (or
beef), sliced potatoes, and mild onions; and put in water and seasoning
as above; cover the top closely with whole potatoes (pared), and send
the stew to a moderate oven. The potatoes on the top should be well
cooked and _browned_ before the stew is served. We have not considered
it necessary to try this receipt, which was given to us by some friends
who keep an excellent table, and who recommended it much. It is, of
course, suited only to a _quite plain_ family dinner. The onions can be
omitted when their flavour is not liked.
CUTLETS OF COLD MUTTON.
Trim into well-shaped cutlets, which should not be very thin, the
remains of a roast loin or neck of mutton, or of a quite underdressed
stewed or boiled joint; dip them into egg and well-seasoned
bread-crumbs, and broil or fry them over a quick fire that they may be
browned and heated through without being too much done. This is a very
good mode of serving a half roasted loin or neck. When the cutlets are
_broiled_ they should be dipped into, or sprinkled thickly with butter
just dissolved, or they will be exceedingly dry; a few additional crumbs
should be made to adhere to them after they are moistened with this.
MUTTON KIDNEYS À LA FRANÇAISE. (ENTRÉE.)
Skin six or eight fine fresh mutton kidneys, and without opening them,
remove the fat; slice them rather thin, strew over them a large
dessertspoonful of minced herbs, of which two-thirds should be parsley
and the remainder thyme, with a tolerable seasoning of pepper or
cayenne, and some fine salt. Melt two ounces of butter in a frying-pan,
put in the kidneys and brown them quickly on both sides; when nearly
done, stir amongst them a dessertspoonful of flour and shake them well
in the pan; pour in the third of a pint of gravy (or of hot water in
default of this), the juice of half a lemon, and as much of Harvey’s
sauce, or of mushroom catsup, as will flavour the whole pleasantly;
bring these to the point of boiling, and pour them into a dish garnished
with fried sippets, or lift out the kidneys first, give the sauce a boil
and pour it on them. In France, a couple of glasses of champagne, or,
for variety, of claret, are frequently added to this dish: one of port
wine can be substituted for either of these. A dessertspoonful of minced
eschalots may be strewed over the kidneys with the herbs; or two dozens
of very small ones previously stewed until tender in fresh butter over a
gentle fire, may be added after they are dished. This is a very
excellent and approved receipt.
Fried 6 minutes.
BROILED MUTTON KIDNEYS.
Split them open lengthwise without dividing them, strip off the skin and
fat, run a fine skewer through the points and across the back of the
kidneys to keep them flat while broiling, season them with pepper or
cayenne, lay them over a clear brisk fire, with the cut sides towards
it, turn them in from four to five minutes, and in as many more dish,
and serve them quickly, with or without a cold Maître d’Hôtel sauce
under them. French cooks season them with pepper and fine salt, and
brush a very small quantity of oil or clarified butter over them before
they are broiled: we think this an improvement.
8 to 10 minutes.
OXFORD RECEIPT FOR MUTTON KIDNEYS. (BREAKFAST DISH, OR ENTRÉE.)
Fry gently in a little good butter, a dozen _croûtons_ (slices of bread,
of uniform shape and size, trimmed free from crust), cut half an inch
thick, about two inches and a half wide, and from three to four in
length: lift them out and keep them hot. Split quite asunder six fine
fresh kidneys, after having freed them from the skin and fat; season
them with fine salt and cayenne, arrange them evenly in a clean
frying-pan, and pour some clarified butter over them. Fry them over a
somewhat brisk fire, dish each half upon a _croûton_, make a sauce in
the pan as for veal cutlets, but use gravy for it instead of water,
should it be at hand; add a little wine or catsup, pour it round the
_croûtons_, and serve the kidneys instantly.
10 minutes.
TO ROAST A FORE QUARTER OF LAMB.
This should be laid to a clear brisk fire, and carefully and plentifully
basted from the time of its becoming warm until it is ready for table;
but though it requires quick roasting, it must never be placed
sufficiently near the fire to endanger the fat, which is very liable to
_catch_ or burn. When the joint is served, the shoulder should be
separated from the ribs with a sharp knife; and a small slice of fresh
butter, a little cayenne, and a squeeze of lemon juice should be laid
between them; if the cook be an expert carver, this had better be done
before the lamb is sent to table. The cold _Maître d’Hôtel_ sauce of
Chapter VI. may be substituted for the usual ingredients, the parsley
being omitted or not, according to the taste. Serve good mint sauce, and
a fresh salad with this roast.
A leg, shoulder, or loin of lamb should be cooked by the same directions
as the quarter, a difference only being made in the time allowed for
each.
Fore quarter of lamb, 1-3/4 to 2 hours. Leg, 1-1/2 hour (less if _very_
small); shoulder, 1 to 1-1/4 hour.
_Obs._—The time will vary a little, of course, from the difference in
the weather, and in the strength of the fire. Lamb should always be well
roasted.
SADDLE OF LAMB.
This is an exceedingly nice joint for a small party. It should be
roasted at a brisk fire, and kept constantly basted with its own
dripping: it will require from an hour and three quarters to two hours
roasting. Send it to table with mint sauce, brown cucumber sauce, and a
salad.
1-3/4 to 2 hours.
_Obs._—The following will be found an excellent receipt for mint
sauce:—With three heaped tablespoonsful of finely-chopped young mint,
mix two of pounded and sifted sugar, and six of the best vinegar: stir
it until the sugar is dissolved.
ROAST LOIN OF LAMB.
Place it at a moderate distance from a clear fire, baste it frequently,
froth it when nearly done, and serve it with the same sauces as the
preceding joints. A loin of lamb may be boiled and sent to table with
white cucumber, mushroom, common white sauce, or parsley and butter.
1 to 1-1/4 hour.
STEWED LEG OF LAMB WITH WHITE SAUCE. (ENTRÉE.)[81]
Footnote 81:
This may be served as a _remove_ in a small unceremonious dinner.
Choose a small plump leg of lamb, not much exceeding five pounds in
weight; put it into a vessel nearly of its size, with a few trimmings or
a bone or two of undressed veal if at hand; cover it with warm water,
bring it slowly to a boil, clear off the scum with great care when it is
first thrown to the surface, and when it has all been skimmed off, add a
faggot of thyme and parsley, and two carrots of moderate size. Let the
lamb _simmer_ only, but without ceasing, for an hour and a quarter;
serve it covered with _béchamel_, or rich English white sauce, and send
a boiled tongue to table with it, and some of the sauce in a tureen.
1-1/4 hour.
LOIN OF LAMB STEWED IN BUTTER. (ENTRÉE.)
Wash the joint, and wipe it very dry; skewer down the flap, and lay it
into a close-shutting and thick stewpan or saucepan, in which three
ounces of good butter have been just dissolved, but not allowed to boil;
let it simmer slowly over a very gentle fire for two hours and a
quarter, and turn it when it is rather more than half done. Lift it out,
skim and pour the gravy over it; send asparagus, cucumber, or _soubise_
sauce to table with it; or brown gravy, mint sauce, and a salad.
2-1/4 hours.
LAMB OR MUTTON CUTLETS, WITH SOUBISE SAUCE. (ENTRÉE.)
The best end of two necks of either will be required for a handsome
dish. Cut them thin with one bone to each; trim off the fat and all the
skin, scrape the bones very clean that they may look white, and season
the cutlets with salt and white pepper; brush them with egg, dip them
into very fine bread-crumbs, then into clarified butter, and again into
the bread-crumbs, which should be flattened evenly upon them, and broil
them over a very clear and brisk fire, or fry them in a little good
butter of a fine clear brown; press them in two sheets of white blotting
paper to extract the grease, and dish them in a circle, and pour into
the centre a _soubise_ sauce, or a _purée_ of cucumbers. Brown cucumber
sauce or a rich gravy, may be substituted for either of these in serving
a quite simple dinner. Cutlets of the loin may be dressed in the same
way after being dipped into crumbs of bread mixed with a full seasoning
of minced herbs, and with a small quantity of eschalot when its flavour
is liked. The small flat bone at the end of the cutlets should be taken
off, to give them a good appearance.
LAMB CUTLETS IN THEIR OWN GRAVY.
Follow exactly the receipt for mutton cutlets dressed in the same way,
but allow for those of lamb fifteen or twenty minutes less of time, and
an additional spoonful of liquid.
CUTLETS OF COLD LAMB.
See the receipt for Cutlets of Cold Mutton, page 243.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER XIII.
=Pork.=
[Illustration]
No.
1. The Spare Rib.
2. Hand.
3. Belly, or Spring.
4. Fore Loin.
5. Hind Loin.
6. Leg.
In season from Michaelmas to March: should be avoided in very warm
weather.
TO CHOOSE PORK.
THIS meat is so proverbially, and we believe even _dangerously_
unwholesome when ill fed, or in any degree diseased, that its quality
should be closely examined before it is purchased. When not home-reared,
it should be bought if possible of some respectable farmer or miller,
unless the butcher who supplies it can be perfectly relied on. Both the
fat and lean should be very white, and the latter finely grained; the
rind should be thin, smooth, and cool to the touch; if it be clammy, the
pork is stale, and should be at once rejected; it ought also to be
scrupulously avoided when the fat, instead of being quite clear of all
blemish, is full of small kernels which are indicative of disease. The
manner of cutting up the pork varies in different counties, and also
according to the purposes for which it is intended. The legs are either
made into hams, or slightly salted for a few days and boiled; they are
also sometimes roasted when the pork is not large nor coarse, with a
savoury forcemeat inserted between the skin and flesh of the knuckle.
The part of the shoulder provincially called the hand, is also
occasionally pickled in the same way as hams and bacon, or it is salted
and boiled, but it is too sinewy for roasting. After these and the head
have been taken off, the remainder, without further division than being
split down the back, may be converted into whole sides, or _flitches_ as
they are usually called, of bacon; but when the meat is large and
required in part for various other purposes, a chine may be taken out,
and the fat pared off the bones of the ribs and loins for bacon; the
thin part of the body converted into pickled pork, and the ribs and
other bones roasted, or made into pies or sausages. The feet, which are
generally salted down for immediate use, are excellent if laid for two
or three weeks into the same pickle as the hams, then well covered with
cold water, and slowly boiled until tender.
The loins of young and delicate pork are roasted with the skin on; and
this is scored in regular stripes of about a quarter of an inch wide
with the point of a sharp knife, before the joints are laid to the fire.
The skin of the leg also is just cut through in the same manner. This is
done to prevent its blistering, and to render it more easy to carve, as
the skin (or _crackling_) becomes so crisp and hard in the cooking that
it is otherwise sometimes difficult to divide it.
To be at any time fit for table, pork must be _perfectly sweet_, and
thoroughly cooked; great attention also should be given to it when it is
in pickle, for if any part of it be long exposed to the air, without
being turned into, or well and frequently basted with the brine, it will
often become tainted during the process of curing it.
TO MELT LARD.
Strip the skin from the inside fat of a freshly killed and well-fed pig;
slice it small and thin; put it into a new or well-scalded jar, set it
into a pan of boiling water, and let it simmer over a clear fire. As it
dissolves, strain it into small stone jars or deep earthen pans, and
when perfectly cold, tie over it the skin that was cleared from the
lard, or bladders which have been thoroughly washed and wiped very dry.
Lard thus prepared is extremely pure in flavour, and keeps perfectly
well if stored in a cool place; it may be used with advantage in making
common pastry, as well as for frying fish, and for various other
purposes. It is better to keep the last drainings of the fat apart from
that which is first poured off, as it will not be quite so fine in
quality.
TO PRESERVE UNMELTED LARD FOR MANY MONTHS.
For the particular uses to which the leaf-fat, or fleed, can be
advantageously applied, see fleed-crust, Chapter XVIII. It may be kept
well during the summer months by rubbing fine salt rather plentifully
upon it when it is first taken from the pig, and letting it lie for a
couple of days; it should then be well drained, and covered with a
strong brine; this in warmer weather should be changed occasionally.
When wanted for use, lay it into cold water for two or three hours, then
wipe it dry, and it will have quite the effect of the fresh fleed when
made into paste.
Inner fat of pig, 6 lbs.; fine salt, 1/2 to 3/4 lb.: 2 days. Brine: to
each quart of water, 6 oz. salt.
TO ROAST A SUCKING PIG.
[Illustration]
After the pig has been scalded and prepared for the spit, wipe it as dry
as possible, and put into the body about half a pint of fine
bread-crumbs, mixed with three heaped teaspoonsful of sage, minced very
small, three ounces of good butter, a large saltspoonful of salt, and
two-thirds as much of pepper or some cayenne. Sew it up with soft, but
strong cotton; truss it as a hare, with the fore legs skewered back, and
the hind ones forward; lay it to a strong clear fire, but keep it at a
moderate distance, as it would quickly blister or scorch if placed too
near. So soon as it has become warm, rub it with a bit of butter tied in
a fold of muslin or of thin cloth, and repeat this process constantly
while it is roasting. When the gravy begins to drop from it, put basins
or small deep tureens under, to catch it in.[82] As soon as the pig is
of a fine light amber brown and the steam draws strongly towards the
fire, wipe it quite dry with a clean cloth, and rub a bit of cold butter
over it. When it is half done, a pig iron, or in lieu of this, a large
flat iron should be hung in the centre of the grate, or the middle of
the pig will be done long before the ends. When it is ready for table
lay it into a very hot dish, and before the spit is withdrawn, take off
and open the head and split the body in two; chop together quickly the
stuffing and the brains, put them into half a pint of good veal gravy
ready thickened, add a glass of Madeira or of sherry, and the gravy
which has dropped from the pig; pour a small portion of this under the
roast and serve the remainder as hot as possible in a tureen: a little
pounded mace and cayenne with a squeeze of lemon-juice, may be added,
should the flavour require heightening. Fine bread sauce, and plain
gravy should likewise be served with it. Some persons still prefer the
old-fashioned currant sauce to any other: and many have the brains and
stuffing stirred into rich melted butter, instead of gravy; but the
receipt which we have given has usually been so much approved, that we
can recommend it with some confidence, as it stands. Modern taste would
perhaps be rather in favour of rich brown gravy and thick tomata sauce,
or _sauce poivrade_.
Footnote 82:
A deep oblong dish of suitable size seems better adapted to this
purpose.
In dishing the pig lay the body flat in the middle, and the head and
ears at the ends and sides. When very pure oil can be obtained, it is
preferable to butter for the basting: it should be laid on with a bunch
of feathers. A pig of three weeks old is considered as best suited to
the table, and it should always be dressed if possible the day it is
killed.
1-1/4 to 1-3/4 hour.
BAKED PIG.
Prepare the pig exactly as for roasting; truss, and place it in the dish
in which it is to be sent to the oven, and anoint it thickly in every
part with white of egg which has been slightly beaten; it will require
no basting, nor further attention of any kind, and will be well crisped
by this process.
PIG À LA TARTARE
When the shoulders of a cold roast pig are left entire, take them off
with care, remove the skin, trim them into good form, dip them into
clarified butter or very pure salad oil, then into fine crumbs highly
seasoned with cayenne and mixed with about a half-teaspoonful of salt.
Broil them over a clear brisk fire, and send them quickly to table, as
soon as they are heated through and equally browned, with tomata sauce,
or _sauce Robert_. Curried crumbs and a currie-sauce will give an
excellent variety of this dish; and savoury herbs with two or three
eschalots chopped small together, and mixed with the bread-crumbs, and
brown eschalot sauce to accompany the broil, will likewise be an
acceptable one to many tastes.
SUCKING PIG EN BLANQUETTE. (ENTRÉE.)
Raise the flesh from the bones of a cold roast pig, free it from the
crisp outer skin or crackling, and cut it down into small handsome
slices. Dissolve a bit of butter the size of an egg, and throw in a
handful of button-mushrooms, cleaned and sliced; shake these over the
fire for three or four minutes, then stir to them a dessertspoonful of
flour and continue to shake or toss them gently, but do not allow them
to brown. Add a small bunch of parsley, a bay-leaf, a middling-sized
blade of mace, some salt, a small quantity of cayenne or white pepper,
half a pint of good veal or beef broth, and from two to three glasses of
light white wine. Let these boil gently until reduced nearly one third;
take out the parsley and mace, lay in the meat, and bring it slowly to
the point of simmering; stir to it the beaten yolks of three fresh eggs,
and the strained juice of half a lemon Serve the _blanquette_ very hot.
TO ROAST PORK.
When the skin is left on the joint which is to be roasted, it must be
scored in narrow strips of equal width, before it is put to the fire,
and laid at a considerable distance from it at first, that the meat may
be heated through before the skin hardens or begins to brown; it must
never stand still for an instant, and the basting should be constant.
Pork is not at the present day much served at very good tables,
particularly in this form; and it is so still less with the old savoury
stuffing of sage and onions, though some eaters like it always with the
leg: when it is ordered for this joint, therefore prepare it as directed
for a goose, at page 160, and after having loosened the skin from the
knuckle, insert as much as can well be secured in it. A little clarified
butter or salad oil may be brushed over the skin quite at first,
particularly should the meat not be very fat, but unless remarkably
lean, it will speedily yield sufficient dripping to baste it with.
Joints from which the fat has been pared, will require of course far
less roasting than those on which the crackling is retained. Brown
gravy, and apple or tomata sauce, are the usual accompaniments to all
roasts of pork except a sucking pig; they should always be thoroughly
cooked.
Leg of pork of 8 lbs., 3 hours; loin of from 5 to 6 lbs., with the skin
on, 2 to 2-1/2 hours; spare rib of 6 to 7 lbs., 1-1/2 hour.
TO ROAST A SADDLE OF PORK.
The skin of this joint may be removed entirely, but if left on it must
be scored lengthwise, or in the direction in which it will be carved.
The pork should be young, of fine quality, and of moderate size. Roast
it very carefully, either by the directions given in the preceding
receipt, or when the skin is taken off, by those for a saddle of mutton,
allowing in the latter case from three quarters of an hour to a full
hour more of the fire for it in proportion to its weight. Serve it with
good brown gravy and tomata sauce, or _sauce Robert_; or with apple
sauce should it be preferred. 20 minutes to the pound, quite [TN: text
missing.]
TO BROIL OR FRY PORK CUTLETS.
Cut them about half an inch thick from a delicate loin of pork, trim
them into neat form, and take off part of the fat, or the whole of it
when it is not liked; dredge a little pepper or cayenne upon them, and
broil them over a clear and moderate fire from fifteen to eighteen
minutes: sprinkle a little fine salt upon them just before they are
dished. They may be dipped into egg and then into bread-crumbs mixed
with minced sage, and finished in the usual way.[83] When fried, flour
them well, and season them with salt and pepper first. Serve them with
gravy in the pan, or with _sauce Robert_.
Footnote 83:
If broiled, with the addition of these a little clarified butter must
be added to the egg, or sprinkled on the cutlets.
COBBETT’S RECEIPT FOR CURING BACON.
“All other parts being taken away, the two sides that remain, and which
are called _flitches_, are to be cured for bacon. They are first rubbed
with salt on their inside, or flesh sides, then placed one on the other,
the flesh sides uppermost in a salting trough, which has a gutter round
its edges to drain away the brine; for to have sweet and fine bacon, the
flitches must not be sopping in brine, which gives it the sort of taste
that barrel-pork and sea-junk have, and than which is nothing more
villainous. Everyone knows how different is the taste of fresh dry salt
from that of salt in a dissolved state. Therefore, _change the salt
often_; once in four or five days. Let it melt and sink in, but let it
not lie too long. Change the flitches, put that at the bottom which was
first on the top. Do this a couple of times. This mode will cost you a
great deal more in salt than the _sopping mode_; but without it your
bacon will not be so sweet and fine, nor keep so well. As to the time
required for making the flitches sufficiently salt, it depends on
circumstances; the thickness of the flitch, the state of the weather,
the place wherein the salting is going on. It takes a longer time for a
thick than for a thin flitch; it takes longer in dry than in damp
weather, it takes longer in a dry than in a damp place. But for the
flitches of a hog of five score, in weather not very dry or very damp,
about six weeks may do; and as yours is to be _fat_, which receives
little injury from over-salting, give time enough; for you are to have
bacon till Christmas comes again. The place for salting should, like a
dairy, always be cool, but always admit of a free circulation of air;
confined air, though cool, will taint meat sooner than the midday sun
accompanied with a breeze. With regard to smoking the bacon, two
precautions are necessary: first to hang the flitches where no rain
comes down upon them, and next, that the smoke must proceed from wood,
not peat, turf, nor coal. As to the time that it requires to smoke a
flitch, it must depend a good deal upon whether there be a constant fire
beneath, and whether the fire be large or small. A month will do if the
fire be pretty constant, and such as a farm house fire usually is. But
oversmoking, or rather, too long hanging in the air, makes the bacon
_rust_. Great attention should, therefore, be paid to this matter. The
flitch ought not to be dried up to the hardness of a board, and yet it
ought to be perfectly dry. Before you hang it up, lay it on the floor,
scatter the flesh-side pretty thickly over with bran or with some fine
saw-dust, _not of deal or fir_. Rub it on the flesh, or pat it well down
upon it. This keeps the smoke from getting into the little openings, and
makes a sort of crust to be dried on.
“To keep the bacon sweet and good, and free from _hoppers_, sift fine
some clean and dry _wood-ashes_. Put some at the bottom of a box or
chest long enough to hold a flitch of bacon. Lay in one flitch; and then
put in more ashes, then another flitch, and cover this with six or eight
inches of the ashes. The place where the box or chest is kept ought to
be _dry_, and should the ashes become damp they should be put in the
fire-place to dry, and when cold, put back again. With these precautions
the bacon will be as good at the end of the year as on the first day.”
_Obs._—Although the preceding directions for curing the bacon are a
little vague as regards the proportions of salt and pork, we think those
for its after-management will be acceptable to many of our readers, as
in our damp climate it is often a matter of great difficulty to preserve
hams and bacon through the year from rust.
A GENUINE YORKSHIRE RECEIPT FOR CURING HAMS AND BACON.
“Let the swine be put up to fast for twenty-four hours before they are
killed (and observe that neither a time of severe frost, nor very damp
weather, is favourable for curing bacon). After a pig has been killed
and scalded, let it hang twelve hours before it is cut up, then for
every stone or fourteen pounds’ weight of the meat, take one pound of
salt, an ounce and a quarter of saltpeter, and half an ounce of coarse
sugar. Rub the sugar and saltpetre first into the fleshy parts of the
pork, and remove carefully with a fork any extravasated blood that may
appear on it, together with the broken vessels adjoining; apply the salt
especially to those parts, as well as to the shank-ends of the hams, and
any other portions of the flesh that are more particularly exposed.
Before the salt is added to the meat, warm it a little before the fire,
and use only a part of it in the first instance; then, as it dissolves,
or is absorbed by the meat, add the remainder at several different
times. Let the meat in the meanwhile lie either on clean straw, or on a
cold brick or stone floor: it will require from a fortnight to three
weeks’ curing, according to the state of the atmosphere. When done, hang
it in a cool dry place, where there is a thorough current of air, and
let it remain there until it is perfectly dry, when the salt will be
found to have crystallized upon the surface. The meat may then be
removed to your store, and kept in a close chest, surrounded with clean
_outer straw_. If very large, the hams will not be in perfection in less
than twelve months from the time of their being stored.”
Pork 20 stone; salt, 20 lbs.; saltpetre, 20 oz.; sugar, 10 oz.; 14 to 21
days.
KENTISH MODE OF CUTTING UP AND CURING A PIG.
To a porker of sixteen stone Kentish weight (that is to say, eight
pounds to the stone, or nine stone two pounds of common weight), allow
two gallons of salt, two pounds of saltpetre, one pound of coarse sugar,
and two pounds of bay-salt well dried and reduced to powder. Put aside
the hams and cheeks to be cured by themselves; let the feet, ears, tail,
and eye-parts of the head be salted for immediate eating; the
blade-bones, and ends of the loins and ribs reserved for sausage-meat
should it be wanted, and the loin and spare-ribs for roasting. Divide
and salt the remainder thus: Mix well together the saltpetre, sugar, and
bay-salt, and rub the pork gently with them in every part; cover the
bottom of the pickling tub with salt, and pack in the pork as closely as
possible, with a portion of the remaining salt between each layer. A
very little water is sometimes sprinkled in to facilitate the dissolving
of the salt into a brine, but this is always better avoided, and in damp
weather will not be needed. If in a fortnight it should not have risen,
so as almost entirely to cover the meat, boil a strong brine of salt,
saltpetre, sugar, and bay-salt; let it remain until perfectly cold, and
then pour it over the pork. A board, with a heavy stone weight upon it,
should be kept upon the meat to force it down under the brine. In from
three to four months it will be fit for table, and will be delicate and
excellent pickled pork.
The pickling parts of a porker of sixteen stone (Kentish weight, or nine
stone two pounds of common weight, or fourteen pounds to the stone);
common salt, 2 gallons; saltpetre, 2 lbs.; coarse sugar, 1 lb.:
bay-salt, 2 lbs.
FRENCH BACON FOR LARDING.
Cut the bacon from the pig with as little lean to it as possible. Rub it
well in every part with salt which has been dried, reduced to powder,
and sifted; put the layers of bacon close against and upon each other,
in a shallow wooden trough, and set in a cool, but not a damp cellar;
add more salt all round the bacon, and lay a board, with a very heavy
weight upon it. Let it remain for six weeks, then hang it up in a dry
and airy place.
Pork, 14 lbs.; salt, 14 oz.: 6 weeks.
TO PICKLE CHEEKS OF BACON AND HAMS.
One pound of common salt, one pound of the coarsest sugar, and one ounce
of saltpetre, in fine powder, to each stone (fourteen pounds) of the
meat will answer this purpose extremely well. An ounce of black pepper
can be added, if liked, and when less sugar is preferred, the proportion
can be diminished one half, and the quantity of salt as much increased.
Bacon also may be cured by this receipt, or by the Bordyke one for hams.
A month is sufficient time for the salting, unless the pork be very
large, when five weeks must be allowed for a ham. The ingredients should
be well mixed, and all applied at the same time.
To each 14 lbs. of pork, salt, 1 lb.; coarse sugar, 1 lb.; saltpetre, 1
oz.; pepper (if used), 1 oz.: 4 to 5 weeks.
MONSIEUR UDE’s RECEIPT, HAMS SUPERIOR TO WESTPHALIA.
(_Excellent._)
“Take the hams as soon as the pig is sufficiently cold to be cut up, rub
them well with common salt, and leave them for three days to drain;
throw away the brine, and for a couple of hams of from fifteen to
eighteen pounds weight, mix together two ounces of saltpetre, a pound of
coarse sugar, and a pound of common salt; rub the hams in every part
with these, lay them into deep pickling-pans with the rind downwards,
and keep them for three days well covered with the salt and sugar; then
pour over them a bottle of good vinegar, and turn them in the brine, and
baste them with it daily for a month; drain them well, rub them with
bran, and let them be hung for a month high in a chimney over a
wood-fire to be smoked.”
Hams, of from 15 to 18 lbs. each, 2; to drain 3 days. Common salt, and
coarse sugar, each 1 lb.; saltpetre, 2 oz.: 3 days. Vinegar, 1 bottle: 1
month. To be smoked 1 month.
_Obs._—Such of our readers as shall make trial of this admirable
receipt, will acknowledge, we doubt not, that the hams thus cured are in
reality superior to those of Westphalia. It was originally given to the
public by the celebrated French cook, Monsieur Ude. He directs that the
hams when smoked should be hung as high as possible from the fire, that
the fat may not be melted; a very necessary precaution, as the mode of
their being cured renders it peculiarly liable to do so. This, indeed,
is somewhat perceptible in the cooking, which ought, therefore, to be
conducted with especial care. The hams should be very softly
simmered,[84] and not _over_-done. They should be large, and of
finely-fed pork, or the receipt will not answer. We give the result of
our first trial of it, which was perfectly successful, the ham cured by
it being of the finest possible flavour.
Footnote 84:
We have not had the trial made ourselves, but we think they would be
even finer baked than boiled.
Leg of Suffolk farm-house pork, 14 to 15 lbs.; saltpetre, 1-1/4 oz.;
_strong_ coarse salt, 6 oz.; coarse sugar, 8 oz.: 3 days. Fine whitewine
vinegar, 1 pint. In pickle, turned daily, 1 month. Smoked over wood, 1
month.
_Obs._—“When two hams are pickled together, a smaller proportion of the
ingredients is required for each, than for one which is cured by
itself.”
SUPER-EXCELLENT BACON.
For several successive years, after first testing the above receipt, we
had it adopted for curing bacon, with even more highly satisfactory
results, as it was of incomparable flavour, and remained good for a
great length of time, the vinegar preserving it entirely from becoming
_rusted_. Well-fed pork of delicate size was always used for it, and
excellent vinegar. The ingredients were added in the proportions given
in the receipt for the Suffolk ham which preceeds this, and the same
time was allowed for the salting and smoking.
HAMS.
(_Bordyke Receipt._)
After the hams have been rubbed with salt, and well drained from the
brine, according to our previous directions, take, for each fourteen
pounds weight of the pork, one ounce of saltpetre in fine powder mixed
with three ounces of very brown sugar; rub the meat in every part with
these, and let it remain some hours, then cover it well with eight
ounces of bay-salt, dried and pounded, and mixed with four ounces of
common salt: in four days add one pound of treacle, and keep the hams
turned daily, and well basted with the pickle for a month. Hang them up
to drain for a night, fold them in brown paper, and send them to be
smoked for a month. An ounce of ground black pepper is often mixed with
the saltpetre in this receipt, and three ounces of bruised
juniper-berries are rubbed on to the meat before the salt is added, when
hams of a very high flavour are desired.
Ham, 14 lbs.; saltpetre, 1 oz.; coarse sugar, 3 oz.: 8 to 12 hours.
Bay-salt, 1/2 lb.; common salt, 4 oz.: 4 days. Treacle, 1 lb.: 1 month.
To heighten flavour, black pepper, 1 oz; juniper-berries, 3 oz.
TO BOIL A HAM.
The degree of soaking which must be given to a ham before it is boiled,
must depend both on the manner in which it has been cured, and on its
age. If highly salted, hard, and old, a day and night, or even longer,
may be requisite to dilate the pores sufficiently, and to extract a
portion of the salt. To do either effectually the water must be several
times changed during the steeping. We generally find hams cured by any
of the receipts which we have given in this chapter quite enough soaked
in twelve hours; and they are more frequently laid into water only early
in the morning of the day on which they are boiled. Those pickled by
Monsieur Ude’s receipt need much less steeping than any others. After
the ham has been scraped, or brushed, as clean as possible, pare away
lightly any part which, from being blackened or rusty, would disfigure
it; though it is better _not_ to cut the flesh at all unless it be
really requisite for the good appearance of the joint. Lay it into a
ham-kettle, or into any other vessel of a similar form, and cover it
plentifully with cold water; bring it _very slowly_ to boil, and clear
off carefully the scum which will be thrown up in great abundance. So
soon as the water has been cleared from this, draw back the pan quite to
the edge of the stove, that the ham may be simmered softly but steadily,
until it is tender. On no account allow it to boil fast. A bunch of
herbs and three or four carrots, thrown in directly after the water has
been skimmed, will improve it. When it can be probed very easily with a
sharp skewer, or larding-pin, lift it out, strip off the skin, and
should there be an oven at hand, set it in for a few minutes after
having laid it on a drainer; strew fine raspings over it, or grate a
hard-toasted crust, or sift upon it the prepared bread of Chapter V.,
unless it is to be glazed, when neither of these must be used.
Small ham, 3-1/2 to 4 hours; moderate sized, 4 to 4-1/2 hours; very
large, 5 to 5-1/2 hours.
_Obs._—We have seen the following manner of boiling a ham recommended,
but we have not tried it:—“Put into the water in which it is to be
boiled, a quart of old cider and a pint of vinegar, a large bunch of
sweet herbs, and a bay leaf. When it is two-thirds done, skin, cover it
with raspings, and set it in an oven until it is done enough: it will
prove incomparably superior to a ham boiled in the usual way.”
TO GARNISH AND ORNAMENT HAMS IN VARIOUS WAYS.
When a ham has been carefully and delicately boiled, the rind while it
is still warm, may be carved in various fanciful shapes to decorate it;
and a portion of it left round the knuckle in a semi-circular form of
four or five inches deep, may at all times be easily scollopped at the
edge or cut into points (_vandykes_). This, while preserving a character
of complete simplicity for the dish, will give it an air of neatness and
finish at a slight cost of time and trouble. A paper frill should be
placed round the bone.
The Germans cut the ham-rind after it has been stripped from the joint,
into _small_ leaves and similar “prettinesses,”[85] and arrange them in
a garland, or other approved device, upon its surface. In Ireland and
elsewhere, bread evenly sliced, and stamped out with cutters much
smaller than a fourpenny-piece, then carefully fried or coloured in the
oven, is used to form designs upon hams after they are glazed. Large
dice of clear firm savoury jelly form their most appropriate garnish,
because they are intended _to be eaten with them_. For the manner of
making this, and glaze also see Chapter IV.
Footnote 85:
This should be done with a confectionary or paste cutter.
The ham shown in Plate V., which follows the directions for “Carving,”
is of very good appearance; but in common English kitchens generally,
even the degree of artistic skill required to form its decorations well,
is not often to be met with.
FRENCH RECEIPT FOR BOILING A HAM.
After having soaked, thoroughly cleaned, and trimmed the ham, put over
it a little very sweet clean hay, and tie it up in a thin cloth; place
it in a ham kettle, a braising pan, or any other vessel as nearly of its
size as can be, and cover it with two parts of cold water and one of
light white wine (we think the reader will perhaps find _cider_ a good
substitute for this); add, when it boils and has been skimmed, four or
five carrots, two or three onions, a large bunch of savoury herbs, and
the smallest bit of garlic. Let the whole simmer gently from four to
five hours, or longer should the ham be very large. When perfectly
tender, lift it out, take off the rind, and sprinkle over it some fine
crumbs, or some raspings of bread mixed with a little finely minced
parsley.
_Obs._—Foreign cooks generally leave hams, braised joints, and various
other prepared meats intended to be served cold, to cool down partially
in the liquor in which they are cooked; and this renders them more
succulent; but for small frugal families the plan does not altogether
answer, because the moisture of the surface (which would evaporate
quickly if they were taken out quite hot) prevents their keeping well
for any length of time. The same objection exists to serving hams laid
upon, or closely garnished with savoury jelly (_aspic_), which becomes
much more quickly unfit for table than the hams themselves.
These considerations, which may appear insignificant to some of our
readers, will have weight with those who are compelled to regulate their
expenses with economy.
TO BAKE A HAM.
Unless when too salt from not being sufficiently soaked, a ham
(particularly a young and fresh one) eats much better baked than boiled,
and remains longer good. The safer plan to ensure its being sufficiently
steeped, is to lay it into plenty of cold water over night. The
following day soak it for an hour or more in warm water, wash it
delicately clean, trim smoothly off all rusty parts, and lay it with the
rind downwards into a large common pie-dish; press an oiled paper
closely over it, and then fasten securely to the edge of the dish a
_thick_ cover of coarse paste; and send the ham to a moderate oven, of
which the heat will be well sustained until it is baked. Or, when more
convenient, lay the ham at once—rind downwards—on the paste, of which
sufficient should be made, and rolled off to an inch in thickness, to
completely envelope it. Press a sheet of oiled foolscap paper upon it;
gather up the paste firmly all round, draw and pinch the edges together,
and fold them over on the upper side of the ham, taking care to close
them so that no gravy can escape. Send it to a well-heated, but not a
fierce oven. A very small ham will require quite three hours baking, and
a large one five. The crust and the skin must be removed while it is
hot. When part only of a ham is dressed, this mode is better far than
boiling it.
TO BOIL BACON.
When very highly salted and dried, it should be soaked for an hour
before it is dressed. Scrape and wash it well, cover it plentifully with
cold water, let it both heat and boil slowly, remove all the scum with
care, and when a fork or skewer will penetrate the bacon easily lift it
out, strip off the skin, and strew raspings of bread over the top, or
grate upon it a hard-crust which has been toasted until it is crisp
quite through; or should it be at hand, use for the purpose the bread
recommended at page 103, then dry it a little before the fire, or set it
for a few minutes into a gentle oven. Bacon requires long boiling, but
the precise time depends upon its quality, the flesh of young porkers
becoming tender much sooner than that of older ones; sometimes too, the
manner in which the animal has been fed renders the meat hard, and it
will then, unless thoroughly cooked, prove very indigestible. From ten
to fifteen minutes less for the pound, must be allowed for unsmoked
bacon, or for pickled pork. Smoked bacon (striped), 2 lbs., from 1-1/4
to 1-1/2 hour; unsmoked bacon or pork, 1 to 1-1/4 hour.
_Obs._—The thickest part of a large side or flitch of bacon will require
from twenty to thirty minutes longer boiling than the thinner side.
BACON BROILED OR FRIED.
Cut it evenly in thin slices or _rashers_, as they are generally called,
pare from them all rind and rust, curl them round, fasten them with
small slight skewers, then fry, broil, or toast them in a Dutch oven;
draw out the skewers before they are sent to table. A few minutes will
dress them either way. They may also be cooked without being curled. The
rind should always be taken off, and the bacon gently toasted, grilled,
or fried, that it may be well done without being too much dried or
hardened: it should be cut _thin_.
DRESSED RASHERS OF BACON.
Slice rather thicker than for frying some cold boiled bacon, and strew
it lightly on both sides with fine raspings of bread, or with a grated
crust which has been very slowly and gradually toasted until brown quite
through. Toast or warm the rashers in a Dutch oven, and serve them with
veal cutlets, or any other delicate meat. The bacon thus dressed is much
more delicate than when broiled or fried without the previous boiling.
4 to 5 minutes.
TONBRIDGE BRAWN.
Split open the head of a pig of middling size, remove the brain and all
the bones, strew the inside rather thickly with fine salt, and let it
drain until the following day. Cleanse the ears and feet in the same
manner: wipe them all from the brine, lay them into a large pan, and rub
them well with an ounce and a half of saltpetre mixed with six ounces of
sugar; in twelve hours, add six ounces of salt; the next day pour a
quarter of a pint of good vinegar over them, and keep them turned in the
pickle every twenty-four hours for a week; then wash it off the ears and
feet, and boil them for about an hour and a half; bone the feet while
they are warm, and trim the gristle from the large ends of the ears.
When these are ready, mix a large grated nutmeg with a teaspoonful and a
half of mace, half a teaspoonful of cayenne, and as much of cloves.
Wash, but do not soak the head; wipe and flatten it on a board; cut some
of the flesh from the thickest parts, and (when the whole of the meat
has been seasoned equally with the spices) lay it on the thinnest;
intermix it with that of the ears and feet, roll it up very tight, and
bind it firmly with broad tape; fold a thin pudding-cloth quite closely
round it, and tie it securely at both ends. A braising-pan, from its
form, is best adapted for boiling it, but if there be not one at hand,
place the head in a vessel adapted to its size, with the bones and
trimmings of the feet and ears, a large bunch of savoury herbs, two
moderate-sized onions, a small head of celery, three or four carrots, a
teaspoonful of peppercorns, and sufficient cold water to cover it well;
boil it very gently for four hours, and leave it until two parts cold in
the liquor in which it was boiled. Take off the cloth, and put the brawn
between two dishes or trenchers, with a heavy weight on the upper one.
The next day take off the fillets of tape, and serve the head whole or
sliced with the brawn sauce of Chapter VI.
ITALIAN PORK CHEESE.
Chop, not very fine, one pound of lean pork with two pounds of the
inside fat; strew over, and mix thoroughly with them three teaspoonsful
of salt, nearly half as much pepper, a half-tablespoonful of mixed
parsley, thyme, and sage (and sweet-basil, if it can be procured), all
minced extremely small. Press the meat closely and evenly into a shallow
tin,—such as are used for Yorkshire puddings will answer well,—and bake
it in a very gentle oven from an hour to an hour and a half: it is
served cold in slices. Should the proportion of fat be considered too
much, it can be diminished on a second trial.
Minced mushrooms or truffles may be added with very good effect to all
meat cakes, or compositions of this kind.
Lean of pork, 1 lb.; fat, 2 lbs.; salt, 3 teaspoonsful; pepper, 1-1/2
teaspoonful; mace, 1/2 teaspoonful; nutmeg, 1 small; mixed herbs, 1
large tablespoonful: 1 to 1-1/2 hour.
SAUSAGE-MEAT CAKE, OR, PAIN DE PORC FRAIS.
Season very highly from two to three pounds of good sausage-meat, both
with spices and with sage, or with thyme and parsley, if these be
preferred; press the mixture into a pan, and proceed exactly as for the
veal-cake of Chapter XI. A few minced eschalots can be mixed with the
meat for those who like their flavour.
SAUSAGES.
Common farm-house sausages are made with nearly equal parts of fat and
lean pork, coarsely chopped, and seasoned with salt and pepper only.
They are put into skins (which have previously been turned inside out,
scraped very thin, washed with extreme nicety, and wiped very dry), then
twisted into links, and should be hung in a cool airy larder, when they
will remain good for some time. Odd scraps and trimmings of pork are
usually taken for sausage-meat when the pig is killed and cut up at
home; but the chine and blade-bone are preferred in general for the
purpose. The pork rinds, as we have already stated,[86] will make a
strong and almost flavourless jelly, which may be used with excellent
effect for stock, and which, with the addition of some pork-bones,
plenty of vegetables, and some dried peas, will make a very nutritious
soup for those who do not object to the pork-flavour which the bones
will give. Half an ounce of salt, and nearly or quite a quarter of an
ounce of pepper will sufficiently season each pound of the sausage-meat.
Footnote 86:
See _Soupe des Galles_, Chapter I.
KENTISH SAUSAGE-MEAT.
To three pounds of lean pork, add two of fat, and let both be taken
clear of skin. As sausages are lighter, though not so delicate, when the
meat is somewhat coarsely chopped, this difference should be attended to
in making them. When the fat and lean are partially mixed, strew over
them two ounces and a half of dry salt, beaten to powder, and mixed with
one ounce of ground black pepper, and three large tablespoonsful of
sage, very finely minced. Turn the meat with the chopping-knife, until
the ingredients are well blended. Test it before it is taken off the
block, by frying a small portion, that if more seasoning be desired, it
may at once be added. A full-sized nutmeg and a small dessertspoonsful
of pounded mace, would, to many tastes, improve it. This sausage-meat is
usually formed into cakes, which, after being well floured, are roasted
in a Dutch oven. They must be watched, and often turned, that no part
may be scorched. The meat may also be put into skins, and dressed in any
other way.
Lean of pork, 3 lbs.; fat, 2 lbs.; salt, 2-1/2 oz.; pepper, 1 oz,;
minced sage, 3 large tablespoonsful.
EXCELLENT SAUSAGES.
Chop, first separately, and then together, one pound and a quarter of
veal, perfectly free from fat, skin, and sinew, with an equal weight of
lean pork, and of the inside fat of the pig. Mix well, and strew over
the meat an ounce and a quarter of salt, half an ounce of pepper, one
nutmeg grated, and a _large_ teaspoonful of pounded mace. Turn, and chop
the sausages until they are equally seasoned throughout, and tolerably
fine; press them into a clean pan, and keep them in a very cool place.
Form them, when wanted for table, into cakes something less than an inch
thick; and flour and fry them then for about ten minutes in a little
butter, or roast them in a Dutch or American oven.
Lean of veal and pork, of each 1 lb. 4 oz.; fat of pork, 1 lb. 4 oz.,
salt, 1-1/4 oz.; pepper, 1/2 oz.; nutmeg, 1; mace, 1 _large_
teaspoonful, fried in cakes, 10 minutes.
POUNDED SAUSAGE-MEAT.
(_Very good._)
Take from the best end of a neck of veal, or from the fillet or loin, a
couple or more pounds of flesh without any intermixture of fat or skin;
chop it small, and pound it thoroughly in a large mortar, with half its
weight of the inside, or leaf-fat, of a pig; proportion salt and spice
to it by the preceding receipt, form it into cakes, and fry it as above.
BOILED SAUSAGES. (ENTRÉE.)
In Lincolnshire, sausages are frequently boiled in the skins, and served
upon a toast, as a corner dish. They should be put into boiling water,
and simmered from seven to ten minutes, according to their size.
SAUSAGES AND CHESTNUTS. (ENTRÉE.)
_An excellent dish._ (_French._)
Roast, and take the husk and skin from forty fine Spanish chestnuts; fry
gently, in a morsel of butter, six small flat oval cakes of fine
sausage-meat, and when they are well browned, lift them out and pour
into a saucepan, which should be bright in the inside, the greater part
of the fat in which they have been fried; mix with it a large
teaspoonful of flour, and stir these over the fire till they are well
and equally browned; then pour in by degrees nearly half a pint of
strong beef or veal broth, or gravy, and two glasses of good white wine;
add a _small_ bunch of savoury herbs, and as much salt and pepper, or
cayenne, as will season the whole properly; give it a boil, lay in the
sausages round the pan, and the chestnuts in the centre; stew them
_very_ softly for nearly an hour; take out the herbs, dish the sausages
neatly, and heap the chestnuts in the centre, strain the sauce over them
and serve them very hot. There should be no sage mixed with the pork to
dress thus.
Chestnuts roasted, 40; sausages, 6; gravy, nearly 1/2 pint; sherry or
Madeira, 2 wineglassesful: stewed together from 50 to 60 minutes.
TRUFFLED SAUSAGES.
(_Saucisses aux Truffes._)
With two pounds of the lean of young tender pork, mix one pound of fat,
a quarter of a pound of truffles, minced very small, an ounce and a half
of salt, a seasoning of cayenne, or quite half an ounce of white pepper,
a nutmeg, a teaspoonful of freshly pounded mace, and a dessertspoonful
or more of savoury herbs dried and reduced to powder. Test a morsel of
the mixture; heighten any of the seasonings to the taste; and put the
meat into delicately clean skins: if it be for immediate use, and the
addition is liked, moisten it, before it is dressed, with one or two
glassesful of Madeira. The substitution of a clove of garlic for the
truffles, will convert these into _Saucisses a l’ Ail_, or garlic
sausages.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER XIV.
=Poultry.=
[Illustration]
TO CHOOSE POULTRY.
YOUNG, plump, well-fed, but not over-fatted poultry is the best. The
skin of fowls and turkeys should be clear, white, and finely grained,
the breasts broad and full-fleshed, the legs smooth, the toes pliable
and easily broken when bent back; the birds should also be heavy in
proportion to their size. This applies equally to geese and ducks, of
which the breasts likewise should be very plump, and the feet yellow and
flexible: when these are red and hard, the bills of the same colour, and
the skin full of hairs, and extremely coarse, the birds are old.
White-legged fowls and chickens should be chosen for boiling, because
their appearance is the most delicate when dressed; but the dark-legged
ones often prove more juicy and of better flavour when roasted, and
their colour then is immaterial.
Every precaution should be taken to prevent poultry from becoming ever
so slightly tainted before it is cooked, but unless the weather be
exceedingly sultry, it should not be quite freshly killed; pigeons only
are the better for being so, and are thought to lose their flavour by
hanging even a day or two. Turkeys, as we have stated in our receipts
for them, are very tough and poor eating if not sufficiently long kept.
A goose, also, in winter, should hang some days before it is dressed,
and fowls, likewise, will be improved by it.
All kinds of poultry should be _thoroughly cooked_, though without being
overdone, for nothing in general can more effectually destroy the
appetite than the taste and appearance of their flesh when brought to
table half roasted or boiled.
TO BONE A FOWL OR TURKEY WITHOUT OPENING IT.
After the fowl has been drawn and singed, wipe it inside and out with a
clean cloth, but do not wash it. Take off the head, cut through the skin
all round the first joint of the legs, and pull them from the fowl, to
draw out the large tendons. Raise the flesh first from the lower part of
the back-bone, and a little also from the end of the breast-bone, if
necessary; work the knife gradually to the socket of the thigh; with the
point of the knife detach the joint from it, take the end of the bone
firmly in the fingers, and cut the flesh clean from it down to the next
joint, round which pass the point of the knife carefully, and when the
skin is loosened from it in every part, cut round the next bone, keeping
the edge of the knife close to it, until the whole of the leg is done.
Remove the bones of the other leg in the same manner; then detach the
flesh from the back and breast-bone sufficiently to enable you to reach
the upper joints of the wings; proceed with these as with the legs, but
be especially careful not to pierce the skin of the second joint; it is
usual to leave the pinions unboned, in order to give more easily its
natural form to the fowl when it is dressed. The merrythought and
neck-bones may now easily be cut away, the back and side-bones taken out
without being divided, and the breast-bone separated carefully from the
flesh (which, as the work progresses, must be turned back from the bones
upon the fowl, until it is completely inside out). After the one
remaining bone is removed, draw the wings and legs back to their proper
form, and turn the fowl right side outwards.
A turkey is boned exactly in the same manner, but as it requires a very
large proportion of forcemeat to fill it entirely, the legs and wings
are sometimes drawn into the body, to diminish the expense of this. If
very securely trussed, and sewn, the bird may be either boiled, or
stewed in rich gravy, as well as roasted, after being boned and forced;
but it must be most gently cooled, or it may burst.
ANOTHER MODE OF BONING A FOWL OR TURKEY.
Cut through the skin down the centre of the back, and raise the flesh
carefully on either side with the point of a sharp knife, until the
sockets of the wings and thighs are reached. Till a little practice has
been gained, it will perhaps be better to bone these joints before
proceeding further; but after they are once detached from it, the whole
of the body may easily be separated from the flesh and taken out entire:
only the neck-bones and merrythought will then remain to be removed. The
bird thus prepared may either be restored to its original form, by
filling the legs and wings with forcemeat, and the body with the livers
of two or three fowls mixed with alternate layers of parboiled tongue
freed from the rind, fine sausage meat, or veal forcemeat, or thin
slices of the nicest bacon, or aught else of good flavour, which will
give a marbled appearance to the fowl when it is carved; and then be
sewn up and trussed as usual; or the legs and wings may be drawn inside
the body, and the bird being first flattened on a table may be covered
with sausage meat, and the various other ingredients we have named, so
placed that it shall be of equal thickness in every part; then tightly
rolled, bound firmly together with a fillet of broad tape, wrapped in a
thin pudding-cloth, closely tied at both ends, and dressed as
follows:—Put it into a braising-pan, stewpan, or thick iron saucepan,
bright in the inside, and fitted as nearly as may be to its size; add
all the chicken bones, a bunch of sweet herbs, two carrots, two
bay-leaves, a large blade of mace, twenty-four white peppercorns, and
any trimmings or bones of undressed veal which may be at hand; cover the
whole with good veal-broth, add salt, if needed, and stew it very
softly, from an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half; let it cool in
the liquor in which it was stewed; and after it is lifted out, boil down
the gravy to a jelly and strain it; let it become cold, clear off the
fat, and serve it cut into large dice or roughed, and laid round the
fowl, which is to be served cold. If restored to its form, instead of
being rolled, it must be stewed gently for an hour, and may then be sent
to table hot, covered with mushroom, or any other good sauce that may be
preferred; or it may be left until the following day, and served
garnished with the jelly, which should be firm, and very clear and
well-flavoured; the liquor in which a calf’s foot has been boiled down,
added to the broth, will give it the necessary degree of consistence.
French cooks add three or four onions to these preparations of poultry
(the last of which is called a _galantine_); but these our own taste
would lead us to reject.
Rolled, 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 hour, galantine, 1 hour.
_Obs._—A couple of fowls, boned and rolled, make an excellent pie.
TO BONE FOWLS FOR FRICASSEES, CURRIES, AND PIES.
First carve them entirely into joints, then remove the bones, beginning
with the legs and wings, at the head of the largest bone; hold this with
the fingers, and work the knife as directed in the receipt above. The
remainder of the birds is too easily done to require any instructions.
TO ROAST A TURKEY.
[Illustration:
Turkey for roasting.
]
In very cold weather a turkey in its feathers will hang (in an airy
larder) quite a fortnight with advantage; and, however fine a quality of
bird it may be, unless sufficiently long kept, it will prove not worth
the dressing, though it should always be _perfectly sweet_ when prepared
for table. Pluck, draw, and singe it with exceeding care; wash, and then
dry it thoroughly with clean cloths, or merely wipe the outside well,
without wetting it, and pour water plentifully through the inside. Fill
the breast with forcemeat (No. 1, Chapter VIII.), or with the finest
sausage meat, highly seasoned with minced herbs, lemon-rind, mace, and
cayenne. Truss the bird firmly, lay it to a clear sound fire, baste it
constantly and bountifully with butter, and serve it when done with good
brown gravy, and well-made bread sauce. An entire chain of delicate
fried sausages is still often placed in the dish, round a turkey, as a
garnish.
It is usual to fold and fasten a sheet of buttered writing paper over
the breast to prevent its being too much coloured: this should be
removed twenty minutes before the bird is done. The forcemeat of
chestnuts (No. 15, Chapter VIII.) may be very advantageously substituted
for the commoner kinds in stuffing it, and the body may then be filled
with chestnuts, previously stewed until tender in rich gravy, or
simmered over a slow fire in plenty of rasped bacon, with a high
seasoning of mace, nutmeg, and cayenne, until they are so; or, instead
of this, well-made chestnut sauce, or a dish of stewed chestnuts, may be
sent to table with the turkey.
_Obs. 1._—Baron Liebig’s improved method of roasting will be found at p.
171, and can be followed always instead of the directions given here.
1-1/2 to 2-1/2 hours.
_Obs. 2._—A turkey should be laid at first far from the fire, and drawn
nearer when half done, though never sufficiently so to scorch it; it
should be _well_ roasted, for even the most inveterate advocates of
underdressed meat will seldom tolerate the taste or _sight_ of
partially-raw poultry
TO BOIL A TURKEY.
[Illustration:
Turkey for boiling.
]
A delicate but plump hen-turkey of moderate size should be selected for
boiling. Free the skin most carefully from all the stumps, and draw the
bird, using the greatest precaution not to break the gall bladder; singe
it with writing paper, take off the head and neck, cut through the skin
round the first joint of the legs, and draw them off: this is best
accomplished by fastening the feet to a strong hook, and then pulling
the bird away from it. Wash it exceedingly clean, and then wipe it dry,
fill the breast with the forcemeat No. 1 or 2 of Chapter VIII., or with
the oyster, chestnut, or French forcemeat, of which the receipts are
given in the same chapter. In trussing it draw the legs into the body,
break the breast-bone, and give the turkey as round and plump an
appearance as can be. Put it into plenty of _warm_ water, or into as
much boiling water as will rise about an inch over it, and when it has
quite boiled for ten minutes, cool it down by the addition of cold
water, and then take out a portion of it, leaving only as much as will
keep the bird thoroughly covered until it is ready for table.[87] Clear
off the scum with the greatest care as it is thrown to the surface, and
boil the bird _very gently_ from an hour and a half to two hours and a
quarter. A very large turkey would require a longer time, but it is
unsuited to this mode of cooking. When the oyster-forcemeat is used, a
large tureen of rich oyster sauce should accompany the dish; but celery
sauce, or good white sauce, may otherwise be sent to table with it; and
a boiled tongue or a small ham is usually served in addition. For a
plain family dinner, a delicate cheek of bacon is sometimes substituted
for either of these, and parsley and butter for a more expensive sauce.
_Fast boiling_ will cause the skin of the bird to break, and must
therefore be especially avoided: it should hang for some days before it
is dressed, for if quite freshly killed it will not be tender, but it
must be _perfectly_ sweet to be fit for table. Truss the turkey by the
directions of introductory chapter on trussing.
Footnote 87:
As we have elsewhere stated, all meat and fish are injured by being
cooked in a much larger quantity of water than is absolutely required
for them.
Moderate-sized turkey, 1-1/2 to 2 hours; large turkey, longer; very
small one, less time.
TURKEY BONED AND FORCED.
(_An excellent dish._)
[Illustration:
Cradle Spit.
]
Take a small, well-kept, but quite sweet hen-turkey, of from seven to
eight pounds weight, and remove, by the receipt for a fowl (page 265),
all the bones except those of the pinions, without opening the bird;
draw it into shape, and fill it entirely with exceedingly fine sausage
meat, beginning with the legs and wings; plump the breast well in
preparing it, and when its original form is quite restored, tie it
securely at both ends, and at the extremities of the legs; pass a slight
iron skewer through these and the body, and another through the wings
and body; then lay a twine over the back of the turkey, and pass it
under the ends of the first skewer, cross it in the centre of the back,
and pass it under the ends of the second skewer; then carry it over the
pinions to keep them firmly in their place, and fasten it at the neck.
When a cradle spit, of which the engraving below shows the form, and
which opens with a joint to receive the roast, is not at hand, a bottle
jack will be found more convenient than any other for holding the
turkey; and after the hook of this is passed through the neck, it must
be further supported by a string running across the back and under the
points of the skewer which confines the pinions to the hook; for,
otherwise, its weight would most probably cause it to fall. Flour it
well, place it far from the fire until it is heated through, and baste
it plentifully and incessantly with butter. An hour and three quarters
will roast it well. Break and boil down the bones for gravy in a pint
and a half of water, or good veal broth, with a little salt, a few
slices of celery, a dozen corns of pepper, and a branch or two of
parsley. Brown gently in a morsel of fresh butter, a couple of ounces of
lean ham, add to them a slight dredging of flour, and a little cayenne,
and pour to them the broth from the bones, after it has boiled for an
hour, and been strained and skimmed; shake the stewpan well round, and
stew the gravy until it is wanted for table; clear it entirely from fat,
strain, and serve it very hot. An eschalot or half an onion may be
browned with the ham when either is liked, but their flavour is not, we
think, appropriate to poultry.
The turkey may be partially filled with the forcemeat No. 1 or 3 of
Chapter VIII., and the sausage-meat may then be placed on either side of
it.
Hen turkey between 7 and 8 lbs. weight, boned, filled with sausage-meat,
3 to 4 lbs.; or with forcemeat No. 1, or with No. 3, Chapter VI., 1 lb.
(that is to say, 1 lb. of bread-crumbs, and the other ingredients in
proportion.) Sausage-meat, 2 to 3 lbs. roasted 1-3/4 hour.
_Obs._—When a common spit is used for the turkey, it must be fastened
_to_, and not put _upon_ it.
Bread sauce can be served with the bird, or not, at pleasure.
It will be found an improvement to moisten the sausage-meat with two or
three spoonsful of water: it should be finely minced, well spiced, and
mixed with herbs, when the common forcemeat is not used in addition. In
preparing it a pound and a quarter of fat should be mixed with each
pound of the lean.
To give the turkey a very good appearance, the breast may be larded by
the directions of page 181.
TURKEY À LA FLAMANDE, OR, DINDE POUDRÉE.
Prepare as for boiling a fine well-kept hen turkey; wipe the inside
thoroughly with a dry cloth, but do not wash it; throw in a little salt
to draw out the blood, let it remain a couple of hours or more, then
drain and wipe it again; next, rub the outside in every part with about
four ounces of fine dry salt, mixed with a large tablespoonful of
pounded sugar; rub the turkey well with these, and turn it every day for
four days; then fill it entirely with equal parts of choice
sausage-meat, and of the crumb of bread soaked in boiling milk or cream,
and wrung dry in a cloth; season these with the grated rind of a large
lemon and nutmeg, mace, cayenne, and fine herbs, in the same proportion
as for veal forcemeat (No. 1, Chapter VIII). Sew the turkey up very
securely, and when trussed, roll it in a cloth, tie it closely at both
ends, put it into boiling water, and boil it very gently between three
and four hours. When taken up, sprinkle it thickly with fine crumbs of
bread, mixed with plenty of parsley, shred extremely small. Serve it
cold, with a sauce made of the strained juice and grated rind of two
lemons, a teaspoonful of made mustard, and one of pounded sugar, with as
much oil as will prevent its being more than pleasantly acid, and a
little salt, if needed; work these together until perfectly mixed, and
send them to table in a tureen.
This receipt was given to us abroad, by a Flemish lady, who had had the
dish often served with great success in Paris. We have inserted it on
her authority, not on our own experience; but we think it may be quite
depended on.
TO ROAST A TURKEY POULT.
[The turkey-poult is in season whenever it is of sufficient size to
serve. In the earlier spring months it is very high in price, but in
summer, and as the autumn advances, may be had at a more reasonable
cost. The great demand for turkeys in England towards Christmas, and the
care which they require in being reared, causes them to be brought much
less abundantly into the markets when young, than they are in foreign
countries; in many of which they are very plentiful and very cheap.]
A turkey-poult or half grown turkey, makes a delicate roast, which some
persons much prefer to the full-grown bird. It is served with the head
on, but is generally in other respects trussed like a capon or a large
fowl, except for fashionable tables, for which it is sometimes arranged
with the legs twisted back at the first joint, and the feet brought
close to the thighs in the same manner as those of a woodcock. It should
be well basted with good butter, and will require from an hour to an
hour and a quarter’s roasting. If for the second course, it may be
dished on water-cresses: pour a little gravy round it in the dish, and
send more to table with it in a tureen.
TO ROAST A GOOSE.
[In best season from September to March.]
[Illustration:
Goose for roasting.
]
After it has been plucked and singed with care, put into the body of the
goose two parboiled onions of moderate size finely chopped, and mixed
with half an ounce of minced sage-leaves, a saltspoonful of salt, and
half as much black pepper, or a proportionate quantity of cayenne; to
these add a small slice of fresh butter. Truss the goose, and after it
is on the spit, tie it firmly at both ends that it may turn steadily,
and that the seasoning may not escape; roast it at a brisk fire, and
keep it constantly basted. Serve it with brown gravy, and apple or
tomata sauce. When the taste is in favour of a stronger seasoning than
the above, which occurs we apprehend but seldom, use raw onions for it
and increase the quantity: but should one still milder be preferred, mix
a handful of fine bread-crumbs with the other ingredients, or two or
three minced apples. The body of a goose is sometimes filled entirely
with mashed potatoes, which, for this purpose, ought to be boiled very
dry, and well blended with two or three ounces of butter, or with some
_thick cream_, some salt, and white pepper or cayenne: to these minced
sage and parboiled onions can also be added at pleasure. A teaspoonful
of made-mustard, half as much of salt, and a small portion of cayenne,
smoothly mixed with a glass of port wine, are sometimes poured into the
goose just before it is served, through a cut made in the apron.
1-1/2 to 1-3/4 hour.
_Obs._—We extract, for the benefit of our readers, from a work in our
possession, the following passage, of which we have had no opportunity
of testing the correctness. “Geese, with sage and onions, may be
deprived of power to breathe forth any incense, thus: Pare from a lemon
all the yellow rind, taking care not to bruise the fruit nor to cut so
deeply as to let out the juice. Place this lemon in the centre of the
seasoning within the bird. When or before it is brought to table, let
the flap be gently opened, remove the lemon with a tablespoon; avoid
breaking, and let it instantly be thrown away, as its white pithy skin
will have absorbed all the gross particles which else would have
escaped.”
TO ROAST A GREEN GOOSE.
Season the inside with a little pepper and salt, and roast the goose at
a brisk fire from forty to fifty minutes. Serve it with good brown gravy
only. To this sorrel-sauce is sometimes added at not very modern English
tables, Green geese are never stuffed.
TO ROAST A FOWL.
[Fowls are always in season when they can be procured sufficiently young
to be tender. About February they become dear and scarce; and small
spring chickens are generally very expensive. As summer advances they
decline in price.]
[Illustration:
Fowl for roasting.
]
Strip off the feathers, and carefully pick every stump from the skin, as
nothing can be more uninviting than the appearance of any kind of
poultry where this has been neglected, nor more indicative of
slovenliness on the part of the cook. Take off the head and neck close
to the body, but leave sufficient of the skin to tie over the part that
is cut. In drawing the bird, do not open it more than is needful, and
use great precaution to avoid breaking the gall-bladder. Hold the legs
in boiling water for two or three minutes that the skin may be peeled
from them easily; cut the claws, and then, with a bit of lighted
writing-paper, singe off the hairs without blackening the fowl. Wash,
and wipe it afterwards very dry, and let the liver and gizzard be made
delicately clean, and fastened into the pinions. Truss and spit it
firmly; flour it well when first laid to the fire, baste it frequently
with butter, and when it is done draw out the skewers, dish it, pour a
little good gravy over, and send it to table with bread, mushroom, egg,
chestnut, or olive sauce. A common mode of serving roast fowls in France
is _aux cressons_, that is, laid upon young water-cresses,[88] which
have previously been freed from the outer leaves, thoroughly washed,
shaken dry in a clean cloth, and sprinkled with a little fine salt, and
sometimes with a small quantity of vinegar: these should cover the dish,
and after the fowls are placed on them, gravy should be poured over as
usual.
Footnote 88:
This is done with many other roasts which are served in the second
course but the _vinegar_ is seldom added in this country.
The body of a fowl may be filled with very small mushrooms prepared as
for partridges (see partridges with mushrooms), then sewn up, roasted,
and served with mushroom-sauce: this is an excellent mode of dressing
it. A little rasped bacon, or a bit or two of the lean of beef or veal
minced, or cut into dice, may be put inside the bird when either is
considered an improvement; but its own liver, or that of another fowl,
will be found to impart a much finer flavour than any of these last; and
so likewise will a teaspoonful of _really good_ mushroom-powder smoothly
mixed with a slice of good butter, and a seasoning of fine salt and
cayenne.[89]
Footnote 89:
We cannot much recommend these _mere superfluities_ of the table.
Full-sized fowl, 1 hour: young chicken, 25 to 35 minutes.
_Obs._—As we have already observed in our general remarks on roasting,
the time must be regulated by various circumstances which we named, and
which the cook should always take into consideration. A buttered paper
should be fastened over the breast, and removed about fifteen minutes
before the fowl is served: this will prevent its taking too much colour.
ROAST FOWL.
(_A French Receipt._)
Fill the breast of a fine fowl with good forcemeat, roast it as usual,
and when it is very nearly ready to serve take it from the fire, pour
lukewarm butter over it in every part, and strew it thickly with very
fine bread-crumbs; sprinkle these again with butter, and dip the fowl
into more crumbs. Put it down to the fire, and when it is of a clear,
light brown all over, take it carefully from the spit, dish, and serve
it with lemon-sauce, and with gravy thickened and mixed with plenty of
minced parsley, or with brown gravy and any other sauce usually served
with fowls. Savoury herbs shred small, spice, and lemon-grate, may be
mixed with the crumbs at pleasure. Do not pour gravy over the fowl when
it is thus prepared.
TO ROAST A GUINEA FOWL.
Let the bird hang for as many days as the weather will allow; then
stuff, truss, roast, and serve it like a turkey, or leave the head on
and lard the breast. Send gravy and bread-sauce to table with it in
either case: it will be found excellent eating.
3/4 to 1 hour.
FOWL À LA CARLSFORS. (ENTRÉE.)
Bone a fowl without opening the back, and restore it to its original
form by filling the vacant spaces in the legs and wings with forcemeat;
put a roll of it also into the body, and a large sausage freed from the
skin on either side; tie it very securely at both ends, truss it with
fine skewers, and roast it for a full hour, keeping it basted
plentifully with butter. When appearance is not regarded, the pinions
may be taken off, and the legs and wings drawn inside the fowl, which
will then require a much smaller proportion of forcemeat:—that directed
for veal will answer quite well in a general way, but for a dinner of
ceremony, No. 17 or 18 of the same Chapter, should be used in
preference. The fowl must be _tied_ securely to the spit, not put upon
it. Boned chickens are excellent when entirely filled with well-made
mushroom forcemeat, or very delicate and nicely seasoned sausage-meat,
and either roasted or stewed. Brown gravy, or mushroom sauce should then
be sent to table with them.
BOILED FOWLS.
[Illustration:
Fowl for boiling.
]
White-legged poultry should always be selected for boiling as it is of
better colour when dressed than any other. Truss the fowls firmly and
neatly, with the legs drawn into the bodies, and the wings twisted over
the backs; let them be well covered with water, which should be hot, but
not boiling when they are put in. A full-sized fowl will require about
three quarters of an hour from the time of its beginning to simmer; but
young chickens not more than from twenty to twenty-five minutes: they
should be _very gently_ boiled, and the scum should be removed with
great care as it gathers on the surface of the water. Either of the
following sauces may be sent to table with them: parsley and butter,
_béchamel_, English white sauce, oyster, celery, or white-mushroom
sauce. The fowls are often dished with small tufts of delicately boiled
cauliflower placed round them; or with young vegetable marrow scarcely
larger than an egg, merely pared and halved after it is dressed: white
sauce must be served with both of these. The livers and gizzards are
not, at the present day, ever served in the wings of boiled fowls. The
livers may be simmered for four or five minutes, then pressed to a
smooth paste with a wooden spoon, and mixed very gradually with the
sauce, which should not boil after they are added.
Full-sized fowl, 3/4 hour: young chickens, 20 to 25 minutes.
_Obs._—Rather less than half a gallon of cold added to an equal quantity
of boiling water, will bring it to the proper degree of heat for putting
in the fowls, or the same directions may be observed for them as those
given for a boiled turkey. For richer modes of boiling poultry, see
_Blanc_ and _Poêlée_, Chapter IX.
TO BROIL A CHICKEN OR FOWL.
Either of these, when merely split and broiled, is very dry and
unsavoury eating; but will be greatly improved if first boiled gently
from five to ten minutes and left to become cold, then divided, dipped
into egg and well seasoned bread-crumbs, plentifully sprinkled with
clarified butter, dipped again into the crumbs, and broiled over a clear
and gentle fire from half to three quarters of an hour. It should be
served very hot, with mushroom-sauce or with a little good plain gravy,
which may be thickened and flavoured with a teaspoonful of
mushroom-powder mixed with half as much flour and a little butter; or
with some _Espagnole_. It should be opened at the back, and evenly
divided quite through; the legs should be trussed like those of a boiled
fowl; the breast-bone, or hat of the back may be removed at pleasure,
and both sides of the bird should be made as flat as they can be that
the fire may penetrate every part equally: the inside should be first
laid towards it. The neck, feet and gizzard may be boiled down with a
small quantity of onion and carrot, previously browned in a morsel of
butter to make the gravy; and the liver, after having been simmered with
them for five or six minutes, may be used to thicken it after it is
strained. A teaspoonful of lemon-juice, some cayenne, and minced parsley
should be added to it, and a little arrow-root, or flour and butter.
1/2 to 3/4 hour.
FRICASSEED FOWLS OR CHICKENS. (ENTRÉE.)
To make a fricassee of good appearance without great expense, prepare,
with exceeding nicety, a couple of plump chickens, strip off the skin,
and carve them very neatly. Reserve the wings, breasts, merrythoughts,
and thighs; and stew down the inferior joints with a couple of blades of
mace, a small bunch of savoury herbs, a few white peppercorns, a pint
and a half of water, and a small half-teaspoonful of salt. When
something more than a third part reduced, strain the gravy, let it cool,
and skim off every particle of fat. Arrange the joints which are to be
fricasseed in one layer if it can be done conveniently, and pour to them
as much of the gravy as will nearly cover them; add the very thin rind
of half a fine fresh lemon, and simmer the fowls gently from half to
three quarters of an hour; throw in sufficient salt, pounded mace, and
cayenne, to give the sauce a good flavour, thicken it with a large
teaspoonful of arrow-root, and stir to it the third of a pint of rich
boiling cream; then lift the stewpan from the fire, and shake it briskly
round while the beaten yolks of three fresh eggs, mixed with a spoonful
or two of cream, are added; continue to shake the pan gently above the
fire till the sauce is just set, but it must not be allowed to boil, or
it will curdle in an instant.
1/2 to 3/4 hour.
ENGLISH CHICKEN CUTLETS. (ENTRÉE).
Skin and cut into joints one or two young chickens, and remove the bones
with care from the breasts, merrythoughts, and thighs, which are to be
separated from the legs. Mix well together a teaspoonful of salt, nearly
a fourth as much of mace, a little grated nutmeg, and some cayenne;
flatten and form into good shape, the boned joints of chicken, and the
flesh of the wings; rub a little of the seasoning over them in every
part, dip them into beaten egg, and then into very fine bread-crumbs,
and fry them gently in fresh butter until they are of a delicate brown.
Some of the bones and trimmings may be boiled down in half a pint of
water, with a roll of lemon-peel, a little salt, and eight or ten white
peppercorns, to make the gravy which, after being strained and cleared
from fat, may be poured hot to some thickening made in the pan with a
slice of fresh butter and a dessertspoonful of flour: a teaspoonful of
mushroom-powder would improve it greatly, and a small quantity of
lemon-juice should be added before it is poured out, with salt and
cayenne if required. Pile the cutlets high in the centre of the dish,
and serve the sauce under them, or in a tureen.
CUTLETS OF FOWLS, PARTRIDGES, OR PIGEONS. (ENTRÉE.)
(_French Receipt._)
Take closely off the flesh of the breast and wing together, on either
side of the bone, and when the _large fillets_, as they are called, are
thus raised from three birds, which will give but six cutlets, take the
strips of flesh that lie under the wings, and that of the merrythoughts,
and flatten two or three of these together, that there may be nine
cutlets at least, of equal size. When all are ready, fry to a pale brown
as many diamond-shaped sippets of bread as there are fillets of fowl,
and let them be quite as large; place these before the fire to dry, and
wipe out the pan. Dip the cutlets into some yolks of eggs, mixed with a
little clarified butter, and strew them in every part with the finest
bread-crumbs, moderately seasoned with salt, cayenne, and pounded mace.
Dissolve as much good butter as will be required to dress them, and fry
them in it of a light amber-colour: arrange them upon the sippets of
bread, pile them high in the dish, and pour a rich brown gravy or
_Espagnole_ round, but not _over_ them.
FRIED CHICKEN À LA MALABAR. (ENTRÉE.)
This is an Indian dish. Cut up the chicken, wipe it dry, and rub it well
with currie-powder mixed with a little salt; fry it in a bit of butter,
taking care that it is of a nice light brown. In the mean time cut two
or three onions into thin slices, draw them out into rings, and cut the
rings into little bits about half an inch long; fry them for a long time
gently in a little clarified butter, until they have gradually dried up
and are of a delicate yellow-brown. Be careful that they are not burnt,
as the burnt taste of a single bit would spoil the flavour of the whole.
When they are as dry as chips, without the least grease or moisture upon
them, mix a little salt with them, strew them over the fried chicken,
and serve up with lemon on a plate.
We have extracted this receipt from a clever little work called the
“Hand-Book of Cookery.”
HASHED FOWL. (ENTRÉE.)
After having taken off in joints, as much of a cold fowl or _fowls_ as
will suffice for a dish, bruise the bodies with a paste roller, pour to
them a pint of water, and boil them for an hour and a half to two hours,
with the addition of a little pepper and salt only, or with a small
quantity of onion, carrot, and savoury herbs. Strain, and skim the fat
from the gravy, put it into a clean saucepan, and, should it require
thickening, stir to it, when it boils, half a teaspoonful of flour
smoothly mixed with a small bit of butter; add a little mushroom catsup,
or other store-sauce, with a slight seasoning of mace or nutmeg. Lay in
the fowl, and keep it near the fire until it is heated quite through,
and is at the point of boiling: serve it with fried sippets round the
dish. For a hash of higher relish, add to the bones when they are first
stewed down a large onion minced and browned in butter, and before the
fowl is dished, add some cayenne and the juice of half a lemon.
FRENCH AND OTHER RECEIPTS FOR MINCED FOWL. (ENTRÉE.)
Raise from the bones all the more delicate parts of the flesh of either
cold roast, or of cold boiled fowls, clear it from the skin, and keep it
covered from the air until it is wanted for use. Boil the bones well
bruised, and the skin, with three quarters of a pint of water until
reduced quite half; then strain the gravy and let it cool; next, having
first skimmed off the fat, put it into a clean saucepan, with a quarter
of a pint of cream, an ounce and a half of butter well mixed with a
dessertspoonful of flour, and a little pounded mace, and grated
lemon-rind; keep these stirred until they boil, then put in the fowl,
finely minced, with three or four hard-boiled eggs chopped small, and
sufficient salt, and white pepper or cayenne, to season it properly.
Shake the mince over the fire until it is just ready to boil, stir to it
quickly a squeeze of lemon-juice, dish it with pale sippets of fried
bread, and serve it immediately. When cream cannot easily be obtained,
use milk, with a double quantity of butter and flour. To make an English
mince, omit the hard eggs, heat the fowl in the preceding sauce or in a
common _béchamel_, or white sauce, dish it with small delicately poached
eggs (those of the guinea-fowl or bantam for example), laid over it in a
circle and send it quickly to table. Another excellent variety of the
dish is also made by covering the fowl thickly with very fine
bread-crumbs, moistening them with clarified butter, and giving them
colour with a salamander, or in a quick oven.[90]
Footnote 90:
For minced fowl and oysters, follow the receipt for veal, page 231.
FRITOT OF COLD FOWLS.
Cut into joints and take the skin from some cold fowls lay them into a
deep dish, strew over them a little fine salt and cayenne, add the juice
of a lemon, and let them remain for an hour, moving them occasionally
that they may all absorb a portion of the acid; then dip them one by one
into some French batter (see Chapter V.), and fry them a pale brown over
a gentle fire. Serve them garnished with very green crisped parsley. A
few drops of eschalot vinegar may be mixed with the lemon-juice which is
poured to the fowls, or slices of raw onion or eschalot, and small
branches of sweet herbs may be laid amongst them, and cleared off before
they are dipped into the batter. Gravy made of the trimmings, thickened,
and well flavoured, may be sent to table with them in a tureen; and
dressed bacon (see page 259), in a dish apart.
SCALLOPS OF FOWL AU BÉCHAMEL. (ENTRÉE.)
Raise the flesh from a couple of fowls as directed for cutlets in the
foregoing receipt, and take it as entire as possible from either side of
the breast; strip off the skin, lay the fillets flat, and slice them
into small thin scallops; dip them one by one into clarified butter, and
arrange them evenly in a delicately clean and not large frying-pan;
sprinkle a seasoning of fine salt over, and just before the dish is
wanted for table, fry them quickly without allowing them to brown; drain
them well from the butter, pile them in the centre of a hot dish, and
sauce them with some boiling _béchamel_. This dish may be quickly
prepared by taking a ready-dressed fowl from the spit or stewpan, and by
raising the fillets, and slicing the scallops into the boiling sauce
before they have had time to cool.
Fried, 3 to 4 minutes.
GRILLADE OF COLD FOWLS.
Carve and soak the remains of roast fowls as for the _fritot_ which
precedes, wipe them dry, dip them into clarified butter, and then into
fine bread-crumbs, and broil them gently over a very clear fire. A
little finely-minced lean of ham or grated lemon-peel, with a seasoning
of cayenne, salt, and mace, mixed with the crumbs will vary this dish
agreeably. When fried instead of broiled, the fowls may be dipped into
yolk of egg instead of butter; but this renders them too dry for
broiling.
FOWLS À LA MAYONNAISE.
Carve with great nicety a couple of cold roast fowls; place the inferior
joints, if they are served at all, close together in the middle of a
dish, and arrange the others round and over them, piling them high in
the centre. Garnish them with the hearts of young lettuces cut in two,
and hard-boiled eggs, halved lengthwise. At the moment of serving, pour
over the fowls a well-made _mayonnaise_ sauce (see Chapter VI.), or, if
preferred, an English salad-dressing, compounded with thick cream,
instead of oil.
TO ROAST DUCKS.
[Ducks are in season all the year, but are thought to be in their
perfection about June or early in July. Ducklings (or half-grown ducks)
are in the greatest request in spring, when there is no game in the
market, and other poultry is somewhat scarce.]
[Illustration:
Ducks trussed.
]
In preparing these for the spit, be careful to clear the skin entirely
from the stumps of the feathers; take off the heads and necks, but leave
the feet on, and hold them for a few minutes in boiling water to loosen
the skin, which must be peeled off. Wash the inside of the birds by
pouring water through them, but merely wipe the outsides with a dry
cloth. Put into the bodies a seasoning of parboiled onions mixed with
minced sage, salt, pepper, and a slice of butter when this mode of
dressing them is liked; but as the taste of a whole party is seldom in
its favour, one, when a couple are roasted, is often served without the
stuffing. Cut off the pinions at the first joint from the bodies, truss
the feet behind the backs, spit the birds firmly, and roast them at a
brisk fire, but do not place them sufficiently near to be scorched;
baste them constantly, and when the breasts are well plumped, and the
steam from them draws towards the fire, dish, and serve them quickly
with a little good brown gravy poured round them, and some also in a
tureen; or instead of this, with some which has been made with the
necks, gizzards, and livers well stewed down, with a slight seasoning of
browned onion, some herbs, and spice.
Young ducks, 1/2 hour: full sized, from 3/4 to 1 hour.
_Obs._—Olive-sauce may be served with roast as well as with stewed
ducks.
STEWED DUCK. (ENTRÉE.)
A couple of quite young ducks, or a fine, full-grown, but still tender
one, will be required for this dish. Cut either down neatly into joints,
and arrange them in a single layer if possible, in a wide stewpan; pour
in about three quarters of a pint of strong cold beef stock or gravy;
let it be well cleared from scum when it begins to boil, then throw in a
little salt, a rather full seasoning of cayenne, and a few thin strips
of lemon-rind. Simmer the ducks very softly for three quarters of an
hour, or somewhat longer should the joints be large; then stir into the
gravy a tablespoonful of the finest rice-flour, mixed with a
wineglassful or rather more of port wine, and a dessertspoonful of
lemon-juice: in ten minutes after, dish the stew and send it to table
instantly.
The ducks may be served with a small portion only of their sauce, and
dished in a circle, with green peas _à la Française_ heaped high in the
centre: the lemon-rind and port wine should then be altogether omitted,
and a small bunch of green onions and parsley, with two or three young
carrots, may be stewed down with the birds, or three or four minced
eschalots, delicately fried in butter, may be used to flavour the gravy.
The turnips _au beurre_, prepared by the receipt of Chapter XVII., may
be substituted for the peas; and a well made _Espagnole_ may take the
place of beef stock, when a dish of high savour is wished for. A duck is
often stewed without being divided into joints. It should then be firmly
trussed, half roasted at a quick fire, and laid into the stewpan as it
is taken from the spit; or well browned in some French thickening, then
half covered with boiling gravy, and turned when partially done: from an
hour to an hour and a quarter will stew it well.
TO ROAST PIGEONS.
[In season from March to Michaelmas, and whenever they can be had
young.]
[Illustration:
Pigeons for roasting.
]
These, as we have already said, should be dressed while they are very
fresh. If extremely young they will be ready in twelve hours for the
spit, otherwise in twenty-four. Take off the heads and necks, and cut
off the toes at the first joint; draw them carefully, and pour plenty of
water through them: wipe them dry, and put into each bird a small bit of
butter lightly dipped into a little cayenne (formerly it was rolled in
minced parsley, but this is no longer the fashionable mode of preparing
them). Truss the wings over the backs, and roast them at a brisk fire,
keeping them well and constantly basted with butter. Serve them with
brown gravy, and a tureen of parsley and butter. For the second course,
dish them upon young water-cresses, as directed for roast fowl _aux
cressons_, page 272. About twenty minutes will roast them.
18 to 20 minutes; five minutes longer, if large; rather less, if _very_
young.
BOILED PIGEONS.
Truss them like boiled fowls, drop them into plenty of boiling water,
throw in a little salt, and in fifteen minutes lift them out, pour
parsley and butter over, and send a tureen of it to table with them.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER XV.
=Game.=
TO CHOOSE GAME.
[Illustration]
BUCK venison, which is in season only from June to Michaelmas, is
considered finer than doe venison, which comes into the market in
October, and remains in season through November and December: neither
should be cooked at any other part of the year. The greater the depth of
fat upon the haunch the better the quality of the meat will be, provided
it be clear and white, and the lean of a dark hue. If the cleft of the
hoof, which is always left on the joint, be small and smooth, the animal
is young; but it is old when the marks are the reverse of these.[91]
Although the haunch is the prime and favourite joint of venison, the
neck and shoulder are also excellent, dressed in various ways, and make
much approved pies or _pasties_ as they are usually called. If kept to
the proper point, and well dressed, this is the most tender of all meat;
but care is necessary to bring it into a fitting state for table without
its becoming offensive. A free current of air in a larder is always a
great advantage, as it assists materially in preserving the sweetness of
every thing which is kept in it, while a close damp atmosphere, on the
contrary, is more destructive of animal food of all kinds even than
positive heat. The fumes of creosote are said to be an admirable
preservative against putrescence, but we have not ourselves yet had
experience of the fact. All moisture should be wiped daily, or even more
frequently, from the venison, with soft cloths, when any appears upon
the surface; and every precaution must be taken to keep off the flies,
when the joint is not hung in a wire-safe. Black pepper thickly powdered
on it will generally answer the purpose: with common care, indeed, meat
may always be protected from their attacks, and to leave it exposed to
them in warm weather is altogether inexcusable in the cook.
Footnote 91:
It must be observed that venison is not in perfection when young: like
mutton, it requires to be of a certain age before it is brought to
table. The word _cleft_ applies also to the thickest part of the
haunch, and it is the depth of the fat on this which decides the
quality of the joint.
Hares and rabbits are stiff when freshly killed, and if young, the ears
tear easily, and the claws are smooth and sharp. A hare in cold weather
will remain good from ten to fourteen days; care only must be taken to
prevent the inside from becoming musty, which it will do if it has been
emptied in the field. Pheasants, partridges, and other game may be
chosen by nearly the same tests as poultry: by opening the bill, the
staleness will be detected easily if they have been too long kept. With
few exceptions, game depends almost entirely for the fine flavour and
the tenderness of its flesh, on the time which it is allowed to hang
before it is cooked, and it is never good when very fresh; but it does
not follow that it should be sent to table in a really offensive state,
for this is agreeable to few eaters and disgusting to many, and nothing
should at any time be served of which the appearance or the odour may
destroy the appetite of any person present.
TO ROAST A HAUNCH OF VENISON.
[Illustration]
To give venison the flavour and the tenderness so much prized by
epicures, it must be well kept; and by taking the necessary precautions,
it will hang a considerable time without detriment. Wipe it with soft
dry cloths wherever the slightest moisture appears on the surface, and
dust it plentifully with freshly-ground pepper or powdered ginger, to
preserve it from the flies. The application of the pyroligneous or
acetic acid would effectually protect it from these, as well as from the
effects of the weather; but the joint must then be, not only well
washed, but _soaked_ for some considerable time, and this would be very
detrimental. To prepare the venison for the spit, wash it slightly with
tepid water or merely wipe it thoroughly with damp cloths, and dry it
afterwards with clean ones; then lay over the fat side a large sheet of
thickly-buttered paper, and next a paste of flour and water about three
quarters of an inch thick; cover this again with two or three sheets of
stout paper, secure the whole well with twine, and lay the haunch to a
sound clear fire; baste the paper immediately with butter or clarified
dripping, and roast the joint from three hours and a half to four and a
half, according to its weight and quality. Doe venison will require half
an hour less time than buck venison. Twenty minutes before the joint is
done remove the paste and paper, baste the meat in every part with
butter, and dredge it very lightly with flour; let it take a pale brown
colour, and send it to table as hot as possible with gravy in a tureen,
and good currant jelly. It is not now customary to serve any other
sauces with it; but should the old-fashioned sharp or sweet sauce be
ordered, the receipt for it will be found at page 100.
3-1/2 to 4-1/2 hours.
_Obs._—The kind of gravy appropriate to venison is a matter on which
individual taste must decide. When preparations of high savour are
preferred to the pure flavour of the game, the _Espagnole_ (or Spanish
sauce) of Chapter IV. can be sent to table with it; or either of the
rich English gravies which precede it. When a simple unflavoured one is
better liked, some mutton cutlets freed entirely from fat, then very
slightly broiled over a quick fire, and stewed gently down in a light
extract of mutton prepared by Liebeg’s directions, Chapter I., for about
an hour, will produce an excellent plain gravy: it should be seasoned
with salt and pepper (or fine cayenne) only. When venison abounds, it
should be used for the gravy instead of mutton.
TO STEW A SHOULDER OF VENISON.
Bone the joint, by the directions given for a shoulder of veal or mutton
(see Chapter XI.); flatten it on a table, season it well with cayenne,
salt, and pounded mace, mixed with a very small proportion of allspice;
lay over it thin slices of the fat of a loin of well-fed mutton, roll
and bind it tightly, lay it into a vessel nearly of its size, and pour
to it as much good stock made with equal parts of beef and mutton as
will nearly cover it; stew it as slowly as possible from three hours to
three and a half or longer, should it be very large, and turn it when it
is half done. Dish and serve it with a good _Espagnole_, made with part
of the gravy in which it has been stewed; or thicken this slightly with
rice-flour, mixed with a glass or more of claret or of port wine, and as
much salt and cayenne as will season the gravy properly. Some cooks soak
the slices of mutton-fat in wine before they are laid upon the joint;
but no process of the sort will ever give to any kind of meat the true
flavour of the venison, which to most eaters is far finer than that of
the wine, and should always be allowed to prevail over all the
condiments with which it is dressed. Those, however, who care for it
less than for a dish of high artificial savour can have eschalots, ham,
and carrot, lightly browned in good butter added to the stew when it
first begins to boil.
3-1/2 to 4 hours.
TO HASH VENISON.[92]
Footnote 92:
Minced collops of venison may be prepared exactly like those of beef;
and venison-cutlets like those of mutton: the neck may be taken for
both of these.
For a superior hash of venison, add to three quarters of a pint of
strong thickened brown gravy, Christopher North’s sauce, in the
proportion directed for it in the receipt of page 295.[93] Cut the
venison in small thin slices of equal size, arrange them in a clean
saucepan, pour the gravy on them, let them stand for ten minutes or
more, then place them near the fire, and bring the whole very slowly to
the _point_ of boiling only: serve the hash immediately in a hot-water
dish.
Footnote 93:
Having been inadvertently omitted from its proper place, this receipt
is transferred to the end of the present Chapter.
For a plain dinner, when no gravy is at hand, break down the bones of
the venison small, after the flesh has been cleared from them, and boil
them with those of three or four undressed mutton-cutlets, a slice or
two of carrot, or a few savoury herbs, and about a pint and a half of
water or broth, until the liquid is reduced quite one third. Strain it
off, let it cool, skim off all the fat, heat the gravy, thicken it when
it boils with a dessertspoonful or rather more of arrow-root, or with
the brown _roux_ of page 107, mix the same sauce with it, and finish it
exactly as the richer hash above. It may be served on sippets of fried
bread or not, at choice.
TO ROAST A HARE.
[In season from September to the 1st of March.]
[Illustration:
Hare trussed.
]
After the hare has been skinned, or cased, as it is called, wash it very
thoroughly in cold water, and afterwards in warm. If in any degree
overkept, or musty in the inside, which it will sometimes be when
emptied before it is hung up and neglected afterwards, use vinegar, or
the pyroligneous acid, well diluted, to render it sweet; then again
throw it into abundance of water, that it may retain no taste of the
acid. Pierce with the point of a knife any parts in which the blood
appears to have settled, and soak them in tepid water, that it may be
well drawn out. Wipe the hare dry, fill it with the forcemeat No. 1,
Chapter VIII., sew it up, truss and spit it firmly, baste it for ten
minutes with lukewarm water mixed with a very little salt; throw this
away, and put into the pan a quart or more of new milk; keep it
constantly laded over the hare until it is nearly dried up, then add a
large lump of butter, flour the hare, and continue the basting steadily
until it is well browned; for unless this be done, and the roast be kept
at a proper distance from the fire, the outside will become so dry and
hard as to be quite uneatable. Serve the hare when done, with good brown
gravy (of which a little should be poured round it in the dish), and
with fine red currant jelly. This is an approved English method of
dressing it, but we would recommend in preference, that it should be
basted plentifully with butter from the beginning (the strict economist
may substitute clarified beef-dripping, or marrow, and finish with a
small quantity of butter only); and that the salt and water should be
altogether omitted. First-rate cooks merely wipe the hare inside and
out, and rub it with its own blood before it is laid to the fire; but
there is generally a rankness about it, especially after it has been
many days killed, which, we should say, renders the washing
indispensable, unless a coarse game-flavour be liked.
1-1/4 to 1-3/4 hour.
ROAST HARE.
(_Superior Receipt._)
A hare may be rendered far more plump in appearance, and infinitely
easier to carve, by taking out the bones of the back and thighs, or of
the former only: in removing this a very sharp knife should be used, and
much care will be required to avoid cutting through the skin just over
the spine, as it adheres closely to the bone. Nearly double the usual
quantity of forcemeat must be prepared: with this restore the legs to
their original shape, and fill the body, which should previously be
lined with delicate slices of the nicest bacon, of which the rind and
edges have been trimmed away. Sew up the hare, truss it as usual; lard
it or not, as is most convenient, keep it basted plentifully with butter
while roasting, and serve it with the customary sauce. We have found two
tablespoonsful of the finest currant jelly, melted in half a pint of
rich brown gravy, an acceptable accompaniment to hare, when the taste
has been in favour of a sweet sauce.
To remove the back-bone, clear from it first the flesh in the inside;
lay this back to the right and left from the centre of the bone to the
tips; then work the knife on the upper side quite to the spine, and when
the whole is detached except the skin which adheres to this, separate
the bone at the first joint from the neck-bone or ribs (we know not how
more correctly to describe it), and pass the knife with caution under
the skin down the middle of the back. The directions for boning the
thighs of a fowl will answer equally for those of a hare, and we
therefore refer the reader to them.
STEWED HARE.
Wash and soak the hare thoroughly, wipe it very dry, cut it down into
joints dividing the largest, flour and brown it slightly in butter with
some bits of lean ham, pour to them by degrees a pint and a half of
gravy, and stew the hare _very gently_ from an hour and a half to two
hours: when it is about one third done add the very thin rind of half a
large lemon, and ten minutes before it is served stir to it a large
dessertspoonful of rice-flour, smoothly mixed with two tablespoonsful of
good mushroom catsup, a quarter of a teaspoonful or more of mace, and
something less of cayenne. This is an excellent plain receipt for
stewing a hare; but the dish may be enriched with forcemeat (No. 1,
Chapter VIII.) rolled into small balls, and simmered for ten minutes in
the stew, or fried and added to it after it is dished; a higher
seasoning of spice, a couple of glasses of port wine, with a little
additional thickening and a tablespoonful of lemon-juice, will all serve
to give it a heightened relish.
Hare, 1; lean of ham or bacon, 4 to 6 oz.; butter, 2 oz.; gravy, 1-1/2
pint; lemon-rind: 1 hour and 20 to 50 minutes. Rice-flour, 1 large
dessertspoonful; mushroom catsup, 2 tablespoonsful; mace, 1/3 of
teaspoonful; little cayenne (salt, if needed): 10 minutes.
TO ROAST A RABBIT.
[Illustration:
Rabbit for roasting.
]
This, like a hare, is much improved by having the back-bone taken out,
and the directions we have given will enable the cook, with very little
practice, to remove it without difficulty. Line the inside, when this is
done, with thin slices of bacon, fill it with forcemeat (No. 1, Chapter
VIII), sew it up, truss, and roast it at a clear, brisk fire, and baste
it constantly with butter. Flour it well soon after it is laid down.
Serve it with good brown gravy, and with currant jelly, when this last
is liked. For change, the back of the rabbit may be larded, and the bone
left in, or not, at pleasure; or it can be plain roasted when more
convenient.
3/4 to 1 hour; less, if small.
TO BOIL RABBITS.
[Illustration:
Rabbit for boiling.
]
Rabbits that are three parts grown, or, at all events, which are still
quite young, should be chosen for this mode of cooking. Wash them well,
truss them firmly, with the heads turned and skewered to the sides, drop
them into sufficient boiling water to keep them quite covered until they
are cooked, and simmer them gently from thirty to forty-five minutes:
when _very_ young they will require even less time than this. Cover them
with rich white sauce, mixed with the livers parboiled, finely pounded,
and well seasoned with cayenne and lemon-juice; or with white onion
sauce, or with parsley and butter, made with milk or cream instead of
water (the livers, minced, are often added to the last of these), or
with good mushroom sauce.
30 to 45 minutes.
FRIED RABBIT.
After the rabbit has been emptied, thoroughly washed and soaked, should
it require it to remove any mustiness of smell, blanch it, that is to
say, put it into boiling water and let it boil from five to seven
minutes; drain it, and when cold or nearly so, cut it into joints, dip
them into beaten egg, and then into fine bread-crumbs, seasoned with
salt and pepper, and when all are ready, fry them in butter over a
moderate fire, from twelve to fifteen minutes. Simmer two or three
strips of lemon-rind in a little gravy, until it is well flavoured with
it; boil the liver of the rabbit for five minutes, let it cool, and then
mince it; thicken the gravy with an ounce of butter and a small
teaspoonful of flour, add the liver, give the sauce a minute’s boil,
stir in two tablespoonsful of cream if at hand, and last of all, a small
quantity of lemon-juice. Dish the rabbit, pour the sauce _under_ it, and
serve it quickly. If preferred, a gravy can be made in the pan as for
veal cutlets, and the rabbit may be simply fried.
TO ROAST A PHEASANT.
[In season from the beginning of October to the end of January. The
licensed term of pheasant shooting commences on the 1st of October, and
terminates on the 2nd of February, but as the birds will remain
perfectly good in cold weather for two or three weeks, if from that time
hung in a well-ventilated larder, they continue, correctly speaking, _in
season_ so long as they can be preserved fit for table after the regular
market for them is closed: the same rule applies equally to other
varieties of game.]
[Illustration:
Pheasant trussed
without the head.
]
Unless kept to the proper point, a pheasant is one of the most tough,
dry, and flavourless birds that is sent to table; but when it has hung
as many days as it can without becoming really tainted, and is well
roasted and served, it is most excellent eating. Pluck off the feathers
carefully, cut a slit in the back of the neck to remove the crop, then
draw the bird in the usual way, and either wipe the inside very clean
with a damp cloth, or pour water through it; wipe the outside also, but
with a dry cloth; cut off the toes, turn the head of the bird _under_
the wing, with the bill laid straight along the breast, skewer the legs,
which must not be crossed, flour the pheasant well, lay it to a brisk
fire, and baste it constantly and plentifully with well flavoured
butter. Send bread-sauce and good brown gravy to table with it. The
entire breast of the bird may be larded by the directions of Chapter IX
When a brace is served, one is sometimes larded, and the other not; but
a much handsomer appearance is given to the dish by larding both. About
three quarters of an hour will roast them.
3/4 hour; a few minutes less, if liked very much underdone; five or ten
more for _thorough_ roasting, with a _good_ fire in both cases.
BOUDIN OF PHEASANT À LA RICHELIEU. (ENTRÉE.)
Take, quite clear from the bones, and from all skin and sinew, the flesh
of a half-roasted pheasant; mince, and then pound it to the smoothest
paste; add an equal bulk of the floury part of some fine roasted
potatoes, or of such as have been boiled by Captain Kater’s receipt (see
Chapter XVII.), and beat them together until they are well blended; next
throw into the mortar something less (in volume) of fresh butter than
there was of the pheasant-flesh, with a high seasoning of mace, nutmeg,
and cayenne, and a half-teaspoonful or more of salt; pound the mixture
afresh for ten minutes or a quarter of an hour, keeping it turned from
the sides of the mortar into the middle; then add one by one, after
merely taking out the germs with the point of a fork, two whole eggs and
a yolk or two without the whites, if these last will not render the
mixture too moist. Mould it into the form of a roll, lay it into a
stewpan rubbed with butter, pour boiling water on it and poach it gently
from ten to fifteen minutes. Lift it out with care, drain it on a sieve,
and when it is quite cold cover it equally with beaten egg, and then
with the finest bread-crumbs, and broil it over a clear fire, or fry it
in butter of a clear golden brown. A good gravy should be made of the
remains of the bird and sent to table with it; the flavour may be
heightened with ham and eschalots, as directed in Chapter IV., page 96,
and small mushrooms, sliced sideways, and stewed quite tender in butter,
may be mixed with the _boudin_ after it is taken from the mortar; or
their flavour may be given more delicately by adding to it only the
butter in which they have been simmered, well pressed, from them through
a strainer. The mixture, which should be set into a very cool place
before it is moulded, may be made into several small rolls, which will
require four or five minutes’ poaching only. The flesh of partridges
will answer quite as well as that of pheasants for this dish.
SALMI OF PHEASANT.
(_See page 292._)
PHEASANT CUTLETS.
(_See page 275._)
TO ROAST PARTRIDGES.
[In season from the first of September to the second of February, and as
long as they can be preserved fit for table from that time.]
[Illustration:
Partridge trussed.
]
Let the birds hang as long as they can possibly be kept without becoming
offensive; pick them carefully, draw, and singe them; wipe the insides
thoroughly with a clean cloth; truss them with the head turned under the
wing and the legs drawn close together, not crossed. Flour them when
first laid to the fire, and baste them plentifully with butter. Serve
them with bread sauce, and good brown gravy, a little of this last
should be poured over them. In some counties they are dished upon fried
bread-crumbs, but these are better handed round the table by themselves.
Where game is plentiful we recommend that the remains of a cold roasted
partridge should be well bruised and boiled down with just so much
water, or unflavoured broth, as will make gravy for a brace of other
birds: this, seasoned with salt, and cayenne only, or flavoured with a
few mushrooms, will be found a very superior accompaniment for roast
partridges, to the best meat-gravy that can be made. A little eschalot,
and a few herbs, can be added to it at pleasure. It should be served
also with boiled or with broiled partridges in preference to any other.
30 to 40 minutes.
_Obs._—Rather less time must be allowed when the birds are liked
underdressed. In preparing them for the spit, the crop must be removed
through a slit cut in the back of the neck, the claws clipped close, and
the legs held in boiling water for a minute, that they may be skinned
the more easily.
BOILED PARTRIDGES.
This is a delicate mode of dressing young and tender birds. Strip off
the feathers, clean, and wash them well; cut off the heads, truss the
legs like those of boiled fowls, and when ready, drop them into a large
pan of boiling water; throw a little salt on them, and in fifteen, or at
the utmost in eighteen minutes they will be ready to serve. Lift them
out, dish them quickly, and send them to table with white mushroom
sauce, with bread sauce and game gravy (see preceding receipt), or with
celery sauce. Our own mode of having them served is usually with a slice
of fresh butter, about a tablespoonful of lemon-juice, and a good
sprinkling of cayenne placed in a very hot dish, under them.
15 to 18 minutes.
PARTRIDGES WITH MUSHROOMS.
For a brace of young well-kept birds, prepare from half to three
quarters of a pint of mushroom-buttons, or very small flaps, as for
pickling. Dissolve over a gentle fire an ounce and a half of butter,
throw in the mushrooms with a slight sprinkling of salt and cayenne,
simmer them from eight to ten minutes, and turn them with the butter on
to a plate; when they are quite cold, put the whole into the bodies of
the partridges, sew them up, truss them securely, and roast them on a
vertical jack with the heads downwards; or should an ordinary spit be
used, tie them firmly to it, instead of passing it through them. Roast
them the usual time, and serve them with brown mushroom sauce, or with
gravy and bread sauce only. The birds may be trussed like boiled fowls,
floured, and lightly browned in butter, half covered with _rich_ brown
gravy and stewed slowly for thirty minutes; then turned, and simmered
for another half hour with the addition of some mushrooms to the gravy;
or they may be covered with small mushrooms stewed apart, when they are
sent to table. They can also be served with their sauce only, simply
thickened with a small quantity of fresh butter, smoothly mixed with
less than a teaspoonful of arrow-root and flavoured with cayenne and a
little catsup, wine, or store sauce.
Partridges, 2; mushrooms, 1/2 to 3/4 pint; butter, 1-1/2 oz.; little
mace and cayenne: roasted 30 to 40 minutes, or stewed 1 hour.
_Obs._—Nothing can be finer than the game flavour imbibed by the
mushrooms with which the birds are filled, in this receipt.
BROILED PARTRIDGE.
(_Breakfast Dish._)
“Split a young and well-kept partridge, and wipe it with a soft clean
cloth inside and out, but do not wash it; broil it delicately over a
very clear fire, sprinkling it with a little salt and cayenne; rub a bit
of fresh butter over it the moment it is taken from the fire, and send
it quickly to table with a sauce made of a good slice of butter browned
with flour, a little water, cayenne, salt, and mushroom-catsup, poured
over it.” We give this receipt exactly as we received it from a house
where we know it to have been greatly approved by various guests who
have partaken of it there.
BROILED PARTRIDGE.
(_French Receipt._)
After having prepared the bird with great nicety, divided, and flattened
it, season it with salt, and pepper, or cayenne, dip it into clarified
butter, and then into very fine bread-crumbs, and take care that every
part shall be equally covered: if wanted of particularly good appearance
dip it a second time into the butter and crumbs. Place it over a very
clear fire, and broil it gently from twenty to thirty minutes. Send it
to table with brown mushroom sauce, or some _Espagnole_.
THE FRENCH, OR RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGE.
This is dressed precisely like our common partridge, and is excellent
eating if it be well kept; otherwise it is tough and devoid of flavour.
It does not, we believe, abound commonly in England, its hostility to
the gray partridge, which it drives always from its neighbourhood,
rendering it an undesirable occupant of a preserve. It was at one time,
however, plentiful in Suffolk,[94] and in one or two of the adjoining
counties, but great efforts, we have understood, have been made to
exterminate it.
Footnote 94:
Brought there by the late Marquis of Hertford, to his Sudbourne
estate.
TO ROAST THE LANDRAIL OR CORN-CRAKE.
This delicate and excellent bird is in its full season at the end of
August and early in September, when it abounds often in the poulterers’
shops. Its plumage resembles that of the partridge, but it is of smaller
size and of much more slender shape. Strip off the feathers, draw and
prepare the bird as usual for the spit, truss it like a snipe, and roast
it quickly at a brisk but not a fierce fire from fifteen to eighteen
minutes. Dish it on fried bread-crumbs, or omit these and serve it with
gravy round it, and more in a tureen, and with well made bread sauce.
Three or even four of the birds will be required for a dish. One makes a
nice dinner for an invalid.
TO ROAST BLACK COCK AND GRAY HEN.
In season during the same time as the common grouse, and found like them
on the moors, but less abundantly.
These birds, so delicious when well kept and well roasted, are tough and
comparatively flavourless when too soon dressed. They should hang
therefore till they give unequivocal indication of being ready for the
spit. Pick and draw them with exceeding care, as the skin is easily
broken; truss them like pheasants, lay them at a moderate distance from
a clear brisk fire, baste them plentifully and constantly with butter,
and serve them on a thick toast which has been laid under them in the
dripping-pan for the last ten minutes of their roasting, and which will
have imbibed a high degree of savour: some cooks squeeze a little
lemon-juice over it before it is put into the pan. Send rich brown gravy
and bread sauce to table with the birds. From three quarters of an hour
to a full hour will roast them. Though kept to the point which we have
recommended, they will not offend even the most fastidious eater after
they are dressed, as, unless they have been _too long_ allowed to hang,
the action of the fire will remove all perceptible traces of their
previous state. In the earlier part of the season, when warm and close
packing have rendered either black game or grouse, in their transit from
the North, apparently altogether unfit for table, the chloride of soda,
well-diluted, may be used with advantage to restore them to a fitting
state for it; though the copious washings which must then be resorted
to, may diminish something of their fine flavour.
3/4 to 1 hour.
TO ROAST GROUSE.
Handle the birds very lightly in plucking off the feathers; draw them,
and wipe the insides with clean damp cloths; or first wash, and then dry
them well; though this latter mode would not be approved generally by
epicures. Truss the grouse in the same manner as the black game above,
and roast them about half an hour at a clear and brisk fire, keeping
them basted, almost without intermission. Serve them on a buttered toast
which has been laid under them in the pan for ten minutes, or with gravy
and bread sauce only.
1/2 hour to 35 minutes
_Obs._—There are few occasions, we think, in which the contents of the
dripping-pan can be introduced at table with advantage; but in dressing
moor game, we would strongly recommend the toast to be laid in it under
the birds, as it will afford a superior relish even to the birds
themselves.
A SALMI OF MOOR FOWL, PHEASANTS, OR PARTRIDGES. (ENTRÉE.)
This is an excellent mode of serving the remains of roasted game, but
when a superlative _salmi_ is desired, the birds must be scarcely more
then half roasted for it. In either case carve them very neatly, and
strip every particle of skin and fat from the legs, wings, and breasts;
bruise the bodies well, and put them with the skin and other trimmings
into a very clean stewpan. If for a simple and inexpensive dinner,
merely add to them two or three sliced eschalots, a bay leaf, a small
blade of mace, and a few peppercorns; then pour in a pint or rather more
of good veal gravy or strong broth, and boil it briskly until reduced
nearly half; strain the gravy, pressing the bones well to obtain all the
flavour, skim off the fat, add a little cayenne and lemon-juice, heat
the game very gradually in it, but do not on any account allow it to
boil; place sippets of fried bread round a dish, arrange the birds in
good form in the centre, give the sauce a boil, and pour it on them.
This is but a homely sort of salmi, though of excellent flavour if well
made; it may require perhaps the addition of a little thickening, and
two or three glasses of dry white wine poured to the bodies of the birds
with the broth, would bring it nearer to the French _salmi_ in flavour.
As the spongy substance in the inside of moor fowl and black game is apt
to be extremely bitter when they have been long kept, care should be
taken to remove such parts as would endanger the preparation.
FRENCH SALMI, OR HASH OF GAME. (ENTRÉE.)
Prepare underdressed or half-roasted game by the directions we have
already given, and after having stripped the skin from the thighs,
wings, and breasts, arrange the joints evenly in a clean stewpan, and
keep them covered from the air and dust till wanted. Cut down into dice
four ounces of the lean of an unboiled ham, and put it, with two ounces
of butter, into a thick well-tinned saucepan or stewpan; add three or
four minced eschalots (more, should a high flavour of them be liked),
two ounces of sliced carrot, four cloves, two bay leaves, a dozen
peppercorns, one blade of mace, a small sprig or two of thyme, and part
of a root of parsley, or two or three small branches of the leaves. Stew
these over a gentle fire, stirring or shaking them often, until the
sides of the saucepan appear of a reddish-brown, then mix well with them
a dessertspoonful of flour, and let it take a little colour. Next, add
by degrees, making the sauce boil as each portion is thrown in, three
quarters of a pint of strong veal stock or gravy, and nearly half a pint
of sherry or Madeira; put in the well-bruised bodies of the birds, and
boil them from an hour to an hour and a half; strain, and clear the
sauce quite from fat; pour it on the joints of game, heat them in it
slowly; and when they are near the point of boiling, dish them
immediately with delicately fried sippets round the dish. When mushrooms
can be obtained, throw a dozen or two of small ones, with the other
seasonings, into the butter. The wine is sometimes added to the
vegetables, and one half reduced before the gravy is poured in; but
though a sauce of fine colour is thus produced the flavour of the wine
is entirely lost.
TO ROAST WOODCOCKS OR SNIPES.
[In season during the winter months, but not abundant until frost sets
in.].
Handle them as little and as lightly as possible, and pluck off the
feathers gently; for if this be violently done the skin of the birds
will be broken. _Do not draw them_, but after having wiped them with
clean soft cloths, truss them with the head under the wing, and the bill
laid close along the breast; pass a slight skewer through the thighs,
catch the ends with a bit of twine, and tie it across to keep the legs
straight. Suspend the birds with the feet downwards to a bird-spit,
flour them well, and baste them with butter, which should be ready
dissolved in the pan or ladle. Before the trail begins to drop, which it
will do as soon as they are well heated, lay a thick round of bread,
freed from the crust, toasted a delicate brown, and buttered on both
sides, into the pan under them to catch it, as this is considered finer
eating even than the flesh of the birds; continue the basting, letting
the butter fall from them into the basting-spoon or ladle, as it cannot
be collected again from the dripping-pan should it drop there, in
consequence of the toast or _toasts_ being in it. There should be one of
these for each woodcock, and the trail should be spread equally over it.
When the birds are done, which they will be, at a brisk fire, in from
twenty to twenty-five minutes, lay the toasts into a very hot dish,
dress the birds upon them, pour a little gravy round the bread, and send
more to table in a tureen. Woodcock, 20 to 25 minutes; snipe, 5 minutes
less.
TO ROAST THE PINTAIL, OR SEA PHEASANT.
[All wild-fowl is in full season in mid-winter: the more severe the
weather, the more abundant are the supplies of it in the markets. It may
be had usually from November to March.].
This beautiful bird is by no means rare upon our eastern coast, but we
know not whether it be much seen in the markets generally. It is most
excellent eating, and should be roasted at a clear quick fire, well
floured when first laid down, turned briskly, and basted with butter
almost without cessation. If drawn from the spit in from twenty-five to
thirty minutes, then dished and laid before the fire for two or three
more, it will give forth a singularly rich gravy. Score the breast; when
it is carved sprinkle on it a little cayenne and fine salt, and let a
cut lemon be handed round the table when the bird is served; or omit the
scoring, and send round with it brown gravy, and Christopher North’s
sauce made hot. (For this, see the following page.)
20 to 30 minutes.
TO ROAST WILD DUCKS.
A bit of soft bread soaked in port wine, or in claret, is sometimes put
into them, but nothing more. Flour them well, lay them rather near to a
very clear and brisk fire, that they may be quickly browned, and yet
retain their juices. Baste them plentifully and constantly with butter,
and, if it can be so regulated, let the spit turn with them rapidly.
From fifteen to twenty minutes will roast them sufficiently for the
generality of eaters; but for those who object to them much
underdressed, a few additional minutes must be allowed. Something less
of time will suffice when they are prepared for persons who like them
scarcely more than heated through.
Teal, which is a more delicate kind of wild fowl, is roasted in the same
way: in from ten to fifteen minutes it will be enough done for the
fashionable mode of serving it, and twenty minutes will dress it _well_
at a good fire.
A SALMI, OR HASH OF WILD FOWL.
Carve the birds very neatly, strip off the skin, and proceed as for the
salmi of pheasants (page 292), but mix port or claret, instead of white
wine, with the gravy, and give it a rather high seasoning of cayenne.
Throw in the juice of half a small lemon before the salmi is served,
place fried sippets round the dish, and send it to table as hot as
possible.
For a common hash boil the skin and trimmings of the wild-fowl in some
good broth, or gravy (with a couple of lightly fried eschalots or not,
at choice), until their flavour is imparted to it; then strain, heat,
and thicken it slightly, with a little brown roux, or browned flour; add
a wineglassful of port wine, some lemon-juice, and cayenne; or
sufficient of Christopher North’s sauce to flavour it well; warm the
birds slowly in it, and serve them as soon as they are thoroughly hot,
but without allowing them to boil.
--------------
[_The following receipt having, from inadvertence, been omitted from the
chapter to which it properly belongs—as the reader has already been
informed—a place is given to it here._]
CHRISTOPHER NORTH’S OWN SAUCE FOR MANY MEATS.
Throw into a small basin a heaped saltspoonful of _good_ cayenne pepper,
in very fine powder and half the quantity of salt; add a small
dessertspoonful of well-refined, pounded, and sifted sugar; mix these
thoroughly; then pour in a tablespoonful of the strained juice of a
fresh lemon, two of Harvey’s sauce, a teaspoonful of the very best
mushroom catsup (or of cavice), and three tablespoonsful, or a small
wineglassful, of port wine. Heat the sauce by placing the basin in a
saucepan of boiling water, or turn it into a jar, and place this in the
water. Serve it directly, it is ready with geese or ducks, tame or wild;
roast pork, venison, fawn, a grilled blade-bone, or any other broil. A
slight flavour of garlic or eschalot vinegar may be given to it at
pleasure. Some persons use it with fish. It is good cold; and, if
bottled directly it is made, may be stored for several days. It is the
better for being mixed some hours before it is served. _The proportion
of cayenne may be doubled when a very pungent sauce is desired._
_Good_ cayenne pepper in fine powder, 1 _heaped_ saltspoonful: salt,
half as much; pounded sugar, 1 small dessertspoonful; strained lemon
juice, 1 tablespoonful; Harvey’s sauce, 2 tablespoonsful; best mushroom
catsup (or cavice), 1 teaspoonful; port wine, 3 tablespoonsful, or small
wineglassful. (Little eschalot, or garlic-vinegar at pleasure.)
_Obs._—This sauce is exceedingly good when mixed with the brown gravy of
a hash or stew, or with that which is served with game or other dishes.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER XVI.
=Curries, Potted Meats, &c.=
[Illustration]
THE great superiority of the oriental curries over those generally
prepared in England is not, we believe, altogether the result of a want
of skill or of experience on the part of our cooks, but is attributable
in some measure, to many of the ingredients, which in a _fresh and green
state_ add so much to their excellence, being here beyond our reach.
With us, turmeric and cayenne pepper prevail in them often far too
powerfully: the prodigal use of the former should be especially avoided,
as it injures both the quality and the _colour_ of the currie, which
ought to be of a dark green, rather than of a red or yellow hue. A
couple of ounces of a sweet, sound cocoa-nut, lightly grated and stewed
for nearly or quite an hour in the gravy of a currie, is a great
improvement to its flavour: it will be found particularly agreeable with
that of sweetbreads, and may be served in the currie, or strained from
it at pleasure. Great care however, should be taken not to use, for the
purpose, a nut that is rancid. Spinach, cucumbers, vegetable marrow,
tomatas, acid apples, green gooseberries (seeded), and tamarinds
imported _in the shell_—not preserved—may all, in their season, be
added, with very good effect, to curries of different kinds. Potatoes
and celery are also occasionally boiled down in them. The rice for a
currie should always be sent to table in a separate dish from it, and in
serving them, it should be first helped, and the currie laid upon it.
MR. ARNOTT’S CURRIE-POWDER.
Turmeric, eight ounces.[95]
Coriander seed, four ounces.
Cummin seed, two ounces.
Fœnugreek seed, two ounces.
Cayenne, half an ounce. (More or less of this
last to the taste.)
Footnote 95:
We think it would be an improvement to diminish by two ounces the
proportion of turmeric, and to increase that of the coriander seed;
but we have not tried it.
Let the seeds be of the finest quality. Dry them well, pound, and sift
them separately through a lawn sieve, then weigh, and mix them in the
above proportions. This is an exceedingly agreeable and aromatic powder,
when all the ingredients are perfectly fresh and good, but the preparing
is rather a troublesome process. Mr. Arnott recommends that when it is
considered so, a “high-caste” chemist should be applied to for it.
MR. ARNOTT’S CURRIE.
“Take the heart of a cabbage, and nothing but the heart, that is to say,
pull away all the outside leaves until it is about the size of an egg;
chop it fine, add to it a couple of apples sliced thin, the juice of one
lemon, half a teaspoonful of black pepper, with one large tablespoonful
of _my_ currie-powder, and mix the whole well together. Now take six
onions that have been chopped fine and fried brown, a garlic head, the
size of a nutmeg, also minced fine, two ounces of fresh butter, two
tablespoonsful of flour, and one pint of strong mutton or beef gravy;
and when these articles are boiling, add the former ingredients, and let
the whole be well stewed up together: if not hot enough, add cayenne
pepper. Next put in a fowl that has been roasted and nicely cut up; or a
rabbit; or some lean chops of pork or mutton; or a lobster, or the
remains of yesterday’s calf’s head; or anything else you may fancy; and
you will have an excellent currie, fit for kings to partake of.
“Well! now for the rice! It should be put into water which should be
frequently changed, and should remain in for half an hour at least; this
both clears and soaks it. Have your saucepan full of water (the larger
the better), and when it boils rapidly, throw the rice into it: it will
be done in fifteen minutes. Strain it into a dish, wipe the saucepan
dry, return the drained rice into it, and put it over a gentle fire for
a few minutes, with a cloth over it: every grain will be separate. When
served, do not cover the dish.” _Obs._—We have already given testimony
to the excellence of Mr. Arnott’s currie-powder, but we think the currie
itself will be found somewhat too acid for English taste in general, and
the proportion of onion and garlic by one half too much for any but well
seasoned Anglo-Indian palates. After having tried his method of boiling
the rice, we still give the preference to that of Chapter I., page 36.
A BENGAL CURRIE.
Slice and fry three large onions in two ounces of butter, and lift them
out of the pan when done. Put into a stewpan three other large onions
and a small clove of garlic which have been pounded together, and
smoothly mixed with a dessertspoonful of the best pale turmeric, a
teaspoonful of powdered ginger, one of salt, and one of cayenne pepper;
add to these the butter in which the onions were fried, and half a
cupful of good gravy; let them stew for about ten minutes, taking care
that they shall not burn. Next, stir to them the fried onions and half a
pint more of gravy; add a pound and a half of mutton, or of any other
meat, free from bone and fat, and simmer it gently for an hour, or more
should it not then be perfectly tender. Fried onions, 3 large; butter, 2
oz.; onions pounded, 3 large; garlic, 1 clove; turmeric, 1
dessertspoonful; powdered ginger, salt, cayenne, each 1 teaspoonful;
gravy, 1/2 cupful: 10 minutes. Gravy 1/2 pint; meat, 1-1/2 lb.: 1 hour
or more.
A DRY CURRIE.
Skin and cut down a fowl into small joints, or a couple of pounds of
mutton, free from fat and bone, into very small thick cutlets; rub them
with as much currie-powder, mixed with a teaspoonful of flour and one of
salt, as can be made to adhere to them: this will be from two to three
tablespoonsful. Dissolve a good slice of butter in a deep, well-tinned
stewpan or saucepan, and shake it over a brisk fire for four or five
minutes, or until it begins to take colour; then put in the meat, and
brown it well and equally, without allowing a morsel to be scorched. The
pan should be shaken vigorously every minute or two, and the meat turned
in it frequently. When this is done, lift it out and throw into the
stewpan two or three large onions finely minced, and four or five
eschalots when these last are liked; add a morsel of butter if needful,
and fry them until they begin to soften; then add a quarter of a pint of
gravy, broth, or boiling water, and a large acid apple, or two
moderate-sized ones, of a good boiling kind, with the hearts of two or
three lettuces, or of one hard cabbage, shred quite small (tomatas or
cucumbers freed from their seeds can be substituted for these when in
season). Stew the whole slowly until it resembles a thick pulp, and add
to it any additional liquid that may be required, should it become too
dry; put in the meat, and simmer the whole very softly until this is
done, which will be in from three quarters of an hour to an hour.
Prawns, shrimps, or the flesh of boiled lobsters may be slowly heated
through, and served in this currie sauce with good effect.
A COMMON INDIAN CURRIE.
For each pound of meat, whether veal, mutton, or beef, take a heaped
tablespoonful of good currie powder, a small teaspoonful of salt, and
one of flour; mix these well together, and after having cut down the
meat into thick small cutlets, or dice, rub half of the mixed powder
equally over it. Next, fry gently from one to four or five large onions
sliced, with or without the addition of a small clove of garlic or half
a dozen eschalots, according to the taste; and when they are of a fine
golden brown, lift them out with a slice and lay them upon a sieve to
drain; throw a little more butter into the pan and fry the meat lightly
in it; drain it well from the fat in taking it out, and lay it into a
clean stewpan or saucepan; strew the onion over it, and pour in as much
boiling water as will almost cover it. Mix the remainder of the
currie-powder smoothly with a little broth or cold water, and after the
currie has stewed for a few minutes pour it in, shaking the pan well
round that it may be smoothly blended with the gravy. Simmer the whole
very softly until the meat is perfectly tender: this will be in from an
hour and a quarter to two hours and a half, according to the quantity
and the nature of the meat. Mutton will be the soonest done; the brisket
end (gristles) of a breast of veal will require twice as much stewing,
and sometimes more. A fowl will be ready to serve in an hour. An acid
apple or two, or any of the vegetables which we have enumerated at the
commencement of this chapter, may be added to the currie, proper time
being allowed for cooking each variety. Very young green peas are liked
by some people in it; and cucumbers pared, seeded, and cut moderately
small, are always a good addition. A richer currie will of course be
produced if gravy or broth be substituted for the water: either should
be boiling when poured to the meat. Lemon-juice should be stirred in
before it is served, when there is no other acid in the currie. A dish
of boiled rice must be sent to table with it. A couple of pounds of meat
free from bone, is sufficient quite for a moderate-sized dish of this
kind, but three of the breast of veal are sometimes used for it, when it
is to be served to a large family-party of currie-eaters; from half to a
whole pound of rice should then accompany it. For the proper mode of
boiling it, see page 36. The small grained, or Patna, is the kind which
ought to be used for the purpose. Six ounces is sufficient for a not
large currie; and a pound, when boiled dry, and heated lightly in a
dish, appears an enormous quantity for a modern table.
To each pound of meat, whether veal, mutton, or beef, 1 heaped
tablespoonful of good currie-powder, 1 small teaspoonful of salt, and a
large one of flour, to be well mixed, and half rubbed on to the meat
before it is fried, the rest added afterwards; onions fried, from 1 to 4
or 5 (with or without the addition of a clove of garlic, or half a dozen
eschalots); sufficient boiling water to nearly cover the meat:
vegetables, as in receipt, at choice; stewed, 1-1/4 to 2-1/2 hours: a
fowl, 1 hour, or rather less; beef, 2 lbs., 1-1/2 hour, or more; brisket
of veal, 2-1/2 to 3 hours.
_Obs._—Rabbits make a very good currie when quite young. Cayenne pepper
can always be added to heighten the pungency of a currie, when the
proportion in the powder is not considered sufficient.
SELIM’S CURRIES.
(_Captain White’s._)
These curries are made with a sort of paste, which is labelled with the
above names, and as it has attracted some attention of late, and the
curries made with it are very good, and quickly and easily prepared, we
give the directions for them. “Cut a pound and a half of chicken, fowl,
veal, rabbit, or mutton, into pieces an inch and a half square. Put from
two to three ounces of fresh butter in a stewpan, and when it is melted
put in the meat, and give it a good stir with a wooden spoon; add from
two to three dessertspoonsful of the currie-paste; mix the whole up well
together, and continue the stirring over a brisk fire from five to ten
minutes, and the currie will be done. This is a dry currie. For a gravy
currie, add two or three tablespoonsful of boiling water after the paste
is well mixed in, and continue the stewing and stirring from ten to
twelve minutes longer, keeping the sauce of the consistency of cream.
Prepare salmon and lobster in the same way, but very quickly, that they
may come up firm. The paste may be rubbed over steaks, or cutlets, when
they are nearly broiled; three or four minutes will finish them.”[96]
Footnote 96:
Unless the meat be _extremely_ tender, and cut small, it will require
from ten to fifteen minutes stewing: when no liquid is added, it must
be stirred without intermission, or the paste will burn to the pan. It
answers well for cutlets, and for mullagatawny soup also; but makes a
very mild currie.
CURRIED MACCARONI
Boil six ounces of ribband maccaroni for fifteen minutes, in water
slightly salted, with a very small bit of butter dissolved in it; drain
it perfectly, and then put it into a full pint and a quarter of good
beef or veal stock or gravy, previously mixed and boiled for twenty
minutes, with a small tablespoonful of fine currie-powder, a teaspoonful
of arrow-root, and a little lemon-juice. Heat and toss the maccaroni
gently in this until it is well and equally covered with it. A small
quantity of rich cream, or a little _béchamel_, will very much improve
the sauce, into which it should be stirred just before the maccaroni is
added, and the lemon-juice should be thrown in afterwards. This dish is,
to our taste, far better without the strong flavouring of onion or
garlic, usually given to curries; which can, however, be imparted to the
gravy in the usual way, when it is liked.
Ribband maccaroni, 6 oz.: 15 to 18 minutes. Gravy, or good beef or veal
stock, full pint and 1/4; fine currie-powder, 1 small tablespoonful;
arrow-root, 1 teaspoonful; little lemon-juice: 20 minutes. Maccaroni in
sauce, 3 to 6 minutes.
_Obs._—An ounce or two of grated cocoa-nut, simmered in the gravy for
half an hour or more, then strained and well pressed from it, is always
an excellent addition. The pipe maccaroni, well curried, is extremely
good: the sauce for both kinds should be made with _rich_ gravy,
especially when the onion is omitted. A few drops of eschalot-vinegar
can be added to it when the flavour is liked.
CURRIED EGGS.
Boil six or eight fresh eggs quite hard, as for salad, and put them
aside until they are cold. Mix well together from two to three ounces of
good butter, and from three to four dessertspoonsful of currie-powder;
shake them in a stewpan or thick saucepan, over a clear but moderate
fire for some minutes, then throw in a couple of mild onions finely
minced, and fry them gently until they are tolerably soft: pour to them,
by degrees, from half to three quarters of a pint of broth or gravy, and
stew them slowly until they are reduced to pulp; mix smoothly a small
cup of thick cream with two teaspoonsful of wheaten or of rice-flour,
stir them to the currie, and simmer the whole until the raw taste of the
thickening is gone. Cut the eggs into half inch slices, heat them quite
through in the sauce without boiling them, and serve them as hot as
possible.
CURRIED SWEETBREADS.
Wash and soak them as usual, then throw them into boiling water with a
little salt in it, and a whole onion, and let them simmer for ten
minutes; or, if at hand, substitute weak veal broth for the water. Lift
them out, place them on a drainer, and leave them until they are
perfectly cold; then cut them into half-inch slices, and either flour
and fry them lightly in butter, or put them, without this, into as much
curried gravy as will just cover them; stew them in it very gently, from
twenty to thirty minutes; add as much lemon-juice or chili vinegar as
will acidulate the sauce agreeably,[97] and serve the currie very hot.
As we have already stated in two or three previous receipts, an ounce or
more of sweet freshly-grated cocoa-nut, stewed tender in the gravy, and
strained from it, before the sweetbreads are added, will give a
peculiarly pleasant flavour to all curries.
Footnote 97:
We find that a small portion of Indian pickled mango, or of its
liquor, is an agreeable addition to a currie as well as to
mullagatawny soup.
Blanched 10 minutes; sliced (fried or not); stewed 20 to 30 minutes.
CURRIED OYSTERS.
“Let a hundred of large sea-oysters be opened into a basin without
losing one drop of their liquor. Put a lump of fresh butter into a
good-sized saucepan, and when it boils, add a large onion, cut into thin
slices, and let it fry in the uncovered stewpan until it is of a rich
brown: now add a bit more butter, and two or three tablespoonsful of
currie-powder. When these ingredients are well mixed over the fire with
a wooden spoon, add gradually either hot water, or broth from the
stock-pot; cover the stewpan, and let the whole boil up. Meanwhile, have
ready the meat of a cocoa-nut, grated or rasped fine, put this into the
stewpan with a few sour tamarinds (if they are to be obtained, if not, a
sour apple, chopped). Let the whole simmer over the fire until the apple
is dissolved, and the cocoa-nut very tender; then add a cupful of strong
thickening made of flour and water, and sufficient salt, as a currie
will not bear being salted at table. Let this boil up for five minutes.
Have ready also, a vegetable marrow, or part of one, cut into bits, and
sufficiently boiled to require little or no further cooking. Put this in
with a tomata or two; either of these vegetables may be omitted. Now put
into the stewpan the oysters with their liquor, and the milk of the
cocoa-nut, if it be perfectly sweet; stir them well with the former
ingredients; let the currie stew gently for a few minutes, then throw in
the strained juice of half a lemon. Stir the currie from time to time
with a wooden spoon, and as soon as the oysters are done enough serve it
up with a corresponding dish of rice on the opposite side of the table.
The dish is considered at Madras the _ne plus ultra_ of Indian
cookery.”[98]
Footnote 98:
Native oysters, prepared as for sauce, may be curried by the receipt
for eggs or sweetbreads, with the addition of their liquor.
We have extracted this receipt, as it stands, from the Magazine of
Domestic Economy, the season in which we have met with it not permitting
us to have it tested. Such of our readers as may have partaken of the
true Oriental preparation, will be able to judge of its correctness; and
others may consider it worthy of a trial. We should suppose it necessary
to beard the oysters.
CURRIED GRAVY.
The quantity of onion, eschalot, or garlic used for a currie should be
regulated by the taste of the persons for whom it is prepared; the very
large proportions of them which are acceptable to some eaters,
preventing others altogether from partaking of the dish. Slice, and fry
gently in a little good butter, from two to six large onions (with a bit
of garlic, and four or five eschalots, or none of either), when they are
coloured equally of a fine yellow-brown, lift them on to a sieve
reversed to drain; put them into a clean saucepan, add a pint and a half
of good gravy, with a couple of ounces of rasped cocoa-nut, or of any of
the other condiments we have already specified, which may require as
much stewing as the onions (an apple or two, for instance), and simmer
them softly from half to three quarters of an hour, or until the onion
is sufficiently tender to be pressed through a strainer. We would
recommend that for a delicate currie this should always be done; for a
common one it is not necessary; and many persons prefer to have the
whole of it left in this last. After the gravy has been worked through
the strainer, and again boils, add to it from three to four
dessertspoonsful of currie-powder, and one of flour, with as much salt
as the gravy may require, the whole mixed to a smooth batter with a
small cupful of good cream.[99] Simmer it from fifteen to twenty
minutes, and it will be ready for use. Lobster, prawns, shrimps,
maccaroni, hard-boiled eggs, cold calf’s head, and various other meats
may be heated and served in it with advantage. For all of these, and
indeed for every kind of currie, acid of some sort should be added.
Chili vinegar answers well when no fresh lemon-juice is at hand.
Footnote 99:
This must be added only just before the currie is dished, when _any
acid_ fruit has been boiled in the gravy: it may then be first blended
with a small portion of arrow-root, or flour.
Onions, 2 to 6 (garlic, 1 clove, or eschalots, 4 to 5, _or neither_);
fried a light brown. Gravy, 1-1/2 pint; cocoa-nut, 2 oz. (3, if very
young): 1/2 to 3/4 hour. Currie-powder, 3 to 4 dessertspoonsful; flour,
1 dessertspoonful; salt, as needed; cream, 1 small cupful: 15 to 20
minutes.
_Obs_.-In India, curds are frequently added to curries, but that may
possibly be from their abounding much more than sweet cream in so hot a
climate.
POTTED MEATS.
Any tender and well-roasted meat, taken free of fat, skin, and gristle,
as well as from the dry outsides, will answer for potting admirably,
better indeed than that which is generally baked for the purpose, and
which is usually quite deprived of its juices by the process. Spiced or
_corned_ beef also is excellent when thus prepared; and any of these
will remain good a long time if mixed with cold fresh butter, instead of
that which is clarified; but no addition that can be made to it will
render the meat eatable, unless it be _thoroughly pounded_; reduced, in
fact, to the smoothest possible paste, free from a single lump or a
morsel of unbroken fibre. If _rent_ into fragments, instead of being
quite cut through the grain in being minced, before it is put into the
mortar, no beating will bring it to the proper state. Unless it be
_very_ dry, it is better to pound it for some time before any butter is
added, and it must be long and patiently beaten after all the
ingredients are mixed, that the whole may be equally blended and well
mellowed in flavour.
The quantity of butter required will depend upon the nature of the meat;
ham and salted beef will need a larger proportion than roast meat, or
than the breasts of poultry and game; white fish, from being less dry,
will require comparatively little. Salmon, lobsters, prawns, and shrimps
are all extremely good, prepared in this way. They should, however, be
perfectly fresh when they are pounded, and be set immediately afterwards
into a very cool place. For these, and for white meats in general, mace,
nutmeg, and cayenne or white pepper, are the appropriate spices. A small
quantity of cloves may be added to hare and other brown meat, but
allspice we would not recommend unless the taste is known to be in
favour of it. The following receipt for pounding ham will serve as a
general one for the particular manner of proceeding.
POTTED HAM.[100]
Footnote 100:
See Baked Ham, Chapter XIII., page 258.
(_An excellent Receipt._)
To be eaten in perfection this should be made with a freshly cured ham,
which, after having been soaked for twelve hours, should be wiped dry,
nicely trimmed, closely wrapped in coarse paste, and baked very tender.
When it comes from the oven, remove the crust and rind, and when the ham
is perfectly cold, take for each pound of the lean, which should be
weighed after every morsel of skin and fibre has been carefully removed,
six ounces of cold roast veal, prepared with equal nicety. Mince these
quite fine with an exceedingly sharp knife, taking care to _cut_ through
the meat, and not to tear the fibre, as on this much of the excellence
of the preparation depends. Next put it into a large stone or marble
mortar, and pound it to the smoothest paste with eight ounces of fresh
butter, which must be added by degrees. When three parts beaten, strew
over it a teaspoonful of freshly-pounded mace, half a large, or the
whole of a _small_ nutmeg grated, and the third of a teaspoonful of
cayenne well mixed together. It is better to limit the spice to this
quantity in the first instance, and to increase afterwards either of the
three kinds to the taste of the parties to whom the meat is to be
served.[101] We do not find half a teaspoonful of cayenne, and nearly
two teaspoonsful of mace, more than is generally approved. After the
spice is added, keep the meat often turned from the sides to the middle
of the mortar, that it may be seasoned equally in every part. When
perfectly pounded, press it into small potting-pans, and pour clarified
butter[102] over the top. If kept in a cool and dry place, this meat
will remain good for a fortnight, or more.
Footnote 101:
Spice, it must be observed, varies so very greatly in its quality that
discretion is always necessary in using it.
Footnote 102:
This should never be poured _hot_ on the meat: it should be less than
milk-warm when added to it.
Lean of ham, 1 lb.; lean of roast veal, 6 oz.; fresh butter, 8 oz.;
mace, from 1 to 2 teaspoonsful; 1/2 large nutmeg; cayenne, 1/4 to 1/2
teaspoonful.
_Obs._—The roast veal is ordered in this receipt because the ham alone
is generally too salt; for the same reason butter, fresh taken from the
churn, or that which is but slightly salted and quite new, should be
used for it in preference to its own fat. When there is no ready-dressed
veal in the house, the best part of the neck, roasted or stewed, will
supply the requisite quantity. The remains of a cold boiled ham will
answer quite well for potting, even when a little dry.
POTTED CHICKEN, PARTRIDGE, OR PHEASANT.
Roast the birds as for table, but let them be thoroughly done, for if
the gravy be left in, the meat will not keep half so well. Raise the
flesh of the breast, wings, and merrythought, quite clear from the
bones, take off the skin, mince, and then pound it very smoothly with
about one third of its weight of fresh butter, or something less, if the
meat should appear of a proper consistence without the full quantity;
season it with salt, mace, and cayenne only, and add these in small
portions until the meat is rather highly flavoured with both the last;
proceed with it as with other potted meats.
POTTED OX-TONGUE.
Boil tender an unsmoked tongue of good flavour, and the following day
cut from it the quantity desired for potting, or take for this purpose
the remains of one which has already been served at table. Trim off the
skin and rind, weigh the meat, mince it very small, then pound it as
fine as possible with four ounces of butter to each pound of tongue, a
small teaspoonful of mace, half as much of nutmeg and cloves, and a
tolerably high seasoning of cayenne. After the spices are well beaten
with the meat, taste it, and add more if required. A few ounces of any
_well-roasted_ meat mixed with the tongue will give it firmness, in
which it is apt to be deficient. The breasts of turkeys, fowls,
partridges, or pheasants, may be used for the purpose with good effect.
Tongue, 1 lb.; butter, 4 oz.; mace, 1 teaspoonful; nutmeg and cloves
each, 1/2 teaspoonful; cayenne, 5 to 10 grains.
POTTED ANCHOVIES.
Scrape the anchovies very clean, raise the flesh from the bones, and
pound it to a perfect paste in a Wedgwood or marble mortar; then with
the back of a wooden spoon press it through a hair-sieve reversed. Next,
weigh the anchovies, and pound them again with double their weight of
the freshest butter that can be procured, a high seasoning of mace and
cayenne, and a small quantity of finely-grated nutmeg; set the mixture
by in a cool place for three or four hours to harden it before it is put
into the potting pans. If butter be poured over, it must be only
lukewarm; but the anchovies will keep well for two or three weeks
without. A very small portion of rose-pink may be added to improve the
colour, but unless it be sparingly used, it will impart a bitter flavour
to the preparation. The quantity of butter can be increased or
diminished in proportion as it is wished that the flavour of the
anchovies should prevail.
Anchovies pounded, 3 oz.; butter, 6 oz.; mace, third of teaspoonful;
half as much cayenne; little nutmeg.
LOBSTER BUTTER.
(_For this see_ page 138, Chapter VI.)
POTTED SHRIMPS, OR PRAWNS.
(_Delicious._)
Let the fish be quite freshly boiled, shell them quickly, and just
before they are put into the mortar, chop them a little with a very
sharp knife; pound them perfectly with a small quantity of fresh butter,
mace, and cayenne. (See also page 92.)
Shrimps (unshelled), 2 quarts; butter, 2 to 4 oz.; mace, 1 small
saltspoonful; cayenne, 1/3 as much.
POTTED MUSHROOMS.
The receipt for these, which we can recommend to the reader, will be
found in the next Chapter.
MOULDED POTTED MEAT OR FISH.
(_For the second course._)
Press very closely and smoothly into a pan or mould the potted ham, or
any other meat, of the present chapter, pour a thin layer of clarified
butter on the top, and let it become quite cold. When wanted for table,
wind round it for a moment a cloth which has been dipped into hot water,
loosen the meat gently from it with a thin knife, turn it on to a dish,
and glaze it lightly; lay a border of small salad round it, with or
without a decoration of hard eggs, or surround it instead with clear
savoury jelly cut in dice. The meat, for variety, may be equally sliced,
and laid regularly round a pile of small salad. A very elegant second
course dish may be made with potted lobsters in this way, the centre
being ornamented with a small shape of lobster butter. (_See page_ 138.)
POTTED HARE.
[Illustration:
Wedgwood Pestle and Mortar.
]
The back of a well-roasted hare, and such other parts of the flesh as
are not sinewy, if potted by the directions already given for ham and
other meat, will be found superior to the game prepared as it usually is
by baking it tender either with a large quantity of butter, or with
barely sufficient water or gravy to cover it; but when the old-fashioned
mode of potting is preferred, it must be cleansed as for roasting, wiped
dry, cut into joints, which, after being seasoned with salt, cayenne (or
pepper), and pounded cloves and mace or nutmeg well mingled, should be
closely packed in a jar or deep pan, and slowly baked until very tender,
with the addition of from half to a whole pound of fresh butter laid
equally over it, in small bits, or with only so much water or other
liquid as will prevent its becoming hard: the jar must be well covered
with at least two separate folds of thick brown paper tied closely over
it. It should then be left to become perfectly cold; and the butter
(when it has been used) should be taken off and scraped free from
moisture, that it may be added to the hare in pounding it. All skin and
sinew must be carefully removed, and the flesh minced before it is put
into the mortar. Additional seasoning must be added if necessary; but
the cook must remember that all should be well blended, and no
particular spice should be allowed to predominate in the flavour of the
preparation When water or gravy has been added to the hare, firm fresh
butter should be used in potting it: it will not require a very large
proportion, as the flesh will be far less dry and firm than when it is
roasted, though more of its juices will have been withdrawn from it; and
it will not remain good so long. The bones, gravy, head, and ribs, will
make a small tureen of excellent soup. Thick slices of lean ham are
sometimes baked with the hare, and pounded with it.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER XVII.
=Vegetables.=
[Illustration]
THE quality of vegetables depends much both on the soil in which they
are grown, and on the degree of care bestowed upon their culture; but if
produced in ever so great perfection, their excellence will be entirely
destroyed if they be badly cooked.
With the exception of artichokes, which are said to be improved by two
or three days’ keeping, all the summer varieties should be dressed
before their first freshness has in any degree passed off (for their
flavour is never so fine as within a few hours of their being cut or
gathered); but when this cannot be done, precaution should be taken to
prevent their withering. The stalk-ends of asparagus, cucumbers, and
vegetable-marrow, should be placed in from one to two inches of cold
water; and all other kinds should be spread on a cool brick floor. When
this has been neglected, they must be thrown into cold water for some
time before they are boiled to recover them, though they will prove even
then but very inferior eating.
Vegetables when not sufficiently cooked are known to be so exceedingly
unwholesome and indigestible, that the custom of serving them _crisp_,
which means, in reality, only half-boiled, should be altogether
disregarded when health is considered of more importance than fashion;
but they should not be allowed to remain in the water after they are
quite done, or both their nutritive properties and their flavour will be
lost, and their good appearance destroyed. Care should be taken to
_drain them thoroughly_ in a warm strainer, and to serve them very hot,
with well-made sauces, if with any.
Only dried peas or beans, Jerusalem artichokes, and potatoes, are put at
first into cold water. All others require plenty of fast-boiling water,
which should be ready salted and skimmed before they are thrown into it.
TO CLEAR VEGETABLES FROM INSECTS.
Lay them for half an hour or more into a pan of strong brine, with the
stalk ends uppermost; this will destroy the small snails and other
insects which cluster in the leaves, and they will fall out and sink to
the bottom. A pound and a half of salt to the gallon of water will
answer for this purpose, and if strained daily it will last for some
time.
TO BOIL VEGETABLES GREEN.
After they have been properly prepared and washed, throw them into
plenty of boiling water which has been salted and well skimmed; and keep
them uncovered and boiling fast until they are done, taking every
precaution against their being smoked. Should the water be very hard, a
_small_ half-teaspoonful of carbonate of soda, may be added with the
salt, for every two quarts, and will greatly improve the colour of the
vegetables; but if used in undue proportion it will injure them; green
peas especially will be quickly reduced to a mash if boiled with too
large a quantity.
Water, 1 gallon; salt, 2 oz.; soda, 1/4 oz.; or carbonate of soda, 1
teaspoonful.
POTATOES.
(_Remarks on their properties and importance._)
There is no vegetable commonly cultivated in this country, we venture to
assert, which is comparable in value to the potato when it is of a good
sort, has been grown in a suitable soil, and is properly cooked and
served. It _must_ be very nutritious, or it would not sustain the
strength of thousands of people whose almost sole food it constitutes,
and who, when they can procure a sufficient supply of it to satisfy
fully the demands of hunger, are capable of accomplishing the heaviest
daily labour. It may not be wise to depend for subsistence on a root of
which the crop unhappily is so frequently in these days destroyed or
greatly injured by disease, and for which it is so difficult to find a
substitute that is equally cheap, wholesome and satisfying; but we can
easily comprehend the predilection of an entire people for a tuber which
combines, like the potato, the solidity almost of bread, with the
healthful properties[103] of various other fresh vegetables, without
their acidity; and which can also be cooked and served in so many
different forms. The wretched manner in which it is dressed in many
English houses renders it comparatively valueless, and accounts in a
measure for the prodigality with which it is thrown away when cold, even
in seasons when its price is highest.[104]
Footnote 103:
The late Dr. Pereira has stated in his excellent work on diet, page
370, that Dr. Baly, who has published some interesting observations on
the anti-scorbutic quality of the potato, says, “_As ordinarily
cooked, it is an admirable preservative_ against the scurvy,” for
which it appears to be also a cure, see the same work.
Footnote 104:
We cannot refrain from a few words of remark here on the daily waste
of wholesome food in this country which constitutes one of the most
serious _domestic_ abuses that exist amongst us; and one which it is
most painful to witness while we see at the same time the
half-starvation of large masses of our people. It is an evil which the
steady and resolute opposition of the educated classes would soon
greatly check; and which ought not vainly to appeal to their good
sense and good feeling, augmenting, as it must, the privations of the
scantily-fed poor; for the “_waste_” of one part of the community
cannot fail to increase the “_want_” of the remainder.
TO BOIL POTATOES.
(_As in Ireland._)
Potatoes, to boil well together, should be all of the same sort, and as
nearly equal in size as may be. Wash off the mould, and scrub them very
clean with a hard brush, but neither scoop nor apply a knife to them in
any way, even to clear the eyes.[105] Rinse them well, and arrange them
compactly in a saucepan, so that they may not lie loose in the water,
and that a small quantity may suffice to cover them. Pour this in cold,
and when it boils, throw in about a large teaspoonful of salt to the
quart, and simmer the potatoes until they are nearly done, but for the
last two or three minutes let them boil rapidly. When they are tender
quite through, which may be known by probing them with a fork, pour all
the water from them immediately, lift the lid of the saucepan to allow
the steam to escape, and place them on a trivet, high over the fire, or
by the side of it, until the moisture has entirely evaporated; then
peel, and send them to table as quickly as possible, either in a hot
napkin, or in a dish, of which the cover is so placed that the steam can
pass off. There should be no delay in serving them after they are once
taken from the fire. Irish families always prefer them served in their
skins. Some kinds will be sufficiently boiled in twenty minutes, others
in not less than three quarters of an hour.
Footnote 105:
“Because,” in the words of our clever Irish correspondent, “the water
through these parts is then admitted into the very heart of the
vegetable; and the latent heat, after cooking, is not sufficient to
throw it off; this renders the potatoes very unwholesome.”
20 minutes to 1 hour, or more.
_Obs. 1._—The water in which they are boiled should barely cover the
potatoes. After it is poured off, they should be steamed for twenty
minutes or _half an hour_, if large.
_Obs. 2._—Habitual potato-eaters know well that this vegetable is never
so good as when served in _the skin_ the instant it is taken from the
fire, dished in a hot napkin, or sent to table without a cover over it.
It should also be clean and dry that it may at pleasure be taken in the
fingers and broken like bread, or held in the dinner napkin while the
inside is scooped out with the fork, thus forming it into a sort of cup.
The large Yorkshire Regents dressed and eaten in this way afford in
themselves an almost sufficient meal. We have found from long daily
experience, that those which averaged three, or at the utmost four to
the pound, were the best in quality, and remained so to quite the end of
their season: they required as the spring advanced, an hour’s boiling or
more.
TO BOIL POTATOES.
(_The Lancashire way._)
Pare the potatoes, cover them with cold water, and boil them slowly
until they are quite tender, but watch them carefully, that they may not
be overdone; drain off the water entirely, strew some salt over them,
leave the saucepan uncovered by the side of the fire, and shake it
forcibly every minute or two, until the whole of the potatoes appear dry
and floury. Lancashire cooks dress the vegetable in this way to
perfection, but it is far from an economical mode, as a large portion of
the potato adheres to the saucepan; it has, however, many admirers.
TO BOIL NEW POTATOES.
These are never good unless freshly dug. Take them of equal size, and
rub off the skins with a brush or a very coarse cloth, wash them clean,
and put them without salt into boiling, or at least, quite hot water;
boil them softly, and when they are tender enough to serve, pour off the
water entirely, strew some fine salt over them, give them a shake, and
let them stand by the fire in the saucepan for a minute; then dish and
serve them immediately. Some cooks throw in a small slice of fresh
butter, with the salt, and toss them gently in it after it is dissolved.
This is a good mode, but the more usual one is to send melted butter to
table with them, or to pour white sauce over them when they are very
young, and served early in the season.
Very small, 10 to 15 minutes: moderate sized, 15 to 20 minutes.
_Obs._—We always, for our own eating, have new potatoes steamed for ten
minutes or longer after the water is poured from them, and think they
are much improved by the process. They should be thoroughly boiled
before this is done.
NEW POTATOES IN BUTTER.
Rub off the skins, wash the potatoes well and wipe them dry; put them
with three ounces of good butter, for a small dish, and with four ounces
or more for a large one, into a well-tinned stewpan or Keep them well
shaken or tossed, that they may be equally done, and throw in some salt
when they begin to stew. This is a good mode of dressing them when they
are very young and watery.
TO BOIL POTATOES.
(_Captain Kater’s Receipt._)
Wash, wipe, and pare the potatoes, cover them with cold water, and boil
them gently until they are done, pour off the water, and sprinkle a
little fine salt over them; then take each potato separately with a
spoon, and lay it into a clean _warm_ cloth, twist this so as to press
all the moisture from the vegetable, and render it quite round; turn it
carefully into a dish placed before the fire, throw a cloth over, and
when all are done, send them to table quickly. Potatoes dressed in this
way are mashed without the slightest trouble; it is also by far the best
method of preparing them for puddings or for cakes.
TO ROAST OR BAKE POTATOES.
Scrub and wash exceedingly clean some potatoes nearly assorted in size;
wipe them very dry, and roast them in a Dutch oven before the fire,
placing them at a distance from it, and keeping them often turned; or
arrange them in a coarse dish, and bake them in a moderate oven. Dish
them neatly in a napkin, and send them very hot to table; serve cold
butter with them. 1-3/4 to upwards of 2 hours.
SCOOPED POTATOES. (ENTREMETS.[106])
Footnote 106:
Or second course dish.
[Illustration]
Wash and wipe some large potatoes of a firm kind, and with a small scoop
adapted to the purpose,[107] form as many diminutive ones as will fill a
dish; cover them with cold water, and when they have boiled very gently
for five minutes pour it off, and put more cold water to them; after
they have simmered a second time for five minutes, drain the water quite
away, place the cover of the saucepan so as to leave an inch or more of
open space for the moisture to evaporate, and let them steam by the side
of the fire from four to five minutes longer. Dish them carefully, pour
white sauce over them, and serve them in the second course. Old potatoes
thus prepared, have often been made to pass for _new_ ones, at the best
tables, at the season in which the fresh vegetable was dearest.[108] The
time required to boil them will of course vary with their quality; we
give the method which we have found very successful.
Footnote 107:
This may be procured of any ironmonger.
Footnote 108:
Vegetables and fruit are now so generally forced and brought so early
into our markets, that there is little need of these expedients at
present.
CRISPED POTATOES, OR POTATO-RIBBONS. (ENTREMETS.)
(_Or to serve with Cheese._)
Wash well, and wipe, some potatoes of good flavour; cut them up into
slices of from half to a whole inch thick, free them from the skins, and
then pare them round and round in very thin, and very long ribbons. Lay
them into a pan of cold water, and half an hour before they are wanted
for table lift them on to a sieve that they may be well drained. Fry
them in good butter, which should be very hot when they are thrown in,
until they are quite crisp, and lightly browned; drain and dry them on a
soft cloth, pile them in a hot dish, strew over them a mixed seasoning
of salt and cayenne in fine powder, and serve them without delay. For
the second course, dress them in the same manner, but omit the cayenne.
Five or six minutes will fry them.
FRIED POTATOES. (ENTREMETS.)
(_A Plainer Receipt._)
After having washed them, wipe and pare some raw potatoes, cut them in
slices of equal thickness, or into thin shavings, and throw them into
plenty of boiling butter, or very pure clarified dripping. Fry them of a
fine light brown, and very crisp; lift them out with a skimmer, drain
them on a soft warm cloth, dish them very hot, and sprinkle fine salt
over them. This is an admirable way of dressing potatoes, very common on
the Continent, but less so in England than it deserves to be. Pared in
ribbons or shavings of equal width, as in the receipt above, and served
dry and well fried, lightly piled in a dish, they make a handsome
appearance, and are excellent eating. If sliced they should be something
less than a quarter of an inch thick.
MASHED POTATOES.
Boil them perfectly tender quite through, pour off the water, and steam
them very dry by the directions already given in the receipt of page
310, peel them quickly, take out every speck, and while they are still
hot, press the potatoes through an earthen cullender, or bruise them to
a smooth mash with a strong wooden fork or spoon, but never pound them
in a mortar, as that will reduce them to a close heavy paste. _Let them
be entirely free from lumps_, for nothing can be more indicative of
carelessness or want of skill on the part of the cook, than mashed
potatoes sent to table full of these. Melt in a clean saucepan a slice
of good butter with a few spoonsful of milk, or, better still, of cream;
put in the potatoes after having sprinkled some fine salt upon them, and
stir the whole over a gentle fire with a _wooden_ spoon, until the
ingredients are well-mixed, and the whole is very hot. It may then be
served directly; or heaped high in a dish, left rough on the surface,
and browned before the fire; or it may be pressed into a well buttered
mould of handsome form, which has been strewed with the finest
bread-crumbs, and shaken free from the loose ones, then turned out, and
browned in a Dutch or common oven. More or less liquid will be required
to moisten sufficiently potatoes of various kinds.
Potatoes mashed, 2 lbs.; salt, 1 teaspoonful; butter, 1 to 2 oz.; milk
or cream, 1/4 pint.
_Obs._—Mashed potatoes are often moulded with a cup, and then equally
browned: any other shape will answer the purpose as well, and many are
of better appearance.
ENGLISH POTATO BALLS, OR CROQUETTES.
Boil some floury potatoes very dry, mash them as smoothly as possible,
season them well with salt and white pepper, warm them with about an
ounce of butter to the pound, or rather more if it will not render them
too moist, and a few spoonsful of good cream. Boil them very dry; let
them cool a little, roll them into balls, sprinkle over them vermicelli
crushed slightly with the hand, and fry them a fine light brown. They
may be dished round a shape of plain mashed potatoes, or piled on a
napkin by themselves. They may likewise be rolled in egg and fine
bread-crumbs instead of in the vermicelli, or in ground rice, which
answers very well for them.
POTATO BOULETTES. (ENTREMETS.)
(_Good._)
Boil some good potatoes as dry as possible, or let them be prepared by
Captain Kater’s receipt; mash a pound of them very smoothly, and mix
with them while they are still warm, two ounces of fresh butter, a
teaspoonful of salt, a little nutmeg, the beaten and strained yolks of
four eggs, and last of all the whites thoroughly whisked. Mould the
mixture with a teaspoon and drop it into a small pan of boiling butter,
or of very pure lard, and fry the _boulettes_ for five minutes over a
moderate fire: they should be of a fine pale brown, and very light.
Drain them well and dish them on a hot napkin.
Potatoes, 1 lb.; butter, 2 oz.; salt, 1 teaspoonful; eggs, 4: 5 minutes.
_Obs._—These _boulettes_ are exceeding light and delicate, and make an
excellent dish for the second course; but we think that a few spoonsful
of sweet fresh cream boiled with them until the mixture becomes dry,
would both enrich them and improve their flavour. They should be dropped
into the pan with the teaspoon, as they ought to be small, and they will
swell in the cooking.
POTATO RISSOLES.
(_French._)
Mash and season the potatoes with salt, and white pepper or cayenne, and
mix with them plenty of minced parsley, and a small quantity of green
onions, or eschalots; add sufficient yolks of eggs to bind the mixture
together, roll it into small balls, and fry them in plenty of lard or
butter over a moderate fire, or they will be too much browned before
they are done through. Ham, or any other kind of meat finely minced, may
be substituted for the herbs, or added to them.
POTATOES À LA MAÎTRE D’HÔTEL.
Boil in the usual manner some potatoes of a firm kind, peel, and let
them cool; then cut them equally into quarter-inch slices. Dissolve in a
very clean stewpan or saucepan from two to four ounces of good butter,
stir to it a small dessertspoonful of flour, and shake the pan over the
fire for two or three minutes; add by slow degrees a small cupful of
boiling water, some pepper, salt, and a tablespoonful of minced parsley;
put in the potatoes, and toss them gently over a clear fire until they
are quite hot, and the sauce adheres well to them: at the instant of
serving add a dessertspoonful of strained lemon-juice. Pale veal gravy
may be substituted for the water; and the potatoes after being thickly
sliced, may be quickly cut of the same size with a small round cutter.
POTATOES À LA CRÈME.
Prepare the potatoes as above, and toss them gently in a quarter of a
pint or more of thick white sauce or of common _bechamel_, with or
without the addition of the minced parsley.
KOHL CANNON, OR KALE CANNON.
(_An Irish Receipt._)
Mix in about equal proportions (these can be varied to suit the
convenience of the moment) some smoothly mashed potatoes, and some young
sprouts or greens of any kind, first boiled quite tender, pressed very
dry, and chopped a little if needful. Mash up the whole well together,
add a seasoning of pepper and salt, a small bit of butter, and a
spoonful or two of cream or milk; put a raw onion into the middle of the
mass, and stir it over a clear fire until it is very hot, and
sufficiently dry to be moulded and turned out for table, or dished in
the usual manner. Take out the onion before the kohl cannon is served.
In Ireland mashed parsneps and potatoes are mingled in the same way, and
called _parsnep cannon_. A good summer variety of the preparation is
made there also with Windsor beans boiled tender, _skinned_, and bruised
to a paste, then thoroughly blended with the potatoes. Turnips, too, are
sometimes substituted for the parsneps; but these or any other _watery_
vegetable should be well dried over a gentle fire as directed for mashed
turnips in this chapter, before they are added to the potatoes.
TO BOIL SEA-KALE.
Wash, trim, and tie the kale in bunches, and throw it into plenty of
boiling water with some salt in it. When it is perfectly tender, lift it
out, drain it well from the water, and send it to table with good melted
butter. When fashion is not particularly regarded we would recommend its
being served upon a toast like asparagus. About twenty minutes will boil
it, rather less for persons who like it crisp.
18 to 20 minutes.
SEA-KALE STEWED IN GRAVY. (ENTREMETS.)
Boil the kale for ten minutes in salt and water; drain it well, and put
it into a saucepan with as much good brown gravy as will nearly cover
it; stew it gently for ten minutes or until it is tender, and send it to
table in the gravy very hot. Another excellent mode of serving this
vegetable is, to boil it in salt and water, and to pour over it plenty
of rich white sauce after it is dished.
SPINACH. (ENTREMETS.)
(_French Receipt._)
Pick the spinach leaf by leaf from the stems, and wash it in abundance
of spring water, changing it several times; then shake it in a dry cloth
held by the four corners, or drain it on a large sieve. Throw it into
sufficient well-salted boiling water to allow it to float freely, and
keep it pressed down with a skimmer that it may be equally done. When
quite young it will be tender in from eight to ten minutes, but to
ascertain if it be so, take a leaf and squeeze it between the fingers.
If to be dressed in the French mode, drain, and then throw it directly
into plenty of fresh water, and when it is cool form it into balls and
press the moisture thoroughly from it with the hands. Next, chop it
extremely fine upon a clean trencher; put two ounces (for a large dish)
of butter into a stewpan or bright thick saucepan, lay the spinach on
it, and keep it stirred over a gentle fire for ten minutes, or until it
appears dry; dredge in a spoonful of flour, and turn the spinach as it
is added; pour to it gradually, a few spoonsful of very rich veal gravy,
or, if preferred, of _good_ boiling cream (with the last of these a
dessertspoonful or more of pounded sugar may be added for a
second-course dish, when the true French mode of dressing the vegetable
is liked.) Stew the whole briskly until the liquid is entirely absorbed;
dish, and serve the spinach very hot, with small, pale fried sippets
round it, or with leaves of puff paste fresh from the oven, or well
dried after having been fried. For ornament, the sippets may be
fancifully shaped with a tin cutter. A proper seasoning of salt must not
be omitted in this, or any other preparation of the spinach.
SPINACH A L’ANGLAISE. (ENTREMETS.)
(_Or, English fashion._)
Boil the spinach as already directed, and after it has been well
squeezed and chopped, stir it over a moderate fire until it is very dry;
moisten it with as much thick rich gravy as will flavour it well, and
turn and stew it quite fast until it is again very dry; then press it
into a hot mould of handsome form, turn it into a dish and serve it
quickly. Two or three ounces of fresh butter may be laid into the
saucepan with the spinach at first, as a substitute for the gravy. When
a perforated tin shape, ordinarily used for moulding spinach, is not at
hand, one of earthenware, slightly buttered, will serve nearly as well.
SPINACH.
(_Common English mode._)
Boil the spinach very green in plenty of water, drain, and then press
the moisture from it between two trenchers; chop it small, put it into a
clean saucepan, with a slice of fresh butter, and stir the whole until
well mixed and very hot. Smooth it in a dish, mark it in dice, and send
it quickly to table.
ANOTHER COMMON ENGLISH RECEIPT FOR SPINACH.
Take it leaf by leaf from the stalks, and be very careful to clear it
from any weeds that may be amongst it, and to free it by copious and
repeated washings from every particle of sand, or earth. Put it into a
large well-tinned stewpan or saucepan, with the water only which hangs
about it; throw in a small spoonful of salt, and keep it constantly
pressed down with a wooden spoon, and turned often for about a quarter
of an hour, or until it is perfectly tender. Drain off the superfluous
moisture, chop the spinach quickly on a hot trencher; dish and serve it
immediately. Fried sippets of bread should always be served round this
vegetable, unless it be prepared for an invalid.
TO DRESS DANDELIONS LIKE SPINACH, OR AS A SALAD.
(_Very wholesome._)
This common weed of the fields and highways is an excellent vegetable,
the young leaves forming an admirable adjunct to a salad, and much
resembling endive when boiled and prepared in the same way, or in any of
the modes directed for spinach. The slight bitterness of its flavour is
to many persons very agreeable; and it is often served at well-appointed
tables. It has also, we believe, the advantage of possessing valuable
medicinal qualities. Take the roots before the blossom is at all
advanced, if they can readily be found in that state; if not, pluck off
and use the young leaves only. Wash them as clean as possible, and boil
them tender in a large quantity of water salted as for sprouts or
spinach. Drain them well, press them dry with a wooden spoon, and serve
them quite plain with melted butter in a tureen; or, squeeze, chop, and
heat them afresh, with a seasoning of salt and pepper, a _morsel_ of
butter rolled in flour, and a spoonful or two of gravy or cream. A very
large portion of the leaves will be required for a dish, as they shrink
exceedingly in the cooking. For a salad, take them very young and serve
them entire, or break them quite small with the fingers; then wash and
drain them. Dress them with oil and vinegar, or with any other sauce
which may be preferred with them.
BOILED TURNIP-RADISHES.
These should be freshly drawn, young and white. Wash and trim them
neatly, leaving on two or three of the small inner leaves of the top.
Boil them in plenty of salted water from twenty to thirty minutes, and
as soon as they are tender send them to table well drained, with melted
butter or white sauce. Common radishes when young, tied in bunches, and
boiled from eighteen to twenty-five minutes, then served on a toast like
asparagus, are very good.
BOILED LEEKS.
Trim off the coarser leaves from some young leeks, cut them into equal
lengths, tie them into small bunches, and boil them in plenty of water
which has been previously salted and skimmed; serve them on a toast, and
send melted butter to table with them.
20 to 25 minutes.
STEWED LETTUCES.
Strip off the outer leaves, and cut away the stalks; wash the lettuces
with exceeding nicety, and throw them into water salted as for all green
vegetables. When they are quite tender, which will be in from twenty to
thirty minutes, according to their age, lift them out and press the
water thoroughly from them; chop them a little, and heat them in a clean
saucepan with a seasoning of pepper and salt, and a small slice of
butter; then dredge in a little flour and stir them well; add next a
small cup of broth or gravy, boil them quickly until they are tolerably
dry, then stir in a little pale vinegar or lemon-juice, and serve them
as hot as possible, with fried sippets round them.
TO BOIL ASPARAGUS.
With a sharp knife scrape the stems of the asparagus lightly but very
clean, from within one to two inches of the green tender points; throw
them into cold water as they are done, and when all are ready, tie them
in bunches of equal size, cut the large ends evenly, that the asparagus
may be all of the same length, and put it into plenty of boiling water
prepared by the directions of page 309. Cut a round of bread quite half
an inch thick, and after having pared off the crust, toast it a delicate
brown on both sides. When the stalks of the asparagus are tender, lift
it out directly, or it will lose both its colour and its flavour, and
will also be liable to break; dip the toast quickly into the water in
which it was boiled, and dish the vegetable upon it, with the points
meeting in the centre. Send rich melted butter to table with it. In
France, a small quantity of vinegar is stirred into the sauce before it
is served; and many persons like the addition. Asparagus may be
preserved for a day or two sufficiently fresh for use, by keeping the
stalks immersed in an inch-depth of cold water; but it is never so good
as when dressed directly it is cut, or within a few hours after.
20 to 25 minutes.
_Obs._—Abroad, boiled asparagus is very frequently served cold, and
eaten with oil and vinegar, or a sauce Mayonnaise.
ASPARAGUS POINTS DRESSED LIKE PEAS. (ENTREMETS.)
This is a convenient mode of dressing asparagus, when it is too small
and green to make a good appearance plainly boiled. Cut the points so
far only as they are perfectly tender, in bits of equal size, not more
than the third of an inch in length; wash them very clean, and throw
them into plenty of boiling water, with the usual quantity of salt and a
_few_ grains of carbonate of soda. When they are tolerably tender, which
will be in from ten to twelve minutes, drain them well, and spread them
on a clean cloth; fold it over them, wipe them gently, and when they are
quite dry put them into a clean stewpan with a good slice of butter,
which should be just dissolved before the asparagus is added; stew them
in this over a brisk fire, shaking them often, for eight or ten minutes;
dredge in about a small teaspoonful of flour, and add half that quantity
of white sugar; then pour in boiling water to nearly cover the
asparagus, and boil it rapidly until but little liquid remains: stir in
the beaten yolks of two eggs, heap the asparagus high in a dish, and
serve it very hot. The sauce should adhere entirely to the vegetable as
in green peas _à la Française_.
TO BOIL GREEN PEAS.
To be eaten in perfection these should be young, very freshly gathered,
and shelled just before they are boiled; should there be great
inequality in their size, the smaller ones may be separated from the
others, and thrown into the saucepan four or five minutes later. Wash,
and drain the peas in a cullender, put them into plenty of fast-boiling
water, salted by the directions of page 309; keep the pan uncovered, and
let them boil rapidly until they are tender; drain them well, dish them
quickly, and serve them very hot, with good melted butter in a tureen;
or put a slice of fresh butter into the midst of the peas, heap them
well over it in the centre of the dish, and let it dissolve before they
are disturbed. Never, on any account, boil or mix mint with them unless
it be expressly ordered, as it is particularly distasteful to many
persons. It should be served in small heaps round them, if at all.
15 to 25 minutes, or more if _old_.
GREEN PEAS À LA FRANÇAISE, OR FRENCH FASHION. (ENTREMETS).
Throw a quart of young and freshly-shelled peas into plenty of spring
water with a couple of ounces of butter, and with the hand work them
together until the butter adheres well to the peas; lift them out, and
drain them in a cullender; put them into a stewpan or thick saucepan
without any water, and let them remain over a gentle fire, and be
stirred occasionally for twenty minutes from the time of their first
beginning to simmer; then pour to them as much boiling water as will
just cover them; throw in a small quantity of salt, and keep them
boiling quickly for forty minutes: stir well amongst them a small lump
of sugar which has been dipped quickly into water, and a thickening of
about half an ounce of butter very smoothly mixed with a teaspoonful of
flour; shake them over the fire for two minutes, and serve them directly
heaped high in a very hot dish; there will be no sauce except that which
adheres to the peas if they be properly managed. We have found
marrowfats excellent, dressed by this receipt. Fresh and good butter
should be used with them always.
Peas, 1 quart; butter, 2 oz.: 20 minutes. Water to cover the peas;
little salt: 40 minutes. Sugar, small lump; butter, 1/2 oz.; flour, 1
teaspoonful: 2 minutes.
GREEN PEAS WITH CREAM. (ENTREMETS.)
Boil a quart of young peas perfectly tender in salt and water, and drain
them as dry as possible. Dissolve an ounce and a half of butter in a
clean stewpan, stir smoothly to it when it boils a dessertspoonful of
flour, and shake these over the fire for three or four minutes, but
without allowing them to take the slightest colour; pour gradually to
them a cup of rich cream, add a small lump of sugar pounded, let the
sauce boil, then put in the peas and toss them gently in it until they
are very hot: dish, and serve them quickly.
Peas, 1 quart: 18 to 25 minutes. Butter, 1-1/2 oz.; flour, 1
dessertspoonful: 3 to 5 minutes. Sugar, 1 saltspoonful; cream, 1 cupful.
TO BOIL FRENCH BEANS.
When the beans are very small and young, merely take off the ends and
stalks, and drop them into plenty of spring water as they are done; when
all are ready wash and drain them well, throw them into a large saucepan
of fast-boiling water, salted as usual (see page 309), and when they are
quite tender, which will be in from twelve to eighteen minutes, pour
them into a cullender, shake the water from them, dish, and send them
quickly to table with good melted butter in a tureen. When from half to
two parts grown, cut the beans obliquely into a lozenge form, or, when a
less modern fashion is preferred, split them lengthwise into delicate
strips, and then cut them once across: the strings should be drawn off
with the tops and stalks. No mode of dressing it can render this
vegetable good when it is old, but if the sides be pared off, the beans
cut thin, and boiled tender with rather more than the ordinary
proportion of soda, they will be of excellent colour, and tolerably
eatable.
FRENCH BEANS À LA FRANÇAISE. (ENTREMETS.)
Boil, and drain them thoroughly; then put them into a clean stewpan, or
well-tinned iron saucepan, and shake them over the fire until they are
very dry and hot; add to them from two to four ounces of fresh butter
cut into small bits, some white pepper, a little salt, and the juice of
half a lemon; toss them gently for a few minutes over a clear fire, and
serve them very hot. Should the butter turn to oil, a spoonful or two of
veal gravy or boiling water must be added.
AN EXCELLENT RECEIPT FOR FRENCH BEANS À LA FRANÇAISE.
Prepare as many young and freshly-gathered beans as will serve for a
large dish, boil them tender, and drain the water well from them. Melt a
couple of ounces of fresh butter, in a clean saucepan, and stir smoothly
to it a small dessertspoonful of flour; keep these well shaken, and
gently simmered until they are lightly browned, add salt and pepper, and
pour to them by degrees a small cupful of good veal gravy (or, in lieu
of this, of sweet rich cream), toss the beans in the sauce until they
are as hot as possible; stir quickly in, as they are taken from the
fire, the beaten yolks of two fresh eggs, and a little lemon-juice, and
serve them without delay. The eggs and lemon are sometimes omitted, and
a tablespoonful of minced parsley is added to the butter and flour; but
this, we think, is scarcely an improvement.
Beans, 1 to 2 quarts: boiled 15 to 20 minutes. Butter, 2 oz.; flour, 1
dessertspoonful; salt and pepper; veal gravy, _small_ cupful; yolks of
eggs, 2; lemon-juice, a dessertspoonful.
TO BOIL WINDSOR BEANS.
When young, freshly gathered, and well dressed, these beans, even with
many persons accustomed to a luxurious table, are a favourite
accompaniment to a dish of streaked bacon, or delicate pickled pork.
Shell them only just before they are wanted, then wash, drain, and throw
them into boiling water, salted as for peas. When they are quite tender,
pour them into a hot cullender, drain them thoroughly, and send them to
table quickly, with a tureen of parsley and butter, or with plain melted
butter, when it is preferred. A boiled cheek of bacon, trimmed free of
any blackened parts, may be dished over the beans, upon occasion.
20 to 30 minutes; less, when _very_ young.
_Obs._—When the skin of the beans appears wrinkled, they will generally
be found sufficiently tender to serve, but they should be tasted to
ascertain that they are so. This vegetable is often _skinned_ after it
is boiled, and then gently tossed up with a little butter before it is
dished.
DRESSED CUCUMBERS.
Pare and slice them very thin, strew a little fine salt over them, and
when they have stood a few minutes, drain off the water, by raising one
side of the dish, and letting it flow to the other; pour it away, strew
more salt, and a moderate seasoning of pepper on them, add two or three
tablespoonsful of the purest salad-oil, and turn the cucumbers well,
that the whole may receive a portion of it; then pour over them from one
to three dessertspoonsful of chili vinegar, and a little common, should
it be needed; turn them into a clean dish and serve them.
_Obs._—If very young, cucumbers are usually dressed without being pared,
but the tough rind of full-grown ones being extremely indigestible,
should be avoided. The vegetable, though apt to disagree with persons of
delicate habit, when sauced in the common English mode, with salt,
pepper, and vinegar only, may often be eaten by them with impunity when
dressed with plenty of oil. It is difficult to obtain this perfectly
fresh and pure here; and hence, perhaps, arises in part the prejudice
which, amongst us, is so often found to exist against the use of this
most wholesome condiment.
MANDRANG, OR MANDRAM.
(_West Indian Receipt._)
Chop together very small, two moderate-sized cucumbers, with half the
quantity of mild onion; add the juice of a lemon, a saltspoonful or more
of salt, a third as much of cayenne, and one or two glasses of Madeira,
or of any other dry white wine. This preparation is to be served with
any kind of roast meat.
ANOTHER RECEIPT FOR MANDRAM.
Take three or four cucumbers, so young as not to require paring; score
the ends well, that when they are sliced they may fall into small bits;
add plenty of young onions, cut fine, the juice of half a lemon, a glass
of sherry or Madeira, and a dessertspoonful of chili vinegar.
DRESSED CUCUMBERS.
(_Author’s Receipt._)
Cut into lengths of an inch or rather more, one or two freshly gathered
cucumbers, take off the rind, and then pare them round and round into
thin ribbons, until the watery part is reached:—this is to be thrown
aside. When all are done, sprinkle them with cayenne and fine salt, and
leave them to drain a little; then arrange them lightly in a clean dish,
and sauce them with very fine oil, well mixed with chili vinegar, or
with equal parts of chili and of common vinegar.
Cucumbers, 2 or 3; salt, 1 to 2 saltspoonsful; little cayenne; oil, 6 to
8 tablespoonsful; chili vinegar, or equal parts of this and common
vinegar, 2 to 4 tablespoonsful.
_Obs._—When the flavour of eschalots is much liked, a teaspoonful or
more of the vinegar in which they have been steeped or pickled may be
added to this dish.
STEWED CUCUMBERS.
(_English mode._)
Pare, and split into quarters, four or five full-grown but still young
cucumbers; take out the seeds and cut each part in two; sprinkle them
with white pepper or cayenne; flour and fry them lightly in a little
butter, lift them from the pan, drain them on a sieve, then lay them
into as much good brown gravy as will nearly cover them, and stew them
gently from twenty-five to thirty minutes, or until they are quite
tender. Should the gravy require to be thickened or flavoured, dish the
cucumbers and keep them hot while a little flour and butter, or any
other of the usual ingredients, is stirred into it. Some persons like a
small portion of lemon-juice, or of chili vinegar added to the sauce;
cucumber vinegar might be substituted for these with very good effect,
as the vegetable loses much of its fine and peculiar flavour when
cooked.
25 to 30 minutes.
_Obs._—The cucumbers may be left in entire lengths, thrown into
well-salted boiling water, and simmered for ten minutes, then thoroughly
drained upon the back of a sieve, and afterwards stewed very quickly
until tender in some highly-flavoured brown gravy, or in the Spanish
sauce of page 101.
CUCUMBERS À LA POULETTE.
The cucumbers for this dish may be pared and sliced very thin; or
quartered, freed from the seeds, and cut into half-inch lengths; in
either case they should be steeped in a little vinegar and sprinkled
with salt for half an hour before they are dressed. Drain, and then
press them dry in a soft cloth; flour them well, put a slice of butter
into a stewpan or saucepan bright in the inside, and when it begins to
boil throw in the cucumbers, and shake them over a gentle fire for ten
minutes, but be careful to prevent their taking the slightest colour;
pour to them gradually as much strong, but very pale veal stock or gravy
as will nearly cover them; when it boils skim off the fat entirely, add
salt and white pepper if needed, and when the cucumbers are quite
tender, strew in a large teaspoonful of finely-minced parsley, and
thicken the sauce with the yolks of two or three eggs. French cooks add
the flour when the vegetable has stewed in the butter, instead of
dredging it upon them at first, and this is perhaps the better method.
CUCUMBERS À LA CRÊME.
Boil them tolerably tender in salt and water, drain them well, then stew
them for a few minutes in a thick _béchamel_, and serve them in it.
FRIED CUCUMBERS TO SERVE IN COMMON HASHES AND MINCES.
If very young they need not be pared, but otherwise, take off the rind,
slice, and dredge them lightly with pepper and flour, but put no salt at
first; throw them into very hot butter or clarified dripping, or they
will not brown; when they are nearly done sprinkle some salt amongst
them, and as soon as they are quite tender, lift them out with a slice,
drain them well, and place them lightly over the hash or mince. A small
portion of onion may be fried with them when it is liked.
MELON.
This in France and in other parts of the Continent is served and eaten
with the _bouilli_ (or beef boiled tender in the soup-pot), with a
seasoning of salt and pepper only; but the fruit is there far more
abundant, and of infinitely finer growth than with us, and requires so
little care, comparatively, that it is planted in many places in the
open fields, where it flourishes admirably.
TO BOIL CAULIFLOWERS.
Trim off the outside leaves, and cut the stems quite close to the
cauliflowers; let them lie for an hour in plenty of cold water with a
handful of salt in it, to draw out any insects that may be amongst them;
then wash them very thoroughly, and examine them well, to be assured
that none remain in any part of them; throw them into a large pan of
boiling water salted as for asparagus, and quite cleared from scum; for
this, if not removed, will adhere to the cauliflowers and spoil their
appearance. When the stalks are tender lift them out, dish them neatly,
and send good melted butter to table with them.
20 to 30 minutes.
CAULIFLOWERS.
(_French Receipt._)
Cut the cauliflowers into small handsome tufts, and boil them until
three parts done, drain them well, toss them for a moment in some
_thick_ melted butter or white sauce, and set them by to cool. When they
are quite cold, dip them separately into the batter of Chapter V., fry
them a light brown, arrange them neatly in a dish, and serve them very
hot.
CAULIFLOWERS WITH PARMESAN CHEESE.
Take all the green leaves from two or three fine white cauliflowers, and
cut the stalks off very closely, so that they will stand upright in the
dish in which they are served; boil them tolerably tender, but not
sufficiently so as to hazard their breaking; drain them well, and dish
them, so as to give the whole the appearance of one cauliflower; pour a
little good white sauce equally over the tops, and on this strew grated
Parmesan cheese, drop over it a little clarified butter, add another
layer of cheese, and cover the whole with the finest bread-crumbs;
moisten these with more clarified butter, and brown them with a
salamander, or set the dish into the oven, to give them colour; pour
white sauce round the cauliflowers, and send them very hot to table.
CAULIFLOWERS À LA FRANÇAISE.
Strip away all the green leaves, and divide each cauliflower into three
or four parts, trimming the stalks quite close; put them, with the heads
downwards, into a stewpan which will just hold them, half filled with
boiling water, into which an ounce of good butter and some salt have
previously been thrown; so soon as they are quite tender, drain the
water from them, place a dish over the stewpan and turn it gently upside
down; arrange the vegetables neatly in the form of one large cauliflower
and cover it with good melted butter, into which a little lemon-juice
has been stirred.
12 to 18 minutes.
BROCCOLI.
This is boiled, and served in the same manner as cauliflowers when the
heads are large; the stems of the branching broccoli are peeled, and the
vegetable, tied in bunches, is dressed and served, like asparagus, upon
a toast.
10 to 20 minutes.
TO BOIL ARTICHOKES.
After they have been soaked and _well_ washed, cut off the stems quite
close, trim away a few of the lower leaves, and clip the points of all;
throw the artichokes into plenty of fast-boiling water, ready salted and
skimmed, with the addition of the proportion of soda directed in page
309, as this will greatly improve the colour of the vegetable. When
extremely young, the artichokes will be tender in from half to three
quarters of an hour, but they will require more than double that time
when at their full growth: when the leaves can be drawn out easily they
are done. Send good melted butter to table with them. They should be
boiled always with the stalk-ends uppermost.
Very young, 1/2 to 3/4 hour; full-grown, 1-1/4 to 2 hours.
_Obs._—French cooks lift the tops from the artichokes before they are
served, and replace them after having taken out the chokes: this is an
excellent plan, but it must be expeditiously done to prevent the
vegetable from cooling.
FOR ARTICHOKES EN SALADE
(_See Chapter VI._)
VEGETABLE MARROW.
It is customary to gather this when not larger than a turkey’s egg, but
we should say that the vegetable is not then in its perfection. The
flesh is whiter and of better flavour when the gourd is about six inches
long; at least we have found it so with the kinds which have fallen
under our observation. It may either be boiled in the skin, then pared,
halved, and served upon a toast; or quartered, freed from the seed, and
left until cold, then dipped into egg and fine crumbs of bread, and
fried; or it may be cut into dice, and re-heated in a little good white
sauce; or stewed tender in butter, and served in well-thickened veal
gravy, flavoured with a little lemon-juice. It may likewise be mashed by
the receipt which we have given for turnips, and in that form will be
found excellent. The French make a fanciful dish of the marrows thus:
they boil them tender in water, and halve them lengthwise as is usual,
they then slice a small bit off each to make them stand evenly in the
dish, and after having hollowed the insides, so as to leave a mere
shell, about half an inch thick, they fill them with a thick rich mince
of white meat, and pour white sauce round them; or they heap fried
bread-crumbs over the tops, place the dish in the oven for a few
minutes, and serve them without sauce.
Size of turkey’s egg, 10 to 15 minutes; moderate-sized, 20 to 30; large,
3/4 to 1 hour.
ROAST TOMATAS.
(_To serve with roast leg, loin, or shoulder of mutton._)
Select them nearly of the same size, take off the stalks, and roast them
gently in a Dutch oven, or if more convenient, place them at the edge of
the dripping-pan, taking care that no fat from the joint shall fall upon
them, and keeping them turned that they may be equally done. From ten to
fourteen minutes will roast them.
STEWED TOMATAS.
Arrange them in a single layer, and pour to them as much gravy as will
reach to half their height; stew them very softly until the under sides
are done, then turn, and finish stewing them. Thicken the gravy with a
little arrow-root and cream, or with flour and butter, and serve it
round them.
FORCED TOMATAS.
(_English Receipt._)
Cut the stems quite close, slice off the tops of eight fine tomatas, and
scoop out the insides; press the pulp through a sieve, and mix with it
one ounce of fine crumbs of bread, one of butter broken very small, some
pepper or cayenne, and salt. Fill the tomatas with the mixture, and bake
them for ten minutes in a moderate oven; serve them with brown gravy in
the dish. A few small mushrooms stewed tender in a little butter, then
minced and added to the tomata pulp, will very much improve this
receipt.
Bake 10 minutes.
FORCED TOMATAS.
(_French Receipt._)
Let the tomatas be well shaped and of equal size; divide them nearly in
the middle leaving the blossom-side the largest, as this only is to be
used; empty them carefully of their seeds and juice, and fill them with
the following ingredients, which must previously be stewed tender in
butter but without being allowed to brown: minced mushrooms and shalots,
with a moderate proportion of parsley, some lean of ham chopped small, a
seasoning of cayenne, and a little fine salt, if needed; let them cool,
then mix with them about a third as much of fine crumbs of bread, and
two yolks of eggs; fill the tomatas, cover them with fine crumbs,
moisten them with clarified butter, and bake them in a brisk oven until
they are well coloured. Serve them as a garnish to stewed rump or
sirloin of beef, or to a boned and forced leg of mutton.
Minced lean of ham, 2 oz.; mushrooms, 2 oz.; bread-crumbs, 2 oz.;
shalots, 4 to 8; parsley, full teaspoonful; cayenne, quarter
saltspoonful; little salt, if needed; butter, 2 oz.; yolks of eggs, 2 to
3: baked 10 to 20 minutes.
_Obs._—The French pound the whole of these ingredients with a bit of
garlic, before they fill the tomatas with them, but this is not
absolutely necessary, and the garlic, if added at all, should be
parboiled first, as its strong flavour, combined with that of the
eschalots, would scarcely suit the general taste. When the lean of a
dressed ham is at hand, only the herbs and vegetables will need to be
stewed in the butter; this should be mixed with them into the forcemeat,
which an intelligent cook will vary in many ways.
PURÉE OF TOMATAS.
Divide a dozen fine ripe tomatas, squeeze out the seeds, and take off
the stalks; put them with one small mild onion (or more, if liked), and
about half a pint of very good gravy, into a well-tinned stewpan or
saucepan, and simmer them for nearly or quite an hour; a couple of
bay-leaves, some cayenne, and as much salt as the dish may require,
should be added when they begin to boil. Press them through a sieve,
heat them again, and stir to them a quarter of a pint of good cream,
previously mixed and boiled for five minutes with a teaspoonful of
flour. This purée is to be served with calf’s head, veal cutlets, boiled
knuckle of veal, calf’s brains, or beef palates. For pork, beef, geese,
and other brown meats, the tomatas should be reduced to a proper
consistence in rich and highly-flavoured brown gravy, or Spanish sauce.
TO BOIL GREEN INDIAN CORN.
When still quite green and tender, the ears of maize or Indian corn are
very good boiled and served as a vegetable; and as they will not ripen
well in this country unless the summer be unusually warm and favourable,
it is an advantageous mode of turning them to account. Strip away the
sheath which encloses them, and take off the long silken fibres from the
tops; put the corn into boiling water salted as for asparagus, and boil
it for about half an hour. Drain it well, dish it on a toast, and send
it to table with melted butter. The Americans, who have it served
commonly at their tables, use it when more fully grown than we have
recommended, and boil it without removing the inner leaves of the
sheath; but it is sweeter and more delicate before it has reached so
advanced a state. The grains may be freed from the corn-stalks with a
knife, and tossed up with a slice of fresh butter and some pepper and
salt, or served simply like green peas. Other modes of dressing the
young maize will readily suggest themselves to an intelligent cook, and
our space will not permit us to enumerate them.
25 to 30 minutes.
MUSHROOMS AU BEURRE.
(_Delicious._)
Cut the stems from some fine meadow mushroom-buttons, and clean them
with a bit of new flannel, and some fine salt; then either wipe them dry
with a soft cloth, or rinse them in fresh water, drain them quickly,
spread them in a clean cloth, fold it over them, and leave them for ten
minutes, or more, to dry. For every pint of them thus prepared, put an
ounce and a half of fresh butter into a thick iron saucepan, shake it
over the fire until it _just_ begins to brown, throw in the mushrooms,
continue to shake the saucepan over a clear fire that they may not stick
to it nor burn, and when they have simmered three or four minutes, strew
over them a little salt, some cayenne, and pounded mace; stew them until
they are perfectly tender, heap them in a dish, and serve them with
their own sauce only, for breakfast, supper, or luncheon. Nothing can be
finer than the flavour of the mushrooms thus prepared; and the addition
of any liquid is far from an improvement to it. They are very good when
drained from the butter, and served cold, and in a cool larder may be
kept for several days. The butter in which they are stewed is admirable
for flavouring gravies, sauces, or potted meats. Small flaps, freed from
the fur and skin, may be stewed in the same way; and either these, or
the buttons, served under roast poultry or partridges, will give a dish
of very superior relish.
Meadow mushrooms, 3 pints; fresh butter 4-1/2 oz.: 3 to 5 minutes. Salt,
1 small teaspoonful; mace, half as much; cayenne, third of saltspoonful:
10 to 15 minutes. More spices to be added if required—much depending on
their quality; but they should not overpower the flavour of the
mushrooms.
_Obs._—Persons inhabiting parts of the country where mushrooms are
abundant, may send them easily, when thus prepared (or when potted by
the following receipt), to their friends in cities, or in less
productive counties. If poured into jars, with sufficient butter to
cover them, they will travel any distance, and can be re-warmed for use.
POTTED MUSHROOMS.
Prepare either small flaps or buttons with great nicety, without wetting
them, and wipe the former very dry, after the application of the salt
and flannel. Stew them quite tender, with the same proportion of butter
as the mushrooms _au beurre_, but increase a little the quantity of
spice; when they are done turn them into a large dish, spread them over
one end of it, and raise it two or three inches that they may be well
drained from the butter. As soon as they are quite cold, press them very
closely into small potting-pans; pour lukewarm clarified butter thickly
over them, and store them in a cool dry place. If intended for present
use, merely turn them down upon a clean shelf; but for longer keeping
cover the tops first with very dry paper, and then with melted
mutton-suet. We have ourselves had the mushrooms, after being simply
spread upon a dish while hot, remain perfectly good in that state for
seven or eight weeks: they were prepared late in the season, and the
weather was consequently cool during the interval.
MUSHROOM-TOAST, OR CROÛTE AUX CHAMPIGNONS.
(_Excellent._)
Cut the stems closely from a quart or more, of small just-opened
mushrooms; peel them, and take out the gills. Dissolve from two to three
ounces of fresh butter in a well-tinned saucepan or stewpan, put in the
mushrooms, strew over them a quarter of a teaspoonful of pounded mace
mixed with a little cayenne, and let them stew over a gentle fire from
ten to fifteen minutes; toss or stir them often during the time; then
add a small dessertspoonful of flour, and shake the pan round until it
is lightly browned. Next pour in, by slow degrees, half a pint of gravy
or of good beef-broth; and when the mushrooms have stewed softly in this
for a couple of minutes, throw in a little salt, and a squeeze of
lemon-juice, and pour them on to a crust, cut about an inch and a
quarter thick, from the under part of a moderate-sized loaf, and fried
in good butter a light brown, after having been first slightly hollowed
in the inside. New milk, or thin cream, may be used with very good
effect instead of the gravy; but a few strips of lemon-rind, and a small
portion of nutmeg and mushroom-catsup should then be added to the sauce.
The bread may be buttered and grilled over a gentle fire instead of
being fried, and is better so.
Small mushrooms, 4 to 5 half pints; butter, 3 to 4 oz.; mace, mixed with
a little cayenne, 1/4 teaspoonful: stewed softly 10 to 15 minutes.
Flour, 1 small dessertspoonful: 3 to 5 minutes. Gravy or broth, 1/2
pint: 2 minutes. Little salt and lemon-juice.
TRUFFLES AND THEIR USES.
The truffle, or underground mushroom, as it has sometimes been called,
is held in almost extravagant estimation by epicures,[109] and enters
largely into what may be termed first-class cookery, both in England and
abroad; though it is much less generally known and used here than in
France, Germany, and other parts of the Continent, where it is far more
abundant, and of very superior quality.
Footnote 109:
It has been named by a celebrated gastronomer of past days, “_Le
diamant de la cuisine_.”
As it is in constant demand for luxuriously-served tables, and has
hitherto, we believe, baffled all attempts to increase it by
cultivation, it bears usually a high price in the English market,[110]
and is seldom to be had cheap in any; but although too costly for common
consumption, where the expenditure is regulated by rational economy, it
may at times be made to supply, at a reasonable expense, some excellent
store-preparations for the breakfast and luncheon-table; as a small
portion will impart its peculiar flavour to them.
Footnote 110:
Varying from eight to sixteen shillings the pound at the best foreign
warehouses. The truffles which are pared, bottled and steamed like
fruit, are more expensive still; but they can be kept after the season
of the fresh ones is entirely past. English truffles—which are found
in Hampshire (in the New Forest)—and in some few other of our
counties, are very good, though seldom or ever equal in quality to
those of France, Germany, and of different parts of Italy. The most
esteemed of the French ones are from _Perigord_.
The blackest truffles are considered the best. All are in their
perfection during the latter part of November, December, and January;
though they may be procured usually from October to March; yet as they
are peculiarly subject to decay—or, properly speaking, become really
_putrid_—from exposure to the air, it is an advantage to have them as
early in their season as may be. In sumptuous households the very finest
foreign truffles are often served _as a vegetable_ in the second course.
TO PREPARE TRUFFLES FOR USE.
First soak them for an hour or two in fresh water, to loosen the earth
which adheres to them; then rinse them well from it, and with a hard
brush scrub them until not a particle of the mould in which they have
been embedded can be seen upon them. This part of the operation should
be especially attended to, because the parings are as useful as the
truffles themselves. It is often needful to leave them longer in the
water after it has been changed; and even to soak them sometimes in
lukewarm water also: when they are _perfectly_ cleaned, wipe them gently
with a soft cloth, or fold them in to dry, should they be wanted for any
preparation to which moisture would be injurious.
TRUFFLES À LA SERVIETTE.
Select the finest truffles for this dish, be particular in smelling
them, and reject any that have a musty smell. Wash and brush them well
with cold water only, change it several times, and when they are
perfectly clean line a stewpan with slices of bacon; put in the truffles
with a bunch of parsley, green onions, and thyme, two or three
bay-leaves, half a dozen cloves, and a little sweet basil; pour in
sufficient rich veal gravy to cover them, with the addition of from half
a pint to half a bottle of champagne; boil them very softly for an hour,
then draw them aside and let them cool in the gravy. Heat them afresh in
it when they are wanted for table; lift them out and drain them in a
very clean cloth, and dish them neatly in a fine and beautifully white
napkin, which will contrast as strongly as possible with the dark hue of
the truffles.
TRUFFLES À L’ITALIENNE.
Wash perfectly clean, wipe, and pare some truffles extremely thin; slice
them about the size of a penny; put them into a sauté-pan (or small
frying-pan), with a slice of fresh butter, some minced parsley and
eschalot, salt and pepper; put them on the fire and stir them, that they
may fry equally; when they are done, which will be in about ten minutes,
drain off part of the butter, and throw in a bit of fresh butter, a
small ladleful of Spanish sauce (see page 101), the juice of one lemon,
and a little cayenne pepper. This is a dish of high relish.
TO BOIL SPROUTS, CABBAGES, SAVOYS, LETTUCES, OR ENDIVE.
All green vegetables should be thrown into abundance of fast boiling
water ready salted and skimmed, with the addition of the small quantity
of carbonate of soda which we have recommended, in a previous page of
this chapter; the pan should be left uncovered, and every precaution
taken to prevent the smoke from reaching its contents. Endive, sprouts,
and spring greens, will only require copious washing before they are
boiled; but savoys, large lettuces, and close-leaved cabbages should be
thrown into salt and water for half an hour or more before they are
dressed, with the tops downwards to draw out the insects. The stems of
these last should be cut off, the decayed leaves stripped away, and the
vegetable halved or quartered, or split deeply across the stalk-end, and
divided entirely before it is dished.
Very young greens, 15 to 20 minutes; lettuces, 20 to 30 minutes, large
savoys, or cabbages, 1 to 1-1/2 hour, or more.
_Obs._—When the stalk of any kind of cabbage is tender it is ready to
serve. Turnip-greens should be well washed in several waters, and boiled
in a very large quantity to deprive them of their bitterness.
STEWED CABBAGE.
Cut out the stalk entirely, and slice a fine firm cabbage or two in very
thin strips; throw them after they have been well washed and drained,
into a large pan of boiling water ready salted and skimmed, and when
they are tender, which will be in from ten to fifteen minutes, pour them
into a sieve or strainer, press the water thoroughly from them, and chop
them slightly. Put into a very clean saucepan about a couple of ounces
of butter, and when it is dissolved add the cabbage with sufficient
pepper and salt to season it, and stir it over a clear fire until it
appears tolerably dry; then shake lightly in a tablespoonful of flour,
turn the whole well, and add by slow degrees a cup of thick cream: veal
gravy or good white sauce may be substituted for this, when preferred to
it.
TO BOIL TURNIPS.
Pare entirely from them the fibrous rind, and either split the turnips
once or leave them whole; throw them into boiling water slightly salted,
and keep them closely covered from smoke and dust until they are tender.
When small and young they will be done in from fifteen to twenty
minutes; at their full growth they will require from three quarters to a
full hour, or more, of gentle boiling. After they become old and woolly
they are not worth dressing in any way. When boiled in their skins and
pared afterwards, they are said to be of better flavour and much less
watery than when cooked in the usual way.
Young turnips, 15 to 20 minutes: full grown, 3/4 to 1 hour, or more.
TO MASH TURNIPS.
Split them once or even twice should they be large after they are pared;
boil them very tender, and press the water thoroughly from them with a
couple of trenchers, or with the back of a large plate and one trencher.
To ensure their being free from lumps, it is better to pass them through
a cullender or coarse hair-sieve, with a wooden spoon; though, when
quite young, they may be worked sufficiently smooth without this. Put
them into a clean saucepan, and stir them constantly for some minutes
over a gentle fire, that they may be very dry; then add some salt, a bit
of fresh butter, and a little cream, or in lieu of this new milk (we
would also recommend a seasoning of white pepper or cayenne, when
appearance and fashion are not particularly regarded), and continue to
simmer and to stir them for five or six minutes longer, or until they
have quite absorbed all the liquid which has been poured to them. Serve
them always as hot as possible. This is an excellent receipt; but the
addition of a little good white sauce would render it still better.
Turnips, weighed after they are pared, 3 lbs.: dried 5 to 8 minutes.
Salt, 1 teaspoonful; butter, 1 oz. to 1-1/2 oz.; cream or milk, nearly
1/2 pint: 5 or 6 minutes.
TURNIPS IN WHITE SAUCE. (ENTREMETS.)
When no scoop for the purpose is at hand, cut some small finely-grained
turnips into quarters, and pare them into balls, or into the shape of
plums or pears of equal size; arrange them evenly in a broad stewpan or
saucepan, and cover them nearly with good veal broth, throw in a little
salt, and a morsel of sugar, and boil them rather quickly until they are
quite tender, but preserve them unbroken; lift them out, draining them
well from the broth; dish, and pour over them some thick white sauce. As
an economy, a cup of cream, and a teaspoonful of arrow-root, may be
added to the broth in which the turnips have stewed, to make the sauce;
and when it boils, a small slice of butter may be stirred and well
worked into it, should it not be sufficiently rich without.
TURNIPS STEWED IN BUTTER. (GOOD.)
This is an excellent way of dressing the vegetable when it is mild and
finely grained; but its flavour otherwise is too strong to be agreeable.
After they have been washed, wiped quite dry, and pared, slice the
turnips nearly half an inch thick, and divide them into dice,. Just
dissolve an ounce of butter for each half-pound of the turnips, put them
in as flat as they can be, and stew them very gently indeed, from three
quarters of an hour to a full hour. Add a seasoning of salt and white
pepper when they are half done. When thus prepared, they may be dished
in the centre of fried or nicely broiled mutton cutlets, or served by
themselves.
For a small dish: turnips, 1-1/2 lb.; butter, 3 oz.; seasoning of white
pepper; salt, 1/2 teaspoonful, or more: 3/4 to 1 hour. Large dish:
turnips, 2 lbs.; butter 4 oz.
TURNIPS IN GRAVY.
To a pound of turnips sliced and cut into dice, pour a quarter of a pint
of boiling veal gravy, add a small lump of sugar, some salt and cayenne,
or white pepper, and boil them quickly from fifty to sixty minutes.
Serve them very hot.
TO BOIL CARROTS.
Wash the mould from them, and scrape the skin off lightly with the edge
of a sharp knife, or, should this be objected to, pare them as thin and
as equally as possible; in either case free them from all blemishes, and
should they be very large, divide them, and cut the thick parts into
quarters; rinse them well, and throw them into plenty of boiling water
with some salt in it. The skin of very young carrots may be rubbed off
like that of new potatoes, and from twenty to thirty minutes will then
be sufficient to boil them; but at their full growth they will require
from an hour and a half to two hours. It was formerly the custom to tie
them in a cloth, and to wipe the skin from them with it after they were
dressed; and old-fashioned cooks still use one to remove it; but all
vegetables should, we think, be dished and served with the least
possible delay after they are ready for table. Melted butter should
accompany boiled carrots.
Very young carrots, 20 to 30 minutes. Full-grown ones, 1-1/2 to 2 hours.
CARROTS. (ENTRÉE.)
(_The Windsor Receipt._)
Select some good carrots of equal size, and cut the upper parts into
even lengths of about two inches and a half, then trim one end of each
into a point, so as to give the carrot the form of a sugar loaf.[111]
When all are ready, throw them into plenty of ready-salted boiling
water, and boil them three quarters of an hour. Lift them out, and drain
them well, then arrange them upright, and all on a level in a broad
stewpan or saucepan, and pour in good hot beef-broth or veal gravy to
half their height; add as much salt as may be needed, and a small
teaspoonful of sugar, and boil them briskly for half an hour, or longer,
should they require it. Place them again upright in dishing them, and
keep them hot while a little good brown gravy is thickened to pour over
them, and mixed with a large teaspoonful of parsley and a little
lemon-juice; or sauce them with common _béchamel_ (see Chapter V.), or
white sauce, with or without the addition of parsley.
Footnote 111:
See plate, page 338.
Thick part of carrots cut in cones: boiled 3/4 hour. With gravy or
broth, little salt and sugar: 1/2 hour, or more. Sauce: thickened gravy,
_béchamel_ made without meat, or common white sauce.
_Obs._—The carrots dressed thus are exceedingly good without any sauce
beyond the small quantity of liquid which will remain in the stewpan
with them, or with a few spoonsful more of gravy added to this, and
thickened with butter and a little flour.
SWEET CARROTS. (ENTREMETS.)
Boil quite tender some fine highly-flavoured carrots, press the water
from them, and rub them through the back of a fine hair-sieve; put them
into a clean saucepan or stewpan, and dry them thoroughly over a gentle
fire; then add a slice of fresh butter, and when this is dissolved and
well mixed with them, strew in a dessertspoonful or more of powdered
sugar, and a little salt; next, stir in by degrees some good cream, and
when this is quite absorbed, and the carrots again appear dry, dish and
serve them quickly with small sippets _à la Reine_ (see page 5), placed
round them.
Carrots, 3 lbs., boiled quite tender: stirred over a gentle fire 5 to 10
minutes. Butter, 2 oz.; salt, 1/2 teaspoonful; pounded sugar, 1
dessertspoonful; cream, 1/2 pint, stewed gently together until quite
dry.
_Obs._—For excellent _mashed carrots_ omit the sugar, add a good
seasoning of salt and white pepper, and half a pint of rich brown gravy;
or for a plain dinner rather less than this of milk.
MASHED (OR BUTTERED) CARROTS.
(_A Dutch Receipt._)
Prepare some finely flavoured carrots as above, and dry them over a
gentle fire like mashed turnips; then for a dish of moderate size mix
well with them from two to three ounces of good butter, cut into small
bits, keeping them _well stirred_. Add a seasoning of salt and cayenne,
and serve them very hot, garnished or not at pleasure with small sippets
(_croutons_) of fried bread.
CARROTS AU BEURRE, OR BUTTERED CARROTS.
(_French._)
Either boil sufficient carrots for a dish quite tender, and then cut
them into slices a quarter of an inch thick, or first slice, and then
boil them: the latter method is the most expeditious, but the other best
preserves the flavour of the vegetable. Drain them well, and while this
is being done just dissolve from two to three ounces of butter in a
saucepan, and strew in some minced parsley, some salt, and white pepper
or cayenne; then add the carrots, and toss them very gently until they
are equally covered with the sauce, which should not be allowed to boil:
the parsley may be omitted at pleasure. Cold carrots may be re-warmed in
this way.
CARROTS IN THEIR OWN JUICE.
(_A simple but excellent Receipt._)
By the following mode of dressing carrots, whether young or old, their
full flavour and all the nutriment they contain are entirely preserved;
and they are at the same time rendered so palatable by it that they
furnish at once an admirable dish to eat without meat, as well as with
it. Wash the roots very clean, and scrape or lightly pare them, cutting
out any discoloured parts. Have ready boiling and salted, as much water
as will cover them; slice them rather thick, throw them into it, and
should there be more than sufficient to just _float_ them (and barely
that), pour it away. Boil them gently until they are tolerably tender,
and then very quickly, to evaporate the water, of which only a spoonful
or so should be left in the saucepan. Dust a seasoning of pepper on
them, throw in a morsel of butter rolled in flour, and turn and toss
them gently until their juice is thickened by them and adheres to the
roots. Send them immediately to table. They are excellent without _any_
addition but the pepper; though they may be in many ways improved. A
dessertspoonful of minced parsley may be strewed over them when the
butter is added, and a little thick cream mixed with a _small_
proportion of flour to prevent its curdling, may be strewed amongst
them, or a spoonful or two of good gravy.
TO BOIL PARSNEPS.
These are dressed in precisely the same manner as carrots, but require
much less boiling. According to their quality and the time of year, they
will take from twenty minutes to nearly an hour. Every speck or blemish
should be cut from them after they are scraped, and the water in which
they are boiled should be well skimmed. They are a favourite
accompaniment to salt fish and boiled pork, and may be served either
mashed or plain.
20 to 25 minutes.
FRIED PARSNEPS.
Boil them until they are about half done, lift them out, and let them
cool; slice them rather thickly, sprinkle them with fine salt and white
pepper, and fry them a pale brown in good butter. Serve them with roast
meat, or dish them under it.
JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES.
Wash the artichokes, pare them quickly, and throw them as they are done
into a saucepan of cold water, or of equal parts of milk and water; and
when they are about half boiled add a little salt to them. Take them up
the instant they are perfectly tender: this will be in from fifteen to
twenty-five minutes, so much do they vary in size and as to the time
necessary to dress them. If allowed to remain in the water after they
are done, they become black and flavourless. Melted butter should always
be sent to table with them.
15 to 25 minutes.
TO FRY JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES. (ENTREMETS.)
Boil them from eight to twelve minutes; lift them out, drain them on a
sieve, and let them cool; dip them into beaten eggs, and cover them with
fine bread-crumbs. Fry them a light brown, drain, pile them in a hot
dish, and serve them quickly.
JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES, À LA REINE.
[Illustration:
Artichokes à la Reine.
]
Wash and wipe the artichokes, cut off one end of each quite flat, and
trim the other into a point; boil them in milk and water, lift them out
the instant they are done, place them upright in the dish in which they
are to be served, and sauce them with a good _béchamel_, or with nearly
half a pint of cream thickened with a rice-crustspoonful of flour, mixed
with an ounce and a half of butter, and seasoned with a little mace and
some salt. When cream cannot be procured use new milk, and increase the
proportion of flour and butter.
MASHED JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES.
Boil them tender, press the water well from them, and then proceed
exactly as for mashed turnips, taking care to dry the artichokes well,
both before and after the milk or cream is added to them; they will be
excellent if good white sauce be substituted for either of these.
HARICOTS BLANCS.
The _haricot blanc_ is the seed of a particular kind of French bean, of
which we find some difficulty in ascertaining the English name, for
though we have tried several which resembled it in appearance, we have
found their flavour, after they were dressed, very different, and far
from agreeable. The large white Dutch runner, is, we believe, the proper
variety for cooking; at least we have obtained a small quantity under
that name, which approached much more nearly than any others we had
tried to those which we had eaten abroad. The haricots, when fresh may
be thrown into plenty of boiling water, with some salt and a small bit
of butter; if dry, they must be previously soaked for an hour or two,
put into cold water, brought to boil gently, and simmered until they are
tender, for if boiled fast the skins will burst before the beans are
done. Drain them thoroughly from the water when they are ready, and lay
them into a clean saucepan over two or three ounces of fresh butter, a
small dessertspoonful of chopped parsley, and sufficient salt and pepper
to season the whole; then gently shake or toss the beans until they are
quite hot and equally covered with the sauce; add the strained juice of
half a lemon, and serve them quickly. The vegetable thus dressed, is
excellent; and it affords a convenient resource in the season when the
supply of other kinds is scantiest. In some countries the dried beans
are placed in water, over-night, upon a stove, and by a very gentle
degree of warmth are sufficiently softened by the following day to be
served as follows:—they are drained from the water, spread on a clean
cloth and wiped quite dry, then lightly floured and fried in oil or
butter, with a seasoning of pepper and salt, lifted into a hot dish, and
served under roast beef, or mutton.
TO BOIL BEET ROOT.
Wash the roots delicately clean, but neither scrape nor cut them, for
should even the small fibres be taken off before they are cooked, their
beautiful colour would be much injured. Throw them into boiling water,
and, according to their size, which varies greatly, as they are
sometimes of enormous growth, boil them from one hour and a half to two
and a half, or longer if requisite. Pare and serve them whole, or cut
into thick slices and neatly dished in a close circle: send melted
butter to table with them. Cold red beet root is often intermingled with
other vegetables for winter salads; and it makes a pickle of remarkably
brilliant hue. A common mode of serving it at the present day is in the
last course of a dinner with the cheese: it is merely pared and sliced
after having been baked or boiled tender.
1-1/2 to 2-1/2 hours, or longer.
TO BAKE BEET ROOT.
Beet root if slowly and carefully baked until it is tender quite
through, is very rich and sweet in flavour, although less bright in
colour than when it is boiled: it is also, we believe, remarkably
nutritious and wholesome. Wash and wipe it very dry, but neither cut nor
break any part of it; then lay it into a coarse earthen dish, and bake
it in a gentle oven for four or five hours: it will sometimes require
even a longer time than this. Pare it quickly if it be served hot; but
leave it to cool first, when it is to be sent to table cold.
In slow oven from 4 to 6 hours.
STEWED BEET ROOT.
Bake or boil it tolerably tender, and let it remain until it is cold,
then pare and cut it into slices; heat and stew it for a short time in
some good pale veal gravy (or in strong veal broth for ordinary
occasions), thicken this with a teaspoonful of arrow-root, and half a
cupful or more of good cream, and stir in, as it is taken from the fire,
from a tea to a tablespoonful of chili vinegar. The beet root may be
served likewise in thick white sauce, to which, just before it is
dished, the mild eschalots of page 128 may be added.
TO STEW RED CABBAGE.
(_Flemish Receipt._)
Strip the outer leaves from a fine and fresh red cabbage; wash it well,
and cut it into the thinnest possible slices, beginning at the top; put
it into a thick saucepan in which two or three ounces of good butter
have been just dissolved; add some pepper and salt, and stew it very
slowly indeed for three or four hours in its own juice, keeping it often
stirred, and well pressed down. When it is perfectly tender add a
tablespoonful of vinegar; mix the whole up thoroughly, heap the cabbage
in a hot dish, and serve broiled sausages round it; or omit these last,
and substitute lemon-juice, cayenne pepper, and a half-cupful of good
gravy.
The stalk of the cabbage should be split in quarters and taken entirely
out in the first instance.
3 to 4 hours.
BRUSSELS SPROUTS.
These delicate little sprouts, or miniature cabbages, which at their
fullest growth scarcely exceed a large walnut in size, should be quite
freshly gathered. Free them from all discoloured leaves, cut the stems
even, and wash the sprouts thoroughly. Throw them into a pan of water
properly salted, and boil them quickly from eight to ten minutes; drain
them _well_, and serve them upon a rather thick round of toasted bread
buttered on both sides. Send good melted butter to table with them. This
is the Belgian mode of dressing this excellent vegetable, which is
served in France with the sauce poured over it, or it is tossed in a
stewpan with a slice of butter and some pepper and salt: a spoonful or
two of veal gravy (and sometimes a little lemon-juice) is added when
these are perfectly mixed.
8 to 10 minutes.
SALSIFY.
We are surprised that a vegetable so excellent as this should be so
little cared for in England. Delicately fried in batter—which is a
common mode of serving it abroad—it forms a delicious second course
dish: it is also good when plain-boiled, drained, and served in gravy,
or even with melted butter. Wash the roots, scrape gently off the dark
outside skin, and throw them into cold water as they are done, to
prevent their turning black; cut them into lengths of three or four
inches, and when all are ready put them into plenty of boiling water
with a little salt, a small bit of butter, and a couple of spoonsful of
white vinegar or the juice of a lemon: they will be done in from three
quarters of an hour to an hour. Try them with a fork, and when perfectly
tender, drain, and serve them with white sauce, rich brown gravy, or
melted butter.
3/4 to 1 hour.
FRIED SALSIFY. (ENTREMETS.)
Boil the salsify tender, as directed above, drain, and then press it
lightly in a soft cloth. Make some French batter (see Chapter V.), throw
the bits of salsify into it, take them out separately, and fry them a
light brown, drain them well from the fat, sprinkle a little fine salt
over them after they are dished, and serve them quickly. At English
tables, salsify occasionally makes its appearance fried with egg and
bread-crumbs instead of batter. Scorgonera is dressed in precisely the
same manner as the salsify.
BOILED CELERY.
This vegetable is extremely good dressed like sea-kale, and served on a
toast with rich melted butter. Let it be freshly dug, wash it with great
nicety, trim the ends, take off the coarse outer-leaves, cut the roots
of equal length, tie them in bunches, and boil them in plenty of water,
with the usual proportion of salt, from twenty to thirty minutes.
20 to 30 minutes.
STEWED CELERY.
Cut five or six fine roots of celery to the length of the inside of the
dish in which they are to be served; free them from all the coarser
leaves, and from the green tops, trim the root ends neatly, and wash the
vegetable in several waters until it is as clean as possible; then,
either boil it tender with a little salt, and a bit of fresh butter the
size of a walnut, in just sufficient water to cover it quite, drain it
well, arrange it on a very hot dish, and pour a thick _béchamel_, or
white sauce over it; or stew it in broth or common stock, and serve it
with very rich, thickened, Espagnole or brown gravy. It has a higher
flavour when partially stewed in the sauce, after being drained
thoroughly from the broth. Unless very large and old, it will be done in
from twenty-five to thirty minutes, but if not quite tender, longer time
must be allowed for it. A cheap and expeditious method of preparing this
dish is to slice the celery, to simmer it until soft in as much good
broth as will only just cover it, and to add a thickening of flour and
butter, or arrow-root, with some salt, pepper, and a small cupful of
cream.
25 to 30 minutes, or more.
STEWED ONIONS.
Strip the outer skin from four or five fine Portugal onions, and trim
the ends, but without cutting into the vegetable; arrange them in a
saucepan of sufficient size to contain them all in one layer, just cover
them with good beef or veal gravy, and stew them very gently indeed for
a couple of hours: they should be tender quite through, but should not
be allowed to fall to pieces. When large, but not _mild_ onions are
used, they should be first boiled for half an hour in plenty of water,
then drained from it, and put into boiling gravy: strong, well-flavoured
broth of veal or beef, is sometimes substituted for this, and with the
addition of a little catsup, spice, and thickening, answers very well.
The savour of this dish is heightened by flouring lightly and frying the
onions of a pale brown before they are stewed.
Portugal onions, 4 or 5 (if fried, 15 to 20 minutes); broth or gravy, 1
to 1-1/2 pint: nearly or quite 2 hours.
_Obs._—When the quantity of gravy is considered too much, the onions may
be only half covered, and turned when the under side is tender, but
longer time must then be allowed for stewing them.
STEWED CHESTNUTS.
Strip the outer rind from forty or fifty fine sound Spanish chestnuts,
throw them into a large saucepan of hot water, and bring it to the point
of boiling; when the second skin parts from them easily, lift them out,
and throw them into plenty of cold water; peel, and wipe them dry; then
put them into a stewpan or bright saucepan, with as much
highly-flavoured cold beef or veal gravy as will nearly cover them, and
stew them very gently from three-quarters of an hour to a full hour:
they should be quite tender, but unbroken. Add salt, cayenne, and
thickening if required, and serve the chestnuts in their gravy. We have
found it an improvement to have them floured and lightly browned in a
little good butter before they are stewed, and also to add some thin
strips of fresh lemon-rind to the gravy.
Chestnuts, 40 or 50; gravy, 3/4 pint, or more: 3/4 to 1 hour.
_Obs._—A couple of bay-leaves and a slice of lean ham will give an
improved flavour to the sauce should it not be sufficiently rich: the
ham should be laid under the chestnuts, but not served with them. When
these are to be browned, or even otherwise, they may be freed readily
from the second skin by shaking them with a small bit of butter in a
frying-pan over a gentle fire.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER XVIII.
=Pastry.=
[Illustration:
Timbale or Paté Chaud.
]
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.
[Illustration:
Raised Pie Mould.
]
THE greatest possible cleanliness and nicety should be observed in
making pastry. The slab or board, paste-rollers, tins, cutters, moulds,
everything, in fact, used for it, and especially the hands, should be
equally free from the slightest soil or particle of dust. The more
expeditiously the finer kinds of paste are made and despatched to the
oven, and the less they are touched the better. Much of their excellence
depends upon the baking also. They should have a sufficient degree of
heat to raise them quickly, but not so fierce a one as to colour them
too much before they are done, and still less to burn them. The oven
door should remain closed after they are put in, and not removed until
the paste is _set_. Large raised pies require a steadily sustained, or,
what is technically called a soaking heat, and to ensure this the oven
should be made very hot, then cleared, and closely shut from half to a
whole hour before it is used, to concentrate the heat. It is an
advantage in this case to have a large log or two of cord-wood burned in
it, in addition to the usual fuel.
In mixing paste, the water should be added gradually, and the whole
gently drawn together with the fingers, until sufficient has been added,
when it should be lightly kneaded until it is as smooth as possible.
When carelessly made, the surface is often left covered with small dry
crumbs or lumps; or the water is poured in heedlessly in so large a
proportion that it becomes necessary to add more flour to render it
_workable_ in any way; and this ought particularly to be avoided when a
certain weight of all the ingredients has been taken.
TO GLAZE OR ICE PASTRY.[112]
Footnote 112:
For other pastry icings see chapter of “cakes.”.
The fine yellow glaze appropriate to meat pies is given with beaten yolk
of egg, which should be laid on with a paste brush, or a small bunch of
feathers: if a lighter colour be wished for, whisk the whole of the egg
together, or mix a little milk with the yolk.
The best mode of icing fruit-tarts before they are sent to the oven is,
to moisten the paste with cold water, to sift sugar thickly upon it, and
to press it lightly on with the hand; but when a _whiter_ icing is
preferred, the pastry must be drawn from the oven when nearly baked, and
brushed with white of egg, wisked to a froth; then well covered with the
sifted sugar, and sprinkled with a few drops of water before it is put
in again: this glazing answers also very well, though it takes a slight
colour, if used before the pastry is baked.
FEUILLETAGE, OR FINE FRENCH PUFF PASTE.
This, when made by a good French cook, is the perfection of rich light
paste, and will rise in the oven from one to six inches in height: but
some practice is, without doubt, necessary to accomplish this. In summer
it is a great advantage to have ice at hand, and to harden the butter
over it before it is used; the paste also between the intervals of
rolling is improved by being laid on an oven-leaf over a vessel
containing it. Take an equal weight of good butter free from the coarse
salt which is found in some, and which is disadvantageous for this
paste, and of fine dry, sifted flour; to each pound of these allow the
yolks of a couple of eggs, and a small teaspoonful of salt. Break a few
small bits of the butter very lightly into the flour, put the salt into
the centre, and pour on it sufficient water to dissolve it (we do not
understand why the doing this should be better than mixing it with the
flour, as in other pastes, but such is the method always pursued for
it); add a little more water to the eggs, moisten the flour gradually,
and make it into a _very_ smooth paste, rather lithe in summer, and
never _exceedingly_ stiff, though the opposite fault, in the extreme,
would render the crust unmanageable. Press, in a soft thin cloth, all
the moisture from the remainder of the butter and form it into a ball,
but in doing this be careful not to soften it too much. Should it be in
an unfit state for pastry from the heat of the weather, put it into a
basin, and set the basin into a pan of water mixed with plenty of salt
and saltpetre, and let it remain in a cool place for an hour if possible
before it is used. When it is ready (and the paste should never be
commenced until it is so), roll the crust out square,[113] and of
sufficient size to enclose the butter, flatten this a little upon it in
the centre, and then fold the crust well over it, and roll it out thin
as lightly as possible, after having dredged the board and paste roller
with a little flour: this is called giving it _one turn_. Then fold it
in three, give it another turn, and set it aside where it will be very
cool, for a few minutes; give it two more turns in the same way, rolling
it each time very lightly but of equal thickness, and to the full length
that it will reach, taking always especial care that the butter shall
not break through the paste. Let it again be set aside to become cold;
and after it has been twice more rolled and folded in three, give it a
half turn, by folding it once only, and it will be ready for use.
Footnote 113:
The learner will perhaps find it easier to fold the paste securely
round it in the form of a dumpling, until a little experience has been
acquired.
Equal weight of the finest flour and good butter; to each pound of
these, the yolks of two eggs, and a small saltspoonful of salt: 6-1/2
turns to be given to the paste.
VERY GOOD LIGHT PASTE.
Mix with a pound of sifted flour six ounces of fresh, pure lard, and
make them into a smooth paste with cold water; press the buttermilk from
ten ounces of butter, and form it into a ball, by twisting it in a clean
cloth. Roll out the paste, put the ball of butter in the middle, close
it like an apple-dumpling, and roll it very lightly until it is less
than an inch thick; fold the ends into the middle, dust a little flour
over the board and paste-roller, and roll the paste thin a second time,
then set it aside for three or four minutes in a very cool place; give
it two more _turns_, after it has again been left for a few minutes,
roll it out twice more, folding it each time in three. This ought to
render it fit for use. The sooner this paste is sent to the oven after
it is made, the lighter it will be: if allowed to remain long before it
is baked, it will be tough and heavy.
Flour, 1 lb.; lard, 6 oz.; butter, 10 oz.; little salt.
ENGLISH PUFF-PASTE.
Break lightly into a couple of pounds of dried and sifted flour eight
ounces of butter; add a pinch of salt, and sufficient cold water to make
the paste; work it as quickly and as lightly as possible, until it is
smooth and pliable, then level it with the paste-roller until it is
three-quarters of an inch thick, and place regularly upon it six ounces
of butter in small bits; fold the paste like a blanket pudding, roll it
out again, lay on it six ounces more of butter, repeat the rolling,
dusting each time a little flour over the board and paste, add again six
ounces of butter, and roll the paste out thin three or four times,
folding the ends into the middle.
Flour, 2 lbs.; little salt; butter, 1 lb. 10 oz.
If very rich paste be required, equal portions of flour and butter must
be used; and the latter may be divided into two, instead of three parts,
when it is to be rolled in.
CREAM CRUST.
(_Authors Receipt. Very good._)
Stir a little fine salt into a pound of dry flour, and mix gradually
with it sufficient very thick, sweet cream to form a smooth paste; it
will be found sufficiently good for common family dinners, without the
addition of butter; but to make an excellent crust, roll in four ounces
in the usual way, after having given the paste a couple of _turns_.
Handle it as lightly as possible in making it, and send it to the oven
as soon as it is ready: it may be used for fruit tarts, cannelons,
puffs, and other varieties of small pastry, or for good meat pies. Six
ounces of butter to the pound of flour will give a _very rich_ crust.
Flour, 1 lb.; salt, 1 small saltspoonful (more for meat pies); rich
cream, 1/2 to 3/4 pint; butter, 4 oz.; for richest crust, 6 oz.
PATE BRISÉE, OR FRENCH CRUST FOR HOT OR COLD MEAT PIES.
Sift two pounds and a quarter of fine dry flour, and break into it one
pound of butter, work them together with the fingers until they resemble
fine crumbs of bread, then add a small teaspoonful of salt, and make
them into a firm paste, with the yolks of four eggs, well beaten, mixed
with half a pint of cold water, and strained; or for a somewhat richer
crust of the same kind, take two pounds of flour, one of butter, the
yolks of four eggs, half an ounce of salt, and less than the half pint
of water, and work the whole well until the paste is perfectly smooth.
Flour, 2-1/4 lbs.; butter, 1 lb.; salt, 1 small teaspoonful; yolks of
eggs, 4; water, 1/2 pint. Or: flour, 2 lbs.; butter, 1 lb.; yolks of
eggs, 4; water, less than 1/2 pint.
FLEAD CRUST.
_Flead_ is the provincial name for the leaf, or inside fat of a pig,
which makes excellent crust when fresh, much finer, indeed, than after
it is melted into lard. Clear it quite from skin, and slice it very thin
into the flour, add sufficient salt to give flavour to the paste, and
make the whole up smooth and firm with cold water; lay it on a clean
dresser, and beat it forcibly with a rolling-pin until the flead is
blended perfectly with the flour. It may then be made into cakes with a
paste-cutter, or used for pies, round the edges of which a knife should
be passed, as the crust rises better when _cut_ than if merely rolled to
the proper size. With the addition of a small quantity of butter, which
may either be broken into the flour before the flead is mixed with it,
or rolled into the paste after it is beaten, it will be found equal to
fine puff crust, with the advantage of being more easy of digestion.
Quite common crust: flour, 1-1/4 lb.; flead, 8 oz.; salt, 1 small
teaspoonful. Good common crust: flour, 1 lb.; flead, 6 oz.; butter, 2
oz. Rich crust: flead, 3/4 lb.; butter, 2 oz.; flour, 1 lb. The crust is
very good when made without any butter.
COMMON SUET-CRUST FOR PIES.
In many families this is preferred both for pies and tarts, to crust
made with butter, as being much more wholesome; but it should never be
served unless especially ordered, as it is to some persons peculiarly
distasteful. Chop the suet extremely small, and add from six to eight
ounces of it to a pound of flour, with a few grains of salt; mix these
with cold water into a firm paste, and work it very smooth. Some cooks
beat it with a paste-roller, until the suet is perfectly blended with
flour; but the crust is lighter without this. In exceedingly sultry
weather the suet, not being firm enough to chop, may be sliced as thin
as possible, and well beaten into the paste after it is worked up.
Flour, 2 lbs.; beef or veal kidney-suet, 12 to 16 oz.; salt (for
fruit-pies), 1/4 teaspoonful, for meat-pies, 1 teaspoonful.
VERY SUPERIOR SUET-CRUST.
Strip the skin entirely from some fresh veal or beef kidney-suet; chop,
and then put it into the mortar, with a small quantity of pure-flavoured
lard, oil, or butter, and pound it perfectly smooth: it may then be used
for crust in the same way that butter is, in making puff-paste, and in
this form will be found a most excellent substitute for it, for _hot_
pies or tarts. It is not quite so good for those which are to be served
cold. Eight ounces of suet pounded with two of butter, and worked with
the fingers into a pound of flour, will make an exceedingly good short
crust; but for a very rich one the proportion must be increased.
Good short crust: flour, 1 lb.; suet, 8 oz.; butter, 2 oz.; salt, 1/2
teaspoonful. Richer crust: suet, 16 oz.; butter, 4 oz.; flour, 1-1/2
lb.; salt, 1 small teaspoonful.
VERY RICH SHORT CRUST FOR TARTS.
Break lightly, with the least possible handling, six ounces of butter
into eight of flour; add a dessertspoonful of pounded sugar, and two or
three of water; roll the paste, for several minutes, to blend the
ingredients well, folding it together like puff-crust, and touch it as
little as possible.
Flour, 8 oz.; butter, 6 oz.; pounded sugar, 1 dessertspoonful; water, 1
to 2 spoonsful.
EXCELLENT SHORT CRUST FOR SWEET PASTRY.
Crumble down very lightly half a pound of butter into a pound of flour,
breaking it quite small. Mix well with these a slight pinch of salt and
two ounces of sifted sugar, and add sufficient milk to make them up into
a very smooth and somewhat firm paste. Bake this slowly, and keep it
pale. It will be found an admirable crust if well made and lightly
handled, and will answer for many dishes much better than puff-paste. It
will rise in the oven too, and be extremely light. Ten ounces of butter
will render it very rich, but we find eight quite sufficient.
BRIOCHE PASTE.
The _brioche_ is a rich, light kind of unsweetened bun or cake, very
commonly sold, and served to all classes of people in France, where it
is made in great perfection by good cooks and pastry cooks. It is
fashionable now at English tables, though in a different form, serving
principally as a crust to enclose _rissoles_, or to make _cannelons_ and
fritters. We have seen it recommended for a _vol-au-vent_, for which we
should say it does not answer by any means so well as the fine
puff-paste called _feuilletage_. The large proportion of butter and eggs
which it contains render it to many persons highly indigestible; and we
mention this to warn invalids against it, as we have known it to cause
great suffering to persons out of health. To make it, take a couple of
pounds[114] of fine dry flour, sifted as for cakes, and separate eight
ounces of this from the remainder to make the leaven. Put it into a
small pan, and mix it lightly into a lithe paste, with half an ounce of
yeast, and a spoonful or two of warm water; make two or three slight
incisions across the top, throw a cloth over the pan, and place it near
the fire for about twenty minutes to rise. In the interval make a hollow
space in the centre of the remainder of the flour, and put into it half
an ounce of salt, as much fine sifted sugar, and half a gill of cream,
or a dessertspoonful of water; add a pound of butter as free from
moisture as it can be, and quite so from large grains of salt; cut it
into small bits, put it into the flour, and pour on it one by one six
fresh eggs freed from the specks; then with the fingers work the flour
gently into this mass until the whole forms a perfectly smooth, and not
stiff paste: a seventh egg, or the yolk of one, or even of two, may be
added with advantage if the flour will absorb them; but the brioche must
always be _workable_, and not so moist as to adhere to the board and
roller disagreeably. When the leaven is well risen spread this paste
out, and the leaven over it; mix them well together with the hands, then
cut the whole into several portions, and change them about that the
leaven may be incorporated perfectly and equally with the other
ingredients: when this is done, and the brioche is perfectly smooth and
pliable, dust some flour on a cloth, roll the brioche in it, and lay it
into a pan. Place it in summer in a cool place, in winter in a warm one.
It is usually made over-night, and baked in the early part of the
following day. It should then be kneaded up afresh the first thing in
the morning. To mould it in the usual form, make it into balls of
uniform size, hollow these a little at the top by pressing the thumb
round them, brush them over with yolk of egg, and put a second much
smaller ball into the hollow part of each; glaze them entirely with yolk
of egg, and send them to a quick oven for half an hour or more. The
paste may also be made into the form of a large cake, then placed on a
tin, or copper oven-leaf, and supported with a pasteboard in the baking;
for the form of which see introductory page of Chapter XXVII.
Footnote 114:
It should be remarked, that the directions for brioche-making are
principally derived from the French, and that the pound in their
country weighs two ounces more than with us: this difference will
account for the difficulty of working in the number of eggs which they
generally specify, and which render the paste too moist.
Flour, 2 lbs.; yeast, 1/2 oz.; salt and sugar, each 1/2 oz.; butter, 1
lb.; eggs, 6 to 8.
MODERN POTATO PASTY.
(_An excellent family dish._)
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
A tin mould of the construction shown in the plate, with a perforated
moveable top, and a small valve to allow the escape of the steam, must
be had for this pasty, which is a good family dish, and which may be
varied in numberless ways. Arrange at the bottom of the mould from two
to three pounds of mutton cutlets, freed, according to the taste, from
all, or from the greater portion of the fat, then washed, lightly
dredged on both sides with flour, and seasoned with salt and pepper, or
cayenne. Pour to them sufficient broth or water to make the gravy, and
add to it at pleasure, a tablespoonful of mushroom catsup or of Harvey’s
sauce. Have ready boiled, and _very_ smoothly mashed, with about an
ounce of butter, and a spoonful or two of milk or cream to each pound,
as many good potatoes as will form a crust to the pasty of quite three
inches thick; put the cover on the mould and arrange these equally upon
it, leaving them a little rough on the surface. Bake the pasty in a
moderate oven from three-quarters of an hour to an hour and a quarter,
according to its size and its contents. Pin a folded napkin neatly round
the mould, before it is served, and have ready a hot dish to receive the
cover, which must not be lifted off until after the pasty is on the
table.
Chicken, or veal and oysters; delicate pork chops with a seasoning of
sage and a little parboiled onion, or an eschalot or two finely minced;
partridges or rabbits neatly carved, mixed with small mushrooms, and
moistened with a little good stock, will all give excellent varieties of
this dish, which may be made likewise with highly seasoned slices of
salmon freed from the skin, sprinkled with fine herbs or intermixed with
shrimps; clarified butter, rich veal stock, or good white wine, may be
poured to them to form the gravy. To thicken this, a little flour should
be dredged upon the fish before it is laid into the mould. Other kinds,
such as cod, mullet, mackerel in fillets, salt fish (previously kept at
the point of boiling until three parts done, then pulled into flakes,
and put into the mould with hard eggs sliced, a little cream, flour,
butter, cayenne, and anchovy-essence, and baked with mashed parsneps on
the top), will all answer well for this pasty. Veal, when used for it,
should be well beaten first: sweetbreads, sliced, may be laid in with
it. For a pasty of moderate size, two pounds, or two and a half of meat,
and from three to four of potatoes, will be sufficient; a quarter of a
pint of milk or cream, two small teaspoonsful of salt, and from one to
two ounces of butter must be mixed up with these last.[115]
Footnote 115:
A larger proportion of cream and butter well dried into the potatoes
over a gentle fire after they are mashed, will render the crust of the
pasty richer and finer.
CASSEROLE OF RICE.
Proceed exactly as for Gabrielle’s pudding (see Chapter XXI.), but
substitute good veal broth or stock for the milk, and add a couple of
ounces more of butter. Fill the casserole when it is emptied, with a
rich mince or fricassee, or with stewed oysters in a _béchamel_ sauce.
French cooks make a very troublesome and elaborate affair of this dish,
putting to the rice to make it “_mellow_,” a great deal of pot-top fat,
slices of fat ham, &c., which must afterwards be well drained off, or
picked out from it; but the dish, made as we have directed, will be
found excellent eating, and of very elegant appearance, if it be moulded
in a tasteful shape. It must have a _quick_ oven to colour, without too
much drying it. The rice for it must be boiled sufficiently tender to be
crushed easily to a smooth paste, and it must be mashed with a strong
wooden spoon against the sides of the stewpan until all the grains are
broken. It may then, when cool, be made like a raised pie with the
hands, and decorated with a design formed on it with a carrot cut into a
point like a graver. For a large casserole, a pound of rice and a quart
of gravy will be required: a bit of bread is sometimes used in filling
the mould, cut to the shape, and occupying nearly half the inside, but
always so as to leave a thick and compact crust in every part. Part of
the rice which is scooped from the inside is sometimes mixed with the
mince, or other preparation, with which the casserole is filled.
A GOOD COMMON ENGLISH GAME PIE.
Raise the flesh entire from the upper side of the best end of a
well-kept neck of venison, trim it to the length of the dish in which
the pie is to be served, and rub it with a mixture of salt, cayenne,
pounded mace, and nutmeg. Cut down into joints a fine young hare which
has hung from eight to fourteen days, bone the back and thighs, and fill
them with forcemeat No. 1 (Chapter VIII., page 157), but put into it a
double portion of butter, and a small quantity of minced eschalots,
should their flavour be liked, and the raw liver of the hare, chopped
small. Line the dish with a rich short crust (see page 337), lay the
venison in the centre, and the hare closely round and on it; fill the
vacant spaces with more forcemeat, add a few spoonsful of well-jellied
gravy, fasten on the cover securely, ornament it or not, at pleasure,
and bake the pie for two hours in a well heated oven. The remnants and
bones of the hare and venison may be stewed down into a small quantity
of excellent soup, or with a less proportion of water into an admirable
gravy, part of which, after having been cleared from fat, may be poured
into the pie. The jelly, added to its contents at first, can be made,
when no such stock is at hand, of a couple of pounds of shin of beef,
boiled down in a quart of water, which must be reduced quite half, and
seasoned only with a good slice of lean ham, a few peppercorns, seven or
eight cloves, a blade of mace, and a little salt. One pound and a half
of flour will be sufficient for the crust; this, when it is so
preferred, may be laid round the sides only of the dish, instead of
entirely over it. The prime joints of a second hare may be substituted
for the venison when it can be more easily procured; but the pie made
entirely of venison, without the forcemeat, will be far better.
Baked 2 hours.
_Obs._—These same ingredients will make an excellent raised pie, if the
venison be divided and intermixed with the hare: the whole should be
highly seasoned, and all the cavities filled with the forcemeat No. 18
(Chapter VIII.),[116] or with the truffled sausage-meat of page 263. The
top, before the paste is laid over, should be covered with slices of fat
bacon, or with plenty of butter, to prevent the surface of the meat from
becoming hard. No liquid is to be put into the pie until after it is
baked, if at all. It will require from half to a full hour more of the
oven than if baked in a dish.
Footnote 116:
The second or third forcemeat mentioned under this No. (18), would be
the most appropriate for a game pie.
MODERN CHICKEN PIE.
Skin, and cut down into joints a couple of fowls, take out all the bones
and season the flesh highly with salt, cayenne, pounded mace, and
nutmeg; line a dish with a thin paste, and spread over it a layer of the
finest sausage-meat, which has previously been moistened with a spoonful
or two of cold water; over this place closely together some of the boned
chicken joints, then more sausage-meat, and continue thus with alternate
layers of each, until the dish is full; roll out, and fasten securely at
the edges, a cover half an inch thick, trim off the superfluous paste,
make an incision in the top, lay some paste leaves round it, glaze the
whole with yolk of egg, and bake the pie from an hour and a half to two
hours in a well heated oven. Lay a sheet or two of writing-paper over
the crust, should it brown too quickly. Minced herbs can be mixed with
the sausage-meat at pleasure, and a small quantity of eschalot also,
when its flavour is much liked: it should be well moistened with water,
or the whole will be unpalatably dry. The pie may be served hot or cold,
but we would rather recommend the latter.
A couple of very young tender rabbits will answer exceedingly well for
it instead of fowls, and a border, or half paste in the dish will
generally be preferred to an entire lining of the crust, which is now
but rarely served, unless for pastry, which is to be taken out of the
dish or mould in which it is baked before it is sent to table.
A COMMON CHICKEN PIE.
Prepare the fowls as for boiling, cut them down into joints, and season
them with salt, white pepper, and nutmeg or pounded mace; arrange them
neatly in a dish bordered with paste, lay amongst them three or four
fresh eggs boiled hard, and cut in halves, pour in some cold water, put
on a thick cover, pare the edge, and ornament it, make a hole in the
centre, lay a roll of paste, or a few leaves round it, and bake the pie
in a moderate oven from an hour to an hour and a half. The back and neck
bones may be boiled down with a bit or two of lean ham, to make a little
additional gravy, which can be poured into the pie after it is baked.
PIGEON PIE.
Lay a border of fine puff paste round a large dish, and cover the bottom
with a veal cutlet or tender rump steak, free from fat and bone, and
seasoned with salt, cayenne, and nutmeg or pounded mace; prepare with
great nicety as many freshly-killed young pigeons as the dish will
contain in one layer; put into each a slice or ball of butter, seasoned
with a little cayenne and mace, lay them into the dish with the breasts
downwards, and between and over them put the yolks of half a dozen or
more of hard-boiled eggs; stick plenty of butter on them, season the
whole well with salt and spice, pour in some cold water or veal broth
for the gravy, roll out the cover three-quarters of an inch thick,
secure it well round the edge, ornament it highly, and bake the pie for
an hour or more in a well-heated oven. It is a great improvement to fill
the birds with small mushroom-buttons, prepared as for partridges (see
Chapter XV.): their livers also may be put into them.
BEEF-STEAK PIE.
From a couple to three pounds of rump-steak will be sufficient for a
good family pie. It should be well kept though perfectly sweet, for in
no form can tainted meat be more offensive than when it is enclosed in
paste. Trim off the coarse skin, and part of the fat should there be
much of it (many eaters dislike it altogether in pies, and when this is
the case every morsel should be carefully cut away). If the beef should
not appear very tender, it may be gently beaten with a paste-roller
until the fibre is broken, then divided into slices half as large as the
hand, and laid into a dish bordered with paste. It should be seasoned
with salt and pepper, or cayenne, and sufficient water poured in to make
the gravy, and keep the meat moist. Lay on the cover, and be careful
always to brush the edge in every part with egg or cold water, then join
it securely to the paste which is round the rim, trim both off close to
the dish, pass the point of the knife through the middle of the cover,
lay some slight roll or ornament of paste round it, and decorate the
border of the pie in any of the usual modes, which are too common to
require description. Send the pie to a well-heated, but not fierce oven
for about an hour and twenty minutes. To make a richer beef-steak pie
put bearded oysters in alternate layers with the meat, add their
strained liquor to a little good gravy in which the beards may be
simmered for a few minutes to give it further flavour, and make a light
puff paste for the crust. Some caters like it seasoned with a small
portion of minced onion or eschalot when the oysters are omitted.
Mushrooms improve all meat-pies. Veal pies may be made by this receipt,
or by the second of those which follow. Slices of lean ham, or parboiled
ox-tongue, may be added to them.
1 to 1-1/2 hour.
COMMON MUTTON PIE.
A pound and a quarter of flour will make sufficient paste for a
moderate-sized pie, and two pounds of mutton freed from the greater
portion of the fat will fill it. Butter a dish and line it with about
half the paste rolled thin; lay in the mutton evenly, and sprinkle over
it three-quarters of an ounce of salt, and from half to a whole
teaspoonful of pepper according to the taste; pour in cold water to
within an inch of the brim. Roll the cover, which should be quite half
an inch thick, to the size of the dish; wet the edges of the paste with
cold water or white of egg, be careful to close them securely, cut them
off close to the rim of the dish, stick the point of the knife through
the centre, and bake the pie an hour and a quarter in a well-heated
oven.
Flour, 1-1/4 lb.; minced suet rather less than 1/2 lb.; or, butter, 4
oz., and very pure lard, 2 or 3 oz.; mutton, 2 lbs.; salt, 3/4 oz.;
pepper, half to a whole teaspoonful; water, 1/4 pint: 1-1/4 hour.
A GOOD MUTTON PIE.
Lay a half-paste of short or of puff crust round a buttered dish, take
the whole or part of a loin of mutton, strip off the fat entirely, and
raise the flesh clear from the bones without dividing it, then slice it
into cutlets of equal thickness, season them well with salt and pepper,
or cayenne, and strew between the layers some finely-minced herbs mixed
with two or three eschalots, when the flavour of these last is liked; or
omit them, and roll quite thin some good forcemeat (which can be
flavoured with a little minced eschalot at pleasure), and lay it between
the cutlets: two or three mutton kidneys intermingled with the meat will
greatly enrich the gravy; pour in a little cold water, roll the cover
half an inch thick, or more should the crust be short, as it will not
rise like puff paste, close the pie very securely, trim the edges even
with the dish, ornament the pie according to the taste, make a hole in
the centre, and bake it from an hour and a half to a couple of hours.
The proportions of paste and meat may be ascertained by consulting the
last receipt. Gravy made with part of the bones, quite cleared from fat,
and left to become cold, may be used to fill the pie instead of water.
RAISED PIES.
[Illustration:
Raised Pie.
]
These may be made of any size, and with any kind of meat, poultry, or
game, but the whole must be entirely free from bone. When the crust is
not to be eaten, it is made simply with a few ounces of lard or butter
dissolved in boiling water, with which the flour is to be mixed (with a
spoon at first, as the heat would be too great for the hands, but
afterwards with the fingers) to a smooth and firm paste. The French, who
excel greatly in this form of pie,[117] use for it a good crust which
they call a _pâté brisée_ (see page 347), and this is eaten usually with
the meat which it contains. In either case the paste must be
sufficiently stiff to retain its form perfectly after it is raised, as
it will have no support to prevent its falling. The celebrated Monsieur
Ude gives the following directions for moulding it to a proper shape
without difficulty; and as inexperienced cooks generally find a little
at first in giving a good appearance to these pies, we copy his
instructions for them: “Take a lump of paste proportionate to the size
of the pie you are to make, mould it in the shape of a sugar loaf, put
it upright on the table, then with the palms of your hands flatten the
sides of it; when you have equalized it all round and it is quite
smooth, squeeze the middle of the point down to half the height of the
paste,” then hollow the inside by pressing it with the fingers, and in
doing this be careful to keep it in every part of equal thickness. Fill
it,[118] roll out the cover, egg the edges, press them securely
together, make a hole in the centre, lay a roll of paste round it, and
encircle this with a wreath of leaves, or ornament the pie in any other
way, according to the taste; glaze it with beaten yolk of egg, and bake
it from two to three hours in a well-heated oven if it be small, and
from four to five hours if it be large; though the time must be
regulated in some measure by the nature of the contents, as well as by
the size of the dish.
Footnote 117:
We remember having partaken of one which was brought from Bordeaux,
and which contained a small boned ham of delicious flavour, surmounted
by boned partridges, above which were placed fine larks likewise
boned; all the interstices were filled with super-excellent forcemeat,
and the whole, being a solid mass of nourishing viands, would have
formed an admirable traveller’s larder in itself.
Footnote 118:
For the mode of doing this, see observations, page 253, and Chapter
XXXIV. A ham must be boiled or stewed tender, and freed from the skin
and blackened parts before it is laid in; poultry and game boned; and
all meat highly seasoned.
_Obs._—We know not if we have succeeded in making the reader comprehend
that this sort of pie (with the exception of the cover, for which a
portion must at first be taken off) is made from one solid lump of
paste, which, after having been shaped into a cone, as Monsieur Ude
directs, or into a high round, or oval form, is hollowed by pressing
down the centre with the knuckles, and continuing to knead the inside
equally round with the one hand, while the other is pressed close to the
outside. It is desirable that the mode of doing this should be once
_seen_ by the learner, if possible, as mere verbal instructions are
scarcely sufficient to enable the quite-inexperienced cook to comprehend
at once the exact form and appearance which should be given to the
paste, and some degree of expertness? is always necessary to mould a pie
of this kind _well_ with the fingers only. The first attempts should be
made with very small pies, which are less difficult to manage.
A VOL-AU-VENT. (ENTRÉE.)
[Illustration]
This dish can be successfully made only with the finest and lightest
puff-paste (see _feuilletage_, page 345), as its height, which ought to
be from four to five inches, depends entirely on its rising in the oven.
Roll it to something more than an inch in thickness, and cut it to the
shape and size of the inside of the dish in which it is to be served, or
stamp it out with a fluted tin of proper dimensions; then mark the cover
evenly about an inch from the edge all round, and ornament it and the
border also, with a knife, as fancy may direct; brush yolk of egg
quickly over them, and put the _vol-au-vent_ immediately into a brisk
oven, that it may rise well, and be finely coloured, but do not allow it
to be scorched. In from twenty to thirty minutes, should it appear baked
through, as well as sufficiently browned, draw it out, and with the
point of a knife detach the cover carefully where it has been marked,
and scoop out all the soft unbaked crumb from the inside of the
_vol-au-vent_; then turn it gently on to a sheet of clean paper, to
drain the butter from it. At the instant of serving, fill it with a rich
fricassee of lobster, or of sweetbreads, or with _turbot à la crême_, or
with the white part of cold roast veal cut in thin collops not larger
than a shilling, and heated in good white sauce with oysters (see minced
veal and oysters, page 251), or with any other of the preparations which
we shall indicate in their proper places, and send it immediately to
table. The _vol-au-vent_, as the reader will perceive, is but the case,
or crust, in which various kinds of delicate ragouts are served in an
elegant form. As these are most frequently composed of fish, or of meats
which have been already dressed, it is an economical as well as an
excellent mode of employing such remains. The sauces in which they are
heated must be quite thick, for they would otherwise soften, or even run
through the crust. This, we ought to observe, should be examined before
it is filled, and should any part appear too thin, a portion of the
crumb which has been taken out, should be fastened to it with some
beaten egg, and the whole of the inside brushed lightly with more egg,
in order to make the loose parts of the _vol-au-vent_ stick well
together. This method is recommended by an admirable and highly
experienced cook, but it need only be resorted to when the crust is not
solid enough to hold the contents securely.
For moderate-sized _vol-au-vent_, flour, 1/2 lb.; butter, 1/2 lb.; salt,
small saltspoonful; yolk, 1 egg; little water. Larger _vol-au-vent_, 3/4
lb. flour; other ingredients in proportion: baked 20 to 30 minutes.
_Obs._—When the _vol-au-vent_ is cut out with the fluted cutter, a
second, some sizes smaller, after being just dipped into hot water,
should be pressed nearly half through the paste, to mark the cover. The
border ought to be from three-quarters of an inch to an inch and a half
wide.
A VOL-AU-VENT OF FRUIT. (ENTREMETS.)
After the crust has been made and baked as above, fill it at the moment
of serving with peaches, apricots, mogul, or any other richly flavoured
plums, which have been stewed tender in syrup; lift them from this, and
keep them hot while it is boiled rapidly almost to jelly; then arrange
the fruit in the _vol-au-vent_, and pour the syrup over it. For the
manner of preparing it, see compotes of fruit, Chapter XXIV.; but
increase the proportion of sugar nearly half, that the juice may be
reduced quickly to the proper consistency for the _vol-au-vent_. Skin
and divide the apricots, and quarter the peaches, unless they should be
very small.
VOL-AU-VENT À LA CRÊME. (ENTREMETS.)
After having raised the cover and emptied the _vol-au-vent_, lay it on a
sheet of paper, and let it become cold. Fill it just before it is sent
to table with fruit, either boiled down to a rich marmalade, or stewed
as for the preceding _vol-au-vent_, and heap well flavoured, but not too
highly sweetened, whipped cream over it. The edge of the crust may be
glazed by sifting sugar over it, when it is drawn from the oven, and
holding a salamander or red hot shovel above it; or it may be left
unglazed, and ornamented with bright coloured fruit jelly.
OYSTER PATTIES.[119] (ENTRÉE).
Footnote 119:
These patties should be made small, with a thin crust, and _well
filled_ with the oysters and their sauce. The substitution of fried
crumbs for the covers will vary them very agreeably. For lobster
patties, prepare the fish as for a _vol-au-vent_ but cut it smaller.
Line some small pattypans with fine puff-paste, rolled thin and to
preserve their form when baked, put a bit of bread into each; lay on the
covers, pinch and trim the edges, and send the patties to a brisk oven.
Plump and beard from two to three dozens of small oysters; mix very
smoothly a teaspoonful of flour with an ounce of butter, put them into a
clean saucepan, shake them round over a gentle fire, and let them simmer
for two or three minutes; throw in a little salt, pounded mace, and
cayenne, then add, by slow degrees, two or three spoonsful of rich
cream, give these a boil, and pour in the strained liquor of the
oysters; next, lay in the fish, and keep at the point of boiling for a
couple of minutes. Raise the covers from the patties, take out the
bread, fill them with the oysters and their sauce, and replace the
covers. We have found it an improvement to stew the beards of the fish
with a strip or two of lemon-peel, in a little good veal stock for a
quarter of an hour, then to strain and add it to the sauce. The oysters,
unless very small, should be once or twice divided.
COMMON LOBSTER PATTIES.
Prepare the fish for these as directed for fricasseed lobster, Chapter
II., increasing a little the proportion of sauce. Fill the patty-cases
with the mixture quite hot, and serve immediately.
SUPERLATIVE LOBSTER-PATTIES.
(_Author’s Receipt._)
[Illustration]
Form into balls about half the size of a filbert either the
cutlet-mixture or the pounded lobster of Chapter III., roll them in the
sifted coral, warm them through very gently, have ready some hot
patty-cases (see page 361), pour into each a small spoonful of rich
white sauce, or _Sauce à l’Aurore_ (see page 118), lay the balls round
the edge, pile a larger one in the centre, and serve the whole very
quickly. The Dresden patties of page 387 may be thus filled.
GOOD CHICKEN PATTIES. (ENTRÉE.)
Raise the white flesh entirely from a young undressed fowl, divide it
once or twice, and lay it into a small clean saucepan, in which about an
ounce of butter has been dissolved, and just begins to simmer; strew in
a slight seasoning of salt, mace, and cayenne, and stew the chicken very
softly indeed for about ten minutes, taking every precaution against its
browning: turn it into a dish with the butter, and its own gravy, and
let it become cold. Mince it with a sharp knife; heat it, without
allowing it to boil, in a little good white sauce (which may be made of
some of the bones of the fowl), and fill ready-baked patty-crusts, or
small _vol-au-vents_ with it, just before they are sent to table; or
stew the flesh only just sufficiently to render it firm, mix it after it
is minced and seasoned with a spoonful or two of strong gravy, fill the
patties, and bake them from fifteen to eighteen minutes. It is a great
improvement to stew and mince a few mushrooms with the chicken.
The breasts of cold turkeys, fowls, partridges, or pheasants, or the
white part of cold veal, minced, heated in a _béchamel_ sauce, will
serve at once for patties: they may also be made of cold game, heated in
an _Espagnole_, or in a good brown gravy.
PATTIES À LA PONTIFE. (ENTRÉE.)
(_A fast day, or Maigre dish._)
Mince, but not very small, the yolks of six fresh hard-boiled eggs;
mince also and mix with them a couple of fine truffles,[120] a large
saltspoonful of salt, half the quantity of mace and nutmeg, and a fourth
as much of cayenne. Moisten these ingredients with a spoonful of thick
cream, or _béchamel maigre_ (see page 109), or with a dessertspoonful of
clarified butter; line the patty-moulds, fill them with the mixture,
cover, and bake them from twelve to fifteen minutes in a moderate oven.
They are excellent made with the cream-crust of page 347.
Footnote 120:
The bottled ones will answer _well_ for these.
Yolks hard-boiled eggs, 6; truffles, 2 large; seasoning of salt, mace,
nutmeg, and cayenne; cream, or _béchamel maigre_, 1 tablespoonful, or
clarified butter, 1 dessertspoonful: baked moderate oven, 12 to 15
minutes.
_Obs._—A spoonful or two of jellied stock or gravy, or of good white
sauce, converts these into admirable patties: the same ingredients make
also very superior rolls or cannelons. For Patties à la Cardinale, small
mushroom-buttons stewed as for partridges, Chapter XIII., before they
are minced, must be substituted for truffles; and the butter in which
they are simmered should be added with them to the eggs.
EXCELLENT MEAT ROLLS.
Pound, as for potting (see page 305), and with the same proportion of
butter and of seasonings, some half-roasted veal, chicken, or turkey.
Make some forcemeat by the receipt No. 1, Chapter VI., and form it into
small rolls, not larger than a finger; wrap twice or thrice as much of
the pounded meat equally round each of these, first moistening it with a
teaspoonful of water; fold them in good puff-paste, and bake them from
fifteen to twenty minutes, or until the crust is perfectly done. A small
quantity of the lean of a boiled ham may be finely minced and pounded
with the veal, and very small mushrooms, prepared as for a partridge
(page 329), may be substituted for the forcemeat.
SMALL VOLS-AU-VENTS, OR PATTY-CASES.
[Illustration]
These are quickly and easily made with two round paste-cutters, of which
one should be little more than half the size of the other: to give the
pastry a better appearance, they should be fluted. Roll out some of the
lightest puff-paste to a half-inch of thickness, and with the larger of
the tins cut the number of patties required; then dip the edge of the
small shape into hot water, and press it about half through them. Bake
them in a moderately quick oven from ten to twelve minutes, and when
they are done, with the point of a sharp knife, take out the small
rounds of crust from the tops, and scoop all the crumb from the inside
of the patties, which may then be filled with shrimps, oysters, lobster,
chicken, pheasant, or any other of the ordinary varieties of patty meat,
prepared with white sauce. Fried crumbs may be laid over them instead of
the covers, or these last can be replaced.
For sweet dishes, glaze the pastry, and fill it with rich whipped cream,
preserve, or boiled custard; if with the last of these put it back into
a very gentle oven until the custards are set.
ANOTHER RECEIPT FOR TARTLETS.
For a dozen tartlets, cut twenty-four rounds of paste of the usual size,
and form twelve of them into rings by pressing the small cutter quite
through them; moisten these with cold water, or white of egg, and lay
them on the remainder of the rounds of paste, so as to form the rims of
the tartlets. Bake them from ten to twelve minutes, fill them with
preserve while they are still warm, and place over it a small ornament
of paste cut from the remnants, and baked gently of a light colour.
Serve the tartlets cold, or if wanted hot for table put them back into
the oven for one minute after they are filled.
A SEFTON, OR VEAL CUSTARD.
Pour boiling, a pint of rich, clear, pale veal gravy on six fresh eggs,
which have been well beaten and strained: sprinkle in directly the
grated rind of a fine lemon, a little cayenne, some salt if needed, and
a quarter-teaspoonful of mace. Put a paste border round a dish, pour in,
first two ounces of clarified butter, and then the other ingredients;
bake the Sefton in a very slow oven from twenty-five to thirty minutes,
or until it is quite firm in the middle, and send it to table with a
little good gravy. Very highly flavoured game stock, in which a few
mushrooms have been stewed, may be used for this dish with great
advantage in lieu of veal gravy; and a sauce made of the smallest
mushroom buttons, may be served with it in either case. The mixture can
be baked in a whole paste, if preferred so, or in well buttered cups;
then turned out and covered with the sauce before it is sent to table.
Rich veal or game stock, 1 pint; fresh eggs, 6; rind, 1 lemon; little
salt and cayenne; pounded mace, 1/4 teaspoonful; butter, 2 oz.: baked,
25 to 30 minutes, _slow_ oven.
APPLE CAKE, OR GERMAN TART.
Work together with the fingers, ten ounces of butter and a pound of
flour, until they resemble fine crumbs of bread; throw in a _small_
pinch of salt, and make them into a firm smooth paste with the yolks of
two eggs and a spoonful or two of water. Butter thickly, a plain tin
cake, or pie mould (those which open at the sides, see plate, page 344,
are best adapted for the purpose); roll out the paste thin, place the
mould upon it, trim a bit to its exact size, cover the bottom of the
mould with this, then cut a band the height of the sides, and press it
smoothly round them, joining the edge, which must be moistened with egg
or water, to the bottom crust; and fasten upon them, to prevent their
separation, a narrow and thin band of paste, also moistened. Next, fill
the mould nearly from the brim with the following marmalade, which must
be quite cold when it is put in. Boil together, over a gentle fire at
first, but more quickly afterwards, three pounds of good apples with
fourteen ounces of pounded sugar, or of the finest Lisbon, the strained
juice of a large lemon, three ounces of fresh butter, and a teaspoonful
of pounded cinnamon, or the lightly grated rind of a couple of lemons:
when the whole is perfectly smooth and dry, turn it into a pan to cool,
and let it be quite cold before it is put into the paste. In early
autumn, a larger proportion of sugar may be required, but this can be
regulated by the taste. When the mould is filled, roll out the cover,
lay it carefully over the marmalade that it may not touch it; and when
the cake is securely closed, trim off the superfluous paste, add a
little pounded sugar to the parings, spread them out very thin, and cut
them into leaves to ornament the top of the cake, round which they may
be placed as a sort of wreath.[121] Bake it for an hour in a moderately
brisk oven; take it from the mould, and should the sides not be
sufficiently coloured put it back for a few minutes into the oven upon a
baking tin. Lay a paper over the top, when it is of a fine light brown,
to prevent its being too deeply coloured. This cake should be served
hot.
Footnote 121:
Or, instead of these, fasten on it with a little white of egg, after
it is taken from the oven, some ready-baked leaves of almond-paste
(see page 355), either plain or coloured.
Paste: flour, 1 lb.; butter, 10 oz.; yolks of eggs, 2; little water.
Marmalade: apples, 3 lbs.; sugar, 14 oz. (more if needed); juice of
lemon, 1; rinds of lemons, 2; butter, 3 oz.: baked, 1 hour.
TOURTE MERINGUÉE, OR TART WITH ROYAL ICING.[122]
Footnote 122:
The limits to which we are obliged to confine this volume, compel us
to omit many receipts which we would gladly insert; we have,
therefore, rejected those which may be found in almost every English
cookery book, for such as are, we apprehend, less known to the reader:
this will account for the small number of receipts for pies and fruit
tarts to be found in the present chapter.
Lay a band of fine paste round the rim of a tart-dish, fill it with any
kind of fruit mixed with a moderate proportion of sugar, roll out the
cover very evenly, moisten the edges of the paste, press them together
carefully, and trim them off close to the dish; spread equally over the
top, to within rather more than an inch of the edge all round, the
whites of three fresh eggs beaten to a quite solid froth and mixed
quickly at the moment of using them with three tablespoonsful of dry
sifted sugar. Put the tart into a moderately brisk oven, and when the
crust has risen well and the icing is set, either lay a sheet of
writing-paper lightly over it, or draw it to a part of the oven where it
will not take too much colour. This is now a fashionable mode of icing
tarts, and greatly improves their appearance.
Bake half an hour.
A GOOD APPLE TART.
A pound and a quarter of apples weighed after they are pared and cored,
will be sufficient for a small tart, and four ounces more for one of
moderate size. Lay a border of English puff-paste, or of cream-crust
round the dish, just dip the apples into water, arrange them very
compactly in it, higher in the centre than at the sides, and strew
amongst them from three to four ounces of pounded sugar, or more should
they be very acid: the grated rind and the strained juice of half a
lemon will much improve their flavour. Lay on the cover rolled thin, and
ice it or not at pleasure. Send the tart to a moderate oven for about
half an hour. This may be converted into the old-fashioned _creamed_
apple tart, by cutting out the cover while it is still quite hot,
leaving only about an inch-wide border of paste round the edge, and
pouring over the apples when they have become cold, from half to
three-quarters of a pint of rich boiled custard. The cover divided into
triangular sippets, was formerly stuck round the inside of the tart, but
ornamental leaves of pale puff-paste have a better effect. Well-drained
whipped cream may be substituted for the custard, and be piled high, and
lightly over the fruit.
TART OF VERY YOUNG GREEN APPLES. (GOOD.)
Take very young apples from the tree before the cores are formed, clear
off the buds and stalks, wash them well, and fill a tart-dish with them
after having rolled them in plenty of sugar, or strew layers of sugar
between them; add a very small quantity of water and bake the tart
rather slowly, that the fruit may be tender quite through. It will
resemble a green apricot-tart if carefully made. We give this receipt
from recollection, having had the dish served often formerly, and having
found it _very_ good.
BARBERRY TART.
Barberries, with half their weight of fine brown sugar, when they are
thoroughly ripe, and with two ounces more when they are not quite so,
make an admirable tart. For one of moderate size, put into a dish
bordered with paste three quarters of a pound of barberries stripped
from their stalks, and six ounces of sugar in alternate layers; pour
over them three tablespoonsful of water, put on the cover, and bake the
tart for half an hour. Another way of making it is, to line a shallow
tin pan with very thin crust, to mix the fruit and sugar well together
with a spoon before they are laid in, and to put bars of paste across
instead of a cover; or it may be baked without either.[123]
Footnote 123:
The French make their fruit-tarts generally thus, in large shallow
pans. Plums, split and stoned (or if of small kinds, left entire),
cherries and currants freed from the stalks, and various other fruits,
all rolled in plenty of sugar, are baked in the uncovered crust; or
this is baked by itself, and then filled afterwards with fruit
previously stewed tender.
THE LADY’S TOURTE, AND CHRISTMAS TOURTE À LA CHÂTELAINE.
[Illustration:
Lady’s Tourte.
]
To make this _Tourte_, which, when filled, is of pretty appearance, two
paste-cutters are requisite, one the size, or nearly so, of the inside
of the dish in which the _entremets_ is to be served, the other not more
than an inch in diameter, and both of them fluted, as will be seen by
the engraving. To make the paste for it, throw a small half saltspoonful
of salt into half a pound of the finest flour, and break lightly into it
four ounces of fresh butter, which should be firm. Make these up
smoothly with cold milk or water, of which nearly a quarter of a pint
will be sufficient, unless the butter should be very hard, when a
spoonful or two more must be added. Roll the paste out as lightly as
possible twice or _thrice_ if needful, to blend the butter thoroughly
with it, and each time either fold it in three by wrapping the ends over
each other, or fold it over and over like a roll pudding. An additional
ounce, or even two, of butter can be used for it when very rich pastry
is liked, but the _tourte_ will not then retain its form so well. Roll
it out evenly to something more than three-quarters of an inch in
thickness, and press the large cutter firmly through it; draw away the
superfluous paste, and lay the _tourte_ on a lightly floured baking-tin.
Roll the remainder of the paste until it is less than a quarter of an
inch thick, and stamp out with the smaller cutter—of which the edge
should be dipped into hot water, or slightly encrusted with flour—as
many rounds as will form the border of the _tourte_. In placing them
upon it, lay the edge of one over the other just sufficiently to give a
shell-like appearance to the whole; and with the finger press lightly on
the opposite part of the round to make it adhere to the under paste.
Next, with a sharp-pointed knife, make an incision very evenly round the
inside of the _tourte_ nearly close to the border, but be extremely
careful not to cut too deeply into the paste. Bake it in a gentle oven,
from twenty to thirty minutes. When it is done, detach the crust from
the centre, where it has been marked with the knife, take out part of
the crumb, fill the space high with apricot-jam, or with any other
choice preserve, set it again for an instant into the oven, and serve it
hot or cold. Spikes of blanched almonds, filberts, or pistachio-nuts,
may be strewed over the preserve, when they are considered an
improvement; and the border of the pastry may be glazed or ornamented to
the fancy; but if well made, it will generally please in its quite
simple form. It may be converted into a delicious _entrée_, by filling
it either with oysters, or sliced sweetbreads, stewed, and served in
thick, rich, white sauce, or _béchamel_. Lobster also prepared and
moulded as for the new lobster patties of page 359, will form a superior
dish even to these.
_Obs._—Six ounces of flour, and three of butter, will make sufficient
paste for this _tourte_, when it is required only of the usual moderate
size. If richer paste be used for it, it must have two or three
additional turns or rollings to prevent its losing its form in the oven.
_Christmas Tourte à la Châtelaine._—Make the case for this _tourte_ as
for the preceding one, and put sufficient mincemeat to fill it
handsomely into a jar, cover it very securely with paste, or with two or
three folds of thick paper, and bake it _gently_ for half an hour or
longer, should the currants, raisins, &c., not be fully tender. Take out
the inside of the _tourte_, heap the hot mincemeat in it, pour a little
fresh brandy over; just touch it with a strip of lighted writing-paper
at the door of the dining-room, and serve it in a blaze; or if better
liked so, serve it very hot without the brandy, and with Devonshire
cream as an accompaniment.[124]
Footnote 124:
Sufficient of cream for this purpose can easily be prepared from good
milk.
GENOISES À LA REINE, OR HER MAJESTY’S PASTRY.
Make some _nouilles_ (see page 5), with the yolks of four fresh eggs,
and when they are all cut as directed there, drop them lightly into a
pint and a half of boiling cream (new milk will answer quite as well, or
a portion of each may be used), in which six ounces of fresh butter have
been dissolved. When these have boiled quickly for a minute or two,
during which time they must be stirred to prevent their gathering into
lumps, add a small pinch of salt, and six ounces of sugar on which the
rinds of two lemons have been rasped; place the saucepan over a clear
and very gentle fire, and when the mixture has simmered from thirty to
forty minutes take it off, stir briskly in the yolks of six eggs, and
pour it out upon a delicately clean baking-tin which has been slightly
rubbed in every part with butter; level the _nouilles_ with a knife to
something less than a quarter of an inch of thickness, and let them be
very evenly spread; put them into a moderate oven, and bake them of a
fine equal brown: should any air-bladders appear, pierce them with the
point of a knife. On taking the paste from the oven, divide it into two
equal parts; turn one of these, the underside uppermost, on to a clean
tin or a large dish, and spread quickly over it a jar of fine
apricot-jam, place the other half upon it, the brown side outwards, and
leave the paste to become cold; then stamp it out with a round or
diamond-shaped cutter, and arrange the _genoises_ tastefully in a dish.
This pastry will be found _delicious_ the day it is baked, but its
excellence is destroyed by keeping. Peach, green-gage, or magnum bonum
jam, will serve for it quite as well as apricot. We strongly recommend
to our readers this preparation, baked in pattypans, and served hot; or
the whole quantity made into a pudding. From the smaller ones a little
may be taken out with a teaspoon, and replaced with some preserve just
before they are sent to table; or they may thus be eaten cold.
_Nouilles_ of 4 eggs; cream or milk, 1-1/2 pint; butter, 6 oz.; sugar 6
oz.; rasped rinds of lemons, 2; grain of salt: 30 to 40 minutes. Yolks
of eggs, 6: baked from 15 to 25 minutes.
ALMOND PASTE.
For a single dish of pastry, blanch seven ounces of fine Jordan almonds
and one of bitter;[125] throw them into cold water as they are done, and
let them remain in it for an hour or two; then wipe, and pound them to
the finest paste, moistening them occasionally with a few drops of cold
water, to prevent their oiling; next, add to, and mix thoroughly with
them, seven ounces of highly-refined, dried, and sifted sugar; put them
into a small preserving-pan, or enamelled stewpan, and stir them over a
clear and very gentle fire until they are so dry as not to adhere to the
finger when touched; turn the paste immediately into an earthen pan or
jar, and when cold it will be ready for use.
Footnote 125:
When these are objected to, use half a pound of the sweet almonds.
Jordan almonds, 7 oz.; bitter almonds, 1 oz.; cold water, 1
tablespoonful; sugar, 7 oz.
_Obs._—The pan in which the paste is dried, should by no means be placed
_upon_ the fire, but high above it on a bar or trevet: should it be
allowed by accident to harden too much, it must be sprinkled plentifully
with water, broken up quite small, and worked, as it warms, with a
strong wooden spoon to a smooth paste again. We have found this method
perfectly successful; but, if time will permit, it should be moistened
some hours before it is again set over the fire.
TARTLETS OF ALMOND PASTE.
Butter slightly the smallest-sized pattypans, and line them with the
almond-paste rolled as thin as possible; cut it with a sharp knife close
to their edges, and bake or rather _dry_ the tartlets slowly at the
mouth of a very cool oven. If at all coloured, they should be only of
the palest brown; but they will become perfectly crisp without losing
their whiteness if left for some hours in a very gently-heated stove or
oven. They should be taken from the pans when two-thirds done, and laid,
reversed, upon a sheet of paper placed on a dish or board, before they
are put back into the oven. At the instant of serving, fill them with
bright-coloured whipped cream, or with peach or apricot jam; if the
preserve be used, lay over it a small star or other ornament cut from
the same paste, and dried with the tartlets. Sifted sugar, instead of
flour, must be dredged upon the board and roller in using almond paste.
Leaves and flowers formed of it, and dried gradually until perfectly
crisp, will keep for a long time in a tin box or canister, and they form
elegant decorations for pastry. When a fluted cutter the size of the
pattypans is at hand, it will be an improvement to cut out the paste
with it, and then to press it lightly into them, as it is rather apt to
break when pared off with a knife. To colour it, prepared cochineal, or
spinach-green, must be added to it in the mortar.
FAIRY FANCIES.
(_Fantaisies de Fées._)
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
A small, but very inexpensive set of tin cutters must be had for this
pretty form of pastry, which is, however, quite worthy of so slight a
cost. The short crust, of page 349, answers for it better than puff
paste. Roll it thin and very even, and with the larger tin, shaped thus,
cut out a dozen or more of small sheets; then, with a couple of round
cutters, of which one should be about an inch in diameter, and the other
only half the size, form four times the number of rings, and lay them on
the sheets in the manner shown in the engraving. The easier mode of
placing them regularly, is to raise each ring without removing the small
cutter from it, to moisten it with a camel’s hair brush dipped in white
of egg, and to lay it on the paste as it is gently loosened from the tin
When all the pastry is prepared, set it into a very gentle oven, that it
may become crisp and yet remain quite pale. Before it is sent to table,
fill the four divisions of each _fantaisie_ with preserve of a different
colour. For example: one ring with apple or strawberry jelly, another
with apricot jam, a third with peach or green-gage, and a fourth with
raspberry jelly. The cases may be iced, and ornamented in various ways
before they are baked. They are prettiest when formed of white
almond-paste, with pink or pale green rings: they may then be filled, at
the instant of serving, with well-drained whipped cream.
MINCEMEAT.
(_Author’s Receipt._)
To one pound of an unsalted ox-tongue, boiled tender and cut free from
the rind, add two pounds of fine stoned raisins, two of beef
kidney-suet, two pounds and a half of currants well cleaned and dried,
two of good apples, two and a half of fine Lisbon sugar, from half to a
whole pound of candied peel according to the taste, the grated rinds of
two large lemons, and two more boiled quite tender, and chopped up
entirely, with the exception of the pips, two small nutmegs, half an
ounce of salt, a large teaspoonful of pounded mace, rather more of
ginger in powder, half a pint of brandy, and as much good sherry or
Madeira. Mince these ingredients separately, and mix the others all
_well_ before the brandy and the wine are added; press the whole into a
jar or jars, and keep it closely covered. It should be stored for a few
days before it is used, and will remain good for many weeks. Some
persons like a slight flavouring of cloves in addition to the other
spices; others add the juice of two or three lemons, and a larger
quantity of brandy. The inside of a tender and well-roasted sirloin of
beef will answer quite as well as the tongue.
Of a fresh-boiled ox-tongue, or inside of roasted sirloin, 1 lb.; stoned
raisins and minced apples, each 2 lbs.; currants and fine Lisbon sugar,
each 2-1/2 lbs.; candied orange, lemon or citron rind, 8 to 16 oz.;
boiled lemons, 2 large; rinds of two others, grated; salt, 1/2 oz.;
nutmegs, 2 small; pounded mace, 1 large teaspoonful, and rather more of
ginger; good sherry or Madeira, 1/2 pint; brandy, 1/2 pint.
_Obs._—The lemons will be sufficiently boiled in from one hour to one
and a quarter.
SUPERLATIVE MINCEMEAT.
Take four large lemons, with their weight of golden pippins pared and
cored, of jar-raisins, currants, candied citron and orange-rind, and the
finest suet, and a fourth part more of pounded sugar. Boil the lemons
tender, chop them small, but be careful first to extract all the pips;
add them to the other ingredients, after all have been prepared with
great nicety, and mix the whole _well_ with from three to four glasses
of good brandy. Apportion salt and spice by the preceding receipt. We
think that the weight of one lemon, in meat, improves this mixture; or,
in lieu of it, a small quantity of crushed macaroons added just before
it is baked.
MINCE PIES. (ENTREMETS.)
Butter some tin pattypans well, and line them evenly with fine puff
paste rolled thin; fill them with mincemeat, moisten the edges of the
covers, which should be nearly a quarter of an inch thick, close the
pies carefully, trim off the superfluous paste, make a small aperture in
the centre of the crust with a fork or the point of a knife, ice the
pies or not, at pleasure, and bake them half an hour in a well-heated
but not fierce oven: lay a paper over them when they are partially done,
should they appear likely to take too much colour.
1/2 hour.
MINCE PIES ROYAL. (ENTREMETS.)
Add to half a pound of good mincemeat an ounce and a half of pounded
sugar, the grated rind and the strained juice of a large lemon, one
ounce of clarified butter, and the yolks of four eggs; beat these well
together, and half fill, or rather more, with the mixture, some
pattypans lined with fine paste; put them into a moderate oven, and when
the insides are just set, ice them thickly with the whites of the eggs
beaten to snow, and mixed quickly at the moment with four heaped
tablespoonsful of pounded sugar; set them immediately into the oven
again, and bake them slowly of a fine light brown.
Mincemeat, 1/2 lb.; sugar, 1-1/2 oz.; rind and juice, 1 large lemon;
butter, 1 oz.; yolks, 4 eggs. Icing: whites, 4 eggs; sugar, 4
tablespoonsful.
THE MONITOR’S TART, OR TOURTE À LA JUDD.
Put into an enamelled stewpan, or into a delicately clean saucepan,
three quarters of a pound of well-flavoured apples, weighed after they
are pared and cored; add to them from three to four ounces of pounded
sugar, an ounce and a half of fresh butter cut small, and half a
teaspoonful of pounded cinnamon, or the lightly grated rind of a small
lemon. Let them stand over, or by the side of a gentle fire until they
begin to soften, and toss them now and then to mingle the whole well,
but do not stir them with a spoon; they should all remain unbroken and
rather firm. Turn them into a dish, and let them become cold. Divide
three-quarters of a pound of good light paste into two equal portions;
roll out one quite thin and round, flour an oven-leaf and lay it on, as
the tart cannot so well be moved after it is made; place the apples upon
it in the form of a dome, but leave a clear space of an inch or more
round the edge; moisten this with white of egg, and press the remaining
half of the paste (which should be rolled out to the same size, and laid
carefully over the apples) closely upon it: they should be well secured,
that the syrup from the fruit may not burst through. Whisk the white of
an egg to a froth, brush it over the tart with a paste brush or a small
bunch of feathers, sift sugar thickly over, and then strew upon it some
almonds blanched and roughly chopped; bake the tart in a moderate oven
from thirty-five to forty-five minutes. It may be filled with peaches,
or apricots, half stewed like the apples, or with cherries merely rolled
in fine sugar; or with the pastry cream of page 173.
Light paste, 1/2 to 3/4 lb.; apples, 12 oz.; butter, 1-1/2 oz.; sugar, 4
oz.; glazing of egg and sugar; some almonds: 35 to 45 minutes.
PUDDING PIES. (ENTREMETS.)
This form of pastry (or its name at least) is, we believe, peculiar to
the county of Kent, where it is made in abundance, and eaten by all
classes of people during Lent. Boil for fifteen minutes three ounces of
ground rice[126] in a pint and a half of new milk, and when taken from
the fire stir into it three ounces of butter and four of sugar; add to
these six well-beaten eggs, a grain or two of salt, and a flavouring of
nutmeg or lemon-rind at pleasure. When the mixture is nearly cold, line
some large pattypans or some saucers with thin puff paste, fill them
with it three parts full, strew the tops thickly with currants which
have been cleaned and dried, and bake the pudding-pies from fifteen to
twenty minutes in a gentle oven.
Footnote 126:
Or _rice-flour_.
Milk, 1-1/2 pint; ground rice, 3 oz.: 15 minutes. Butter, 3 oz.; sugar,
1/4 lb.; nutmeg or lemon-rind; eggs, 6; currants, 4 to 6 oz.: 15 to 30
minutes.
PUDDING PIES.
(_A commoner kind._)
One quart of new milk, five ounces of ground rice, butter, one ounce and
a half (or more), four ounces of sugar, half a small nutmeg grated, a
pinch of salt, four large eggs, and three ounces of currants.
COCOA-NUT CHEESE-CAKES. (ENTREMETS.)
(_Jamaica Receipt._)
Break carefully the shell of the nut, that the liquid it contains may
not escape.[127] Take out the kernel, pare thinly off the dark skin, and
grate the nut on a delicately clean grater; put it, with its weight of
pounded sugar, and its own milk, or a couple of spoonsful or rather more
of water, into a silver or block-tin saucepan, or a very small copper
stewpan perfectly tinned, and keep it gently stirred over a quite clear
fire until it is tender: it will sometimes require an hour’s stewing to
make it so. When a little cooled, add to the nut, and beat well with it,
some eggs properly whisked and strained, and the grated rind of half a
lemon. Line some pattypans with fine paste, put in the mixture, and bake
the cheese-cakes from thirteen to fifteen minutes.
Footnote 127:
This, as we have elsewhere stated, is best secured by boring the shell
before it is broken. The milk of the nut should never be used unless
it be _very_ fresh.
Grated cocoa-nut, 6 oz.; sugar, 6 oz.; the milk of the nut, or of water,
2 large tablespoonsful: 1/2 to 1 hour. Eggs, 5; lemon-rind, 1/2 of 1: 13
to 15 minutes.
_Obs._—We have found the cheese-cakes made with these proportions very
excellent indeed, but should the mixture be considered too sweet,
another egg or two can be added, and a little brandy also. With a
spoonful or two more of liquid too, the nut would become tender in a
shorter time.
COMMON LEMON TARTLETS.
Beat four eggs until they are exceedingly light, add to them gradually
four ounces of pounded sugar, and whisk these together for five minutes;
strew lightly in, if it be at hand, a dessertspoonful of potato flour,
if not, of common flour well dried and sifted,[128] then throw into the
mixture by slow degrees, three ounces of good butter, which should be
dissolved, but only just lukewarm: beat the whole well, then stir
briskly in, the strained juice and the grated rind of one lemon and a
half. Line some pattypans with fine puff-paste rolled very thin, fill
them two-thirds full, and bake the tartlets about twenty minutes, in a
moderate oven.
Footnote 128:
A few ratifias, or three or four macaroons rolled to powder, or a
stale sponge or Naples biscuit or two, reduced to the finest crumbs,
may be substituted for either of these: more lemon, too, can be added
to the taste.
Eggs, 4; sugar, 4 oz.; potato-flour, or common flour, 1 dessertspoonful;
butter, 3 oz.; juice and rind of 1-1/2 full-sized lemon: baked 15 to 20
minutes.
MADAME WERNER’S ROSENVIK CHEESE-CAKES.
Blanch and pound to the finest possible paste, four ounces of fine fresh
Jordan almonds, with a few drops of lemon-juice or water, then mix with
them, very gradually indeed, six fresh, and thoroughly well-whisked
eggs; throw in by degrees twelve ounces of pounded sugar, and beat the
mixture without intermission all the time: add then the finely grated
rinds of four small, or of three large lemons, and afterwards, by very
slow degrees, the strained juice of all. When these ingredients are
perfectly blended, pour to them in small portions, four ounces of just
liquefied butter (six of clarified if exceedingly rich cheese-cakes are
wished for), and again whisk the mixture lightly for several minutes;
thicken it over the fire like boiled custard, and either put it into
small pans or jars for storing,[129] or fill with it, one-third full,
some pattypans lined with the finest paste; place lightly on it a layer
of apricot, orange, or lemon-marmalade, and on this pour as much more of
the mixture. Bake the cheese-cakes from fifteen to twenty minutes in a
moderate oven. They are very good _without_ the layer of preserve.
Footnote 129:
This preparation will make excellent _fanchonettes_, or
pastry-sandwiches. It will not curdle if gently boiled for two or
three minutes (and stirred without ceasing), and it may be long kept
afterwards.
Jordan almonds, 4 oz.; eggs, 6; sugar, 12 oz.; rinds and strained juice
of 4 small, or of 3 quite large lemons; butter, 4 oz. (6 for _rich_
cheese-cakes); layers of preserve. Baked 15 to 20 minutes, moderate
oven.
APFEL KRAPFEN.
(_German Receipt._)
Boil down three-quarters of a pound of good apples with four ounces of
pounded sugar, and a small glass of white wine, or the strained juice of
a lemon; when they are stewed quite to a pulp, keep them stirred until
they are thick and dry; then mix them gradually with four ounces of
almonds, beaten to a paste, or very finely chopped, two ounces of
candied orange or lemon-rind shred extremely small, and six ounces of
jar raisins stoned and quartered: to these the Germans add a rather high
flavouring of cinnamon, which is a very favourite spice with them, but a
grating of nutmeg, and some fresh lemon-peel, are, we think, preferable
for this composition. Mix all the ingredients well together; roll out
some butter-crust a full back-of-knife thickness, cut it into four-inch
squares, brush the edges to the depth of an inch round with beaten egg,
fill them with the mixture, lay another square of paste on each, press
them very securely together, make, with the point of a knife, a small
incision in the top of each, glaze them or not at pleasure, and bake
them rather slowly, that the raisins may have time to become tender.
They are very good. The proportion of sugar must be regulated by the
nature of the fruit; and that of the almonds can be diminished when it
is thought too much. A delicious tart of the kind is made by
substituting for the raisins and candied orange-rind, two heaped
tablespoonsful of very fine apricot jam.
CRÊME PATISSIÈRE, OR PASTRY CREAM.
To one ounce of fine flour add, very gradually, the beaten yolks of
three fresh eggs; stir to them briskly, and in small portions at first,
three-quarters of a pint of boiling cream, or of cream and new milk
mixed; then turn the whole into a clean stewpan, and stir it over a very
gentle fire until it is quite thick, take it off, and stir it well up
and round; replace it over the fire, and let it just simmer from six to
eight minutes; pour it into a basin, and add to it immediately a couple
of ounces of pounded sugar, one and a half of fresh butter, cut small,
or clarified, and a spoonful of the store mixture of page 153, or a
little sugar which has been rubbed on the rind of a lemon. The cream is
rich enough for common use without further addition; but an ounce and a
half of ratifias, crushed almost to powder with a paste-roller improves
it much, and they should be mixed with it for the receipt which follows.
Flour, 1 oz.; yolks of eggs, 3; boiling cream, or milk and cream mixed,
3/4 pint: just simmered, 6 to 8 minutes. Butter, 1-1/2 oz.; sugar, 2
oz.; little store-flavouring, or rasped lemon-rind; ratifias, 1-1/2 oz.
_Obs._—This is an excellent preparation, which may be used for tartlets,
cannelons, and other forms of pastry, with extremely good effect.
SMALL VOLS-AU-VENTS, À LA PARISIENNE. (ENTREMETS.)
Make some small _vols-au-vents_ by the directions of page 361, either in
the usual way, or with the rings of paste placed upon the rounds. Ice
the edges as soon as they are taken from the oven, by sifting fine sugar
thickly on them, and then holding a salamander or heated shovel over
them, until it melts and forms a sort of pale barley-sugar glaze. Have
ready, and quite hot, some _crême patissière_, made as above; fill the
_vols-au-vents_ with it, and send them to table instantly. These will be
found very good without the icing.
PASTRY SANDWICHES.
Divide equally in two, and roll off square and as thin as possible, some
rich puff paste;[130] lay one half on a buttered tin, or copper
oven-leaf, and spread it lightly with fine currant, strawberry or
raspberry jelly; lay the remaining half closely over, pressing it a
little with the rolling pin after the edges are well cemented together;
then mark it into divisions, and bake it from fifteen to twenty minutes
in a moderate oven.
Footnote 130:
Almond-paste is sometimes substituted for this.
LEMON SANDWICHES.
Substitute for preserve, in the preceding receipt, the lemon cheesecake
mixture of page 372, with or without the almonds in it.
FANCHONNETTES. (ENTREMETS).
Roll out very thin and square some fine puff paste, lay it on a tin or
copper oven-leaf, and cover it equally to within something less than an
inch of the edge with peach or apricot jam; roll a second bit of paste
to the same size, and lay it carefully over the other, having first
moistened the edges with beaten egg, or water; press them together
securely, that the preserve may not escape; pass a paste-brush or small
bunch of feathers dipped in water over the top, sift sugar thickly on
it, then with the back of a knife, mark the paste into divisions of
uniform size, bake it in a well-heated but not fierce oven for twenty
minutes, or rather more, and cut it while it is still hot, where it is
marked. The fanchonnettes should be about three inches in length and two
in width. In order to lay the second crust over the preserve without
disturbing it, wind it lightly round the paste-roller, and in untwisting
it, let it fall gently over the other part.
This is not the form of pastry called by the French _fanchonnettes_.
Fine puff paste, 1 lb.; apricot or peach jam, 4 to 6 oz.: baked 20 to 25
minutes.
JELLY TARTLETS, OR CUSTARDS.
Put four tablespoonsful of fine fruit-jelly into a basin, and stir to it
gradually twelve spoonsful of beaten egg; if the preserve be rich and
sweet, no sugar will be required. Line some pans with paste rolled very
thin, fill them with the custard, and bake them about ten minutes.[131]
Footnote 131:
Strawberry or raspberry jelly will answer admirably for these.
STRAWBERRY TARTLETS. (GOOD.)
Take a full half-pint of freshly-gathered strawberries, without the
stalks; first crush, and then mix them with two ounces and a half of
powdered sugar; stir to them by degrees four well-whisked eggs, beat the
mixture a little, and put it into pattypans lined with fine paste: they
should be only three parts filled. Bake the tartlets from ten to twelve
minutes.
RASPBERRY PUFFS.
Roll out thin some fine puff-paste, cut it in rounds or squares of equal
size, lay some raspberry jam into each, moisten the edges of the paste,
fold and press them together, and bake the puffs from fifteen to
eighteen minutes. Strawberry, or any other jam will serve for them
equally well.
CREAMED TARTLETS.
Line some pattypans with very fine paste, and put into each a layer of
apricot jam; on this pour some thick boiled custard, or the pastry cream
of page 373. Whisk the whites of a couple of eggs to a solid froth, mix
a couple of tablespoonsful of sifted sugar with them, lay this icing
lightly over the tartlets, and bake them in a gentle oven from twenty to
thirty minutes, unless they should be very small, when less time must be
allowed for them.
RAMEKINS À L’UDE, OR SEFTON FANCIES.
Roll out, rather thin, from six to eight ounces of fine cream-crust, or
_feuilletage_ (see page 345); take nearly or quite half its weight of
grated Parmesan, or something less of dry white English cheese; sprinkle
it equally over the paste, fold it together, roll it out very lightly
twice, and continue thus until the cheese and crust are well mixed. Cut
the ramekins with a small paste-cutter; wash them with yolk of egg mixed
with a little milk, and bake them about fifteen minutes. Serve them very
hot.
Cream-crust, or _feuilletage_, 6 oz.; Parmesan, 3 oz.; or English
cheese, 2-1/2 oz.: baked 12 to 15 minutes.
[Illustration:
Mould for large Vols-au-vents or Tourtes.
]
[Illustration:
Paste Pincers.
]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER XIX.
=Soufflés, Omlets, &c.=
[Illustration]
SOUFFLÉS.
THE admirable lightness[132] and delicacy of a well-made _soufflé_
render it generally a very favourite dish, and it is now a fashionable
one also. It may be greatly varied in its composition, but in all cases
must be served the very instant it is taken from the oven; and even in
passing to the dining-room it should, if possible, be prevented from
sinking by a heated iron or salamander held above it. A common
soufflé-pan may be purchased for four or five shillings, but those of
silver or plated metal, which are of the form shown at the commencement
of this chapter, are of course expensive; the part in which the
_soufflé_ is baked is placed within the more ornamental dish when it is
drawn from the oven. A plain, round, cake-mould, with a strip of writing
paper six inches high, placed inside the rim, will answer on an
emergency to bake a _soufflé_ in. The following receipt will serve as a
guide for the proper mode of making it: the process is always the same
whether the principal ingredient be whole rice boiled very tender in
milk and pressed through a sieve, bread-crumbs soaked as for a pudding
and worked through a sieve also, arrow-root, potato-flour, or aught else
of which light puddings in general are made.
Footnote 132:
This is given to every description of _soufflé_ in the same manner as
to Savoy or sponge-cakes, by mingling gently with the other
ingredients the whites of eggs whisked to a solid mass or _snow
froth_,—that is to say, that no portion of them must remain in a
liquid state. For the proper mode of preparing them, see commencement
of the chapter of Cakes, page 540: _soufflé_-puddings are rendered
light in the same manner, and steamed instead of being boiled.
Take from a pint and a half of new milk or of cream sufficient to mix
four ounces of flour of rice to a perfectly smooth batter; put the
remainder into a very clean, well-tinned saucepan or stewpan, and when
it boils, stir the rice briskly to it; let it simmer, keeping it stirred
all the time, for ten minutes, or more should it not be very thick; then
mix well with it two ounces of fresh butter, one and a half of pounded
sugar, and the grated rind of a fine lemon (or let the sugar which is
used for it be well rubbed on the lemon before it is crushed to powder);
in two or three minutes take it from the fire, and beat quickly and
carefully to it by degrees the yolks of six eggs; whisk the whites to a
very firm solid froth, and when the pan is buttered, and all else quite
ready for the oven, stir them gently to the other ingredients; pour the
_soufflé_ immediately into the pan and place it in a moderate oven, of
which keep the door closed for a quarter of an hour at least. When the
_soufflé_ has risen very high, is of a fine colour, and quite done in
the centre, which it will be in from half to three-quarters of an hour,
send it instantly to table. The exact time for baking it depends so much
on the oven that it cannot be precisely specified. We have known quite a
small one not too much baked in forty-five minutes in an _iron_ oven;
but generally less time will suffice for them: the heat, however, should
always be moderate.
New milk or cream, 1-1/2 pint; flour of rice, 4 oz.; fresh butter, 2
oz.; pounded sugar, 1-1/2 oz.; eggs, 6; grain of salt; rind, 1 lemon: 30
to 45 minutes.
_Obs. 1._—The _soufflé_ may be flavoured with vanilla, orange-flowers,
or aught else that is liked. Chocolate and coffee also may be used for
it with soaked bread: a very strong infusion of the last, and an ounce
or two of the other, melted with a little water, are to be added to the
milk and bread.
_Obs. 2._—A _soufflé_ is commonly served in a dinner of ceremony as a
remove of the second-course roast; but a good plan for this, as for a
_fondu_, is to have it quickly handed round, instead of being placed
upon the table.
LOUISE FRANKS’ CITRON SOUFFLÉ.
To obtain the flavour of the citron-rind for this celebrated Swedish
_soufflé_, take a lump of sugar which weighs two ounces and a half, and
rub it on the fruit to extract the essence, or should the citron not be
sufficiently fresh to yield it by this means, pare it off in the
thinnest possible strips and infuse it by the side of the fire in the
cream of which the _soufflé_ is to be made. Should the first method be
pursued, crush the sugar to powder and dry it a little before it is
added to the other ingredients. Blend very smoothly two ounces of
potato-flour with a quarter of a pint of milk, and pour boiling to them
a pint of good cream; stir the mixture in a large basin or bowl until it
thickens, then throw in a grain of salt, two ounces of fresh butter just
dissolved in a small saucepan, and the sugar which has been rubbed on
the citron; or should the rind have been pared, the same weight some of
which is merely pounded. Add next, by degrees, the thoroughly whisked
yolks of six fresh eggs, or seven should they be _very_ small. Beat the
whites lightly and quickly until they are sufficiently firm to remain
standing in points when dropped from the whisk; mix them with the other
ingredients at the mouth of the oven, but without _beating_ them; fill
the _soufflé_-pan less than half full; set it instantly into the oven,
which should be gentle, but not exceedingly slow, close the door
immediately, and do not open it for fifteen or twenty minutes: in from
thirty to forty the _soufflé_ will be ready for table unless the oven
should be very cool: a fierce degree of heat will have a most
unfavourable effect upon it.
Rind of half citron (that of a Seville orange may be substituted on
occasions); sugar, 2-1/2 oz.; cream, 1 pint; potato-flour, 2 oz.; milk,
1/4 pint; butter, 2 oz.; yolks and white of 6 large or of 7 small eggs:
30 to 40 minutes, or more in very slow oven.
_Obs._—The fresh citron would appear to be brought as yet but very
sparingly into the English market, though it may sometimes be procured
of first-rate fruiterers. Nothing can well be finer than its highly
aromatic flavour, which is infinitely superior to that of any other
fruit of its species that we have ever tasted. We have had delicious
preparations made too from the young green citron when extremely small,
of which we may have occasion to speak elsewhere.
A FONDU, OR CHEESE SOUFFLÉ.
Mix to a smooth batter, with a quarter of a pint of new milk, two ounces
of potato-flour, arrow-root, or _tous les mois_; pour boiling to them
three-quarters of a pint more of milk, or of cream in preference: stir
them well together, and then throw in two ounces of butter cut small.
When this is melted, and well-beaten into the mixture, add the
well-whisked yolks of four large or of five small eggs, half a
teaspoonful of salt, something less of cayenne, and three ounces of
lightly-grated cheese, Parmesan or English, or equal parts of both.
Whisk the whites of the eggs to a quite firm and solid froth; then
proceed, as for a _soufflé_, to mix and bake the _fondu_.
20 minutes.
OBSERVATIONS ON OMLETS, FRITTERS, &C.
The composition and nature of a _soufflé_, as we have shown, are
altogether different, but there is no difficulty in making good omlets,
pancakes, or fritters; and as they may be expeditiously prepared and
served, they are often a very convenient resource when, on short notice,
an addition is required to a dinner. The eggs for all of them should be
well and lightly whisked; the lard for frying batter should be extremely
pure in flavour, and quite hot when the fritters are dropped in; the
batter itself should be smooth as cream, and it should be briskly beaten
the instant before it is used. All fried pastes should be perfectly
drained from the fat before they are served, and sent to table promptly
when they are ready. Eggs may be dressed in a multiplicity of ways, but
are seldom more relished in any form than in a well-made and
expeditiously served omlet. This may be plain, or seasoned with minced
herbs and a very little eschalot, when the last is liked, and is then
called an “_Omlette aux fines herbes_;” or it may be mixed with minced
ham, or grated cheese; in any case, it should be light, thick,
full-tasted, and _fried only on one side_; if turned in the pan, as it
frequently is in England, it will at once be flattened and rendered
tough. Should the slight rawness which is sometimes found in the middle
of the inside, when the omlet is made in the French way, be objected to,
a heated shovel, or a salamander, may be held over it for an instant,
before it is folded on the dish. The pan for frying it should be quite
small; for if it be composed of four or five eggs only, and then put
into a large one, it will necessarily spread over it and be thin, which
would render it more like a pancake than an omlet; the only partial
remedy for this, when a pan of proper size cannot be had, is to raise
the handle of it high, and to keep the opposite side close down to the
fire, which will confine the eggs into a smaller space. No gravy should
be poured into the dish with it, and indeed, if properly made, it will
require none. Lard is preferable to butter for frying batter, as it
renders it lighter; but it must not be used for omlets.
A COMMON OMLET.
Six eggs are sufficient for an omlet of moderate size. Let them be very
fresh; break them singly and carefully; clear them in the way we have
already pointed out in the introduction to boiled puddings, or when they
are sufficiently whisked pour them through a sieve, and resume the
beating until they are very light. Add to them from half to a whole
teaspoonful of salt, and a seasoning of pepper. Dissolve in a small
frying-pan a couple of ounces of butter, pour in the eggs, and as soon
as the omlet is well risen and firm throughout, slide it on to a hot
dish, fold it together like a turnover, and serve it _immediately_; from
five to seven minutes will fry it.
For other varieties of the omlet, see the observations which precede
this.
Eggs, 5; butter, 2 oz.; seasoning of salt and pepper: 5 to 7 minutes.
AN OMLETTE SOUFFLÉ. SECOND COURSE REMOVE OF ROAST.[133]
Footnote 133:
Served also as an _entremets_.
Separate, as they are broken, the whites from the yolks of six fine
fresh eggs; beat these last thoroughly, first by themselves and then
with four tablespoonsful of dry, white sifted sugar, and the rind of
half a lemon grated on a fine grater. Whisk the whites to a solid froth,
and just before the omlet is poured into the pan, mix them well, but
lightly, with the yolks. Put four ounces of fresh butter into a very
small delicately clean omlet or frying pan, and as soon as it is all
dissolved, add the eggs and stir them round that they may absorb it
entirely. When the under side is just set, turn the omlet into a
well-buttered dish, and send it to a tolerably brisk oven. From five to
ten minutes will bake it; and it must be served the _instant_ it is
taken out; carried, indeed, as quickly as possible to table from the
oven. It will have risen to a great height, but will sink and become
heavy in a very short space of time: if sugar be sifted over it, let it
be done with the utmost expedition.
Eggs, 6; sugar, 4 tablespoonsful; rind, 1/2 lemon; butter, 4 oz.: omlet
baked, 5 to 10 minutes.
_Obs._—This _omlette_ may be served on a layer of apricot-marmalade
which must be spread over the dish in which it is to be baked, and sent
to table before the _omlette_ is turned into it.
PLAIN COMMON FRITTERS.
Mix with three well-whisked eggs a quarter of a pint of milk, and strain
them through a fine sieve; add them gradually to three large
tablespoonsful of flour, and thin the batter with as much more milk as
will bring it to the consistence of cream; beat it up thoroughly at the
moment of using it, that the fritters may be light. Drop it in small
portions from a spouted jug or basin into boiling lard; when lightly
coloured on one side, turn the fritters, drain them well from the lard
as they are lifted out, and serve them very quickly. They are eaten
generally with fine sugar, and orange or lemon juice: the first of these
may be sifted quickly over them after they are dished, and the oranges
or lemons halved or quartered, and sent to table with them. The lard
used for frying them should be fresh and pure-flavoured: it renders them
more crisp and light than butter, and is, therefore, better suited to
the purpose. These fritters may be agreeably varied by mingling with the
batter just before it is used two or three ounces of well cleaned and
well dried currants, or three or four apples of a good boiling kind
_not_ very finely minced. Double the quantity of batter will be required
for a large dish.
Eggs, 3; flour, 3 tablespoonsful; milk, 1/4 to 1/2 pint.
PANCAKES.
These may be made with the same batter as fritters, if it be
sufficiently thinned with an additional egg or two, or a little milk or
cream, to spread quickly over the pan: to fry them well, this ought to
be small. When the batter is ready, heat the pan over a clear fire and
rub it with butter in every part, then pour in sufficient batter to
spread over it entirely, and let the pancake be very thin: in this case
it will require no turning, but otherwise it must be tossed over with a
sudden jerk of the pan, in which the cook who is not somewhat expert
will not always succeed; therefore the safer plan is to make them so
thin that they will not require this. Keep them hot before the fire or
in the stove-oven until a sufficient number are ready to send to table,
then proceed with a second supply, as they should always be quickly
served. Either pile them one on the other with sugar strewed between, or
spread quickly over them, as they are done, some apricot or other good
preserve, and roll them up: in the latter case, they may be neatly
divided and dished in a circle. Clotted cream is sometimes sent to table
with them. A richer kind of pancake may be made with a pint of cream, or
of cream and new milk mixed, five eggs or their yolks only, a couple of
ounces of flour, a little pounded cinnamon or lemon-rind rasped on sugar
and scraped into them, with two ounces more of pounded sugar, and two
ounces of clarified butter: a few ratifias rolled to powder may be added
at pleasure, or three or four macaroons.
From 4 to 5 minutes.
FRITTERS OF CAKE AND PUDDING.
Cut plain pound, or rice cake, or rich seed cake, into small square
slices half an inch thick; trim away the crust, fry them slowly a light
brown in a small quantity of fresh butter, and spread over them when
done a layer of apricot-jam, or of any other preserve, and serve them
immediately. These fritters are improved by being moistened with a
little good cream before they are fried: they must then be slightly
floured. Cold plum-pudding sliced down as thick as the cake, and divided
into portions of equal size and good form, then dipped into French or
English batter and gently fried, will also make an agreeable variety of
fritter. Orange marmalade and Devonshire cream may be served in separate
layers on the _seed cake_ fritters. The whole of the above may be cut of
uniform size and shaped with a round cake-cutter.
MINCEMEAT FRITTERS.
With half a pound of mincemeat mix two ounces of fine bread-crumbs (or a
tablespoonful of flour), two eggs well beaten, and the strained juice of
half a small lemon. Mix these well, and drop the fritters with a
dessertspoon into plenty of very pure lard or fresh butter; fry them
from seven to eight minutes, drain them on a napkin or on white blotting
paper, and send them very hot to table: they should be quite small.
Mincemeat, 1/2 lb.; bread-crumbs, 2 oz. (or flour, 1 tablespoonful);
eggs, 2; juice of 1/2 lemon: 7 to 8 minutes.
VENETIAN FRITTERS.
(_Very good._)
Wash and drain three ounces of whole rice, put it into a full pint of
cold milk, and bring it very slowly to boil; stir it often, and let it
simmer gently until it is quite thick and dry. When about three parts
done, add to it two ounces of pounded sugar, and one of fresh butter, a
grain of salt, and the grated rind of half a small lemon. Let it cool in
the saucepan, and when only just warm, mix with it thoroughly three
ounces of currants, four of apples chopped fine, a teaspoonful of flour,
and three large or four small well-beaten eggs. Drop the mixture in
small fritters, fry them in butter from five to seven minutes, and let
them become quite firm on one side before they are turned: do this with
a slice. Drain them as they are taken up, and sift white sugar over them
after they are dished.
Whole rice, 3 oz.; milk, 1 pint; sugar, 2 oz.; butter, 1 oz.; grated
rind of 1/2 lemon; currants, 3 oz.; minced apples, 4 oz.; flour, 1
teaspoonful; a little salt; eggs, 3 large, or 4 small: 5 to 7 minutes.
RHUBARB FRITTERS.
The rhubarb for these should be of a good sort, quickly grown, and
tender. Pare, cut it into equal lengths, and throw it into the French
batter of page 130; with a fork lift the stalks separately, and put them
into a pan of boiling lard or butter: in from five to six minutes they
will be done. Drain them well and dish them on a napkin, or pile them
high without one, and strew sifted sugar plentifully over them. They
should be of a very light brown, and quite dry and crisp. The young
stalks look well when left the length of the dish in which they are
served, and only slightly encrusted with the batter, through which they
should be merely drawn.
5 to 6 minutes.
APPLE, PEACH, APRICOT, OR ORANGE FRITTERS.
Pare and core without dividing the apples, slice them in rounds the full
size of the fruit, dip them into the same batter as that directed for
the preceding fritters, fry them a pale brown, and let them be very dry.
Serve them heaped high upon a folded napkin, and strew sifted sugar over
them. After having stripped the outer rind from the oranges, remove
carefully the white inner skin, and in slicing them take out the pips;
then dip them into the batter and proceed as for the apple fritters. The
peaches and apricots should be merely skinned, halved, and stoned before
they are drawn through the batter, unless they should not be fully ripe,
when they must first be stewed tender in a thin syrup.
8 to 12 minutes
BRIOCHE FRITTERS.
The brioche-paste,[134] when good, makes very superior cannelons and
fritters: it is, we should say, better in this form than in that of the
bun or cake, in which it is seen so commonly abroad. Make it, for the
fritters, into very small balls; roll them quite thin, put a teaspoonful
or less of rich preserve into each, moisten the edges and fold the paste
together securely, or with a _small_ tin shape cut as many rounds of the
brioche as are wanted, place some preserve in the centre of one half of
these, moisten the edges, lay the remainder lightly over them, press
them carefully together and restore them to a good form with the
tin-cutter, by trimming them with it to their original size; glide them
gently into a pan of boiling lard, and fry them from four and a half to
five minutes. Serve them very hot, crisp, and dry, piled on a folded
napkin. The cannelons are made like those of paste, and are very good.
They are sometimes filled with lemon-cheesecake mixture, or with Madame
Werner’s (see Chapter XVIII.)
Footnote 134:
For this see page 347.
Fritters, 4-1/2 to 5 minutes; cannelons, 5 to 6 minutes.
POTATO FRITTERS. (ENTREMETS.)
The same mixture as for potato puddings, Chapter XXI., if dropped in
small portions into boiling butter, and fried until brown on both sides,
will make potato-fritters. Half the proportion of ingredients will be
quite sufficient for a dish of these.
LEMON FRITTERS. (ENTREMETS.)
Mix with six ounces of very fine bread-crumbs four of beef suet minced
as small as possible, four ounces of pounded sugar, a small
tablespoonful of flour, four whole eggs well and lightly whisked, and
the grated rind of one large or of two small lemons, with half or the
whole of the juice, at choice; but before this last is stirred in, add a
spoonful or two of milk or cream if needed. Fry the mixture in small
fritters for five or six minutes.
CANNELONS. (ENTREMETS.)
[Illustration]
Roll out very thin and evenly some fine puff-paste into a long strip of
from three to four inches wide, moisten the surface with a feather
dipped in white of egg, and cut it into bands of nearly two inches wide;
lay some apricot or peach marmalade equally along these, and fold the
paste twice over it, close the ends carefully, and when all are ready,
slide them gently into a pan of boiling lard;[135] as soon as they begin
to brown, raise the pan from the fire that they may not take too much
colour before the paste is done quite through. Five minutes will fry
them. Drain them well, and dry them on a soft cloth before the fire;
dish them on a napkin, and place one layer crossing another, or merely
pile them high in the centre. If well made, and served of a light brown
and very dry, these cannelons are excellent: when lard is objected to
butter may be used instead, but the paste will then be somewhat less
light. Only lard of the purest quality will answer for the purpose.
Footnote 135:
Cannelons may be either baked or fried: if sent to the oven, they may
first be glazed with white of egg and sugar.
5 minutes.
CANNELONS OF BRIOCHE PASTE. (ENTREMETS.)
Proceed exactly as for the cannelons above, substituting the brioche for
the puff-paste, and rolling it as thin as possible, as it swells very
much in the pan. Fine sugar may be sifted over these after they are
dried and dished.
4 or 5 minutes.
CROQUETTES OF RICE. (ENTREMETS.)
[Illustration:
Croquettes.
]
Wipe very clean, in a dry cloth, seven ounces of rice, put it into a
clean stewpan, and pour on it a quart of new milk; let it swell gently
by the side of the fire, and stir it often that it may not stick to the
pan, nor burn; when it is about half done, stir to it five ounces of
pounded sugar, and six bitter almonds beaten extremely fine: the thin
rind of half a fresh lemon may be added in the first instance. The rice
must be simmered until it is soft, and very thick and dry; it should
then be spread on a dish, and left until cold, when it is to be rolled
into small balls, which must be dipped into beaten egg, and then covered
in every part with the finest bread-crumbs. When all are ready, fry them
a light brown in fresh butter, and dry them well before the fire, upon a
sieve reversed and covered with a very soft cloth, or with a sheet of
white blotting paper. Pile them in a hot dish, and send them to table
quickly.
Rice, 7 oz.; milk, 1 quart; rind of lemon: 3/4 hour. Sugar, 5 oz. bitter
almonds, 6: 40 to 60 minutes, or more. Fried, 5 to 7 minutes.
FINER CROQUETTES OF RICE. (ENTREMETS.)
Swell the rice in thin cream, or in new milk strongly flavoured with
vanilla or cocoa-nut; add the same ingredients as in the foregoing
receipt, and when the rice is cold, form it into balls, and with the
thumb of the right hand hollow them sufficiently to admit in the centre
a small portion of peach jam, or of apricot marmalade; close the rice
well over it; egg, crumb, and fry the croquettes as usual. As, from the
difference of quality, the same proportions of rice and milk will not
always produce the same effect, the cook must use her discretion in
adding, should it be needed, sufficient liquid to soften the rice
perfectly: but she must bear in mind that if not boiled extremely thick
and dry, it will be difficult to make it into croquettes.[136]
Footnote 136:
We must repeat here what we have elsewhere stated as the result of
_many_ trials of it, that good rice will absorb and become tender with
three times its own bulk or measure of liquid. Thus, an exact half
pint (or half pound) will require a pint and a half, with an extremely
gentle degree of heat, to convert it into a thoroughly soft but firm
mass; which would, perhaps, be rather too dry for _croquettes_. A pint
of milk to four ounces of rice, if well managed, would answer better.
SAVOURY CROQUETTES OF RICE. (ENTRÉE.)
These are made with the same preparation as the _casserole_ of rice of
Chapter XVIII., but it must be boiled very dry, and left to become quite
cold before it is used. A few spoonsful of rich white sauce stirred into
it when it is nearly tender, will improve it much. Form and hollow the
croquettes as directed in the last receipt; fill them with a small
portion of minced fowl, partridge, or pheasant in a thick sauce, or with
a stewed oyster or two cut in quarters; close the rice perfectly over
them; egg, and crumb the croquettes, fry and serve them garnished with
crisped parsley. French cooks mix sometimes a little grated Parmesan
cheese with the rice at the moment it is taken from the fire, and roll
the croquettes in more after they are egged; they press this on and dip
them again in egg, and then into the crumbs. Raise the pan high above
the fire when the croquettes are lightly browned, that they may heat
through; then heighten the colour, and lift them out immediately.
RISSOLES. (ENTRÉE.)
This is the French name for small fried pastry of various forms, filled
with meat or fish previously cooked; they may be made with _brioche_, or
with light puff-paste, either of which must be rolled extremely thin.
Cut it with a small round cutter fluted or plain; put a little rich
mince, or good pounded meat, in the centre, and moisten the edges, and
press them securely together that they may not burst open in the frying.
The rissoles may be formed like small patties, by laying a second round
of paste over the meat, or like _cannelons_; they may, likewise, be
brushed with egg, and sprinkled with vermicelli, broken small, or with
fine crumbs. They are sometimes made in the form of _croquettes_, the
paste being gathered round the meat, which must form a ball.[137]
Footnote 137:
If our space will permit, more minute directions for these, and other
small dishes of the kind, shall be given in the chapter of Foreign
Cookery.
In frying them, adopt the same plan as for the _croquettes_, raising the
pan as soon as the paste is lightly coloured. Serve all these fried
dishes well drained, and on a napkin.
From 5 to 7 minutes, or less.
VERY SAVOURY ENGLISH RISSOLES. (ENTRÉE.)
Make the forcemeat No. 1, Chapter VIII., sufficiently firm with unbeaten
yolk of egg, to roll rather thin on a well-floured board; cut it into
very small rounds, put a little pounded chicken in the centre of one
half, moistening the edges with water, or white of egg, lay the
remaining rounds over these, close them securely, and fry them in butter
a fine light brown; drain and dry them well, and heap them in the middle
of a hot dish, upon a napkin folded flat: these _rissoles_ may be egged
and crumbed before they are fried.
SMALL FRIED BREAD PATTIES, OR CROUSTADES OF VARIOUS KINDS.
These may be either sweet or savoury, and many of them may be so
promptly prepared, that they offer a ready resource when an extra dish
is unexpectedly required. They should be carefully fried very crisp, and
of a fine equal gold colour, either in clarified marrow, for which we
give our own receipt, or in really good butter.
DRESDEN PATTIES, OR CROUSTADES.
(_Very delicate._)
Pare the crust neatly from one or two French rolls, slice off the ends,
and divide the remainder into as many patties as the size of the rolls
will allow; hollow them in the centre, dip them into milk or thin cream,
and lay them on a drainer over a dish; pour a spoonful or two more of
milk over them at intervals, but not sufficient to cause them to break;
brush them with egg, rasp the crust of the rolls over them, fry and
drain them well, fill them with a good mince, or with stewed mushrooms
or oysters, and serve them very hot upon a napkin; they may be filled
for the second course with warm apricot marmalade, cherry-jam, or other
good preserve. This receipt came to us _direct from Dresden_, and on
testing it we found it answer excellently, and inserted it in an earlier
edition of the present work. We name this simply because it has been
appropriated, with many other of our receipts, by a contemporary writer
without a word of acknowledgment.
TO PREPARE BEEF MARROW FOR FRYING CROUSTADES, SAVOURY TOASTS, &C.
At a season when butter of pure flavour is often procured with
difficulty, beef-marrow, carefully clarified, is a valuable substitute
for it; and, as it is abundantly contained in the joints which are in
constant request for soup-making, it is of slight comparative cost in a
well managed kitchen. It is often thrown into the stock-pot by careless
or indolent cooks, instead of being rendered available for the many
purposes to which it is admirably adapted. Take it from the bones as
fresh as possible, put it into a white jar, and melt it with a _very
gentle_ degree of heat at the mouth of the oven, or by the side of the
stove, taking all precaution to prevent its being smoked or discoloured;
strain it off, through a very fine sieve or muslin, into a clean pan or
pans, and set it aside for use. It will be entirely flavourless if
prepared with due care and attention; but, if dissolved with too great a
degree of heat, it will acquire the taste almost of dripping. A small
quantity of fine salt may be sprinkled into the pan with it when it is
used for frying.
SMALL CROUSTADES, OR BREAD PATTIES, DRESSED IN MARROW.
(_Author’s Receipt._)
Cut very evenly, from a firm stale loaf, slices nearly an inch and a
half thick, and with a plain or fluted paste-cutter of between two and
three inches wide press out the number of patties required, loosening
them gently from the tin, to prevent their breaking; then, with a plain
cutter, scarcely more than half the size, mark out the space which is
afterwards to be hollowed from it. Melt some clarified beef-marrow in a
small saucepan or frying-pan, and, when it begins to boil, put in the
patties, and fry them gently until they are equally coloured of a pale
golden brown. In lifting them from the pan, let the marrow (or butter)
drain well from them; take out the rounds which have been marked on the
tops, and scoop out part of the inside crumb, but leave them thick
enough to contain securely the gravy of the preparation put into them.
Fill them with any good patty-meat, and serve them very hot on a napkin.
_Obs._—These _croustades_ are equally good if dipped into clarified
butter or marrow, and baked in a tolerably quick oven. It is well, in
either case, to place them on a warm sheet of double white
blotting-paper while they are being filled, as it will absorb the
superfluous fat. A rich mince, with a thick, well-adhering sauce, either
of mutton and mushrooms, or oysters, or with fine herbs and an eschalot
or two; or of venison, or hare, or partridges, may be appropriately used
for them.
SMALL CROUSTADES À LA BONNE MAMAN.
(_The Grandmama’s Patties._)
Prepare the _croustades_ as above, or use for them French rolls of very
even shape, cut in thick equal slices. If quite round, the crust may be
left on; mark each slice with a small cutter in the centre, dip the
_croustades_ into butter or marrow, fry them lightly, or bake them
without permitting them to become very hard; empty, and then fill them;
dish them without a napkin, and pour some good brown gravy round, but
not _over_ them.
_Obs._—From being cooked without butter, these and the preceding patties
are adapted to a Jewish table.
CURRIED TOASTS WITH ANCHOVIES.
Fry lightly, in good butter, clarified marrow, or very pure olive oil,
some slices of bread, free from crust, of about half an inch thick, and
two inches and a half square; lift them on to a dish, and spread a not
very thick layer of Captain White’s currie-paste on the top; place them
in a gentle oven for three or four minutes, then lay two or three
fillets of anchovies on each, replace them in the oven for a couple of
minutes, and send them immediately to table. Their pungency may be
heightened by the addition of cayenne pepper, when a very hot
preparation is liked.
_Obs._—We have spoken but slightly in our chapter of curries of Captain
White’s currie-paste, though for many years we have had it used in
preference to any other, and always found it excellent. Latterly,
however, it has been obtained with rather less facility than when
attention was first attracted to it. The last which we procured
directed, on the label of the jar, that orders for it should be sent per
post to 83, Copenhagen Street, Islington. It may, however, be procured
without doubt from any good purveyor of sauces and other condiments. It
is sold in jars of all sizes, the price of the smallest being
one-and-sixpence. We certainly think it much superior to any of the
others which we have tested, its flavour being peculiarly agreeable.
TO FILLET ANCHOVIES.
Drain them well from the pickle, take off the heads and fins, lay them
separately on a plate, and scrape off the skin entirely; then place them
on a clean dish and with a sharp-edged knife raise the flesh on either
side of the back-bone, passing it from the tail to the shoulders, and
keeping it nearly flat as it is worked along. Divide each side (or
_fillet_) in two, and use them as _directed_ for the preceding toasts or
other purposes. They make excellent simple sandwiches with slices of
bread and butter only; but _very_ superior ones when they are potted or
made into anchovy butter.
SAVOURY TOASTS.
Cut some slices of bread free from crust, about half an inch thick and
two inches and a half square; butter the tops thickly, spread a little
mustard on them, and then cover them with a deep layer of grated cheese
and of ham seasoned rather highly with cayenne; fry them in good butter,
but do not turn them in the pan; lift them out, and place them in a
Dutch oven for three or [TN: missing word.] minutes to dissolve the
cheese: serve them very hot.
To 4 tablespoonsful of grated English cheese, an equal portion of very
finely minced, or grated ham; but of Parmesan, or Gruyère, 6
tablespoonsful. Seasoning of mustard and cayenne.
_Obs._—These toasts, for which we give the original receipt unaltered,
may be served in the cheese-course of a dinner. Such mere “_relishes_”
as they are called, do not seem to us to demand much of our space, or
many of them which are very easy of preparation might be inserted here:
a good cook, however, will easily supply them at slight expense.
Truffles minced, seasoned, and stewed tender in butter with an eschalot
or two, may be served on fried toasts or _croûtons_ and will generally
be liked.
TO CHOOSE MACCARONI AND OTHER ITALIAN PASTES.
The Naples maccaroni, of which the pipes are large, and somewhat thin,
should be selected for the table in preference to the Genoa, which is
less in size, but more substantial, and better suited to the formation
of the various fanciful _timbales_[138] for which it is usually
chosen. We have inserted here no receipts for these, because unless
very skilfully prepared they are sure to fail, and they are not in
much request in this country, unless it be at the tables of the
aristocracy, for which they are prepared by efficient cooks. Of the
ribbon maccaroni (or _lazanges_) we have given particulars in the
pages which follow. The _macaroncini_, though not much larger than a
straw, requires much boiling for its size, to render it soft. The
celery-maccaroni is made very large and of an ornamental form, but in
short lengths. It is used by “professed” cooks as a sort of crust or
case for _quenelle_-forcemeat, or other expensive preparations of the
same nature. The ring or _cut_ maccaroni is another form given to the
Italian paste: it may be had at almost any good foreign warehouse.
Footnote 138:
For an explanation of the term _timbale_, the reader is referred to
the glossary at the commencement of this volume.
All these pastes should be of a yellowish tint (by no means _white_ as
one sees them when they are of inferior quality); they should also be
quite fresh, as they contract a most unpleasant flavour from being too
long stored. The Naples vermicelli, which is much larger than any other,
may be dressed like maccaroni: by many persons it is also preferred to
the smaller varieties for serving in soup.
TO BOIL MACCARONI.
We have always found the continental mode of dressing maccaroni the
best. English cooks sometimes soak it in milk and water for an hour or
more, before it is boiled, that the pipes may be swollen to the utmost,
but this is apt to render it pulpy, though its appearance may be
improved by it. Drop it lightly, and by degrees, into a large pan of
fast-boiling water, into which a little salt, and a bit of butter the
size of a walnut, have previously been thrown, and of which the boiling
should not be stopped by the addition of the maccaroni. In about
three-quarters of an hour the Naples maccaroni will be sufficiently
tender: every kind should always be perfectly cooked, for otherwise it
will prove very indigestible, but the pipes of that commonly served
should remain entire. Pour it into a large cullender, and drain the
water well from it. It should be very softly boiled after the first
minute or two.
_Time of boiling_:—Naples maccaroni, about 3/4 hour; Genoa, nearly or
quite 1 hour; _macaroncini_, 20 to 25 minutes; cut maccaroni, 10
minutes; Naples vermicelli (in water), about 20 minutes; longer in soup,
or milk.
RIBBON MACCARONI.[139]
Footnote 139:
The best ribbon-maccaroni which we have ever had, was from Mr.
Cobbett’s, 18, Pall Mall. It is rather higher in price than the pipe
maccaroni, but swells so much in the boiling that a large quantity of
it is not required for a dish. We ought to add that Mr. Cobbett’s is
not a professedly cheap house, but that all he supplies is of
excellent quality.
This kind of maccaroni, though more delicate in flavour and much more
quickly boiled than the pipe maccaroni, is far less frequently seen at
English tables; yet it is extremely good in many simple forms and very
wholesome, therefore well suited to invalids and children as well as to
persons in health. Drop it gradually into plenty of boiling water, and
turn it over occasionally that it may be equally done. Drain it
thoroughly when it is perfectly tender, and serve it quickly either
quite plain, to be eaten instead of vegetables or rice; or with a
_compote_ of fruit; or with sugar and cinnamon, or lemon juice; or
prepared in any of the modes indicated for the Naples maccaroni.
To be boiled 15 to 18 minutes.
DRESSED MACCARONI.
After careful and repeated trial of different modes of dressing various
kinds of maccaroni, we find that in preparing them with Parmesan cheese,
unmixed with any of a more mellow nature, there is always a chance of
failure, from its tendency to gather into lumps; we would therefore
recommend the inexperienced reader to substitute for it in part, at
least, any finely flavoured English cheese; and the better to ensure its
blending smoothly with the other ingredients (when neither white, nor
any other thickened sauce is used with it), to dissolve the butter, and
to stir to it a small teaspoonful of flour, before any liquid is added,
then carefully to mix with it the cream or gravy, as directed for _Sauce
Tournée_, Chapter V., and to give this a boil before the maccaroni and
cheese are added: if gently tossed as these become hot, the whole will
be smooth, and the cheese will adhere properly to the paste. Four ounces
of pipe maccaroni is sufficient for a small dish, but from six to eight
should be prepared for a family party where it is liked. The common
English mode of dressing it is with grated cheese, butter, and cream, or
milk. French cooks substitute generally a spoonful or two of very strong
rich jellied gravy for the cream; and the Italians, amongst their many
other modes of serving it, toss it in rich brown gravy, with sufficient
grated cheese to flavour the whole strongly; they send it to table also
simply laid into a good _Espagnole_ or brown gravy (that drawn from the
_stufato_,[140] for example), accompanied by a plate of grated cheese.
Another, and an easy mode of dressing it is to boil and drain it well,
and to put it into a deep dish, strewing grated cheese on every layer,
and adding bits of fresh butter to it. The top, in this case, should be
covered with a layer of fine bread-crumbs, mixed with grated cheese;
these should be moistened plentifully with clarified butter, and colour
given to them in the oven, or before the fire; the crumbs may be
omitted, and a layer of cheese substituted for them. An excellent
preparation of maccaroni may be made with any well-flavoured, dry white
cheese, which can be grated easily, at much less cost than with the
Parmesan, which is expensive, and in the country not always procurable:
and we think that the brown gravy and a seasoning of cayenne are great
improvements to it.
Footnote 140:
See Chapter of Foreign Cookery.
Maccaroni, 6 oz.; butter, 3 oz.; Parmesan (or other) cheese, 6 oz.;
cream, 4 tablespoonsful.
_Obs._—Less of butter and cheese can be used by the strict economist.
MACCARONI À LA REINE.
This is a very excellent and delicate mode of dressing maccaroni. Boil
eight ounces in the usual way, and by the time it is sufficiently
tender, dissolve gently ten ounces of any rich, well flavoured white
cheese in full three-quarters of a pint of good cream; add a little
salt, a rather full seasoning of cayenne, from half to a whole
saltspoonful of pounded mace, and a couple of ounces of sweet fresh
butter. The cheese should, in the first instance, be sliced very thin,
and taken quite free of the hard part adjoining the rind; it should be
stirred in the cream without intermission until it is entirely
dissolved, and the whole is perfectly smooth: the maccaroni, previously
well drained, may then be tossed gently in it, or after it is dished,
the cheese may be poured equally over the maccaroni. The whole, in
either case, may be thickly covered before it is sent to table, with
fine crumbs of bread fried of a pale gold colour, and dried perfectly,
either before the fire or in an oven, when such an addition is
considered an improvement. As a matter of precaution, it is better to
boil the cream before the cheese is melted in it; rich white sauce, or
_béchamel_, made not very thick, with an additional ounce or two of
butter, may be used to vary and enrich this preparation. If Parmesan
cheese be used for it, it must of course be grated; but, as we have said
before, it will not easily blend with the other ingredients so as to be
smooth. A portion of Stilton, free from the blue mould, would have a
good effect in the present receipt. Half the quantity may be served.
Maccaroni, 1/2 lb.; cheese, 10 oz.; good cream, 3/4 pint (or rich white
sauce); butter, 2 oz. (or more); little salt, _fine_ cayenne, and mace.
SEMOULINA AND POLENTA À L’ITALIENNE. (GOOD.)
(_To serve instead of Maccaroni._)
[Illustration:
Maize.
]
Throw into a quart of milk, when it is fast boiling, half a teaspoonful
of salt, and then shake lightly into it five ounces of the _best_
semoulina; stir the milk as this is added, and continue to do so from
eight to ten minutes, letting the mixture boil gently during the time.
It should be very thick, and great care must be taken to prevent its
sticking to the saucepan, which should be placed over a clear fire on a
bar or trivet, but not _upon_ the coals. Pour the semoulina, when it is
done, into a basin, or a plain mould which it will not fill by an inch
or two, and let it remain some hours in a cool place, that it may become
perfectly cold; it will then turn out quite solid, and like a pudding in
appearance. Cut it with a large, sharp carving-knife, or a bit of thin
wire, into half-inch slices; wash the basin into which it was poured at
first, and butter it well; grate from six to eight ounces of good cheese
(Parmesan, or any other), and mix with it a half-teaspoonful of cayenne,
and twice as much pounded mace; clarify from two to three ounces of
fresh butter, and put a small quantity into the basin, strew in a little
of the cheese, and then lay in the first slice of the semoulina, on this
put a thick layer of the cheese, moisten it with some drops of butter,
and place the second slice upon it; then more cheese and butter, and
continue thus until all the semoulina is replaced in the basin; put
plenty of cheese upon the top, add the remainder of the clarified
butter, and bake the mixture for about half an hour in a gentle oven. It
should be of a fine golden colour when served. Turn it carefully into a
dish, and send it instantly to table. A little rich brown gravy poured
round might, to some tastes, improve it, but it is excellent without,
and may be substituted for maccaroni, which it much resembles in
flavour. It may be enriched by adding butter to the milk, or by mixing
with it a portion of cream; and it may be browned in a Dutch oven, when
no other is in use.
In Italy the flour of Indian corn, which is much grown there, and eaten
by all ranks of people, is used for this dish; but the semoulina is
perhaps rather better suited to English taste and habits of diet, from
being somewhat lighter and more delicate. The maize-flour imported from
Italy is sold at the foreign warehouses here under the name of
_polenta_,[141] though that properly speaking is, we believe, a boiled
or stewed preparation of it, which forms the most common food of the
poorer classes of the inhabitants of many of the Italian states. It
seems to us superior in quality to the Indian corn flour grown in
America.
Footnote 141:
This was vended at a sufficiently high price in this country before
the maize meal was so largely imported here from America.
New milk (or milk mixed with cream), 1 quart; salt, large 1/2
teaspoonful; semoulina, 5 oz.: 10 minutes. Grated cheese, 6 to 8 oz.;
cayenne, 1/2 teaspoonful; mace, 1 small teaspoonful; butter, 2 to 3 oz.:
baked 1/2 hour, gentle oven.
_Obs._—A plain mould can be used instead of the basin.
FOR VARIOUS MODES OF DRESSING EGGS, SEE CHAPTER XXII.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER XX.
=Boiled Puddings.=
[Illustration]
GENERAL DIRECTIONS.
[Illustration:
Pudding Mould.
]
ALL the ingredients for puddings should be fresh and of good quality. It
is a false economy to use for them such as have been too long stored, as
the slightest degree of mustiness or taint in any one of the articles of
which they are composed will spoil all that are combined with it. Eggs
should _always_ be broken separately into a cup before they are thrown
together in the same basin, as a single very bad one will occasion the
loss of many when this precaution is neglected. They should also be
cleared from the specks with scrupulous attention, either with the point
of a small three-pronged fork while they are in the cup, or by straining
the whole through a fine hair-sieve after they are beaten. The perfect
sweetness of suet and milk should be especially attended to before they
are mixed into a pudding, as nothing can be more offensive than the
first when it is over-kept, nor worse in its effect than the curdling of
the milk, which is the certain result of its being ever so slightly
soured.
Currants should be cleaned, and raisins stoned with exceeding care;
almonds and spices very finely pounded, and the rinds of oranges or
lemons rasped or grated lightly off, that the bitter part of the skin
may be avoided, when they are used for this, or for any other class of
dishes; if pared, they should be cut as _thin_ as possible.
Custard puddings to have a good appearance, must be _simmered_ only but
without ceasing; for if boiled in a quick and careless manner, the
surface instead of being smooth and velvety, will be full of holes, or
honey-combed, as it is called, and the whey will flow from it and mingle
with the sauce. A thickly-buttered sheet of writing-paper should be laid
between the custard mixture and the cloth before it is tied over, or the
cover of the mould is closed upon it; and the mould itself or the basin
in which it is boiled, and which should always be quite full, must
likewise be well buttered; and after it is lifted from the water the
pudding should be left in it for quite five minutes before it is dished,
to prevent its breaking or spreading about.
Batter is much lighter when boiled in a cloth, and allowed full room to
swell, than when confined in a mould: it should be well beaten the
instant before it is poured into it, and put into the water immediately
after it is securely tied. The cloth should be moist and thickly
floured, and the pudding should be sent to table as expeditiously as
possible after it is done, as it will quickly become heavy. This applies
equally to all puddings made with paste, which are rendered uneatable by
any delay in serving them after they are ready: they should be opened a
little at the top as soon as they are taken from the boiler or stewpan
to permit the escape of the steam from within.
Plum-puddings, which it is customary to boil in moulds, are both lighter
and less dry, when closely tied in stout cloths well buttered and
floured, especially when they are made in part with bread; but when this
is done, care should be taken not to allow them to burn to the bottom of
the pan in which they are cooked; and it is a good plan to lay a plate
or dish under them, by way of precaution against this mischance; it will
not then so much matter whether they be kept floating or not. It is
thought better to mix these entirely (except the liquid portion of them)
the day before they are boiled, and it is perhaps an advantage when they
are of large size to do so, but it is not really necessary for small or
common ones.
A _very_ little salt improves all sweet puddings, by taking off the
insipidity, and bringing out the full flavour of the other ingredients,
but its presence should not be in the slightest degree _perceptible_.
When brandy, wine, or lemon-juice is added to them it should be stirred
in briskly, and by degrees, quite at last, as it would be likely
otherwise to curdle the milk or eggs.
Many persons prefer their puddings steamed; but when this is not done,
they should be dropped into plenty of boiling water, and be kept well
covered with it until they are ready to serve; and the boiling should
never be allowed to cease for an instant, for they soon become heavy if
it be interrupted.
Pudding and dumpling cloths should not only be laid into plenty of water
as soon as they are taken off, and well washed afterwards, but it is
essential to their perfect sweetness that they should be well and
quickly dried (in the open air if possible), then folded and kept in a
clean drawer.
TO CLEAN CURRANTS FOR PUDDINGS OR CAKES.
Put them into a cullender, strew a handful of flour over them, and rub
them gently with the hands to separate the lumps, and to detach the
stalks; work them round in the cullender, and shake it well, when the
small stalks and stones will fall through it. Next pour plenty of cold
water over the currants, drain and spread them on a soft cloth, press it
over them to absorb the moisture, and then lay them on a clean oven-tin,
or a large dish, and dry them _very gradually_ (or they will become
hard), either in a cool oven or before the fire, taking care in the
latter case that they are not placed sufficiently near it for the ashes
to fall amongst them. When they are perfectly dry, clear them entirely
from the remaining stalks, and from _every stone_ that may be amongst
them. The best mode of detecting these is to lay the fruit at the far
end of a large white dish, or sheet of paper, and to pass it lightly,
and in very small portions, with the fingers, towards oneself, examining
it closely as this is done.
TO STEAM A PUDDING IN A COMMON STEWPAN OR SAUCEPAN.
Butter and fill the mould or basin as usual; tie over it, first, a
well-buttered paper, and then a thin floured cloth or muslin, which
should be quite small; gather up and tie the corners, and be careful
that no part of it, or of the paper, reaches to the water; pour in from
two to three inches depth of this, according to the height of the mould,
and when it boils put in the pudding, and press the cover of the stewpan
closely on; then boil it gently without ceasing until it is done. This
is the safer method of boiling all puddings made with polenta, or with
the American flour of maize; as well as many others of the custard kind,
which are easily spoiled by the admission of water to them. As the
evaporation diminishes that in the saucepan, more, ready-boiling, must
be added if necessary; and be poured carefully down the side of the pan
without touching the pudding.
TO MIX BATTER FOR PUDDINGS.
Put the flour and salt into a bowl, and stir them together; whisk the
eggs thoroughly, strain them through a fine hair-sieve, and add them
_very gradually_ to the flour; for if too much liquid be poured to it at
once it will be full of lumps, and it is easy with care to keep the
batter perfectly smooth. Beat it well and lightly with the back of a
strong wooden spoon, and after the eggs are added thin it with milk to a
proper consistence. The whites of the eggs beaten separately to a solid
froth, and stirred gently into the mixture the instant before it is tied
up for boiling, or before it is put into the oven to be baked, will
render it remarkably light. When fruit is added to the batter, it must
be made thicker than when it is served plain, or it will sink to the
bottom of the pudding. Batter should never _stick to the knife_ when it
is sent to table: it will do this both when a sufficient number of eggs
are not mixed with it, and when it is not enough cooked. About four eggs
to the half pound of flour will make it firm enough to cut smoothly.
SUET-CRUST, FOR MEAT OR FRUIT PUDDINGS.
Clear off the skin from some fresh beef kidney-suet, hold it firmly with
a fork, and with a sharp knife slice it thin, free it entirely from
fibre, and mince it very fine: six ounces thus prepared will be found
quite sufficient for a pound of flour. Mix them well together, add half
a teaspoonful of salt for meat puddings, and a third as much for fruit
ones, and sufficient cold water to make the whole into a very firm
paste; work it smooth, and roll it out of equal thickness when it is
used. The weight of suet should be taken after it is minced. This crust
is so much lighter, and more wholesome than that which is made with
butter, that we cannot refrain from recommending it in preference to our
readers. Some cooks merely slice the suet in thin shavings, mix it with
the flour, and beat the crust with a paste-roller, until the flour and
suet are perfectly incorporated; but it is better minced.
Flour, 2 lbs.; suet, 12 oz.; salt, 1 teaspoonful; water, 1 pint.
BUTTER CRUST FOR PUDDINGS.
When suet is disliked for crust, butter must supply its place, but there
must be no intermixture of lard in paste which is to be boiled. Eight
ounces to the pound of flour will render it sufficiently rich for most
eaters, and less will generally be preferred; rich crust of this kind
being more indigestible by far than that which is baked. The butter may
be lightly broken into the flour before the water is added, or it may be
laid on, and rolled into the paste as for puff-crust. A small portion of
salt must be added to it always, and for a meat pudding the same
proportion as directed in the preceding receipt. For kitchen, or for
quite common family puddings, butter and clarified dripping are used
sometimes in equal proportions. From three to four ounces of each will
be sufficient for the pound and quarter of flour.
Flour, 1 lb.; butter, 8 oz.; salt, for fruit puddings, 1/2 saltspoonful;
for meat puddings, 1/2 teaspoonful.
SAVOURY PUDDINGS.
The perfect manner in which the nutriment and flavour of an infinite
variety of viands may be preserved by enclosing and boiling them in
paste, is a great recommendation of this purely English class of dishes,
the advantages of which foreign cooks are beginning to acknowledge. If
really well made, these savoury puddings are worthy of a place on _any_
table; though the decrees of fashion—which in many instances have so
much more influence with us than they deserve—have hitherto confined
them almost entirely to the simple family dinners of the middle classes;
but we are bound to acknowledge that even where they are most commonly
served they are seldom prepared with a creditable degree of skill; and
they are equally uninviting and unwholesome when heavily and coarsely
concocted. From the general suggestions which we make here, and the few
detailed receipts which follow, a clever cook will easily compound them
to suit the taste and means of her employers; for they may be either
very rich and expensive, or quite the reverse. Venison (the neck is best
for the purpose), intermingled or not with truffles; sweetbreads sliced,
and oysters or nicely prepared button-mushrooms in alternate layers,
with good veal stock for gravy;[142] pheasants, partridges, moorfowl,
woodcocks, snipes, plovers, wheatears, may all be converted into the
first class of these; and veal kidneys, seasoned with fine herbs, will
supply another variety of them. Many persons like eels dressed in this
way, but they are unsuited to delicate eaters: and sausages are liable
to the same objection; and so is a _harslet_ pudding, which is held in
much esteem in certain counties, and which is made of the heart, liver,
kidneys, &c., of a pig. We can recommend as both wholesome and
economical the receipts which follow, for the more simple kind of
savoury puddings, and which may serve as guides for such others as the
intelligence of the cook may suggest.
Footnote 142:
The liquor of the oysters should be added when they are used.
BEEF-STEAK, OR JOHN BULL’S PUDDING.
All meat puddings are more conveniently made in deep pans, moulds, or
basins having a thick rim, below which the cloths can be tied without
the hazard of their slipping off; and as the puddings should by no means
be _turned out_ before they are sent to table, one to match the
dinner-service, at least in _colour_, is desirable.[143] Roll out a suet
crust to half an inch in thickness, line evenly with it a quart, or any
other sized basin that may be preferred, and raise the crust from an
inch and a half to two inches above the edge. Fill it with layers of
well-kept rump-steak, neatly trimmed, and seasoned with salt and pepper,
or cayenne; pour in some cold water to make the gravy; roll out the
cover, moisten the edge, as well as that of the pudding; draw and press
them together carefully, fold them over, shake out a cloth which has
been dipped into hot water, wrung out, and well floured; tie it over the
pudding, gather the corners together, tie them over the top of the
pudding, put it into plenty of fast boiling water, and let it remain in
from three to five hours, according to its size. The instant it is
lifted out, stick a fork quite through the middle of the paste to
prevent its bursting; remove the cloth quickly, and cut a small round or
square in the top to allow the steam to escape, and serve the pudding
_immediately_. Though not considered very admissible to an elegantly
served table, this is a favourite dish with many persons, and is often
in great esteem with sportsmen, for whom it is provided in preference to
fare which requires greater exactness in the time of cooking; as an
additional hour’s boiling, or even more, will have little effect on a
large pudding of this kind, beyond reducing the quantity of gravy, and
rendering it very thick.
Footnote 143:
It is now customary in some families to have both meat and fruit
puddings boiled and served in pie or tart-dishes. They are lined
entirely with very thin crust, or merely edged with it, according to
taste; then filled, closed, and cooked in the usual manner. The plan
is a good and convenient one, where the light upper-crust is preferred
to the heavy and sodden part which is under the meat. In Kent and
Sussex, shallow pans, in form somewhat resembling a large deep saucer,
are sold expressly for boiling meat puddings.
Some cooks flour the meat slightly before it is laid into the crust, but
we do not think it an improvement: where fat is liked, a portion may be
added with the lean, but all skin and sinew should be carefully
rejected. Beat the steak with a paste roller, or cutlet-bat, should it
not appear to be perfectly tender, and divide it into portions about the
width of two fingers. Two or three dozens of oysters, bearded and washed
free from grit in their own liquor (which should afterwards be strained
and poured into the pudding), may be intermingled with the meat.
A true epicurean receipt for this dish directs the paste to be made with
_veal_-kidney suet, and filled with alternate layers of _the inside of
the sirloin_, sliced and seasoned, and of fine plump native oysters,
intermixed with an occasional small slice of the veal fat.
SMALL BEEF-STEAK PUDDING.
Make into a very firm smooth paste, one pound of flour, six ounces of
beef-suet finely minced, half a teaspoonful of salt, and half a pint of
cold water. Line with this a basin which holds a pint and a half. Season
a pound of tender steak, free from bone and skin, with half an ounce of
salt and half a teaspoonful of pepper well mixed together; lay it in the
crust, pour in a quarter of a pint of water, roll out the cover, close
the pudding carefully, tie a floured cloth over, and boil it for three
hours and a half. We give this receipt in addition to the preceding one,
as an exact guide for the proportions of meat-puddings in general.
Flour, 1 lb.; suet, 6 oz.; salt, 1/2 teaspoonful; water, 1/2 pint;
rump-steak, 1 lb.; salt, 1/2 oz.; pepper, 1/2 teaspoonful; water, 1/4
pint: 3-1/2 hours.
RUTH PINCH’S BEEF-STEAK PUDDING.
To make _Ruth Pinch’s_ celebrated pudding (known also as beef-steak
pudding _à la Dickens_), substitute six ounces of butter for the suet in
this receipt, and moisten the paste with the well-beaten yolks of four
eggs, or with three whole ones, mixed with a little water; butter the
basin very thickly before the paste is laid in, as the pudding is to be
turned out of it for table. In all else proceed exactly as above.
MUTTON PUDDING.
Mutton freed perfectly from fat, and mixed with two or three sliced
kidneys, makes an excellent pudding. The meat may be sprinkled with fine
herbs as it is laid into the crust. This will require rather less
boiling than the preceding puddings, but it is made in precisely the
same way.
PARTRIDGE PUDDING.
(_Very Good._)
Skin a brace of well-kept partridges and cut them down into joints; line
a deep basin with suet crust, observing the directions given in the
preceding receipts; lay in the birds, which should be rather highly
seasoned with pepper or cayenne, and moderately with salt; pour in water
for the gravy, close the pudding with care, and boil it from three hours
to three and a half. The true flavour of the game is admirably preserved
by this mode of cooking. When mushrooms are plentiful, put a layer of
buttons, or small flaps, cleaned as for pickling, alternately with a
layer of partridge, in filling the pudding, which will then be most
excellent eating: the crust may be left untouched, and merely emptied of
its contents, where it is objected to, or its place may be supplied with
a richer one made of butter. A seasoning of pounded mace or nutmeg can
be used at discretion. Puddings of veal, chickens, and young rabbits,
may all be made by this receipt, or with the addition of oysters, which
we have already noticed.
A PEAS PUDDING.
(_To serve with boiled pork._)
Separate carefully from a pint of good mellow split peas, all that are
worm-eaten; wash the remainder well, and soak them for a night in plenty
of soft water. The following day tie them up in a thick pudding cloth,
giving them room to swell, cover them well with cold soft water and boil
them gently from two hours to two and a half: if they are not then quite
tender, they are of bad quality, and cannot be rendered so. Lift them
into a cullender, untie the cloth, and crush them to a paste with a
wooden spoon, stir in a good slice of butter, and a seasoning of pepper
and salt, tie them up again very tight, and boil them for half an hour;
turn the pudding gently into a dish that it may not break, and serve it
as hot as possible. This is the common old-fashioned mode of preparing a
peas pudding, and many persons prefer it to the more modern one which
follows. Soak, and boil the peas as above, drain the water well from
them before the cloth is untied, rub them through a cullender or sieve,
mix the seasoning and the butter thoroughly with them, then add to them
gradually three well whisked eggs, tie the mixture tightly and closely
in a floured cloth, and boil it for one hour.
Good split peas, 1 pint; soaked in soft water 1 night. Boiled 2 to 2-1/2
hours. Butter, 1 oz.: salt, pepper: boil again 20 to 30 minutes. Or:
butter, 1-1/2 oz.; eggs, 3: boiled 1 hour.
_Obs._—When soft water cannot be had, half a teaspoonful of carbonate of
soda must be stirred into that in which the peas are boiled. They must
have room to swell or they will be hard; but if too much be given them
they will be watery, and it will be difficult to convert them into a
pudding at all.
WINE SAUCE FOR SWEET PUDDINGS.
Boil gently together for ten or fifteen minutes the very thin rind of
half a small lemon, about an ounce and a half of sugar, and a
wineglassful of water. Take out the lemon-peel and stir into the sauce
until it has boiled for one minute, an ounce of butter smoothly mixed
with a large half-teaspoonful of flour; add a wineglassful and a half of
sherry or Madeira, or other good white wine, and when quite hot serve
the sauce without delay. Port wine sauce is made in the same way with
the addition of a dessertspoonful of lemon-juice, some grated nutmeg and
a little more sugar. Orange-rind and juice may be used for it instead of
lemon.
COMMON WINE SAUCE.
Sweeten a quarter-pint of good melted butter with an ounce and a half of
sugar, and add to it gradually a couple of glasses of wine; stir it
until it is at the point of boiling, and serve it immediately.
Lemon-grate, or nutmeg, can be added at pleasure.
PUNCH SAUCE FOR SWEET PUDDINGS.
This may be served with custard, plain bread, and plum-puddings. With
two ounces of sugar and a quarter of a pint of water, boil very gently
the rind of half a small lemon, and somewhat less of orange-peel, from
fifteen to twenty minutes; strain out the rinds, thicken the sauce with
an ounce and a half of butter and nearly a teaspoonful of flour, add a
half-glass of brandy, the same of white wine, two-thirds of a glass of
rum, with the juice of half an orange, and rather less of lemon-juice:
serve the sauce very hot, but do not allow it to boil after the spirit
is stirred in.
Sugar, 2 oz.; water, 1/4 pint; lemon and orange rind: 14 to 20 minutes.
Butter, 1-1/2 oz.; flour, 1 teaspoonful; brandy and white wine, each 1/2
wineglassful; rum, two-thirds of glassful; orange and lemon juice.
FOR CLEAR ARROW-ROOT SAUCE.
(See the Welcome Guest’s Own Pudding.)
A GERMAN CUSTARD PUDDING-SAUCE.
Boil very gently together half a pint of new milk or of milk and cream
mixed, a very thin strip or two of fresh lemon-rind, a bit of cinnamon,
half an inch of a vanilla bean, and an ounce and a half or two ounces of
sugar, until the milk is strongly flavoured; then strain, and pour it,
by slow degrees, to the well-beaten yolks of three eggs, smoothly mixed
with a _knife-end-full_ (about half a teaspoonful) of flour, a grain or
two of salt, and a tablespoonful of cold milk; and stir these very
quickly round as the milk is added. Put the sauce again into the
stewpan, and whisk or stir it rapidly until it thickens, and looks
creamy. It must not be placed _upon_ the fire, but should be held over
it, when this is done. The Germans _mill_ their sauces to a froth; but
they may be whisked with almost equally good effect, though a small mill
for the purpose—formed like a chocolate mill—may be had at a very
trifling cost.
A DELICIOUS GERMAN PUDDING-SAUCE.
Dissolve in half a pint of sherry or of Madeira, from three to four
ounces of fine sugar, but do not allow the wine to boil; stir it hot to
the well-beaten yolks of six fresh eggs, and mill the sauce over a
gentle fire until it is well thickened and highly frothed; pour it over
a plum, or any other kind of sweet boiled pudding, of which it much
improves the appearance. Half the quantity will be sufficient for one of
moderate size. We recommend the addition of a dessertspoonful of
strained lemon-juice to the wine.
For large pudding, sherry or Madeira, 1/2 pint; fine sugar, 3 to 4 oz.;
yolks of eggs, 6; lemon-juice (if added), 1 dessertspoonful.
_Obs._—As we have already said in the previous receipt, it is customary
to froth sweet sauces in Germany with a small machine made like a
chocolate-mill. Two silver forks fastened together at the handles may be
used instead on an emergency, or the sauce may be whisked to the proper
state, like the one which precedes it.
Great care must be taken not to allow these sauces to curdle. The safer
plan is to put any preparation of the kind into a white jar, and to
place it over the fire in a pan of boiling water, and then to stir or
mill it until it is sufficiently thickened: the jar should not be half
filled, and it should be large enough to allow the sauce to be worked
easily. The water should not reach to within two or three inches of the
brim. We give these minute details for inexperienced cooks.
RED CURRANT OR RASPBERRY SAUCE. (GOOD.)
Measure half a pint of sound red currants after they have been stripped
from the stalks; wash them, should they be dusty, and drain all the
water from them. Have ready a syrup, made with three ounces of sugar in
lumps, and the third of a pint of water, boiled gently together for five
minutes; put in the currants, and stew them for ten minutes; strain off
the juice, of which there will be nearly or quite half a pint, through a
lawn sieve or folded muslin; heat it afresh, and pour it boiling to a
small spoonful of arrow-root which has been very smoothly mixed with a
tablespoonful of cold water, being careful to stir it briskly while the
juice is being added; give the sauce a minute’s boil to render it
transparent, and mask the pudding with it (or, in other words, pour it
equally over it, so as to cover the entire surface); or serve it in a
tureen. A few raspberries may be added in their season, to flavour this
preparation; but if quite ripe, they must be thrown into the syrup
without having been washed, two or three minutes after the currants have
been put into it. A delicious sauce may be made entirely from
raspberries as above, allowing a larger proportion of the fruit, as it
yields less juice than the currant.
The proportions directed in this receipt are quite sufficient for a
pudding of moderate size, but they can easily be increased when
required.
COMMON RASPBERRY-SAUCE.
Put three ounces of sugar broken into small lumps, and a wineglassful
and a half of water into a small stewpan, and boil them for four or five
minutes. Add half a pint of fresh ripe raspberries, well mashed with the
back of a spoon. Mix them with the syrup, and boil them for six or seven
minutes; the sauce should then be quite smooth and clear. The quantity
of it with these proportions will not be large, but can be increased at
pleasure.
_Obs._—We have generally found that the most simple, and consequently
the most refreshing fruit-sauces have been much liked by the persons who
have partaken of them; and they are, we think, preferable to the foreign
ones—German principally—to which wine and cinnamon are commonly added,
and which are often composed of dried fruit. Their number can easily be
augmented by an intelligent cook; and they can be varied through all the
summer and autumnal months with the fruit in season at the time.
SUPERIOR FRUIT-SAUCES FOR SWEET PUDDINGS.
Clear rich fruit syrups, such as the _Sirop de Groseilles_ of Chapter
XXIX. or those from which cherries, apricots, damsons, and other plums,
are taken when they have been prepared in them for drying, make the
finest possible sauces for sweet puddings. A pound of ripe Morella
cherries, for example, pricked separately with a large needle, then
slowly heated and simmered from seven to ten minutes with three quarters
of a pound of castor-sugar, and allowed to become cold in their juice,
will be excellent if laid on dishes and slowly dried; and the syrup from
them will be a delicious accompaniment to a pudding (or to plain boiled
rice); and it will also afford a most agreeable summer beverage mixed
with water, slightly iced, or not. Other varieties of these sauces are
made by stewing the fruit tender without sugar, then rubbing it through
a sieve, and diluting it with wine; or simply mixing and boiling it with
sufficient sugar to render it sweet and clear.
PINE-APPLE PUDDING-SAUCE.
Rasp down on a fine bright grater sufficient of the flesh of a ripe
Jamaica or English pine-apple from which the rind has been thickly
pared, to make the quantity of sauce required. Simmer it quite tender,
with a very small quantity of water; then mix with it by degrees from
half to three-quarters of its weight of sugar, give it five minutes more
of gentle boiling, and pour it over the pudding.
Rasped pine-apple, 6 oz.; water, 2 tablespoonsful: 10 to 15 minutes
gentle stewing. Sugar, 4 oz: 5 minutes.
A finer sauce may be made with half a pound of the pine first simmered
tender in its own juice, and one tablespoonful only of water, and then
mixed with seven ounces of sifted sugar, and boiled gently until it
looks clear. If too sweet, the strained juice of half a large sized
lemon may be stirred to it before it is served, but a certain weight of
sugar is required to make it appear bright. This preparation may be kept
for some time, and warmed afresh for table when needed.
A VERY FINE PINE-APPLE SAUCE OR SYRUP, FOR PUDDINGS OR OTHER SWEET
DISHES.
After having pared away every morsel of the rind from a ripe and highly
flavoured pine-apple, cut three-quarters of a pound of it into very thin
slices, and then into quite small dice. Pour to it nearly half a pint of
spring water; heat, and boil it very gently until it is extremely
tender, then strain and press the juice closely from it through a cloth
or through a muslin strainer[144] folded in four; strain it clear, mix
it with ten ounces of the finest sugar in small lumps, and when this is
dissolved, boil the syrup gently for a quarter of an hour. It will be
delicious in flavour and very bright in colour if well made. If put into
a jar, and stored with a paper tied over it, it will remain excellent
for weeks; and it will become almost a jelly with an additional ounce of
sugar and rather quicker boiling. It may be poured round moulded creams,
rice, or sago; or mingled with various sweet preparations for which the
juice of fruit is admissible.
Footnote 144:
It is almost superfluous to say that the large squares of muslin, of
which on account of their peculiar nicety we have recommended the use
for straining many sweet preparations, must never have a particle of
starch in them; they should be carefully kept free from dust and soil
of any kind, and always well rinsed and soaked in clear water before
they are dried.
GERMAN CHERRY SAUCE.
Beat a quart of cherries in a mortar until the stones are broken, then
boil them tender with half a pint of water and wine mixed. Rub them
through a sieve, and boil them again, with from four to six ounces of
fine sugar, some grated lemon-peel, powdered cinnamon, and a small
portion of pounded cloves. In a few minutes stir to the sauce a
dessertspoonful of potato-flour, smoothly mixed with a very little cold
water; continue to stir until it is again ready to boil, and serve it,
either poured entirely over the pudding, or in a tureen.
COMMON BATTER PUDDING.
Beat four eggs thoroughly, mix with them half a pint of milk, and pass
them through a sieve, add them by degrees to half a pound of flour, and
when the batter is perfectly smooth, thin it with another half pint of
milk. Shake out a wet pudding cloth, flour it well, pour the batter in,
leave it room to swell, tie it securely, and put it immediately into
plenty of fast-boiling water. An hour and ten minutes will boil it. Send
it to table the instant it is dished, with wine sauce, a hot _compôte_
of fruit, or raspberry vinegar: this last makes a delicious pudding
sauce. Unless the liquid be added very gradually to the flour, and the
mixture be well stirred and beaten as each portion is poured to it, the
batter will not be smooth: to render it _very_ light, a portion of the
whites of the eggs, or the whole of them, should be whisked to a froth
and stirred into it just before it is put into the cloth.
Flour, 1/2 lb.; eggs, 4; salt, 3/4 teaspoonful; milk, 1 pint: 1 hour and
10 minutes.
_Obs._—Modern taste is in favour of puddings boiled in moulds, but, as
we have already stated, they are seldom or ever so light as those which
are tied in cloths only.
ANOTHER BATTER PUDDING.
Mix the yolks of three eggs smoothly with three heaped tablespoonsful of
flour, thin the batter with new milk until it is of the consistence of
cream, whisk the whites of eggs apart, stir them into the batter and
boil the pudding in a floured cloth or in a buttered mould or basin for
an hour. Before it is served, cut the top quickly into large dice half
through the pudding, pour over it a small jarful of fine currant,
raspberry, or strawberry jelly, and send it to table without the
_slightest_ delay.
Flour, 3 tablespoonsful; eggs, 3; salt, 1/2 teaspoonful; milk, from 1/2
to whole pint: 1 hour.
BLACK-CAP PUDDING.
Make a good light thin batter, and just before it is poured into the
cloth stir to it half a pound of currants, well cleaned and dried: these
will sink to the lower part of the pudding and blacken the surface. Boil
it the usual time, and dish it with the dark side uppermost; send very
sweet sauce to table with it. Some cooks butter a mould thickly, strew
in the currants, and pour the batter on them, which produces the same
appearance as when the ingredients are tied in a cloth.
_All_ batter puddings should be despatched quickly to table when they
are once ready to serve, as they speedily become heavy if allowed to
wait.
BATTER FRUIT PUDDING.
Butter thickly a basin which holds a pint and a half, and fill it nearly
to the brim with _good_ boiling apples pared, cored, and quartered; pour
over them a batter made with four tablespoonsful of flour, two large or
three small eggs, and half a pint of milk. Tie a buttered and floured
cloth over the basin, which ought to be quite full, and boil the pudding
for an hour and a quarter. Turn it into a hot dish when done, and strew
sugar thickly over it: this, if added to the batter at first, renders it
heavy. Morella cherries make a very superior pudding of this kind; and
green gooseberries, damsons, and various other fruits, answer for it
extremely well: the time of boiling it must be varied according to their
quality and its size.
For a pint and a half mould or basin filled to the brim with apples or
other fruit; flour, 4 tablespoonsful; eggs, 2 large or 3 small; milk,
1/2 pint: 1-1/4 hour.
_Obs._—Apples cored, halved, and mixed with a good batter, make an
excellent baked pudding, as do red currants, cherries, and plums of
different sorts likewise.
KENTISH SUET PUDDING.
To a pound and a quarter of flour add half a pound of finely minced
beef-suet,[145] half a teaspoonful of salt, and a quarter one of pepper;
mix these into a smooth paste with one well-beaten egg, and a little
cold milk or water; make it into the shape of a paste-roller, fold a
floured cloth round it, tie the ends tightly, and boil it for two hours.
In Kentish farmhouses, and at very plain family dinners, this pudding is
usually sent to table with boiled beef, and is sometimes cooked with it
also. It is very good sliced and broiled, or browned in a Dutch oven,
after having become quite cold.
Footnote 145:
A very common fault with bad and careless cooks is, that of using for
paste and puddings suet _coarsely chopped_, which is, to many eaters,
distasteful to the last degree.
Flour, 1-1/2 lb.; suet, 1/2 lb.; salt 1/2 teaspoonful; half as much
pepper; 1 egg; little milk or water: boiled 2 hours.
ANOTHER SUET PUDDING.
Make into a somewhat lithe but smooth paste, half a pound of fine stale
bread-crumbs, three quarters of a pound of flour, from ten to twelve
ounces of beef-suet chopped extremely small, a large half-teaspoonful of
salt, and rather less of pepper, with two eggs and a little milk. Boil
it for two hours and a quarter.
APPLE, CURRANT, CHERRY, OR OTHER FRESH FRUIT PUDDING.
Make a paste as for a beef-steak pudding, either with suet or butter;
lay into a basin a well-floured cloth, which has been dipped into hot
water, wrung dry, and shaken out; roll the paste thin, press it evenly
into the basin upon the cloth, fill it with apples, pared, cored, and
quartered, or with any other fruit; put on the cover, taking care to
moisten the edges of the paste, to press them well together, and fold
them over; gather up the ends of the cloth, and tie it firmly close to
the pudding, which should then be dropped into plenty of fast boiling
water. When it is done, lift it out by twisting a strong fork into the
corner of the cloth, turn it gently into the dish in which it is to be
served, and cut immediately a small round or square from the top, or the
pudding will quickly become heavy; send it to table without the
slightest delay, accompanied by pounded, and by good Lisbon sugar, as
many persons prefer the latter, from its imparting a more mellowed
flavour to the fruit. A small slice of fresh butter, and some finely
grated nutmeg, are usually considered improvements to an apple pudding;
the juice, and the grated rind of a lemon may be added with good effect,
when the fruit is laid into the crust, especially in spring, when the
apples generally will have become insipid in their flavour. For tables
of any pretension, sugar must be added to them when they are made; but
many varieties of apple do not so readily form a smooth light pulp when
it is enclosed with them in the paste. A small jar of apricot jam is
always an admirable addition to an apple tart or pudding; and a small
glass of wine when the fruit is not juicy, will assist to bring it to
the right consistence. When puddings are preferred boiled in moulds or
basins, these must be thickly buttered before the paste is laid into
them, and the puddings must be turned from them gently, that they may
not burst.
Currant, gooseberry, or cherry pudding, 1 to 1-1/4 hour. Greengage,
damson, mussel, or other plum, 1 to 1-1/2 hour. Apple pudding, from 1 to
2 hours, according to its size, and the time of year.
_Obs._—If made of codlings, an apple pudding will require only so much
boiling as may be needed for the crust. These are sometimes mixed with
Morella cherries rolled in plenty of sugar, and the two fruits mixed are
excellent, but the Morellas by themselves are better.
A COMMON APPLE PUDDING.
Make a light crust with one pound of flour, and six ounces of very
finely minced beef-suet; roll it thin, and fill it with one pound and a
quarter of good boiling apples; add the grated rind and strained juice
of a small lemon, tie it in a cloth, and boil it one hour and twenty
minutes before Christmas, and from twenty to thirty minutes longer after
Christmas. A small slice of fresh butter, stirred into it when it is
sweetened will, to many tastes, be an acceptable addition; grated
nutmeg, or a little cinnamon in fine powder, may be substituted for the
lemon-rind when either is preferred. To convert this into a richer
pudding use half a pound of butter for the crust, and add to the apples
a spoonful or two of orange or quince marmalade.
Crust: flour, 1 lb.; suet, 6 oz. Fruit, pared and cored, 1-1/2 lb.;
juice and rind of 1 small lemon (or some nutmeg or cinnamon in powder).
Richer pudding: flour, 1 lb.; butter, 1/2 lb.; in addition to fruit, 1
or 2 tablespoonsful of orange or quince marmalade.
HERODOTUS’ PUDDING.
(_A Genuine Classical Receipt._)
“Prepare and mix in the usual manner one pound of fine raisins stoned,
one pound of minced beef-suet, half a pound of bread-crumbs, four figs
chopped small, two tablespoonsful of moist sugar (_honey_, in the
original), two wineglassesful of sherry, and the rind of half a large
lemon (grated). Boil the pudding for _fourteen hours_.”
_Obs._—This receipt is really to be found in Herodotus. The only
variations made in it are the substitution of sugar for honey, and
sherry for the wine of ancient Greece. We are indebted for it to an
accomplished scholar, who has had it served at his own table on more
than one occasion; and we have given it on his authority, without
testing it: but we venture to suggest that _seven_ hours would boil it
quite sufficiently.
THE PUBLISHER’S PUDDING.
This pudding can scarcely be made _too rich_. First blanch, and then
beat to the smoothest possible paste, six ounces of fresh Jordan
almonds, and a dozen bitter ones; pour very gradually to them, in the
mortar, three quarters of a pint of boiling cream; then turn them into a
cloth, and wring it from them again with strong expression. Heat a full
half pint of it afresh, and pour it, as soon as it boils, upon four
ounces of fine bread-crumbs, set a plate over, and leave them to become
nearly cold; then mix thoroughly with them four ounces of maccaroons,
crushed tolerably small; five of finely minced beef-suet, five of
marrow, cleared very carefully from fibre, and from the splinters of
bone which are sometimes found in it, and shred not very small, two
ounces of flour, six of pounded sugar, four of dried cherries, four of
the best Muscatel raisins, weighed after they are stoned, half a pound
of candied citron, or of citron and orange rind mixed, a quarter
saltspoonful of salt, half a nutmeg, the yolks only of seven full-sized
eggs, the grated rind of a large lemon, and last of all, a glass of the
best Cognac brandy, which must be stirred briskly in by slow degrees.
Pour the mixture into a _thickly_ buttered mould or basin, which
contains a full quart, fill it to the brim, lay a sheet of buttered
writing-paper over, then a well-floured cloth, tie them securely, and
boil the pudding for four hours and a quarter; let it stand for two
minutes before it is turned out; dish it carefully, and serve it with
the German pudding-sauce of page 403.
Jordan almonds, 6 oz.; bitter almonds, 12; cream, 3/4 pint;
bread-crumbs, 4 oz.; cream wrung from almonds, 1/2 pint; crushed
macaroons, 4 oz.; flour 2 oz.; beef-suet, 5 oz.; marrow, 5 oz.; dried
cherries, 4 oz.; stoned Muscatel raisins, 4 oz.; pounded sugar, 6 oz.;
candied citron (or citron and orange-rind mixed), 1/2 lb.; pinch of
salt; 1/2 nutmeg; grated rind, 1 lemon; yolks of eggs, 7; best cognac, 1
wineglassful; boiled in mould or basin,: 4-1/4 hours.
_Obs._—This pudding, which, if well made, is very light as well as rich,
will be sufficiently good for most tastes without the almonds: when they
are omitted, the boiling cream must be poured at once to the
bread-crumbs.
HER MAJESTY’S PUDDING.
Infuse in a pint of new milk half a pod of vanilla, cut into short
lengths, and bruised; simmer them gently together for twenty minutes,
and strain the milk through muslin to half a pint of cream; put these
again on the fire in a clean saucepan, with three ounces of fine sugar,
and pour them when they boil, to the beaten yolks of eight very fresh
eggs. Stir the mixture often until it is nearly or quite cold, and boil
it as _gently as possible_ for an hour in a well-buttered mould or basin
that will just hold it. Let it stand for five minutes at least before it
is turned out; dish it carefully, strew, and garnish it thickly with
branches of preserved barberries, or send it to table with a rich syrup
of fresh fruit, or with clear fruit-jelly, melted. We have had often a
_compôte_ (see Sweet Dishes, page 153) of currants, cherries, or plums
served, and greatly relished with this pudding, which we can recommend
to our readers as an extremely delicate one. The flavouring may be
varied with bitter almonds, lemon-rind, noyau, or aught else which may
be better liked than the vanilla.
New milk, 1 pint; vanilla, 1/2 pod: 20 minutes Cream, 1/2 pint; sugar, 3
oz.; yolks of eggs, 8: 1 hour.
_Obs._—The cook must be reminded that unless the eggs be stirred briskly
as the boiling milk is gradually poured to them, they will be likely to
curdle. A buttered paper should always be put over the basin before the
cloth is tied on, for all custard puddings.
COMMON CUSTARD PUDDING.
Whisk three eggs well, put them into a pint basin, and add to them
sufficient milk to fill it: then strain, flavour, and sweeten it with
fine sugar; boil the pudding very softly for an exact half hour, let it
stand a few minutes, dish, and serve it with sugar sifted over, and
sweet sauce in a tureen, or send stewed gooseberries, currants, or
cherries to table with it. A small quantity of lemon-brandy, or of
ratifia can be added, to give it flavour, when it is made, or the sugar
with which it is sweetened may be rasped on a lemon or an orange, then
crushed and dissolved in the milk; from an ounce and a half to two
ounces will be sufficient for general taste.
PRINCE ALBERT’S PUDDING.
Beat to a cream half a pound of fresh butter and mix with it by degrees
an equal weight of pounded loaf-sugar, dried and sifted; add to these,
after they have been well beaten together, first the yolks, and then the
whites of five fresh eggs, which have been thoroughly whisked apart; now
strew lightly in, half a pound of the finest flour, dried and sifted,
and last of all, half a pound of jar raisins, weighed after they are
stoned. Put these ingredients, perfectly mixed, into a well-buttered
mould, or floured cloth, and boil the pudding for three hours. Serve it
with punch sauce. We recommend a little pounded mace, or the grated rind
of a small lemon, to vary the flavour of this excellent pudding; and
that when a mould is used, slices of candied peel should be laid rather
thickly over it after it is buttered. Fresh butter, pounded sugar,
flour, stoned raisins, each 1/2 lb.; eggs, 5: 3 hours.
GERMAN PUDDING, AND SAUCE. (VERY GOOD.)
Stew, until very tender and dry, three ounces of whole rice in a pint
and a quarter of milk; when a little cooled, mix with it three ounces of
beef-suet finely chopped, two ounces and a half of sugar, an ounce of
candied orange or lemon-rind, six ounces of sultana raisins, and three
large eggs well beaten, and strained. Boil the pudding in a buttered
basin, or in a well-floured cloth, for two hours and a quarter, and
serve it with the following sauce:—Dissolve an ounce and a half of sugar
broken small in two glasses of sherry, or of any other white wine, and
stir them when quite hot, to the beaten yolks of three fresh eggs; then
stir the sauce in a small saucepan held high above the fire until it
resembles custard, but by no means allow it to boil, or it will
instantly curdle; pour it over the pudding, or, if preferred, send it to
table in a tureen. We think a full teaspoonful of lemon-juice added to
the wine an improvement to this sauce which is excellent; and we can
recommend the pudding to our readers.
Milk, 1-1/4 pint; rice, 3 oz.; 1 hour, or more. Suet, 3 oz.; sugar,
2-1/2 oz.; candied peel, 1 oz.; sultana raisins, 6 oz.; eggs, 3 large:
2-1/4 hours, Sauce: sherry, 2 glasses; sugar, 1-1/2 oz.; yolks of eggs,
3; little lemon-juice.
We have already, in a previous part of the volume, directed that the
German sauce should be milled to a fine froth, and poured upon the
pudding with which it is served: when this is not done, the quantity
should be increased.
THE WELCOME GUEST’S OWN PUDDING. (LIGHT AND WHOLESOME.)
(_Author’s Receipt._)
Pour, quite boiling, on four ounces of fine bread-crumbs, an exact
half-pint of new milk, or of thin cream; lay a plate over the basin and
let them remain until cold; then stir to them four ounces of dry crumbs
of bread, four of very finely minced beef-kidney suet, a small pinch of
salt, three ounces of coarsely crushed ratifias, three ounces of candied
citron and orange-rind sliced thin, and the grated rind of one large or
of two small lemons. Clear, and whisk four large eggs well, throw to
them by degrees four ounces of pounded sugar, and continue to whisk them
until it is dissolved, and they are very light; stir them to, and beat
them well up with the other ingredients; pour the mixture into a thickly
buttered mould, or basin which will contain nearly a quart, and which it
should fill to within half an inch of the brim; lay first a buttered
paper, then a well floured pudding-cloth over the top, tie them tightly
and very securely round, gather up and fasten the corners of the cloth,
and boil the pudding for two hours at the utmost. Let it stand for a
minute or two before it is dished, and serve it with simple wine sauce,
or with that which follows; or with pine-apple or any other _clear_
fruitsauce. (For these last, see page 405).
Boil very gently, for about ten minutes, a full quarter of a pint of
water, with the very thin rind of half a fresh lemon, and an ounce and a
half of lump sugar; then take out the lemon peel, and stir in a small
teaspoonful of arrow-root, smoothly mixed with the strained juice of the
lemon (with or without the addition of a little orange juice); take the
sauce from the fire, throw in nearly half a glass of pale French
brandy,[146] or substitute for this a large wineglassful of sherry, or
of any other white wine which may be preferred, but increase a little,
in that case, the proportion of arrow-root.
Footnote 146:
Maraschino, or any delicately flavoured liqueur, may be substituted
for this with much advantage.
To convert the preceding into _Sir Edwin Landseer’s pudding_, ornament
the mould tastefully with small leaves of thin citron-rind and split
muscatel raisins in a pattern, and strew the intermediate spaces with
well cleaned and well dried currants mingled with plenty of candied
orange or lemon-rind shred small. Pour gently in the above pudding
mixture, when quite cold, after having added one egg-yolk to it, and
steam or boil it the same length of time.
A CABINET PUDDING.
Split and stone three dozens of fine jar raisins, or take an equal
number of dried cherries, and place either of them regularly in a sort
of pattern, in a thickly-buttered plain quart mould or basin; next,
slice and lay into it three penny sponge-cakes; add to these two ounces
of ratifias, four macaroons, an ounce and a half of candied citron
sliced thin, the yolks of four eggs with the whites of three only,
thoroughly whisked, mixed with half a pint of new milk, then strained to
half a pint of sweet cream, and sweetened with two ounces and a half of
pounded sugar: these ought to fill the mould exactly. Steam the pudding,
or boil it very gently for one hour; let it stand a few minutes before
it is dished, that it may not break; and serve it with good wine or
brandy sauce.
Jar raisins, or dried cherries, 3 dozens (quart mould or basin); sponge
biscuits, 3; macaroons, 4; ratifias, 2 oz.; candied citron, 1-1/2 oz.;
yolks of 4 eggs, whites of 3; new milk, 1/2 pint; cream, 1/2 pint;
sugar, 2-1/2 oz.; steamed, or boiled, 1 hour.
_Obs._—We have given this receipt, for which we are indebted to a
friend, without any variation from the original, because on testing it
we have found it very exact with regard to quantity and time; but though
an extremely delicate and excellent pudding, a little flavouring would,
we think, improve it: a small portion of the milk may be omitted, and
its place supplied by ratifia, lemon-brandy, or aught else that is
preferred.
A VERY FINE CABINET PUDDING.
Butter thickly a mould of the same size as for the preceding pudding,
and ornament it tastefully with dried cherries, or with the finest
muscatel raisins opened and stoned; lay lightly into it a quarter-pound
of sponge biscuit cut in slices, and intermixed with an equal weight of
ratifias; sweeten with three ounces of sugar in lumps, and flavour
highly with vanilla, or with the thin rind of half a fine lemon, and six
sound bitter almonds bruised (should these be preferred), three-quarters
of a pint, or rather more, of thin cream, or of cream and new milk
mixed; strain and pour this hot to the well-beaten yolks of six eggs and
the whites of two, and when the mixture is nearly cold, throw in
gradually a wineglassful of good brandy; pour it gently, and by degrees,
into the mould, and steam or boil the pudding very softly for an hour.
Serve it with well made wine sauce. Never omit a buttered paper over any
sort of custard-mixture; and remember that quick boiling will destroy
the good appearance of this kind of pudding. The liquid should be quite
cold before it is added to the cakes, or the butter on the mould would
melt off, and the decorations with it; preserved ginger, and candied
citron in slices, may be used to vary these, and the syrup of the former
may be added to give flavour to the other ingredients.
Dried cherries, 3 to 4 oz.; sponge-biscuits, 1/4 lb.; ratifias, 4 oz.;
thin cream, or cream and milk, 3/4 pint; sugar, 3 oz.; vanilla, 1/2 pod
(or thin rind of 1/2 lemon and 6 bitter almonds bruised); yolks of 6
eggs, whites of 2; brandy, 1 wineglassful (preserved ginger and candied
citron at choice): steamed, or gently boiled, 1 hour.
SNOWDON PUDDING.
(_Genuine Receipt._)
Ornament a well buttered mould or basin with some fine raisins split
open and stoned, but not divided, pressing the cut side on the butter to
make them adhere; next, mix half a pound of _very_ finely minced
beef-kidney suet, with half a pound of bread-crumbs, and an ounce and a
half of rice-flour, a pinch of salt, and six ounces of lemon marmalade,
or of orange when the lemon cannot be procured; add six ounces of pale
brown sugar, six thoroughly whisked eggs, and the grated rinds of two
lemons. Beat the whole until all the ingredients are perfectly mixed,
pour it gently into the mould, cover it with a buttered paper and a
floured cloth, and boil it for one hour and a half. It will turn out
remarkably well if carefully prepared. Half the quantity given above
will fill a mould or basin which will contain rather more than a pint,
and will be sufficiently boiled in ten minutes less than an hour. To
many tastes a slight diminution in the proportion of suet would be an
improvement to the pudding; and the substitution of pounded sugar for
the brown, might likewise be considered so. Both the suet and eggs used
for it, should be as fresh as possible.
This pudding is constantly served to travellers at the hotel at the foot
of the mountain from which it derives its name. It is probably well
known to many of our readers in consequence. Wine sauce, arrow-root,
German sauce, or any other of the sweet pudding sauces to be found in
the preceding pages of this chapter, may be poured over, or sent to
table with it.
VERY GOOD RAISIN PUDDINGS.
To three quarters of a pound of flour add four ounces of fine crumbs of
bread, one pound of beef-suet, a pound and six ounces of raisins,
weighed after they are stoned, a quarter of a teaspoonful of salt,
rather more of ginger, half a nutmeg, an ounce and a half of candied
peel, and four large or five small eggs beaten, strained, and mixed with
a cupful of milk, or as much more as will make the whole of the
consistence of a _very_ thick batter. Pour the mixture into a
well-floured cloth of close texture, which has previously been dipped
into hot water, wrung, and shaken out. Boil the pudding in plenty of
water for four hours and a half. It may be served with very sweet wine,
or punch sauce; but if made as we have directed, will be much lighter
than if sugar be mixed with the other ingredients before it is boiled;
and we have found it generally preferred to a richer plum-pudding.
No. 1. Flour, 3/4 lb.; bread-crumbs, 4 oz.; beef-suet, 1 lb.; stoned
raisins, 1 lb. 6 oz.; candied peel, 1-1/2 oz.; 1/2 nutmeg; eggs, 4
large, or 5 small; little salt and ginger: 4-1/2 hours.
_Superior Raisin Pudding._—No. 2. Bread-crumbs and flour each 4 oz.;
suet, 12 oz.; _stoned_ raisins, 1 lb.; salt, third of saltspoonful; 1/2
nutmeg; ginger, 1/2 teaspoonful; half as much mace; sugar, 4 oz.;
candied citron or orange-rind, 2 oz.; eggs, 4; milk or brandy, 3 to 5
tablespoonsful: to be well mixed and beaten together and boiled 4 hours.
_Obs._—The remains of this pudding will answer well for the receipt
which follows. Sultana raisins can be used for it instead of Malaga, but
they are not so sweet.
THE ELEGANT ECONOMIST’S PUDDING.
Butter thickly a plain mould or basin, and line it entirely with slices
of cold plum or raisin pudding, cut so as to join closely and neatly
together; fill it quite with a good custard; lay, first a buttered
paper, and then a floured cloth over it, tie them securely, and boil the
pudding gently for an hour; let it stand for ten minutes after it is
taken up before it is turned out of the mould. This is a more tasteful
mode of serving the remains of a plum-pudding than the usual one of
broiling them in slices, or converting them into fritters. The German
sauce, well milled or frothed, is generally much relished with sweet
boiled puddings, and adds greatly to their good appearance; but common
wine or punch sauce, may be sent to table with the above quite as
appropriately.
Mould or basin holding 1-1/2 pint, lined with thin slices of
plum-pudding; 3/4 pint new milk boiled gently 5 minutes with grain of
salt, 5 bitter almonds, bruised; sugar in lumps, 2-1/2 oz.; thin rind of
1/2 lemon, strained and mixed directly with 4 large well-beaten eggs;
poured into mould while just warm; boiled gently 1 hour.
PUDDING À LA SCOONES.
Take of apples finely minced, and of currants, six ounces each; of suet,
chopped small, sultana raisins, picked from the stalks, and sugar, four
ounces each, with three ounces of fine bread-crumbs, the grated rind,
and the strained juice of a small lemon, three well-beaten eggs, and two
spoonsful of brandy. Mix these ingredients perfectly, and boil the
pudding for two hours in a buttered basin; sift sugar over it when it is
sent to table, and serve wine or punch sauce apart.
INGOLDSBY CHRISTMAS PUDDINGS.
Mix very thoroughly one pound of finely-grated bread with the same
quantity of flour, two pounds of raisins stoned, two of currants, two of
suet minced small, one of sugar, half a pound of candied peel, one
nutmeg, half an ounce of mixed spice, and the grated rinds of two
lemons; mix the whole with sixteen eggs well beaten and strained, and
add four glasses of brandy. These proportions will make three puddings
of good size, each of which should be boiled six hours.
Bread-crumbs, 1 lb.; flour, 1 lb.; suet, 2 lbs.; currants, 2 lbs.;
raisins, 2 lbs.; sugar, 1 lb.; candied peel, 1/2 lb.; rinds of lemons,
2; nutmegs, 1; mixed spice, 1/2 oz.; salt, 1/4 teaspoonsful; eggs, 16;
brandy, 4 glassesful: 6 hours.
_Obs._—A fourth part of the ingredients given above, will make a pudding
of sufficient size for a small party: to render this _very rich_, half
the flour and bread-crumbs may be omitted, and a few spoonsful of
apricot marmalade well blended with the remainder of the mixture.[147]
Footnote 147:
Rather less liquid will be required to moisten the pudding when this
is done, and four hours and a quarter will boil it.
SMALL AND VERY LIGHT PLUM PUDDING.
With three ounces of the crumb of a stale loaf finely grated and soaked
in a quarter of a pint of boiling milk, mix six ounces of suet minced
very small, one ounce of dry bread-crumbs, ten ounces of stoned raisins,
a little salt, the grated rind of a china-orange, and three eggs,
leaving out one white. Boil the pudding for two hours and serve it with
very sweet sauce; put no sugar in it.
VEGETABLE PLUM PUDDING.
(_Cheap and good._)
Mix well together one pound of smoothly-mashed potatoes, half a pound of
carrots boiled quite tender, and beaten to a paste, one pound of flour,
one of currants, and one of raisins (full weight after they are stoned),
three quarters of a pound of sugar, eight ounces of suet, one nutmeg,
and a quarter of a teaspoonful of salt. Put the pudding into a
well-floured cloth, tie it up very closely, and boil it for four hours.
The correspondent to whom we are indebted for this receipt says, that
the cost of the ingredients does not exceed half a crown, and that the
pudding is of sufficient size for a party of sixteen persons. We can
vouch for its excellence, but as it is rather apt to break when turned
out of the cloth, a couple of eggs would perhaps improve it. It is
excellent cold. Sweetmeats, brandy, and spices can be added at pleasure.
Mashed potatoes, 1 lb.; carrots, 8 oz.; flour, 1 lb.; suet, 1/2 lb.;
sugar, 3/4 lb.; currants and raisins, 1 lb. each; nutmeg, 1; little
salt. 4 hours.
THE AUTHOR’S CHRISTMAS PUDDING.
To three ounces of flour and the same weight of fine, lightly-grated
bread-crumbs, add six of beef kidney-suet, chopped small, six of raisins
weighed after they are stoned, six of well-cleaned currants, four ounces
of minced apples, five of sugar, two of candied orange rind, half a
teaspoonful of nutmeg mixed with pounded mace, a very little salt, a
small glass of brandy, and three whole eggs. Mix and beat these
ingredients well together, tie them tightly in a thickly-floured cloth,
and boil them for three hours and a half. We can recommend this as a
remarkably light small rich pudding: it may be served with German, wine,
or punch sauce.
Flour, 3 oz.; bread-crumbs, 3 oz.; suet, stoned raisins, and currants,
each, 6 oz.; minced apples, 4 oz.; sugar, 5 oz.; candied peel, 2 oz.;
spice, 1/2 teaspoonful; salt, few grains; brandy, small wineglassful;
eggs, 3; 3-1/2 hours.
A KENTISH WELL PUDDING.
Make into a firm smooth paste, with cold water, one pound of flour, six
ounces of finely-minced beef-suet, three quarters of a pound of
currants, and a small pinch of salt, thoroughly mixed together. Form
into a ball six ounces of good butter, and enclose it securely in about
a third of the paste (rolled to a half inch of thickness), in the same
way that an apple-dumpling is made; roll out the remainder of the paste,
and place the portion containing the butter in the centre of it, with
the part where the edge was drawn together turned downwards: gather the
outer crust round it, and after having moistened the edge, close it with
great care. Tie the pudding tightly in a well-floured cloth, and boil it
for two hours and a half. It must be dished with caution that it may not
break, and a small bit must be cut directly from the top, as in a meat
pudding. (_See page_ 400).
This is a very favourite pudding in some parts of England; the only
difficulty in making or in serving it, is to prevent the escape of the
butter, which, if properly secured, will be found in a liquid state in
the inside, on opening it. Some timid cooks fold it in three coverings
of paste, the better to guard against its bursting through; but there is
no danger of this if the edges of the crust be well closed. When suet is
objected to, seven ounces of butter may be substituted for it. The
currants are occasionally omitted.
Flour, 1 lb.; suet, 6 oz.; currants, 3/4 lb.; salt, small pinch; ball of
butter 6 oz.: 2-1/2 hours.
ROLLED PUDDING.
Roll out thin a bit of light puff paste, or a good suet crust, and
spread equally over it to within an inch of the edge, any kind of fruit
jam. Orange marmalade, and mincemeat make excellent varieties of this
pudding, and a deep layer of fine brown sugar, flavoured with the grated
rind and strained juice of one very large, or of two small, lemons,
answers for it extremely well. Roll it up carefully, pinch the paste
together at the ends, fold a cloth round, secure it well at the ends,
and boil the pudding from one to two hours, according to its size and
the nature of the ingredients. Half a pound of flour made into a paste
with suet or butter, and covered with preserve, will be quite
sufficiently boiled in an hour and a quarter.
A BREAD PUDDING.
Sweeten a pint of new milk with three ounces of fine sugar, throw in a
few grains of salt, and pour it boiling on half a pound of fine and
lightly-grated bread-crumbs; add an ounce of fresh butter, and cover
them with a plate; let them remain for half an hour or more, and then
stir to them four large well-whisked eggs, and a flavouring of nutmeg or
of lemon-rind; pour the mixture into a thickly-buttered mould or basin,
which holds a pint and a half, and which ought to be quite full; tie a
paper and a cloth tightly over, and boil the pudding for exactly an hour
and ten minutes. This is quite a plain receipt, but by omitting two
ounces of the bread, and adding more butter, one egg, a small glass of
brandy, the grated rind of a lemon, and as much sugar as will sweeten
the whole richly, a very excellent pudding will be obtained; candied
orange-peel also has a good effect when sliced thinly into it; and half
a pound of currants is generally considered a further improvement.
New milk, 1 pint; sugar, 3 oz.; salt, few grains; bread-crumbs, 1/2 lb.;
eggs, 4 (5, if very small); nutmeg or lemon-rind at pleasure: 1 hour and
10 minutes.
Or: milk, 1 pint; bread-crumbs, 6 oz.; butter, 2 to 3 oz.; sugar, 4 oz.;
eggs, 5; brandy, small glassful; rind, 1 lemon. Further additions at
choice: candied peel, 1-1/2 oz.; currants, 1/2 lb.
A BROWN BREAD PUDDING.
To half a pound of stale brown bread, finely and lightly grated, add an
equal weight of suet chopped small, and of currants cleaned and dried,
with half a saltspoonful of salt, three ounces of sugar, the third of a
small nutmeg grated, two ounces of candied peel, five well-beaten eggs,
and a glass of brandy. Mix these ingredients thoroughly, and boil the
pudding in a cloth for three hours and a half. Send port wine sauce to
table with it. The grated rind of a large lemon may be added to this
pudding with good effect.
Brown bread, suet, and currants, each 8 oz.; sugar, 3 oz.; candied peel,
2 oz.; salt, 1/2 saltspoonful; 1/3 of small nutmeg; eggs, 5; brandy, 1
wineglassful: 3-1/2 hours.
A GOOD BOILED RICE PUDDING.
Swell gradually,[148] and boil until quite soft and thick, four ounces
and a half of whole rice in a pint and a half of new milk; sweeten them
with from three to four ounces of sugar, broken small, and stir to them
while they are still quite hot, the grated rind of half a large lemon,
four or five bitter almonds, pounded to a paste, and four large
well-whisked eggs; let the mixture cool, and then pour it into a
thickly-buttered basin, or mould, which should be quite full; tie a
buttered paper and a floured cloth over it, and boil the pudding exactly
an hour; let it stand for two or three minutes before it is turned out,
and serve it with sweet sauce, fruit syrup, or a _compôte_ of fresh
fruit. An ounce and a half of candied orange-rind will improve it much,
and a couple of ounces of butter may be added to enrich it, when the
receipt without is considered too simple. It is _excellent_ when made
with milk highly flavoured with cocoa-nut, or with vanilla.
Footnote 148:
That is to say, put the rice into the milk while cold, heat it
_slowly_, and let it only simmer until it is done.
Whole rice, 4-1/2 oz.; new milk (or cocoa-nut-flavoured milk), 1-1/2
pint; sugar, 3 to 4 oz.; salt, a few grains; bitter almonds, 4 to 6;
rind of 1/2 lemon; eggs, 4: boiled 1 hour.
CHEAP RICE PUDDING.
Wash six ounces of rice, mix it with three quarters of a pound of
raisins, tie them in a well-floured cloth, giving them plenty of room to
swell; boil them exactly an hour and three quarters, and serve the
pudding with very sweet sauce: this is a nice dish for the nursery. A
pound of apples pared, cored, and quartered, will also make a very
wholesome pudding, mixed with the rice, and boiled from an hour and a
quarter to an hour and a half; and _sultana_ raisins and rice will give
another good variety of this simple pudding.
Rice, 6 oz.; raisins, 1/2 lb.: 2 hours. Or, rice, 6 oz.; apples, 1 lb.:
1-1/4 to 1-1/2 hour.
RICE AND GOOSEBERRY PUDDING.
Spread six ounces of rice equally over a moist and well-floured
pudding-cloth, and place on it a pint of green gooseberries, measured
after the heads and stalks have been taken off. Gather the cloth up
carefully round the fruit, give room for the rice to swell, and boil the
pudding for an hour and a quarter. Very sweet sauce, or plenty of sugar,
should be eaten with it.
Rice, 6 oz.; green gooseberries, 1 pint: 1-1/2 hour.
FASHIONABLE APPLE DUMPLINGS.
These are boiled in small _knitted_ or closely-netted cloths (the former
have, we think, the prettiest effect), which give quite an ornamental
appearance to an otherwise homely dish. Take out the cores without
dividing the apples, which should be large, and of a good boiling kind,
and fill the cavities with orange or lemon marmalade; enclose them in a
good crust rolled thin, draw the cloths round them, tie them closely,
and boil them for three quarters of an hour. Lemon dumplings may be
boiled in the same way.
3/4 to 1 hour, if the apples be _not_ of the best boiling kind.
ORANGE SNOW-BALLS.
Take out the unhusked grains, and wash well half a pound of rice; put it
into plenty of water, and boil it rather quickly for ten minutes; drain
and let it cool. Pare four large, or five small oranges, and clear from
them entirely the thick white inner skin; spread the rice, in as many
equal portions as there are oranges, upon some pudding or dumpling
cloths; tie the fruit separately in these, and boil the snow-balls for
an hour and a half; turn them carefully on to a dish, and strew plenty
of sifted sugar over them. The oranges carefully pared may be enclosed
in a thin paste and boiled for the same time. Rice, 8 oz.; China
oranges, 5: 1-1/2 hour.
APPLE SNOW-BALLS.
Pare and core some large pudding-apples, without dividing them, prepare
the rice as in the foregoing receipt, enclose them in it, and boil them
for one hour: ten minutes less will be sufficient should the fruit be
but of moderate size. An agreeable addition to them is a slice of fresh
butter, mixed with as much sugar as can be smoothly blended with it, and
a flavouring of powdered cinnamon, or of nutmeg: this must be sent to
table apart from them, not in the dish.
LIGHT CURRANT DUMPLINGS.
For each dumpling take three tablespoonsful of flour, two of
finely-minced suet, and three of currants, a slight pinch of salt, and
as much milk or water as will make a _very_ thick batter of the
ingredients. Tie the dumplings in well-floured cloths, and boil them for
a full hour: they may be served with very sweet wine sauce.
LEMON DUMPLINGS. (LIGHT AND GOOD.)
Mix, with ten ounces of fine bread-crumbs, half a pound of beef suet,
chopped extremely small, one large tablespoonful of flour, the grated
rinds of two small lemons, or of a very large one, four ounces of
pounded sugar, three large or four small eggs beaten and strained, and
last of all, the juice of the lemons, or part of it, also strained.
Divide these into four equal portions, tie them in well-floured cloths,
and boil them an hour. The dumplings will be extremely light and
delicate: if wished _very_ sweet, more sugar must be added to them. The
syrup of preserved ginger would be both a wholesome and appropriate
sauce for them.
SUFFOLK, OR HARD DUMPLINGS.
Mix a little salt with some flour, and make it into a smooth and rather
lithe paste, with cold water or skimmed milk; form it into dumplings,
and throw them into boiling water: in half an hour they will be ready to
serve. A better kind of dumpling is made by adding sufficient milk to
the flour to form a thick batter, and then tying the dumplings in small
well-floured cloths. In Suffolk farmhouses, they are served with the
dripping-pan gravy of roast meat, and they are sometimes made very small
indeed, and boiled with stewed shin of beef.
NORFOLK DUMPLINGS.
Take a pound of dough from a baking of very light white bread, and
divide it into six equal parts; mould these into dumplings, drop them
into a pan of fast boiling water, and boil them quickly from twelve to
fifteen minutes. Send them to table the _instant_ they are dished, with
wine sauce or raspberry vinegar. In some counties they are eaten with
melted butter, well sweetened, and mixed with a little vinegar. They
must never be cut, but should be torn apart with a couple of forks.
SWEET BOILED PATTIES. (GOOD.)
Mix into a very smooth paste, three ounces of finely-minced suet with
eight of flour, and a light pinch of salt; divide it into fourteen balls
of equal size, roll them out quite thin and round, moisten the edges,
put a little preserve into each, close the patties very securely to
prevent its escape, throw them into a pan of boiling water, and in from
ten to twelve minutes lift them out, and serve them instantly.
Butter-crust may be used for them instead of suet but it will not be so
light.
Flour, 8 oz.; suet, 3 oz.; _little_ salt; divided into fourteen
portions: boiled 10 to 12 minutes.
BOILED RICE TO BE SERVED WITH STEWED FRUITS, PRESERVES, OR RASPBERRY
VINEGAR.
Take out the discoloured grains from half a pound of good rice; and wash
it in several waters; tie it very loosely in a pudding cloth, put it
into cold water; heat it slowly, and boil it for quite an hour, it will
then be quite solid and resemble a pudding in appearance. Sufficient
room must be given to allow the grain to swell to its full size, or it
will be hard; but too much space will render the whole watery. With a
little experience, the cook will easily ascertain the exact degree to be
allowed for it. Four ounces of rice will require quite three quarters of
an hour’s boiling; a little more or less of time will sometimes be
needed, from the difference of quality in the grain. It should be put
into an abundant quantity of water, which should be cold and then very
slowly heated.
Carolina rice, 1/2 lb.: boiled 1 hour. 4 oz.: 3/4 hour.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER XXI.
=Baked Puddings.=
[Illustration:
Pudding garnished with Preserves.
]
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.
[Illustration:
Baked Pudding Mould.
]
WE have little to add here to the remarks which will be found at the
commencement of the preceding Chapter, as they will apply equally to the
preparation of these and of boiled puddings.
All of the custard kind, whether made of eggs and milk only, or of sago,
arrow-root, rice, ground or in grain, vermicelli, &c., require a very
gentle oven, and are spoiled by fast-baking. Those made of batter on the
contrary, should be put into one sufficiently brisk to raise them
quickly but without scorching them. Such as contain suet and raisins
must have a well-heated but not a fierce oven; for as they must remain
long in it to be thoroughly done, unless carefully managed they will
either be much too highly coloured or too dry.
By whisking to a solid froth the whites of the eggs used for any
pudding, and stirring them softly into it at the instant of placing it
in the oven it will be rendered exceedingly light, and will rise very
high in the dish; but as it will partake then of the nature of a
_soufflé_, it must be despatched with great expedition to table from the
oven, or it will become flat before it is served.
When a pudding is sufficiently browned on the surface (that is to say,
of a fine equal amber-colour) before it is baked through, a sheet of
writing paper should be laid over it, but not before it is _set_: when
quite firm in the centre it will be done.
Potato, batter, plum, and every other kind of pudding indeed which is
sufficiently solid to allow of it, should be turned on to a clean hot
dish from the one in which it is baked, and strewed with sifted sugar
before it is sent to table.
Minute directions for the preparation and management of each particular
variety of pudding will be found in the receipt for it.
A BAKED PLUM PUDDING EN MOULE, OR MOULDED.
Mingle thoroughly in a large pan or bowl half a pound of the nicest
beef-kidney suet minced very small, half a pound of carefully stoned
raisins, as many currants, four ounces of pounded sugar, half a pound of
flour, two ounces of candied citron and lemon or orange rind, four large
well whisked eggs, a small cup of milk, a glass of brandy, a tiny pinch
of salt, and some nutmeg or powdered ginger. Beat the whole up lightly,
pour it into a well-buttered mould or cake-tin and bake it in a moderate
oven from an hour and a half to two hours. Turn it from the mould and
send it quickly to table with _Devonshire cream_, or melted apricot
marmalade for sauce.
THE PRINTER’S PUDDING.
Grate very lightly six ounces of the crumb of a stale loaf, and put it
into a deep dish. Dissolve in a quart of cold new milk four ounces of
good Lisbon sugar; add it to five large, well-whisked eggs, strain, and
mix them with the bread-crumbs; stir in two ounces of a fresh
finely-grated cocoa-nut; add a flavouring of nutmeg or of lemon-rind,
and the slightest pinch of salt; let the pudding stand for a couple of
hours to soak the bread; and bake it in a gentle oven for three-quarters
of an hour: it will be excellent if carefully made, and not too quickly
baked. When the cocoa-nut is not at hand, an ounce of butter just
dissolved, should be poured over the dish before the crumbs are put into
it; and the rind of an entire lemon may be used to give it flavour; but
the cocoa-nut imparts a peculiar richness when it is good and fresh.
Bread-crumbs, 6 oz.; new milk, 1 quart; sugar, 4 oz.; eggs, 5;
cocoa-nut, 2 oz. (or rind, 1 large lemon, and 1 oz. butter); slightest
pinch of salt: to stand 2 hours. Baked in gentle oven full 3/4 hour.
_Obs_.—When a very sweet pudding is liked, the proportion of sugar may
be increased.
ALMOND PUDDING.
On two ounces of fine bread-crumbs pour a pint of boiling cream, and let
them remain until nearly cold, then mix them very gradually with half a
pound of sweet and six bitter almonds pounded to the smoothest paste,
with a little orange-flower water, or with a few drops of spring water,
just to prevent their oiling; stir to them by degrees the well-beaten
yolks of seven and the whites of three eggs, six ounces of sifted sugar,
and four of clarified butter; turn the mixture into a very clean
stewpan, and stir it without ceasing over a slow fire until it becomes
thick, but on no account allow it to boil. When it is tolerably cool add
a glass of brandy, or half a one of noyau, pour the pudding into a dish
lined with very thin puff paste, and bake it half an hour in a moderate
oven.
Bread-crumbs, 2 oz.; cream, 1 pint; pounded almonds, 1/2 lb.; bitter
almonds, 6; yolks of 7, whites of 3 eggs; sugar, 6 oz.; butter, 4 oz.;
brandy, 1 wineglassful, or 1/2 glass of noyau: 1/2 hour, moderate oven.
THE YOUNG WIFE’S PUDDING.
(_Author’s Receipt._)
Break separately into a cup four perfectly sweet eggs, and with the
point of a small three-pronged fork clear them from the specks. Throw
them, as they are done, into a large basin, or a bowl, and beat them up
lightly for four or five minutes, then add by degrees two ounces and a
half of pounded sugar, with a very small pinch of salt, and whisk the
mixture well, holding the fork rather loosely between the thumb and
fingers; next, grate in the rind of a quite fresh lemon, or substitute
for it a tablespoonful of lemon-brandy, or of orange-flower water, which
should be thrown in by degrees, and stirred briskly to the eggs. Add a
pint of cold new milk, and pour the pudding into a well buttered dish.
Slice some stale bread, something more than a quarter of an inch thick,
and with a very small cake-cutter cut sufficient rounds from it to cover
the top of the pudding; butter them thickly with good butter; lay them,
with the dry side undermost, upon the pudding, sift sugar thickly on
them, and set the dish gently into a Dutch or American oven, which
should be placed at the distance of a foot or more from a moderate fire.
An hour of _very slow_ baking will be just sufficient to render the
pudding firm throughout; but should the fire be fierce, or the oven
placed too near it, the receipt will fail.
_Obs._—We give minute directions for this dish, because though simple,
it is very delicate and good, and the same instructions will serve for
all the varieties of it which follow. The cook who desires to succeed
with them, must take the trouble to regulate properly the heat of the
oven in which they are baked. When it is necessary to place them in that
of the kitchen-range the door should be left open for a time to cool it
down (should it be very hot), before they are placed in it; and they may
be set upon a plate or dish reversed, if the iron should still remain
greatly heated.
THE GOOD DAUGHTER’S MINCEMEAT PUDDING.
(_Author’s Receipt._)
Lay into a rather deep tart-dish some thin slices of French roll very
slightly spread with butter and covered with a thick layer of mincemeat;
place a second tier lightly on these, covered in the same way with the
mincemeat; then pour gently in a custard made with three well-whisked
eggs, three-quarters of a pint of new milk or thin cream, the slightest
pinch of salt, and two ounces of sugar. Let the pudding stand to soak
for an hour, then bake it gently until it is quite firm in the centre:
this will be in from three-quarters of an hour to a full hour.
MRS. HOWITT’S PUDDING.
(_Author’s Receipt._)
Butter lightly, on both sides, some evenly cut slices of roll, or of
light bread freed from crust, and spread the tops thickly but uniformly
with good orange-marmalade. Prepare as much only in this way as will
cover the surface of the pudding without the edges of the bread
overlaying each other, as this would make it sink to the bottom of the
dish. Add the same custard as for the mincemeat-pudding, but flavour it
with French brandy only. Let it stand for an hour, then place it gently
in a slow oven and bake it until it is quite _set_, but no longer. It is
an excellent and delicate pudding when properly baked; but like all
which are composed in part of custard, it will be spoiled by a fierce
degree of heat. The bread should be of a light clear brown, and the
custard, under it, smooth and firm. This may be composed, at choice, of
the yolks of four and whites of two eggs, thoroughly whisked, first
without and then with two tablespoonsful of fine sugar; to these the
milk or cream may then be added.
AN EXCELLENT LEMON PUDDING.
Beat well together four ounces of fresh butter creamed, and eight of
sifted sugar; to these add gradually the yolks of six and the whites of
two eggs, with the grated rind and the strained juice of one large
lemon:—this last must be added by slow degrees, and stirred briskly to
the other ingredients. Bake the pudding in a dish lined with very thin
puff-paste for three-quarters of an hour, in a slow oven.
Butter, 4 oz.; sugar, 1/2 lb.; yolks of 6, whites of 2 eggs; large
lemon, 1: 3/4 hour, slow oven.
LEMON SUET PUDDING.
To half a pound of finely grated bread-crumbs, add six ounces of fresh
beef-kidney suet, free from skin, and minced very small, a quarter of a
pound of castor sugar, six ounces of currants, the grated rind and the
strained juice of a _large_ lemon, and four full-sized or five small
well-beaten eggs; pour these ingredients into a thickly-buttered pan,
and bake the pudding for an hour in a brisk oven, but draw it towards
the mouth when it is of a fine brown colour. Turn it from the dish
before it is served, and strew sifted sugar over it or not, at pleasure:
two ounces more of suet can be added when a larger proportion is liked.
The pudding is very good without the currants.
Bread-crumbs, 8 oz.; beef-suet, 6 oz.; pounded sugar, 3-1/2 oz.; lemon,
1 _large_; currants, 6 oz.; eggs, 4 large, or 5 small: 1 hour, brisk
oven.
BAKEWELL PUDDING.
This pudding is famous not only in Derbyshire, but in several of our
northern counties, where it is usually served on all holiday-occasions.
Line a shallow tart-dish with quite an inch-deep layer of several kinds
of good preserve mixed together, and intermingle with them from two to
three ounces of candied citron or orange-rind. Beat well the yolks of
ten eggs, and add to them gradually half a pound of sifted sugar; when
they are well mixed, pour in by degrees half a pound of good clarified
butter, and a little ratifia or any other flavour that may be preferred;
fill the dish two-thirds full with this mixture, and bake the pudding
for nearly an hour in a moderate oven. Half the quantity will be
sufficient for a small dish.
Mixed preserves, 1-1/2 to 2 lbs.; yolks of eggs, 10; sugar, 1/2 lb.;
butter, 1/2 lb.; ratifia, lemon-brandy, or other flavouring, to the
taste: baked, moderate oven, 3/4 to 1 hour.
_Obs._—This is a rich and expensive, but not very refined pudding. A
variation of it, known in the south as an Alderman’s Pudding, is we
think, superior to it. It is made without the candied peel, and with a
layer of apricot-jam only, six ounces of butter, six of sugar, the yolks
of six, and the whites of two eggs.
RATIFIA PUDDING.
Flavour a pint and a half of new milk rather highly with bitter almonds,
blanched and bruised, or, should their use be objected to, with three or
four bay leaves and a little cinnamon; add a few grains of salt, and
from four to six ounces of sugar in lumps, according to the taste. When
the whole has simmered gently for some minutes, strain off the milk
through a fine sieve or muslin, put it into a clean saucepan, and when
it again boils stir it gradually and quickly to six well-beaten eggs
which have been likewise strained; let the mixture cool, and then add to
it a glass of brandy. Lay a half-paste round a well-buttered dish, and
sprinkle into it an ounce of ratifias finely crumbled, grate the rind of
a lemon over, and place three ounces of whole ratifias upon them, pour
in sufficient of the custard to soak them; an hour afterwards add the
remainder, and send the pudding to a gentle oven: half an hour will bake
it.
New milk, 1-1/2 pint; bitter almonds, 6 or 7 (or bay leaves, 3 to 5, and
bit of cinnamon); sugar, 4 to 6 oz.; eggs, 6; brandy, 1 wineglassful;
ratifias, 4 oz.; rind 1/2 lemon: baked 1/2 hour.
THE ELEGANT ECONOMIST’S PUDDING.
We have already given a receipt for an exceedingly good boiled pudding
bearing this title, but we think the baked one answers even better, and
it is made with rather more facility. Butter a deep tart-dish well, cut
the slices of plum-pudding to join exactly in lining it, and press them
against it lightly to make them adhere, as without this precaution they
are apt to float off; pour in as much custard (previously thickened and
left to become cold), or any other sweet pudding mixture, as will fill
the dish almost to the brim; cover the top with thin slices of the plum
pudding, and bake it in a slow oven from thirty minutes to a full hour,
according to the quantity and quality of the contents. One pint of new
milk poured boiling on an ounce and a half of _tous-les-mois_, smoothly
mixed with a quarter of a pint of cold milk, makes with the addition of
four ounces of sugar, four small eggs, a little lemon-grate, and two or
three bitter almonds, or a few drops of ratifia, an excellent pudding of
this kind; it should be baked nearly three-quarters of an hour in a
quite slow oven. Two ounces and a half of arrow-root may be used in lieu
of the _tous-les-mois_.
RICH BREAD AND BUTTER PUDDING.
Give a good flavour of lemon-rind and bitter almonds, or of cinnamon, if
preferred, to a pint of new milk, and when it has simmered a sufficient
time for this, strain and mix it with a quarter of a pint of rich cream;
sweeten it with four ounces of sugar in lumps, and stir it while still
hot to five well-beaten eggs; throw in a few grains of salt, and move
the mixture briskly with a spoon as a glass of brandy is added to it.
Have ready in a thickly-buttered dish three layers of thin bread and
butter cut from a half-quartern loaf, with four ounces of currants, and
one and a half of finely shred candied peel, strewed between and over
them; pour the eggs and milk on them by degrees, letting the bread
absorb one portion before another is added: it should soak for a couple
of hours before the pudding is taken to the oven, which should be a
moderate one. Half an hour will bake it. It is very good when made with
new milk only; and some persons use no more than a pint of liquid in
all, but part of the whites of the eggs may then be omitted. Cream may
be substituted for the entire quantity of milk at pleasure.
New milk, 1 pint; rind of small lemon, and 6 bitter almonds bruised (or
1/2 drachm of cinnamon): simmered 10 to 20 minutes. Cream, 1/4 pint;
sugar, 4 oz.; eggs, 6; brandy, 1 wineglassful. Bread and butter, 3
layers; currants, 4 oz.; candied orange or lemon-rind, 1-1/2 oz.: to
stand 2 hours, and to be baked 30 minutes in a moderate oven.
COMMON BREAD AND BUTTER PUDDING.
Sweeten a pint and a half of milk with four ounces of Lisbon sugar; stir
it to four large well-beaten eggs, or to five small ones, grate half a
nutmeg to them, and pour the mixture into a dish which holds nearly
three pints, and which is filled almost to the brim with layers of bread
and butter, between which three ounces of currants have been strewed.
Lemon-grate, or orange-flower water can be added to this pudding instead
of nutmeg, when preferred. From three quarters of an hour to an hour
will bake it.
Milk, 1-1/2 pint; Lisbon sugar, 4 oz.; eggs, 4 large, or 5 small; 1/2
small nutmeg; currants, 3 oz.: baked 3/4 to 1 hour.
A GOOD BAKED BREAD PUDDING.
Pour, quite boiling, on six ounces (or three quarters of a pint) of fine
bread-crumbs and one ounce of butter, a pint of new milk, cover them
closely, and let them stand until the bread is well soaked; then stir to
them three ounces of sugar, five eggs, leaving out two of the whites,
two ounces of candied orange-rind, sliced thin, and a flavouring of
nutmeg; when the mixture is nearly or quite cold pour it into a dish,
and place lightly over the top the whites of three eggs beaten to a firm
froth, and mixed at the instant with three large tablespoonsful of
sifted sugar. Bake the pudding for half an hour in a moderate oven. The
icing may be omitted, and an ounce and a half of butter, just warmed,
put into the dish before the pudding, and plenty of sugar sifted over it
just as it is sent to the oven, or it may be made without either.
Bread, 6 oz.; butter, 1 oz.; milk, 1 pint; sugar, 3 oz.; eggs, 5 yolks,
3 whites; candied orange-rind, 2 oz.; little nutmeg. Icing, 3 whites of
eggs; sugar, 3 tablespoonsful: baked, 1/2 hour.
ANOTHER BAKED BREAD PUDDING.
Add to a pint of new milk a quarter of a pint of good cream, and pour
them boiling on eight ounces of bread-crumbs, and three of fresh butter;
when these have stood half an hour covered with a plate, stir to them
four ounces of sugar, six ounces of currants, one and a half of candied
orange or citron, and five eggs.
A GOOD SEMOULINA, OR SOUJEE PUDDING.
Drop lightly into a pint and a half of boiling milk two large
tablespoonsful of semoulina, and stir them together as this is done,
that the mixture may not be lumpy; continue the stirring from eight to
ten minutes, then throw in two ounces of good butter, and three and a
half of pounded sugar, or of the finest Lisbon; next add the grated rind
of a lemon, and, while the semoulina is still warm, beat gradually and
briskly to it five well-whisked eggs; pour it into a buttered dish, and
bake it about half an hour in a moderate oven. Boil the soujee exactly
as the semoulina.
New milk, 1-1/2 pint; semoulina, 2-1/2 oz.: 7 to 8 minutes. Sugar, 3-1/2
oz.; butter, 2 oz.; rind of lemon; eggs, 5: baked in moderate oven, 1/2
hour. Or, soujee, 4 oz.; other ingredients as above.
FRENCH SEMOULINA PUDDING.
_Or Gâteau de Semoule._
Infuse by the side of the fire in a quart of new milk, the very thin
rind of a fine fresh lemon, and when it has stood for half an hour bring
it slowly to a boil: simmer it for four or five minutes, then take out
the lemon rind, and throw lightly into the milk, stirring it all the
time, five ounces of the best quality of semoulina;[149] let it boil
over a gentle fire for ten minutes, then add four ounces of sugar
roughly powdered, three of fresh butter, and less than a small
quarter-teaspoonful of salt; boil the mixture for two or three
additional minutes, keeping it stirred without ceasing; take it from the
fire, let it cool a little, and stir to it briskly, and by degrees, the
yolks of six eggs and the whites of four _well_ beaten together, and
strained or prepared for use as directed at page 395, four or five
bitter almonds, pounded with a little sugar, will heighten the flavour
pleasantly to many tastes. When the pudding is nearly cold, pour it
gently into a stewpan or mould, prepared as for the _Gâteau de Riz_ of
page 433, and bake it in a very gentle oven from an hour and a quarter
to an hour and a half.
Footnote 149:
As we have had occasion to state in the previous pages of this volume,
we have had semoulina, vermicelli, and various kinds of macaroni of
first-rate quality, from Mr. Cobbett, 18, Pall Mall; but they may,
without doubt, be procured equally good from many other foreign
warehouses.
SAXE-GOTHA PUDDING, OR TOURTE.
Blanch and pound to the smoothest possible paste, a couple of ounces of
Jordan almonds, and four or five bitter ones; add to them, spoonful by
spoonful quite at first, four eggs which have been whisked very light;
throw in gradually two ounces of pounded sugar, and then four ounces of
the finest bread-crumbs. Just melt, but without heating, two ounces of
fresh butter, and add it in very small portions to the other
ingredients, beating each well to them until it ceases to appear on the
surface. Pour the paste thus prepared upon a pint of red currants, ready
mixed in a tart-dish with four ounces of pounded sugar, and bake them
gently for about half an hour. Raspberries and currants mixed, and
Kentish or morella cherries, will make most excellent varieties of this
dish: the Kentish cherries should be stoned for it, the morellas left
entire. Should the paste be considered too rich, a part or the whole of
the butter can be omitted; or again, it may on occasion be made without
the almonds; but the reader is recommended to try the receipt in the
first instance without any variation from it. The crust will be found
delicious if well made. Like all mixtures of the kind it must be kept
light by constant beating, as the various ingredients are added to the
eggs, which should themselves be whisked to a very light froth before
they are used.
Jordan almonds, 2 oz.; bitter almonds, 4 or 5; eggs, 4; pounded sugar, 2
oz.; bread-crumbs, 4 oz.; fresh butter, 2 oz. Red currants, (or other
fruit) 1 pint; sugar, 4 oz.: 1/2 hour.
BADEN-BADEN PUDDINGS.
Prepare the same paste as for the preceding receipt, and add to it by
degrees a couple of tablespoonsfuls of fine raspberry, strawberry, or
apricot jam, which has previously been worked smooth with the back of a
spoon; half fill some buttered pattypans or small cups with the mixture
and bake the puddings in a gentle oven from fifteen to twenty minutes,
or rather longer should it be very slow. For variety, omit the preserve,
and flavour the puddings with the lightly grated rind of a fresh lemon,
and with an ounce or so of candied peel shred small; or with a little
vanilla pounded with a lump or two of sugar, and sifted through a hair
sieve; or with from three to four drachms of orange flowers _pralineés_
reduced to powder; or serve them quite plain with a fruit sauce.
SUTHERLAND OR CASTLE PUDDINGS.
Take an equal weight of eggs in the shell, of good butter, of fine dry
flour, and of sifted sugar. First, whisk the eggs for ten minutes or
until they appear extremely light, then throw in the sugar by degrees,
and continue the whisking for four or five minutes; next, strew in the
flour, also gradually, and when it appears smoothly blended with the
other ingredients, pour the butter to them in small portions, each of
which should be beaten in until there is no appearance of it left. It
should previously be just liquefied with the least possible degree of
heat: this may be effected by putting it into a well-warmed saucepan,
and shaking it round until it is dissolved. A grain or two of salt
should be thrown in with the flour; and the rind of half a fine lemon
rasped on sugar or grated, or some pounded mace, or any other flavour
can be added at choice. Pour the mixture directly it is ready into
well-buttered cups, and bake the puddings from twenty to twenty-five
minutes. When cold they resemble good pound cakes, and may be served as
such. Wine sauce should be sent to table with them.
Eggs, 4; their weight in flour, sugar, and butter; _little_ salt;
flavouring of pounded mace or lemon-rind.
_Obs._—Three eggs are sufficient for a small dish of these puddings.
They may be varied with an ounce or two of candied citron; or with a
spoonful of brandy, or a little orange-flower water. The mode we have
given of making them will be found perfectly successful if our
directions be followed with exactness. In a slow oven they will not be
too much baked in half an hour.
MADELEINE PUDDINGS.
_To be served cold._
Take the same ingredients as for the Sutherland puddings, but clarify an
additional ounce of butter; skim, and then fill some round tin pattypans
with it almost to the brim; pour it from one to the other until all have
received a sufficient coating to prevent the puddings from adhering to
them, and leave half a teaspoonful in each; mix the remainder with the
eggs, sugar, and flour, beat the whole up very lightly, fill the pans
about two-thirds full, and put them directly into a rather brisk oven,
but draw them towards the mouth of it when they are sufficiently
coloured; from fifteen to eighteen minutes will bake them. Turn them
out, and drain them on a sheet of paper. When they are quite cold, with
the point of the knife take out a portion of the tops, hollow the
puddings a little, and fill them with rich apricot-jam, well mixed with
half its weight of pounded almonds, of which two in every ounce should
be bitter ones.
A GOOD FRENCH RICE PUDDING, OR GÂTEAU DE RIZ.
Swell gently in a quart of new milk, or in equal parts of milk and
cream, seven ounces of the best Carolina rice, which has been cleared of
the discoloured grains, and washed and drained; when it is tolerably
tender, add to it three ounces of fresh butter, and five of sugar
roughly powdered, a _few_ grains of salt, and the lightly grated rind of
a fine lemon, and simmer the whole until the rice is swollen to the
utmost; then take it from the fire, let it cool a little, and stir to it
quickly, and by degrees, the well-beaten yolks of six full-sized eggs.
Pour into a small copper stewpan[150] a couple of ounces of clarified
butter, and incline it in such a manner that it may receive an equal
coating in every part; then turn it upside down for an instant, to drain
off the superfluous butter; next, throw in some exceedingly fine light
crumbs of stale bread, and shake them entirely over it, turn out those
which do not adhere, and with a small brush or feather sprinkle more
clarified butter slightly on those which line the pan. Whisk quickly the
whites of the eggs to snow, stir them gently to the rice, and pour the
mixture softly into the stewpan, that the bread-crumbs may not be
displaced; put it immediately into a _moderate_ oven, and let it remain
in a full hour. It will then, if properly baked, turn out from the mould
or pan well browned, quite firm, and having the appearance of a cake;
but a fierce heat will cause it to break, and present an altogether
unsightly appearance. In a very slow oven a longer time must be allowed
for it.
Footnote 150:
One which holds about five pints is well adapted to the purpose. When
this is not at hand, a copper cake-mould may be substituted for it.
The stewpan must not be covered while the _gâteau_ is baking.
New milk, or milk and cream, 1 quart; Carolina rice, 7 oz.: 3/4 hour.
Fresh butter, 3 oz.; sugar, in lumps, 5 oz.; rind, 1 large lemon: 3/4 to
1-1/4. Eggs, 6: baked in a moderate oven, 1 hour.
_Obs._—An excellent variety of this _gâteau_ is made with cocoa-nut
flavoured milk, or cream (see Chapter XXIII.), or with either of these
poured boiling on six ounces of Jordan almonds, finely pounded, and
mixed with a dozen bitter ones, then wrung from them with strong
pressure; it may likewise be flavoured with vanilla, or with candied
orange-blossoms, and covered at the instant it is dished, with
strawberry, apple, or any other clear jelly.
A COMMON RICE PUDDING.
Throw six ounces of rice into plenty of cold water, and boil it gently
from eight to ten minutes; drain it well in a sieve or strainer, and put
it into a clean saucepan with a quart of milk; let it stew until tender,
sweeten it with three ounces of sugar, stir to it, gradually, three
large, or four small eggs, beaten and strained; add grated nutmeg, lemon
rind, or cinnamon to give it flavour, and bake it one hour in a gentle
oven.
Rice, 6 oz.: in water, 8 to 10 minutes. Milk, 1 quart: 3/4 to 1 hour.
Sugar, 3 oz.; eggs, 3 large, or 4 small; flavouring of nutmeg
lemon-rind, or cinnamon: bake 1 hour, _gentle_ oven.
QUITE CHEAP RICE PUDDING.
Boil the rice in water, as for a currie, and while it is still warm, mix
with it a pint and a half of milk, and three fresh or four or five
French eggs (at many seasons of the year these last, which are always
cheap, are _very good_, and answer excellently for puddings.) Sweeten it
with pale brown sugar, grate nutmeg on the top, and bake it _slowly_
until it is firm in every part.
RICHER RICE PUDDING.
Wash very clean four ounces of whole rice, pour on it a pint and a half
of new milk, and stew it slowly till quite tender; before it is taken
from the fire, stir in two ounces of good butter, and three of sugar;
and when it has cooled a little, add four well-whisked eggs, and the
grated rind of half a lemon. Bake the pudding in a gentle oven from
thirty to forty minutes. As rice requires long boiling to render it soft
in milk, it may be partially stewed in water, the quantity of milk
diminished to a pint, and a little thick sweet cream mixed with it,
before the other ingredients are added.
Rice, 4 oz.; new milk, 1-1/2 pint; butter, 2 oz.; sugar, 3 oz.; eggs, 4;
rind of 1/2 lemon: 30 to 40 minutes, slow oven.
RICE PUDDING MERINGUÉ.
Swell gently four ounces of Carolina rice in a pint and a quarter of
milk or of thin cream; let it cool a little, and stir to it an ounce and
a half of butter, three of pounded sugar, a grain or two of salt, the
grated rind of a small lemon, and the yolks of four large, or of five
small eggs. Pour the mixture into a well-buttered dish, and lay lightly
and equally over the top the whites of four eggs beaten as for sponge
cakes, and mixed at the instant with from four to five heaped
tablespoonsful of sifted sugar. Bake the pudding half an hour in a
moderate oven, but do not allow the _meringue_ to be too deeply
coloured; it should be of a clear brown, and very crisp. Serve it
directly it is taken from the oven.
Rice, 4 oz.; milk, or cream, 1-1/4 pint; butter, 1-1/2 oz.; sugar, 3
oz.; rind, 1 lemon; yolks of eggs, 4 or 5; the whites beaten to snow,
and mixed with as many tablespoonsful of sifted sugar: baked 1/2 hour,
moderate oven.
_Obs._—A couple of ounces of Jordan almonds, with two or three bitter
ones, pounded quite to a paste, will improve this dish, whether mixed
with the pudding itself, or with the _meringué_.
A GOOD GROUND RICE PUDDING.
Mix very smoothly five ounces of flour of rice (or of _ground_ rice, if
preferred), with half a pint of milk, and pour it into a pint and a half
more which is boiling fast; keep it stirred constantly over a gentle
fire from ten to twelve minutes, and be particularly careful not to let
it burn to the pan; add to it before it is taken from the fire, a
quarter of a pound of good butter, from five to six ounces of sugar,
roughly powdered, and a few grains of salt; turn it into a pan, and stir
it for a few minutes, to prevent its hardening at the top; then mix with
it, by degrees but quickly, the yolks of eight eggs, and the whites of
two, the grated or rasped rind of a fine lemon, and a glass of brandy.
Lay a border of rich paste round a buttered dish, pour in the pudding,
strain a little clarified butter over the top, moisten the paste with a
brush, or small bunch of feathers dipped in cold water, and sift plenty
of sugar on it, but less over the pudding itself. Send it to a _very_
gentle oven to be baked for three-quarters of an hour.
Rice-flour (or ground rice), 5 oz.; new milk, 1 quart: 10 to 12 minutes.
Butter, 4 oz.; sugar, 5 to 6 oz.; salt, 1/2 saltspoonful; yolks, 8 eggs;
whites, 2; rind, 1 large lemon; brandy, large wineglassful: 3/4 hour,
_slow_ oven.
_Obs._—These proportions are sufficient for a pudding of larger size
than those served usually at elegant tables; they will make two small
ones; or two-thirds of the quantity may be taken for one of moderate
size. Lemon-brandy or ratifia, or a portion of each, may be used to give
it flavour, with good effect; and it may be enriched, if this be
desired, by adding to the other ingredients from three to four ounces of
Jordan almonds, finely pounded, and by substituting cream for half of
the milk.
COMMON GROUND RICE PUDDING.
One pint and a half of milk, three ounces and a half of rice, three of
Lisbon sugar, one and a half of butter, some nutmeg, or lemon-grate, and
four eggs, baked slowly for half an hour, or more, if not quite firm.
GREEN GOOSEBERRY PUDDING.
Boil together, from ten to twelve minutes, a pound of green
gooseberries, five ounces of sugar, and rather more than a quarter of a
pint of water: then beat the fruit to a mash, and stir to it an ounce
and a half of fresh butter; when nearly, or quite cold, add two ounces
and a half of very fine bread-crumbs, and four well whisked eggs. Bake
the pudding gently from half to three-quarters of an hour. To make a
finer one of the kind, work the fruit through a sieve, mix it with four
or five crushed Naples biscuits, and use double the quantity of butter.
Green gooseberries, 1 lb.; sugar, 5 oz.; water, full 1/4 pint: 10 to 12
minutes. Bread-crumbs, 2-1/2 oz.; eggs, 4: 1/2 to 3/4 hour.
POTATO PUDDING.
With a pound and a quarter of fine mealy potatoes, boiled very dry, and
mashed perfectly smooth while hot, mix three ounces of butter, five or
six of sugar, five eggs, a few grains of salt, and the grated rind of a
small lemon. Pour the mixture into a well-buttered dish, and bake it in
a moderate oven for nearly three-quarters of an hour. It should be
turned out and sent to table with fine sugar sifted over it; or for
variety, red currant jelly, or any other preserve, may be spread on it
as soon as it is dished.
Potatoes, 1-1/4 lb.; butter, 3 oz.; sugar, 5 or 6 oz.; eggs, 5 or 6;
lemon-rind, 1; salt, few grains: 40 to 45 minutes.
_Obs._—When cold, this pudding eats like cake, and may be served as
such, omitting, of course, the sugar or preserve when it is dished.
A RICHER POTATO PUDDING.
Beat well together fourteen ounces of mashed potatoes, four ounces of
butter, four of fine sugar, five eggs, the grated rind of a small lemon,
and a slight pinch of salt; add half a glass of brandy, and pour the
pudding into a thickly-buttered dish or mould, ornamented with slices of
candied orange or; pour a little clarified butter on the top, and then
sift plenty of white sugar over it.
Potatoes, 14 oz.; butter, 4 oz.; sugar, 4 oz.; eggs, 5; lemon-rind, 1;
little salt; brandy, 1/2 glassful; candied peel, 1-1/2 to 2 oz.: 40
minutes.
_Obs._—The potatoes for these receipts should be lightly and carefully
mashed, but never pounded in a mortar, as that will convert them into a
heavy paste. The better plan is to prepare them by Captain Kater’s
receipt (Chapter XVII.), when they will fall to powder almost of
themselves; or they may be grated while hot through a wire sieve. From a
quarter to a half pint of cream is, by many cooks, added always to
potato puddings.
A GOOD SPONGE CAKE PUDDING.
Slice into a well-buttered tart-dish three penny sponge biscuits, and
place on them a couple of ounces of candied orange or lemon rind cut in
strips. Whisk thoroughly six eggs, and stir to them boiling a pint and a
quarter of new milk, in which three ounces of sugar have been dissolved;
grate in the rind of a small lemon, and when they are somewhat cooled,
add half a wineglassful of brandy, while still just warm, pour the
mixture to the cakes, and let it remain an hour; then strain an ounce
and a half of clarified butter over the top, or strew pounded sugar
rather thickly on it, and bake the pudding three quarters of an hour or
longer in a gentle oven.
Sponge cakes, 3; candied peel, 2 oz.; eggs, 6; new milk, 1-1/4 pint;
sugar, 3 oz.; lemon-rind, 1; brandy, 1/2 glass; butter, 1 oz.; sifted
sugar, 1-1/2 oz.: 3/4 hour.
CAKE AND CUSTARD, AND VARIOUS OTHER INEXPENSIVE PUDDINGS.
Even when very dry, the remains of a sponge or a Savoy cake will serve
excellently for a pudding, if lightly broken up, or crumbled, and
intermixed or not, with a few ratifias or macaroons, which should also
be broken up. A custard composed of four eggs to the pint of milk if
small, and three if very large and fresh, and not very highly sweetened,
should be poured over the cake half an hour at least before it is placed
in the oven (which should be _slow_); and any flavour given to it which
may be liked. An economical and clever cook will seldom be at a loss for
compounding an inexpensive and good pudding in this way. More or less of
the cake can be used as may be convenient. Part of a mould of sweet rice
or the remains of a dish of Arocē Docē (see Chapter XXIII.), and various
other preparations may be turned to account in a similar manner; but the
custard should be perfectly and equally mingled with whatever other
ingredients are used. Macaroni boiled tender in milk, or in milk and
water, will make an excellent pudding; and sago stewed very thick, will
supply another; the custard may be mixed with this last while it is
still just warm. Two ounces well washed, and slowly heated in a pint of
liquid, will be tender in from fifteen to twenty minutes. All these
puddings will require a gentle oven, and will be ready to serve when
they are firm in the centre, and do not stick to a knife when plunged
into it.
BAKED APPLE PUDDING, OR CUSTARD.
Weigh a pound of good boiling apples after they are pared and cored, and
stew them to a perfectly smooth marmalade, with six ounces of sugar, and
a spoonful or two of wine; stir them often that they may not stick to
the pan. Mix with them while they are still quite hot, three ounces of
butter, the grated rind and the strained juice of a lemon, and lastly,
stir in by degrees the well-beaten yolks of five eggs, and a
dessertspoonful of flour, or in lieu of the last, three or four Naples’
biscuits, or macaroons crushed small. Bake the pudding for a full half
hour in a moderate oven, or longer should it be not quite firm in the
middle. A little clarified butter poured on the top, with sugar sifted
over, improves all baked puddings.
Apples 1 lb.; sugar, 6 oz.; wine 1 glassful; butter, 3 oz.; juice and
rind, 1 lemon; 5 eggs: 1/2 hour, or more.
_Obs._—Many cooks press the apples through a sieve after they are
boiled, but this is not needful when they are of a good kind, and
stewed, and beaten smooth.
DUTCH CUSTARD, OR BAKED RASPBERRY PUDDING.
Lay into a tart-dish a border of puff-paste, and a pint and a half of
freshly-gathered raspberries, well mixed with three ounces of sugar.
Whisk thoroughly six large eggs with three ounces more of sugar, and
pour it over the fruit: bake the pudding from twenty-five to thirty
minutes in a moderate oven.
Break the eggs one at a time into a cup, and with the point of a small
three-pronged fork take off the specks or germs, before they are beaten,
as we have directed in page 424.
Raspberries, 1-1/2 pint; sugar, 6 oz.; eggs, 6: 25 to 30 minutes.
GABRIELLE’S PUDDING, OR SWEET CASSEROLE OF RICE.
Wash half a pound of the best Carolina rice, drain it on a hair-sieve,
put it into a very clean stewpan or saucepan, and pour on it a quart of
cold new milk. Stir them well together, and place them near the fire
that the rice may swell very gradually; then let it simmer as gently as
possible for about half an hour, or until it begins to be quite tender;
mix with it then, two ounces of fresh butter and two and a half of
pounded sugar, and let it continue to simmer softly until it is dry and
sufficiently tender,[151] to be easily crushed to a smooth paste with a
strong wooden spoon. Work it to this point, and then let it cool. Before
it is taken from the fire, scrape into it the outside of some sugar
which has been rubbed upon the rind of a fresh lemon. Have ready a tin
mould of pretty form, well buttered in every part; press the rice into
it while it is still warm, smooth the surface, and let it remain until
cold. Should the mould be one which opens at the ends, like that shown
in the plate at page 344, the pudding will come out easily; but if it
should be in a plain common one, just dip it into hot water to loosen
it; turn out the rice, and then again reverse it on to a tin or dish,
and with the point of a knife mark round the top a rim of about an inch
wide; then brush some clarified butter over the whole pudding, and set
it into a brisk oven. When it is of an equal light golden brown draw it
out, raise the cover carefully where it is marked, scoop out the rice
from the inside, leaving only a crust of about an inch thick in every
part, and pour into it some preserved fruit warmed in its own syrup, or
fill it with a _compôte_ of plums or peaches (see Chapter XXIII.); or
with some good apples boiled with fine sugar to a smooth rich marmalade.
This is a very good as well as an elegant dish: it may be enriched with
more butter, and by substituting cream for the milk in part or entirely
but it is excellent without either.
Footnote 151:
Unless the rice be boiled slowly, and _very dry_, it will not answer
for the casserole.
Rice, 1/2 lb.; new milk, 1 quart: 1/2 hour. Fresh butter, 2 oz.; pounded
sugar, 2-1/2 oz.; rasped rind, 1 lemon: 1/2 hour or more.
_Obs._—The precise time of baking the pudding cannot well be specified:
it only requires colour.
VERMICELLI PUDDING WITH APPLES OR WITHOUT, AND PUDDINGS OF SOUJEE AND
SEMOLA.
Drop gradually into an exact quart of boiling milk four ounces of very
fresh vermicelli, crushing it slightly with one hand and letting it fall
gently from the fingers, and stirring the milk with a spoon held in the
other hand, to prevent the vermicelli from gathering into lumps. Boil it
softly until it is quite tender and very thick, which it will be usually
in about twenty minutes, during which time it must be very frequently
stirred; then work in two ounces of fresh butter and four of pounded
sugar; turn the mixture into a bowl or pan, and stir it occasionally
until it has cooled down. Whisk five good eggs until they are very
light, beat them gradually and quickly to the other ingredients, add the
finely grated rind of a lemon or a little lemon-brandy or ratifia, and
pour the pudding when nearly cold into a buttered dish, and just cover
the surface with apples pared, cored, and quartered; press them into the
pudding-mixture, to the top of which they will immediately rise again,
and place the dish in a very gentle oven for three-quarters of an hour,
or longer if needed to render the fruit quite tender. The apples should
be of the best quality for cooking. This is an exceedingly nice pudding
if well made and well baked. The butter can be omitted to simplify it.
Milk, 1 quart; vermicelli, 4 oz.: boiled about 20 minutes. Butter 2 oz.;
(when used) pounded sugar, 1/4 lb.; eggs, 5: baked _slowly_ 3/4 hour or
more.
For a plain common vermicelli pudding omit the apples and one egg: for a
very good one use six eggs, and the butter; and flavour it delicately
with orange-flower water, vanilla, or aught else that may be preferred.
We have often had an ounce or two of candied citron sliced very thin
mingled with it.
Puddings of _soujee_ and semola are made in precisely the same manner,
with four ounces to the quart of milk, and ten minutes boiling.
RICE À LA VATHEK, OR RICE PUDDING À LA VATHEK.
(_Extremely Good._)
[Illustration]
Blanch, and then pound carefully to the smoothest possible paste four
ounces of fine Jordan almonds and half a dozen bitter ones, moistening
them with a few drops of water to prevent their oiling. Stir to them by
slow degrees a quart of boiling milk, which should be new, wring it
again closely from them through a thin cloth, which will absorb it less
than a tammy, and set it aside to cool. Wash thoroughly, and afterwards
soak for about ten minutes seven ounces of Carolina rice, drain it well
from the water, pour the almond-milk upon it, bring it _very_ slowly to
boil, and simmer it softly until it is tolerably tender, taking the
precaution to stir it often at first that it may not gather into lumps
nor stick to the pan. Add to it two ounces of fresh butter and four of
pounded sugar, and when it is perfectly tender and dry, proceed with it
exactly as for Gabrielle’s pudding, but in moulding the rice press it
closely and evenly in, and hollow it in the centre, leaving the edge an
inch thick in every part, that it may not break in the oven. The top
must be slightly brushed with butter before it is baked, to prevent its
becoming too dry, but a morsel of white blotting paper will take up any
portion that may remain in it. When it is ready to serve, pour into it a
large jarful of apricot jam, and send it immediately to table. If well
made it will be delicious. It may be served cold (though this is less
usual), and decorated with small thin leaves of citron-rind, cut with a
minute paste-cutter. The same preparation may be used also for
Gabrielle’s pudding, and filled with hot preserved fruit, the rice
scooped from the inside being mixed with the syrup.
GOOD YORKSHIRE PUDDING.
To make a very good and light Yorkshire pudding, take an equal number of
eggs and of heaped tablespoonsful of flour, with a teaspoonful of salt
to six of these. Whisk the eggs _well_, strain, and mix them gradually
with the flour, then pour in by degrees as much new milk as will reduce
the batter to the consistence of rather thin cream. The tin which is to
receive the pudding must have been placed for some time previously under
a joint that has been put down to roast one of beef is usually
preferred. Beat the batter briskly and lightly the instant before it is
poured into the pan, watch it carefully that it may not burn, and let
the edges have an equal share of the fire. When the pudding is quite
firm in every part, and well-coloured on the surface, turn it to brown
the under side. This is best accomplished by first dividing it into
quarters. In Yorkshire it is made much thinner than in the south,
roasted generally at an enormous fire, and _not_ turned at all: currants
there are sometimes added to it.
Eggs, 6; flour, 6 heaped tablespoonsful, or from 7 to 8 oz.; milk,
nearly or quite 1 pint; salt, 1 teaspoonful: 2 hours.
_Obs._—This pudding should be quite an inch thick when it is browned on
both sides, but only half the depth when roasted in the Yorkshire mode.
The cook must exercise her discretion a little in mixing the batter, as
from the variation of weight in flour, and in the size of eggs, a little
more or less of milk may be required: the whole should be rather more
liquid than for a boiled pudding.
COMMON YORKSHIRE PUDDING.
Half a pound of flour, three eggs (we would recommend a fourth), rather
more than a pint of milk, and a teaspoonful of salt.
NORMANDY PUDDING. (GOOD.)
Boil, until very soft and dry, eight ounces of rice in a pint and a
half, or rather more, of water,[152] stir to it two ounces of fresh
butter and three of sugar, and simmer it for a few minutes after they
are added; then pour it out, and let it cool for use. Strip from the
stalks as many red currants, or Kentish cherries, as will fill a
tart-dish of moderate size, and for each pint of the fruit allow from
three to four ounces of sugar. Line the bottom and sides of a deep dish
with part of the rice; next, put in a thick layer of fruit and sugar;
then one of rice and one of fruit alternately until the dish is full.
Sufficient of the rice should be reserved to form a rather thick layer
at the top: smooth this equally with a knife, sift sugar thickly on it,
or brush it with good cream, and send the pudding to a moderate oven for
half an hour, or longer, should it be large. Morella cherries, with a
little additional sugar, make an excellent pudding of this kind.
Footnote 152:
A quart of milk can be substituted for this; but with the fruit, water
perhaps answers better.
COMMON BAKED RAISIN PUDDING.
Beat well together three-quarters of a pound of flour, the same quantity
of raisins, six ounces of beef-suet, finely chopped, a small pinch of
salt, some grated nutmeg, and three eggs which have been thoroughly
whisked, and mixed with about a quarter of a pint of milk, or less than
this, should the eggs be large. Pour the whole into a buttered dish, and
bake it an hour and a quarter. For a large pudding, increase the
quantities one half. Flour and stoned raisins, each 3/4 lb.; suet, 6
oz.; salt, small pinch; nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoonful; eggs, 3; milk, 1/4
pint: 1-1/4 hour.
A RICHER BAKED RAISIN PUDDING.
Mix and whisk well, and lightly together, a pound of raisins weighed
after they are stoned, ten ounces of finely minced beef-suet,
three-quarters of a pound of flour, a little salt, half a small nutmeg,
or the grated rind of a lemon, four large eggs, and as much milk as may
be needed to make the whole into a _very_ thick batter: bake the pudding
a few minutes longer than the preceding one. The addition of sugar will
be found no improvement as it will render it much less light.
Sultana raisins are well adapted to these puddings, as they contain no
pips, and from their delicate size sooner become tender in the baking
than the larger kinds.
THE POOR AUTHOR’S PUDDING.
Flavour a quart of new milk by boiling in it for a few minutes half a
stick of well-bruised cinnamon, or the thin rind of a small lemon; add a
few grains of salt, and three ounces of sugar, and turn the whole into a
deep basin: when it is quite cold, stir to it three well-beaten eggs,
and strain the mixture into a pie-dish. Cover the top entirely with
slices of bread free from crust, and half an inch thick, cut so as to
join neatly, and buttered on both sides: bake the pudding in a moderate
oven for about half an hour, or in a Dutch oven before the fire.
New milk, 1 quart; cinnamon, or lemon-rind; sugar, 3 oz.; little salt;
eggs, 3; buttered bread: baked 1/2 hour.
PUDDING À LA PAYSANNE.
(_Cheap and Good._)
Fill a deep tart-dish with alternate layers of well-sugared fruit, and
very thin slices of the crumb of a light stale loaf; let the upper layer
be of fruit, and should it be of a dry kind, sprinkle over it about a
dessertspoonful of water, or a little lemon-juice: raspberries,
currants, and cherries, will not require this. Send the pudding to a
somewhat brisk oven to be baked for about half an hour. The proportion
of sugar used must be regulated, of course, by the acidity of the fruit.
For a quart of ripe greengages, split and stoned, five ounces will be
sufficient.
THE CURATE’S PUDDING.
This is but a variation of the pudding _à la Paysanne_ which precedes
it, but as it is both good and inexpensive it may be acceptable to some
of our readers. Wash, wipe, and pare some quickly grown rhubarb-stalks,
cut them into short lengths, and put a layer of them into a deep dish
with a spoonful or two of Lisbon sugar; cover these evenly with part of
a penny roll sliced thin; add another thick layer of fruit and sugar,
then one of bread, then another of the rhubarb, cover this last with a
deep layer of fine bread-crumbs well mingled with about a tablespoonful
of sugar, pour a little clarified butter over them, and send the pudding
to a brisk oven. From thirty to forty minutes will bake it. Good boiling
apples sliced, sweetened, and flavoured with nutmeg or grated
lemon-rind, and covered with well buttered slices of bread, make an
_excellent_ pudding of this kind, and so do black currants likewise,
without the butter.
A LIGHT BAKED BATTER PUDDING.
With three heaped tablespoonsful or about six ounces of flour mix a
small saltspoonful of salt, and add very gradually to it three fresh
eggs which have been cleared in the usual way or strained, and whisked
to a light froth. Beat up the batter well, then stir to it by degrees a
pint of new milk, pour it into a buttered dish, set it immediately into
a rather brisk oven, and bake it three-quarters of an hour. If properly
managed, it will be _extremely_ light and delicate, and the surface will
be crisp. When _good_ milk cannot be had for it, another egg, or the
yolk of one at least, should be added. Send preserved or stewed fruit to
table with it. The same mixture may be baked in buttered cups from
twenty to thirty minutes, turned out, and served with sugar sifted
thickly over.
In some counties an ounce or two of very finely minced suet is usually
mixed with baked batter puddings, which are enriched, but not improved,
we think, by the addition; but that is entirely a matter of taste.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER XXII.
=Eggs and Milk.=
[Illustration]
TO PRESERVE EGGS FRESH FOR MANY WEEKS.
AS soon as possible after the eggs are taken from the nests, brush each
one separately with a thin solution of gum Arabic, being careful to
leave no portion of the shell uncovered by it. The half of each egg must
first be done and left to become dry, before the remainder is touched,
that the gum may not be rubbed off any part by its coming in contact,
while wet, with the hand as it is held to be varnished, or with the
table when it is laid down to harden.
_Obs._—Eggs will remain fit for use a very long time if carefully kept;
but attention should always be given to the cleanliness of the _shells_
before they are stored, as when these are soiled, and then excluded from
the air, they will sometimes become very offensive. Those which are
collected immediately after the harvest are the best both for eating and
for putting up in store: they should be collected in dry weather when
they are required to be kept.[153]
Footnote 153:
For a sea-store, an old and experienced cook from on board a
man-of-war, directs eggs to be rubbed with salt butter, and packed in
layers with plenty of bran between them. He says that the salt
penetrates the shell, and tends to preserve the eggs, which will
require no additional salt when eaten. We give the information to the
reader as we received.
TO COOK EGGS IN THE SHELL WITHOUT BOILING THEM.
(_An admirable receipt._)
This mode of dressing eggs is not _new_; it seems, indeed, to have been
known in years long past, but not to have received the attention which
its excellence deserved. We saw it mentioned with much commendation in a
most useful little periodical, called the _Cottage Gardener_, and had it
tested immediately with various modifications and with entire success.
After many trials, we give the following as the _best_ and most uniform
in its results of our numerous experiments. First, put some boiling
water into a large basin—a slop-basin for example—and let it remain for
a few seconds, then turn it out, lay in the egg (or eggs), and roll it
over, to take the chill off the shell, that it may not crack from the
sudden application of heat; and pour in—and upon the egg—_quite boiling_
water from a kettle, until it is completely immersed; put a plate over
it instantly, and let it remain, upon the table, for twelve minutes,
when it will be found perfectly and beautifully cooked, entirely free
from all flavour and appearance of _rawness_, and yet so lightly and
delicately dressed as to suit even persons who cannot take eggs at all
when boiled in the usual way. It should be turned when something more
than half done, but the plate should be replaced as quickly as possible.
Two eggs will require scarcely more time than one; but some additional
minutes must be allowed for any number beyond that. The process may
always be quickened by changing the water when it has cooled a little,
for more that is fast boiling: the eggs may, in fact, be rendered quite
hard by the same means, but then no advantage is obtained over the old
method of cooking them.
12 minutes.
_Obs._—This is one of the receipts which we have re-produced here from
our cookery for invalids, on account of its adaptation to the taste
generally.
TO BOIL EGGS IN THE SHELL.
Even this very simple process demands a certain degree of care, for if
the eggs be brought from a cold larder, and suddenly plunged into
boiling water they will frequently break immediately, and a large
portion will often escape from the shells. In winter they should be held
for an instant over the steam from the saucepan before they are laid in,
and they should be put gently into it. Three minutes will boil them
sufficiently for persons who like the whites in a partially liquid
state. Five minutes, _exact time_, if they be fresh and fine, will
harden the whites only, and leave the yolks still liquid. Few eaters
require them more dressed than this; but eight or ten minutes will
render them _hard_. Eggs should always be cooked in sufficient water to
cover them completely.
To boil _very_ lightly, 3 minutes; to render the whites firm, 4-1/2 to 5
minutes; hard eggs, 8 to 10 minutes (15 minutes for salad dressing.)
TO DRESS THE EGGS OF THE GUINEA FOWL AND BANTAM.
[Illustration]
The eggs of the Guinea-fowl—which are small, very prettily shaped, and
of a pale or full fawn-colour (for in this they vary)—are much esteemed
by epicures, being very rich and excellent eating. They are generally
somewhat higher in price than the common hens’ eggs, even in Norfolk,
Suffolk, and other counties where they most abound; and in London they
are usually expensive. They may be cooked in the shell _without boiling_
by the method we have already given: eight or nine minutes will cook
them so. About three and a half of gentle boiling will render the whites
firm, and ten will harden them quite through. They are often served
instead of plovers’ eggs, and are sent to table embedded in moss in the
same manner. They may also be shelled, and used whole to decorate a
salad.
The eggs of the bantam, which are scarcely more than half the size of
these, and of which the shells are much thinner, will require less time
to cook. They form an elegant decoration for a salad, if boiled hard,
which they will become in five or six minutes; and for a mince of fowl,
or veal and oysters, when poached.
Two minutes’ poaching in an enamelled saucepan[154] will be sufficient
for these delicate little eggs, without positive boiling. They should be
carefully broken and put gently into water at boiling point, but which
has ceased to move, and left undisturbed by the side of the fire until
the yolks are just _set_ on the surface.
Footnote 154:
In any other kind, an additional half minute may be required.
Guinea-fowls’ eggs, quite hard, 10 minutes. For eating (by new method, 8
to 9 minutes), 3 to 4 minutes.
Bantams’, hard, 6 minutes; soft, 2-1/2 to 3 minutes.
TO DRESS TURKEYS’ EGGS.
Turkeys’ eggs are not, we believe, brought very abundantly into the
London market,[155] but their superiority to those of the common fowl is
well known in the counties where the birds are principally reared.
Though of large size they are delicate in flavour, and are equally
valuable for the breakfast-table—cooked simply in the shell—or for
compounding any of the dishes for which hens’ eggs are commonly in
request. They make super-excellent _sauce_, omlets, custards, and
puddings; and are especially to be recommended poached, or served by any
other of the following receipts. Those of the smallest size and palest
colour, which are the eggs of the young birds, are the best adapted for
serving boiled in the shells: they are sometimes almost white. Those of
the full grown turkeys are thickly speckled, of a deep tawny hue or fawn
colour.
Footnote 155:
Constant supplies of them are brought from France to the towns upon
the coast; and from the thickness of their shells they remain eatable
much longer than the common eggs; they are also reasonable in price.
6 minutes will render the whites firm; 4 minutes will poach them.
FORCED TURKEYS’ EGGS (OR SWANS’).
(_An Excellent Entremets._)
Boil gently for twenty minutes in plenty of water, that they may be
entirely covered with it, five or six fresh turkeys’ eggs, and when they
are done lift them into a large pan of water to cool. By changing the
water once or twice they will become cold more rapidly, and they must
not be used until they are perfectly so.
Roll them in a cloth, pressing lightly on them to break the shells;
clear them off, and halve the eggs evenly lengthwise. Take out the yolks
with care, and pound them to a smooth paste in a mortar with an ounce
and a half, or two ounces at the utmost, of pure-flavoured butter to the
half dozen, a small half-teaspoonful of salt, a little finely grated
nutmeg, and some cayenne, also in fine powder: a little mace,—one of the
most delicate of all seasonings when judiciously used—may be added with
good effect. Blend these ingredients thoroughly, and then add to them by
degrees one raw hen’s egg slightly whisked, and the yolk of a second, or
a dessertspoonful or two of sweet rich cream. One common egg is
sufficient for four of the turkey egg-yolks. Beat up the mass, which
will now be of the consistence of a thick batter, well and lightly, and
proceed to fill the whites with it, having first cut a small slice from
each half to make it stand evenly on the dish, and hollowed the inside
with the point of a sharp knife, so as to render it of equal thickness
throughout. Fill them full and high; smooth the yolks gently with the
blade of a knife, arrange the eggs on a dish, and place them in a gentle
oven for a quarter of an hour. Serve them directly they are taken from
it.
The eggs thus dressed will afford an admirable dish for the second
course, either quite simply served, or with good gravy highly flavoured
with fresh mushrooms, poured under them.
The same ingredients may be pressed into very small buttered cups and
baked for fifteen minutes, then turned on to a dish and sauced with a
little _Espagnole_, or other rich brown gravy, or served without.
_Obs._—We would recommend that the whites of swans’ eggs, which as we
have said are extremely beautiful, should be filled with the above
preparation in preference to their own yolks: they will of course,
require longer baking.
TO BOIL A SWAN’S EGG HARD.
Swans’ eggs are much more delicate than from their size, and from the
tendency of the birds to feed on fish might be supposed; and when boiled
hard and shelled, their appearance is _beautiful_, the white being of
remarkable purity and transparency. Take as much water as will cover the
egg (or eggs) well in every part, let it boil quickly, then take it from
the fire, and as soon as the water ceases to move put in the egg, and
leave it by the side of the fire—without allowing it to boil—for twenty
minutes, and turn it gently once or twice in the time; then put on the
cover of the stewpan and boil it gently for a quarter of an hour; take
it quite from the fire, and in five minutes put it into a basin and
throw a cloth, once or twice folded, over it, and let it cool slowly. It
will retain the heat for a very long time, and as it should be _quite
cold_ before it is cut, it should be boiled early if wanted to serve the
same day. Halve it evenly with a sharp knife lengthwise, take out the
yolk with care, and prepare it for table, either by the receipt which
follows, or by that for forced eggs, Chapter VI.
SWAN’S EGG, EN SALADE.
We found that the yolk of the egg, when boiled as above, could be
rendered _perfectly_ smooth and cream-like, by mashing it on a dish[156]
with a broad-bladed knife, and working it well with the other
ingredients: the whole was easily blended into a mass of uniform colour,
in which not the smallest lump of butter or egg was perceptible. Mix it
intimately with an ounce or two of firm fresh butter, a rather high
seasoning of cayenne, some salt, or a teaspoonful or two of essence of
anchovies, and about as much of chili vinegar or lemon-juice. To these
minced herbs or eschalots can be added at pleasure. Fill the whites with
the mixture, and serve them in a bowl two-thirds filled with salad,
sauced as usual; or use them merely as a decoration for a lobster or
German salad.
Footnote 156:
We chanced, when we received our first present of swan’s eggs, to be
in a house where there was _no mortar_—a common deficiency in English
culinary departments.
TO POACH EGGS.
Take for this purpose a wide and delicately clean pan about half-filled
with the clearest spring-water; throw in a small saltspoonful of salt,
and place it over a fire quite free from smoke. Break some new laid eggs
into separate cups, and do this with care, that the yolks may not be
injured. When the water boils, draw back the pan, glide the eggs gently
into it, and let them stand until the whites appear almost set, which
will be in about a minute: then, without shaking them, move the pan over
the fire, and just simmer them from two minutes and a half to three
minutes. Lift them out separately with a slice, trim quickly off the
ragged edges, and serve them upon dressed spinach, or upon minced veal,
turkey, or chicken; or dish them for an invalid, upon delicately toasted
bread, sliced thick, and freed from crust: it is an improvement to have
the bread buttered, but it is then less wholesome.
Comparative time of poaching eggs. Swans’ eggs, 5 to 6 minutes, (in
basin, 10 minutes.) Turkeys’ eggs 4 minutes. Hens’ eggs, 3 to 3-1/2
minutes. Guinea-fowls’, 2 to 3 minutes. Bantams’, 2 minutes.
_Obs._—All eggs may be poached _without boiling_ if kept just at
simmering point, but _one boil_ quite at last will assist to detach them
from the stewpan, from which they should always be very carefully lifted
on what is called a fish or _egg-slice_. There are pans made on purpose
for poaching and frying them in good form; but they do not, we believe,
answer particularly well. If broken into cups slightly rubbed with
butter, and simmered in them, their roundness of shape will be best
preserved.
POACHED EGGS WITH GRAVY. (ENTREMETS.)
_Œufs Pochés au Jus._
Dress the eggs as above, giving them as good an appearance as possible,
lay them into a very hot dish, and sauce them with some rich, clear,
boiling veal gravy, or with some _Espagnole_. Each egg, for variety, may
be dished upon a _crouton_ of bread cut with a fluted paste-cutter, and
fried a pale brown: the sauce should then be poured round, not over
them.
Poaching is the best mode of dressing a swan’s egg,[157] as it renders
it more than any other delicate in flavour; it is usually served on a
bed of spinach. Only the eggs of quite young swans are suited to the
table: one is sufficient for a dish. It may be laid on a large _crouton_
of fried bread, and sauced with highly flavoured gravy, or with
tomata-sauce well seasoned with eschalots.
Footnote 157:
We fear that want of space must compel us to omit some other receipts
for swans’ eggs, which we had prepared for this chapter.
ŒUFS AU PLAT.
A pewter or any other metal plate or dish which will bear the fire, must
be used for these. Just melt a slice of butter in it, then put in some
very fresh eggs broken as for poaching; strew a little pepper and salt
on the top of each, and place them over a gentle fire until the whites
are quite set, but keep them free from colour.
This is a very common mode of preparing eggs on the continent; but there
is generally a slight rawness of the surface of the yolks which is in a
measure removed by ladling the boiling butter over them with a spoon as
they are cooking, though a salamander held above them for a minute would
have a better effect. Four or five minutes will dress them.
_Obs._—We hope for an opportunity of inserting further receipts for
dishes of eggs at the end of this volume.
MILK AND CREAM.
Without possessing a dairy, it is quite possible for families to have
always a sufficient provision of milk and cream for their consumption,
provided there be a clean cool larder or pantry where it can be kept. It
should be taken from persons who can be depended on for supplying it
pure, and if it can be obtained from a dairy near at hand it will be an
advantage, as in the summer it is less easy to preserve it sweet when it
has been conveyed from a distance. It should be poured at once into
well-scalded pans or basins kept exclusively for it, and placed on a
_very clean_ and airy shelf, apart from all the other contents of the
larder. The fresh milk as it comes in should be set at one end of the
shelf, and that for use should be taken from the other, so that none may
become stale from being misplaced or overlooked. The cream should be
removed with a perforated skimmer (or skimming-dish as it is called in
dairy-counties) which has been dipped into cold water to prevent the
cream, when thick, from adhering to it. Twelve hours in summer, and
twenty-four in winter, will be sufficient time for the milk to stand for
“_creaming_,” though it may often be kept longer with advantage. Between
two and three pints of really good milk will produce about a quarter of
a pint of cream. In frosty weather the pans for it should be warmed
before it is poured in. If boiled when first brought in, it will remain
sweet much longer than it otherwise would; but it will then be unfit to
serve with tea; though it may be heated afresh and sent to table with
coffee; and used also for puddings, and all other varieties of
milk-diet.
DEVONSHIRE, OR CLOTTED CREAM.
From the mode adopted in Devonshire, and in some other counties, of
scalding the milk in the following manner, the cream becomes very rich
and thick, and is easily converted into excellent butter. It is strained
into large shallow metal pans as soon as it is brought into the dairy
and left for twelve hours at least in summer, and thirty-six in cold
weather. It is then gently carried to a hot plate—heated by a fire from
below—and brought _slowly_ to a quite scalding heat but without being
allowed to boil or even to simmer. When it is ready to be removed,
distinct rings appear on the surface, and small bubbles of air. It must
then be carried carefully back to the dairy, and may be skimmed in
twelve hours afterwards. The cream should be well drained from the
milk—which will be very poor—as this is done. It may then be converted
into excellent butter, merely by beating it with the hand in a shallow
wooden tub, which is, we are informed, the usual manner of making it in
small Devonshire dairies.
DU LAIT A MADAME.
Boil a quart of new milk, and let it cool sufficiently to allow the
cream to be taken off; then rinse an earthen jar well in every part with
buttermilk, and while the boiled milk is still rather warm, pour it in
and add the cream gently on the top. Let it remain twenty-four hours,
turn it into a deep dish, mix it with pounded sugar, and it will be
ready to serve. This preparation is much eaten abroad during the summer,
and is considered very wholesome. The milk, by the foregoing process,
becomes a very soft curd, _slightly_, but not at all unpleasantly, acid
in flavour. A cover, or thick folded cloth, should be placed on the jar
after the milk is poured in, and it should be kept in a moderately warm
place. In very sultry weather less time may be allowed for the milk to
stand.
_Obs._—We give this and the following receipt from an unpublished work
which we have in progress, being always desirous to make such
information as we possess generally useful as far as we can.
CURDS AND WHEY.
Rennet is generally prepared for dairy-use by butchers, and kept in
farmhouses hung in the chimney corners, where it will remain good a long
time. It is the inner stomach of the calf, from which the curd is
removed, and which is salted and stretched out to dry on splinters of
wood, or strong wooden skewers. It should be preserved from dust and
smoke (by a paper-bag or other means), and portions of it cut off as
wanted. Soak a small bit in half a teacupful of warm water, and let it
remain in it for an hour or two; then pour into a quart of warm new milk
a dessertspoonful of the rennet-liquor, and keep it in a warm place
until the whey appears separated from the curd, and looks clear. The
smaller the proportion of rennet used, the more soft and delicate will
be the curd. We write these directions from recollection, having often
had the dish thus prepared, but having no memorandum at this moment of
the precise proportions used. Less than an inch square of the rennet
would be sufficient, we think, for a gallon of milk, if some hours were
allowed for it to turn. When _rennet-whey_, which is a most valuable
beverage in many cases of illness, is required for an invalid to drink,
a bit of the rennet, after being quickly and slightly rinsed, may be
stirred at once into the warm milk, as the curd becoming hard is then of
no consequence. It must be kept warm until the whey appears and is
clear. It may then be strained, and given to the patient to drink, or
allowed to become cold before it is taken. In feverish complaints it has
often the most benign effect.
_Devonshire junket_ is merely a dish or bowl of sweetened curds and
whey, covered with the thick cream of scalded milk, for which see page
451.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER XXIII.
=Sweet Dishes, or Entremets.=
[Illustration:
Jelly of two colours, with _macedoire_ of fruit.
]
TO PREPARE CALF’S FEET STOCK.
[Illustration:
White and Rose-coloured Jelly.
]
THE feet are usually sent in from the butcher’s ready to be dressed, but
as they are sold at a very much cheaper rate when the hair has not been
cleared from them, and as they may then be depended on for supplying the
utmost amount of nutriment which they contain, it is often desirable to
have them altogether prepared by the cook. In former editions of this
work we directed that they should be “dipped into cold water, and
sprinkled with resin in fine powder; then covered with boiling water and
left for a minute or two untouched before they were scraped;” and this
method we had followed with entire success for a long time, but we
afterwards discovered that the resin was not necessary, and that the
feet could be quite as well prepared by mere scalding, or being laid
into water at the _point_ of boiling, and kept in it for a few minutes
by the side of the fire. The hair, as we have already stated in the
first pages of Chapter IX. (Veal), must be very closely scraped from
them with a _blunt_-edged knife; and the hoofs must be removed by being
struck sharply down against the edge of a strong table or sink, the
leg-bone being held tightly in the hand. The feet must be afterwards
washed delicately clean before they are further used. When this has been
done, divide them at the joint, split the claws, and take away the fat
that is between them. Should the feet be large, put a gallon of cold
water to the four, but from a pint to a quart less if they be of
moderate size or small. Boil them gently down until the flesh has parted
entirely from the bones, and the liquor is reduced nearly or quite half;
strain, and let it stand until cold; remove every particle of fat from
the top before it is used, and be careful not to take the sediment.
Calf’s feet (large), 4; water, 1 gallon: 6 to 7 hours.
TO CLARIFY CALF’S FEET STOCK.
Break up a quart of the stock, put it into a clean stewpan with the
whites of five large or of six small eggs, two ounces of sugar, and the
strained juice of a small lemon; place it over a gentle fire, and do not
stir it after the scum begins to form; when it has boiled five or six
minutes, if the liquid part be clear, turn it into a jelly-bag, and pass
it through a second time should it not be perfectly transparent the
first. To consumptive patients, and others requiring restoratives, but
forbidden to take stimulants, the jelly thus prepared is often very
acceptable, and may be taken with impunity, when it would be highly
injurious made with wine. More white of egg is required to clarify it
than when sugar and acid are used in larger quantities, as both of these
assist the process. For blanc-mange omit the lemon-juice, and mix with
the clarified stock an equal proportion of cream (for an invalid, new
milk), with the usual flavouring, and weight of sugar; or pour the
boiling stock very gradually to some finely pounded almonds, and express
it from them as directed for Quince Blamange, allowing from six to eight
ounces to the pint.
Stock, 1 quart; whites of eggs, 5; sugar, 2 oz.; juice, 1 small lemon: 5
to 8 minutes.
TO CLARIFY ISINGLASS.
The finely-cut purified isinglass, which is now in general use, requires
no clarifying except for clear jellies: for all other dishes it is
sufficient to dissolve, skim, and pass it through a muslin strainer.
When two ounces are required for a dish, put two and a half into a
delicately clean pan, and pour on it a pint of spring water which has
been gradually mixed with a teaspoonful of beaten white of egg; stir
these thoroughly together, and let them heat slowly by the side of a
gentle fire, but do not allow the isinglass to stick to the pan. When
the scum is well risen, which it will be after two or three minutes’
simmering, clear it off, and continue the skimming until no more
appears; then, should the quantity of liquid be more than is needed,
reduce it by quick boiling to the proper point, strain it through a thin
muslin, and set it by for use: it will be perfectly transparent, and may
be mixed lukewarm with the clear and ready sweetened juice of various
fruits, or used with the necessary proportion of syrup, for jellies
flavoured with choice liqueurs. As the clarifying reduces the strength
of the isinglass—or rather as a portion of it is taken up by the white
of egg—an additional quarter to each ounce must be allowed for this: if
the scum be laid to drain on the back of a fine sieve which has been
wetted with hot water, a little very strong jelly will drip from it.
Isinglass, 2-1/2 oz.; water, 1 pint; beaten white of egg, 1 teaspoonful.
_Obs._—At many Italian warehouses a preparation is now sold under the
name of isinglass, which appears to us to be highly purified gelatine of
some other kind. It is converted without trouble into a very transparent
jelly, is free from flavour, and is less expensive than the genuine
Russian isinglass; but when taken for any length of time as a
restorative, its different nature becomes perceptible. It answers well
for the table occasionally; but it is not suited to invalids.
SPINACH GREEN, FOR COLOURING SWEET DISHES, CONFECTIONARY, OR SOUPS.
Pound quite to a pulp, in a marble or Wedgwood mortar, a handful or two
of young freshly-gathered spinach, then throw it into a hair sieve, and
press through all the juice which can be obtained from it; pour this
into a clean white jar, and place it in a pan of water that is at the
point of boiling, and which must be allowed only to just simmer
afterwards; in three or four minutes the juice will be poached or _set_:
take it then gently with a spoon, and lay it upon the back of a fine
sieve to drain. If wanted for immediate use, merely mix it in the mortar
with some finely-powdered sugar;[158] but if to be kept as a store,
pound it with as much as will render the whole tolerably dry, boil it to
candy-height over a very clear fire, pour it out in cakes, and keep them
in a tin box or canister. For this last preparation consult the receipt
for orange-flower candy.
Footnote 158:
For soup, dilute it first with a little of the boiling stock, and stir
it to the remainder.
PREPARED APPLE OR QUINCE JUICE.
Pour into a clean earthen pan two quarts of spring water, and throw into
it as quickly as they can be pared, quartered, and weighed, four pounds
of nonsuches, pearmains, Ripstone pippins, or any other good boiling
apples of fine flavour. When all are done, stew them gently until they
are well broken, but not reduced quite to pulp; turn them into a
jelly-bag, or strain the juice from them without pressure through a
closely-woven cloth, which should be gathered over the fruit, and tied,
and suspended above a deep pan until the juice ceases to drop from it:
this, if not very clear, must be rendered so before it is used for syrup
or jelly, but for all other purposes once straining it will be
sufficient. Quinces are prepared in the same way, and with the same
proportions of fruit and water, but they must not be too long boiled, or
the juice will become red. We have found it answer well to have them
simmered until they are perfectly tender, and then to leave them with
their liquor in a bowl until the following day, when the juice will be
rich and clear. They should be thrown into the water very quickly after
they are pared and weighed, as the air will soon discolour them. The
juice will form a jelly much more easily if the cores and pips be left
in the fruit.
Water, 2 quarts; apples or quinces, 4 lbs.
COCOA-NUT FLAVOURED MILK.
(_For sweet dishes, &c._)
Pare the dark outer rind from a very fresh nut, and grate it on a fine
and exceedingly clean grater, to every three ounces pour a quart of new
milk, and simmer them _very softly_ for three quarters of an hour, or
more, that a full flavour of the nut may be imparted to the milk without
its being much reduced: strain it through a fine sieve, or cloth, with
sufficient pressure to leave the nut almost dry: it may then be used for
blanc-mange, custards, rice, and other puddings, light cakes and bread.
To each quart new milk, 3 oz. grated cocoa-nut: 3/4 to 1 hour.
_Obs._—The milk of the nut when _perfectly_ sweet and good, may be added
to the other with advantage. To obtain it, bore one end of the shell
with a gimlet, and catch the liquid in a cup; and to extricate the
kernel, break the shell with a hammer; this is better than sawing it
asunder.
COMPÔTES OF FRUIT.
(_Or Fruit stewed in Syrup._)
We would _especially_ recommend these delicate and very agreeable
preparations for trial to such of our readers as may be unacquainted
with them, as well as to those who may have a distaste to the common
“_stewed fruit_” of English cookery. If well made they are peculiarly
delicious and refreshing, preserving the pure flavour of the fruit of
which they are composed; while its acidity is much softened by the small
quantity of water added to form the syrup in which it is boiled. They
are also more economical than tarts or puddings, and infinitely more
wholesome. In the second course pastry-crust can always be served with
them, if desired, in the form of ready baked leaves, round cakes, or any
more fanciful shapes; or a border of these may be fastened with a little
white of egg and flour round the edge of the dish in which the _compôte_
is served; but rice, or macaroni simply boiled, or a very plain pudding
is a more usual accompaniment.
_Compôtes_ will remain good for two or three days in a cool store-room,
or somewhat longer, if gently boiled up for an instant a second time;
but they contain generally too small a proportion of sugar to preserve
them from mould or fermentation for _many_ days. The syrup should be
enriched with a larger quantity when they are intended for the desserts
of formal dinners, as it will increase the transparency of the fruit:
the juice is always beautifully clear when the _compôtes_ are carefully
prepared. They should be served in glass dishes, or in _compôtiers_,
which are of a form adapted to them.
_Compôte of spring fruit._—(Rhubarb). Take a pound of the stalks after
they are pared, and cut them into short lengths; have ready a quarter of
a pint of water boiled gently for ten minutes with five ounces of sugar,
or with six should the fruit be very acid; put it in, and simmer it for
about ten minutes. Some kinds will be tender in rather less time, some
will require more.
_Obs._—Good sugar in lumps should be used for these dishes. Lisbon sugar
will answer for them very well on ordinary occasions, but that which is
refined will render them much more delicate. _Compôte of green
currants._—Spring water, half-pint; sugar, five ounces; boiled together
ten minutes. One pint of green currants stripped from the stalks;
simmered five minutes.
_Compôte of green gooseberries._—This is an excellent _compôte_ if made
with fine sugar, and very good with any kind. Break five ounces into
small lumps and pour on them half a pint of water; boil these gently for
ten minutes, and clear off all the scum; then add to them a pint of
fresh gooseberries freed from the tops and stalks, washed, and well
drained. Simmer them gently from eight to ten minutes, and serve them
hot or cold. Increase the quantity for a large dish.
_Compôte of green apricots._—Wipe the down from a pound of quite young
apricots, and stew them _very_ gently for nearly twenty minutes in syrup
made with eight ounces of sugar and three-quarters of a pint of water,
boiled together the usual time.
_Compôte of red currants._—A quarter of a pint of water and five ounces
of sugar: ten minutes. One pint of currants freed from the stalks to be
just simmered in the syrup from five to seven minutes. This receipt will
serve equally for raspberries, or for a _compôte_ of the two fruits
mixed together. Either of them will be found an admirable accompaniment
to a pudding of batter, custard, bread, or ground rice, and also to
various other kinds of puddings, as well as to whole rice plainly
boiled.
_Compôte of Kentish or Flemish cherries._—Simmer five ounces of sugar
with half a pint of water for ten minutes; throw into the syrup a pound
of cherries weighed after they are stalked, and let them stew gently for
twenty minutes: it is a great improvement to stone the fruit, but a
larger quantity will then be required for a dish.
_Compôte of Morella cherries._—Boil together for fifteen minutes, six
ounces of sugar with half a pint of water; add a pound and a quarter of
ripe Morella cherries, and simmer them _very_ softly from five to seven
minutes: this is a delicious _compôte_. A larger proportion of sugar
will often be required for it, as the fruit is very acid in some
seasons, and when it is not fully ripe.
_Compôte of damsons._—Four ounces of sugar and half a pint of water to
be boiled for ten minutes; one pound of damsons to be added, and
simmered gently from ten to twelve minutes.
_Compôte of the green magnum-bonum or Mogul plum._—The green Mogul plums
are often brought abundantly into the market when the fruit is thinned
from the trees, and they make admirable tarts or _compôtes_, possessing
the fine slight bitter flavour of the unripe apricot, to which they are
quite equal. Measure a pint of the plums without their stalks, and wash
them very clean; then throw them into a syrup made with seven ounces of
sugar in lumps, and half a pint of water, boiled together for eight or
ten minutes. Give the plums one quick boil, and then let them stew quite
softly for about five minutes, or until they are tender, which
occasionally will be in less time even. Take off the scum, and serve the
_compôte_ hot or cold.
_Compôte of the magnum-bonum, or other large plums._—Boil six ounces of
sugar with half a pint of water the usual time; take the stalks from a
pound of plums, and simmer them very softly for twenty minutes. Increase
the proportion of sugar if needed, and regulate the time as may be
necessary for the different varieties of fruit.
_Compôte of bullaces._—The large, or shepherds’ bullace, is very good
stewed, but will require a considerable portion of sugar to render it
palatable, unless it be quite ripe. Make a syrup with half a pound of
sugar, and three-quarters of a pint of water, and boil in it gently from
fifteen to twenty minutes, a pint and a half of the bullaces freed from
their stalks.
_Compôte of Siberian crabs._—To three-quarters of a pint of water add
six ounces of fine sugar, boil them for ten or twelve minutes, and skim
them well. Add a pound and a half of Siberian crabs without their
stalks, and keep them _just at the point of boiling_ for twenty minutes;
they will then become tender without bursting. A few strips of
lemon-rind and a little of the juice are sometimes added to this
_compôte_.
_Obs._—In a dry warm summer, when fruit ripens freely, and is rich in
quality, the proportion of sugar directed for these _compôtes_ would
generally be found sufficient; but in a cold or wet season it would
certainly, in many instances, require to be increased. The present
slight difference in the cost of sugars, renders it a poor economy to
use the raw for dishes of this class, instead of that which is well
refined. To make a clear syrup it should be broken into lumps, not
crushed to powder. Almost every kind of fruit may be converted into a
good _compôte_.
COMPÔTE OF PEACHES.
Pare half a dozen ripe peaches, and stew them very softly from eighteen
to twenty minutes, keeping them often turned in a light syrup, made with
five ounces of sugar, and half a pint of water boiled together for ten
minutes. Dish the fruit; reduce the syrup by quick boiling, pour it over
the peaches, and serve them hot for a second-course dish, or cold for
rice-crust. They should be quite ripe, and will be found delicious
dressed thus. A little lemon-juice may be added to the syrup, and the
blanched kernels of two or three peach or apricot stones.
Sugar, 5 oz.; water, 1/2 pint: 10 minutes. Peaches, 6: 18 to 20 minutes.
_Obs._—Nectarines, without being pared, may be dressed in the same way,
but will require to be stewed somewhat longer, unless they be quite
ripe.
ANOTHER RECEIPT FOR STEWED PEACHES.
Should the fruit be not perfectly ripe, throw it into boiling water and
keep it just simmering, until the skin can be easily stripped off. Have
ready half a pound of fine sugar boiled to a light syrup with
three-quarters of a pint of water; throw in the peaches, let them stew
softly until quite tender, and turn them often that they may be equally
done; after they are dished, add a little strained lemon-juice to the
syrup, and reduce it by a few minutes’ very quick boiling. The fruit is
sometimes pared, divided, and stoned, then gently stewed until it is
tender.
Sugar, 8 oz.; water, 3/4 pint: 10 to 12 minutes. Peaches, 6 or 7;
lemon-juice, 1 large teaspoonful.
COMPÔTE OF BARBERRIES FOR DESSERT.
When this fruit is first ripe it requires, from its excessive acidity,
nearly its weight of sugar to render it palatable; but after hanging
some time upon the trees it becomes much mellowed in flavour, and may be
sufficiently sweetened with a smaller proportion. According to the state
of the fruit then, take for each pound (leaving it in bunches) from
twelve to sixteen ounces of sugar, and boil it with three-quarters of a
pint of water until it forms a syrup. Throw in the bunches of fruit, and
simmer them for five or six minutes. If their weight of sugar be used,
they will become in that time perfectly transparent. As all vessels of
tin affect the colour of the barberries, they should be boiled in a
copper stewpan, or in a German enamelled one, which would be far better.
Barberries, 1 lb.; sugar, 12 to 16 oz.; water, 3/4 pint; fruit simmered
in syrup, 5 to 6 minutes.
BLACK CAPS PAR EXCELLENCE.
(_For the Second-course, or for Dessert._)
Cut a dozen fine Norfolk biffins in two without paring them, scoop out
the cores, and fill the cavities with thin strips of fresh lemon-rind
and with candied orange-peel. Cover the bottom of a flat shallow tin
with a thick layer of fine pale brown sugar, press the two halves of
each apple together, and place them closely in the tin; pour half a
bottle of raisin or of any other sweet wine over them, and be careful to
moisten the tops of all; sift white sugar thickly on them, and set the
tin into a very hot oven at first, that the outsides of the apples may
_catch_ or become black; then draw them to the mouth of the oven, and
bake them gently until they are soft quite through. The Norfolk biffin
answers for this dish far better than any other kind of apple, but the
winter queening, and some few firm sorts beside, can be used for it with
fair success. These for variety may be cored without being divided, and
filled with orange marmalade. The black caps served hot, as a
second-course dish, are excellent.
Norfolk biffins, 12; rinds fresh lemons, 1 to 2; candied orange-rind, 2
to 3 oz.; pale brown sugar, 3/4 lb.; raisin or other wine, 1/2 bottle;
little sifted sugar: 3/4 to 1 hour, or more.
_Obs._—The apples dressed as above resemble a _rich confection_, and
will remain good for ten days or a fortnight; sometimes much longer
even. The receipt is an admirable one.
GATEAU DE POMMES.
Boil together for fifteen minutes a pound of well-refined sugar and half
a pint of water; then add a couple of pounds of nonsuches, or of any
other finely-flavoured apples which can be boiled easily to a smooth
pulp, and the juice of a couple of small, or of one very large lemon.
Stew these gently until the mixture is perfectly free from lumps, then
boil it quickly, keeping it stirred, without quitting it, until it forms
a very thick and dry marmalade. A few minutes before it is done add the
finely grated rinds of a couple of lemons; when it leaves the bottom of
the preserving-pan visible and dry, press it into moulds of tasteful
form; and either store it for winter use, or if wanted for table, serve
it plain for rice-crust, or ornament it with spikes of blanched almonds,
and pour a custard round it for a second-course dish (_entremets_).
Sugar, 1 lb.; water, 1/2 pint: 15 minutes. Nonsuches or other apples, 2
lbs.; juice, 1 large or 2 small lemons: 2 hours or more.
GATEAU OF MIXED FRUITS. (GOOD.)
Extract the juice from some fresh red currants by simmering them very
gently for a few minutes over a slow fire: strain it through a folded
muslin, and to one pound of it add a pound and a half of nonsuches or of
freshly gathered codlings, pared, and rather deeply cored, that the
fibrous part of the apple may be avoided. Boil these quite slowly until
the mixture is perfectly smooth, then, to evaporate part of the
moisture, let the boiling be quickened. In from twenty-five to thirty
minutes draw the pan from the fire, and throw in gradually a pound and a
quarter of sugar in fine powder: mix it well with the fruit, and when it
is dissolved continue the boiling rapidly for twenty minutes longer,
keeping the mixture constantly stirred; put it into a mould, and store
it, when cold, for winter use, or serve it for rice-crust, or for the
second course: in the latter case decorate it with spikes of blanched
almonds, or pistachio-nuts, and heap solid whipped cream round it, or
pour a custard into the dish. For rice-crust it may be garnished with
dice of the palest apple-jelly.
Juice of red currants, 1 lb.; nonsuches, or codlings (pared and cored),
1-1/2 lb.: 25 to 30 minutes. Sugar, 1-1/2 lb.: 20 minutes.
_Obs._—A portion of raspberries, if still in season, may be mixed with
the currants for this _gâteau_, should the flavour be liked.
For other and excellent varieties of _gâteaux_ of fruit, see Newton
solid, and damson solid, Chapter XXIV. Ripe peaches and nonsuches will
likewise do well for it. Codlings answer perfectly for the preceding
receipt, and the preparation is of fine colour and very pleasant
flavour: it ought to cut in clear firm slices. Other varieties of fruit
can be mingled in the same manner.
JELLIES.
CALF’S FEET JELLY. (ENTREMETS.)
[Illustration:
Modern Jelly Mould.
]
We hear inexperienced housekeepers frequently complain of the difficulty
of rendering this jelly perfectly transparent; but by mixing with the
other ingredients, while quite cold, the whites, and the crushed
_shells_ of a sufficient number of eggs, and allowing the head of scum
which gathers on the jelly to remain undisturbed after it once forms,
they will scarcely fail to obtain it clear. It should be strained
through a thick flannel, or beaver-skin, bag of a conical form (placed
before the fire, should the weather be at all cold, or the mixture will
jelly before it has run through), and if not perfectly clear it must be
strained, again and again, until it becomes so; though we generally find
that once suffices. Mix thoroughly in a large stewpan five half-pints of
strong calf’s feet stock (see page 453), a full pint of sherry, half a
pound of sugar roughly powdered, the juice of two fine lemons, the rind
of one and a half cut very thin, the whites and shells of four large
eggs, and half an ounce of isinglass. Let these remain a few minutes off
the fire, that the sugar may dissolve more easily; then let the jelly be
brought to boil gradually, and do not stir it after it begins to heat.
When it has boiled gently for sixteen minutes, draw it from the fire,
and let it stand a short time before it is poured into a jelly-bag,
under which a bowl should be placed to receive it. When clear and cool,
put it into moulds which have been laid for some hours in water: these
should always be of earthenware in preference to metal. If to be served
in glasses, or _roughed_, the jelly will be sufficiently firm without
the isinglass, of which, however, we recommend a small quantity to be
thrown in always when the jelly begins to boil, as it facilitates the
clearing.
Calf’s feet stock, 2-1/2 pints; sugar, 1/2 lb.; sherry, 1 pint; juice of
lemons, 2 _large_; rind of 1-1/2; whites and shells of eggs, 4 large, or
5 small: 16 minutes.
_Obs. 1._—After the jelly has dropped through the bag, an exceedingly
agreeable beverage may be obtained by pouring in some boiling water;
from one to three half pints, according to the quantity of jelly which
has been made. The same plan should be pursued in making orange or lemon
jelly for an invalid.
_Obs. 2._—As it is essential to the transparency of calf’s feet jelly of
all kinds that the whole of the ingredients should be quite cold when
they are mixed, and as the stock can only be measured in a liquid state,
to which it must be reduced by heating, the better plan is, to measure
it when it is first strained from the feet, and to put apart the exact
quantity required for a receipt; but when this has not been done, and it
is necessary to liquefy it, it must be left until quite cold again
before it is used. For the manner of preparing and clarifying it, see
the beginning of this chapter.
ANOTHER RECEIPT FOR CALF’S FEET JELLY.
To four calf’s feet well cleaned and divided, pour a gallon of water and
let them stew until it is reduced to rather less than two quarts; or if,
after the flesh has quite fallen from the bones, the liquor on being
strained off should exceed that quantity, reduce it by rapid boiling in
a clean uncovered pan over a very clear fire. When it is perfectly firm
and cold, take it clear of fat and sediment, and add to it a bottle of
sherry, which should be of good quality (for poor, thin wines are not
well adapted to the purpose), three-quarters of a pound of sugar broken
small, the juice of five large or of six moderate-sized lemons, and the
whites, with the shells finely crushed, of seven eggs, or of more should
they be very small. The rinds of three lemons, pared exceedingly thin,
may be thrown into the jelly a few minutes before it is taken from the
fire; or they may be put into the jelly-bag previously to its being
poured through, when they will impart to it a slight and delicate
flavour, without deepening its colour much. If it is to be moulded,
something more than half an ounce of isinglass should be dropped lightly
in where the liquid becomes visible through the head of scum, when the
mixture begins to boil; for if not sufficiently firm, it will break when
it is dished. It may be roughed, or served in glasses without this
addition; and in a liquid state will be found an admirable ingredient
for Oxford, or other punch.
Calf’s feet, 4; water, 1 gallon: to be reduced more than half. Sherry, 1
bottle; sugar, 3/4 lb. (more to taste); juice of 5 large lemons, or of
six moderate-sized; whites and shells of 7 eggs, or more if small; rinds
of lemons, 3 (for moulding, nearly 3/4 oz. of isinglass): 15 to 20
minutes.
_Obs._—An excellent and wholesome jelly for young people may be made
with good orange or raisin wine, instead of sherry; to either of these
the juice of three or four oranges, with a small portion of the rind,
may be added instead of part of the lemons.
MODERN VARIETIES OF CALF’S FEET JELLY.
In modern cookery a number of excellent jellies are made with the stock
of calves’ feet, variously flavoured. Many of them are compounded
entirely without wine, a small quantity of some fine _liqueur_ being
used as a substitute; and sometimes cinnamon, or vanilla, or Seville
orange-rind with a slight portion of acid, takes place of this. For
aristocratic tables, indeed, it is the present fashion to serve them
very lightly and delicately flavoured. Their cost is thus materially
diminished. Fresh strawberries dropped into clear calf’s feet jelly just
before it _sets_, impart a delicious fragrance to it, when they are of a
choice kind; and other fruit is mingled with it often; but none has so
good an effect, though many sorts when tastefully employed give an
excellent appearance to it. The _Belgrave mould_, of which the
description will be found at page 470, is well adapted for highly
ornamental jellies; and we recommend its adoption for this class of
dishes.
APPLE CALF’S FEET JELLY.
Pour a quart of prepared apple-juice (see page 456), on a pound of fresh
apples pared and cored, and simmer them until they are well broken;
strain the juice, and let it stand until cold; then measure, and put a
pint and a half of it into a stewpan with a quart of calf’s feet stock
(see page 453), nine ounces of sugar broken small, or roughly pounded,
the juice of two fine lemons, and the thin rinds of one and a half, with
the whites and shells of eight eggs. Let it boil gently for ten minutes,
then strain it through a flannel-bag, and when cool put it into moulds.
It will be very clear, and firm, and of pleasant flavour. Apples of good
quality should be used for it, and the quantity of sugar must be
regulated by the time of year, as the fruit will have lost much of its
acidity during the latter part of the season. This receipt, which is the
result of our own experiment, and which we have found very successful,
was first tried just after Christmas, with pearmains and Ripstone
pippins. A little syrup of preserved ginger, or a small glass of fine
white brandy, would, perhaps, to some tastes, improve the jelly; but we
give it simply as we have had it proved ourselves.
Prepared apple juice, 1 quart; fresh apples, 1 lb.: 1/2 to 3/4 hour.
Strained juice, 1-1/2 pint; calf’s feet stock, 1 quart; sugar, 9 oz.;
juice of lemons, 2; rind of 1-1/2; whites and shells of eggs, 8: 10
minutes.
_Obs._—We would recommend the substitution of quinces for apples in this
receipt as likely to afford a very agreeable variety of the jelly: or
equal portions of the two fruits might answer well. Unless the stock be
very stiff, add isinglass to this, as to the calf’s feet jelly, when it
is to be moulded.
ORANGE CALF’S FEET JELLY.
(_Author’s Receipt._)
To a pint and a half of firm calf’s feet stock, put a pint of strained
China-orange juice mixed with that of one or two lemons; add to these
six ounces of sugar, broken small, the _very_ thin rinds of three
oranges and one lemon, and the whites of six eggs with half the shells
crushed small. Stir these gently over a clear fire until the head of
scum begins to form, but not at all afterwards. Simmer the jelly for ten
minutes from the first _full_ boil; take it from the fire, let it stand
a little, then pour it through a jelly-bag until perfectly clear. This
is an original, and entirely new receipt, which we can recommend to the
reader, the jelly being very pale, beautifully transparent, and delicate
in flavour: it would, we think, be peculiarly acceptable to such
invalids as are forbidden to take wine in any form.
The proportions both of sugar and of lemon-juice must be somewhat varied
according to the season in which the oranges are used.
Strong calf’s feet stock, 1-1/2 pint; strained orange-juice, mixed with
a small portion of lemon-juice, 1 pint; sugar, 6 oz.; rinds of oranges,
3; of lemon, 1: 10 minutes.
_Obs._—A small pinch of isinglass thrown into the jelly when it begins
to boil will much assist to clear it. When the flavour of Seville
oranges is liked, two or three can be used with the sweet ones.
ORANGE ISINGLASS JELLY.
To render this perfectly transparent the juice of the fruit must be
filtered, and the isinglass clarified; but it is not usual to take so
much trouble for it. Strain as clear as possible, first through a sieve
or muslin, then through a thick cloth or jelly bag, one quart of China
orange-juice, mixed with as much lemon-juice as will give it an
agreeable degree of acidity, or with a small proportion of Seville
orange-juice. Dissolve two ounces and a half of isinglass in a pint of
water, skim it well, throw in half a pound of sugar, and a few strips of
the orange-rind, pour in the orange-juice, stir the whole well together,
skim it clean without allowing it to boil, strain it through a cloth or
through a muslin, many times folded, and when nearly cold put it into
the moulds.[159] This jelly is sometimes made without any water, by
dissolving the isinglass and sugar in the juice of the fruit.
Footnote 159:
In France, orange-jelly is very commonly served in the halved rinds of
the fruit, or in little baskets made as we shall hereafter direct,
page 466.
Orange-juice, 1 quart; water, 1 pint; isinglass, 2-1/2 oz.; sugar, 1/2
lb.
VERY FINE ORANGE JELLY.
(_Sussex Place Receipt._)
On two ounces and a half of the finest isinglass, pour a full but an
exact pint of spring water; press down the isinglass and turn it over
until the whole is well moistened; then place it over a gentle fire and
let it dissolve gradually; remove the scum after it has simmered for two
or three minutes, then pour it out, and set it aside to cool. In another
pint of spring water boil a pound of highly refined sugar for five or
six minutes; turn this syrup into a bowl, and when it is only just warm,
throw into it the _very_ thinly pared rinds of two fine lemons, of two
Seville oranges, and of two China oranges, with the juice of five China,
and of two Seville oranges, and of three lemons. When this mixture is
cold, but not beginning to thicken, mix it well with the liquid
isinglass, and strain it through a fine lawn sieve, or through a square
of muslin folded in four; pour it into moulds which have been laid in
cold water, and when wanted for the table, loosen it from them by
wrapping about them, closely, a cloth which has been dipped into boiling
water, and by passing a knife round the edges.
Nothing can be more refined and delicate in flavour than the above; but
the appearance of the jelly may be improved by clarifying the isinglass,
and its colour by boiling the fruit-rinds in the syrup for three or four
minutes, and by leaving them in it until it is strained. The oranges and
lemons, if good, will yield from two-thirds to three-quarters of a pint
of juice, and the quantity of jelly will be sufficient to fill one large
high mould, or two smaller ones which contain about a pint and a quarter
each.
When the isinglass is clarified, allow half an ounce more of it; take
about a teaspoonful of the white of a _fresh_ egg, beat it a little, add
the pint of cold water to it, whisk them together for a minute or two,
and then pour them on the isinglass; stir it occasionally as it is
heating, but not after the head of scum is formed: boil it gently for
two or three minutes, skim, and strain it. The oranges and lemons should
be dipped into fresh water and wiped dry before they are pared; and
should a muslin strainer (that is to say, a large square of common clean
muslin) be used for the jelly, it should be laid after being washed in
the usual manner into plenty of hot water, and then into cold, and be
well rinsed in, and wrung from each.
ORANGES FILLED WITH JELLY.
[Illustration]
This is one of the fanciful dishes which make a pretty appearance on a
supper table, and are acceptable when much variety is desired. Take some
very fine China oranges, and with the point of a small knife cut out
from the top of each a round about the size of a shilling; then with the
small end of a tea or an egg spoon, empty them entirely, taking great
care not to break the rinds. Throw these into cold water, and make jelly
of the juice, which must be well pressed from the pulp, and strained as
clear as possible. Colour one half a fine rose colour with prepared
cochineal, and leave the other very pale; when it is nearly cold, drain
and wipe the orange rinds, and fill them with alternate stripes of the
two jellies; when they are perfectly cold cut them into quarters, and
dispose them tastefully in a dish with a few light branches of myrtle
between them. Calf’s feet or any other variety of jelly, or different
blancmanges, may be used at choice to fill the rinds; the colours,
however, should contrast as much as possible.
TO MAKE ORANGE BASKETS FOR JELLY.
The oranges for these should be large. First, mark the handle of the
basket evenly across the stalk end of the fruit with the back of a small
knife, or with a silver one, and let it be quite half an inch wide; then
trace a line across from one end of the handle to the other exactly in
the middle of the orange, and when the other side is marked in the same
way, cut just through the rind with the point of a penknife, being
careful not to pierce the fruit itself; next, with a tea or
dessertspoon, take of the quartered rind on either side of the handle;
pass a penknife under the handle itself; work the point of a spoon
gently between the orange and the basket, until they are separated in
every part; then take the fruit between the thumb and fingers, and press
it carefully out through one of the spaces on either side of the handle.
Baskets thus made may be filled with any of the jellies of which the
receipts are given here: but they should be nearly cold before they are
poured in; and they ought also to be very clear. Some of the baskets may
be filled with ratifias, and dished alternately with those which contain
the jelly.
LEMON CALF’S FEET JELLY.
Break up a quart of strong calf’s feet stock, which should have been
measured while in a liquid state; let it be quite clear of fat and
sediment, for which a small additional quantity should be allowed; add
to it a not very full half-pint of strained lemon-juice, and ten ounces
of sugar, broken small (rather more or less according to the state of
the fruit), the rind of one lemon pared as thin as possible, or of from
two to three when a full flavour of it is liked, and the whites with
part of the shells crushed small, of five large or of six small eggs.
Proceed as for the preceding jellies, and when the mixture has boiled
five minutes throw in a small pinch of isinglass; continue the boiling
for five or six minutes longer, draw the pan from the fire, let it stand
to settle; then turn it into the jelly-bag. We have found it always
perfectly clear with once passing through; but should it not be so, pour
it in a second time.
Strong calf’s feet stock, 1 quart; strained lemon-juice, short 1/2 pint;
sugar, 10 oz. (more or less according to state of fruit); rind of from 1
to 3 large lemons; whites and part of shells of 5 large or 6 small eggs:
5 minutes. Pinch of isinglass: 5 minutes longer.
_Obs._—About seven large lemons will produce the half pint of juice.
This quantity is for one mould only. The jelly will be found almost
colourless unless much of the rinds be used, and as perfectly
transparent as clear spring water: it is also very agreeable in flavour.
For variety, part of the juice of the fruit might be omitted, and its
place supplied by maraschino, or any other rich white liqueur of
appropriate flavour; and to render it _safer_ eating, some syrup of
preserved ginger would be an excellent addition.
CONSTANTIA JELLY.
Infuse in a pint of water for five minutes the rind of half a Seville
orange, pared extremely thin; add an ounce of isinglass; and when this
is dissolved throw in four ounces of good sugar in lumps; stir well, and
simmer the whole for a few minutes, then mix with it four large
wineglassesful of Constantia, and strain the jelly through a fine cloth
of close texture; let it settle and cool, then pour it gently from any
sediment there may be, into a mould which has been laid for an hour or
two into water. We had this jelly made in the first instance for an
invalid who was forbidden to take acids, and it proved so agreeable in
flavour that we can recommend it for the table. The isinglass, with an
additional quarter of an ounce, might be clarified, and the sugar and
orange-rind boiled with it afterwards.
Water, 1 pint; rind, 1/2 Seville orange: 5 minutes. Isinglass, 1 oz.;
sugar, 4 oz.: 5 to 7 minutes. Constantia, 4 large wineglassesful.
RHUBARB ISINGLASS JELLY.
(_Author’s Original Receipt. Good._)
A jelly of beautiful tint, and excellent flavour, may be made with fresh
young rhubarb-stems, either of the giant or dwarf kind, if they be of a
bright pink colour. Wash, and drain or wipe them; slice without paring
them, taking them quite free from any coarse or discoloured parts. Put
two pounds and a half, and a quart of water into an enamelled stewpan,
which is more suitable to the purpose than any other; throw in two
ounces of sugar in lumps, and boil the rhubarb very gently for twenty
minutes, or until it is thoroughly stewed, but not sufficiently so to
thicken the juice. Strain it through a muslin folded in four; measure a
pint and a half of it; heat it afresh in a clean pan; add an ounce and a
half of the finest isinglass, and six ounces or more of the best sugar
in large lumps; stir it often until the isinglass is entirely dissolved,
then let it boil quickly for a few minutes to throw up the scum; clear
this off carefully, and strain the jelly _twice_ through a muslin
strainer,[160] folded as the first; let it cool, and mould it as usual.
Footnote 160:
These muslin strainers should be large, as it is necessary to fold
them in general to a quarter of their original size, to render them
sufficiently thick for _clearing_ juice or jelly.
STRAWBERRY ISINGLASS JELLY.
A great variety of equally elegant and excellent jellies for the table
may be made with clarified isinglass, clear syrup, and the juice of
almost any kind of fresh fruit; but as the process of making them is
nearly the same for all, we shall limit our receipts to one or two,
which will serve to direct the makers for the rest. Boil together
quickly for fifteen minutes one pint of water and three-quarters of a
pound of very good sugar; measure a quart of ripe richly-flavoured
strawberries without their stalks; the scarlet answer best, from the
colour which they give: on these pour the boiling syrup, and let them
stand all night. The next day clarify two ounces and a half of isinglass
in a pint of water, as directed at the beginning of this chapter; drain
the syrup from the strawberries very closely, add to it two or three
tablespoonsful of red currant juice, and the _clear_ juice of one large
or two small lemons; and when the isinglass is nearly cold mix the
whole, and put it into moulds. The French, who excel in these
fruit-jellies, always mix the separate ingredients when they are almost
cold; and they also place them over ice for an hour or so after they are
moulded, which is a great advantage, as they then require less
isinglass, and are in consequence much more delicate. When the fruit
abounds, instead of throwing it into the syrup, bruise lightly from
three to four pints, throw two tablespoonsful of sugar over it, and let
the juice flow from it for an hour or two; then pour a little water
over, and use the juice without boiling, which will give a jelly of
finer flavour than the other.
Water, 1 pint; sugar, 3/4 lb.: 15 minutes. Strawberries, 1 quart;
isinglass, 2-1/2 oz.; water, 1 pint (white of egg, 1 to 2 teaspoonsful);
juice, 1 large or 2 small lemons.
FANCY JELLIES.
[Illustration:
No. 1.
]
[Illustration:
No. 2.
]
_Description of Belgrave Mould._
Figure No. 1, represents the mould in its entireness. No. 2, shows the
interior of it (inverted). _A_ is a thin metal plate which when turned
downwards forms the bottom of the mould, and which is perforated in six
places to permit the fluted columns _B_ to pass through it. There is
also a larger aperture in the middle to admit the centre cylinder. The
plate is fixed, and the whole is held in its place by the part which
folds over the larger scallop _D_ at either end. There is also a cover
which fits to the mould, and which is pressed on it before it is dipped
into water, to prevent its getting into the cylinders.
[Illustration]
Transparent jelly is shown to much advantage, and is particularly
brilliant in appearance, when moulded in shapes resembling that of the
engraving here, which are now very commonly used for the purpose.
[Illustration]
The centre spaces can be filled, after the jelly is dished, with very
light whipped cream, coloured and flavoured so as to eat agreeably with
it, and to please the eye as well: this may be tastefully garnished with
preserved, or with fresh fruit; but one of more recent invention, called
the _Belgrave mould_ (which is to be had of the originators, Messrs.
Temple and Reynolds, Princes Street, Cavendish Square, and also at 80,
Motcomb Street, Belgrave Square), is of superior construction for the
purpose, as it contains a large central cylinder and six smaller ones,
which when withdrawn, after the jelly—which should be poured round, but
not _into_ them—is set, leave vacancies which can be filled either with
jelly of another colour, or with fruit of different kinds (which must be
secured in its place with _just liquid_ jelly poured carefully in after
it is arranged), or with blanc-mange, or any other isinglass-cream. The
space occupied by the larger cylinder may be left empty, or filled,
before the jelly is served, with white or with pale-tinted whipped
cream. Water, only sufficiently warm to detach the jelly from them
without heating or melting it, must be poured into the cylinders to
_unfix_ them; and to loosen the whole so as to unmould it easily, a
cloth wrung out of very hot water must be wound round it, or the mould
must be dipped _quickly_ into some which is nearly or quite boiling. A
dish should then be laid on it, it should be carefully reversed, and the
mould lifted from it gently. It will sometimes require a slight sharp
blow to detach it quite.
Italian jelly is made by half filling a mould of convenient form, and
laying round upon it in a chain, as soon as it is set, some blanc-mange
made rather firm, and cut of equal thickness and size, with a small
round cutter; the mould is then filled with the remainder of the jelly,
which must be nearly cold, but not beginning to set. Branched morella
cherries, drained very dry, are sometimes dropped into moulds of pale
jelly; and fruits, either fresh or preserved, are arranged in them with
exceedingly good effect when skilfully managed; but this is best
accomplished by having a mould for the purpose, with another of smaller
size fixed in it by means of slight wires, which hook on to the edge of
the outer one. By pouring water into this it may easily be detached from
the jelly; the fruit is then to be placed in the space left by it, and
the whole filled up with more jelly: to give the proper effect, it must
be recollected that the dish will be _reversed_ when sent to table.
QUEEN MAB’S PUDDING.
(_An Elegant Summer Dish._)
Throw into a pint of new milk the thin rind of a small lemon, and six or
eight bitter almonds, blanched and bruised; or substitute for these half
a pod of vanilla cut small, heat it slowly by the side of the fire, and
keep it at the point of boiling until it is strongly flavoured, then add
a small pinch of salt, and three-quarters of an ounce of the finest
isinglass, or a full ounce should the weather be extremely warm; when
this is dissolved, strain the milk through a muslin, and put it into a
clean saucepan, with from four to five ounces and a half of sugar in
lumps, and half a pint of rich cream; give the whole one boil, and then
stir it, briskly and by degrees, to the well-beaten yolks of six fresh
eggs; next, thicken the mixture as a custard, over a gentle fire, but do
not hazard its curdling; when it is of tolerable consistence, pour it
out, and continue the stirring until it is half cold, then mix with it
an ounce and a half of candied citron, cut in small spikes, and a couple
of ounces of dried cherries, and pour it into a mould rubbed with a drop
of oil: when turned out it will have the appearance of a pudding. From
two to three ounces of preserved ginger, well drained and sliced, may be
substituted for the cherries, and an ounce of pistachio-nuts, blanched
and split, for the citron; these will make an elegant variety of the
dish, and the syrup of the ginger, poured round as sauce, will be a
further improvement. Currants steamed until tender, and candied orange
or lemon-rind, are often used instead of the cherries, and the
well-sweetened juice of strawberries, raspberries (white or red),
apricots, peaches, or syrup of pine-apple, will make an agreeable sauce;
a small quantity of this last will also give a delicious flavour to the
pudding itself, when mixed with the other ingredients. Cream may be
substituted entirely for the milk, when its richness is considered
desirable.
New milk, 1 pint; rind 1 small lemon; bitter almonds, 6 to 8 (or,
vanilla, 1/2 pod); salt, few grains; isinglass, 3/4 oz. (1 oz. in sultry
weather); sugar, 4-1/2 oz.; cream, 1/2 pint; yolks, 6 eggs; dried
cherries, 2 oz.; candied citron, 1-1/2 oz.; (or, preserved ginger, 2 to
3 oz., and the syrup as sauce, and 1 oz. of blanched pistachio-nuts; or
4 oz. currants, steamed 20 minutes, and 2 oz. candied orange-rind). For
sauce, sweetened juice of strawberries, raspberries, or plums, or pine
apple syrup.
_Obs._—The currants should be steamed in an earthen cullender, placed
over a saucepan of boiling water, and covered with the lid. It will be a
_great_ improvement to place the pudding over ice for an hour before it
is served.
NESSELRÔDE CREAM.
Shell and blanch (see page 342) twenty-four fine Spanish chestnuts, and
put them with three-quarters of a pint of water into a small and
delicately clean saucepan. When they have simmered from six to eight
minutes, add to them two ounces of fine sugar, and let them stew very
gently until they are perfectly tender; then drain them from the water,
pound them, while still warm, to a smooth paste, and press them through
the back of a fine sieve. While this is being done, dissolve half an
ounce of isinglass in two or three spoonsful of water, and put to it as
much cream as will, with the small quantity of water used, make half a
pint, two ounces of sugar, about the third of a pod of vanilla, cut
small, and well bruised, and a strip or two of fresh lemon-rind, pared
extremely thin. Give these a minute’s boil, and then keep them quite hot
by the side of the fire, until a strong flavour of the vanilla is
obtained. Now, mix gradually with the chestnuts half a pint of rich,
unboiled cream, strain the other half pint through a fine muslin, and
work the whole well together until it becomes _very_ thick; then stir to
it a couple of ounces of dried cherries, cut into quarters, and two of
candied citron, divided into very small dice. Press the mixture into a
mould which has been rubbed with a particle of the purest salad-oil, and
in a few hours it will be ready for table. The cream should be
sufficiently stiff, when the fruit is added, to prevent its sinking to
the bottom, and both kinds should be _dry_ when they are used.
Chestnuts, large, 24; water, 3/4 pint; sugar, 2 oz.; isinglass, 1/2 oz.;
water, 3 to 4 tablespoonsful; cream, nearly 1/2 pint; vanilla, 1/3 of
pod; lemon-rind, 1/4 of 1 large: infuse 20 minutes or more. Unboiled
cream, 1/2 pint; dried cherries, 2 oz.; candied citron, 2 oz.
_Obs._—When vanilla cannot easily be obtained, a little noyau may be
substituted for it, but a _full_ weight of isinglass must then be used.
CRÊME À LA COMTESSE, OR THE COUNTESS’S CREAM.
Prepare as above, boil and pound, eighteen fine sound chestnuts; mix
with them gradually, after they have been pressed through a fine sieve,
half a pint of rich sweet cream; dissolve in half a pint of new milk a
half-ounce of isinglass, then add to them from six to eight bitter
almonds, blanched and bruised, with two-thirds of the rind of a small
lemon, cut extremely thin, and two ounces and a half of sugar; let these
simmer gently for five minutes, and then remain by the side of the fire
for awhile. When the milk is strongly flavoured, strain it through
muslin, press the whole of it through, and stir it by degrees to the
chestnuts and cream; beat the mixture smooth, and when it begins to
thicken, put it into a mould rubbed with oil, or into one which has been
dipped in water and shaken nearly free of the moisture. If set into a
cool place, it will be ready for table in six or eight hours. It has a
pretty appearance when partially stuck with pistachio-nuts, blanched,
dried, and cut in spikes, their bright green colour rendering them very
ornamental to dishes of this kind: as they are, however, much more
expensive than almonds, they can be used more sparingly, or intermingled
with spikes of the firm outer rind of candied citron.
Chestnuts, 18; water, full 1/2 pint; sugar, 1 oz.: 15 to 25 minutes, or
more. Cream, 1/2 pint; new milk, 1/2 pint; isinglass, 1/2 oz.; bitter
almonds, 6 to 8; lemon-rind, two-thirds of 1; sugar, 2-1/2 oz.[161]
Footnote 161:
The proportions both of this and of the preceding cream must be
increased for a _large_ mould.
_Obs._—This is a very delicate kind of sweet dish, which we can
particularly recommend to our readers; it may be rendered more
_recherché_ by a flavouring of maraschino, but must then have a little
addition of isinglass. The preparation, without this last ingredient,
will be found excellent iced.
AN EXCELLENT TRIFLE.
Take equal parts of wine and brandy, about a wineglassful of each, or
two-thirds of good sherry or Madeira, and one of spirit, and soak in the
mixture four sponge-biscuits, and half a pound of macaroons and
ratifias; cover the bottom of the trifle-dish with part of these, and
pour upon them a full pint of rich boiled custard made with
three-quarters of a pint, or rather more, of milk and cream taken in
equal portions, and six eggs; and sweetened, flavoured and thickened by
the receipt of page 481; lay the remainder of the soaked cakes upon it,
and pile over the whole, to the depth of two or three inches, the
whipped syllabub of page 476, previously well drained; then sweeten and
flavour slightly with wine only, less than half a pint of thin cream (or
of cream and milk mixed); wash and wipe the whisk, and whip it to the
lightest possible froth: take it off with a skimmer and heap it gently
over the trifle.
Macaroons and ratifias, 1/2 lb.; wine and brandy mixed, 1/4 pint; rich
boiled custard, 1 pint; whipped syllabub (see page 476); light froth to
cover the whole, short 1/2 pint of cream and milk mixed; sugar,
dessertspoonful; wine, 1/2 glassful.
SWISS CREAM, OR TRIFLE.
(_Very Good._)
Flavour pleasantly with and cinnamon, a pint of rich cream, after having
taken from it as much as will mix smoothly to a thin batter four
teaspoonsful of the finest flour; sweeten it with six ounces of
well-refined sugar in lumps; place it over a clear fire in a delicately
clean saucepan, and when it boils stir in the flour, and simmer it for
four or five minutes, stirring it gently without ceasing; then pour it
out, and when it is quite cold mix with it by degrees the strained juice
of two moderate-sized and very fresh lemons. Take a quarter of a pound
of macaroons, cover the bottom of a glass dish with a portion of them,
pour in a part of the cream, lay the remainder of the macaroons upon it,
add the rest of the cream, and ornament it with candied citron sliced
thin. It should be made the day before it is wanted for table. The
requisite flavour may be given to this dish by infusing in the cream the
very thin rind of a lemon, and part of a stick of cinnamon slightly
bruised, and then straining it before the flour is added; or, these and
the sugar may be boiled together with two or three spoonsful of water,
to a strongly flavoured syrup, which, after having been passed through a
muslin strainer, may be stirred into the cream. Some cooks boil the
cinnamon and the _grated_ rind of a lemon with all the other
ingredients, but the cream has then to be pressed through a sieve after
it is made, a process which it is always desirable to avoid. It may be
flavoured with vanilla and maraschino, or with orange-blossoms at
pleasure; but is _excellent_ made as above.
Rich cream, 1 pint; sugar, 6 oz.; rind, 1 lemon; cinnamon, 1 drachm;
flour, 4 teaspoonsful; juice, 2 lemons; macaroons, 4 oz.; candied
citron, 1 to 2 oz.
TIPSY CAKE, OR BRANDY TRIFLE.
The old-fashioned mode of preparing this dish was to soak a light sponge
or Savoy cake in as much good French brandy as it could absorb; then, to
stick it full of blanched almonds cut into whole-length spikes, and to
pour a rich cold boiled custard round it. It is more usual now to pour
white wine over the cake, or a mixture of wine and brandy; with this the
juice of half a lemon is sometimes mixed.
[Illustration:
Chantilly Basket.
]
FILLED WITH WHIPPED CREAM AND FRESH STRAWBERRIES.
Take a mould of any sort that will serve to form the basket on, just dip
the edge of some macaroons into melted barley sugar, and fasten them
together with it; take it out of the mould, keep it in a dry place until
wanted, then fill it high with whipped strawberry cream which has been
drained on a sieve from the preceding day, and stick very fine ripe
strawberries over it. It should not filled until just before it is
served.
VERY GOOD LEMON CREAMS MADE WITHOUT CREAM.
Pour over the very thin rinds of two moderate-sized but perfectly sound
fresh lemons and six ounces of sugar, half a pint of spring water, and
let them remain for six hours: then add the strained juice of the
lemons, and five fresh eggs well beaten and also strained; take out the
lemon-rind, and stir the mixture without ceasing over a gentle fire
until it has boiled softly from six to eight minutes: it will not curdle
as it would did milk supply the place of the water and lemon-juice. The
creams are, we think, more delicate, though not quite so thick, when the
yolks only of six eggs are used for them. They will keep well for nearly
a week in really cold weather.
Rinds of lemons, 2; sugar, 6 oz. (or 8 when a _very_ sweet dish is
preferred); cold water, 1/2 pint: 6 hours. Juice of lemons, 2; eggs, 5:
to be boiled softly 6 to 8 minutes.
_Obs._—Lemon creams may, on occasion, be more expeditiously prepared, by
rasping the rind of the fruit upon the sugar which is used for them; or,
by paring it thin, and boiling it for a few minutes with the
lemon-juice, sugar, and water, before they are stirred to the eggs.
FRUIT CREAMS, AND ITALIAN CREAMS.
These are very quickly and easily made, by mixing with good cream a
sufficient proportion of the sweetened juice of fresh fruit, or of
well-made fruit jelly or jam, to flavour it: a few drops of prepared
cochineal may be added to deepen the colour when it is required for any
particular purpose. A quarter of a pint of strawberry or of raspberry
jelly will fully flavour a pint of cream: a very little lemon-juice
improves almost all compositions of this kind. When jam is used it must
first be gradually mixed with the cream, and then worked through a
sieve, to take out the seed or skin of the fruit. All fresh juice, for
this purpose, must of course, be cold; that of strawberries is best
obtained by crushing the fruit and strewing sugar over it. Peaches,
pine-apple, apricots, or nectarines, may be simmered for a few minutes
in a little syrup, and this, drained well from them, will serve
extremely well to mix with the cream when it has become thoroughly cold:
the lemon-juice should be added to all of these. When the ingredients
are well blended, lightly whisk or mill them to a froth; take this off
with a skimmer as it rises, and lay it upon a fine sieve reversed, to
drain, or if it is to be served in glasses, fill them with it at once.
Italian creams are either fruit-flavoured only, or mixed with wine like
syllabubs, then whisked to a stiff froth and put into a perforated
mould, into which a muslin is first laid; or into a small hair-sieve
(which must also first be lined with the muslin), and left to drain
until the following day, when the cream must be very gently turned out,
and dished, and garnished, as fancy may direct.
VERY SUPERIOR WHIPPED SYLLABUBS.
Weigh seven ounces of fine sugar and rasp on it the rinds of two fresh
sound lemons of good size, then pound or roll it to powder, and put it
into a bowl with the strained juice of the lemons, two large glasses of
sherry, and two of brandy; when the sugar is dissolved add a pint of
very fresh cream, and whisk or mill the mixture well; take off the froth
as it rises, and put it into glasses. These syllabubs will remain good
for several days, and should always be made if possible, four-and-twenty
hours before they are wanted for table. The full flavour of the
lemon-rind is obtained with less trouble than in rasping, by paring it
very thin indeed, and infusing it for some hours in the juice of the
fruit.
Sugar, 7 oz.; rind and juice of lemons, 2; sherry, 2 large
wineglassesful; brandy, 2 wineglassesful; cream, 1 pint.
_Obs._—These proportions are sufficient for two dozens or more of
syllabubs: they are often made with almost equal quantities of wine and
cream, but are considered less wholesome without a portion of brandy.
BLANC-MANGES.
GOOD COMMON BLANC-MANGE, OR BLANC-MANGER.
(_Author’s Receipt._)
[Illustration:
Blanc-mange or Cake Mould.
]
Infuse for an hour in a pint and a half of new milk the very thin rind
of one small, or of half a large lemon and four or five bitter almonds,
blanched and bruised,[162] then add two ounces of sugar, or rather more
for persons who like the blanc-mange very sweet, and an ounce and a half
of isinglass. Boil them gently over a clear fire, stirring them often
until this last is dissolved; take off the scum, stir in half a pint, or
rather more, of rich cream, and strain the blanc-mange into a bowl; it
should be moved gently with a spoon until nearly cold to prevent the
cream from settling on the surface. Before it is moulded, mix with it by
degrees a wineglassful of brandy.
Footnote 162:
These should always be _very sparingly_ used.
New milk, 1-1/2 pint; rind of lemon, 1/2 large or whole small; bitter
almonds, 8: infuse 1 hour. Sugar, 2 to 3 oz.; isinglass, 1-1/2 oz.: 10
minutes. Cream, 1/2 pint; brandy, 1 wineglassful.
RICHER BLANC-MANGE.
A pint of good cream with a pint of new milk, sweetened and flavoured as
above (or in any other manner which good taste may dictate), with a
little additional sugar, and the same proportion of isinglass, will make
very good blanc-mange. Two ounces of Jordan almonds may be pounded and
mixed with it, but they are not needed with the cream.
JAUMANGE, OR JAUNE MANGER, SOMETIMES CALLED DUTCH FLUMMERY.
Pour on the very thin rind of a large lemon and half a pound of sugar
broken small, a pint of water, and keep them stirred over a gentle fire
until they have simmered for three or four minutes, then leave the
saucepan by the side of the stove that the syrup may taste well of the
lemon. In ten or fifteen minutes afterwards add two ounces of isinglass,
and stir the mixture often until this is dissolved, then throw in the
strained juice of four sound moderate-sized lemons, and a pint of
sherry; mix the whole briskly with the beaten yolks of eight fresh eggs,
and pass it through a delicately clean hair-sieve: next thicken it in a
jar or jug placed in a pan of boiling water, turn it into a bowl, and
when it has become cool and been allowed to settle for a minute or two,
pour it into moulds which have been laid in water. Some persons add a
small glass of brandy to it, and deduct so much from the quantity of
water.
Rind of 1 lemon; sugar, 8 oz.; water, 1 pint: 3 or 4 minutes. Isinglass,
2 oz.; juice, 4 lemons; yolks of eggs, 8; wine, 1 pint; brandy (at
pleasure), 1 wineglassful.
EXTREMELY GOOD STRAWBERRY BLANC-MANGE, OR BAVARIAN CREAM.
Crush slightly with a silver or wooden spoon, a quart, measured without
their stalks, of fresh and richly-flavoured strawberries; strew over
them eight ounces of pounded sugar, and let them stand for three or four
hours; then turn them on to a fine hair-sieve reversed, and rub them
through it. Melt over a gentle fire two ounces of the best isinglass in
a pint of new milk, and sweeten it with four ounces of sugar; strain it
through a muslin, and mix it with a pint and a quarter of sweet thick
cream; keep these stirred until they are nearly or quite cold, then pour
them gradually to the strawberries, whisking them briskly together; and
last of all throw in, by small portions, the strained juice of a fine
sound lemon. Mould the blanc-mange, and set it in a very cool place for
twelve hours or more before it is served.
Strawberries stalked, 1 quart; sugar, 8 oz.; isinglass, 2 oz.; new milk,
1 pint; sugar, 4 oz.; cream, 1-1/4 pint; juice, 1 lemon.
_Obs._—We have retained here the old-fashioned name of blanc-mange (or
_blanc-manger_) because it is more familiar to many English readers than
any of recent introduction; but moulded strawberry-cream would be more
appropriate; as nothing can properly be called _blanc_ manger which is
not white. By mingling the cream, after it has been whisked, or whipped,
to the other ingredients, the preparation becomes what is called _un
Fromage Bavarois_, or Bavarian cream, sometimes simply, _une Bavaroise_.
QUINCE BLANC-MANGE.
(_Delicious._)
This, if carefully made, and with ripe quinces, is one of the most
richly-flavoured preparations of fruit that we have ever tasted; and the
receipt, we may venture to say, will be altogether new to the reader.
Dissolve in a pint of prepared juice of quinces (see page 456), an ounce
of the best isinglass; next, add ten ounces of sugar, roughly pounded,
and stir these together gently over a clear fire, from twenty to thirty
minutes, or until the juice jellies in falling from the spoon. Remove
the scum carefully, and pour the boiling jelly gradually to half a pint
of thick cream, stirring them briskly together as they are mixed: they
must be stirred until very nearly cold, and then poured into a mould
which has been rubbed in every part with the smallest possible quantity
of very pure salad oil, or if more convenient, into one that has been
dipped into cold water.
_Obs._—This blanc-manger which we had made originally on the thought of
the moment for a friend, proved so very rich in flavour, that we
inserted the exact receipt for it, as we had had it made on our first
trial; but it might be simplified by merely boiling the juice, sugar,
and isinglass, together for a few minutes, and then mixing them with the
cream. An ounce and a half of isinglass and three-quarters of a pint of
cream might then be used for it. The juice of other fruit may be
substituted for that of the quinces.
Juice of quinces, 1 pint; isinglass, 1 oz.: 5 to 10 minutes. Sugar, 10
oz.: 20 to 30 minutes. Cream, 1/2 pint.
QUINCE BLANC-MANGE, WITH ALMOND CREAM.
When cream is not procurable, which will sometimes happen in the depth
of winter, almonds, if plentifully used, will afford a very good
substitute, though the finer blanc-mange is made from the foregoing
receipt. On four ounces of almonds, blanched and beaten to the smoothest
paste, and moistened in the pounding with a few drops of water, to
prevent their oiling, pour a pint of boiling quince-juice; stir them
together, and turn them into a strong cloth, of which let the ends be
held and twisted different ways by two persons, to express the cream
from the almonds; put the juice again on the fire, with half a pound of
sugar, and when it boils, throw in nearly an ounce of fine isinglass;
simmer the whole for five minutes, take off the scum, stir the
blanc-mange until it is nearly cold, then mould it for table. Increase
the quantity both of this and of the preceding blanc-mange, when a large
dish of either is required.
Quince-juice, 1 pint; Jordan almond, 4 oz.; sugar, 1/2 lb; isinglass,
nearly 1 oz: 5 minutes.
APRICOT BLANC-MANGE, OR CRÊME PARISIENNE.
Dissolve gently an ounce of fine isinglass in a pint of new milk or of
thin cream, and strain it through a folded muslin; put it into a clean
saucepan, with three ounces of sugar, broken into small lumps, and when
it boils, stir to it half a pint of rich cream; add it, at first by
spoonsful only, to eight ounces of the finest apricot jam, mix them very
smoothly, and stir the whole until it is nearly cold that the jam may
not sink to the bottom of the mould: a tablespoonful of lemon-juice will
improve the flavour.
When cream is scarce, use milk instead, with an additional quarter of an
ounce of isinglass, and enrich it by pouring it boiling on the same
proportion of almonds as for the second quince blanc-mange (see page
478). Cream can in all cases be substituted entirely for the milk, when
a very rich preparation is desired. Peach jam will answer admirably for
this receipt; but none of any kind should be used for it which has not
been passed through a sieve when made.
Isinglass, 1 oz.; new milk, 1 pint; cream, 1/2 pint; sugar, 3 oz.;
apricot jam, 1/2 lb.; lemon-juice, 1 tablespoonful. Or, peach jam, 1/2
lb.; cream, 1-1/2 pint.
CURRANT BLANC-MANGE.
In three-quarters of a pint of clear currant-juice, drawn from the fruit
as for jelly, and strained, dissolve an ounce and a half of isinglass;
add nine ounces of sugar broken small, give the whole a boil, strain it,
and stir it by slow degrees to three-quarters of a pint of thick cold
cream; when it is less than milk-warm pour it into the moulds. The
proportions of juice and cream can be varied to the taste, and a portion
of raspberries or strawberries added to the currants. Black currants
would, we think, make an agreeable variety of this blanc-mange for
persons who like their peculiar flavour, but we have not tried them.
Clear juice of red currant, 3/4 pint; isinglass, 1-1/2 oz.; sugar, 9
oz.; cream, 3/4 pint.
LEMON SPONGE, OR MOULDED LEMON CREAM.
Infuse in half a pint of cream the very thin rind of one _large_ lemon,
or of one and a half of smaller size; or, instead of this, rasp the
fruit with the sugar which is to be used for the preparation. Add
three-quarters of an ounce of fine isinglass, and when this is dissolved
throw in seven ounces of sugar in small lumps. Do not boil the mixture,
to reduce it, but let it be kept near the point of simmering, until the
sugar and isinglass are entirely dissolved, and a full flavour of the
lemon-rind has been obtained; then stir in another half-pint of cream,
and strain the mixture immediately into a deep bowl or pan. When it is
quite cold, add to it very gradually the strained juice of one lemon and
a half, whisking the preparation well all the time; and when it begins
to set, which may be known by its becoming very thick, whisk it lightly
to a sponge, pour it into an oiled mould, and, to prevent its breaking
when it is dished, just dip the mould into hot, but not boiling water;
loosen the edges carefully, and turn out the cream: to save time and
trouble the whisking may be omitted, and a plain lemon-cream take place
of the sponge.
Cream, 1 pint; rind of lemons 2 middling-sized, or 1-1/2 large;
isinglass, 3/4 oz.; sugar, 7 oz.; juice of 1-1/2 lemon.
_Obs._—For this, as for all other dishes of the kind, a little more or
less of isinglass may be required according to the state of the weather,
a larger proportion being needed in summer than in winter.
AN APPLE HEDGE-HOG, OR SUÉDOISE.
[Illustration]
This dish is formed of apples, pared, cored without being divided and
stewed tolerably tender in a light syrup. These are placed in a dish,
after being well drained, and filled with apricot, or any other rich
marmalade, and arranged in two or more layers, so as to give, when the
whole is complete, the form shown in the engraving. The number required
must depend on the size of the dish. From three to five pounds more must
be stewed down into a smooth and dry marmalade, and with this all the
spaces between them are to be filled up, and the whole are to be covered
with it; an icing of two eggs, beaten to a very solid froth, and mixed
with two heaped teaspoonsful of sugar, must then be spread evenly over
the suédoise, fine sugar sifted on this, and spikes of blanched almonds,
cut lengthwise, stuck over the entire surface: the dish is then to be
placed in a moderate oven until the almonds are browned, but not too
deeply, and the apples are hot through. It is not easy to give the
required form with less than fifteen apples; eight of these may first be
simmered in a syrup made with half a pint of water and six ounces of
sugar, and the remainder may be thrown in after these are lifted out.
Care must be taken to keep them firm. The marmalade should be sweet, and
pleasantly flavoured with lemon.
VERY GOOD OLD-FASHIONED BOILED CUSTARD.
Throw into a pint and a half of new milk, the very thin rind of a fresh
lemon, and let it infuse for half an hour, then simmer them together for
a few minutes, and add four ounces and a half of white sugar. Beat
thoroughly the yolks of fourteen fresh eggs, mix with them another
half-pint of new milk, stir the boiling milk quickly to them, take out
the lemon-peel, and turn the custard into a deep jug; set this over the
fire in a pan of boiling water, and keep the custard stirred gently, but
without ceasing, until it begins to thicken; then move the spoon rather
more quickly, making it always touch the bottom of the jug, until the
mixture is brought to the point of boiling, when it must be instantly
taken from the fire, or it will curdle in a moment. Pour it into a bowl,
and keep it stirred until nearly cold, then add to it by degrees a
wineglassful of good brandy, and two ounces of blanched almonds, cut
into spikes; or omit these, at pleasure. A few bitter ones, bruised, can
be boiled in the milk in lieu of lemon-peel, when their flavour is
preferred.
New milk, 1 quart; rind of 1 lemon; sugar, 4-1/2 oz.; yolks of eggs, 14;
salt, less than 1/4 saltspoonful.
RICH BOILED CUSTARD.
Take a small cupful from a quart of fresh cream, and simmer the
remainder for a few minutes with four ounces of sugar and the rind of a
lemon, or give it any other flavour that may be preferred. Beat and
strain the yolks of eight eggs, mix them with the cupful of cream, and
stir the rest boiling to them: thicken the custard like the preceding
one.
Cream, 1 quart; sugar, 4 oz.; yolks of eggs, 8.
THE QUEEN’S CUSTARD.
On the beaten and strained yolks of twelve new-laid eggs pour a pint and
a half of boiling cream which has been sweetened, with three ounces of
sugar; add the smallest pinch of salt, and thicken the custard as usual.
When nearly cold, flavour it with a glass and a half of noyau,
maraschino, or cuirasseau, and add the sliced almonds or not, at
pleasure.
Yolks of eggs, 12; cream, 1-1/2 pint; sugar, 3 oz.; little salt; noyau,
maraschino, or cuirasseau, 1-1/2 wineglassful.
CURRANT CUSTARD.
Boil in a pint of clear currant-juice ten ounces of sugar for three
minutes, take off the scum, and pour the boiling juice on eight
well-beaten eggs; thicken the custard in a jug set into a pan of water,
pour it out, stir it till nearly cold, then add to it carefully, and by
degrees, half a pint of rich cream, and last of all two tablespoonsful
of strained lemon-juice. When the currants are very ripe omit one ounce
of the sugar.
White currants and strawberries, cherries, red or white raspberries, or
a mixture of any of these fruits, may be used for these custards with
good effect: they are excellent.
Currant-juice, 1 pint; sugar, 10 oz.: 3 minutes. Eggs, 8; cream, 1/2
pint; lemon-juice, 2 tablespoonsful.
QUINCE OR APPLE CUSTARDS.
Add to a pint of apple-juice prepared as for jelly, a tablespoonful of
strained lemon-juice, and from four to six ounces of sugar according to
the acidity of the fruit; stir these boiling, quickly, and in small
portions, to eight well-beaten eggs, and thicken the custard in a jug
placed in a pan of boiling water, in the usual manner. A larger
proportion of lemon-juice and a high flavouring of a rind can be given
when approved. For quince custards, which if well made are excellent,
observe the same directions as for the apple, but omit the lemon-juice.
As we have before observed, all custards are much finer when made with
the yolks only of the eggs, of which the number must be increased nearly
half, when this is done.
Prepared apple-juice (see page 456), 1 pint; lemon-juice, 1
tablespoonful; sugar, 4 to 6 oz.; eggs, 8. Quince custards, same
proportions, but no lemon-juice.
_Obs._—In making lemon-creams the apple-juice may be substituted very
advantageously for water, without varying the receipt in other respects.
THE DUKE’S CUSTARD.
Drain well from their juice, and then roll in dry sifted sugar, as many
fine brandied Morella cherries as will cover thickly the bottom of the
dish in which this is to be sent to table; arrange them in it, and pour
over them from a pint to a pint and a half of rich cold boiled custard;
garnish the edge with macaroons or Naples biscuits, or pile upon the
custard some solid rose-coloured whipped cream, highly flavoured with
brandy.
Brandied Morella cherries, 1/2 to whole pint; boiled custard, from 1 to
1-1/2 pint; thick cream, 1/2 pint or more; brandy, 1 to 2 glassesful;
sugar, 2 to 3 oz.; juice of 1/2 large lemon; prepared cochineal, or
carmine, 20 to 40 drops.
CHOCOLATE CUSTARDS.
Dissolve gently by the side of the fire an ounce and a half of the best
chocolate in rather more than a wineglassful of water, and then boil it
until it is perfectly smooth; mix with it a pint of milk well flavoured
with lemon peel or vanilla, add two ounces of fine sugar, and when the
whole boils, stir it to five well-beaten eggs which have been strained.
Put the custard into a jar or jug, set it into a pan of boiling water,
and stir it without ceasing until it is thick. Do not put it into
glasses or a dish until it is nearly or quite cold. These, as well as
all other custards, are infinitely finer when made with the yolks only
of the eggs, of which the number must then be increased. Two ounces of
chocolate, a pint of milk, half a pint of cream, two or three ounces of
sugar, and eight yolks of eggs, will make very superior custards of this
kind.
Rasped chocolate, 1-1/2 oz.; water, 1 _large_ wineglassful: 5 to 8
minutes. New milk, 1 pint; eggs, 5; sugar, 2 oz. Or: chocolate, 2 oz.;
water, 1/4 pint; new milk, 1 pint; sugar, 2-1/2 to 3 oz.; cream, 1/2
pint; yolks of eggs, 8.
_Obs._—Either of these may be moulded by dissolving from half to three
quarters of an ounce of isinglass in the milk. The proportion of
chocolate can be increased to the taste.
COMMON BAKED CUSTARD.
Mix a quart of new milk with eight well beaten eggs, strain the mixture
through a fine sieve, and sweeten it with from five to eight ounces of
sugar, according to the taste; add a small pinch of salt, and pour the
custard into a deep dish with or without a lining or rim of paste, grate
nutmeg or over the top, and bake it in a _very_ slow oven from twenty to
thirty minutes, or longer, should it not be firm in the centre. A
custard, if well made, and properly baked, will be quite smooth when
cut, without the honey-combed appearance which a hot oven gives; and
there will be no whey in the dish.
New milk, 1 quart; eggs, 8; sugar, 5 to 8 oz.; salt, 1/4 saltspoonful;
nutmeg or lemon-grate: baked, slow oven, 30 to 40 minutes, or more.
A FINER BAKED CUSTARD.
Boil together gently, for five minutes, a pint and a half of new milk, a
few grains of salt, the very thin rind of a lemon, and six ounces of
loaf sugar; stir these boiling, but very gradually, to the well-beaten
yolks of ten fresh eggs, and the whites of four; strain the mixture, and
add to it half a pint of good cream; let it cool, and then flavour it
with a few spoonsful of brandy, or a little ratifia; finish and bake it
by the directions given for the common custard above; or pour it into
small well-buttered cups, and bake it very slowly from ten to twelve
minutes.
FRENCH CUSTARDS OR CREAMS.
To a quart of new milk allow the yolks of twelve fresh eggs, but to
equal parts of milk and cream of ten only. From six to eight ounces of
sugar will sweeten the custard sufficiently for general taste, but more
can be added at will; boil this for a few minutes gently in the milk
with a grain or two of salt, and stir the mixture briskly to the eggs,
as soon as it is taken from the fire. Butter a round deep dish, pour in
the custard, and place it in a pan of water at the point of boiling,
taking care that it shall not reach to within an inch of the edge; let
it _just simmer_, and no more, from an hour to an hour and a half: when
quite firm in the middle, it will be done. A very few live embers should
be kept on the lid of the stewpan to prevent the steam falling from it
into the custard. When none is at hand of a form to allow of this, it is
better to use a charcoal fire, and to lay an oven-leaf, or tin, over the
pan, and the embers in the centre. The small French furnace, shown in
Chapter XXIII., is exceedingly convenient for preparations of this kind;
and there is always more or less of difficulty in keeping a coal fire
entirely free from smoke for any length of time. Serve the custard cold,
with chopped macaroons, or ratafias, laid thickly round the edge so as
to form a border an inch deep. A few petals of fresh orange-blossoms
infused in the milk will give it a most agreeable flavour, very superior
to that derived from the distilled water. Half a pod of vanilla, cut in
short lengths, and well bruised, may be used instead of either; but the
milk should then stand some time by the fire before or after it boils,
and it must be strained through a muslin before it is added to the eggs,
as the small seed of the vanilla would probably pass through a sieve.
The French make their custards, which they call _crêmes_, also in small
china cups, for each of which they allow one egg-yolk, and then add
sufficient milk or cream to nearly fill them; they sweeten and give them
a delicate flavour; and simmer them in a pan of water until they are
set.
New milk, 1 quart; yolks of eggs, 12; sugar, 6 to 8 oz. Or: new milk, 1
pint; cream, 1 pint; yolks of eggs, 10; flavouring of orange-flowers or
vanilla: simmered in water-bath, 1 to 1-1/2 hour.
GERMAN PUFFS.
Pound to a perfectly smooth paste two ounces of Jordan almonds and six
bitter ones; mix with them, by slow degrees, the yolks of six, and the
whites of three eggs. Dissolve in half a pint of rich cream, four ounces
of fresh butter, and two of fine sugar; pour these hot to the eggs,
stirring them briskly together, and when the mixture has become cool,
flavour it with half a glass of brandy, of cuirasseau, or of
orange-flower water; or, in lieu of either, with a little lemon-brandy.
Butter some cups thickly, and strew into them a few slices of candied
citron, or orange-rind; pour in the mixture, and bake the puffs twenty
minutes, in a slow oven.
Jordan almonds, 2 oz.; bitter almonds, 6; eggs, whites, 3—yolks, 6;
cream, 1/2 pint; butter, 4 oz.; sugar, 2 oz.; brandy, cuirasseau, or
orange-flower water, 1/2 wineglassful (or little lemon-brandy): 20
minutes, slow oven.
A MERINGUE OF RHUBARB, OR GREEN GOOSEBERRIES.
Weigh a pound of delicate young rhubarb-stems after they have been
carefully pared and cut into short lengths; mix eight ounces of pounded
sugar with them, and stew them gently until they form a smooth pulp;
then quicken the boiling, and stir them often until they are reduced to
a tolerably dry marmalade. When the fruit has reached this point turn it
from the pan and let it stand until it is quite cold. Separate the
whites of four fresh eggs carefully from the yolks, and whisk them to a
froth sufficiently solid to remain standing in points when it is dropped
from the whisk or fork. Common cooks sometimes fail entirely in very
light preparations from not properly understanding this extremely easy
process, which requires nothing beyond plenty of space in the bowl or
basin used, and regular but not violent whisking until the eggs whiten,
and gradually assume the appearance of snow. No drop of liquid must
remain at the bottom of the basin, and the mass must be firm enough to
stand up, as has been said, in points. When in this state, mingle with
it four heaped tablespoonsful of dry sifted sugar, stir these gently
together, and when they are quite mixed, lay them lightly over the
rhubarb in a rather deep tart-dish. Place the _meringue_ in a moderate
oven and bake it for about half an hour, but ascertain, before it is
served, that the centre is quite firm. The crust formed by the white of
egg and sugar, which is in fact the _meringue_, should be of a light
equal brown, and crisp quite through. If placed in an exceedingly slow
oven, the underpart of it will remain half liquid, and give an
uninviting appearance to the fruit when it is served. Unless the rhubarb
should be very acid, six ounces of sugar will be sufficient to sweeten
it for many tastes. It is a great improvement to this dish to diminish
the proportion of fruit, and to pour some thick boiled custard upon it
before the _meringue_ is laid on.
_Obs._—When gooseberries are substituted for spring-fruit, a pint and a
half will be sufficient for this preparation, or even a smaller
proportion when only one of quite moderate size is required. In the
early part of their season they will be more acid even than the rhubarb,
and rather more sugar must be allowed for them.
CREAMED SPRING FRUIT, OR RHUBARB TRIFLE.
Boil down the rhubarb with seven ounces of sugar, after having prepared
it as above, and when it is perfectly cold, but not long before it is
sent to table, pour over it about half a pint of rich boiled custard
also quite cold, then heap on this some well drained, but
slightly-sweetened whipped cream, which should be good and very fresh
when it is whisked, but not _heavily thick_, or it will be less easily
converted into a snow-froth. The rhubarb will be very nice if served
with the whipped cream only on it.
MERINGUE OF PEARS, OR OTHER FRUIT.
Fill a deep tart-dish nearly to the brim with stewed pears, and let them
be something more than half covered with their juice. Whisk to a solid
froth the whites of five eggs; stir to them five tablespoonsful of dry
sifted sugar, and lay them lightly and equally over the fruit; put the
_meringue_ immediately into a moderate oven, and bake it half an hour.
Cherries, bullaces, and damsons, with various other kinds of plums,
first either stewed as for compôtes (see page 457), or baked with sugar,
as for winter use, answer as well as pears for this dish; which may,
likewise, be made of apples, peaches, apricots, or common plums boiled
down quite to a marmalade, with sufficient sugar to sweeten them
moderately: the skins and stones of these last should be removed, but a
few of the blanched kernels may be added to the fruit.
Dish filled with stewed pears or other fruit; whites of eggs, 5; pounded
sugar, 5 tablespoonsful: baked, 1/2 hour.
AN APPLE CHARLOTTE, OR CHARLOTTE DE POMMES.
[Illustration]
Butter a plain mould (a round or square cake-tin will answer the purpose
quite well), and line it entirely with thin slices of the crumb of a
stale loaf, cut so as to fit into it with great exactness, and dipped
into clarified butter. When this is done, fill the mould to the brim
with apple marmalade; cover the top with slices of bread dipped in
butter, and on these place a dish, a large plate, or the cover of a
French stewpan with a weight upon it. Send the Charlotte to a brisk oven
for three quarters of an hour should it be small, and for an hour if
large. Turn it out with great care, and serve it hot. If baked in a
slack oven it will not take a proper degree of colour, and it will be
liable to break in the dishing. The strips of bread must of course join
very perfectly, for if any spaces were left between them the syrup of
the fruit would escape and destroy the good appearance of the dish:
should there not have been sufficient marmalade prepared to fill the
mould entirely, a jar of quince or apricot jam, or of preserved cherries
even, may be added to it with advantage. The butter should be well
drained from the Charlotte before it is taken from the mould; and sugar
may be sifted thickly over it before it is served, or it may be covered
with any kind of clear red jelly.
A more elegant, and we think an easier mode of forming the crust, is to
line the mould with small rounds of bread stamped out with a plain cake
or paste cutter, then dipped in butter, and placed with the edges
sufficiently one over the other to hold the fruit securely: the strips
of bread are sometimes arranged in the same way.
3/4 to 1 hour, quick oven.
MARMALADE FOR THE CHARLOTTE.
Weigh three pounds of good boiling apples, after they have been pared,
cored, and quartered; put them into a stewpan with six ounces of fresh
butter, three quarters of a pound of sugar beaten to powder, three
quarters of a teaspoonful of pounded cinnamon, and the strained juice of
a lemon; let these stew over a gentle fire, until they form a perfectly
smooth and _dry_ marmalade; keep them often stirred that they may not
burn, and let them cool before they are put into the crust. This
quantity is for a moderate-sized Charlotte.
A CHARLOTTE À LA PARISIENNE.
This dish is sometimes called in England a Vienna cake; and it is known
here also, we believe, as a _Gâteaux de Bordeaux_. Cut horizontally into
half-inch slices a Savoy or sponge cake, and cover each slice with a
different kind of preserve; replace them in their original form, and
spread equally over the cake an icing made with the whites of three
eggs, and four ounces of the finest pounded sugar; sift more sugar over
it in every part, and put it into a very gentle oven to dry. The eggs
should be whisked to snow before they are used. One kind of preserve,
instead of several, can be used for this dish; and a rice or a pound
cake may supply the place of the Savoy or sponge biscuit.
A GERTRUDE À LA CREME.
Slice a plain pound or rice cake as for the _Charlotte à la Parisienne_,
and take a round out of the centre of each slice with a tin-cutter
before the preserve is laid on; replace the whole in its original form,
ice the outside with a green or rose coloured icing at pleasure, and dry
it in a gentle oven; or decorate it instead with leaves of almond paste,
fastening them to it with white of egg. Just before it is sent to table,
fill it with well-drained whipped cream, flavoured as for a trifle or in
any other way to the taste.
POMMES AU BEURRE.
(_Buttered apples. Excellent._)
Pare six or eight fine apples of a firm but good boiling kind, and core
without piercing them through, or dividing them; fill the cavities with
fresh butter, put a quarter of a pound more, cut small, into a stewpan
just large enough to contain the apples in a single layer, place them
closely together on it, and stew them as softly as _possible_, turning
them occasionally until they are almost sufficiently tender to serve;
then strew upon them as much sifted sugar as will sweeten the dish
highly, and a teaspoonful of pounded cinnamon; shake these well in and
upon the fruit, and stew it for a few minutes longer. Lift it out,
arrange it in a hot dish, put into each apple as much warm apricot jam
as it will contain, and lay a small quantity on the top; pour the syrup
from the pan round, but not on the fruit, and serve it immediately.
Apples, 6 to 8; fresh butter, 4 oz., just simmered till tender. Sugar, 6
to 8 oz.; cinnamon, 1 teaspoonful: 5 minutes. Apricot jam as needed.
_Obs._—Particular care must be taken to keep the apples entire: they
should rather steam in a gentle heat than boil. It is impossible to
specify the precise time which will render them sufficiently tender, as
this must depend greatly on the time of year and the sort of fruit. If
the stewpan were placed in a very slow oven, the more regular heat of it
would perhaps be better in its effect than the stewing.
SUÉDOISE OF PEACHES.
[Illustration:
Suédoise of Peaches.
]
Pare and divide four fine, ripe peaches, and let them _just simmer_ from
five to eight minutes in a syrup made with the third of a pint of water
and three ounces of very white sugar, boiled together for fifteen
minutes; lift them out carefully into a deep dish, and pour about half
the syrup over them, and into the remaining half throw a couple of
pounds more of quite ripe peaches, and boil them to a perfectly smooth
dry pulp or marmalade, with as much additional sugar in fine powder, as
the nature of the fruit may require. Lift the other peaches from the
syrup, and reduce it by very quick boiling, more than half. Spread a
deep layer of the marmalade in a dish, arrange the peaches symmetrically
round it, and fill all the spaces between them with the marmalade; place
the half of a blanched peach-kernel in each, pour the reduced syrup
equally over the surface, and form a border round the dish with Italian
macaroons, or, in lieu of these, with candied citron, sliced very thin,
and cut into leaves with a small paste-cutter. A little lemon-juice
brings out the flavour of all preparations of peaches, and may be added
with good effect to this. When the fruit is scarce, the marmalade (which
ought to be very white) may be made in part, or entirely, with
nonsuches. The better to preserve their form, the peaches are sometimes
merely wiped, and then boiled tolerably tender in the syrup before they
are pared or split. Half a pint of water, and from five to six ounces of
sugar must then be allowed for them. If any of those used for the
marmalade should not be quite ripe, it will be better to pass it through
a sieve, when partially done, to prevent its being lumpy.
Large ripe peaches, pared and halved, 4: simmered in syrup, 5 to 8
minutes. Marmalade: peaches (or nonsuches) 2 lbs.; sugar, 1/2 to 3/4
lb.: 3/4 to 1 hour, or more. Strained lemon-juice, 1 tablespoonful.
Citron, or macaroons, as needed.
Peaches, if boiled whole in syrup, 15 to 18 minutes.
_Obs._—The number of peaches can, at pleasure, be increased to six, and
three or four of the halves can be piled above the others in the centre
of the dish.
AROCĒ DOCĒ (OR SWEET RICE, À LA PORTUGAISE.)
Wash thoroughly, then drain, and wipe dry in a soft cloth, half a pound
of the best Carolina rice. Pour to it three pints of new milk, and when
it has gently stewed for half an hour, add eight ounces of sugar broken
into small lumps, let it boil until it is dry and tender, and when it is
nearly so, stir to it two ounces of blanched almonds, chopped[163] or
pounded. Turn the rice when done into shallow dishes or soup plates, and
shake it until the surface is smooth; then sift over it rather thickly
through a muslin, some freshly-powdered cinnamon, which will give it the
appearance of a baked pudding. Serve it cold. It will remain good for
several days. This is quite the best sweet preparation of rice that we
have ever eaten, and it is a very favourite dish in Portugal, whence the
receipt was derived. One or two bitter almonds, pounded with the sweet
ones, might a little improve its flavour, and a few spoonsful of rich
cream could occasionally be substituted for a small portion of the milk,
but it should not be added until the preparation is three parts done.
Footnote 163:
The Portuguese use them not very finely chopped.
Rice, 8 oz.; milk, 3 pints: 30 minutes. Sugar, 8 oz.: 1 hour or more.
Pounded almonds, 2 oz.; cinnamon, 1 teaspoonful. _Obs._—The rice must be
frequently stirred while boiling, particularly after it begins to
thicken; and it will be better not to add the entire quantity of milk at
first, as from a quarter to half a pint less will sometimes prove
sufficient. The grain should be thoroughly tender, but dry and unbroken.
COCOA-NUT DOCE.
This is merely fine fresh lightly grated cocoa-nut stewed until tender
in syrup, made with one pound of sugar to half a pint of water (or more
to the taste) and flavoured with orange-flower water.
BUTTERED CHERRIES. (CERISES AU BEURRE.)
Cut four ounces of the crumb of a stale loaf into dice, and fry them a
light brown in an ounce and a half of fresh butter; take them up, pour
the butter from the pan, and put in another ounce and a half; to this
add a pound of Kentish cherries without their stalks, and when they are
quite warmed through, strew in amongst them four ounces of sugar, and
keep the whole well turned over a moderate fire; pour in gradually half
a pint of hot water, and in fifteen minutes the cherries will be tender.
Lay the fried bread into a hot dish, pour the cherries on it, and serve
them directly.
Bread, 4 oz.; butter, 1-1/2 oz. Cherries, 1 lb.; butter, 1-1/2 oz.: 10
minutes. Sugar, 4 oz.; water, 1/2 pint: 15 minutes.
_Obs._—Black-heart cherries may be used for this dish instead of Kentish
ones: it is an improvement to stone the fruit. We think our readers
generally would prefer to the above Morella cherries stewed from five to
seven minutes, in syrup (made by boiling five ounces of sugar in half
pint of water, for a quarter of an hour), and poured hot on the fried
bread. Two pounds of the fruit, when it is stoned, will be required for
a full-sized dish.
SWEET MACARONI.
Drop gently into a pint and a half of new milk, when it is boiling fast,
four ounces of fine pipe macaroni, add a grain or two of salt, and some
thin strips of lemon or orange rind: cinnamon can be substituted for
these when preferred. Simmer the macaroni by a gentle fire until it is
tolerably tender, then add from two to three ounces of sugar broken
small, and boil it till the pipes are soft, and swollen to their full
size; drain, and arrange it in a hot dish; stir the milk quickly to the
well-beaten yolks of three large, or of four small eggs, shake them
round briskly over the fire until they thicken, pour them over the
macaroni and serve it immediately; or instead of the eggs, heat and
sweeten some very rich cream, pour it on the drained macaroni, and dust
finely-powdered cinnamon over through a muslin, or strew it thickly with
crushed macaroons. For variety, cover it with the German sauce of page
403, milled to a light froth.
New milk, 1-1/2 pint; pipe macaroni, 4 oz.; strips of lemon-rind or
cinnamon; sugar, 2 to 3 oz.: 3/4 to 1 hour, or more.
BERMUDA WITCHES.
Slice equally some rice, pound, or Savoy cake, not more than the sixth
of an inch thick; take off the brown edges, and spread one half of it
with Guava jelly, or, if more convenient, with fine strawberry,
raspberry, or currant jelly of the best quality (see Norman receipt,
478); on this strew thickly some fresh cocoa-nut grated small and
lightly; press over it the remainder of the cake, and trim the whole
into good form; divide the slices if large, pile them slopingly in the
centre of a dish upon a very white napkin folded flat, and garnish or
intersperse them with small sprigs of myrtle. For very young people a
French roll or two, and good currant jelly, red or white, will supply a
wholesome and inexpensive dish.
NESSELRÔDE PUDDING.
We give Monsieur Carême’s own receipt for this favourite and fashionable
dish, not having ourselves had a good opportunity of proving it; but as
it originated with him he is the best authority for it. It may be varied
in many ways, which the taste or ingenuity of the reader will easily
suggest. Boil forty fine sound Spanish chestnuts quite tender in plenty
of water, take off the husks, and pound the chestnuts perfectly with a
few spoonsful of syrup; rub them through a fine sieve, and mix them in a
basin with a pint of syrup made with a pound of sugar clarified, and
highly-flavoured with a pod of vanilla, a pint of rich cream, and the
yolks of twelve eggs; thicken the mixture like a boiled custard; when it
is cold put it into a freezing pot, adding a glass of maraschino, and
make it set as an iced cream; then add an ounce of preserved citron cut
in dice, two ounces of currants, and as many fine raisins stoned and
divided (all of which should be soaked from the day before in some
maraschino with a little sugar); the whole thus mingled, add a plateful
of whipped cream, and the whites of three eggs prepared as for Italian
meringue. When the pudding is perfectly frozen, mould it in a pewter
mould of the form of a pine-apple, and place it again in the ice till
wanted to serve. Preserved cherries may be substituted for the raisins
and currants.
Chestnuts, 40; syrup, 1 pint some spoonsful; vanilla, 1 pod; cream, 1
pint; yolk of eggs, 12; maraschino, 1 glassful; citron, 1 oz.; currants,
2 oz.; raisins, 2 oz.; whipped cream, 1 plateful; whites of eggs beaten
to snow, 3.
_Obs._—As Monsieur Carême directs the eggs for his Italian meringues to
be prepared as follows, he probably intends that they should be mixed
with the syrup before they are added to the pudding. Boil together half
a pound of the finest sugar, and half a pint of water, until they begin
to be very thick; then, with a wooden spoon, work the sugar against the
side of the pan till it whitens; leave it to cool a little, work it
again, and then with a whisk mingle with it the eggs whipped to a very
firm froth, which ought to produce a preparation very white, smooth, and
brilliant.
STEWED FIGS. (A VERY NICE COMPOTE.)
Put into an enamelled or a copper stewpan, four ounces of refined sugar,
the very thin rind of a large and fresh lemon, and a pint of cold water.
When the sugar is dissolved, add a pound of fine Turkey figs, and place
the stewpan on a trivet above a moderate fire, or upon a stove, where
they can heat and swell slowly, and be very gently stewed. When they are
quite tender, add to them two glassesful of port wine, and the strained
juice of the lemon; arrange them in a glass dish, and serve them cold.
From two hours to two and a half of the gentlest stewing will generally
be sufficient to render the figs fit for table. Orange-juice and rind
can be used for them at pleasure, instead of the lemon; two or three
bitter almonds maybe boiled in the syrup to give it flavour, and any
wine can be used for it which may be preferred, but port is best.
This _compôte_ may be served in the second course hot, in a rice-border;
or cold for rice-crust.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER XXIV.
=Preserves.=
[Illustration:
GENERAL REMARKS ON THE USE AND VALUE OF PRESERVED FRUIT.
]
SIMPLE well-made preserves—especially those of our early summer
fruits—are most valuable domestic stores, as they will retain through
the entire year or longer,[164] their peculiarly grateful and agreeable
flavour, and supply many wholesome and refreshing varieties of diet
through the winter months and spring. They are, indeed, as conducive to
health—when not cloyingly sweet or taken in excess—as good vegetables
are; and they are inexpensive luxuries (if as _luxuries_ they must be
regarded), now sugar is so very reasonable in price. By many families
they are considered too much as mere superfluities of the table, and
when served only—as they so often are—combined with rich pastry-crust or
cream, or converted into ices and other costly preparations, may justly
be viewed solely in that light. To be eaten in perfection they should be
sufficiently boiled down to remain free from mould or fermentation, and
yet not so much reduced as to be dry or hard; they should not afterwards
be subjected to the heat of the oven,[165] but served with some plain
pudding, or light dish of bread, rice, ribbon-macaroni, soujee,
semoulina, &c. When intended for tartlets or creams, or fruit-sauces,
for which see Chapter XX., they should be somewhat less boiled, and be
made with a larger proportion of sugar.
Footnote 164:
We have had them _excellent_ at the end of three or four years, but
they were made from the produce of a _home garden_, as freshly
gathered, and carefully selected as it could be. Some clear
apricot-marmalade, some strawberry-jelly, and some raspberry-jelly,
were amongst those which retained their full flavour and transparency
to the last. They were merely covered with two layers of thin writing
paper pressed closely on them, after being saturated with spirits of
wine.
Footnote 165:
For the manner of serving them in pastry without this, see “small
_vol-au-vents_ and tartlets,” Chap. XVIII.
Fruit steamed in bottles is now vended and consumed in very large
quantities in this country, but it is not wholesome, as it produces
often—probably from the amount of fixed air which it contains—violent
derangement of the system. When the bottles are filled with water it is
less apt to disagree with the eaters, but it is never so really
wholesome as preserves which are made with sugar. That which is baked
keeps remarkably well, and appears to be somewhat less objectionable
than that which is steamed.
The rich confectionary preparations called _wet preserves_ (fruits
preserved in syrup), which are principally adapted to formal desserts,
scarcely repay the cost and trouble of making them in private families,
unless they be _often_ required for table. They are in general
lusciously sweet, as they will only remain good with a large proportion
of sugar; and if there be no favourable place of storage for them they
soon spoil. When drained and well dried, they may much more easily be
kept uninjured. The general directions for them, which we append, and
the receipts for dried gooseberries, cherries, and apricots which we
have inserted here will be sufficient for the guidance of the reader who
may wish to attempt them.
[Illustration:
_Fourneau Economique_, or Portable French Furnace, with Stewpan and
Trivet.
No. 1. Portable French Furnace.—2. Depth at which the grating is
placed.—3. Stewpan.—4.
Trivet.
]
[Illustration:
Closed Furnace and Cover.
]
[Illustration:
Grating.
]
[Illustration:
Trevet.
]
The small portable French stove, or furnace, shown in the preceding
page, with the trivet and stewpan adapted to it, is exceedingly
convenient for all preparations which require either more than usual
attention, or a fire entirely free from smoke; as it can be placed on a
table in a clear light, and the heat can be regulated at pleasure. It
has been used for many of the preserves of which the receipts are given
in this chapter, as well as for various dishes contained in the body of
the work. There should always be a free current of air in the room in
which it stands when lighted, as charcoal or _braise_ (that is to say,
the live embers of large well-burned wood, drawn from an oven and shut
immediately into a closely-stopped iron or copper vessel to extinguish
them) is the only fuel suited to it. To kindle either of these, two or
three bits must be lighted in a common fire, and laid on the top of that
in the furnace, which should be evenly placed between the grating and
the brim, and then blown gently with the bellows until the whole is
alight: the door of the furnace must in the mean while be open, and
remain so, unless the heat should at any time be too fierce for the
preserves, when it must be closed for a few minutes, to moderate it. To
extinguish the fire altogether, the cover must be pressed closely on,
and the door be quite shut: the embers which remain will serve to
rekindle it easily, but before it is again lighted the grating must be
lifted out and all the ashes cleared away. It should be set by in a
place which is not damp. In a common grate a clear fire for preserving
may be made with coke, which is a degree less unwholesome than charcoal.
The enamelled stewpans which have now come into general use, are, from
the peculiar nicety of the composition with which they are lined, better
adapted than any others to pickling and preserving, as they may be used
without danger for acids; and red fruits when boiled in them retain the
brightness of their colour as well as if copper or bell-metal were used
for them. The form of the old-fashioned preserving-pan, made usually of
one or the other of these, is shown here; but it has not, we should say,
even the advantage of being of convenient shape; for the handles quickly
become heated, and the pan, in consequence, cannot always be
instantaneously raised from the fire when the contents threaten to
over-boil or to burn.
[Illustration:
Copper preserving-pan.
]
It is desirable to have three or four wooden spoons or spatulas, one
fine hair-sieve, at the least, one or two large squares of common
muslin, and one strainer or more of closer texture, kept exclusively for
preparations of fruit; for if used for other purposes, there is the
hazard, without great care, of their retaining some strong or coarse
flavour, which they would impart to the preserves. A sieve, for example,
used habitually for soup or gravy, should never, _on any account_, be
brought into use for any kind of confectionary, nor in making sweet
dishes, nor for straining eggs or milk for puddings, cakes, or bread.
Damp is the great enemy, not only of preserves and pickles, but of
numberless other household stores; yet, in many situations, it is
extremely difficult to exclude it. To keep them in a “_dry cool place_”
(words which occur so frequently both in this book, and in most others
on the same subject), is more easily directed than done. They remain, we
find, more entirely free from any danger of moulding, when covered with
a brandied paper only, and placed on the shelves of a tolerably dry
store-room, or in a chiffoneer (in which we have had them keep unchanged
for years). When the slightest fermentation is perceptible in syrup, it
should immediately be boiled for some minutes, and well skimmed; the
fruit taken from it should then be thrown in, and well scalded also, and
the whole, when done, should be turned into a very clean dry jar; this
kind of preserve should always be covered with one or two skins or with
parchment and thick paper when it is not secured from the air with
corks.
A FEW GENERAL RULES AND DIRECTIONS FOR PRESERVING.
1. Let everything used for the purpose be delicately clean and _dry_;
bottles especially so.
2. Never place a preserving-pan _flat upon the fire_, as this will
render the preserve liable to _burn to_, as it is called; that is to
say, to adhere closely to the metal, and then to burn; it should rest
always on a trivet (that shown with the French furnace is very
convenient even for a common grate), or on the lowered bar of a kitchen
range when there is no regular preserving stove in a house.
3. After the sugar is added to them, stir the preserves gently at first,
and more quickly towards the end, without quitting them until they are
done: this precaution will always prevent the chance of their being
spoiled.
4. All preserves should be perfectly cleared from the scum as it rises.
5. Fruit which is to be preserved in syrup must first be blanched or
boiled gently, until it is sufficiently softened to absorb the sugar;
and a thin syrup must be poured on it at first, or it will shrivel
instead of remaining plump, and becoming clear. Thus, if its weight of
sugar is to be allowed, and boiled to a syrup with a pint of water to
the pound, only half the weight must be taken at first, and this must
not be boiled with the water more than fifteen or twenty minutes at the
commencement of the process; a part of the remaining sugar must be added
every time the syrup is reboiled, unless it should be otherwise directed
in the receipt.
6. To preserve both the true flavour and the colour of fruit in jams and
jellies, boil them rapidly until they are well reduced, _before_ the
sugar is added, and quickly afterwards, but do not allow them to become
so much thickened that the sugar will not dissolve in them easily, and
throw up its scum. In some seasons, the juice is so much richer than in
others, that this effect takes place almost before one is aware of it;
but the drop which adheres to the skimmer when it is held up, will show
the state it has reached.
7. Never use tin, iron, or pewter spoons, or skimmers, for preserves, as
they will convert the colour of red fruit into a dingy purple, and
impart, besides, a very unpleasant flavour.
8. When cheap jams or jellies are required, make them at once with
Lisbon sugar, but use that which is _well refined_ always, for preserves
in general; it is a false economy, as we have elsewhere observed, to
purchase an inferior kind, as there is great waste from it in the
quantity of scum which it throws up. The _best_ has been used for all
the receipts given here.
9. Let fruit for preserving be gathered always in perfectly dry weather,
and be free both from the morning and evening dew, and as much so as
possible from dust. When bottled, it must be steamed or baked during the
day on which it is gathered, or there will be a great loss from the
bursting of the bottles; and for jams and jellies it cannot be too soon
boiled down after it is taken from the trees.
TO EXTRACT THE JUICE OF PLUMS FOR JELLY.
Take the stalks from the fruit, and throw aside all that is not
perfectly sound: put it into very clean, large stone jars, and give part
of the harder kinds, such as bullaces and damson, a gash with a knife as
they are thrown in; do this especially in filling the upper part of the
jars. Tie one or two folds of thick paper over them, and set them for
the night into an oven from which the bread has been drawn four or five
hours; or cover them with bladder, instead of paper, place them in pans,
or in a copper[166] with water which will reach to quite two-thirds of
their height, and boil them gently from two to three hours, or until the
fruit is quite soft, and has yielded all the juice it will afford: this
last is the safer and better mode for jellies of delicate colour.
Footnote 166:
The fruit steams perfectly in this, if the cover be placed over.
TO WEIGH THE JUICE OF FRUIT.
Put a basin into one scale, and its weight into the other; add to this
last the weight which is required of the juice, and pour into the basin
as much as will balance the scales. It is always better to weigh than to
_measure_ the juice for preserving, as it can generally be done with
more exactness.
RHUBARB JAM.
The stalks of the rhubarb (or spring-fruit, as it is called) should be
taken for this preserve, which is a very good and useful one, while they
are fresh and young. Wipe them very clean, pare them quickly, weigh, and
cut them into half-inch lengths; to every pound add an equal weight of
good sugar in fine powder; mix them well together, let them remain for
ten minutes or a quarter of an hour to draw out the juice a little, then
turn them into a preserving-pan, let them heat rather slowly, but as
soon as the stalks are tender boil the preserve rapidly, stirring it
well for about half an hour. It will be of excellent flavour, and will
serve admirably for tarts.
A somewhat cheaper mode of making the jam is to stew it until tender in
its own juices, and then to boil it rapidly until it is tolerably dry,
to add to it only half its weight of sugar, and to give it from twenty
to thirty minutes boiling.
Spring fruit (rhubarb), 4 lbs.; sugar, 4 lbs.: heated slowly, and when
tender, boiled quickly, 30 minutes.
GREEN GOOSEBERRY JELLY.
Wash some freshly gathered gooseberries very clean; after having taken
off the tops and stalks, then to each pound pour three-quarters of a
pint of spring water, and simmer them until they are well broken; turn
the whole into a jelly-bag or cloth, and let all the juice drain
through; weigh and boil it rapidly for fifteen minutes. Draw it from the
fire, and stir in it until entirely dissolved, an equal weight of good
sugar reduced to powder; boil the jelly from fifteen to twenty minutes
longer, or until it jellies strongly on the spoon or skimmer; clear it
perfectly from scum, and pour it into small jars, moulds, or glasses. It
ought to be very pale and transparent. The sugar may be added to the
juice at first, and the preserve boiled from twenty-five to thirty-five
minutes, but the colour will not then be so good. When the fruit
abounds, the juice may be drawn from it with very little water, as
directed for apples, page 523, when it will require much less boiling.
Gooseberries, 6 lbs.; water, 4 pints: 20 to 30 minutes. Juice boiled
quickly, 15 minutes; to each pound, 1 pound sugar: 15 to 20 minutes.
GREEN GOOSEBERRY JAM.
(_Firm and of good colour._)
Cut the stalks and tops from the fruit, weigh and bruise it slightly,
boil it for six or seven minutes, keeping it well turned during the
time, then to every three pounds of gooseberries add two and a half of
sugar beaten to powder, and boil the preserve quickly for three-quarters
of an hour. It must be constantly stirred, and carefully cleared from
scum. This makes a fine, firm, and refreshing preserve if the fruit be
rubbed through a sieve before the sugar is added. If well reduced
afterwards, it may be converted into a _gâteau_, or gooseberry-solid,
with three pounds of sugar, or even a smaller proportion. The preceding
jam will often turn in perfect form from the moulds or jars which
contain it; and if freed from the seeds, would be very excellent: it is
extremely good even made as above. For all preserves, the _reduction_,
or boiling down to a certain consistence, should take place principally
before the sugar is mingled with them; and this has the best effect when
added to the fruit and dissolved in it by degrees.
Green gooseberries, 6 lbs.: 6 to 7 minutes. Sugar, 5 lbs.; 3/4 hour.
TO DRY GREEN GOOSEBERRIES.
Take the finest green gooseberries, fully grown, and freshly gathered;
cut off the buds, split them across the tops half way down, and with the
small end of a tea or of an egg spoon, scoop out the seeds. Boil
together for fifteen minutes a pound and a half of the finest sugar, and
a pint of water; skim this syrup thoroughly and throw into it a pound of
the seeded gooseberries; simmer them from five to seven minutes, when
they ought to be clear and tender; when they are so, lift them out, and
throw as many more into the syrup; drain them a little when done, spread
them singly on dishes, and dry them _very_ gradually in a quite cool
stove or oven, or in a sunny window. They will keep well in the syrup,
and may be potted in it, and dried when wanted for use.
Green gooseberries without seeds, 2 lbs.; water, 1 pint; sugar, 1-1/2
lb.: boiled, 15 minutes. Gooseberries simmered, 5 to 7 minutes.
GREEN GOOSEBERRIES FOR TARTS.
Fill very clean, dry, wide-necked bottles with gooseberries gathered the
same day, and before they have attained their full growth. Cork them
lightly, wrap a little hay round each of them, and set them up to their
necks in a copper of cold water which should be brought very gradually
to boil. Let the fruit be gently simmered until it appears shrunken and
perfectly scalded; then take out the bottles, and with the contents of
one or two fill up the remainder, and use great care not to break the
fruit in doing this. When all are ready pour _scalding_ water into the
bottles and cover the gooseberries entirely with it, or they will become
mouldy at the top. Cork the bottles well immediately, and cover the
necks with melted resin; keep them in a cool place; and when the
gooseberries are used pour off the greater part of the water, and add
sugar as for the fresh fruit, of which they will have the flavour and
appearance; and they will be found more wholesome prepared in this
manner than if simply baked or steamed in the bottles.
RED GOOSEBERRY JAM.
The small rough red gooseberry, when fully ripe, is the best for this
preserve, which may, however, be made of the larger kinds. When the tops
and stalks have been taken carefully from the fruit, weigh, and boil it
quickly for three-quarters of an hour, keeping it well stirred; then for
six pounds of the gooseberries, add two and a half of good
roughly-powdered sugar; boil these together briskly, from twenty to
twenty-five minutes and stir the jam well from the bottom of the pan, as
it is liable to burn if this be neglected.
Small red gooseberries, 6 lbs.: 3/4 hour. Pounded sugar, 2-1/2 lbs.: 20
to 25 minutes.
VERY FINE GOOSEBERRY JAM.
Seed the fruit, which for this jam may be of the larger kind of rough
red gooseberry: those which are smooth skinned are generally of far
inferior flavour. Add the pulp which has been scooped from the prepared
fruit to some whole gooseberries, and stir them over a moderate fire for
some minutes to extract the juice; strain and weigh this; pour two
pounds of it to four of the seeded gooseberries, boil them rather gently
for twenty-five minutes, add fourteen ounces of good pounded sugar to
each pound of fruit and juice, and when it is dissolved boil the
preserve from twelve to fifteen minutes longer, and skim it well during
the time.
Seeded gooseberries, 4 lbs.; juice of gooseberries, 2 lbs.: 25 minutes.
Sugar, 5-1/4 lbs. (or 14 oz. to each pound of fruit and juice): 12 to 15
minutes.
JELLY OF RIPE GOOSEBERRIES.
(_Excellent._)
Take the tops and stalks from a gallon or more of any kind of
well-flavoured ripe red gooseberries, and keep them stirred gently over
a clear fire until they have yielded all their juice, which should then
be poured off without pressing the fruit, and passed first through a
fine sieve, and afterwards through a double muslin-strainer, or a
jelly-bag. Next weigh it, and to every three pounds add one of white
currant juice, which has previously been prepared in the same way; boil
these quickly for a quarter of an hour, then draw them from the fire and
stir to them half their weight of good sugar; when this is dissolved,
boil the jelly for six minutes longer, skim it thoroughly, and pour it
into jars or moulds. If a very large quantity be made, a few minutes of
additional boiling must be given to it _before_ the sugar is added.
Juice of red gooseberries, 3 lbs.; juice of white currants, 1 lb.: 15
minutes. Sugar, 2 lbs.: 6 minutes.
_Obs._—The same proportion of red currant juice, mixed with that of the
gooseberries, makes an exceedingly nice jelly.
UNMIXED GOOSEBERRY JELLY.
Boil rapidly for ten minutes four pounds of the juice of red
gooseberries, prepared as in the preceding receipt; take it from the
fire, and stir in it until dissolved three pounds of sugar beaten to
powder; boil it again for five minutes, keeping it constantly stirred
and thoroughly skimmed.
Juice of red gooseberries, 4 lbs.: 10 minutes. Sugar, 3 lbs.: 5 minutes.
GOOSEBERRY PASTE.
Press through a sieve the gooseberries from which the juice has been
taken for jelly, without having been drained very closely from them;
weigh and then boil the pulp for upwards of an hour and a quarter, or
until it forms a dry paste in the pan; stir to it, off the fire, six
ounces of good pounded sugar for each pound of the fruit, and when this
is nearly dissolved boil the preserve from twenty to twenty-five
minutes, keeping it stirred without cessation, as it will be liable to
burn should this be neglected. Put it into moulds, or shallow pans, and
turn it out when wanted for table.
Pulp of gooseberries, 4 lbs.: 1-1/4 to 1-3/4 hour. Sugar, 1-1/2 lb.: 20
to 25 minutes.
TO DRY RIPE GOOSEBERRIES WITH SUGAR.
Cut the tops, but not the stalks, from some ripe gooseberries of the
largest size, either red or green ones, and after having taken out the
seeds as directed for unripe gooseberries, boil the fruit until clear
and tender, in syrup made with a pound of sugar to the pint of water,
boiled until rather thick.
Seeded gooseberries, 2 lbs.; sugar, 1-1/2 lb.; water, 1 pint: boiled to
syrup. Gooseberries, simmered 8 to 12 minutes, or more.
_Obs._—Large ripe gooseberries freed from the blossoms, and put into
cold syrup in which cherries or any other fruit has been boiled for
drying, then heated very gradually, and kept at the point of boiling for
a few minutes before they are set by for a couple of days, answer
extremely well as a dry preserve. On the third day the syrup should be
drained from them, simmered, skimmed, and poured on them the instant it
is taken from the fire; in forty-eight hours after, they may be drained
from it and laid singly upon plates or dishes, and placed in a gentle
stove.
JAM OF KENTISH OR FLEMISH CHERRIES.
This is a very agreeable preserve when it is made as we shall direct;
but if long boiled with a large proportion of sugar, as it frequently
is, both the bright colour and the pleasant flavour of the cherries will
be destroyed.
Stone, and then weigh the fruit; heat it rather slowly that the juice
may be well drawn out before it begins to boil, and stew the cherries
until they are tolerably tender, then boil them quickly, keeping them
well turned and stirred from the bottom of the pan, for three-quarters
of an hour or somewhat longer should there still remain a large quantity
of juice. Draw the pan from the fire, and stir in gradually half a pound
of sugar for each pound of cherries. An ounce or two more may
occasionally be required when the fruit is more than usually acid, and
also when a quite sweet preserve is liked. When the sugar is dissolved
continue the boiling rapidly for about twenty minutes longer; clear off
all the scum as it appears, and keep the jam stirred _well_ and
constantly, but not quickly, to prevent its adhering to the bottom of
the preserving-pan.
Stoned Kentish or Flemish cherries, 6 lbs.: without sugar, 1 hour or
rather more. Sugar roughly powdered, 3 lbs.: (or 3-1/2 lbs.) About 20
minutes quick boiling.
_Obs._—Heat the fruit and boil it gently until it is quite tender,
turning it often, and pressing it down into the juice; then quicken the
boiling to evaporate the juice before the sugar is added. Cherries which
are bruised will not make good preserve: they always remain tough.
TO DRY CHERRIES WITH SUGAR.
(_A quick and easy method._)
Stone some fine, sound, Kentish or Flemish cherries; put them into a
preserving-pan, with six ounces of sugar reduced to powder, to each
pound of the fruit; set them over a moderate fire, and simmer them
gently for nearly or quite twenty minutes; let them remain in the syrup
until they are a little cooled, then turn them into a sieve, and before
they are cold lay them singly on dishes, and dry them very gradually, as
directed for other fruits. When the cherries are quite ripe the stones
may generally be drawn out with the stalks, by pressing the fruit gently
at the same time; but when this method fails, they must be extracted
with a new quill, cut round at the end: those of the _very_
short-stalked, turnip-shaped cherry, which abounds, and is remarkably
fine in many parts of Normandy, and which we have occasionally met with
here, though it is not, we believe, very abundant in our markets, are
easily removed with a large pin, on the point of which the stone may be
caught at the stalk end, just opposite the seam of the fruit, and drawn
out at the top, leaving the cherry apparently entire.
DRIED CHERRIES.
(_Superior Receipt._)
To each pound of cherries weighed after they are stoned, add eight
ounces of good sugar, and boil them very softly for ten minutes: pour
them into a large bowl or pan, and leave them for two days in the syrup;
then simmer them again for ten minutes, and set them by in it for two or
three days; drain them slightly, and dry them very slowly, as directed
in the previous receipts. Keep them in jars or tin canisters, when done.
These cherries are generally preferred to such as are dried with a
larger proportion of sugar; but when the taste is in favour of the
latter, from twelve to sixteen ounces can be allowed to the pound of
fruit, which may then be potted in the syrup and dried at any time;
though we think the flavour of the cherries is better preserved when
this is done within a fortnight of their being boiled.
Cherries, stoned, 8 lbs.; sugar, 4 lbs.: 10 minutes. Left two or three
days. Boiled again, 10 minutes; left two days; drained and dried.
CHERRIES DRIED WITHOUT SUGAR.
These are often more pleasant and refreshing to invalids and travellers
than a sweetened confection of the fruit, their flavour and agreeable
acidity being well preserved when they are simply spread on dishes or
hamper-lids, and slowly dried.[167] Throw aside the bruised and decayed
fruit, and arrange the remainder singly, and with the stalks uppermost
on the dishes. The Kentish cherries are best for the purpose, but
morellas also answer for it excellently. The former are sometimes
stoned, and simmered until quite tender in their own juice, before they
are dried; but this is scarcely an improvement on the more usual method
of leaving them entire.
Footnote 167:
The dishes on which they are laid should be changed daily.
TO DRY MORELLA CHERRIES.
Take off the stalks but do not stone the fruit; weigh and add to it an
equal quantity of the best sugar reduced quite to powder, strew it over
the cherries and let them stand for half an hour; then turn them gently
into a preserving-pan, and simmer them softly from five to seven
minutes. Drain them from the syrup, and dry them like the Kentish
cherries. They make a _very fine_ confection.
COMMON CHERRY CHEESE.
Stone the fruit, or if this trouble be objected to, bruise and boil it
without, until it is sufficiently tender to press through a sieve, which
it will be in from twenty to thirty minutes. Weigh the pulp in this
case, and boil it quickly to a dry paste, then stir to it six ounces of
sugar for the pound of fruit, and when this is dissolved, place the pan
again over, but not _upon_, a brisk fire, and stir the preserve without
ceasing, until it is so dry as not to adhere to the finger when touched;
then press it immediately into small moulds or pans, and turn it from
them when wanted for table. When the cherries have been stoned, a good
common preserve may be made of them without passing them through a
sieve, with the addition of five ounces of sugar to the pound of fruit,
which must be boiled very dry both before and after it is added.
Kentish or Flemish cherries without stoning: 20 to 30 minutes. Passed
through a sieve. To each pound of pulp (first boiled dry), 6 oz. sugar.
To each pound of cherries stoned and boiled to a dry paste, 5 oz. sugar.
CHERRY PASTE. (FRENCH.)
Stone the cherries; boil them gently in their own juice for thirty
minutes; press the whole through a sieve; reduce it to a very dry paste;
then take it from the fire, and weigh it; boil an equal proportion of
sugar to the candying point; mix the fruit with it; and stir the paste,
without intermission, over a moderate fire, until it is again so dry as
to form a ball round the spoon, and to quit the preserving-pan entirely;
press it quickly into small moulds, and when it is cold, paper, and
store it like other preserves.
STRAWBERRY JAM.
Strip the stalks from some fine scarlet strawberries, weigh, and boil
them for thirty-five minutes, keeping them very constantly stirred;
throw in eight ounces of good sugar, beaten small, to the pound of
fruit; mix them well off the fire, then boil the preserve again quickly
for twenty-five minutes.
Strawberries, 6 lbs.: 35 minutes. Sugar, 3 lbs.: 25 minutes.
_Obs._—We do not think it needful to give directions with each separate
receipt for skimming the preserve with care, and keeping it constantly
stirred, but neither should in any case be neglected.
STRAWBERRY-JELLY.
_A very Superior Preserve._ (_New Receipt._)
The original directions for this delicious jelly, published in the
earlier editions of this work, were the result of perfectly successful
trials made in the summer of their insertion; but, after much additional
experience, we find that the receipt may be better adapted to our
varying seasons, which so much affect the quality of our fruit, and
rendered more certain in its results by some alterations; we therefore
give it anew, recommending it strongly for trial, especially to such of
our readers as can command from their own gardens ample supplies of
strawberries in their best and freshest state. Like all fruit intended
for preserving, they should be gathered in dry weather, after the
morning dew has quite passed off them, and be used the same day. Strip
away the stalks, and put the strawberries into an enamelled stewpan if
at hand, and place it very high over a clear fire, that the juice may be
drawn from them gently; turn them over with a silver or wooden spoon
from time to time, and when the juice has flowed from them abundantly,
let them simmer until they shrink, but be sure to take them from the
fire before the juice becomes thick or pulpy from over-boiling. Thirty
minutes, or sometimes even longer, over a _very_ slow fire, will not be
too much to extract it from them. Turn them into a new, well-scalded,
but _dry_ sieve over a clean pan, and let them remain until the juice
ceases to drop from them; strain it then through a muslin strainer,
weigh it in a basin, of which the weight must first be taken, and boil
it quickly in a clean preserving-pan from fifteen to twenty minutes, and
stir it often during the time: then take it from the fire, and throw in
by degrees, for every pound of juice, fourteen ounces of the best sugar
coarsely pounded, stirring each portion until it is dissolved. Place the
pan again over the fire, and boil the jelly—still quickly—for about a
quarter of an hour. Occasionally it may need a rather longer time than
this, and sometimes less: the exact degree can only be ascertained by a
little experience, in consequence of the juice of some varieties of the
fruit being so much thinner than that of others. The preserve should
jelly strongly on the skimmer, and fall in a mass from it before it is
poured out; but if boiled beyond this point it will be spoiled. If made
with richly-flavoured strawberries, and carefully managed, it will be
very brilliant in colour, and in flavour really equal if not superior to
guava jelly; while it will retain all the delicious odour of the fruit.
No skimmer or other utensil of tin should be used in making it; and an
enamelled preserving-pan is preferable to any other for all red fruit.
It becomes very firm often after it is stored, when it appears scarcely
set in the first instance; it is, however, desirable that it should
jelly at once.
Fruit kept hot to draw out the juice, 1/2 hour or longer. Boiled quickly
without sugar, 15 to 20 minutes. To each pound 14 oz. of sugar: 12 to 15
minutes.
TO PRESERVE STRAWBERRIES OR RASPBERRIES, FOR CREAMS OR ICES, WITHOUT
BOILING.
Let the fruit be gathered in the middle of a warm day, in very dry
weather; strip it from the stalks directly, weigh it, bruise it
_slightly_, turn it into a bowl or deep pan, and mix with it an equal
weight of fine dry sifted sugar, and put immediately into small,
wide-necked bottles; cork these firmly without delay, and tie bladder
over the tops. Keep them in a cool place, or the fruit will ferment. The
mixture should be stirred softly, and only just sufficiently to blend
the sugar and the fruit. The bottles must be perfectly dry, and the
bladders, after having been cleaned in the usual way, and allowed to
become nearly so, should be moistened with a little spirit on the side
which is to be next to the cork. Unless these precautions be observed,
there will be some danger of the whole being spoiled.
Equal weight of fruit and sugar.
RASPBERRY JAM.
This is a very favourite English preserve, and one of the most easily
made that can be. The fruit for it should be ripe and perfectly sound;
and as it soon decays or becomes mouldy after it is gathered, it should
be fresh from the bushes when it is used. That which grows in the shade
has less flavour than the fruit which receives the full warmth of the
sun.
Excellent jam for common family use may be made as follows:— Bruise
gently with the back of a wooden spoon, six pounds of ripe and
freshly-gathered raspberries, and boil them over a brisk fire for
twenty-five minutes; stir to them half their weight of good sugar,
roughly powdered, and when it is dissolved, boil the preserve quickly
for ten minutes, keeping it well stirred and skimmed.
Raspberries, 6 lbs.: 25 minutes. Sugar, 3 lbs.: 10 minutes.
VERY RICH RASPBERRY JAM OR MARMALADE.
No. 1.—Weigh the finest fruit that can be procured, and bruise it with
the back of a wooden spoon after it is put into the preserving-pan. Boil
it gently, keeping it well turned, for about five minutes, then stir to
it gradually nearly or quite its weight of dry pounded sugar, and
continue the boiling rather rapidly for a quarter of an hour or twenty
minutes, and be careful to remove all the scum as it rises. The preserve
will be clear, smooth, and very thick when it is sufficiently boiled,
and should then be taken from the pan without delay, as it will very
quickly _set_.
No. 2.—Draw gently from the smallest of the raspberries from half to a
whole pound of juice, and boil down in this three pounds of the fruit,
after it has been crushed with a spoon as usual. In ten minutes, if the
fruit be quite ripe, the sugar may be added. Three pounds to four of the
raspberries and their juice, will make a quite sweet preserve. It should
be gradually stirred in until dissolved, and not be allowed to boil
during the time. Ten or fifteen minutes will then suffice generally to
bring it to the proper degree for jellying firmly.
No. 1.—Fine raspberries: 5 minutes. Sugar, nearly or quite equal weight:
15 to 20 minutes.
No. 2.—Raspberry-juice, 1 lb.; ripe raspberries, 3 lbs. (or 4): 10
minutes. To each pound of fruit and juice, sugar 3/4 lb.: 10 to 15
minutes.
_Obs._—All fruit jams are much improved by the addition of a certain
portion of juice to the fruit which is boiled down; they then partake
more of the nature of jelly.
GOOD RED OR WHITE RASPBERRY JAM.
Boil quickly, for twenty minutes, four pounds of either red or white
sound ripe raspberries in a pound and a half of currant-juice of the
same colour; take the pan from the fire, stir in three pounds of sugar,
and when it is dissolved, place the pan again over the fire, and
continue the boiling for ten minutes longer: keep the preserve well
skimmed and stirred from the beginning.
Raspberries, 4 lbs.; currant-juice, 1-1/2 lb.: 20 minutes. Sugar, 3
lbs.: 10 minutes.
RASPBERRY JELLY FOR FLAVOURING CREAMS.
Take the stalks from some quite ripe and freshly-gathered raspberries,
stir them over the fire until they render their juice freely, then
strain and weigh it; or press it from them through a cloth, and then
strain it clear; in either case boil it for five minutes after it is
weighed, and for each pound stir in a pound and a quarter of good sugar
reduced quite to powder, sifted, and made very hot; boil the preserve
quickly for five minutes longer, and skim it clean. The jelly thus made
will sufficiently sweeten the creams without any additional sugar.
Juice of raspberries, 4 lbs.: 5 minutes. Sugar, made hot, 5 lbs.: 5
minutes.
ANOTHER RASPBERRY JELLY.
(_Very Good._)
Bruise the fruit a _little_, and place it high above a clear fire, that
the juice may be gently drawn from it: it may remain thus for twenty
minutes or longer without boiling, and be simmered for four or five;
strain and weigh it; boil it quickly for twenty minutes, draw it from
the fire, add three-quarters of a pound of good sugar for each pound of
juice, and when this is dissolved place the pan again on the fire, and
boil the preserve _fast_ from twelve to fifteen minutes longer; skim it
thoroughly, and keep it well stirred: the preserve will then require
rather less boiling. When it jellies in falling from the spoon or
skimmer, it is done. Nothing of tin or iron should be used in making it,
as these metals will convert its fine red colour into a dull purple.
Fruit, simmered 5 to 6 minutes. Juice of raspberries, 4 lbs.: 20
minutes. Sugar, 3 lbs.: 12 to 15 minutes. Or: juice of raspberries, 4
lbs.; juice of white currants, 2 lbs.: 20 minutes. Sugar, 4-1/2 lbs.: 10
minutes, or less.
RED CURRANT JELLY.
With three parts of fine ripe red currants freshly gathered, and
stripped from the stalks, mix one of white currants; put them into a
clean preserving-pan, and stir them gently over a clear fire until the
juice flows from them freely; then turn them into a fine hair-sieve, and
let them drain well, but without pressure. Pass the juice through a
folded muslin or a jelly-bag; weigh it, and then boil it _fast_ for a
quarter of an hour; add for each pound, eight ounces of sugar coarsely
powdered, stir this to it off the fire until it is dissolved, give the
jelly eight minutes more of quick boiling, and pour it out. It will be
firm, and of excellent colour and flavour. Be sure to clear off the scum
as it rises, both before and after the sugar is put in, or the preserve
will not be clear.
Juice of red currants, 3 lbs.; juice of white currants, 1 lb.: 15
minutes. Sugar, 2 lbs.: 8 minutes.
_Obs._—An excellent jelly may be made with equal parts of the juice of
red and of white currants, and of raspberries, with the same proportion
of sugar and degree of boiling as in the foregoing receipt.
SUPERLATIVE RED CURRANT JELLY.
(_Norman Receipt._)
Strip carefully from the stems some quite ripe currants of the finest
quality, and mix with them an equal weight of _good_ sugar reduced to
powder; boil these together quickly for exactly eight minutes, keep them
stirred all the time, and clear off the scum—which will be very
abundant—as it rises; then turn the preserve into a very clean sieve,
and put into small jars the jelly which runs through it, and which will
be delicious in flavour, and of the brightest colour. It should be
carried immediately, when this is practicable, to an extremely cool but
not a damp place, and left there until perfectly cold. The currants
which remain in the sieve make an excellent jam, particularly if only
part of the jelly be taken from them. In Normandy where the fruit is of
richer quality than in England, this preserve is boiled only two
minutes, and is both firm and beautifully transparent.
Currants, 3 lbs.; sugar, 3 lbs.: 8 minutes.
_Obs._—This receipt we are told by some of our correspondents is not
generally quite successful in this country, as the jelly, though it
keeps well and is of the finest possible flavour, is scarcely firm
enough for table. We have ourselves found this to be the case in cold
damp seasons; but the preserve even then was valuable for many purposes,
and always agreeable eating.
FRENCH CURRANT JELLY.
Mix one-third of white currants with two of red, and stir them over a
gentle fire until they render their juice freely; pour it from them,
strain and weigh it; for every four pounds break three of fine sugar
into large lumps, just dip them into cold water, and when they are
nearly dissolved boil them to a thick syrup; stir this without ceasing
until it falls in large thick white masses from the skimmer; then pour
in the currant juice immediately, and when the sugar is again dissolved,
boil the whole quickly for five minutes, clear off the scum perfectly,
pour the jelly into jars or warm glasses, and set it in a cool place.
Red currants, two-thirds; white currants, one-third; juice, 4 lbs.;
sugar boiled to candy height, 3 lbs.: jelly boiled, 5 minutes.
_Obs._—A flavouring of raspberries is usually given to currant jelly in
France, the preserve being there never served with any kind of joint, as
it is with us.
DELICIOUS RED CURRANT JAM.
This, which is but an indifferent preserve when made in the usual way,
will be found a very fine one if the following directions for it be
observed; it will be extremely transparent and bright in colour, and
will retain perfectly the flavour of the fruit. Take the currants at the
height of their season, the finest that can be had, free from dust, but
gathered on a dry day; strip them with great care from the stalks, weigh
and put them into a preserving-pan with three pounds of the best sugar
reduced to powder, to four pounds of the fruit: stir them gently over a
brisk clear fire, and boil them quickly for exactly eight minutes from
the first full boil. As the jam is apt to rise over the top of the pan,
it is better not to fill it more than two-thirds, and if this precaution
should not be sufficient to prevent it, it must be lifted from the fire
and held away for an instant. To many tastes, a still finer jam than
this (which we find sufficiently sweet) may be made with an equal weight
of fruit and sugar boiled together for seven minutes. There should be
great exactness with respect to the time, as both the flavour and the
brilliant colour of the preserve will be injured by longer boiling.
Red currants (without stalks), 4 lbs.; fine sugar, 3 lbs.: boiled
quickly, 8 minutes. Or, equal weight fruit and sugar: 7 minutes.
VERY FINE WHITE CURRANT JELLY.
The fruit for this jelly should be very white, perfectly free from dust,
and picked carefully from the stalks. To every pound add eighteen ounces
of double refined sifted sugar, and boil them together quickly for eight
minutes; pour it into a delicately clean sieve, and finish it by the
directions given for the Norman red currant jelly (page 559).
White currants, 6 lbs.; highly refined sugar, 6-3/4 lbs.: 6 minutes.
WHITE CURRANT JAM, A BEAUTIFUL PRESERVE.
Boil together quickly for seven minutes an equal weight of fine white
currants, stalked with the greatest nicety, and of the best sugar
pounded and passed through a sieve. Stir the preserve gently the whole
time, and be careful to skim it thoroughly.
White currants, 4 lbs.; best sugar, 4 lbs.: 7 minutes.
CURRANT PASTE.
Stalk and heat some red currants as for jelly, pour off three parts of
the juice, which can be used for that preserve, and press the remainder,
with the pulp of the fruit, closely through a hair sieve reversed; boil
it briskly, keeping it stirred the whole time, until it forms a dry
paste; then for each pound (when first weighed) add seven ounces of
pounded sugar, and boil the whole from twenty-five to thirty minutes
longer, taking care that it shall not burn. This paste is remarkably
pleasant and refreshing in cases of fever, and acceptable often for
winter-desserts.
Red currants boiled from 5 to 7 minutes, pressed with one-fourth of
their juice through a sieve, boiled from 1-1/2 to 2 hour. To each pound
7 oz. pounded sugar: 25 to 30 minutes.
_Obs._—Confectioners add the pulp, after it is boiled dry, to an equal
weight of sugar at the candy height: by making trial of the two methods,
the reader can decide on the better one.
FINE BLACK CURRANT JELLY.
Stir some black currants over the fire until they have yielded their
juice; strain, weigh, and boil it for twenty minutes; add to it three
pounds and a half of sifted sugar of good quality, made quite hot, and
when it is dissolved boil the jelly for five minutes only, clearing off
the scum with care. This, though an excellent preserve, is too sweet for
our own taste, and we think one made with less sugar likely to be more
acceptable in cases of indisposition generally.
Juice of black currants, 4 lbs.: 20 minutes. Sugar, 3-1/2 lbs.: 5
minutes.
COMMON BLACK CURRANT JELLY.
Boil from three to six pounds of the juice rapidly for twenty minutes,
stirring it well; then mix with it off the fire, half a pound of sugar
for each pound of juice, and continue the boiling for ten minutes.
Juice of black currants, 3 to 6 lbs.: 20 minutes. To each pound juice
1/2 lb. good sugar: 10 minutes.
_Obs._—This jelly may be made with Lisbon sugar, but will then require
rather more boiling.
BLACK CURRANT JAM AND MARMALADE.
No fruit jellies so easily as black currants when they are ripe; and
their juice is so rich and thick that it will bear the addition of a
very small quantity of water sometimes, without causing the preserve to
mould. When the currants have been very dusty, we have occasionally had
them washed and drained before they were used, without any injurious
effects. Jam boiled down in the usual manner with this fruit is often
very dry. It may be greatly improved by taking out nearly half the
currants when it is ready to be potted, pressing them well against the
side of the preserving-pan to extract the juice: this leaves the
remainder far more liquid and refreshing than when the skins are all
retained. Another mode of making fine black currant jam—as well as that
of any other fruit—is to add one pound at least of juice, extracted as
for jelly, to two pounds of the berries, and to allow sugar for it in
the same proportion as directed for each pound of them.
For marmalade or paste, which is most useful in affections of the throat
and chest, the currants must be stewed tender in their own juice, and
then rubbed through a sieve. After ten minutes’ boiling, sugar in fine
powder must be stirred gradually to the pulp, off the fire, until it is
dissolved: a few minutes more of boiling will then suffice to render the
preserve thick, and it will become quite firm when cold. More or less
sugar can be added to the taste, but it is not generally liked very
sweet.
_Best black currant jam._—Currants, 4 lbs.; juice of currants, 2 lbs.:
15 to 20 minutes’ gentle boiling. Sugar, 3 to 4 lbs.: 10 minutes.
_Marmalade, or paste of black currants._—Fruit, 4 lbs.: stewed in its
own juice 15 minutes, or until quite soft. Pulp boiled 10 minutes.
Sugar, from 7 to 9 oz. to the lb.: 10 to 14 minutes.
_Obs._—The following are the receipts originally inserted in this work,
and which we leave unaltered.
To six pounds of the fruit, stripped carefully from the stalks, add four
pounds and a half of sugar. Let them heat gently, but as soon as the
sugar is dissolved boil the preserve rapidly for fifteen minutes. A more
common kind of jam may be made by boiling the fruit by itself from ten
to fifteen minutes, and for ten minutes after half its weight of sugar
has been added to it.
Black currants, 6 lbs.; sugar, 4-1/2 lbs.: 15 minutes. Or: fruit, 6
lbs.: 10 to 15 minutes. Sugar, 3 lbs.: 10 minutes.
_Obs._—There are few preparations of fruit so refreshing and so useful
in illness as those of black currants, and it is therefore advisable
always to have a store of them, and to have them well and carefully
made.
NURSERY PRESERVE.
Take the stones from a couple of pounds of Kentish cherries, and boil
them twenty minutes; then add to them a pound and a half of raspberries,
and an equal quantity of red and of white currants, all weighed after
they have been cleared from their stems. Boil these together quickly for
twenty minutes; mix with them three pounds and a quarter of common
sugar, and give the preserve fifteen minutes more of quick boiling. A
pound and a half of gooseberries may be substituted for the cherries;
but they will not require any stewing before they are added to the other
fruits. The jam must be well stirred from the beginning, or it will burn
to the pan.
Kentish cherries, 2 lbs.: 20 minutes. Raspberries, red currants, and
white currants, of each 1-1/2 lb.: 20 minutes. Sugar, 3-1/4 lbs.: 15
minutes.
ANOTHER GOOD COMMON PRESERVE.
Boil together, in equal or unequal portions (for this is immaterial),
any kinds of early fruit, until they can be pressed through a sieve;
weigh, and then boil the pulp over a brisk fire for half an hour; add
half a pound of sugar for each pound of fruit, and again boil the
preserve quickly, keeping it well stirred and skimmed, from fifteen to
twenty minutes. Cherries, unless they be morellas, must first be stewed
tender apart, as they will require a much longer time to make them so
than any other of the first summer fruits.
A GOOD MÉLANGE, OR MIXED PRESERVE.
Boil for three-quarters of an hour in two pounds of clear red gooseberry
juice, one pound of very ripe greengages, weighed after they have been
pared and stoned; then stir to them one pound and a half of good sugar,
and boil them quickly again for twenty minutes. If the quantity of
preserve be much increased, the time of boiling it must be so likewise:
this is always better done before the sugar is added.
Juice of ripe gooseberries, 2 lbs.; greengages, pared and stoned, 1 lb.:
3/4 hour. Sugar, 1-1/2 lb.: 20 minutes.
GROSEILLÉE.
(_Another good preserve._)
Cut the tops and stalks from a gallon or more of well-flavoured ripe
gooseberries, throw them into a large preserving-pan, boil them for ten
minutes, and stir them often with a wooden spoon; then pass both the
juice and pulp through a fine sieve, and to every three pounds’ weight
of these add half a pint of raspberry-juice, and boil the whole briskly
for three-quarters of an hour; draw the pan aside, stir in for the above
portion of fruit, two pounds of sugar, and when it is dissolved renew
the boiling for fifteen minutes longer. Ripe gooseberries, boiled 10
minutes. Pulp and juice of gooseberries, 6 lbs.; raspberry-juice, 1
pint: 3/4 hour. Sugar, 4 lbs.: 15 minutes.
_Obs._—When more convenient, a portion of raspberries can be boiled with
the gooseberries at first.
SUPERIOR PINE-APPLE MARMALADE.
(_A New Receipt._)
The market-price of our English pines is generally too high to permit
their being very commonly used for preserve; and though some of those
imported from the West Indies are sufficiently well-flavoured to make
excellent jam, they must be selected with judgment for the purpose, or
they will possibly not answer for it. They should be fully ripe, but
perfectly sound: should the stalk end appear mouldy or discoloured, the
fruit should be rejected. The degree of flavour which it possesses may
be ascertained with tolerable accuracy by its odour; for if of good
quality, and fit for use, it will be _very_ fragrant. After the rinds
have been pared off, and every dark speck taken from the flesh, the
pines may be rasped on a fine and delicately clean grater, or sliced
thin, cut up quickly into dice, and pounded in a stone or marble mortar;
or a portion may be grated, and the remainder reduced to pulp in the
mortar. Weigh, and then heat and boil it gently for ten minutes; draw it
from the fire, and stir to it by degrees fourteen ounces of sugar to the
pound of fruit; boil it until it thickens and becomes very transparent,
which it will be in about fifteen minutes, should the quantity be small:
it will require a rather longer time if it be large. The sugar ought to
be of the best quality and beaten quite to powder; and for this, as well
as for every other kind of preserve, it should be _dry_. A remarkably
fine marmalade may be compounded of English pines only, or even with one
English pine of superior growth, and two or three of the West Indian
mixed with it; but all when used should be _fully ripe_, without at all
verging on decay; for in no other state will their delicious flavour be
in its perfection.
In making the jam always avoid placing the preserving-pan _flat upon the
fire_, as this of itself will often convert what would otherwise be
excellent preserve, into a strange sort of compound, for which it is
difficult to find a name, and which results from the sugar being
subjected—when in combination with the acid of the fruit—to a degree of
heat which converts it into _caramel_ or highly-boiled barley-sugar.
When there is no regular preserving-stove, a flat trivet should be
securely placed across the fire of the kitchen-range to raise the pan
from immediate contact with the burning coals, or charcoal. It is better
to grate down, than to pound the fruit for the present receipt should
any parts of it be ever so slightly tough; and it should then be slowly
stewed until quite tender before any sugar is added to it; or with only
a very small quantity stirred in should it become too dry. A superior
marmalade even to this, might probably be made by adding to the rasped
pines a little juice drawn by a gentle heat, or expressed cold, from
inferior portions of the fruit; but this is only supposition.
A FINE PRESERVE OF THE GREEN ORANGE PLUM.
(_Sometimes called the Stonewood plum._)
This fruit, which is very insipid when ripe, makes an excellent preserve
if used when at its full growth, but while it is still quite hard and
green. Take off the stalks, weigh the plums, then gash them well (with a
silver knife, if convenient) as they are thrown into the preserving-pan,
and keep them gently stirred without ceasing over a moderate fire, until
they have yielded sufficient juice to prevent their burning; after this,
boil them quickly until the stones are entirely detached from the flesh
of the fruit. Take them out as they appear on the surface, and when the
preserve looks quite smooth and is well reduced, stir in three-quarters
of a pound of sugar beaten to a powder, for each pound of the plums, and
boil the whole very quickly for half an hour or more. Put it, when done,
into small moulds or pans, and it will be sufficiently firm when cold to
turn out well: it will also be transparent, of a fine green colour, and
very agreeable in flavour.
Orange plums, when green, 6 lbs.: 40 to 60 minutes. Sugar, 4-1/2 lbs.:
30 to 50 minutes.
_Obs._—The blanched kernels of part of the fruit should be added to this
preserve a few minutes before it is poured out: if too long boiled in it
they will become tough. They should always be wiped very dry after they
are blanched.
GREENGAGE JAM, OR MARMALADE.
When the plums are thoroughly ripe, take off the skins, stone, weigh,
and boil them quickly without sugar for fifty minutes, keeping them well
stirred; then to every four pounds add three of good sugar reduced quite
to powder, boil the preserve from five to eight minutes longer, and
clear off the scum perfectly before it is poured into the jars. When the
flesh of the fruit will not separate easily from the stones, weigh and
throw the plums whole into the preserving-pan, boil them to a pulp, pass
them through a sieve, and deduct the weight of the stones from them when
apportioning the sugar to the jam. The Orleans plum may be substituted
for greengages in this receipt.
Greengages, stoned and skinned, 6 lbs.: 50 minutes. Sugar, 4-1/2 lbs.: 5
to 8 minutes.
PRESERVE OF THE MAGNUM BONUM, OR MOGUL PLUM.
Prepare, weigh, and boil the plums for forty minutes; stir to them half
their weight of good sugar beaten fine, and when it is dissolved
continue the boiling for ten additional minutes, and skim the preserve
carefully during the time. This is an excellent marmalade, but it may be
rendered richer by increasing the proportion of sugar. The blanched
kernels of a portion of the fruit stones will much improve its flavour,
but they should be mixed with it only two or three minutes before it is
taken from the fire. When the plums are not entirely ripe, it is
difficult to free them from the stones and skins: they should then be
boiled down and pressed through a sieve, as directed for greengages, in
the receipt above.
Mogul plums, skinned and stoned, 6 lbs.: 40 minutes. Sugar, 3 lbs.: 5 to
8 minutes.
TO DRY OR PRESERVE MOGUL PLUMS IN SYRUP.
Pare the plums, but do not remove the stalks or stones; take their
weight of dry sifted sugar, lay them into a deep dish or bowl, and strew
it over them; let them remain thus for a night, then pour them gently
into a preserving-pan with all the sugar, heat them slowly, and let them
just simmer for five minutes; in two days repeat the process, and do so
again and again at an interval of two or three days, until the fruit is
tender and very clear; put it then into jars, and keep it in the syrup,
or drain and dry the plums very gradually, as directed for other fruit.
When they are not sufficiently ripe for the skin to part from them
readily, they must be covered with spring water, placed over a slow
fire, and just scalded until it can be stripped from them easily. They
may also be entirely prepared by the receipt for dried apricots which
follows, a page or two from this.
MUSSEL PLUM CHEESE AND JELLY.
Fill large stone jars with the fruit, which should be ripe, dry, and
sound; set them into an oven from which the bread has been drawn several
hours, and let them remain all night; or, if this cannot conveniently be
done, place them in pans of water, and boil them gently until the plums
are tender, and have yielded their juice to the utmost. Pour this from
them, strain it through a jelly bag, weigh, and then boil it rapidly for
twenty-five minutes. Have ready, broken small, three pounds of sugar for
four of the juice, stir them together until it is dissolved, and then
continue the boiling quickly for ten minutes longer, and be careful to
remove all the scum. Pour the preserve into small moulds or pans, and
turn it out when it is wanted for table: it will be very fine, both in
colour and in flavour.
Juice of plums, 4 lbs.: 25 minutes. Sugar, 3 lbs.: 10 minutes.
The cheese.—Skin and stone the plums from which the juice has been
poured, and after having weighed, boil them an hour and a quarter over a
brisk fire, and stir them constantly; then to three pounds of fruit add
one of sugar, beaten to powder; boil the preserve for another half hour,
and press it into shallow pans or moulds.
Plums, 3 lbs.: 1-1/4 hour. Sugar, 1 lb.: 30 minutes.
APRICOT MARMALADE.
This may be made either by the receipt for greengage, or Mogul plum
marmalade; or the fruit may first be boiled quite tender, then rubbed
through a sieve, and mixed with three-quarters of a pound of sugar to
the pound of apricots: from twenty to thirty minutes will boil it in
this case. A richer preserve still is produced by taking off the skins,
and dividing the plums in halves or quarters, and leaving them for some
hours with their weight of fine sugar strewed over them before they are
placed on the fire; they are then heated slowly and gently simmered for
about half an hour.
TO DRY APRICOTS.
(_A quick and easy method._)
Wipe gently, split, and stone some fine apricots which are not
over-ripe; weigh, and arrange them evenly in a deep dish or bowl, and
strew in fourteen ounces of sugar in fine powder, to each pound of
fruit; on the following day turn the whole carefully into a
preserving-pan, let the apricots heat slowly, and simmer them very
softly for six minutes, or for an instant longer, should they not in
that time be quite tender. Let them remain in the syrup for a day or
two, then drain and spread them singly on dishes to dry.
To each pound of apricots, 14 oz. of sugar; to stand 1 night, to be
simmered from 6 to 8 minutes, and left in syrup 2 or 3 days.
DRIED APRICOTS.
(_French Receipt._)
Take apricots which have attained their full growth and colour, but
before they begin to soften; weigh, and wipe them lightly; make a small
incision across the top of each plum, pass the point of a knife through
the stalk end, and gently push out the stones without breaking the
fruit; next, put the apricots into a preserving-pan, with sufficient
cold water to float them easily; place it over a moderate fire, and when
it begins to boil, should the apricots be quite tender, lift them out
and throw them into more cold water, but simmer them, otherwise, until
they are so. Take the same weight of sugar that there was of the fruit
before it was stoned, and boil it for ten minutes with a quart of water
to the four pounds; skim the syrup carefully, throw in the apricots
(which should previously be well drained on a soft cloth, or on a
sieve), simmer them for one minute, and set them by in it until the
following day, then drain it from them, boil it for ten minutes, and
pour it on them the instant it is taken from the fire; in forty-eight
hours repeat the process, and when the syrup has boiled ten minutes, put
in the apricots, and simmer them from two to four minutes, or until they
look quite clear. They may be stored in the syrup until wanted for
drying, or drained from it, laid separately on slates or dishes, and
dried very gradually: the blanched kernels may be put inside the fruit,
or added to the syrup.
Apricots, 4 lbs., scalded until tender; sugar 4 lbs.; water, 1 quart: 10
minutes. Apricots, in syrup, 1 minute; left 24 hours. Syrup, boiled
again, 10 minutes, and poured on fruit: stand 2 days. Syrup, boiled
again, 10 minutes, and apricots 2 to 4 minutes, or until clear.
_Obs._—The syrup should be quite thick when the apricots are put in for
the last time; but both fruit and sugar vary so much in quality and in
the degree of boiling which they require, that no _invariable_ rule can
be given for the latter. The apricot syrup strained very clear, and
mixed with twice its measure of pale French brandy, makes an agreeable
liqueur, which is much improved by infusing in it for a few days half an
ounce of the fruit-kernels, blanched and bruised, to the quart of
liquor.
We have found that cherries prepared by either of the receipts which we
have given for preserving them with sugar, if thrown into the apricot
syrup when partially dried, just scalded in it, and left for a
fortnight, then drained and dried as usual, become a delicious
sweetmeat. Mussel, imperatrice, or any other plums, when quite ripe, if
simmered in it very gently until they are tender, and left for a few
days to imbibe its flavour, then drained and finished as usual, are
likewise excellent.
PEACH JAM, OR MARMALADE.
The fruit for this preserve, which is a very delicious one, should be
finely flavoured, and quite ripe, though perfectly sound. Pare, stone,
weigh, and boil it quickly for three-quarters of an hour, and do not
fail to stir it often during the time; draw it from the fire, and mix
with it ten ounces of well-refined sugar, rolled or beaten to powder,
for each pound of the peaches; clear it carefully from scum, and boil it
briskly for five minutes; throw in the strained juice of one or two
_good_ lemons; continue the boiling for three minutes only, and pour out
the marmalade. Two minutes after the sugar is stirred to the fruit, add
the blanched kernels of part of the peaches.
Peaches, stoned and pared, 4 lbs.; 3/4 hour. Sugar, 2-1/2 lbs.: 2
minutes. Blanched peach-kernels: 3 minutes. Juice of 2 _small_ lemons: 3
minutes.
_Obs._—This jam, like most others, is improved by pressing the fruit
through a sieve after it has been partially boiled. Nothing can be finer
than its flavour, which would be injured by adding the sugar at first;
and a larger proportion renders it cloyingly sweet. Nectarines and
peaches mixed, make an admirable preserve.
TO PRESERVE, OR TO DRY PEACHES OR NECTARINES.
(_An easy and excellent Receipt._)
The fruit should be fine, freshly gathered, and _fully ripe_, but still
in its perfection. Pare, halve, and weigh it after the stones are
removed; lay it into a deep dish, and strew over it an equal weight of
highly refined pounded sugar; let it remain until this is nearly
dissolved, then lift the fruit gently into a preserving-pan, pour the
juice and sugar to it, and heat the whole over a very slow fire; let it
just simmer for ten minutes, then turn it softly into a bowl, and let it
remain for two days; repeat the slow heating and simmering at intervals
of two or three days, until the fruit is quite clear, when it may be
potted in the syrup, or drained from it, and dried upon large clean
slates or dishes, or upon wire-sieves. The flavour will be excellent.
The strained juice of a lemon may be added to the syrup, with good
effect, towards the end of the process, and an additional ounce or two
of sugar allowed for it.
DAMSON JAM. (VERY GOOD.)
The fruit for this jam should be freshly gathered and quite ripe. Split,
stone, weigh, and boil it quickly for forty minutes; then stir in half
its weight of good sugar roughly powdered, and when it is dissolved,
give the preserve fifteen minutes additional boiling, keeping it
stirred, and thoroughly skimmed.
Damsons, stoned, 6 lbs.: 40 minutes. Sugar, 3 lbs.: 15 minutes.
_Obs._—A more refined preserve is made by pressing the fruit through a
sieve after it is boiled tender; but the jam is excellent without.
DAMSON JELLY.
Bake separately in a very slow oven, or boil in a pan or copper of water
as described at page 497, any number of fine ripe damsons, and one-third
the quantity of bullaces, or of any other pale plums, as a portion of
their juice will, to most tastes, improve, by softening the flavour of
the preserve, and will render the colour brighter. Pour off the juice
clear from the fruit, strain and weigh it; boil it quickly without sugar
for twenty-five minutes, draw it from the fire, stir into it ten ounces
of good sugar for each pound of juice, and boil it quickly from six to
ten minutes longer, carefully clearing off all the scum. The jelly must
be often stirred before the sugar is added, and constantly afterwards.
DAMSON, OR RED PLUM SOLID. (GOOD.)
Pour the juice from some damsons which have stood for a night in a very
cool oven, or been stewed in a jar placed in a pan of water; weigh and
put it into a preserving-pan with a pound and four ounces of pearmains
(or of any other fine boiling apples), pared, cored, and quartered, to
each pound of the juice; boil these together, keeping them well stirred,
from twenty-five to thirty minutes, then add the sugar, and when it is
nearly dissolved, continue the boiling for ten minutes. This, if done
with exactness, will give a perfectly smooth and firm preserve, which
may be moulded in small shapes, and turned out for table. The juice of
any good red plum may be used for it instead of that of damsons.
To each pound clear damson-juice, 1-1/4 lb. pearmains (or other good
apples), pared and cored: 25 to 30 minutes. Sugar, 14 oz.: 10 minutes.
EXCELLENT DAMSON CHEESE.
When the fruit has been baked or stewed tender, as directed above, drain
off the juice, skin and stone the damsons, pour back to them from a
third to half of their juice, weigh and then boil them over a clear
brisk fire, until they form quite a dry paste; add six ounces of pounded
sugar for each pound of the plums; stir them off the fire until this is
dissolved, and boil the preserve again without quitting or ceasing to
stir it, until it leaves the pan quite dry, and adheres in a mass to the
spoon. If it should not stick to the fingers when lightly touched, it
will be sufficiently done to keep very long; press it quickly into pans
or moulds; lay on it a paper dipped in spirit when it is perfectly cold;
tie another fold over it, and store it in a dry place.
Bullace cheese is made in the same manner, and almost any kind of plum
will make an agreeable preserve of the sort.
To each pound of fruit, pared, stoned, and mixed with the juice and
boiled quite dry, 6 oz. of pounded sugar, boiled again to a dry paste.
RED GRAPE JELLY.
Strip from their stalks some fine ripe black-cluster grapes, and stir
them with a wooden spoon over a gentle fire until all have burst, and
the juice flows freely from them; strain it off without pressure, and
pass it through a jelly-bag, or through a twice-folded muslin; weigh and
then boil it rapidly for twenty minutes; draw it from the fire, stir in
it until dissolved, fourteen ounces of good sugar, roughly powdered, to
each pound of juice, and boil the jelly quickly for fifteen minutes
longer, keeping it constantly stirred, and perfectly well skimmed. It
will be very clear, and of a beautiful pale rose-colour.
Juice of black-cluster grapes: 20 minutes. To each pound of juice, 14
oz. good sugar: 15 minutes.
_Obs._—We have proved this jelly only with the kind of grape which we
have named, but there is little doubt that fine purple grapes of any
sort would answer for it well.
ENGLISH GUAVA.
(_A firm, clear, bright Jelly._)
Strip the stalks from a gallon or two of the large kind of bullaces
called the shepherd’s bullace; give part of them a cut, put them into
stone jars, and throw into one of them a pound or two of imperatrice
plums, if they can be obtained; put the jars into pans of water, and
boil them as directed at page 497; then drain off the juice, pass it
through a thick strainer or jelly-bag, and weigh it; boil it quickly
from fifteen to twenty minutes; take it from the fire, and stir in it
till dissolved three-quarters of a pound of sugar to the pound of juice;
remove the scum with care, and boil the preserve again quickly from
eight to twelve minutes, or longer should it not then jelly firmly on
the skimmer. When the fruit is very acid, an equal weight of juice and
sugar may be mixed together in the first instance, and boiled briskly
for about twenty minutes. It is impossible to indicate the _precise_
time which the jelly will require, so much depends on the quality of the
plums, and on the degree of boiling previously given to them in the
water-bath. When properly made it is remarkably transparent and _very_
firm. It should be poured into shallow pans or small moulds, and turned
from them before it is served. When the imperatrice plum cannot be
procured, any other that will give a pale red colour to the juice will
answer. The bullaces alone make an admirable preserve; and even the
commoner kinds afford an excellent one.
Juice of the shepherd’s bullace and imperatrice, or other red plum, 4
lbs.: 15 to 20 minutes. Sugar, 3 lbs.: 8 to 12 minutes. Or juice of
bullaces and sugar, equal weight: 20 minutes.
_Obs._—After the juice has been poured from the plums they may be
stoned, pared, weighed, and boiled to a paste; then six ounces of sugar
added to the pound, and the boiling continued until the preserve is
again very dry; a small portion of the juice should be left with the
fruit for this.
VERY FINE IMPERATRICE PLUM MARMALADE.
Weigh six pounds of the fruit when it is quite ripe, but before the
frost has touched it; give each plum a cut as it is thrown into the
preserving-pan, and when all are done boil them from thirty-five to
forty minutes, taking out the stones as they rise to the surface, when
they are quite detached from the flesh of the fruit. Draw back the pan
from the fire, stir in two pounds of good sugar beaten to powder, and
boil the preserve quickly for fifteen minutes. The imperatrice plum is
of itself so sweet that this proportion of sugar makes with it a very
rich preserve.
Imperatrice plums (without the stalks) 6 lbs.: boiled 35 to 40 minutes.
Sugar 2 lbs. (added after the stones are out): 15 minutes.
_Obs._—Some slight trouble would be avoided by pressing the fruit
through a sieve after the first boiling; but we do not think the
marmalade would be improved by being freed from the skins of the plums.
TO DRY IMPERATRICE PLUMS.
(_An easy method._)
Put them into jars, or wide-necked bottles, with half a pound of good
sugar, rolled or pounded, to twice the weight of fruit; set them into a
very cool oven for four or five hours; or, if more convenient, place
them, with a little hay between them, in a pan of cold water and boil
them gently for rather more than three hours. Leave them in the syrup
for a few days, and finish them as directed for the drying of other
fruits. Tie a bladder over the necks of the jars or bottles before they
are placed in the pan of water, and fasten two or three folds of paper
over the former, or cork the bottles when the fruit is to be baked. The
sugar should be put in after the fruit, without being shaken down; it
will then dissolve gradually, and be absorbed by it equally.
To each pound of plums, 8 ounces pounded sugar: baked in cool oven 4 or
5 hours, or steamed 3 hours.
TO BOTTLE FRUIT FOR WINTER USE.
Gather the fruit in the middle of the day in very dry weather; strip off
the stalks, and have in readiness some perfectly clean and dry
wide-necked bottles; turn each of these the instant before it is filled,
with the neck downwards, and hold in it two or three lighted matches:
drop in the fruit before the vapour escapes, shake it gently down, press
in some new corks, dip the necks of the bottles into melted resin, set
them at night into an oven from which the bread has been drawn six or
seven hours at least, and let them remain until the morning: if the heat
be too great the bottles will burst. Currants, cherries, damsons,
greengages, and various other kinds of plums will remain good for quite
twelve months when bottled thus, if stored in a dry place.
To steam the fruit, put the bottles into a copper or other vessel up to
their necks in cold water, with a little hay between and under them;
light the fire, let the water heat slowly, and keep it at the point of
gentle simmering until the fruit is sufficiently scalded. Some kinds
will of course require a much longer time than others. From half to
three quarters of an hour will be sufficient for gooseberries, currants,
and raspberries; but the appearance of all will best denote their being
done. When they have sunk almost half the depth of the bottles, and the
skins are shrivelled, extinguish the fire, but leave them in the water
until it is quite cold; then wipe and store the bottles in a dry place.
A bit of moistened bladder tied over corks is better than the resin when
the fruit is steamed.
APPLE JELLY.
Various kind of apples may be used successfully to make this jelly, but
the nonsuch is by many persons preferred to all others for the purpose.
The Ripstone pippin, however, may be used for it with very good effect,
either solely, or with a mixture of pearmains. It is necessary only that
the fruit should be finely flavoured, and that it should boil easily to
a marmalade. Pare, core, quarter, and weigh it quickly that it may not
lose its colour, and to each pound pour a pint of cold water and boil it
until it is well broken, without being reduced to a quite thick pulp, as
it would then be difficult to render the juice perfectly clear, which it
ought to be. Drain this well from the apples, either through a fine
sieve or a folded muslin strainer, pass it afterwards through a
jelly-bag, or turn the fruit at once into the last of these, and pour
the liquid through a second time if needful. When it appears quite
transparent, weigh, and reduce it by quick boiling for twenty minutes;
draw it from the fire, add two pounds of sugar broken very small, for
three of the decoction; stir it till it is entirely dissolved, then
place the preserving-pan again over a clear fire and boil the preserve
quickly for ten minutes, or until it jellies firmly upon the skimmer
when poured from it; throw in the strained juice of a small lemon for
every two pounds of jelly, two minutes before it is taken from the fire.
Apples, 7 lbs.; water, 7 pints: 1/2 to full hour. Juice, 6 lbs.: 20
minutes _quick_ boiling. Sugar, 4 lbs.: 10 to 25 minutes. Juice three
lemons.
EXCEEDINGLY FINE APPLE JELLY.
Pare quickly some highly flavoured juicy apples of any kind, or of
various kinds together, for this is immaterial; slice, without dividing
them; but first free them from the stalks and eyes; shake out some of
the pips, and put the apples evenly into very clean large stone jars,
just dipping an occasional layer into cold water as this is done, the
better to preserve the colour of the whole. Set the jars into pans of
water, and boil the fruit slowly until it is quite soft, then turn it
into a jelly-bag or cloth and let the juice all drop from it. The
quantity which it will have yielded will be small, but it will be clear
and rich. Weigh, and boil it for ten minutes, then draw it from the
fire, and stir into it, until it is entirely dissolved, twelve ounces of
_good_ sugar to the pound and quarter (or pint) of juice. Place the
preserve again over the fire and stir it without intermission, except to
clear off the scum, until it has boiled from eight to ten minutes
longer, for otherwise it will jelly on the surface with the scum upon
it, which it will then be difficult to remove, as when touched it will
break and fall into the preserve. The strained juice of one small fresh
lemon to the pint of jelly should be thrown into it two or three minutes
before it is poured out, and the rind of one or two cut very thin may be
simmered in the juice before the sugar is added; but the pale, delicate
colour of the jelly will be injured by too much of it, and many persons
would altogether prefer the pure flavour of the fruit.
Juice of apples, 1 quart, or 2-1/2 lbs.: 10 minutes. Sugar, 1-1/2 lb.: 8
to 10 minutes. Juice, 2 small lemons; rind of 1 or more at pleasure.
_Obs._—The quantity of apples required for it renders this a rather
expensive preserve, where they are not abundant; but it is a remarkably
fine jelly, and turns out from the moulds in perfect shape and _very_
firm.[168] It may be served in the second course, or for rice-crust. It
is sometimes made without paring the apples, or dipping them into the
water, and the colour is then a deep red: we have occasionally had a
pint of water added to about a gallon and a half of apples, but the
jelly was not then _quite_ so fine in flavour. The best time for making
it is from the end of November to Christmas. Quince jelly would, without
doubt, be very fine made by this receipt; but as the juice of that fruit
is richer than that of the apple, a little water might be added.
Alternate layers of apples and quinces would also answer well, we think.
Footnote 168:
It is, we should say, quite equal to _gelée de pommes_, for which
Rouen is somewhat celebrated.
QUINCE JELLY.
Pare, quarter, core, and weigh some ripe but quite sound quinces, as
quickly as possible, and throw them as they are done into part of the
water in which they are to be boiled, as directed at page 456; allow one
pint of this to each pound of the fruit, and simmer it gently until it
is a little broken, but not so long as to redden the juice, which ought
to be very pale. Turn the whole into a jelly-bag, or strain the liquid
through a fine cloth, and let it drain very closely from it but without
the slightest pressure. Weigh the juice, put it into a delicately clean
preserving-pan, and boil it quickly for twenty minutes; take it from the
fire and stir in it, until it is entirely dissolved, twelve ounces of
sugar for each pound of juice, or fourteen ounces if the fruit should be
very acid, which it will be in the earlier part of the season; keep it
constantly stirred and thoroughly cleared from scum, from ten to twenty
minutes longer, or until it jellies strongly in falling from the
skimmer; then pour it directly into glasses or moulds. If properly made,
it will be sufficiently firm to turn out of the latter, and it will be
beautifully transparent, and rich in flavour. It may be made with an
equal weight of juice and sugar mixed together in the first instance,
and boiled from twenty to thirty minutes. It is difficult to state the
time precisely, because from different causes it will vary much. It
should be reduced rapidly to the proper point, as long boiling injures
the colour: this is always more perfectly preserved by boiling the juice
without the sugar first.
To each pound pared and cored quinces, 1 pint water: 3/4 to 1-1/2 hour.
Juice, boiled 20 minutes. To each pound, 12 oz. sugar: 10 to 20 minutes.
Or, juice and sugar equal weight: 20 to 30 minutes.
QUINCE MARMALADE.
When to economise the fruit is not an object, pare, core, and quarter
some of the inferior quinces, and boil them in as much water as will
nearly cover them, until they begin to break; strain the juice from
them, and for the marmalade put half a pint of it to each pound of fresh
quinces: in preparing these, be careful to cut out the hard stony parts
round the cores. Simmer them gently until they are perfectly tender,
then press them, with the juice, through a coarse sieve; put them into a
perfectly clean pan, and boil them until they form almost a dry paste;
add for each round of quinces and the half pint of juice, three-quarters
of a pound of sugar in fine powder, and boil the marmalade for half an
hour, stirring it gently without ceasing: it will be very firm and
bright in colour. If made shortly after the fruit is gathered, a little
additional sugar will be required; and when a richer and less dry
marmalade is better liked, it must be boiled for a shorter time, and an
equal weight of fruit and sugar may be used.
Quinces, pared and cored, 4 lbs.; prepared juice, 1 quart: 2 to 3 hours.
Boiled fast to dry, 20 to 40 minutes. Sugar, 3 lbs.: 30 minutes.
Richer marmalade: quinces, 4 lbs.; juice, 1 quart; sugar, 4 lbs.
QUINCE AND APPLE MARMALADE.
Boil together, from three-quarters of an hour to an hour, two pounds of
pearmains, or of any other well-flavoured apples, in an equal weight of
prepared quince-juice (see page 456), then take them from the fire, and
mix with them a pound and a half of sugar, in fine powder; when this is
a little dissolved, set the pan again over a brisk fire, and boil the
preserve for twenty minutes longer, keeping it stirred all the time.
Prepared quince-juice, 2 lbs.; apples, 2 lbs.: 3/4 to 1 hour. Sugar,
1-1/2 lb.: 20 minutes.
QUINCE PASTE.
If the full flavour of the quinces be desired, stew them sufficiently
tender to press through a sieve, in the prepared juice of page 456,
otherwise, in just water enough to about three parts cover them; when
they are soft quite through lift them out, let them cool, and then pass
them through a sieve; reduce them to a dry paste over a very clear fire,
and stir them constantly; then weigh the fruit, and mix it with an equal
proportion of pounded sugar, or sugar boiled to candy height (we find
the effect nearly the same, whichever method be pursued), and stir the
paste without intermission until it is again so dry as to quit the pan
and adhere to the spoon in one large ball; press it into shallow pans or
dishes; cut it, as soon as cold, into small squares, and should they
seem to require it, dry them with a very gentle degree of heat, and when
they are again cold store them in tin cases with well-dried foolscap
paper between them: the paste may be moulded, when more convenient, and
kept until it is wanted for table, in a very dry place. In France, where
the fruit is admirably confected, the _pâte de coigns_, or quince paste,
is somewhat less boiled than we have directed, and dried afterwards in
the sun, or in an extremely gentle oven, in square tin frames, about an
inch and a half deep, placed upon clean slates.
JELLY OF SIBERIAN CRABS.
This fruit makes a jelly of beautiful colour, and of pleasant flavour
also: it may be stored in small moulds of ornamental shape, and turned
out for rice-crust. Take off the stalks, weigh, and wash the crabs;
then, to each pound and a half, add a pint of water and boil them gently
until they are broken, but do not allow them to fall to a pulp. Pour the
whole into a jelly-bag, and when the juice is quite transparent, weigh
it, put it into a clean preserving-pan, boil it quickly for fifteen
minutes, take it from the fire, and stir in it until dissolved
three-quarters of a pound of fine sugar roughly powdered to each pound
of the juice; boil the jelly from fifteen to twenty minutes, skim it
very clean, and pour it into the moulds. Should the quantity be large, a
few additional minutes’ boiling must be given to the juice before the
sugar is added.
To each 1-1/2 lb. of crabs; water, 1 pint: 12 to 18 minutes. Juice to be
fast boiled, 15 minutes; sugar, to each pound, 3/4 lb.; 15 to 20
minutes.
TO PRESERVE BARBERRIES IN BUNCHES.
Take the finest barberries without stones that can be procured, tie them
together in bunches of four or five sprigs, and for each half pound of
the fruit (which is extremely light), boil one pound of very good sugar
in a pint of water for twenty minutes, and clear it well from scum;
throw in the fruit, let it heat gently, and then boil from five to seven
minutes, when it will be perfectly transparent. So long as any snapping
noise is heard the fruit is not all done; it should be pressed equally
down into the syrup until the whole of the berries have burst; and
should then be turned into jars, which must be covered with skin or two
or three folds of thick paper, as soon as the preserve is perfectly
cold. The barberries thus prepared make a beautiful garnish for sweet
dishes, or for puddings.
Barberries, tied in bunches, 1-1/2 lb.; sugar 3 lbs.; water 1-1/2 pint:
20 minutes. Barberries boiled in syrup: 5 to 7 minutes.
BARBERRY JAM.
(_First and best Receipt._)
The barberries for this preserve should be quite ripe, though they
should not be allowed to hang until they begin to decay. Strip them from
the stalks, throw aside such as are spotted, and for each pound of the
fruit allow eighteen ounces of well-refined sugar; boil this, with one
pint of water to every four pounds, until it becomes white, and falls in
thick masses from the spoon; then throw in the fruit, and keep it
stirred over a brisk fire for six minutes only; take off the scum, and
pour it into jars or glasses.
Sugar, 4-1/4 lbs.; water, 1-1/4 pint: boiled to candy height.
Barberries, 4 lbs.: 6 minutes.
_Barberry Jam. Second Receipt._—The preceding is an excellent receipt,
but the preserve will be _very_ good if eighteen ounces of pounded sugar
be mixed and boiled with the fruit for ten minutes and this is done at a
small expense of time and trouble.
Sugar pounded, 2-1/4 lbs.; fruit, 2 lbs.: boiled 10 minutes.
SUPERIOR BARBERRY JELLY, AND MARMALADE.
Strip the fruit from the stems, wash it in spring-water, drain, bruise
it slightly, and put it into a clean stone jar, with no more liquid than
the drops which hang about it. Place the jar in a pan of water, and
steam the fruit until it is quite tender: this will be in from thirty
minutes to an hour. Pour off the clear juice, strain, weigh, and boil it
quickly from five to seven minutes, with eighteen ounces of sugar to
every pound. For the marmalade, rub the barberries through a sieve with
a wooden spoon, and boil them quickly for the same time, and with the
same proportion of sugar as the jelly.
Barberries boiled in water-bath until tender; to each pound of juice, 1
lb. 2 oz. sugar: 5 minutes. Pulp of fruit to each pound, 18 oz. sugar: 5
minutes.
_Obs._—We have always had these preserves made with very ripe fruit, and
have found them extremely good; but more sugar may be needed to sweeten
them sufficiently when the barberries have hung less time upon the
trees.
ORANGE MARMALADE.
(_A Portuguese Receipt._)
Rasp very slightly on a fine and delicately clean grater the rinds of
some sound Seville oranges; cut them into quarters, and separate the
flesh from the rinds; then with the small end of a tea, or egg-spoon,
clear it entirely from the pips, and from the loose inner skin and film.
Put the rinds into a large quantity of cold water, and change it when
they have boiled about twenty minutes. As soon as they are perfectly
tender lift them out, and drain them on a sieve; slice them thin, and
add eight ounces of them to each pound of the pulp and juice, with a
pound and a half of highly-refined sugar in fine powder; boil the
marmalade quickly for half an hour, skim it well, and turn it into the
jars. The preserve thus made will not have a very powerful flavour of
the orange rind. When more of this is liked, either leave a portion of
the fruit unrasped, or mix with the preserve some of the zest which has
been grated off, allowing for it its weight of sugar. Or proceed thus:
allow to a dozen Seville oranges two fine juicy lemons, and the weight
of the whole in sifted sugar, of excellent quality. With a sharp knife
cut through the rinds just deep enough to allow them to be stripped off
in quarters with the end of a spoon, and throw them for a night into
plenty of cold spring-water; on the following morning boil them
sufficiently tender to allow the head of a pin to pierce them easily;
then drain them well, let them cool, and scrape out the white part of
the rind, and cut the remainder into thin chips. In the mean time have
the pulp of the fruit quite cleared from the pips and film; put it with
the chips into a preserving-pan, heat them slowly, boil them for ten
minutes, draw the pan from the fire, and stir gradually in, and dissolve
the remainder of the sugar, and boil the preserve more quickly for
twenty minutes, or until it thickens and appears ready to jelly. This
mode, though it gives a little additional trouble, will prevent the
orange-chips from becoming hard, which they will sometimes be if much
sugar be added to them at first. The sugar first broken into large
lumps, is sometimes made into a very thick syrup, with so much water
only as will just dissolve it; the pulp and juice are in that case
boiled in it quickly for ten minutes before the chips are added; and a
part of these are pounded and stirred into the preserve with the others.
March is the proper month for making this preserve, the Seville oranges
being then in perfection. For lemon marmalade proceed exactly in the
same manner as for this.
Rinds of Seville oranges, lightly rasped and boiled tender, 2 lbs.; pulp
and juice, 4 lbs.; sugar, 6 lbs.: 1/2 hour. Or, weight of oranges, first
taken in sugar, and added, with all the rinds, to the pulp after the
whole has been properly prepared.
GENUINE SCOTCH MARMALADE.
“Take some bitter oranges, and double their weight of sugar; cut the
rind of the fruit into quarters and peel it off, and if the marmalade be
not wanted very thick, take off some of the spongy white skin inside the
rind. Cut the chips as thin as possible, and about half an inch long,
and divide the pulp into small bits, removing carefully the seeds, which
may be steeped in part of the water that is to make the marmalade, and
which must be in the proportion of a quart to a pound of fruit. Put the
chips and pulp into a deep earthen dish, and pour the water boiling over
them; let them remain for twelve or fourteen hours, and then turn the
whole into the preserving-pan, and boil it until the chips are perfectly
tender. When they are so, add by degrees the sugar (which should be
previously pounded), and boil it until it jellies. The water in which
the seeds have been steeped, and which must be taken from the quantity
apportioned to the whole of the preserve, should be poured into a
hair-sieve, and the seeds well worked in it with the back of a spoon; a
strong clear jelly will be obtained by this means, which must be washed
off them by pouring their own liquor through the sieve in small portions
over them. This must be added to the fruit when it is first set on the
fire.”
Oranges, 3 lbs.; water, 3 quarts; sugar, 6 lbs.
_Obs._—This receipt, which we have not tried ourselves, is guaranteed as
an excellent one by the Scottish lady from whom it was procured.
CLEAR ORANGE MARMALADE.
(_Author’s Receipt._)
This, especially for persons in delicate health, is far more wholesome
than the marmalade which contains chips of the orange-rinds. The fruit
must be prepared in the same manner, and the pulp very carefully cleared
from the pips and skin. The rinds taken off in quarters (after having
been washed and wiped quite clean from the black soil which is sometimes
found on them), must be boiled extremely tender in a large quantity of
water, into which they may be thrown when it boils. They should be well
drained upon a large hair sieve reversed, so soon as the head of a pin
will pierce them easily; and the white skin and fibres should be scraped
entirely from them while they are still warm. They should then be
pounded to a paste, and well blended with the pulp and juice, these
being added to them by degrees, that they may not remain in lumps. A
quarter of a pint of water, in which the seeds have been immersed for an
hour or two, well worked up with them, and then passed through a net
strainer[169] or coarse sieve, will soften the flavour of the marmalade,
and assist its jellying at the same time. Boil it rather quickly without
sugar for a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes, then finish it by the
directions for “Orange Marmalade, Portuguese Receipt,” of the preceding
page, but regulate the proportion of sugar and the time of boiling as
follows:—
Footnote 169:
Strainers of coarse bobbin-net, which is very cheap, are preferable to
muslin for preparations which are jellied, as the water becomes thick
when the orange-seeds are steeped in it.
Pulp and juice of Seville oranges, 1-1/2 lb.; water strained from pips,
1/2 pint; pounded orange-rinds 3/4 lb.: 15 to 20 minutes. Sugar, 2-3/4
lb. (3 lb. if the fruit should be very acid), half added first, 10 to 15
minutes; with remaining half, 15 to 20 minutes, or until the marmalade
becomes quite thick and clear.
_Obs._—We have occasionally had more water than the proportion given
above used in making this preserve, which is very nice in flavour, but
which may be made to suit various tastes by adding a larger or smaller
quantity of the rinds; and a larger weight of sugar when it is liked
very sweet. When the bitterness of the fruit is objected to, the rinds
may be steeped for a night in a plentiful quantity of spring water.
FINE JELLY OF SEVILLE ORANGES.
(_Author’s Original Receipt._)
Although we have appropriated this receipt to another work, we cannot
refrain from inserting it here as well, so delicious to our taste is the
jelly which we have had made by it. For eighteen full-sized oranges
allow a pint and a half of water. Take off the rinds in quarters from
ten of them, and then free them entirely from their tough white skin,
and with a sharp knife cut them into rather thick slices, and put them
with all the pips into the water. Halve the remainder of the fruit
without paring it, and squeeze the juice and pips, but _not the pulp_,
to the sliced oranges; and place them by the fire in an enamelled
stewpan which they will not more than two-thirds fill. Heat and boil
them gently between twenty and thirty minutes, then strain the juice
closely from them without pressure, through a large square of muslin
folded in four, or, if more convenient, pass it first through a very
thin and delicately clean cloth, and afterwards through the folded
muslin. Weigh and boil it quickly for five minutes; then for each pound
stir gradually to it fourteen ounces of highly refined sugar, broken
small or roughly powdered; and when it is quite dissolved, continue the
boiling for a few minutes longer, when the preserve will jelly easily
and firmly, and be pale and beautifully transparent, and most agreeable
in flavour.
Seville oranges, 18; of which 10 pared and sliced. Water, 1-1/2 pint,
and juice of 8 oranges: gently heated and boiled 20 to 30 minutes. Juice
boiled quickly 5 minutes. To each lb. 14 oz. sugar: 5 to 8 minutes.
_Obs._—On our second trial we had the _very thin_ rind of three of the
oranges stewed with the fruit, which we thought an improvement. The
jelly in both instances was made, we believe, in April, when the fruit
was fully ripe: earlier in the season it would probably require longer
boiling. On one occasion it became quite firm _very quickly_ after the
sugar was added to the juice; that is to say, in three or four minutes.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER XXV.
=Pickles.=
[Illustration:
Mango.
]
OBSERVATIONS ON PICKLES.
WITH the exception of walnuts,[170] which, when softened by keeping, or
by the mode of preparing them, are the least objectionable of any
pickle, with Indian mangoes, and one or two other varieties, these are
not very wholesome articles of diet,[171] consisting, as so many of them
do, of crude hard vegetables, or of unripe fruit. In numerous instances,
too, those which are commonly sold to the public have been found of so
deadly a nature as to be eminently dangerous to persons who partake of
them often and largely. It is most desirable, therefore, to have them
prepared at home, and with good _genuine_ vinegar, whether French or
English. That which is home-made can at least be relied on; and it may
be made of excellent quality and of sufficient strength for all ordinary
purposes. The superiority of French vinegar results from its being made
of wine; no substitute producing any equal to that derived from the
unmixed juice of the grape. In our next page will be found the address
of the importers, from whom, or whose agents, we have for several years
been supplied with it.
Footnote 170:
The bitter of the green walnut renders it a fine stomachic. In France
a liqueur called “_Ratifia de Brou de Noix_,” is made by infusing the
bruised fruit in brandy.
Footnote 171:
Flavoured vinegars or mustard are more so, and are equally appetising
and pungent.
Pickles should always be kept quite covered with their liquor, and well
secured from the air and from the influence of damp; the last of which
is especially detrimental to them. We can quite recommend to the reader
the rather limited number of receipts which follow, and which might
easily be multiplied did the size of our volume permit. Pickling is so
easy a process, however, that when in any degree properly acquired, it
may be extended to almost every kind of fruit and vegetable
successfully. A few of the choicer kinds will nevertheless be found
generally more acceptable than a greater variety of inferior
preparations. Mushrooms, gherkins, walnuts, lemons, eschalots, and
peaches, for all of which we have given minute directions, will furnish
as much choice as is commonly required. Very excellent Indian mangoes
too may be purchased at the Italian warehouses, and to many tastes will
be more acceptable than any English pickle. We have had them _very_ good
from Mr. Cobbett, 18, Pall Mall, whose house we have already had
occasion to name more than once.
TO PICKLE CHERRIES.
Leave about an inch of their stalks on some fine, sound Kentish or
Flemish cherries, which are not over ripe; put them into a jar, cover
them with cold vinegar, and let them stand for three weeks; pour off
two-thirds of the liquor and replace it with fresh vinegar; then, after
having drained it from the fruit, boil the whole with an ounce of
coriander seed, a small blade of mace, a few grains of cayenne, or a
teaspoonful of white peppercorns, and four bruised cochineals to every
quart, all tied loosely in a fold of muslin. Let the pickle become quite
cold before it is added to the cherries: in a month they will be fit for
use. The vinegar which is poured from the fruit makes a good syrup of
itself, when boiled with a pound of sugar to the pint, but it is
improved by having some fresh raspberries, cherries, or currants
previously infused in it for three or four days.
TO PICKLE GHERKINS.
Let the gherkins be gathered on a dry day, before the frost has touched
them; take off the blossoms, put them into a stone jar, and pour over
them sufficient boiling brine to cover them well. The following day take
them out, wipe them singly, lay them into a clean stone jar, with a
dozen bay leaves over them, and pour upon them the following pickle,
when it is boiling fast: as much vinegar as will more than cover the
gherkins by an inch or two, with an ounce and a quarter of salt, a
quarter-ounce of black peppercorns, an ounce and a half of ginger
sliced, or slightly bruised, and two small blades of mace to every
quart; put a plate over the jar, and leave it for two days, then drain
off the vinegar, and heat it afresh; when it boils, throw in the
gherkins, and keep them just on the point of simmering for two or three
minutes; pour the whole back into the jar, put the plate again upon it,
and let it remain until the pickle is quite cold, when a skin, or two
separate folds of thick brown paper, must be tied closely over it. The
gherkins thus pickled are very crisp, and excellent in flavour, and the
colour is sufficiently good to satisfy the prudent housekeeper, to whom
the brilliant and _poisonous_ green produced by boiling the vinegar in a
brass skillet (a process constantly recommended in books of cookery) is
anything but attractive. To satisfy ourselves of the effect produced by
the action of the acid on the metal, we had a few gherkins thrown into
some vinegar which was boiling in a brass pan, and nothing could be more
beautiful than the colour which they almost immediately exhibited. We
fear this dangerous method is too often resorted to in preparing pickles
for sale.
Brine to pour on gherkins:—6 oz. salt to each quart water: 24 hours.
Pickle:—to each quart vinegar, salt, 1-1/4 oz.; black peppercorns, 1/4
oz.; ginger, sliced or bruised, 1-1/2 oz.; mace, 2 small blades; bay
leaves; 24 to 100 gherkins, more when the flavour is liked: 2 days.
Gherkins simmered in vinegar, 2 to 3 minutes.
_Obs._—The quantity of vinegar required to cover the gherkins will be
shown by that of the brine: so much depends upon their size, that it is
impossible to direct the measure exactly. A larger proportion of spice
can be added at pleasure.
TO PICKLE GHERKINS.
(_A French Receipt._)
Brush or wipe the gherkins very clean, throw them into plenty of
fast-boiling water, and give them a single boil, take them out quickly,
and throw them immediately into a large quantity of very cold water;
change it once, and when the gherkins themselves are quite cold, drain
them well, spread them on sieves or dishes, and dry them in the air.
When this is done, put them into stone jars, and pour on them as much
boiling vinegar as will cover them well; heat it anew, and pour it on
them again the following day; and on the next throw them into it for a
minute so soon as it boils, with plenty of tarragon in branches, a few
very small silver onions, and salt and whole pepper in the same
proportions as in the receipt above. It should be observed that the
French vinegar, from its superior excellence, will have a very different
effect, in many preparations, to that which is made up for sale
generally in England.[172]
Footnote 172:
We have already spoken in Chapter VI. of the very superior _Vinaigre
de Bordeaux_ so largely imported by the Messrs. Kent and Sons, of
Upton-on-Severn, and sold by their agents in almost every town in
England. It may be procured in small quantities (bottled) of Mr.
Metcalfe, Foreign Warehouse, Southampton Row, London, and of other
agents, whose names may easily be known by applying to the Messrs.
Kent themselves.
TO PICKLE PEACHES, AND PEACH MANGOES.
Take, at their full growth, just before they begin to ripen, six large
or eight moderate-sized peaches; wipe the down from them, and put them
into brine that will float an egg. In three days let them be taken out,
and drained on a sieve reversed for several hours. Boil in a quart of
vinegar for ten minutes two ounces of whole white pepper, two of ginger
slightly bruised, a teaspoonful of salt, two blades of mace, half a
pound of mustard-seed, and a half-teaspoonful of cayenne tied in a bit
of muslin. Lay the peaches into a jar, and pour the boiling pickle on
them: in two months they will be fit for use.
Peaches, 6 or 8: in brine three days. Vinegar, 1 quart; whole white
pepper, 2 oz.; bruised ginger, 2 oz.; salt, 1 teaspoonful; mace, 2
blades; mustard-seed, 1/2 lb.: 10 minutes.
_Obs._—The peaches may be converted into excellent mangoes by cutting
out from the stalk-end of each, a round of sufficient size to allow the
stone to be extracted: this should be done after they are taken from the
brine. They may be filled with _very fresh_ mustard-seed, previously
washed in a little vinegar; to this a small portion of garlic, or
bruised eschalots, cayenne, horseradish, chilies (the most appropriate
of any), or spice of any kind may be added, to the taste. The part cut
out must be replaced, and secured with a packthread crossed over the
fruit.
SWEET PICKLE OF MELON. (FOREIGN RECEIPT.)
(_To serve with Roast Meat._)
Take, within three or four days of their being fully ripe, one or two
well-flavoured melons; just pare off the outer rind, clear them from the
seeds, and cut them into slices of about half an inch thick; lay them
into good vinegar, and let them remain in it for ten days; then cover
them with cold fresh vinegar, and simmer them very gently until they are
tender. Lift them on to a sieve reversed, to drain, and when they are
quite cold stick a couple of cloves into each slice, lay them into a jar
(a glass one, if at hand) and cover them well with cold syrup, made with
ten ounces of sugar to the pint of water, boiled quickly together for
twenty minutes. In about a week take them from the syrup, let it drain
from them a little, then put them into jars in which they are to be
stored, and cover them again thoroughly with good vinegar, which has
been boiled for an instant, and left to become quite cold before it is
added to them.
This pickle is intended to be served more particularly with roast
mutton, hare, and venison, instead of currant jelly, but it is very good
with stewed meat also. Small blades of cinnamon, and a larger proportion
of cloves are sometimes stuck into the melon, but their flavour should
not prevail too strongly. We have found the receipt answer extremely
well as we have given it, when tried with small green melons, cut within
four days of being fit for table.
Melons not quite ripe, pared from hard rind and sliced, 1 or 2: in
vinegar 10 days. Simmered in it until tender. In syrup 6 to 7 days. In
fresh vinegar to remain. Ready to serve in a month.
_A Common Sweet Pickle of Melon._—Prepare the fruit as above. In a
fortnight simmer it until tender; drain, and lay it into jars, and pour
on it while just warm, a pickle made with a pound and two ounces of
coarse brown sugar, twenty cloves, and half a drachm of cinnamon to the
pint of vinegar, boiled together for ten minutes.
TO PICKLE MUSHROOMS.
Select for this purpose the smallest buttons of the wild _meadow_
mushrooms, in preference to those which are artificially raised, and let
them be as freshly gathered as possible. Cut the stems off quite close,
and clean them with a bit of new flannel slightly moistened, and dipped
into fine salt; throw them as they are done into plenty of spring-water,
mixed with a large spoonful of salt, but drain them from it quickly
afterwards, and lay them into a soft cloth to dry, or the moisture which
hangs about them will too much weaken the pickle. For each quart of the
mushrooms thus prepared, take _nearly_ a quart of the palest white wine
vinegar (this is far superior to the distilled vinegar generally used
for the purpose, and the variation in the colour of the mushrooms will
be very slight), and add to it a heaped teaspoonful of salt, half an
ounce of whole white pepper, an ounce of ginger, sliced or slightly
bruised, about the fourth of a saltspoonful of cayenne tied in a small
bit of muslin, and two large blades of mace: to these may be added half
a small nutmeg, sliced, but too much spice will entirely overpower the
fine natural flavour of the mushrooms. When the pickle boils throw them
in, and boil them in it over a clear fire moderately fast from six to
nine minutes, or somewhat longer, should they _not_ be very small. When
they are much disproportioned in size, the larger ones should have two
minutes boil before the others are thrown into the vinegar. As soon as
they are tolerably tender, put them at once into small stone jars, or
into _warm_ wide-necked bottles, and divide the spice equally amongst
them. The following day, or as soon as they are perfectly cold, secure
them from the air with large corks, or tie skins and paper over them.
They should be stored in a dry place, and guarded from severe frost.
When the colour of the mushrooms is more considered than the excellence
of the pickle, the distilled vinegar can be used for it. The reader may
rely upon this receipt as a really good one; we have had it many times
proved, and it is altogether our own.
Mushroom buttons (without the stems), 2 quarts; palest white wine
vinegar, short 1/2 gallon; salt, _large_ dessertspoonful, or 1-1/2 oz.;
white peppercorns, 1 oz.; whole ginger, 2 oz.; cayenne, small 1/2
saltspoonful; 1 small nutmeg.
MUSHROOMS IN BRINE.
_For Winter Use._ (_Very Good._)
We have had small mushroom-buttons excellently preserved through the
winter prepared as follows, and we therefore give the exact proportions
which we had used for them, though the same quantity of brine would
possibly allow of rather more mushrooms in it. Prepare them exactly as
for the preceding pickle, and measure them after the stems are taken
off. For each quart, boil together for five minutes two quarts of water,
with half a pound of common white salt, a small dessertspoonful of white
peppercorns, a couple of blades of mace, and a race of ginger; take off
the scum thoroughly, and throw in the mushrooms; boil them gently for
about five minutes, then put them into well-warmed, wide-necked bottles,
and let them become perfectly cold; pour a little good salad-oil on the
top, cork them with new corks, and tie bladder over, or cover them with
two separate bladders. When wanted for use, soak the mushrooms in warm
water until the brine is sufficiently extracted.
Mushrooms, 1 quart; water, 1/2 gallon; salt, 1/2 lb.; peppercorns, 1
small dessertspoonful; mace, 2 blades; ginger, 1 race: 5 minutes.
Mushrooms, in brine: 5 minutes.
TO PICKLE WALNUTS.
The walnuts for this pickle must be gathered while a pin can pierce them
_easily_, for when once the shell can be felt, they have ceased to be in
a proper state for it. Make sufficient brine to cover them well, with
six ounces of salt to the quart of water; take off the scum, which will
rise to the surface as the salt dissolves, throw in the walnuts, and
stir them night and morning; change the brine every three days, and if
they are wanted for immediate eating, leave them in it for twelve days;
otherwise, drain them from it in nine, spread them on dishes, and let
them remain exposed to the air until they become black: this will be in
twelve hours, or less. Make a pickle for them with something more than
half a gallon of vinegar to the hundred, a teaspoonful of salt, two
ounces of black pepper, three of bruised ginger, a drachm of mace, and
from a quarter to half an ounce of cloves (of which some may be stuck
into three or four small onions), and four ounces of mustard-seed. Boil
the whole of these together for about five minutes; have the walnuts
ready in a stone jar or jars, and pour it on them as it is taken from
the fire. When the pickle is quite cold, cover the jar securely, and
store it in a dry place. Keep the walnuts always well covered with
vinegar, and boil that which is added to them.
Walnuts, 100; in brine made with 12 oz. salt to 2 quarts water, and
changed twice or more, 9 or 12 days. Vinegar, _full_ 1/2 gallon; salt, 1
teaspoonful; whole black pepper, 2 oz.; ginger, 3 oz.; mace, 1 drachm;
cloves, 1/4 to 1/2 oz.; small onions, 4 to 6; mustard-seed, 4 oz.: 5
minutes.
TO PICKLE BEET-ROOT.
Boil the beet-root tender by the directions of page 329, and when it is
quite cold, pare and slice it; put it into a jar, and cover it with
vinegar previously boiled and allowed to become again perfectly cold: it
will soon be ready for use. It is excellent when merely covered with
chili vinegar. A few small shalots may be boiled in the pickle for it
when their flavour is liked. Carrots boiled tolerably tender in salt and
water may be prepared by this receipt with or without the addition of
the shalots, or with a few _very_ small silver onions, which should be
boiled for a minute or two in the pickle: this should be poured _hot_ on
the carrots.
To each quart of vinegar, salt, 1 teaspoonful; cayenne tied in muslin,
1/2 saltspoonful, or white peppercorns, 1/2 to whole oz.
PICKLED ESCHALOTS.
(_Author’s Receipt._)
For a quart of ready-peeled eschalots, add to the same quantity of the
best pale white wine vinegar, a dessertspoonful of salt, and an ounce of
whole white pepper; bring these quickly to a boil, take off the scum,
throw in the eschalots, simmer them for two minutes only, turn them into
a clean stone jar, and when they are quite cold, tie a skin, or two
folds of thick paper over it.
Eschalots, 1 quart; vinegar, 1 quart; salt, 1 dessertspoonful; whole
white pepper, 1 oz.
_Obs._—The sooner the eschalots are pickled after they are ripe and dry,
the better they will be.
PICKLED ONIONS.
Take the smallest onions that can be procured,[173] just after they are
harvested, for they are never in so good a state for the purpose as
then; proceed, after having peeled them, exactly as for the eschalots,
and when they begin to look clear, which will be in three or four
minutes, put them into jars, and pour the pickle on them. The vinegar
should be very pale, and their colour will then be exceedingly well
preserved. Any favourite spices can be added to it.
Footnote 173:
The Reading onion is the proper kind for pickling.
TO PICKLE LEMONS, AND LIMES.
(_Excellent._)
Wipe eight fine sound lemons very clean, and make, at equal distances,
four deep incisions in each, from the stalk to the blossom end, but
without dividing the fruit; stuff them with as much salt as they will
contain, lay them into a deep dish, and place them in a sunny window, or
in some warm place for a week or ten days, keeping them often turned and
basted with their own liquor; then rub them with some good pale
turmeric, and put them with their juice, into a stone jar with a small
head of garlic, divided into cloves and peeled, and a dozen small onions
stuck with twice as many cloves. Boil in two quarts of white wine
vinegar, half a pound of ginger slightly bruised, two ounces of whole
black pepper, and half a pound of mustard-seed; take them from the fire
and pour them directly on the lemons; cover the jar with a plate, and
let them remain until the following day, then add to the pickle half a
dozen capsicums (or a few chilies, if more convenient), and tie a skin
and a fold of thick paper over the jar.
Large lemons stuffed with salt, 8: 8 to 10 days. Turmeric, 1 to 2 oz.;
ginger, 1/2 lb.; mustard-seed, 1/2 lb.; capsicums, 6 oz.
_Obs._—The turmeric and garlic may, we think, be omitted from this
pickle with advantage. It will remain good for seven years if the lemons
be kept well covered with vinegar: that which is added to them should be
boiled and then left till cold before it is poured into the jar. They
will not be fit for table in less than twelve months; but if wanted for
more immediate use, set them for one night into a very cool oven: they
may then be eaten almost directly.
Limes must have but slight incisions made in the rinds; and they will be
sufficiently softened in four or five days. Two ounces of salt only will
be required for half a dozen; and all which remains unmelted must, with
their juice, be put into the jar with them before the vinegar is poured
on: this should be mixed with spice and mustard-seed, and be boiling
when it is added to the limes.
LEMON MANGOES.
(_Author’s Original Receipt._)
All pickles of vegetables or fruit which have been emptied and filled
with various ingredients, are called in England _mangoes_, having
probably first been prepared in imitation of that fruit, but none that
we have ever tasted, bearing the slightest resemblance to it. Young
melons, large cucumbers, vegetable-marrow, and peaches are all thus
designated when prepared as we have described. Lemons may be converted
into an excellent pickle of the same description in the following
manner.
After having removed from the blossom end of each a circular bit of the
rind about the size of a shilling, proceed to scoop out all the pulp and
skin with the handle of a teaspoon; rinse the insides of the rinds until
the water from them is clear; throw them into plenty of brine made with
half a pound of salt to two quarts of water, and stir them down in it
often during the time. In three days change the brine, and leave them
for three days longer; then drain them from it on a sieve, fill them
with bruised or whole mustard-seed, very small chilies, young scraped
horseradish, very small eschalots, a little ginger sliced thin, or aught
else that may be liked. Sew in the parts that have been cut out, lay the
lemons into a stone jar, and pour boiling on them a pickle made of their
own juice, which when they are first emptied should be squeezed from the
pulp through a cloth, and boiled with sufficient vinegar to keep it,—a
large saltspoonful of salt, half an ounce each of ginger and of white
peppercorns, and a blade or two of mace to every quart; or prepare them
like the whole lemons, omitting the turmeric; and soften them if wanted
for immediate eating as directed for them. They may be filled simply
with mustard-seed, horseradish, and spice, if preferred so.
This receipt has been in print before, but without the author’s name.
TO PICKLE NASTURTIUMS.
These should be gathered quite young, and a portion of the buds, when
very small, should be mixed with them. Prepare a pickle by dissolving an
ounce and a half of salt in a quart of pale vinegar, and throw in the
berries as they become fit, from day to day. They are used instead of
capers for sauce, and by some persons are preferred to them. When
purchased for pickling, put them at once into a jar, and cover them well
with the vinegar.
TO PICKLE RED CABBAGE.
Strip off the outer leaves, wipe, and slice a fine sound cabbage or two
extremely thin, sprinkle plenty of salt over them, and let them drain in
a sieve, or on a strainer for twelve hours or more; shake or press the
moisture from them; put them into clean stone jars, and cover them
_well_ with cold vinegar, in which an ounce of black pepper to the quart
has been boiled. Some persons merely cover the vegetable with strong,
unboiled vinegar, but this is not so well.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER XXVI.
=Cakes.=
[Illustration:
Modern Cake Mould.
]
GENERAL REMARKS ON CAKES.
[Illustration:
Mould for Buns.
]
WE have inserted here but a comparatively limited number of receipts for
these “_sweet poisons_,” as they have been emphatically called, and we
would willingly have diminished still further even the space which has
been allotted to them, that we might have had room in their stead for
others of a more really useful character; but we have felt reluctant to
withdraw such a portion of any of the chapters as might materially alter
the original character of the work, or cause dissatisfaction to any of
our kind readers; we will therefore content ourselves with remarking,
that more illness is caused by habitual indulgence in the richer and
heavier kinds of cakes than would easily be credited by persons who have
given no attention to the subject.
Amongst those which have the worst effects are almond, and plum _pound_
cakes, as they are called; all varieties of the _brioche_; and such
others as contain a large quantity of butter and eggs.
The least objectionable are simple buns, biscuits, yeast and sponge
cakes, and _meringues_; these last being extremely light and delicate,
and made of white of egg and sugar only, are really not unwholesome.
The ingredients for cakes, as well as for puddings, should all be fresh
and good, as well as free from damp; the lightness of many kinds depends
entirely on that given to the eggs by whisking, and by the manner in
which the whole is mixed. A _small_ portion of carbonate of soda, which
will not be in the slightest degree perceptible to the taste after the
cake is baked, if thrown in just before the mixture is put into the
oven, will ensure its rising well.
To guard against the bitterness so often imparted by yeast when it is
used for cakes or biscuits, it should be _sparingly_ added, and the
sponge should be left twice the usual time to rise. This method will be
found to answer equally with bread. For example: should a couple of
spoonsful of yeast be ordered in a receipt, when it is bitter, use but
one, and let it stand two hours instead of half the time: the
fermentation, though slow, will be quite as perfect as if it were more
quickly effected, and the cake or loaf thus made will not become dry by
any means as soon as if a larger portion of yeast were mixed with it.
The German yeast when fresh is preferable to any other for all light
cakes, being made without hops and therefore never bitter.
All light cakes require a rather brisk oven to raise and set them; very
large rich ones a well-sustained degree of heat sufficient to bake them
through; and small sugar-cakes a slow oven, to prevent their taking a
deep colour before they are half done: gingerbread, too, should be
gently baked, unless it be of the light thick kind. Meringues,
macaroons, and ratafias, will bear a slight degree more of heat than
these.
For sponge and savoy cakes the moulds should be thickly and evenly
buttered, and fine sugar shaken in them until they are equally covered
with it: the loose sugar must be turned out before they are used.
To ascertain whether a cake be done, thrust a larding needle or bright
skewer into the centre, and should this come out clean, draw it from the
oven directly; but should the paste adhere to it, continue the baking.
Several sheets of paper are placed usually under large plum-cakes.
Cakes are rendered heavy by moving or shaking them after they have risen
in the oven, and before they have become firm. They should be gently
loosened and turned from the moulds when sufficiently baked and set for
a short time just at the mouth of the oven to dry the surface, then laid
upon their sides on a sieve until cold.
TO BLANCH AND TO POUND ALMONDS.
Put them into a saucepan with plenty of cold water, and heat it slowly;
when it is just scalding turn the almonds into a basin, peel, and throw
them into cold water as they are done: dry them well in a soft cloth
before they are used. If the water be too hot it will turn them yellow.
Almonds are more easily pounded, and less liable to become oily, if
dried a little in a very gentle degree of heat after they are blanched;
left, for example, in a warm room for two or three days, lightly spread
on a large dish or tin. They should be sprinkled during the beating with
a few drops of cold water, or white of egg, or lemon-juice, and pounded
to a smooth paste: this is more easily done, we believe, when they are
first roughly chopped, but we prefer to have them thrown at once into
the mortar.
TO REDUCE ALMONDS TO A PASTE.
(_The quickest and easiest way._)
Chop them a little on a large and very clean trencher, then with a paste
roller (rolling-pin), which ought to be thicker in the middle than at
the ends, roll them well until no small bits are perceptible amongst
them. We have found this method answer admirably; but as some of the oil
is expressed from the almonds by it, and absorbed by the board, we would
recommend a marble slab for them in preference, when it is at hand; and
should they be intended for a sweet dish, that some pounded sugar should
be strewed under them. When a board or strong trencher is used, it
should be rather higher in the middle than at the sides.
TO COLOUR ALMONDS OR SUGAR-GRAINS, OR SUGAR-CANDY, FOR CAKES, OR PASTRY.
Blanch, dry, and chop them rather coarsely; pour a little prepared
cochineal into the hands, and roll the almonds between them until they
are equally coloured; then spread them on a sheet of paper, and place
them in a _very_ gentle degree of heat to dry. Use spinach-juice (see
page 455), to colour them green, and a strong infusion of saffron to
give them a yellow tint. They have a pretty effect when strewed over the
icing of tarts or cakes, especially the rose-coloured ones, which should
be rather pale. The sugar is prepared in the same way, after being first
broken into lumps, and then, with the end of a paste-roller, into grains
about the size of a pea; but unless it be dry and hard, and carefully
done, it will absorb too much of the cochineal: when but slightly
coloured it is very ornamental dropped on the borders of creamed
_tourtes_, or on other varieties of fine pastry. White sugar-candy
broken into large grains or crystals and coloured in the same manner has
a yet better effect.
TO PREPARE BUTTER FOR RICH CAKES.
For all large and very rich cakes the usual directions are, _to beat the
butter to a cream_; but we find that they are quite as light when it is
cut small and gently melted with just so much heat as will dissolve it,
and no more. If it be shaken round in a saucepan previously warmed, and
held near the fire for a short time, it will soon be liquefied, which is
all that is required: it must on no account be _hot_ when it is added to
the other ingredients, to which it must be poured in small portions
after they are all mixed, in the way which we have minutely described in
the receipt for a Madeira cake, and that of the Sutherland puddings
(Chapter XXI.) To _cream_ it, drain the water well from it after it is
cut, soften it a little before the fire should it be very hard, and then
with the back of a large strong wooden spoon beat it until it resembles
thick cream. When prepared thus, the sugar is added to it first, and
then the other ingredients in succession. For plum-cakes it is better
creamed than liquefied, as the fruit requires a paste of some
consistence to prevent its sinking to the bottom of the mould in which
it is baked. For plain seed-cakes the more simple plan answers
perfectly.
TO WHISK EGGS FOR LIGHT RICH CAKES.
Break them one by one, and separate the yolks from the whites: this is
done easily by pouring the yolk from one half of the shell to the other,
and letting the white drop from it into a basin beneath. With a small
three-pronged fork take out the specks from each egg as it is broken,
that none may accidentally escape notice. Whisk the yolks until they
appear light, and the whites until they are a quite solid froth; while
any liquid remains at the bottom of the bowl they are not sufficiently
beaten: when a portion of them, taken up with the whisk, and dropped
from it, remains standing in points, they are in the proper state for
use, and should be mixed with the cake directly.
SUGAR GLAZINGS AND ICINGS.
(_For Fine Pastry and Cakes._)
The clear glaze which resembles barley sugar, and which requires to be
as carefully guarded from damp, is given by just dipping the surface of
the pastry into liquid _caramel_ (see Chapter XXVII.); or by sifting
sugar thickly over it directly it is drawn from the oven, and melting it
down with a salamander, or red-hot shovel held closely over it; or by
setting it again into an oven sufficiently heated to dissolve the sugar:
though this latter method is not so well, as there is danger from it of
the paste being scorched. To make a fine white or coloured icing, whisk,
as directed above, the whites of four fresh eggs to a perfectly solid
froth, then, with a wooden spoon or spatula, mix gradually with them one
pound of the best sugar, which has been dried, and sifted through a fine
sieve: work them together for a minute or two, and add less than a
dessertspoonful of strained lemon-juice; spread it even over the cake or
pastry, and dry it _very gently indeed_, either in a quite cool oven, or
in a meat screen placed before the fire. From the difference in the size
of eggs, a little more or less of sugar may be required for this icing.
It may be coloured with a very few drops of prepared cochineal to give
it a rose tint.
Whites of eggs beaten to snow, 4; sugar, 1 lb.; lemon-juice, small
dessertspoonful.
ORANGE-FLOWER MACAROONS. (DELICIOUS.)
Have ready two pounds of very dry white sifted sugar. Weigh two ounces
of the petals of freshly gathered orange-blossoms after they have been
picked from the stems; and cut them very small with a pair of scissors
_into_ the sugar, as they will become discoloured if not mixed with it
quickly after they are cut. When all are done, add the whites of seven
eggs, and whisk the whole well together until it looks like snow; then
drop the mixture on paper without delay, and send the cakes to a very
cool oven.
Pounded sugar, 2 lbs.; orange-blossoms, 2 oz.; whites of eggs, 7:20
minutes or more.
_Obs._—It is almost impossible to state with accuracy the precise time
required for these cakes, so much depends on the oven: they should be
very delicately coloured, and yet dried through.
ALMOND MACAROONS.
Blanch a pound of fresh Jordan almonds, wipe them dry, and set them into
a very cool oven to render them perfectly so; pound them to an
exceedingly smooth paste, with a little white of egg, then whisk to a
firm solid froth the white of seven eggs, or of eight, should they be
small; mix with them a pound and a half of the finest sugar; add these
by degrees to the almonds, whisk the whole up well together, and drop
the mixture upon wafer-paper, which may be procured at the
confectioner’s: bake the cakes in a moderate oven a very pale brown. It
is an improvement to their flavour to substitute an ounce of bitter
almonds for one of the sweet. They are sometimes made with an equal
weight of each; and another variety of them is obtained by gently
browning the almonds in a slow oven before they are pounded.
Jordan almonds blanched, 1 lb.; sugar, 1-1/2 lb.; whites of 7 or 8 eggs:
15 to 20 minutes.
VERY FINE COCOA-NUT MACAROONS.
Rasp a fresh cocoa-nut, spread it on a dish or tin, and let it dry
gradually for a couple of days, if it can be done conveniently; add to
it double its weight of fine sifted sugar, and the whites of eight eggs
beaten to a solid froth (see page 543), to the pound. Roll the mixture
into small balls, place them on a buttered tin, and bake them in a very
gentle oven about twenty minutes. Move them from the tin while they are
warm, and store them in a very dry canister as soon as they are cold.
Cocoa-nut, 1/2 lb.; sugar, 1 lb.; whites of eggs, 8: very gentle oven,
20 minutes.
IMPERIALS. (NOT VERY RICH.)
Work into a pound of flour six ounces of butter, and mix well with them
half a pound of sifted sugar, six ounces of currants, two ounces of
candied orange-peel, the grated rind of a lemon, and four well-beaten
eggs. Flour a tin lightly, and with a couple of forks place the paste
upon it in small rough heaps quite two inches apart. Bake them in a
_very_ gentle oven, from a quarter of an hour to twenty minutes, or
until they are equally coloured to a pale brown.
Flour 1 lb.; butter, 6 oz.; sugar, 8 oz.; currants, 6 oz.; candied peel,
2 oz.; rind of 1 lemon; eggs, 4: 15 to 20 minutes.
FINE ALMOND CAKE.
Blanch, dry, and pound to the finest possible paste, eight ounces of
fresh Jordan almonds, and one ounce of bitter; moisten them with a few
drops of cold water or white of egg, to prevent their oiling; then mix
with them _very_ gradually twelve fresh eggs which have been whisked
until they are _exceedingly_ light; throw in by degrees one pound of
fine, dry, sifted sugar, and _keep_ the mixture light by constant
beating, with a large wooden spoon, as the separate ingredients are
added. Mix in by degrees three-quarters of a pound of dried and sifted
flour of the best quality; then pour gently from the sediment a pound of
butter which has been just melted, but not allowed to become hot, and
beat it very gradually, but very thoroughly, into the cake, letting one
portion entirely disappear before another is thrown in; add the rasped
or finely-grated rinds of two sound fresh lemons, fill a
thickly-buttered mould rather more than half full with the mixture, and
bake the cake from an hour and a half to two hours in a well-heated
oven. Lay paper over the top when it is sufficiently coloured, and guard
carefully against its being burned.
Jordan almonds, 1/2 lb.; bitter almonds, 1 oz.; eggs, 12; sugar, 1 lb.;
flour, 3/4 lb.; butter, 1 lb.; rinds lemons, 2: 1-1/2 to 2 hours.
_Obs._—Three-quarters of a pound of almonds may be mixed with this cake
when so large a portion of them is liked, but an additional ounce or two
of sugar, and one egg or more, will then be required.
PLAIN POUND OR CURRANT CAKE.
(_Or rich Brawn Brack, or Borrow Brack._)
Mix, as directed in the foregoing receipt, ten eggs (some cooks take a
pound in weight of these), one pound of sugar, one of flour, and as much
of butter. For a plum-cake, let the butter be worked to a cream; add the
sugar to it first, then the yolks of the eggs, next stir lightly in the
whites, after which, add one pound of currants and the candied peel,
and, last of all, the flour by degrees, and a glass of brandy when it is
liked. Nearly or quite two hours’ baking will be required for this, and
one hour for half the quantity.
To convert the above into the popular Irish “speckled bread,” or _Brawn
Brack_ of the richer kind, add to it three ounces of carraway-seeds:
these are sometimes used in combination with the currants, but more
commonly without. To ice a cake see the receipt for Sugar Glazings at
the commencement of this Chapter, page 543. A rose-tint may be given to
the icing with a little prepared cochineal, as we have said there.
RICE CAKE.
Take six eggs, with their weight in fine sugar, and in butter also, and
half their weight of flour of rice, and half of wheaten flour; make the
cake as directed for the Madeira or almond cake, but throw in the rice
after the flour; then add the butter in the usual way, and bake the cake
about an hour and ten minutes. Give any flavour that is liked. The
butter may be altogether omitted. This is a moderate-sized cake.
Eggs, in the shell, 6; their weight in butter and in sugar; half as much
flour of rice, and the same of wheaten flour: 1 hour, 10 minutes.
WHITE CAKE.
Beat half a pound of fresh butter to a cream, add to it an equal weight
of dried and sifted sugar, the yolks and whites of eight eggs,
separately whisked, two ounces of candied orange-peel, half a
teaspoonful of mace, a glass of brandy, one pound of flour strewed in by
degrees, and last of all a pound and a quarter of currants. Directly it
is mixed send the cake to a well-heated oven, and bake it for two hours.
Four ounces of pounded almonds are sometimes added to it.
Butter, 1/2 lb.; sugar, 1/2 lb.; eggs, 8; mace, 1/2 teaspoonful; brandy,
1 wineglassful; flour, 1 lb.; candied-peel, 2 oz.; currants, 1-1/2 lb.:
2 hours.
A GOOD SPONGE CAKE.
Rasp on some lumps of well-refined sugar the rind of a fine sound lemon,
and scrape off the part which has imbibed the essence, or crush the
lumps to powder, and add them to as much more as will make up the weight
of eight or ten fresh eggs in the shell; break these one by one, and
separate the whites from the yolks; beat the latter in a large bowl for
ten minutes, then strew in the sugar gradually, and beat them well
together. In the mean time let the whites be whisked to a quite solid
froth, add them to the yolks, and when they are well blended sift and
_stir_ the flour gently to them, but do not beat it into the mixture;
pour the cake into a well-buttered mould, and bake it an hour and a
quarter in a moderate oven.
Rasped rind, 1 large lemon; fresh eggs, 8 or 10; their weight of dry,
sifted sugar; and half their weight of flour: baked, 1-1/4 hour,
moderate oven.
A SMALLER SPONGE CAKE.
(_Very good._)
Five full-sized eggs, the weight of four in sugar, and of nearly three
in flour, will make an exceedingly good cake: it may be flavoured, like
the preceding one, with lemon-rind, or with bitter almonds, vanilla, or
confected orange-blossoms reduced to powder. An hour will bake it
thoroughly. All the ingredients for sponge cakes should be of good
quality, and the sugar and flour should be dry; they should also be
passed through a fine sieve kept expressly for such purposes. The
excellence of the whole depends much on the manner in which the eggs are
whisked: this should be done as lightly as possible, but it is a mistake
to suppose that they cannot be too long beaten, as after they are
brought to a state of perfect firmness they are injured by a
continuation of the whisking, and will at times curdle, and render a
cake heavy from this cause.
FINE VENETIAN CAKE OR CAKES.
Take of sound Jordan almonds, blanched and well dried at the mouth of a
cool oven or in a sunny window, seven ounces, full weight, and one of
bitter almonds with them; pound the whole to a perfect paste with a few
drops of white of egg or orange-flower water; then mix them thoroughly
with one pound of flour and eight ounces of butter (which should be cool
and firm, or it will render the paste too soft), and break this down
quite small; then add eight ounces of pounded sugar, on part of which
the rind of a fine lemon has been rasped previously to its being crushed
to powder. Make these into a paste with the yolks of four eggs, or with
rather less should they be large, for if too moist, it will adhere to
the board and roller. To make a Venetian cake of moderate size, roll the
paste less than a quarter of an inch thick, and cut with the larger
fluted cutter, shown at page 376, six or seven portions of equal size;
lay them on lightly floured or buttered tins, and bake them in a slow
oven until they are firm and crisp, and equally coloured of a pale
brown. Should they seem to require it, lay them one on the other, while
they are still warm, and place a baking-tin, with a slight weight upon
them to render them quite level. When they are cold, spread upon each a
different kind of choice preserve, and pile the whole evenly into the
form of an entire cake. The top may be iced, and decorated with
pistachio-nuts, or grains of coloured sugar, or with a wreath of
almond-paste leaves. There are many varieties of this dish, which is
known by different names in different countries. It is sometimes called
a Neapolitan Cake, sometimes a Thousand Leaf Cake _à la Française_. It
is occasionally made entirely of almond-paste, and highly decorated; it
may be formed also of many layers of puff or fine short crust cut of
uniform size, or gradually less, so as to leave round each a clear
border of an inch wide, which may be covered with coloured icing, or
ornamented with preserved fruit, tinted almonds, grains of white or pink
sugar candy, or aught else that the fancy may direct.
To make the small Venetian cakes, roll the paste directed for the large
one at the commencement of this receipt, into balls, flatten them with
the hand to about the third of an inch thick, brush them with beaten
egg, and cover them plentifully with white sugar-candy crushed about
half the size of a pea: bake them in a slow oven.
Almonds, 8 oz.; flour, 1 lb.; butter, 8 oz.; sugar, 1/2 lb.; rind of 1
lemon; yolks of eggs, 3 to 4; preserve as needed.
A GOOD MADEIRA CAKE.
Whisk four fresh eggs until they are as light as possible, then,
continuing still to whisk them, throw in by _slow_ degrees the following
ingredients in the order in which they are written: six ounces of dry,
pounded, and sifted sugar; six of flour, also dried and sifted; four
ounces of butter just dissolved, but not heated; the rind of a fresh
lemon; and the instant before the cake is moulded, beat well in the
third of a teaspoonful of carbonate of soda: bake it an hour in a
moderate oven. In this, as in all compositions of the same nature,
observe particularly that each portion of butter must be beaten into the
mixture until no appearance of it remains before the next is added; and
if this be done, and the preparation be kept light by constant and light
whisking, the cake will be as good, if not better, than if the butter
were creamed. Candied citron can be added to the paste, but it is not
needed.
Eggs, 4; sugar, 6 oz.; flour, 6 oz.; butter, 4 oz.; rind of 1 lemon;
carbonate of soda, 1/3 of teaspoonful: 1 hour, moderate oven.
A SOLIMEMNE.
_A rich French breakfast cake, or Sally Lunn._
From three-quarters of a pound of flour take three ounces for the
leaven, and make it into a lithe paste with half an ounce of solid,
well-washed yeast (see Chapter XXXI.), mixed with two or three
tablespoonsful of just warm cream, or new milk; throw a cloth over and
leave it near the fire to rise for about half an hour, or until it is
twice its original size. In the interim make a hollow in the centre of
the remainder of the flour, and put into it a quarter of an ounce of
fine salt, one ounce of pounded sugar, the yolks of four fresh eggs,
four ounces of lukewarm butter, and a couple of tablespoonsful of cream,
also warm. Mix the whole gently and carefully into a perfectly smooth
paste, flatten it with the hand upon the dresser, spread the leaven over
it, and blend them thoroughly with light kneading, as directed for
_brioche_ paste, page 349. The whole should be of the same colour
throughout.
Next, put it into a small, well-buttered copper stewpan, or plain
cake-mould, and let it remain in a moderately warm place until it has
risen, like the leaven, to double its original size; then with a
paste-brush or feather wash the top with beaten egg, and without
disturbing it, set it into a tolerably quick oven, and bake it nearly or
quite an hour; but do not allow it to be too deeply coloured. Turn it
from the mould, cut it once or twice asunder, and pour over the slices
plenty of good butter, just dissolved in a small saucepan; put the cake
together again, and serve it immediately. It may be converted into an
excellent _entremets_ by spreading currant, or other fine jelly, or
preserve, quickly upon it when it is cut, and sifting sugar thickly on
the top after it is restored to its proper form: it is then called a
Dresden cake. We think that when left until cold and toasted, the
solimemne is even better than when served hot. It will be many hours
rising; sometimes as many as six or eight. If wanted for breakfast it
should be made over night.
Flour 3/4 lb.; yeast, 1/2 oz.; little cream; salt, 1/4 oz.; sugar, 1
oz.; yolks of eggs, 4; butter, 4 oz.: to rise from 6 to 8 hours. Baked 1
hour.
BANBURY CAKES.
First, mix well together a pound of currants, cleaned with great nicety
and dried, a quarter-pound of beef suet, finely minced, three ounces
each of candied orange and lemon-rind, shred small, a few grains of
salt, a full quarter-ounce of pounded cinnamon and nutmeg mixed, and
four ounces of macaroons or ratafias rolled to powder. Next, make a
light paste with fourteen ounces of butter to the pound of flour; give
it an extra turn or two to prevent its rising too much in the oven; roll
out one half in a very thin square, and spread the mixed fruit and spice
equally upon it; moisten the edges, lay on the remaining half of the
paste, rolled equally thin, press the edges securely together, mark the
whole with the back of a knife in regular divisions of two inches wide
and three in length, bake the pastry in a well-heated oven from
twenty-five to thirty minutes, and divide it into cakes while it is
still warm. They may be served as a second course dish either hot or
cold, and may be glazed at pleasure.
Currants, 1 lb.; beef-suet, 4 oz.; candied orange and lemon-rind each, 3
oz.; salt, small pinch; mixed spices, 1/4 oz.; macaroons or ratafias, 4
oz.: baked 25 to 30 minutes.
MERINGUES.
[Illustration]
Whisk, to the firmest possible froth, the whites of six very fresh eggs,
taking every precaution against a particle of the yolk falling in
amongst them. Lay some squares or long strips of writing-paper closely
upon a board or upon very clean trenchers, which ought to be nearly or
quite an inch thick, to prevent the _meringues_ from receiving any
colour from the bottom of the oven. When all is ready, mix with the eggs
three-quarters of a pound of the finest sugar, well dried, and sifted;
stir them together for half a minute, then with a table or dessertspoon
lay the mixture quickly on the papers in the form of a half-egg, sift
sugar over them without delay, blow off with the bellows all that does
not adhere, and set the _meringues_ into a gentle oven. The process must
be expeditious, or the sugar melting will cause the cakes to spread,
instead of retaining the shape of the spoon, as they ought. The whole
art of making them, indeed, appears to us to consist in preserving their
proper form, and the larger the proportion of sugar worked into the
eggs, the more easily this will be done. When they are coloured to a
light brown, and are firm to the touch, draw them out, turn the papers
gently over, separating the _meringues_ from them, and with a teaspoon
scoop out sufficient of the insides to form a space for some whipped
cream or preserve, and put them again into the oven upon clean sheets of
paper, with the moist sides uppermost, to dry: when they are crisp
through they are done. Let them become cold; fill, and then join them
together with a little white of egg so as to give them the appearance
shown in the plate. Spikes of pistachio nuts, or almonds, can be stuck
over them, as represented there, at pleasure. They afford always, if
well made, a second course dish of elegant appearance, and they are
equally ornamental to breakfasts or suppers of ceremony. They are made
in perfection by the pastry-cooks in France, being equally light,
delicate, and delicious. Much of their excellence, it must be observed,
depends at all times on the attention they receive in the baking, as
well as in the previous preparation. They must, of course, be _quite_
cold before the preserve or cream is laid into them. From four to six
ounces of almonds, finely powdered, may be smoothly mixed with the other
ingredients for them; and they may be flavoured with citron, lemon, or
orange-rind by rasping the skins of the fruit with part of the sugar
with which they are to be made; then drying, and reducing it to powder.
Whites of very fresh eggs, 6; sugar, 3/4 lb.: gentle oven, 20 to 30
minutes.
ITALIAN MERINGUES.
Take for these the proportion of whites of eggs and sugar already
indicated in the receipt for Nesselrôde pudding, page 491, that is to
say, six to the pound, or half that quantity for a small number of
_meringues_. Boil the sugar with a pint of water until it whitens, and
begins to fall in flakes from the skimmer; have the eggs whisked to a
perfectly solid froth quite ready at the proper moment, and when the
sugar has stood for two or three minutes, and been worked well from the
sides of the pan, mingle them gradually, but very quickly, with it, that
the mass may be quite smooth; continue to stir them until they become
firm enough to retain their shape perfectly when moulded with a
teaspoon; lay out the cakes on paper, and place them in an oven so slow
as to harden without giving them colour. As they are not to be filled,
but merely fastened together, they may be baked on tins. Part of them
may be varied by the addition of three or four ounces of pounded almonds
mixed thoroughly with the remainder of the eggs and sugar, when a
portion of the _meringues_ have been moulded: these, however, will
require to be much longer baked than the others; but they will be
excellent. They should be lightly browned, and crisp quite through.
Sugar, 1 lb.; water, 1 pint; whites of eggs, 6: _very_ slow oven, 20 to
30 minutes, or longer.
THICK, LIGHT GINGERBREAD.
Crumble down very small, eight ounces of butter into a couple of pounds
of flour, then add to, and mix thoroughly with them, half a pound of
good brown sugar, two ounces of powdered ginger, and half an ounce of
ground carraway-seeds; beat gradually to these, first two pounds of
treacle, next three well-whisked eggs, and last of all half an ounce of
carbonate of soda,[174] dissolved in a very small cupful of warm water;
stir the whole briskly together, pour the mixture into very shallow
tins, put it immediately into a moderate oven, and bake it for an hour
and a half. The gingerbread made thus will be remarkably light and good.
For children part of the spice and butter may be omitted.
Footnote 174:
This should always be of the very best quality when used for cakes.
Carbonate of ammonia is recommended in preference to it by some
writers.
Flour, 2 lbs.; butter, 8 oz.; sugar, 1/2 lb.; powdered ginger, 2 oz.;
eggs, 3; carbonate of soda, 1/2 oz.; water, _very small_ cupful: baked
1-1/2 hour.
_Obs._—We think that something less than the half ounce of soda would be
sufficient for this gingerbread, for with the whole quantity it rises in
the oven to three times its height, and is apt to run over the tops of
the tins, even when they are but half filled with it at first; or if it
were well beaten into the mass without any water, after being carefully
freed from lumps and mixed with a little sugar, the cake would still be
quite light.
ACTON GINGERBREAD.
Whisk four strained or well-cleared eggs to the lightest possible froth
(French eggs, if really sweet, will answer for the purpose), and pour to
them, by degrees, a pound and a quarter of treacle, still beating them
lightly. Add, in the same manner, six ounces of pale brown sugar free
from lumps, one pound of sifted flour, and six ounces of good butter,
_just_ sufficiently warmed to be liquid, and no more, for if hot, it
would render the cake heavy; it should be poured in small portions to
the mixture, which should be well beaten up with the back of a wooden
spoon as each portion is thrown in: the success of the cake depends
almost entirely on this part of the process. When properly mingled with
the mass, the butter will not be perceptible on the surface; and if the
cake be kept light by constant whisking, large bubbles will appear in it
to the last. When it is so far ready, add to it one ounce of Jamaica
ginger and a large teaspoonful of cloves in fine powder, with the
lightly grated rinds of two fresh full-sized lemons. Butter thickly, in
every part, a shallow square tin pan, and bake the gingerbread slowly
for nearly or quite an hour in a gentle oven. Let it cool a little
before it is turned out, and set it on its edge until cold, supporting
it, if needful, against a large jar or bowl. We have usually had it
baked in an American oven, in a tin less than two inches deep; and it
has been excellent. We retain the name given to it originally in our own
circle.
CHEAP AND VERY GOOD GINGER OVEN-CAKE OR CAKES.
Four French eggs (which must be perfectly sweet, or small English ones),
six ounces of brown sugar of good quality rolled smooth and fine, six
ounces of flour, three of butter, a grain or two of salt, some grated
lemon-rind or candied peel sliced very thin, and half an ounce _or more_
of ginger in fine powder. Prepare and mix these ingredients in the order
in which they are written, by the directions for “Acton Gingerbread.”
Bake the cake nearly the same time. An American oven will answer for it
perfectly, and it will resemble a really rich cake, though so cheap. A
_small_ quantity of carbonate of soda may be added quite at last by
inexpert cake-makers, to insure its being light. The same mixture may be
baked in small cups or tins in an iron oven. For a cake of tolerable
size half as much again of the ingredients must be taken, and the whole
poured into a round or square cake-mould.
GOOD COMMON GINGERBREAD.
Work very smoothly six ounces of fresh butter (or some that has been
well washed from the salt, and wrung dry in a cloth) into one pound of
flour, and mix with them thoroughly an ounce of ginger in fine powder,
four ounces of brown sugar, and half a teaspoonful of beaten cloves and
mace. Wet these with three-quarters of a pound of cold treacle, or
rather more, if needful; roll out the paste, cut the cakes with a round
tin cutter, lay them on a floured or buttered baking tin, and put them
into a very slow oven. Lemon-grate or candied peel can be added, when it
is liked.
Flour, 1 lb.; butter, 6 oz.; sugar, 1/4 lb.; ginger, 1 oz.; cloves and
mace, 1/2 teaspoonful; treacle, 3/4 lb.: 1/2 to 3/4 hour.
RICHER GINGERBREAD.
Melt together three-quarters of a pound of treacle and half a pound of
fresh butter, and pour them hot on a pound of flour mixed with half a
pound of sugar and three-quarters of an ounce of ginger. When the paste
is quite cold, roll it out with as much more flour as will prevent its
adhering to the board: bake the cakes in a very gentle oven.
COCOA-NUT GINGERBREAD.
(_Original Receipts._)
Mix well together ten ounces of fine wheaten flour, and six of flour of
rice (or rice ground to powder), the grated rind of a lemon, and
three-quarters of an ounce of ginger: pour nearly boiling upon these a
pound of treacle, five ounces of fresh butter, and five of sugar, melted
together in a saucepan; beat the mixture, which will be almost a batter,
with a wooden spoon, and when quite smooth leave it until it is
perfectly cold, then add to it five ounces of grated cocoa-nut, and when
it is thoroughly blended with the other ingredients, lay the paste in
small heaps upon a buttered tin, and bake them in very slow oven from
half to three-quarters of an hour.
Flour, 10 oz.; ground rice, 6 oz.; rind of 1 lemon; ginger, 3/4 oz.;
treacle, 1 lb.; sugar, 5 oz.; butter, 5 oz.; cocoa-nut, 5 oz.: 1/2 to
3/4 hour.
Or: Flour, 1/2 lb.; ground rice, 1/2 lb.; ginger, 3/4 oz.; rind of 1
lemon; butter, 5 oz.; sugar, 5 oz.; treacle, 1 lb.; cocoa-nut, 6-1/2 oz.
_Obs._—The cakes made by them are excellent.
A DELICIOUS CREAM-CAKE AND SWEET RUSKS.
When in very sultry weather cream becomes acid from being sent to a
distance, or from other causes, it may still be made available for
delicate pastry-crust, and superlative cakes, biscuits, and bread; but
if ever so slightly _putrid_ it will be fit only to be thrown away. The
following receipt is given exactly as it was used with perfect success
on the thought of the moment, when we first had it tried. Crumble down
five ounces of good butter into a pound of fine flour, then mix
thoroughly with them half a pound of sifted sugar, a few grains of salt,
and two ounces of candied citron or orange-rind sliced thin; add
something more than half a pint of thick and rather sour cream mixed
with two well whisked eggs, and just before the paste is put into the
moulds, which should be buttered in every part and only two-thirds
filled, beat thoroughly into it half a teaspoonful of the very best
carbonate of soda, which has been perfectly blended with twice the
quantity of sugar and of flour, and rubbed through a fine sieve, or
worked to the smoothest powder in a mortar, or in any other way.
For the convenience of having it baked in a small iron oven, this
quantity was divided into two cakes, one of which was gently pulled
apart with a couple of forks while still hot, and then set again into
the oven and crisped with a gentle heat quite through: it was thus
converted into the very nicest sweet rusks. Sufficient cream should be
used for the cakes to convert the ingredients into a very lithe paste or
_thick_ batter, which can be properly worked or mixed with a wooden
spoon, with the back of which it should be very lightly beaten up before
it is moulded. About three-quarters of an hour will bake it in a
moderate oven. It should be firm on the surface—as all light cakes
should be—that it may not sink and become heavy after it is drawn out.
Turn it from the mould, and lay it on its _side_ upon a sieve reversed,
to cool.
A GOOD LIGHT LUNCHEON-CAKE AND BROWN BRACK.
Break down four ounces of butter into a couple of pounds of flour, and
work it quite into crumbs, but handle it very lightly; mix in a pinch of
salt and four ounces of pounded sugar; hollow the centre, and stir into
it a large tablespoonful of solid well-washed yeast (or an ounce of
German yeast which will ferment more quickly), diluted with
three-quarters of a pint of warm new milk; when sufficient of the
surrounding flour is mixed with it to form a thick batter strew more
flour on the top, lay a cloth once or twice folded together over the
pan, and let it remain until the leaven has become very light: this it
will generally be in an hour and a quarter, or, at the utmost, in an
hour and a half. The fermentation may be quickened by increasing the
proportion of yeast, but this is better avoided, as it may chance to
render the cake bitter; additional time, however, must always be allowed
for it to rise when but a small quantity is used. When the leaven is at
the proper height, add to a couple of well whisked eggs, sufficient
nearly-boiling milk to warm them, and mix them with the other
ingredients; then beat well into the cake by degrees, eight ounces more
of pounded sugar, and half a grated nutmeg; cut from two to three ounces
of candied citron thin, and strew over it; leave it again to rise, as
before, for about three-quarters of an hour; mix the citron equally with
it, put it into a thickly buttered tin or earthen pan, and bake it in a
quick oven for an hour and ten minutes at the least, and after it is
placed in it let it not be moved until it is quite set, or it will
possibly be heavy at the top. The grated rinds of a couple of lemons
will improve its flavour. Fine Lisbon sugar can be used to sweeten it
instead of pounded, but the difference of expense would be very slight,
and the cake would not be so good; the quantity can, of course, be
diminished when it is considered too much. Three-quarters of a pound of
currants can, at choice, be substituted for the citron. Three ounces of
carraway seeds will convert it into common _brown brack_, or Irish
seed-cake. For the manner of purifying yeast, see Chapter XXXI.
A VERY CHEAP LUNCHEON BISCUIT, OR NURSERY CAKE.
Two or three pounds of white bread dough taken when ready for the oven,
will make a good light biscuit if well managed, with the addition of
from half to three-quarters of a pound of sugar, a very small quantity
of butter, and a few currants, or carraway-seeds, or a teaspoonful of
mixed spices. The dough should be rather firm; the butter should first
be well kneaded into it in small portions, then the sugar added in the
same way, and next the currants or spice. The whole should be perfectly
and equally mingled, flour being slightly dredged upon it as it is
worked, if needful. It must then be allowed to rise until it is very
light, when it should again be kneaded down, but not heavily; and when
it has once more risen, it should be sent without delay to the oven. An
ounce of butter to the pound of dough will be sufficient for it. Much
richer cakes can be made thus, and they will be extremely good if care
be taken to let them rise sufficiently before they are baked. We regret
that we cannot multiply our receipts for them. Sultana raisins are an
excellent substitute for currants in these and other common cakes.
ISLE OF WIGHT DOUGH-NUTS.
Work smoothly together with the fingers four ounces of good lard, and
four pounds of flour; add half a pound of fine brown sugar, two
tablespoonsful of allspice, one drachm of pounded cinnamon, half as much
of cloves, two large blades of mace, beaten to powder, two
tablespoonsful of fresh yeast which has been watered for one night, and
which should be solid, and as much new milk as will make the whole into
a rather firm dough; let this stand from an hour to an hour and a half
near the fire, then knead it well, and make it into balls about the size
of a small apple; hollow them with the thumb, and enclose a few currants
in the middle; gather the paste well over them, and throw the dough-nuts
into a saucepan half filled with boiling lard; when they are equally
coloured to a fine brown, lift them out and dry them before the fire on
the back of a sieve. When they are made in large quantities, as they are
at certain seasons in the island, they are drained upon very clean
straw. The lard should boil only just before they are dropped into it,
or the outsides will be scorched before the insides are sufficiently
done.
Flour, 4 lbs.; lard, 4 oz.; sugar, 1/2 lb.; allspice, 2 tablespoonsful;
pounded cinnamon, 1 drachm; cloves and mace, each 1/2 drachm; yeast
(solid), two large tablespoonsful: to rise, 1 to 1-1/2 hour. Currants,
at choice: dough-nuts boiled in lard, 5 to 7 minutes.
QUEEN CAKES.
To make these, proceed exactly as for the pound currant-cake of page
546, but bake the mixture in small well-buttered tin pans (heart-shaped
ones are usual), in a somewhat brisk oven, for about twenty minutes.
JUMBLES.
Rasp on some good sugar the rinds of two lemons; dry, reduce it to
powder, and sift it with as much more as will make up a pound in weight;
mix with it one pound of flour, four well-beaten eggs, and six ounces of
warm butter: drop the mixture on buttered tins, and bake the jumbles in
a _very_ slow oven from twenty to thirty minutes. They should be pale,
but perfectly crisp.
A GOOD SODA CAKE.
Break down half a pound[175] of fresh butter into a pound of fine dry
flour, and work it into very small crumbs; mix well with these half a
pound of sifted sugar, and pour to them first, a quarter of a pint of
boiling milk, and next, three well-whisked eggs; add some grated nutmeg,
or fresh lemon-rind, and eight ounces of currants, cleaned and dried;
beat the whole well and lightly together, then strew in a very small
teaspoonful of good carbonate of soda in the finest powder, which has
been rubbed through a sieve and well mixed with a little sugar, and
again beat the cake well and lightly for three or four minutes; put it
into a buttered mould, and bake it from an hour to an hour and a
quarter; or divide it in two, when three-quarters of an hour will be
sufficient for each part.
Footnote 175:
Six ounces would to many tastes be quite sufficient, and the less
butter the cake contains the better.
Flour, 1 lb.; butter, 1/2 lb.; sugar, 1/2 lb.; boiling milk, full 1/4
pint; eggs, 3; currants, 1/2 lb.; good carbonate of soda, 1 very small
teaspoonful: 1 to 1-1/2 hour. Or: divided in two, 1/2 to 3/4 hour.
_Obs._—This, if carefully made, resembles a pound cake, but is much less
expensive, and far more wholesome, while it has the advantage of being
very expeditiously prepared. Great care, however, must be taken to avoid
mixing with it too large a proportion, or a coarse quality of soda; as
either will impart to it a far from agreeable flavour.
GOOD SCOTTISH SHORTBREAD.
With one pound of flour mix well two ounces of sifted sugar, and one of
candied orange-rind or citron, sliced small; make these into a paste
with from eight to nine ounces of good butter, made sufficiently warm to
be liquid; press the paste together with the hands, and mould it upon
tins into large cakes nearly an inch thick, pinch the edges, and bake
the shortbread in a moderate oven for twenty minutes, or longer, should
it not be quite crisp, but do not allow it to become deeply coloured.
Flour, 1 lb.; sugar, 2 oz.; candied orange or citron, 1 oz.; butter, 8
to 9 oz.: 20 minutes or more.
_Obs._—This, to many persons, is a very indigestible compound, though
agreeable to the taste.
A GALETTE.
The galette is a favourite cake in France, and may be made rich and
comparatively delicate, or quite common, by using more or less butter
for it, and by augmenting or diminishing the size. Work lightly
three-quarters of a pound of good butter into a pound of flour, add a
large saltspoonful of salt, and make these into a paste with the yolks
of a couple of eggs mixed with a small cupful of good cream, or simply
with water; roll this into a complete round, three-quarters of an inch
thick; score it in small diamonds, brush yolk of egg over the top, and
bake the galette for about half an hour in a tolerably quick oven: it is
usually eaten hot, but is served cold also. An ounce of sifted sugar is
sometimes added to it.
A good galette: flour, 1 lb.; butter, 3/4 lb.; salt, 1 saltspoonful;
yolks of eggs, 2; cream, small cupful: baked 1/2 hour. Common galette:
flour, 2 lbs.; butter, 3/4 to 1 lb.; no eggs.
SMALL SUGAR CAKES OF VARIOUS KINDS.
To make very sweet rich sugar cakes mingle, first working it very small
with the fingers, half a pound of butter with each pound of flour: if
more than this proportion be used the paste will be too soft to permit
the addition of the proper number of eggs. Next, blend thoroughly with
these three-quarters of a pound of dry sifted sugar, and the grated
rinds of two small fresh lemons (for _lemon_-cakes the strained juice of
one is generally added), or a dessertspoonful of cinnamon freshly
pounded; or from one ounce to two ounces of carraway-seeds; or a similar
proportion of the finest powdered ginger; or three-quarters of a pound
of very dry well cleaned currants. A _slight_ pinch of salt should be
thrown in with the sugar. If to be made into flat cakes proceed to
moisten these ingredients gradually with from two eggs to four slightly
whisked, and when they form a _firm_ paste, proceed quickly to roll and
to stamp them out with a cake tin; for as the sugar dissolves with the
moisture of the eggs, the paste will otherwise become so lithe as to
adhere to the board and roller. When it is to be merely dropped on the
baking-sheets, it will require an additional egg or more. The cakes
should then be placed quite two inches apart, as they will spread in the
baking.
Five ounces of butter with six of sugar to the pound of flour, two large
eggs, and a small quantity of milk, will be sufficient for quite cheap
sugar cakes: any flavour can be given to them as to those which precede,
and they can be rendered more or less sweet to the taste by altering the
proportion of sugar: this should always be sifted, or at least reduced
quite to powder, before it is used for them. One ounce more of butter
will render them very good. They should be rolled a quarter of an inch
thick.
Rich: to each lb. of flour, butter, 1/2 lb.; sugar, 3/4 lb.; eggs, 2 to
4. (Lemon-rinds, cinnamon, carraway-seeds, or ginger, or currants at
choice), small pinch of salt. Slow oven about 20 minutes.
_Obs._—The cakes should be but lightly coloured, and yet baked quite
through.
FLEED OR FLEAD CAKES.
These are very much served as a tea-cake at the tables of the superior
order of Kentish farmers. For the mode of making them, proceed as for
flead-crust (see Chapter XVI.); cut the cakes small with a round cutter,
and leave them more than half an inch thick: if well made they will rise
much in the oven. Bake them rather quickly, but keep them pale.
Flour, 2 lbs.; flead, 1-1/4 lb.; butter, 6 oz.: baked 10 to 15 minutes.
LIGHT BUNS OF DIFFERENT KINDS.
_Quite plain buns without butter._—Very good light buns may be made
entirely without butter, but they must be tolerably fresh when served.
To make them, dilute very smoothly an ounce of sweet German yeast or a
_large_ tablespoonful of quite solid and well washed English yeast with
a pint of warm new milk; mix this immediately with as much flour as it
will convert into a rather thick batter, throw a double cloth over the
pan, and place it where the warmth of the fire will search, without
_heating_ it. When it is well risen and bubbles appear on the top, add a
little salt, some pounded sugar, and as much flour as will form it into
a light dough. Leave it to rise again, when it will probably be too
little firm for moulding with the fingers, and must be beaten up with a
strong wooden spoon and put into cups or tin pans slightly buttered, to
be baked. The buns should be sent to a quick oven, and baked until the
entire surface is well browned. These directions may appear to the
reader somewhat vague; but we must frankly state that we have no precise
memorandum by us of this receipt, though we have had buns made by it
very successfully in former years: we cannot, however, exactly recall
the proportion of flour which was used for them, but believe it was
about two pounds. For this quantity half a pound of sugar would be
sufficient. The batter will be a long time rising to the proper height;
an hour and a half or two hours. Currants, carraways, nutmeg, or mixed
spices, can always be added at discretion.
It is usual to strew a few currants on the tops of the buns before they
are baked.
To render them richer and firmer, it is merely necessary to diminish the
proportion of milk, and to crumble up very small two or more ounces of
butter in the flour which is added to the batter after it has risen.
When again quite light, the dough may then be rolled into balls, and
placed on flat tins some inches apart until they have spread to the
proper shape. Confectioners generally wash the tops with milk, and sift
a little sugar over them.
_Exeter Buns._—These are somewhat celebrated in the city whose name they
bear, especially those of one maker whose _secret_ for them we have
recently obtained. Instead of being made into a dough with milk,
_Devonshire cream_ is used for them, either entirely or in part. If
_very_ thick, a portion of water should be added to it, or the yeast
would not ferment freely. The better plan is to dilute it with a quarter
of a pint or rather more of warm water, and when it is sufficiently
risen to make up the buns lightly, like bread, with the cream, which
must also be warm; then to proceed by the receipt given above.
PLAIN DESSERT OR WINE BISCUITS, AND GINGER BISCUITS.
Rub very small indeed, two ounces of fresh butter into a pound of flour,
and make it into a stiff paste with new milk. Roll it out half an inch
thick, and cut the biscuits with a round cutter the size of
half-a-crown. Pile them one on the other until all are done; then roll
them out very thin, prick them, and lay them on lightly-floured tins,
the pricked side downwards: a few minutes will bake them, in a moderate
oven. They should be very crisp, and but slightly browned.
_For the Ginger Biscuits._—Three ounces of good butter, with two pounds
of flour, then add three ounces of pounded sugar and two of ginger in
fine powder, and knead them into a stiff paste, with new milk. Roll it
thin, stamp out the biscuits with a cutter, and bake them in a slow oven
until they are crisp quite through, but keep them of a pale colour. A
couple of eggs are sometimes mixed with the milk for them, but are no
material improvement: an additional ounce of sugar may be used when a
sweeter biscuit is liked.
Plain biscuits: flour 1 lb.; butter, 2 oz.; new milk about 1/2 pint.
Ginger biscuits: flour, 2 lbs.; butter, 3 oz.; sugar, 3 oz.; ginger, 2
oz.
THREADNEEDLE STREET BISCUITS.
Mix with two pounds of sifted flour of the very best quality three
ounces of good butter, and work it into the smallest possible crumbs;
add four ounces of fine, dry, sifted sugar, and make them into a firm
paste with new milk; beat this forcibly for some time with a
rolling-pin, and when it is extremely smooth roll it the third of an
inch thick, cut it with a small square cutter, and bake the biscuits in
a very slow oven until they are crisp to the centre: no part of them
should remain soft. Half a teaspoonful of carbonate of soda is said to
improve them, but we have not put it to the test. Carraway-seeds can be
added when they are liked.
Flour, 2 lbs.; butter, 3 oz.; sugar, 4 oz.; new milk, 1 pint or more:
biscuits _slowly_ baked until crisp.
GOOD CAPTAIN’S BISCUITS.
Make some fine white flour into a very smooth paste with new milk;
divide it into small balls; roll them out, and afterwards pull them with
the fingers as _thin as possible_; prick them all over, and bake them in
a somewhat brisk oven from ten to twelve minutes. These are excellent
and very wholesome biscuits.
THE COLONEL’S BISCUITS.
Mix a slight pinch of salt with some fine sifted flour; make it into a
smooth paste with thin cream, and bake the biscuits gently, after having
prepared them for the oven like those which precede. Store them as soon
as they are cold in a dry canister, to preserve them crisp: they are
excellent.
AUNT CHARLOTTE’S BISCUITS.
These biscuits, which are very simple and very good, may be made with
the same dough as fine white bread, with the addition of from half to a
whole ounce of butter to the pound kneaded into it after it has risen.
Break the butter small, spread out the dough a little, knead it in well
and equally, and leave it for about half an hour to rise; then roll it a
quarter of an inch thick, prick it well all over, cut out the biscuits,
and bake them in a moderate oven from ten to fifteen minutes: they
should be crisp quite through, but not deeply coloured.
White-bread dough, 2 lbs.; butter, 1 to 2 oz.: to rise 1/2 hour. Baked
in moderate oven 10 to 15 minutes.
_Obs._—To make the biscuits by themselves, proceed as for Bordyke bread;
but use new milk for them, and work three ounces of butter into two
pounds of flour before the yeast is added.
EXCELLENT SODA BUNS.
Work into half a pound of flour three ounces of butter, until it is
quite in crumbs; mix thoroughly with them four ounces of sugar, the
slightest pinch of salt, an ounce, or rather more, of candied orange or,
shred extremely small, and a little grated nutmeg; to these pour boiling
a _small_ teacupful of cream, or of milk when this cannot be had; mix
them a little, and add immediately two eggs, leaving out the white of
one, and when the whole is well mingled, dust over, and beat well into
it, less than half a teaspoonful of good carbonate of soda, perfectly
free from lumps; rub an oven-tin with butter, drop the buns upon it with
a spoon, and send them to a moderate oven. When they are firm to the
touch in every part, and well coloured underneath, they are done. They
resemble good cakes, if properly made, although in reality they are not
rich: to render them so the proportion of sugar and of butter can be
increased, and currants added also. It is immaterial, we find, whether
they be put into the oven as soon as they are mixed, or an hour
afterwards. They are equally light. These proportions make just a dozen
of small buns.
Flour, 1/2 lb.; butter, 3 oz.; sugar, 4 oz.; candied orange-rind, 1 oz.
or more; grated nutmeg; cream (or milk) 1 _small_ teacupful; egg-yolks
2, white 1; good carbonate of soda about the third of a teaspoonful: 15
to 25 minutes, moderate oven.
_For Geneva Buns See Chapter 30._
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER XXVII.
=Confectionary.=
[Illustration:
Citron.
]
TO CLARIFY SUGAR.
IT is an economy to use at once the very best sugar for confectionary in
general, for when highly refined it needs little or no clarifying, even
for the most delicate purposes; and the coarser kinds lose considerable
weight in the process. Break it into large lumps, and put it into a very
clean preserving-pan; measure for each pound a pint of spring water if
it be intended for syrup, but less than half that quantity for candying
or making barley-sugar. Beat first apart (but not to a strong froth),
and afterwards with the water, about half the white of an egg for six
pounds of sugar, unless it should be _very_ common, when twice as much
may be used. When they are well mixed pour them over the sugar, and let
it stand until it is nearly dissolved; then stir the whole thoroughly,
and place it over a gentle fire, but do not disturb it after the scum
begins to gather on the top; let it boil for five minutes, then take the
pan from the fire, and when it has stood a couple of minutes clear off
the scum entirely, with a skimmer; set the pan again over the fire, and
when the sugar begins to boil throw in a little cold water, which has
been reserved for the purpose from the quantity first measured, and
repeat the skimming until the syrup is very clear; it may then be
strained through a muslin, or a thin cloth, and put into a clean pan for
further boiling.
For syrup: sugar, 6 lbs.; water, 3 quarts; 1/2 white of 1 egg. For
candying, &c.: sugar, 6 lbs.; water, 2-1/2 pints: 5 to 10 minutes.
TO BOIL SUGAR FROM SYRUP TO CANDY, OR TO CARAMEL.
The technicalities by which confectioners distinguish the different
degrees of sugar-boiling, seem to us calculated rather to puzzle than to
assist the reader; and we shall, therefore, confine ourselves to such
plain English terms as may suffice, we hope, to explain them. After
having boiled a certain time, the length of which will in a measure
depend upon the quality of the sugar as well as on the quantity of water
added, it becomes a thin syrup, and will scarcely form a short thread if
a drop be pressed between the thumb and finger and they are then drawn
apart; from five to ten minutes more of rapid boiling will bring it to a
_thick_ syrup, and when this degree is reached the thread may be drawn
from one hand to the other at some length without breaking; but its
appearance in dropping from the skimmer will perhaps best denote its
being at this point, as it hangs in a sort of string as it falls. After
this the sugar will soon begin to whiten, and to form large bubbles in
the pan, when, if it be intended for barley-sugar, or caramel, some
lemon-juice or other acid must be added to it, to prevent its _graining_
or _becoming sugar again_; but if wanted to candy, it must be stirred
without ceasing until it rises almost to the top of the pan, in one
large white mass, when it must be used immediately or laded out into
paper cases or on to dishes, with the utmost expedition, as it passes in
an instant almost, from this state to one in which it forms a sort of
powder, which will render it necessary to add water, to stir it until
dissolved, and to reboil it to the proper point. For barley-sugar
likewise it must be constantly stirred, and carefully watched after the
lemon-juice is added. A small quantity should be dropped from time to
time into a large basin of cold water by those who are inexperienced in
the process; when in falling into this it makes a bubbling noise, and if
taken out immediately after, it snaps clean between the teeth without
sticking to them, it must be poured out _instantly_: if wanted for
sugar-spinning, the pan must be plunged as quickly as possible into a
vessel of cold water.
CARAMEL.
(_The quickest way._)
Put into a brass skillet, or preserving-pan, some sifted sugar of the
finest quality, and stir it softly with a wooden spoon or spatula, over
a very gentle fire until it has become liquid; a pale or a deep tint may
then be given to it, according to the purpose for which it is required:
so soon as it is entirely melted, and looks clear, it is ready for use.
Pastry-cooks glaze small pastry by just dipping the surface into it; and
they use it also for _nougat_, and other confectionary, though it is not
in general quite so brilliant as that which is made by the preceding
receipt. When the sugar first begins to melt, it should be stirred only
just in that part, or it will not be equally coloured.
BARLEY-SUGAR.
Add to three pounds of highly-refined sugar one pint and a quarter of
spring water, with sufficient white of egg to clarify it in the manner
directed in the last page but one; pour to it, when it begins to whiten,
and to be very thick, a dessertspoonful of the strained juice of a fresh
lemon; and boil it quickly until it is at the point which we have
indicated above. A few drops of essence of lemon may be added to it,
just as it is taken from the fire. Pour it on to a marble slab, or on to
a shallow dish which has been slightly oiled, or rubbed with a particle
of fresh butter; and when it begins to harden at the edges form it into
sticks, lozenges, balls, or any other shapes at pleasure. While it is
still liquid it may be used for various purposes, such as Chantilly
baskets, palace bonbons, _croquantes_,[176] _cerises au caramel_, &c.:
for these the vessel containing it must be set into a pan of water, and
it must again be liquefied with a very gentle degree of heat should it
cool too quickly. As it soon dissolves if exposed to damp, it should be
put into very dry canisters as soon as it is cold, and these should be
kept in a dry place.
Footnote 176:
These are formed of small cakes, roasted chestnuts, and various other
things, just dipped singly into the barley-sugar, and then arranged in
good form and joined in a mould, from which they are turned out for
table.
Best sugar, 3 lbs.; water, 1-1/4 pint; white of egg, 1/4 of 1;
lemon-juice, 1 dessertspoonful.
NOUGAT.
This is a preparation of barley-sugar, and almonds, filberts, or
pistachio-nuts, of which good confectioners, both foreign and English,
make a great variety of highly ornamental dishes. We must, however,
confine our directions to the most common and simple mode of serving it.
Blanch twelve ounces of fine Jordan almonds in the usual way, wipe them
very dry, split them in halves, and spread them upon tins or dishes; dry
them in a very gentle oven, without allowing them to brown; or if the
flavour be liked better so, let them be equally coloured to a pale gold
tint: they should then be often turned while in the oven. Boil to barley
sugar in a small preserving-pan six ounces of highly-refined sugar,
throw in the almonds, mix them with it well without breaking them, turn
the nougat on to a dish slightly rubbed with oil, spread it out quickly,
mark it into squares, and cut it before it is cold; or pour it into a
mould, and with an oiled lemon spread it quickly, and very thin over it,
and turn it out when cool. It must at all times be carefully preserved
from damp; and should be put into a dry tin box as soon as it is cold.
Sugar, 6 oz.; almonds, 12 oz.
Another and more expeditious way of making it, is to boil the sugar to
caramel without any water, as directed at page 563: the proportion of
almonds can be diminished at pleasure, but the nougat should always be
well filled with them.
GINGER CANDY.
Break a pound of highly-refined sugar into lumps, put it into a
preserving-pan, and pour over it about the third of a pint of spring
water; let it stand until the sugar is nearly dissolved, then set it
over a perfectly clear fire, and boil it until it becomes a thin syrup.
Have ready in a large cup a teaspoonful of the very best ginger in
powder; mix it smoothly and gradually with two or three spoonsful of the
syrup, and then stir it well into the whole. Watch the mixture
carefully, keep it stirred, and drop it often from a spoon to ascertain
the exact point of boiling it has reached. When it begins to fall in
_flakes_, throw in the freshly-grated rind of a very large lemon, or of
two small ones, and work the sugar round quickly as it is added. The
candy must now be stirred constantly until it is done: this will be when
it falls in a mass from the spoon, and does not _sink_ when placed in a
small heap on a dish. It must be poured, or _laded_ out, as
expeditiously as possible when ready, or it will fall quite into powder.
If this should happen, a little water must be added to it, and it must
be reboiled to the proper point. The candy, if dropped in cakes upon
sheets of very dry foolscap or other thick writing-paper laid upon cold
dishes, may be moved off without difficulty while it is still just warm,
but it must not be touched while quite hot, or it will break.
Sugar, highly refined, 1 lb.; water, 1/3 of a pint; ginger, 1
teaspoonful; rind of 1 large lemon.
ORANGE-FLOWER CANDY.
Beat in three-quarters of a pint, or rather more, of water, about the
fourth part of the white of an egg, and pour it on two pounds of the
best sugar broken into lumps. When it has stood a little time, place it
over a very clear fire, and let it boil for a few minutes, then set it
on one side, until the scum has subsided; clear it off, and boil the
sugar until it is very thick, then strew in by degrees three ounces of
the _petals_ of the orange-blossom, weighed after they are picked from
their stems. Continue to stir the candy until it rises in one white mass
in the pan, then lay it, as quickly as it can be done, in cakes with a
large spoon, upon thick and _very dry_ sheets of writing paper placed
quite flat upon the backs of dishes, or upon trays.[177] Take it off
before it is entirely cold, and lay the candy reversed upon dishes, or
place the cakes on their edges round the rim of one until they are
perfectly cold; then secure them from the air without delay in close
shutting tin boxes or canisters. They will remain excellent for more
than a year. The orange-flowers will turn brown if thrown too soon into
the syrup: it should be more than three parts boiled when they are
added. They must be gathered on the day they are wanted for use, as they
will soon become discoloured from keeping.
Footnote 177:
As the heat of the boiling sugar would injure these, no good ones
should be used for the purpose.
Sugar, 2 lbs.; water, 3/4 pint; 1/4 white of egg; orange-blossoms, 3 oz.
_Obs._—When sugar of the finest quality is used for this confection, as
it ought to be, it will not require the white of egg to clarify it.
ORANGE-FLOWER CANDY.
(_Another Receipt._)
The French, who are very fond of the delicious flavour of the
orange-blossom, leave the petals in the candy; but a more delicate
confection, to English taste, is made as follows:—Throw the
orange-flowers into the syrup when it has boiled about ten minutes, and
after they have simmered in it for five more, pour the whole out, and
leave them to infuse until the following day, or even longer, if more
convenient; then bring the syrup to the point of boiling, strain it from
the blossoms through a muslin, and finish it by the foregoing receipt.
COCOA-NUT CANDY.
Rasp very fine a sound fresh cocoa-nut, spread it on a dish, and let it
dry naturally for two or three days, as it will not bear the heat of an
oven, and is too oily for use when freshly broken. Four ounces of it
will be sufficient for a pound of sugar for most tastes, but more can be
used at pleasure. Boil the sugar as for the orange-flower candy, and
when it begins to be very thick and white, strew in the nut, stir and
mix it _well_, and do not quit it for an instant until it is finished.
The pan should not be placed upon the fire but over it, as the nut is
liable to burn with too fierce a heat.
For almond-candy proceed in exactly the same way, but let the almonds,
either whole or split, be perfectly well dried in a gentle oven, and do
not throw them into the sugar until it approaches the candying point.
PALACE-BONBONS.
Take some fine fresh candied orange-rind, or citron, clear off the sugar
which adheres to it, cut it into inch-squares, stick these singly on the
prong of a silver fork or on osier-twigs, dip them into liquid
barley-sugar, and place them on a dish rubbed with the smallest possible
quantity of very pure salad oil. When cold, put them into tin boxes or
canisters well dried, with paper, which should also be very dry, between
each layer.
EVERTON TOFFIE.
No. 1.—Put into a brass skillet or small preserving-pan three ounces of
very fresh butter, and as soon as it is just melted add a pound of brown
sugar of moderate quality; keep these stirred gently over a very clear
fire for about fifteen minutes, or until a little of the mixture,
dropped into a basin of cold water, breaks clean between the teeth
without sticking to them: when it is boiled to this point, it must be
poured out immediately, or it will burn. The grated rind of a lemon,
added when the toffie is half done, improves it much; or a small
teaspoonful of powdered ginger moistened with a little of the other
ingredients as soon as the sugar is dissolved and then stirred to the
whole, will vary it pleasantly to many tastes. The real Everton toffie
is made with a much larger proportion of butter, but it is the less
wholesome on that very account. If dropped upon dishes first rubbed with
a buttered paper, the toffie when cold can be raised from them easily.
Butter, 3 oz.; sugar, 1 lb.: 15 to 18 minutes. Or, sugar, 1 lb.; butter,
5 oz.; almonds, 2 oz.: 20 to 30 minutes.
No. 2.—Boil together a pound of sugar and five ounces of butter for
twenty minutes; then stir in two ounces of almonds blanched, divided,
and thoroughly dried in a slow oven, or before the fire. Let the toffie
boil after they are added, till it crackles when dropped into cold
water, and snaps between the teeth without sticking.
Sugar, 1 lb.; butter, 5 oz.; almonds, 2 oz.: 20 to 30 minutes.
CHOCOLATE DROPS.
Throw into a well heated metal mortar from two to four ounces of the
best quality of cake-chocolate broken small, and pound it with a warm
pestle until it resembles a smooth paste or very thick batter; then add
an equal weight of sugar in the finest powder, and beat them until they
are thoroughly blended. Roll the mixture into small balls, lay them upon
sheets of writing paper or upon clean dishes, and take them off when
they are nearly cold. The tops may be covered with white nonpareil
comfits, or the drops may be shaken in a paper containing some of these,
and entirely encrusted with them; but it must be recollected that they
will not adhere to them after they become hard. More or less sugar can
be worked into the chocolate according to the taste; and a Wedgwood
mortar may be used for it when no other is at hand, but one of
bell-metal will answer the purpose better.
CHOCOLATE ALMONDS.
When the chocolate has been softened, and mixed with an equal proportion
of sugar, as directed in the foregoing receipt, enclose singly in small
portions of it some almonds previously _well_ dried, or even slightly
coloured in the oven, after having been blanched. Roll them very smooth
in the hand, and cover them with the comfits, or form them like the
almond shamrocks of page 574. Filberts and pistachio-nuts may be
substituted for the almonds with good effect; but they also must be
perfectly dry.
SEVILLE ORANGE PASTE.
Wipe, and pare in the thinnest possible strips, some Seville
orange-rinds, and throw them into plenty of boiling water. When they are
extremely tender, lift them on to a large sieve reversed to drain; press
the water from them a little, and before they are quite cold, pound them
to the smoothest paste, and blend thoroughly with them as much fine
sifted sugar as can possibly be mixed with them. Roll the mass out
extremely thin, and with a very small tin-cutter form it into cakes or
leaves, or any other shapes, and then dry it in a VERY gentle oven.
Store it in close-shutting boxes as soon as it is cold. A little choice
prepared ginger may be added to it in the pounding when it is liked.
Paste of lemon or citron-rind may be made in the same way.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER XXVIII.
=Dessert Dishes.=
[Illustration]
DESSERT DISHES.
A WELL-SELECTED and well-arranged rice-crust, however simple in its
character, may always be rendered agreeable to the eye and to the taste:
but in no department of the table can so much that is attractive to both
be more readily combined; and at the present day an unusual degree of
luxury is often displayed in it, the details of which, however, would be
out of place here. Forced strawberries of magnificent size, and of the
best varieties, brought by culture and management all to perfection on
the same day, and served on their plants, in the pots in which they are
grown, concealed in others of porcelain or of chased silver, are amongst
the expensive novelties now commonly introduced at costly dinners of
display, and may serve as an illustration of it.[178]
Footnote 178:
To these may be added miniature fruit trees in full bearing placed
down the centre of the table, and intermingled with the choicest
exotics.
For common occasions, a few dishes of really fresh fruit tastefully
disposed and embedded in large green leaves, will be all that is
required for a plain summer or autumn rice-crust; and at other parts of
the year such as are appropriate to the season; but from the immense
variety of cakes, biscuits, confections, ices, _bonbons_, and other
_sucreries_ (some of them extremely brilliant in appearance), and of
fruit native and foreign, fresh, dried, and preserved in every possible
manner which are adapted to them, desserts may be served in any kind of
style.
PEARLED FRUIT, OR FRUIT EN CHEMISE.
Select for this dish very fine bunches of red and white currants, large
ripe cherries, and gooseberries of different colours, and strawberries
or raspberries very freshly gathered. Beat up the white of an egg with
about half as much cold water, dip the fruit into this mixture, drain it
on a sieve for an instant, and then roll it in fine sifted sugar until
it is covered in every part; give it a gentle shake, and lay it on
sheets of white paper to dry. In England, thin gum-water is sometimes
used, we believe, for this dish, instead of the white of egg; we give,
however, the French method of preparing it. It will dry gradually in a
warm room, or a sunny window, in the course of three or four hours.
_Obs._—This is an inexpensive dish, which if well prepared has the
appearance of fine confectionary. The incrustation of sugar much
increases too the apparent size of the fruit. That which is used for it
should be of the best quality, and fine and dry. When it becomes moist
from the fruit being rolled in it, it will no longer adhere to it as it
ought.
SALAD OF MIXED SUMMER FRUITS.
Heap a rice-crust-dish quite high with alternate layers of fine fresh
strawberries stripped from the stalks, white and red currants, and white
or red raspberries; strew each layer plentifully with sifted sugar, and
just before the dish is sent to table, pour equally over the top two
wineglassesful of sherry, Madeira, or any other good white wine. Very
thick Devonshire cream may be laid entirely over the fruit, instead of
the wine being mingled with it. Currants by themselves are excellent
prepared in this way, and strawberries also. The fruit should be gently
stirred with a spoon when it is served. Each variety must be picked with
great nicety from the stalks.
PEACH SALAD.
Pare and slice half a dozen fine ripe peaches, arrange them in a dish,
strew them with pounded sugar, and pour over them two or three glasses
of champagne: other wine may be used, but this is best. Persons who
prefer brandy can substitute it for wine. The quantity of sugar must be
proportioned to the sweetness of the fruit.
ORANGE SALAD.
Take off the outer rinds, and then strip away entirely the white inside
skin from some fine China oranges; slice them thin, and remove the
seeds, and thick skin of the cores, as this is done; strew over them
plenty of white sifted sugar, and pour on them a glass or more of
brandy: when the sugar is dissolved serve the oranges. In France ripe
pears of superior quality are sometimes sliced up with the oranges.
Powdered sugar-candy used instead of sugar, is an improvement to this
salad; and the substitution of port, sherry, or Madeira, for the brandy
is often considered so. The fruit may be used without being pared, and a
little _curaçao_ or any other liqueur may be added to the brandy; or
this last, when unmixed, may be burned after it is poured on the
oranges.
TANGERINE ORANGES.
These beautiful little oranges, of which the rinds have a most peculiar,
and to many tastes not a very agreeable flavour, are remarkably sweet
and delicate when in their perfection; but they come later into the
market than the more common varieties of the orange, and disappear from
them sooner. They make a very refined salad, and also an ornamental
rice-crust dish: their cost is somewhat higher than that of the Malta
and St. Michael oranges. There is another species of this fruit known
commonly as the _blood-orange_ which has many admirers, but it is not we
should say greatly superior to the more abundant kinds usually served at
our tables.
PEACHES IN BRANDY.
(_Rotterdam Receipt._)
Prepare and stew some fine full-flavoured peaches by the receipt of page
459, but with two ounces more of sugar to the half pint of water; when
they are tender put them, with their syrup, into glass or new stone
jars, which they should only half fill; and when they are quite cold
pour in white, or very pale, French brandy to within an inch and a half
of the brims: a few peach or apricot kernels can be added to them. The
jars must be corked down.
BRANDIED MORELLA CHERRIES.
Let the cherries be ripe, freshly gathered, and the finest that can be
had; cut off half the length of the stalks, and drop them gently into
clean dry quart bottles with wide necks; leave in each sufficient space
for four ounces of pounded white sugar-candy (or of brown, if better
liked); fill them up entirely with the best French brandy, and cork them
closely: the fruit will not shrivel if thus prepared. A few cherry, or
apricot kernels, or a small portion of cinnamon, can be added when they
are considered an improvement.
BAKED COMPÔTE OF APPLES.
(_Our little lady’s receipt._)
Put into a wide Nottingham jar, with a cover, two quarts of golden
pippins, or of the small apple which resembles them in appearance,
called the orange pippin (this is very plentiful in the county of Kent),
pared and cored, but without being divided; strew amongst them some
small strips of very thin fresh lemon-rind, throw on them, nearly at the
top, half a pound of good Lisbon sugar, and set the jar, with the cover
tied on, for some hours, or for a night, into a very slow oven. The
apples will be extremely good, if not too quickly baked: they should
remain entire, but be perfectly tender, and clear in appearance. Add a
little lemon-juice when the season is far advanced.
Apples, 2 quarts; rind, quite small lemon; sugar, 1/2 lb.: 1 night in
slow oven; or some hours baking in a _very_ gentle one.
_Obs._—These apples may be served hot as a second course dish; or cold,
with a boiled custard poured round or over them. They will likewise
answer admirably to fill _Gabrielle’s pudding_, or a _vol-au-vent à la
crême_.
DRIED NORFOLK BIFFINS.
The Norfolk biffin is a hard and very red apple, the flesh of the true
kind being partially red as well as the skin. It is most excellent when
carefully dried; and much finer we should say when left more juicy and
but partly flattened, than it is when prepared for sale. Wipe the
apples, arrange them an inch or two apart, and place them in a very
gentle oven until they become so much softened as to yield easily to
sufficient pressure to give them the form of small cakes of less than an
inch thick. They must be set several times into the oven to produce this
effect, as they must be gradually flattened, and must not be allowed to
burst: a cool brick oven is best suited to them.
NORMANDY PIPPINS.
To one pound of the apples, put one quart of water and six ounces of
sugar; let them simmer gently for three hours, or more should they not
be perfectly tender. A few strips of fresh lemon-peel and a very few
cloves are by some persons considered agreeable additions to the syrup.
Dried Normandy pippins, 1 lb.; water, 1 quart; sugar, 6 oz.; 3 to 4
hours.
_Obs._—These pippins, if stewed with care, will be converted into a rich
confection: but they will be very good and more refreshing with less
sugar. They are now exceedingly cheap, and may be converted into
excellent second course dishes at small expense. Half a pound, as they
are light and swell much in the stewing, will be sufficient to serve at
once. Rinse them quickly with cold water, and then soak them for an hour
in the pan in which they are to be stewed, in a quart of fresh water;
place them by the side of the stove to heat gradually, and when they
begin to soften add as much sugar as will sweeten them to the taste:
they require but a small portion. Lemon-rind can be added to them at
pleasure. We have many receipts for other ways of preparing them, to
which we cannot now give place here. It answers well to bake them slowly
in a covered jar. They may be served hot in a border of rice.
STEWED PRUNEAUX DE TOURS, OR TOURS DRIED PLUMS.
These plums, which resemble in form small dried Norfolk biffins, make a
delicious _compôte_: they are also excellent served dry. In France they
are stewed until tender in equal parts of water, and of the light red
wine of the country, with about four ounces of sugar to the pound of
fruit: when port wine is used for them a smaller proportion of it will
suffice. The sugar should not be added in stewing any dried fruits until
they are at least half-done, as they will not soften by any means so
easily in syrup as in unsweetened liquid.
Dried plums, 1 lb.; water, 1/2 pint, and light claret, 1/2 pint, or
water, 1/4 pint, and port wine, 1/4 pint: 1-1/2 hour. Sugar, 4 oz.: 2
hours, or more.
_Obs._—Common French plums are stewed in the same way with or without
wine. A little experience will teach the cook the exact quantity of
liquid and of sugar which they require.
TO BAKE PEARS.
Wipe some large sound iron pears, arrange them on a dish with the stalk
end upwards, put them into the oven after the bread is withdrawn, and
let them remain all night. If well baked, they will be excellent, very
sweet, and juicy, and much finer in flavour than those which are stewed
or baked with sugar: the _bon chrétien_ pear also is delicious baked
thus.
STEWED PEARS.
Pare, cut in halves, and core a dozen fine pears, put them into a close
shutting stewpan with some thin strips of lemon-rind, half a pound of
sugar in lumps, as much water as will nearly cover them, and should a
very bright colour be desired, a dozen grains of cochineal, bruised, and
tied in a muslin; stew the fruit as gently as possible, four or five
hours, or longer should it not be perfectly tender. Wine is sometimes
added both to stewed pears and to baked ones. If put into a covered jar,
well tied down and baked for some hours, with a proper quantity of
liquid and sugar, they will be very good.
BOILED CHESTNUTS.
Make a slight incision in the outer skin only, of each chestnut, to
prevent its bursting, and when all are done, throw them into plenty of
boiling water, with about a dessertspoonful of salt to the half gallon.
Some chestnuts will require to be boiled nearly or quite an hour, others
little more than half the time: the cook should try them occasionally,
and as soon as they are soft through, drain them, wipe them in a coarse
cloth, and send them to table quickly in a hot napkin.
_Obs._—The best chestnuts are those which have no internal divisions:
the finest kinds are quite _entire_ when shelled.
ROASTED CHESTNUTS.
The best mode of preparing these is to roast them, as in Spain, in a
coffee-roaster, after having first boiled them from seven to ten
minutes, and wiped them dry. They should not be allowed to cool, and
will require but from ten to fifteen minutes’ roasting. They may, when
more convenient, be finished over the fire as usual, or in a Dutch or
common oven, but in all cases the previous boiling will be found an
improvement. Never omit to cut the rind of each nut slightly before it
is cooked. Serve the chestnuts very hot in a napkin, and send salt to
table with them.
ALMOND SHAMROCKS.
(_Very good, and very pretty._)
Whisk the white of a very fresh egg to a froth sufficiently solid to
remain standing in high points when dropped from the whisk; work into it
from half to three-quarters of a pound of very fine dry sifted sugar, or
more should it be needed, to bring the mixture to a consistency in which
it can be worked with the fingers. Have ready some fine Jordan almonds
which have been blanched, and thoroughly dried at the mouth of the oven;
roll each of these in a small portion of the icing until it is equally
covered, and of good form; then lay them on sheets of thick writing
paper, placing three together in the form of the shamrock, or trefoil,
with a small bit of sugar twisted from the centre almond to form the
stalk. When all are ready, set them into a _very_ slow oven for twenty
minutes or longer: they should become quite firm without taking any
colour. They make an excellent and _very_ ornamental dish. To give them
flavour and variety, use for them sugar which has been rasped on the
rinds of some sound lemons, or Seville oranges, or upon citron, and
dried before it is reduced to powder; or add to the mixture a drop of
essence of roses, and a slight colouring of prepared cochineal. A little
spinach-juice will give a beautiful green tint, but its flavour is not
very agreeable. Filbert or pistachio nuts will answer as well as
almonds, iced in this way.
SMALL SUGAR SOUFFLÉS.
These are made with the same preparation of egg and sugar as the
almond-shamrocks, and may be flavoured and coloured in the same way. The
icing must be sufficiently firm to roll into balls scarcely larger than
a nut: a little sifted sugar should be dusted on the fingers in making
them, but it must not remain on the surface of the _soufflés_. They are
baked usually in very small round paper cases, plaited with the edge of
a knife, and to give them brilliancy, the tops are slightly moistened
before they are set into the oven, by passing the finger, or a
paste-brush, just dipped in cold water, lightly over them. Look at them
in about a quarter of an hour, and should they be quite firm to the
touch in every part, draw them out; but if not let them remain longer.
They may be baked on sheets of paper, but will not preserve their form
so well.
For 1 white of egg, whisked to a _very_ firm froth, 8 to 10 oz. of
sifted sugar, or more: _soufflés_, baked in extremely gentle oven, 16 to
30 minutes, or longer if needful.
_Obs._—We have confined our receipts here to the most simple
preparations suited to desserts. All the confectionary of the preceding
chapter being appropriate to them (with the exception of the toffie), as
well as various _compôtes_, clear jellies, and _gateaux_ of fruit turned
from the moulds; and we have already enumerated the many other dishes of
which they may be composed.
ICES.
[Illustration:
Ice Pail and Freezer.
]
There is no _real_ difficulty in making ices for the table; but for want
of the proper means of freezing them, and of preventing their being
acted on by a too warm atmosphere afterwards, in many houses it cannot
very easily be accomplished unless the weather be extremely cold.
A vessel called a freezing-pot, an ice-pail, a strong wooden mallet, and
a copper spatula, or an ice-spoon, are all that is positively required
for this branch of confectionary. Suitable moulds for iced puddings, and
imitations of fruit, must be had in addition when needed.
When the composition which is to be frozen is ready, the rough ice must
be beaten quite small with the mallet, and either mingled quickly with
two or three handsful of powdered saltpetre, or used with a much larger
quantity of salt. The freezing-pot must then be firmly placed in the
centre of the ice, which must be pressed closely into the vacant space
around it until it reaches the top. The cover of the ice-pot, or
freezer, may then be removed, and the preparation to be iced poured into
it. It should then be turned by means of the handle at the top, quickly
backwards and forwards for eight or ten minutes; then the portion which
will have frozen to the inside must be scraped well from it with the
ice-spoon and mingled with the remainder: without this the mass would be
full of lumps instead of being perfectly smooth as it ought to be. The
same process must be continued until the whole of its contents are
uniformly frozen.
The water-ices which are made in such perfection on the continent, are
incomparably superior to the ice-creams, and other sweet compositions
which are usually served in preference to them here. One or two receipts
which we append will serve as guides for many others, which may easily
be compounded with any variety of fresh summer fruit.[179]
Footnote 179:
The ices for desserts should be moulded in the form of fruit or other
shapes adapted to the purpose; the natural flavour and colouring are
then given to the former, but it is only experienced cooks or
confectioners generally who understand this branch of ice-making, and
it is better left to them. All the necessary moulds may be procured at
any good ironmongers, where the manner of using them would be
explained: we can give no more space to the subject.
_Red Currant Ice._—Strip from the stalks and take two pounds weight of
fine ripe currants and half a pound of raspberries; rub them through a
fine sieve, and mingle thoroughly with them sufficient cold syrup to
render the mixture agreeably sweet, and,—unless the pure flavour of the
fruit be altogether preferred,—add the strained juice of one large or of
two small lemons, and proceed at once to freeze the mixture as above.
Currants, 2 lbs.; raspberries, 1/2 lb.; sugar, 3/4 to 1 lb.; boiled for
6 or 8 minutes in 1/2 pint of water and left till quite cold. (Juice of
lemon or lemons at pleasure.)
Strawberry and raspberry water-ices are made in precisely the same
manner.
To convert any of these into English ice-creams, merely mingle the juice
and pulp of the fruit with sufficient pounded sugar to sweeten them, or
with the syrup as above, and then blend with them gradually from a pint
and a half to a quart of fresh sweet cream, and the lemon-juice or not
at choice. _The Queen’s Custard_, _the Currant_, and _the Quince_ or
_Apple Custard_ of pages 481 and 482 may all be converted into good ices
with a little addition of cream and sugar; and so likewise may _the
Countess Cream_ of page 472, and _the Bavarian Cream_ of page 477, by
omitting the isinglass from either of them.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER XXIX.
=Syrups, Liqueurs, &c.=
[Illustration:
Antique Wine Vase.
]
STRAWBERRY VINEGAR, OF DELICIOUS FLAVOUR.
TAKE the stalks from the fruit which should be of a highly flavoured
sort, quite ripe, fresh from the beds, and gathered in dry weather;
weigh and put it into large glass jars, or wide-necked bottles, and to
each pound pour about a pint and a half of fine pale white wine vinegar,
which will answer the purpose better than the entirely colourless kind
sold under the name of _distilled vinegar_, but which is often, we
believe, merely pyroligneous acid greatly diluted.[180] Tie a thick
paper over them, and let the strawberries remain from three to four
days; then pour off the vinegar and empty them into a jelly-bag, or
suspend them in a cloth, that all the liquid may drop from them without
pressure; replace them with an equal weight of fresh fruit, pour the
vinegar upon it, and three days afterwards repeat the same process,
diminishing a little the proportion of strawberries, of which the
flavour ought ultimately to overpower that of the vinegar. In from two
to four days drain off the liquid very closely, and after having
strained it through a linen or a flannel bag, weigh it, and mix with it
an equal quantity of highly-refined sugar roughly powdered; when this is
nearly dissolved, stir the syrup over a very clear fire until it has
boiled for five minutes, and skim it _thoroughly_; pour it into a
delicately clean stone pitcher, or into large china jugs, throw a thick
folded cloth over and let it remain until the morrow. Put it into pint
or half-pint bottles, and cork them lightly with new velvet corks; for
if these be pressed in tightly at first, the bottles will sometimes
burst:[181] in four or five days they may be closely corked, and stored
in a dry and cool place. Damp destroys the colour and injures the
flavour of these fine fruit-vinegars, of which a spoonful or two in a
glass of water affords so agreeable a summer beverage, and one which, in
many cases of illness, is so acceptable to invalids. They make also most
admirable sauces for her Majesty’s pudding, common custard, batter, and
various other simple and sweet light puddings.
Footnote 180:
For these fine acidulated fruit-syrups vinegar of the purest quality,
but only of medium strength, is required.
Footnote 181:
We have known this to occur, but it has been when bought fruit has
been used for the preparation.
Strawberries (stalked), 4 lbs.; vinegar, 3 quarts: 3 to 4 days. Vinegar
drained and poured on fresh strawberries, 4 lbs.: 3 days. Drained again
on to fresh fruit, 3 to 4 lbs.: 2 to 4 days. To each pound of the
vinegar, 1 lb. of highly-refined sugar: boiled 5 minutes. _Lightly_
corked, 4 to 5 days.
_Obs._—Where there is a garden the fruit may be thrown into the vinegar
as it ripens, within an interval of forty-eight hours, instead of being
all put to infuse at once, and it must then remain in it a proportionate
time: one or two days in addition to that specified will make no
difference to the preparation. The enamelled stewpans are the best
possible vessels to boil it in: but it may be simmered in a stone jar
set into a pan of boiling water, when there is nothing more appropriate
at hand; though the syrup does not usually keep so well when this last
method is adopted.
Raspberries and strawberries mixed will make a vinegar of very pleasant
flavour; black currants also will afford an exceedingly useful syrup of
the same kind.
VERY FINE RASPBERRY VINEGAR.
Fill glass jars or large wide-necked bottles, with very ripe but
perfectly sound freshly gathered raspberries, freed from their stalks,
and cover them with pale white wine vinegar: they may be left to infuse
from a week to ten days without injury, or the vinegar may be poured
from them in four or five, when more convenient. After it is drained
off, turn the fruit into a sieve placed over a deep dish or bowl, as the
juice will flow slowly from it for many hours; put fresh raspberries
into the bottles, and pour the vinegar back upon them; two or three days
later change the fruit again, and when it has stood the same space of
time, drain the whole of the vinegar closely from it, pass it through a
jelly-bag or thick linen cloth, and boil it gently for four or five
minutes with its weight of good sugar roughly powdered, or a pound and a
quarter to the exact pint, and be very careful to remove the scum
entirely as it rises. On the following day bottle the syrup, observing
the directions which we have given for the strawberry vinegar. When the
fruit is scarce it may be changed twice only, and left a few days longer
in the vinegar.
Raspberries, 6 lbs.; vinegar, 9 pints: 7 to 10 days. Vinegar drained on
to fresh raspberries (6 lbs. of): 3 to 5 days. Poured again on fresh
raspberries, 6 lbs.: 3 to 5 days. Boiled 5 minutes with its weight of
sugar.
_Obs._—When the process of sugar-boiling is well understood, it will be
found an improvement to boil that which is used for raspberry or
strawberry vinegar to candy height before the liquid is mixed with it;
all the scum may then be removed with a couple of minutes’ simmering,
and the flavour of the fruit will be more perfectly preserved. For more
particular directions as to the mode of proceeding, the chapter of
confectionary may be consulted.
FINE CURRANT SYRUP, OR SIROP DE GROSEILLES.
Express the juice from some fine ripe red currants, which have been
gathered in dry weather, and stripped from the stalks; strain, and put
it into a new, or a perfectly clean and dry earthen pitcher, and let it
stand in a cellar or in some cool place for twenty-four hours, or
longer, should it not then appear perfectly curdled. Pour it gently into
a fine hair-sieve, and let the clear juice drain through without
pressure; pass it through a jelly-bag, or a closely-woven cloth, weigh
it, and add as much _good_ sugar broken small as there is of the juice,
and when this is dissolved turn the syrup into a preserving-pan or
stewpan, and boil it gently for four or five minutes being careful to
clear off all the scum. In twelve hours afterwards the syrup may be put
into small dry bottles, and corked and stored in a cool, but dry place.
It is a most agreeable preparation, retaining perfectly the flavour of
the fresh fruit; and mixed with water, it affords, like strawberry or
raspberry vinegar, a delicious summer beverage, and one which is
peculiarly adapted to invalids. It makes also a fine isinglass jelly,
and an incomparable sweet-pudding sauce. A portion of raspberry or
cherry-juice may be mixed with that of the currants at pleasure.
CHERRY-BRANDY.
(_Tappington Everard Receipt._)
Fill to about two-thirds of their depth, some wide-necked bottles with
the small cherries called in the markets brandy-blacks; pour in
sufficient sifted sugar to fill up more than half of the remaining
space, and then as much good French brandy as will cover the fruit, and
reach to the necks of the bottles. Cork them securely, and let them
stand for two months before they are opened: the liqueur poured from the
cherries will be excellent, and the fruit itself very good. The morella
cherry-brandy of the preceding chapter would often be preferred to this.
OXFORD PUNCH.
Extract the essence from the rinds of three lemons by rubbing them with
sugar in lumps; put these into a large jug with the peel of two Seville
oranges, of two lemons cut extremely thin, the juice of four Seville
oranges and of ten lemons, and six glasses of calf’s feet jelly in a
liquid state. Stir these well together, pour to them two quarts of
boiling water, cover the jug closely, and set it near the fire for a
quarter of an hour, then strain the mixture through a sieve into a punch
bowl or jug, sweeten it with a bottle of capillaire, add half a pint of
white wine, a pint of French brandy, a pint of Jamaica rum, and a bottle
of orange shrub; stir the punch as the spirit is poured in. If not
sufficiently sweet, add sugar in small quantities, or a spoonful or two
of capillaire.
Rinds of lemons rubbed with sugar, 3; thin peel of lemons, 2; of Seville
oranges, 2; juice of 4 Seville oranges, and 10 lemons; calf’s feet
jelly, 6 glasses; water, 2 quarts: 1/4 hour. Capillaire, 1 bottle; white
wine, 1/2 pint; French brandy and Jamaica rum, each 1 pint; orange
shrub, 1 bottle.
OXFORD RECEIPT FOR BISHOP.
[Illustration]
“Make several incisions in the rind of a lemon, stick cloves in these,
and roast the lemon by a slow fire. Put small but equal quantities of
cinnamon, cloves, mace, and allspice, with a race of ginger, into a
saucepan with half a pint of water: let it boil until it is reduced
one-half. Boil one bottle of port wine, burn a portion of the spirit out
of it by applying a lighted paper to the saucepan; put the roasted lemon
and spice into the wine; stir it up well, and let it stand near the fire
ten minutes. Rub a few knobs of sugar on the rind of a lemon, put the
sugar into a bowl or jug, with the juice of half a lemon (not roasted),
pour the wine into it, grate in some nutmeg, sweeten it to the taste,
and serve it up with the lemon and spice floating in it.”
_Obs._—Bishop is frequently made with a Seville orange stuck with cloves
and slowly roasted, and its flavour to many tastes is infinitely finer
than that of the lemon.
CAMBRIDGE MILK PUNCH.
Throw into two quarts of new milk the very thinly-pared rind of a fine
lemon, and half a pound of good sugar in lumps; bring it slowly to boil,
take out the lemon-rind, draw it from the fire, and stir quickly in a
couple of well-whisked eggs which have been mixed with less than half a
pint of cold milk, and strained though a sieve; the milk must not of
course be allowed to boil after these are mixed with it. Add gradually a
pint of rum, and half a pint of brandy; mill the punch to a froth, and
serve it immediately with quite warm glasses. At the University the
lemon-rind is usually omitted, but it is a great improvement to the
flavour of the beverage. The sugar and spirit can be otherwise
apportioned to the taste; and we would recommend the yolks of three
eggs, or of four, in preference to the two whole ones.
New milk, 2 quarts; rind, 1 large lemon; fresh eggs, 2; cold milk, 1/2
pint; rum, 1 pint; brandy, 1/2 pint.
TO MULL WINE.
(_An excellent French Receipt._)
Boil in a wineglassful and a half of water, a quarter of an ounce of
spice (cinnamon, ginger slightly bruised, and cloves), with three ounces
of fine sugar, until they form a thick syrup, which must not on any
account be allowed to burn. Pour in a pint of port wine, and stir it
gently until it is on the _point_ of boiling only: it should then be
served immediately. The addition of a strip or two of orange-rind cut
extremely thin, gives to this beverage the flavour of bishop. In France
light claret takes the place of port wine in making it, and the better
kinds of _vin ordinaire_ are very palatable thus prepared.
Water, 1-1/2 wineglassful; spice, 1/4 oz., of which fine cloves, 24, and
of remainder, rather more ginger than cinnamon; sugar 3 oz.: 15 to 20
minutes. Port wine or claret, 1 pint; orange-rind, if used, to be boiled
with the spice.
_Obs._—Sherry, or very fine raisin or ginger wine, prepared as above,
and stirred hot to the yolks of four fresh eggs, will make good
egg-wine.
A BIRTHDAY SYLLABUB.
Put into a large bowl half a pound of sugar broken small, and pour on it
the strained juice of a couple of fresh lemons; stir these well
together, and add to them a pint of port wine, a pint of sherry, and
half a pint of brandy; grate in a fine nutmeg, place the bowl under the
cow, and milk it full. In serving it put a portion of the curd into each
glass, fill it up with whey, and pour a little rich cream on the top.
The rind of a lemon may be rasped on part of the sugar when the flavour
is liked, but it is not usually added.
Juice of lemons, 2; sugar, 1/2 lb. or more; port wine, 1 pint; sherry 1
pint; brandy, 1/2 pint; nutmeg, 1; milk from the cow, 2 quarts.
_Obs._—We can testify to the excellence of this receipt.
AN ADMIRABLE COOL CUP.
Weigh six ounces of sugar in lumps, and extract the essence from the
rind of a large fresh lemon by rubbing them upon it; then put them into
a deep jug, and add the strained juice of one lemon and a half. When the
sugar is dissolved, pour in a bottle of good cider, and three large
wineglassesful of sherry; add nearly half a small nutmeg lightly grated,
and serve the cup with or without some sprigs of fresh balm or borage in
it. Brandy is sometimes added to it, but is, we think, no improvement.
If closely covered down, and placed on ice for a short time, it will be
more agreeable as a summer beverage.
THE REGENT’S, OR GEORGE THE FOURTH’S, PUNCH.
Pare as thin as possible the rinds of two China oranges, of two lemons,
and of one Seville orange, and infuse them for an hour in half a pint of
thin cold syrup; then add to them the juice of the fruit. Make a pint of
strong green tea, sweeten it well with fine sugar, and when it is quite
cold, add it to the fruit and syrup, with a glass of the best old
Jamaica rum, a glass of brandy, one of arrack, one of pine-apple syrup,
and two bottles of champagne; pass the whole through a fine lawn sieve
until it is perfectly clear, then bottle, and put it into ice until
dinner is served. We are indebted for this receipt to a person who made
the punch daily for the prince’s table, at Carlton palace, for six
months; it has been in our possession some years, and may be relied on.
Rinds and juice of 2 China oranges, 2 lemons, and of 1 Seville orange;
syrup, 1/2 pint; strong green tea, sweetened, 1 pint; best old Jamaica
rum, arrack, French brandy (vieux cognac), and pine-apple syrup, each 1
glassful; champagne, 2 bottles. In ice for a couple of hours.
MINT JULEP, AN AMERICAN RECEIPT.
“Strip the tender leaves of mint into a tumbler, and add to them as much
wine, brandy, or any other spirit, as you wish to take. Put some pounded
ice into a second tumbler; pour this on the mint and brandy, and
continue to pour the mixture from one tumbler to the other until the
whole is sufficiently impregnated with the flavour of the mint, which is
extracted by the particles of the ice coming into brisk contact when
changed from one vessel to the other. Now place the glass in a larger
one, containing pounded ice: on taking it out of which it will be
covered with frost-work.”
_Obs._—We apprehend that this preparation is, like most other iced
American beverages, to be imbibed through a reed: the receipt, which was
contributed by an American gentleman, is somewhat vague.
DELICIOUS MILK LEMONADE.
Dissolve six ounces of loaf sugar in a pint of boiling water, and mix
with them a quarter of a pint of lemon-juice, and the same quantity of
sherry; then add three-quarters of a pint of cold milk, stir the whole
well together, and pass it through a jelly-bag till clear.
EXCELLENT PORTABLE LEMONADE.
Rasp, with a quarter-pound of sugar, the rind of a very fine juicy
lemon, reduce it to powder, and pour on it the strained juice of the
fruit. Press the mixture into a jar, and when wanted for use dissolve a
tablespoonful of it in a glass of water. It will keep a considerable
time. If too sweet for the taste of the drinker, a very small portion of
citric acid may be added when it is taken.
EXCELLENT BARLEY WATER.
(_Poor Xury’s receipt._)
Wipe very clean, by rolling it in a soft cloth, two tablespoonsful of
pearl barley; put it into a quart jug, with a lump or two of sugar, a
grain or two of salt, and a strip of lemon-peel, cut thin; fill up the
jug with boiling water and keep the mixture gently stirred for some
minutes; then cover it down, and let it stand until perfectly cold. In
twelve hours, or less, it will be fit for use; but it is better when
made over night. If these directions be followed, the barley-water will
be comparatively clear, and very soft and pleasant to drink. A glass of
calf’s feet jelly added to the barley is an infinite improvement; but as
lemon-rind is often extremely unpalatable to invalids, their taste
should be consulted before that ingredient is added, as it should be
also for the degree of sweetness that is desired. After the barley-water
has been poured off once, the jug may be filled with boiling water a
second time, and even a third time with advantage.
RAISIN WINE, WHICH, IF LONG KEPT, REALLY RESEMBLES FOREIGN.
First boil the water which is to be used for the wine, and let it again
become perfectly cold; then put into a sound sweet cask eight pounds of
fine Malaga raisins for each gallon that is to be used, taking out only
the quite large stalks; the fruit and water may be put in alternately
until the cask is _full_, the raisins being well pressed down in it; lay
the bung lightly over, stir the wine every day or two, and keep it full
by the addition of water that has, like the first, been boiled, but
which must always be quite cold when it is used. So soon as the
fermentation has entirely ceased, which may be in from six to seven
weeks, press in the bung, and leave the wine untouched for twelve
months; draw it off then into a clean cask, and fine it, if necessary,
with isinglass, tied in a muslin and suspended in it. We have not
ourselves had this receipt tried; but we have tasted wine made by it
which had been five years kept, and which so much resembled a rich
foreign wine that we could with difficulty believe it was English-made.
To each gallon of water (boiled and left till cold) 8 lbs. of fine
Malaga raisins; to stand 12 months; then to be drawn off and fined.
_Obs._—The refuse raisins make admirable vinegar if fresh water be
poured to them, and the cask placed in the sun. March is the best time
for making the wine.
VERY GOOD ELDERBERRY WINE.
Strip the berries, which should be ripe and fresh, and gathered on a dry
day, clean from the stalks, and measure them into a tub or large earthen
pan. Pour boiling water on them, in the proportion of two gallons to
three of berries, press them down into the liquor, cover them closely,
and let them remain until the following day; then strain the juice from
the fruit through a sieve or cloth, and, when this is done, squeeze from
the berries the greater part of the remaining juice; mix it with that
which was first poured off, measure the whole, add to it three pounds of
sugar, three-quarters of an ounce of cloves, and one ounce of ginger,
for every gallon, and boil it twenty minutes, keeping it thoroughly
skimmed. Put it, when something more than milk-warm, into a perfectly
dry and sweet cask (or if but a _very_ small quantity of wine be made,
into large stone bottles, which answer for the purpose quite well), fill
this entirely, and pour very gently into the bung hole a _large_
spoonful of new yeast mixed with a very small quantity of the wine.
VERY GOOD GINGER WINE.
Boil together, for half an hour, fourteen quarts of water, twelve pounds
of sugar, a quarter of a pound of the best ginger bruised, and the thin
rinds of six large lemons. Put the whole, when milk-warm, into a clean
dry cask, with the juice of the lemons, and half a pound of sun raisins;
add one large spoonful of thick yeast, and stir the wine every day for
ten days. When it has ceased to ferment, add an ounce of isinglass, and
a pint of brandy; bung the wine close, and in two months it will be fit
to bottle, but must remain longer in the cask should it be too sweet.
When it can be obtained, substitute for the water in this receipt cider
fresh from the press, which will give a very superior wine.
Water, 14 quarts; sugar, 12 pounds; lemon-rinds, 6: ginger, 1/4 lb.: 1/2
hour. Juice of lemons, 6; raisins, 1/2 lb.; yeast, 1 spoonful;
isinglass, 1 oz.; brandy, 1 pint.
EXCELLENT ORANGE WINE.
Take half a chest of Seville oranges, pare off the rinds as thin as
possible, put two-thirds of them into six gallons of water, and let them
remain for twenty-four hours. Squeeze the oranges (which ought to yield
seven or eight quarts of juice) through a sieve into a pan, and as they
are done throw them into six gallons more of water; let them be washed
well in it with the hands, and then put into another six gallons of
water and left until the following day. For each gallon of wine, put
into the cask three pounds and a quarter of loaf sugar, and the liquor
strained clear from the rinds and pulp. Wash these again and again,
should more liquor be required to fill the cask; but do not at any time
add raw water. Stir the wine daily until the sugar is perfectly
dissolved, and let it ferment from four to five weeks; add to it two
bottles of brandy, stop it down, and in twelve months it will be fit to
bottle.
_Obs._—The excellence of all wine depends so much upon the fermentation
being properly conducted, that unless the mode of regulating this be
understood by the maker, there will always be great danger of failure in
the operation. There is, we believe, an excellent work upon the subject
by Mr. McCulloch, which the reader who needs information upon it will do
well to consult: our own experience is too slight to enable us to
multiply our receipts.
THE COUNSELLOR’S CUP.
Rub a quarter of a pound of sugar upon the rinds of two fine China
oranges, put it into an enamelled stewpan, and pour on it a pint of
water; let these boil gently for two or three minutes, then pour in half
a pint of China orange-juice mixed with that of one lemon, and
previously strained through muslin; the moment this begins to boil, pour
it into a hot jug, and stir to it half a pint of the best Cognac brandy.
Serve it immediately. When preferred cold, prepare the syrup with the
juice of the fruit, cover it down in the jug, set it into ice, or into a
very cool place, and add the spirit only just before the cup is wanted
for table. Should the fruit be very acid, increase the proportion of
sugar. A few slight strips of the rind of a Seville orange cut very
thin, would to many tastes be an agreeable addition to the beverage;
which should be made always with fresh sound fruit.
Sugar, 4 oz. (6 if needed); rasped rinds of China oranges, 2; water, 1
pint: 3 minutes. Strained juice of China oranges mixed with that of 1
large lemon, 1/2 pint; best Cognac brandy, 1/2 pint.
_Obs._—For a large cup these proportions must be doubled. Sherry or
Madeira substituted for the brandy, will make a pleasant cool cup of
this kind; and equal parts of well made lemonade, and of any good light
white wine, thoroughly cooled down, will give another agreeable beverage
for warm weather; but a much smaller proportion of wine would better
adapt it to many tastes.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER XXX.
=Coffee, Chocolate, &c.=
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
COFFEE.
THERE is no beverage which is held in more universal esteem than good
coffee, and none in this country at least, which is obtained with
greater difficulty (unless indeed it be _pure_ wine). We hear constant
and well-founded complaints both from foreigners and English people, of
the wretched compounds so commonly served up here under its name,
especially in many lodging houses, hotels, and railway refreshment
rooms;[182] yet nothing can well be easier than to prepare it properly.
Some elaborate and various fanciful modes of making it have been
suggested at different times by writers fond of novelty, but they have
in general nothing to recommend them beyond the more simple processes
which follow, and of which we believe the result will seldom prove
unsatisfactory to our readers, unless it be to such of them as may have
been accustomed to the spiced or other peculiar Oriental preparations of
the fragrant berry, or simply to the exquisite quality of it, which
would appear to be obtainable only in the East; or which, at all events,
is beyond the reach of the mass of English consumers, and of their near
Continental neighbours.
Footnote 182:
At some of the principal stations on lines connected with the coast,
by which an immense number of strangers pass and repass, the coffee is
so bad, that great as the refreshment of it would be to them,
particularly in night travelling, in very cold weather, they reject it
as too nauseous to be swallowed. A little _national pride_ ought
surely to prevent this, if no higher principle interfered to do so;
for to exact the full price of a good commodity, and habitually to
supply only trash for it, is a commercial disgrace.
TO ROAST COFFEE.
[Illustration]
Persons who drink coffee habitually, and who are very particular about
its flavour and quality, should purchase the best kind in a raw state,
keep it for two or three years if they are not _certain_ that it has
been so long harvested—as when new it is greatly inferior to that which
has been kept—and have it roasted at home. This can be cheaply done in
small quantities by means of the inexpensive apparatus shown above; the
cost of it not exceeding seven or eight shillings, and the supply of
charcoal needed for it being very trifling indeed; or, with that
inserted below, which is larger and about double the price. The cylinder
which contains the coffee should be only half filled, and it should be
turned rather slowly over the fire, which should never be fierce, until
a strong aromatic smell is emitted; the movement should then be
quickened, as the grain is in that case quite heated, and it will become
too highly coloured before it is roasted through, if slowly finished.
When it is of a fine, _light_, equal brown, which must be ascertained,
until some little experience has been acquired, by sliding back the door
of the cylinder, and looking at it occasionally towards the end of the
process, spread it quickly upon a large dish, and throw a thickly folded
cloth over it. Let it remain thus until it is quite cold; then put it
immediately into canisters or bottles, and exclude the air carefully
from it.
[Illustration:
Patent Percolator, with Spirit Lamp.
]
A FEW GENERAL DIRECTIONS FOR MAKING COFFEE.
When good coffee is desired, let it be procured if possible of a
first-rate London house[183] which can be depended on; and we would
recommend that it should be of the finest quality that can be obtained;
for there is no real economy in using that which is nominally cheaper,
as a larger quantity will be required to give the same amount of
strength, and the flavour will be very inferior. It should always be
_freshly roasted_; but when a constant and large demand for it exists,
it will be easy to have it so. When it has been stored for any length of
time it will be much freshened and improved by being gently heated
through, either in the oven or in a stewpan held high above the fire. It
should be often turned while it is warming, and ground as soon as it is
cold again. _Never purchase it ready ground_ unless compelled to do so.
When no proper mill for it is fitted up in the house, a small portable
one, which may be had at a trifling expense, will answer tolerably well
for grinding it, though it cannot be used with quite the same facility
as those which are fastened firmly to a wall; but whatever form of mill
may be used it should be arranged so as to reduce the berries to a
moderately fine powder; for if it be too coarse the essence will be only
partially extracted from it by filtering; and if it be extremely fine
the water will not percolate through it, and it will not be clear.
Footnote 183:
We could indicate several houses where unadulterated coffee may be
procured, but it is not always to be had from them so choice in
quality as it might be; and it is in general too highly roasted. By
far the finest we have ever tasted we had on two occasions, some years
since, from Mr. Cobbett, of Pall Mall. The fragrance of it was too
remarkable to be easily forgotten, and the flavour was exquisite; but
it was apparently an accidental sample which he had met with in the
market, for though very good, that with which we were supplied
afterwards never equalled it.
Messrs. Staniforth and Co., 138, Oxford-street, are deservedly noted
for the excellence of their coffee. It is always ground at the instant
of serving it to a customer; and they have the complaisance of
roasting even so small a quantity as two pounds, to suit the taste of
the purchaser: it may therefore be procured of them as pale-dried as
it can be wished.
The house of Messrs. Decastro and Peach, next door to Hatchett’s
Hotel, Piccadilly, may likewise, we think, be quite depended on for
supplying genuine coffee to the public; and they have an immense
demand for it.
We say nothing about mingling chicory with it. Our directions are for
making _pure coffee_; which, when not taken in excess, is, we believe, a
wholesome as well as a most agreeable beverage. The effect of chicory
is, we believe, to impart a slight bitter flavour to the infusion, and
to deepen its colour so much as to make it appear much stronger than it
really is. True connoisseurs, however, do not attach any importance to
the dark hue of coffee, the very choicest that can be tasted being
sometimes of quite a pale tint.
Always serve hot milk or cream, or hot milk and cold cream, if
preferred, with breakfast coffee. In the evening, when milk is served at
all with it, it should likewise be boiling.
Do not, _in any way_, make use of the residue of one day’s coffee in
preparing that of the next; you would but injure the purity of its
flavour by doing so, and effect _next to nothing_ in the matter of
economy.[184]
Footnote 184:
When the coffee has been filtered in a proper manner, water poured
afterwards on the “grounds” as they are termed, will have scarcely any
taste or colour; this is not the case when it has been boiled.
EXCELLENT BREAKFAST COFFEE.
A simple, well-made English filter, or _percolator_, as it is called,
will answer perfectly for making coffee; but from amongst the many of
more recent invention which are on sale, the reader who prefers one of
ornamental appearance, and of novel construction, will easily be suited.
The size of the filter must be adapted to the number of persons for whom
the coffee is to be prepared; for if a large quantity of the powder be
heaped into an insufficient space for it, there will not be room for it
to swell, and the water will not pass through. Put three ounces of
coffee into one which will contain in the lower compartment two pints
and a half; shake the powder quite level and press it closely down;
remove the presser, put on the top strainer, and pour round and round,
so as to wet the coffee equally, about the third part of a measured pint
of fast boiling water. Let this drain quite through before more is
added; then pour in—still _quite boiling_—in the same manner as much
more water, and when it has passed through, add the remainder; let it
drain entirely through, then remove the top of the filter, put the cover
on the part which contains the coffee, and serve it immediately. It will
be very strong, and perfectly clear. Fill the breakfast cups two parts
full of new boiling milk, and add as much of the infusion as will give
it the degree of strength which is agreeable to those for whom it is
prepared. When it is liked extremely strong, the proportion of milk must
be diminished, or less water be poured to the coffee.
If nearly an additional half pint of water be added before the top of
the percolator is taken off, it will still be very good, provided that
the coffee used be really of first-rate quality.
To make cheaper breakfast coffee to be served in the usual English mode,
the same process should be followed, but the proportion of water must be
considerably increased: it should always, however, be added by _slow
degrees_.
Good breakfast coffee (for three persons). Best Mocha, in moderately
fine powder, ground at the instant of using it, 3 oz.; boiling water
added by degrees, 1 pint; (more at pleasure). Boiling milk served with
it, 1-1/2 pint to 1 quart. Common English coffee: coffee-powder, 3 oz.;
water, 1 quart, to be slowly filtered; hot milk, half to whole pint.
Cream in addition to either of the above, at choice.
TO BOIL COFFEE.
To boil coffee and refine it, put the necessary quantity of water into a
pot which it will not fill by some inches; when it boils stir in the
coffee; for unless this be at once moistened, it will remain on the top
and be liable to fly over. Give it one or two strong boils, then raise
it from the fire, and simmer it for ten minutes only; pour out a large
cupful twice, hold it high over the coffee pot and pour it in again,
then set it on the stove where it will keep hot without simmering or
moving in the least, for ten minutes longer. It will be perfectly clear,
unless mismanaged, without any other fining. Should more, however, be
deemed necessary, a _very_ small pinch of isinglass, or a clean
egg-shell, with a little of the white adhering to it, is the best that
can be used. _Never_ use mustard to fine coffee with. It is a barbarous
custom of which we have heard foreigners who have been in England
vehemently complain.
Coffee, 2 oz.; water, 1 pint to 1 quart, according to the strength
required. Boiled 10 minutes; left to clear 10 minutes.
_Remark._—Filtering is, we should say, a far more economical, and in
every way a superior mode of making coffee to boiling it; but as some
persons still prefer the old method, we insert the receipt for it.
CAFÉ NOIR.
This is the very essence of coffee, and is served in nearly all French
families, as well in those of many other countries, immediately after
the rice-crust. About two-thirds of a small cupful—not more—sweetened
almost to syrup with highly refined sugar in lumps, is usually taken by
each person; in families of moderate rank, generally before they leave
the table; in more refined life, it is served in the drawing-room the
instant dinner is ended; commonly with liqueurs after it, but not
invariably. To make it, proceed exactly as for the breakfast-coffee, but
add only so much water as is required to make the strongest possible
infusion. White sugar-candy in powder may be served with it in addition
to the sugar in lumps.
BURNT COFFEE, OR COFFEE À LA MILITAIRE.
(_In France vulgarly called Gloria._)
Make some coffee as strong and as clear as possible, sweeten it in the
cup with white sugar almost to syrup, then pour the brandy on the top
gently over a spoon, set fire to it with a lighted paper, and when the
spirit is in part consumed, blow out the flame, and drink the _gloria_
quite hot.
TO MAKE CHOCOLATE.
[Illustration]
An ounce of chocolate, if good, will be sufficient for one person. Rasp,
and then boil it from five to ten minutes with about four tablespoonsful
of water; when it is extremely smooth add nearly a pint of new milk,
give it another boil, stir it well, or mill it, and serve it directly.
For water-chocolate use three-quarters of a pint of water instead of the
milk, and send rich hot cream to table with it. The taste must decide
whether it shall be made thicker or thinner.
Chocolate, 2 oz.; water, quarter-pint, or rather more; milk, 1-3/4: 1/2
minute.
_Obs._—The general reader will understand the use of the chocolate-mill
shown in the engraving with the pot; but to the uninitiated it may be as
well to observe, that it is worked quickly round between both hands to
give a fine froth to the chocolate. It also serves in lieu of a whisk
for working creams, or jellies, to a froth or _whip_.
A SPANISH RECIPE FOR MAKING AND SERVING CHOCOLATE.
Take of the best chocolate an ounce for each person, and half a pint of
cold water; rasp or break it small in a mortar, set it over a slow fire,
and stir or mill it gently until it has become quite smooth like
custard; pour it immediately into deep cups, and serve it with a glass
of sugar and water, or with iced water only[185] to each cup; and with
plates of very delicate dried toast cut in narrow strips, or with the
cakes called “ladies’ fingers.” Should the chocolate appear too thick, a
little water must be added. Milk is sometimes substituted for it
altogether.
Footnote 185:
Sometimes with a water ice, which should be of an appropriate
character.
TO MAKE COCOA.
Directions for making it are usually sold with the prepared, or best
quality of cocoa, which is merely mixed with boiling water in the
proportions indicated on the packets. That which is prepared from the
nibs requires several hours’ boiling, and should be left until it is
quite cold, that the oil which will be found on the surface may be
cleared from it before it is again heated for table: this is
particularly needful when it is to be served to persons in delicate
health.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER XXXI.
=Bread.=
[Illustration]
REMARKS ON HOME-MADE BREAD.
IT is surely a singular fact that the one article of our daily food on
which health depends more than on any other, is precisely that which is
obtained in England with the greatest difficulty—_good, light, and pure
bread_—yet nothing can be more simple and easy than the process of
making it, either in large quantities or in small. From constant
failure, it is nevertheless considered so difficult in many families,
that recourse is had to the nearest baker, both in town and country, as
a means of escape from the heavy, or bitter, or ill-baked masses of
dough which appear at table under the name of _household_ or _home-made_
bread; and which are well calculated to create the distaste which they
often excite for everything which bears its name. Without wishing in the
slightest degree to disparage the skill and labour of bread-makers by
trade, truth compels us to assert our conviction of the superior
wholesomeness of bread made in our own homes. When a miller can be
depended on to supply flour of good quality, and the other ingredients
used in preparing it are also fresh and good, and mingled with it in due
proportions, and the kneading, fermentation, and baking, are conducted
with care and intelligence, the result will uniformly be excellent
bread. Every cook, therefore,—and we might almost say _every female
servant_—ought to be perfectly acquainted with the proper mode of making
it; and skill in preparing a variety of dishes, is poor compensation for
ignorance on this one essential point.[186] Moreover, it presents no
more real difficulty than boiling a dish of potatoes, or making a rice
pudding; and the neglect with which it is treated is therefore the less
to be comprehended or excused.
Footnote 186:
Only those persons who live habitually on good home-made bread, can
form an idea of the extent to which health is affected by their being
deprived of it. We have been appealed to on several occasions for
household loaves—which we have sent to a considerable distance—by
friends who complained of being rendered really _ill_ by the bread
which they were compelled to eat in the sea-side towns and in other
places of fashionable resort; and in London we have heard incessant
complaints both from foreigners and habitual residents, of the
impossibility of obtaining _really wholesome bread_.
TO PURIFY YEAST FOR BREAD OR CAKES.
The yeast procured from a public brewery is often so extremely bitter
that it can only be rendered fit for use by frequent washings, and after
these even it should be cautiously employed. Mix it, when first brought
in, with a large quantity of cold water, and set it by until the
following morning in a cool place; then drain off the water, and stir
the yeast up well with as much more of fresh: it must again stand
several hours before the water can be poured clear from it. By changing
this daily in winter, and both night and morning in very hot weather,
the yeast may be preserved fit for use much longer than it would
otherwise be; and should it ferment rather less freely after a time, a
_small_ portion of brown sugar and a little warm milk or other liquid,
stirred to it a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes before it is
required for bread-making, will restore its strength.
The German yeast, of which we have spoken in detail in another part of
this chapter, makes exceedingly light bread and buns, and is never
bitter; it is therefore a valuable substitute for our own beer-yeast,
but cannot be procured in all parts of the country, for the reasons
which we have stated.
THE OVEN.
A brick oven, heated with wood, is far superior to any other for baking
bread, as well as for most other purposes. The iron ovens, now commonly
attached to kitchen-ranges—the construction of which has within these
few years been wonderfully improved—though exceedingly convenient, from
the facility which they afford for baking at all hours of the day, do
not in general answer well for _bread_, unless it be made into very
small loaves or rolls, as the surface becomes hardened and browned long
before the heat has sufficiently penetrated to the centre of the dough.
The same objection often exists to iron-ovens of larger size, which
require care and management, to ensure the successful use of them. A
brick oven should be well heated with faggot wood, or with a faggot, and
two or three solid logs; and after it is cleared, the door should be
closely shut for quite half an hour before the baking commences: the
heat will then be well sustained for a succession of bread, pies, cakes,
and small pastry. The servant who habitually attends at an oven will
soon become acquainted with the precise quantity of fuel which it
requires, and all other peculiarities which may be connected with it.
A FEW RULES TO BE OBSERVED IN MAKING BREAD.
Never use too large a proportion of yeast, as the bread will not only
become dry very speedily when this is done, but it will be far less
sweet and pleasant in flavour than that which is more slowly fermented,
and the colour will not be so good: there will also be a great chance of
its being bitter when brewer’s yeast is used for it. Remember that milk
or water of _scalding_ heat poured to any kind of yeast will render the
bread heavy. One pint of either added quite boiling to a pint and a half
of cold, will bring it to about the degree of warmth required. In frosty
weather the proportion of the heated liquid may be increased a little.
When only porter-yeast—which is dark-coloured and bitter—can be
procured, use a much smaller proportion than usual, and allow _much_
longer time for it to rise. Never let it be sent to the oven until it is
evidently _light_. Bitter bread is unpalatable, but not really
unwholesome; but heavy bread is _particularly_ so.
Let the leaven be kneaded up quickly with the remainder of the flour
when once it is well risen, as it should on no account be allowed to
sink again before this is done, when it has reached the proper point;
and in making the dough, be particularly careful not to render it too
lithe by adding more liquid than is requisite. It should be quite firm,
and entirely free from lumps and crumbs throughout the mass, and on the
surface also, which ought to be _perfectly smooth_.
In winter, place the bread while it is rising sufficiently close to the
fire to prevent its becoming cold, but never so near as to render it
_hot_. A warm thick cloth should be thrown over the pan in which it is
made immediately after the leaven is mixed, and kept on it until the
bread is ready for the oven.
HOUSEHOLD BREAD.
Put half a bushel (more or less, according to the consumption of the
family) of flour into the kneading tub or trough, and hollow it well in
the middle; dilute a pint of yeast as it is brought from the brewery or
half the quantity if it has been washed and rendered solid, with four
quarts or more of lukewarm milk or water, or a mixture of the two; stir
into it, from the surrounding part, with a wooden spoon, as much flour
as will make a thick batter; throw a handful or two over it, and leave
this, which is called the leaven, to rise before proceeding further. In
about an hour it will have swollen considerably, and have burst through
the coating of flour on the top; then pour in as much more warm liquid
as will convert the whole, with _good kneading_, and this should not be
spared, into a firm dough, of which the surface should be entirely free
from lumps or crumbs. Throw a cloth over, and let it remain until it has
risen very much a second time, which will be in an hour, or something
more, if the batch be large. Then work it lightly up, and mould it into
loaves of from two to three pounds weight; send them directly to a well
heated oven, and bake them from an hour and a half to an hour and
three-quarters.
Flour, 1/2 bushel; salt (when it is liked), 4 to 6 oz.; yeast, 1 pint
unwashed, or 1/2 pint if purified; milk, or water, 2 quarts: 1 to 1-1/2
hour. Additional liquid as needed.
_Obs._—Brown bread can be made exactly as above, either with half meal
and half flour mixed, or with meal only. This will absorb more moisture
than fine flour, and will retain it rather longer. Brown bread should
always be _thoroughly baked_.
_Remark._—We have seen it very erroneously asserted in one or two works,
that bread made with milk speedily becomes sour. This is never the case
when it is properly baked and kept, and when the milk used for it is
_perfectly sweet_. The experience of many years, enables us to speak
positively on this point.
BORDYKE BREAD.
(_Author’s Receipt._)
Mix with a gallon of flour a large teaspoonful of fine salt, make a
hollow in the centre, and pour in two tablespoonsful of solid, well
purified yeast, gradually diluted with about two pints and a half of
milk, and work it into a thick batter with the surrounding flour, strew
a thick layer over and leave it to rise from an hour to an hour and a
half; then knead it up with as much more warm skimmed milk, or half new
milk and half water, as will render it quite firm and smooth without
being very stiff; let it rise another hour, and divide it into three
loaves; put them into square tins slightly buttered, or into round
baking pans, and bake them about an hour and a quarter in a well-heated
oven. The dough can be formed into household loaves if preferred, and
sent to the oven in the usual way. When a finer and more spongy kind of
bread is required for immediate eating, substitute new milk for skimmed,
dissolve in it about an ounce of butter, leave it more liquid when the
sponge is set, and let the whole be lightly kneaded into a lithe dough:
the bread thus made will be excellent when new, and for a day or so
after it is baked, but it will become dry sooner than the other.
Flour, 1 gallon; salt, 1 teaspoonful; skimmed milk, 2-1/2 pints, to rise
from 1 to 1-1/2 hour. Additional milk, 1 to 2 pints: to rise 1 hour. 3
loaves, baked 1-1/4 hour.
_Obs. 1._—A few spoonsful of cream will wonderfully improve either of
the above receipts, and sweet buttermilk, substituted for the other,
will give to the bread the shortness of a cake: we would particularly
recommend it for trial when it can be procured.
_Obs. 2._—Shallow round earthen pans answer much better, we think, than
tins for baking bread; they should be _slightly_ rubbed with butter
before the dough is put into them.
GERMAN YEAST.
(_And Bread made with German Yeast._)
This has very generally superseded the use of English beer-yeast in
London, and other places conveniently situated for receiving quickly and
regularly the supplies of it which are imported from abroad; but as it
speedily becomes putrid in sultry weather, and does not in any season
remain good long after its arrival here, it is unsuited for transmission
to remote parts of the country. Bread made with it while it is perfectly
sweet, is extremely light and good, and it answers remarkably well for
light cakes and biscuits. An ounce is the proportion which we have
always had used for a quartern (half a gallon or three pounds and a
half) of flour, and this, with the addition of some salt and nearly a
quart of milk, or milk and water, has produced _excellent_ bread when it
has been made with care. The yeast should be very gradually and
perfectly moistened and blended with the warm liquid; for unless this be
done, and the whole rendered smooth as cream, the dough will not be of
the uniform texture which it ought, but will be full of large hollow
spaces, which are never seen in well-made bread. The mass should be
mixed up firmly and _well kneaded_ at once, then left to rise for about
an hour; again kneaded thoroughly, and again left to rise from
three-quarters of an hour to an hour; then divided, and lightly worked
up into loaves, put into round slightly buttered earthen pans, and sent
immediately to the oven.[187]
Footnote 187:
We give the proportions used and the exact manner of making this
bread, which we have had followed for more than twelve months, with
entire success.
A leaven may be first laid with the yeast, and part of the liquid when
it is preferred, as directed for bread made with beer-yeast, but the
result will be equally good if the whole be kneaded up at once, if it be
made _quite firm_.
PROFESSOR LIEBIG’S BAVARIAN BROWN BREAD.
(_Very nutritious and wholesome._)
Baron Liebig pronounces this bread to be very superior to that which is
made with fine flour solely, both in consequence of the greater amount
of nutriment which it contains, and from its slight medicinal effect,
which renders it valuable to many persons accustomed to have frequent
recourse to drugs, of which it supersedes the necessity. It is made with
the wheat exactly as it is ground, no part being subtracted, nor any
additional flour mingled with it. He directs that the wheat should not
be _damped_ before it is prepared: but few millers can be found who will
depart from their ordinary practice to oblige private customers; and
this determined adherence to established usage intervenes constantly
between us, and all improvement in our modes of preparing food. The
bread is made in the usual way, with water only, or with a portion of
milk added to the yeast, as taste or convenience may dictate. The loaves
should be well baked at all times; and the dough should of course be
perfectly light when it is placed in the oven. Salt should be mixed with
the meal before the yeast is added.
ENGLISH BROWN BREAD.
This is often made with a portion only of the unbolted meal recommended
in the preceding receipt, mixed with more or less of fine flour,
according to the quality of bread required; and in many families the
coarse bran is always sifted from the meal, as an impression exists that
it is irritating to the stomach. If one gallon of meal as it comes from
the mill, be well mixed with an equal measure of flour, and made into a
dough in the manner directed for white household bread, the loaves will
still be sufficiently brown for the general taste in this country, and
they will be good and wholesome, though not, perhaps, so entirely easy
of digestion as Baron Liebig’s Bavarian bread.
UNFERMENTED BREAD.
This bread, in which carbonate of soda and muriatic acid are substituted
for yeast or other leaven, has within these few years been highly
recommended, and much eaten. It may possibly suit many persons better
than that which is fermented in the usual way, but it is not in general
by any means so pleasant in flavour; and there is much more chance of
failure in preparing it in private families, as it requires some skill
to mix the ingredients with exactness and _despatch_; and it is
absolutely necessary that the dough should be set into the oven the
instant it is ready. In some hydropathic and other large establishments,
where it is always supplied to the table in lieu of the more common
kinds, it is, we have been informed by patients who had partaken of it
there for many months together, exceedingly and uniformly good. More
detailed information with regard to it, will be found in our “Cookery
for Invalids,” a work for which our want of space in the present volume
compels us to reserve it.
“For each pound of flour (or meal) take forty grains of sesquicarbonate
of soda, mix it intimately with the sugar and flour, then add fifty
drops of muriatic acid of the shops, diluted with half a pint of water,
or with as much as may be requisite to form the dough, stirring it
constantly into a smooth mass. Divide it into a couple of loaves, and
put them immediately into a quick oven.” Bake them thoroughly.
Author’s note.—Dr. Pereira, from whose book on diet the substance of the
above receipt is taken, says that delicious bread was made by it in his
presence by the cook of Mr. John Savory, of Bond Street, equal to any
bread fermented by the usual process. We would suggest that the soda,
mixed with the sugar, and a small portion of the flour, should be rubbed
through a hair sieve with a wooden spoon into the remainder of the
flour, and stirred up with it until the whole is perfectly mingled,
before the liquid is added. Should lighter bread be desired, the soda
may be increased to fifty or even sixty grains, if the quantity of acid
be proportionately augmented. As common salt is formed by the
combination of these two agents, none beside is needed in the bread.
Flour, 1 lb.; sesquicarbonate of soda, 40 grains; sugar, 1 teaspoonful;
muriatic acid of the shops, 50 drops; water, 1/2 pint (or as needed).
POTATO BREAD.
One pound of good mealy potatoes, steamed or boiled very dry, in the
ordinary way, or prepared by Captain Kater’s receipt (see Chapter
XVII.), and rubbed quite hot, through a coarse sieve, into a couple of
pounds of flour, with which they should be well mixed, will produce
excellent bread, which will remain moist much longer than wheaten bread
made as usual. The yeast should be added immediately after the potatoes.
An ounce or two of butter, an egg and some new milk, will convert this
bread into superior rolls.
DINNER OR BREAKFAST ROLLS.
Crumble down very small indeed, an ounce of butter into a couple of
pounds of the best flour, and mix with them a large saltspoonful of
salt. Put into a basin a dessertspoonful of solid, well-purified yeast,
and half a teaspoonful of pounded sugar; mix these with half a pint of
warm new milk; hollow the centre of the flour, pour in the yeast
gradually, stirring to it sufficient of the surrounding flour to make a
thick batter; strew more flour on the top, cover a thick double cloth
over the pan, and let it stand in a warm kitchen to rise. In winter it
must be placed within a few feet of the fire. In about an hour, should
the leaven have broken through the flour on the top, and have risen
considerably in height, mix one lightly-whisked egg, or the yolks of
two, with nearly half a pint more of quite warm new milk, and wet up the
mass into a very smooth dough. Cover it as before, and in from half to
three-quarters of an hour turn it on to a paste-board, and divide it
into twenty-four portions of equal size. Knead these up as lightly as
possible into small round, or olive-shaped rolls; make a slight incision
round them, and cut them once or twice across the top, placing them as
they are done on slightly floured baking sheets an inch or two apart.
Let them remain for fifteen or twenty minutes to _prove_; then wash the
tops with yolk of egg, mixed with a little milk, and bake them in a
rather brisk oven from ten to fifteen minutes. Turn them upside down
upon a dish to cool after they are taken from the tins. An additional
ounce of butter and another egg can be used for these rolls when richer
bread is liked; but it is so much less wholesome than a more simple
kind, that it is not to be recommended. A cup of good cream would be an
admirable substitute for butter altogether, rendering the rolls
exceedingly delicate both in appearance and in flavour. The yeast used
for them should be stirred up with plenty of cold water the day before
it is wanted; and it will be found very thick indeed when it is poured
off, which should be gently done. Rather less than an ounce of good
fresh German yeast may be used for them instead of brewer’s yeast, with
advantage.
GENEVA ROLLS, OR BUNS.
Break down into very small crumbs three ounces of butter with two pounds
of flour; add a little salt, and set the sponge with a large
tablespoonful of solid yeast, mixed with a pint of new milk, and a
tablespoonful or more of strong saffron water; let it rise for a full
hour, then stir to a couple of well-beaten eggs as much hot milk as will
render them lukewarm, and wet the rolls with them to a light, lithe
dough; leave it from half to three-quarters of an hour longer, mould it
into small rolls, brush them with beaten yolk of egg, and bake them from
twenty minutes to half an hour. The addition of six ounces of good
sugar, three of butter, half a pound or more of currants, the grated
rind of a large lemon, and a couple of ounces of candied orange-rind,
will convert these into excellent buns. When the flavour of the saffron
is not liked, omit it altogether. Only so much should be used at any
time as will give a rich colour to the bread.
Flour, 2 lbs.; butter, 3 oz.; solid yeast, 1 large tablespoonful
(saffron, 1 teaspoonful; water, less than a quarter pint); new milk, 1
pint: 1 hour, or more. 2 eggs, more milk: 3/4 hour: baked 20 to 30
minutes.
RUSKS.
Work quite into crumbs six ounces of butter with a couple of pounds of
fine dry flour, and mix them into a lithe paste, with two tablespoonsful
of mild beer yeast, three well-beaten eggs, and nearly half a pint of
warm new milk. When it has risen to its full height knead it smooth, and
make it into very small loaves or thick cakes cut with a round
cake-cutter; place them on a floured tin, and let them stand in a warm
place to _prove_ from ten to twenty minutes before they are set into the
oven. Bake them about a quarter of an hour; divide them while they are
still warm, and put them into a very slow oven to dry. When they are
crisp quite through they are done. Four teaspoonsful of sifted sugar
must be added when sweet-rusks are preferred.
Flour, 2 lbs.; butter, 6 oz.; yeast, 2 tablespoonsful; eggs, 3; new milk
nearly half a pint: baked 1/4 hour.
For either of the preceding receipts substitute rather more than an
ounce of German yeast, when it can be procured quite fresh; or should an
ounce of it only be used (which we should consider an ample proportion),
let the dough—especially that of the rusks—become extremely light before
it is kneaded down, and also previously to its being sent to the oven. A
somewhat smaller quantity of yeast is required in warm weather than in
cold.
--------------
[REMARK.—The remainder of this chapter is extracted from a little
treatise on _domestic_ bread-making, which we hope shortly to lay before
the public, as it appears to us to be greatly needed; but, as we have
already more than once repeated, we are unwilling to withhold from the
present volume any information which may be generally useful.]
EXCELLENT DAIRY-BREAD MADE WITHOUT YEAST.
(_Author’s Receipt._)
When we first heard unfermented bread vaguely spoken of, we had it tried
very successfully in the following manner; and we have since been told
that an almost similar method of preparing it is common in many remote
parts both of England and Ireland, where it is almost impossible to
procure a constant supply of yeast. Blend well together a teaspoonful of
pounded sugar and fifty grains of the purest carbonate of soda; mix a
saltspoonful of salt with a pound of flour, and rub the soda and sugar
through a hair-sieve into it. Stir and mingle them well, and make them
quickly into a firm but not _hard_ dough with sour buttermilk. Bake the
loaf well in a thoroughly heated, but not _fierce_ oven. In a brick, or
good iron oven a few minutes less than an hour would be sufficient to
bake a loaf of similar weight. The buttermilk should be kept until it is
quite acid, but it must never be in the slightest degree rancid, or
otherwise bad. _All_ unfermented bread should be placed in the oven
directly it is made, or it will be heavy. For a larger baking allow
rather less than an ounce of soda to the gallon (seven pounds) of flour.
_Obs._—There are cases in which a knowledge of this, or of any other
equally easy mode of bread-making would be invaluable. For example:—We
learn from the wife of an officer who has for a long time been stationed
off the Isle of Skye, in which his family have their abode, that the
inhabitants depend entirely for bread on supplies brought to them from
Glasgow; and that they are often entirely without, when the steamer
which ought to arrive at intervals of eight days, is delayed by stress
of weather. The residents are then compelled to have recourse to
_scones_—as a mixture of flour and water and a little soda (cooked on a
flat iron plate), are called—or to ship’s biscuit; and these are often
found unsuitable for young children and invalids. There are no ovens in
the houses, though there are grates for coal fires, in front of which
small loaves of unfermented bread could be baked extremely well in good
American ovens. Buttermilk can always be procured; and if not, a
provision of carbonate of soda and muriatic acid might be kept at hand
to ensure the means of making wholesome bread. In many other localities
the same plan might prove of equal benefit.
TO KEEP BREAD.
Bread requires almost as much care as milk to preserve it wholesome and
fresh. It should be laid, as soon as it is perfectly cold, into a large
earthen pan with a cover, which should be kept free from crumbs, and be
frequently scalded, and then wiped very dry for use. Loaves which have
been cut should have a smaller pan appropriated to them, and this also
should have the loose crumbs wiped from it daily. It is a good plan to
raise the bread-pans from the floor of the larder, when there is no
proper stand or frame for the purpose, by means of two flat wedges of
wood, so as to allow a current of air to pass under them.
TO FRESHEN STALE BREAD (AND PASTRY, ETC.), AND PRESERVE IT FROM MOULD.
If entire loaves be placed in a gentle oven and heated quite through,
_without_ being previously dipped into cold water, according to the
old-fashioned plan, they will eat almost like bread newly baked: they
should not remain in it long enough to become hard and dry, but they
should be made hot throughout. In very damp localities, when large
household bakings take place but once in eight or ten days, it is
sometimes necessary to use precautions against the attack of mould,
though the bread may have been exceedingly well made; and the method
recommended above will be the best for warding it off, and for
preserving the bread eatable for several days longer than it would
otherwise be. If _large_ loaves be just dipped into cold water and then
placed in a quick oven until they are again thoroughly dried, they will
resemble _new_ bread altogether.
Pastry, cakes, and biscuits, may all be greatly improved when stale, by
heating them in a gentle oven.
TO KNOW WHEN BREAD IS SUFFICIENTLY BAKED.
When the surface is uniformly browned, and it is everywhere _firm to the
touch_, and the bottom crust of a loaf is hard, it is generally certain
that it is thoroughly baked. To test bread that has been cut (or
yeast-cakes), press down the crumb lightly in the centre with the thumb;
when it is elastic and rises again to its place, it is proof that it is
perfectly done; but if the indentation remains, the heat has not
sufficiently penetrated the dough to convert it into wholesome eating.
ON THE PROPER FERMENTATION OF DOUGH.
As we have previously said, too large a proportion of yeast, which is
very commonly used by persons not well skilled in bread-making, although
it produces quickly a light spongy dough, has a very bad effect on
bread, which it renders much less easy of digestion than that which is
more slowly fermented, and far less sweet and pleasant in flavour: it
also prevents its remaining eatable the same length of time, as it
speedily becomes dry. It is likewise very disadvantageous to make the
dough so lithe that it spreads about in the oven; and if it be
_excessively_ stiff, and its management not thoroughly understood, it
will sometimes be heavy,. To prevent this, it should be kept quite warm
(never _heated_), and left a much longer time to rise. It will
frequently then prove excellent. It will ferment rather more quickly if,
when it gives symptoms of becoming light it is made up into loaves with
the least possible kneading, and a slight incision is made round them
and across the tops, and they are then placed in a warm air, and kept
secure from cold currents passing over them.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER XXXII.
[Illustration]
FOREIGN AND JEWISH COOKERY.
[Illustration]
WE had hoped to have been able without exceeding the prescribed limits
of the present volume to have added here a somewhat extensive chapter on
the cookery of other countries, and to have comprised in it a section
adapted to the service of the Jewish table; but we have so much enlarged
in the pages on the more important subject of “Bread,” and on other
matters which relate to simple _English_ domestic economy, that we find
it necessary to depart from our original intention, and to confine our
receipts here to a comparatively small number. This, however, is of the
less consequence as so many good and well tested foreign receipts, of
which, from our own experience, we can guarantee the success, are to be
found in the body of the work.
REMARKS ON JEWISH COOKERY.
From being forbidden by their usages to mingle butter, or other
preparation of milk or cream with meat at any meal, the Jews have oil
much used in their cookery of fish, meat, and vegetables. Pounded
almonds and rich syrups of sugar and water agreeably flavoured, assist
in compounding their sweet dishes, many of which are excellent, and
preserve much of their oriental character; but we are credibly informed
that the restrictions of which we have spoken are not at the present day
very rigidly observed by the main body of Jews in this country, though
they are so by those who are denominated strict.
JEWISH SMOKED BEEF.[188]
Footnote 188:
We were made acquainted with it first through the courtesy of a Jewish
lady, who afterwards supplied us with the address of the butcher from
whom it was procured: _Mr. Pass, 34, Duke Street, Aldgate_, from whom
the _chorissa_ also may be purchased, and probably many other
varieties of smoked meat which are used in Jewish cookery. For such of
our readers as may not be acquainted with the fact, it may be well to
state here that all meat supplied by Jew butchers is sure to be of
first-rate quality, as they are forbidden by the Mosaic Law to convert
into food any animal which is not perfectly free _from all_ “spot or
blemish.”
This is _excellent_, possessing the fine flavour of a really well cured
ham, and retaining it unimpaired for a very long time after it is cut or
cooked, if kept in a cool larder; it is therefore a valuable and
inexpensive _store_ for imparting savour to soups, gravies, and other
preparations; and it affords also a dish of high relish for the table.
An inch or two of the lean part, quite cleared from the smoked edges and
divided into dice, will flavour _well_ a tureen of gravy, or a pint of
soup: even that which has been boiled will greatly improve the flavour
of Liebig’s extract of beef, and of any simple broth or _consommé_. From
the depth of fat upon it, which appears particularly rich and mellow, we
think it is the thick flank of the beef of which we have made trial in
various ways, and which is now in much request in several families of
our acquaintance, who find it greatly superior to the common hung or
Dutch beef, to which they were previously accustomed.
It must be cooked in the same manner as other smoked meats, more time
being allowed for it than for fresh. Drop it into boiling water, and
when it has boiled quickly for ten minutes, take off the scum should any
appear, add cold water sufficient to reduce it to mere _scalding heat_,
bring it again gently to a boil, and simmer it until the lean appears
quite tender when probed with a sharp skewer; then lift it on to a
drainer and serve it hot or cold, and garnished in either case with
vegetables or otherwise at pleasure. Beef, 6 lbs.: 3 hours or more.
CHORISSA (OR JEWISH SAUSAGE) WITH RICE.
The chorissa is a peculiar kind of smoked sausage much served at Jewish
tables[189] as an accompaniment to boiled poultry, &c. It seems to be in
great part composed of delicate pounded meat, intermingled with suet and
with a small portion of some highly-cured preparation, and with herbs or
spices which impart to it an agreeable aromatic flavour.
Footnote 189:
It may be had at the same shops as the smoked beef, and is the same
price—a shilling the pound.
Drop the _chorissa_ into warm water, heat it gently, boil it for about
twenty minutes, and serve it surrounded with rice prepared as for
currie. It will be found very good broiled in slices after the previous
boiling: it should be cold before it is again laid to the fire. In all
cases it will, we think, be found both more easy of digestion and more
agreeable if half-boiled at least before it is broiled, toasted, or
warmed in the oven for table. It is a good addition to forcemeat, and
pounded savoury preparations, if used in moderation.
TO FRY SALMON AND OTHER FISH IN OIL.
(_To Serve Cold._)
Turn into a _small_ deep frying-pan, which should be kept for the
purpose, a flask of fresh olive oil, place it over a clear fire, and as
soon as it ceases to bubble lay in a pound and a half of delicate salmon
properly cleansed and well dried in a cloth, and fry it gently until it
is cooked quite through. The surface should be only lightly browned, and
when the proper colour is attained the pan must be lifted so high from
the fire as to prevent it being deepened, as we have directed in Chapter
IX. in the general instructions for frying. Drain the fish well when it
is done, and when it is perfectly cold, dish, and garnish it with light
foliage. The Jews have cold fried fish much served at their repasts.
Fillets of soles, plaice, brill, small turbots, or other flat fish, may
be fried as above, and arranged in a symmetrical form round a portion of
a larger fish, or by themselves. We would recommend as an accompaniment
one of the _Mauritian chutnies_ which are to be found in this chapter.
Olive oil, 1 small flask; salmon, about 1-1/2 lb.: 1/2 hour or rather
more. Fillets of fish 5 to 10 minutes.
_Obs._—The oil should be strained through a sieve, and set aside as the
fish is done; it will serve many times for frying if this be observed.
JEWISH ALMOND PUDDING.
We have not thought it necessary to test this receipt ourselves, as we
have tasted the puddings made by it more than once, and have received
the exact directions for them from the Jewish lady at whose house they
were made. They are extremely delicate and excellent. The almonds for
them were procured ready ground from a Jew confectioner, but when they
cannot be thus obtained they must be pounded in the usual manner. With
half a pound of sweet, mingle six or seven bitter almonds, half a pound
of sifted sugar, a little fine orange-flower water, with the yolks of
ten and the whites of seven well whisked eggs, and when the whole of the
ingredients are intimately blended, bake the pudding in a rather quick
oven for half an hour, or longer should it not be then sufficiently firm
to turn out of the dish. Sift sugar thickly over, or pour round it a
rich syrup flavoured with orange-flower water, _noyau_ or _maraschino_.
_Obs._—We think a _fruit_ syrup—pine-apple or other—or a compôte of
fruit would be an excellent accompaniment to this pudding, which may be
served hot or cold. We conclude that the dish in which it is baked, _if
not well buttered_, must be rubbed with oil. The above proportions will
make two puddings of sufficient size for a small party.
THE LADY’S OR INVALID’S NEW BAKED APPLE PUDDING.
(_Author’s Original Receipt. Appropriate to the Jewish table._)
This pudding, which contains no butter, is most excellent when made
_with exactness_ by the directions which follow, but any variation from
them will probably be attended with entire failure, especially in the
crust, which if properly made will be solid, but very light and crisp;
whereas, if the proportion of sugar for it be diminished, the bread will
not form a compact mass, but will fall into crumbs when it is served.
First weigh six ounces of the crumb of a light stale loaf, and grate it
down small; then add to, and mix thoroughly with it three ounces and a
half of pounded sugar, and a slight pinch of salt. Next, take from a
pound to a pound and a quarter of russets, or of any other _good_ baking
apples; pare, and then take them off the cores in quarters without
cutting the fruit asunder, as they will then, from the form given to
them, lie more compactly in the dish. Arrange them in close layers in a
deep tart-dish which holds about a pint and a half, and strew amongst
them four ounces of sugar and the grated rind of a fine fresh lemon; add
the strained juice of the lemon, and pour the bread-crumbs softly in a
heap upon the apples in the centre of the dish, and with the back of a
spoon level them gently into a very smooth layer of equal thickness,
pressing them lightly down upon the fruit, which must all be perfectly
covered with them. Sift powdered sugar over, wipe the edge of the dish,
and bake the pudding in a somewhat quick oven for rather more than
three-quarters of an hour. We have had it several times baked quite
successfully in a baker’s oven, of which the heat is in general too
great for puddings of a delicate kind. Very pale brown sugar will answer
for it almost as well as pounded. For the nursery, some crumbs of bread
may be strewed between the layers of fruit, and nutmeg or cinnamon may
be used instead of lemon.
_Obs._—We insert this receipt here because the pudding has been so much
liked, and found so wholesome by many persons who have partaken of it at
different times, that we think it will be acceptable to some of our
readers, but it belongs properly to another work which we have in
progress, and from which we extract it now for the present volume. An
ounce or more of ratifias crushed to powder, may be added to the crust,
or strewed over the pudding before it is served, when they are
considered an improvement.
A FEW GENERAL DIRECTIONS FOR THE JEWISH TABLE.
As a substitute for milk, in the composition of _soufflés_, puddings,
and sweet dishes, _almond-cream_ as it is called, will be found to
answer excellently. To prepare it, blanch and pound the almonds by the
directions of page 542, and then pour very gradually to them boiling
water in the proportion directed below; turn them into a strong cloth or
tammy, and wring it from them with powerful pressure, to extract as much
as possible of it from them again.
The fruit custards of page 482, and the _méringues_ of fruit of page
485, are perfectly suited to the tables of Jewish families; and sweet or
savoury _croustades_ or fried patties may be supplied to them from the
receipts in the present work, by substituting clarified marrow (see page
388) for the butter used for them in general cookery. The reader will
easily discover in addition, numerous dishes distributed through this
volume which may be served to them without departing from their peculiar
usages.
Almond-cream: (for puddings, &c.) almonds, 4 oz.; water, 1 pint. For
blancmanges, and rich _soufflés_, creams and custards: almonds, 1/2 to
whole pound; water, 1 to 1-1/2 pints.
_Obs._—As every cook may not be quite aware of the articles of food
strictly prohibited by the Mosaic law, it may be well to specify them
here. Pork in every form; all varieties of shell-fish, without
exception; hares, rabbits, and swans.
TOMATA AND OTHER CHUTNIES.
(_Mauritian Receipts._)
The composition of these favourite oriental sauces varies but little
except in the ingredient which forms the basis of each. The same piquant
or stimulating auxiliaries are intermingled with all of them in greater
or less proportion. These are, young onions, chilies (sometimes green
ginger), oil, vinegar, and salt; and occasionally a little garlic or
full grown onion, which in England might be superseded by a small
portion of minced eschalot. Green peaches, mangoes, and other unripe
fruits, crushed to pulp on the stone roller, shown at the head of this
chapter; ripe bananas, tomatas roasted or raw, and also reduced to a
smooth pulp; potatoes cooked and mashed; the fruit of the egg-plant
boiled and reduced to a paste; fish, fresh, salted, or smoked, and
boiled or grilled, taken in small fragments from the bones and skin, and
torn into minute shreds, or pounded, are all in their turn used in their
preparation.[190] Mingle with any one of these as much of the green
onions and chilies chopped up small, as will give it a strong flavour;
add salt if needed, and as much olive oil, of pure quality, with a third
as much of vinegar, as will bring it to the consistence of a thick
sauce. Serve it with currie, cutlets, steaks, pork, cold meat, or fish,
or aught else to which it would be an acceptable accompaniment.
Footnote 190:
We are indebted for these receipts to a highly intelligent medical man
who has been for twenty years a resident in the Mauritius.
INDIAN LOBSTER-CUTLETS.
A really excellent and elegant receipt for lobster-cutlets has already
been given in previous editions of the present work, and is now to be
found at page 91 of Chapter III.; but the subjoined is one which may be
more readily and expeditiously prepared, and may consequently, be
preferred by some of our readers for that reason: it has also the
recommendation of being new. In India, these cutlets are made from the
flesh of prawns, which are there of enormous size, but lobsters, unless
quite overgrown, answer for them as well, or better. Select fish of good
size and take out the tails entire; slice them about the third of an
inch thick, dip them into beaten egg, and then into very fine crumbs of
bread seasoned rather highly with cayenne, and moderately with salt,
grated nutmeg, and pounded mace. Egg and crumb them twice, press the
bread upon them with the blade of a knife, and when all are ready, fry
them quickly in good butter to a light brown. Serve them as dry as
possible, arranged in a chain round a hot dish, and pour into the
centre, or send to table with them in a tureen, some sauce made with the
flesh of the claws heated in some rich melted butter, flavoured with a
tablespoonful of essence of anchovies, one of strong chili vinegar, a
little salt and mace, and coloured with the coral of the fish, should
they contain any. A few shrimps may be added with good effect; or the
sauce may be made of these entirely, either whole or pounded, when they
are preferred. In either case, they should only be heated in it, and not
allowed to boil. East or West Indian mangoes, or other hot pickle,
should accompany the dish. The cutlets may likewise be dipped into light
French batter, and fried; but the egg and bread-crumbs are somewhat
preferable. It is an advantage to have lobsters little more than
parboiled for them. Herbs can be added to the crumbs at pleasure; the
writer does not, however, recommend them.
AN INDIAN BURDWAN.
(_Entrée._)
This is an Oriental dish of high savour, which may be made either with a
young fowl or chicken parboiled for the purpose, or with the remains of
such as have already been sent to table. First, put into a stewpan about
a tablespoonful of very mild onion finely minced, or a larger proportion
with a mixture of eschalots, for persons whose taste is in favour of so
strong a flavour; add rather more than a quarter of a pint of cold
water, about an ounce of butter smoothly blended with a very small
teaspoonful of flour, a moderate seasoning of cayenne, and a
tablespoonful of essence of anchovies. Shake or stir this sauce over a
clear fire until it boils, then let it stand aside and merely simmer for
ten or fifteen minutes, or until the onion is quite tender, then pour to
it a couple of wineglassesful of Madeira (Sherry or Tenerifte will do),
and a tablespoonful of chili-vinegar. Lay in the fowl after having
carved it neatly, divided all the joints, and stripped off the skin; and
let it remain close to the fire, but without boiling, until it is
perfectly heated through; bring it to the point of boiling and send it
immediately to table. A dish of rice, boiled as for currie, is often,
but not invariably, served with it. Should the fowl have been parboiled
only—that is to say, boiled for a quarter of an hour—it must be gently
stewed in the sauce for fifteen or twenty minutes; longer, even, should
it not then be quite tender. Cold lamb, or veal, or calf’s-head, or a
delicate young rabbit, may be very advantageously served as a
_rechauffé_, in a sauce compounded as above. The various condiments
contained in this can be differently apportioned at pleasure; and
pickled capsicum, or chilies minced, can be added to it at choice either
in lieu of, or in addition to the chili-vinegar. The juice of a fresh
lime should, if possible, be thrown into it before it is served. Except
for a quite plain family dinner, only the superior joints of poultry
should be used for this dish. Care should be taken not to allow the
essence of anchovies to predominate too powerfully in it.
THE KING OF OUDE’S OMLET.
Whisk up very lightly, after having cleared them in the usual way, five
fine fresh eggs; add to them two dessertspoonsful of milk or cream, a
small teaspoonful of salt, one—or half that quantity for English
eaters—of cayenne pepper, three of minced mint, and two dessertspoonsful
of young leeks, or of mild onions chopped small. Dissolve an ounce and a
half of good butter in a frying-pan about the size of a plate, or should
a larger one of necessity be used, raise the handle so as to throw the
omlet entirely to the opposite side; pour in the eggs, and when the
omlet, which should be kept as thick as possible, is well risen and
quite firm, and of a fine light brown underneath, slide it on to a very
hot dish, and fold it together “like a turnover,” the brown side
uppermost: six or seven minutes will fry it. This receipt is given to
the reader in a very modified form, the fiery original which we
transcribe being likely to find but few admirers here we apprehend: the
proportion of leeks or onions might still be much diminished with
advantage:—“Five eggs, two tolahs of milk, one masha of salt, two mashas
of cayenne pepper, three of mint, and two tolahs of leeks.”
KEDGEREE OR KIDGEREE, AN INDIAN BREAKFAST DISH.
Boil four ounces of rice tender and dry as for currie, and when it is
cooled down put it into a saucepan with nearly an equal quantity of cold
fish taken clear of skin and bone, and divided into very small flakes or
scallops. Cut up an ounce or two of fresh butter and add it, with a full
seasoning of cayenne, and as much salt as may be required. Stir the
kedgeree constantly over a clear fire until it is very hot; then mingle
quickly with it two slightly beaten eggs. Do not let it boil after these
are stirred in; but serve the dish when they are just _set_. A Mauritian
chatney may be sent to table with it. The butter may be omitted, and its
place supplied by an additional egg or more. Cold turbot, brill, salmon,
soles, John Dory, and shrimps, may all be served in this form.
A SIMPLE SYRIAN PILAW.
Drop gradually into three pints of boiling water one pint of rice which
has been shaken in a cullender to free it from the dust and then well
wiped in a soft clean cloth. The boiling should not be checked by the
addition of the rice, which if well managed will require no stirring,
and which will entirely absorb the water. It should be placed _above_
the fire where the heat will reach it equally from below; and it should
boil gently that the grain may become quite tender and dry. When it is
so, and the surface is full of holes, pour in two or three ounces of
clarified butter, or merely add some, cut up small; throw in a seasoning
of salt and white pepper, or cayenne; stir the whole up well, and serve
it immediately. An onion, when the flavour is liked, may be boiled in
the water, which should afterwards be strained, before the rice is
added; there should be three pints of it when the grain is dropped in.
Small fried sausages or sausage-cakes may be served with it at pleasure
for English eaters. The rice may be well washed and thoroughly dried in
a cloth when time will permit.
SIMPLE TURKISH OR ARABIAN PILAW.
(_From Mr. Lane, the Oriental Traveller._)
“_Piláw_ or _piláu_ is made by boiling rice in plenty of water for about
twenty minutes, so that the water drains off easily, leaving the grains
whole, and with some degree of hardness; then stirring it up with a
little butter, just enough to make the grains separate easily, and
seasoning it with salt and pepper. Often a fowl, boiled almost to rags,
is laid upon the top. Sometimes small morsels of fried or roasted mutton
or lamb are mixed up with it; and there are many other additions; but
generally the Turks and Arabs add nothing to the rice but the butter,
and salt, and pepper.”
_Obs._—We are indebted to the courtesy of Mr. Lane for this receipt,
which was procured from him for us by one of his friends.
A REAL INDIAN PILAW.
Boil three pounds of bacon in the usual manner; take it out and drop
into the same pan a pair of fowls compactly trussed as for boiling. In
three quarters of an hour, unless very large, they will be sufficiently
cooked; but they should be thoroughly boiled. When they are so, lift
them out, and place a hot cover and thick cloth over them. Take three
pints and a half of the liquor in which they were boiled, and add to it
when it again boils, nearly two pounds of well washed Patna rice, three
onions, a quarter of an ounce each of cloves and peppercorns, with half
as much of allspice, tied loosely in a bit of muslin. Stew these
together very gently for three quarters of an hour. Do not stir them as
it breaks the rice. Take out the spice and onions; lay in the fowls if
necessary, to heat them quite through, and dish them neatly with the
rice heaped smoothly over them. Garnish the pilaw with hot hard-boiled
eggs cut in quarters, or with fried forcemeat-balls, or with half rings
of onion fried extremely dry. The bacon, heated apart, should be served
in a separate dish.
_Obs._—This is a highly approved receipt supplied to us by a friend who
had long experience of it in India; but we would suggest that to be
_really cooked_ so as to render it wholesome in this country, a larger
quantity of liquid should be added to it, as one pint (or pound) will
absorb three pints of water or broth: and the time allowed for stewing
it appears to us insufficient for it to become really tender. A Persian
Pilaw is made much in the same manner, sometimes with morsels of fried
kid mixed with the rice.
Bacon, 3 lbs., 1-1/2 to 2 hours; fowls, 2.; Rice, nearly 2 lbs. Broth
from bacon and fowls, 3-1/2 pints; onions, 3; cloves and peppercorns,
1/4 oz. each; allspice, 1 drachm: 3/4 hour.
INDIAN RECEIPT FOR CURRIED FISH.
Take the fish from the bones, and cut it into inch and half squares; lay
it into a stewpan with sufficient hot water to barely cover it; sprinkle
some salt over, and boil it gently until it is about half cooked. Lift
it out with a fish-slice, pour the liquor into a basin, and clear off
any scum which may be on it. Should there be three or four pounds of the
fish, dissolve a quarter of a pound of butter in a stewpan, and when it
has become a little brown, add two cloves of garlic and a large onion
finely minced or sliced very thin; fry them until they are well
coloured, then add the fish; strew equally over it, and stir it well up
with from two to three tablespoonsful of Bengal currie powder; cover the
pan, and shake it often until the fish is nicely browned; next add by
degrees the liquor in which it was stewed, and simmer it until it is
perfectly done, but not so as to fall into fragments. Add a moderate
quantity of lemon-juice or chili vinegar, and serve it very hot.
BENGAL CURRIE POWDER.
No. 1.
Mix thoroughly the following ingredients after they have been separately
reduced to the finest powder and passed through a fine hair or lawn
sieve:—
6 oz. coriander seed.
3 oz. black pepper.
1 oz. cummin-seed.
1-1/2 oz. fenugreek-seed.
3/4 oz. cayenne pepper.
3 oz. best pale turmeric.
Set the powder before the fire to dry, and turn it often; then withdraw
it, let it become cold, and bottle it immediately. Keep it closely
corked.
_Obs._—We cannot think a large proportion of black pepper a desirable
addition to currie powder, as it gives a strong coarse flavour: but as
it may be liked by persons who are accustomed to it, we give the
preceding and the following receipt without varying either: the second
appears to us the best.
Coriander-seed 8 oz.
Chinese 4 oz.
turmeric
Black pepper 2 oz.
Cassia 1/2
oz.
White ginger 1 oz.
Cayenne pepper 1/2
oz.
RISOTTO À LA MILANAISE.
Slice a large onion very thin, and divide it into shreds; then fry it
slowly until it is equally but not too deeply browned; take it out and
strain the butter, and fry in it about three ounces of rice for every
person who is to partake of it. As the grain easily burns, it should be
put into the butter when it begins to simmer, and be very gently
coloured to a bright yellow tint over a slow fire. Add it to some good
boiling broth lightly tinged with saffron, and stew it softly in a
copper pan for fifteen or twenty minutes. Stir to it two or three ounces
of butter mixed with a small portion of flour, a moderate seasoning of
pepper or cayenne, and as much grated Parmesan cheese as will flavour it
thoroughly. Boil the whole gently for ten minutes, and serve it very
hot, at the commencement of dinner as a _potage_.
_Obs._—The reader should bear in mind what we have so often repeated in
this volume, that rice should always _be perfectly cooked_, and that it
will not become tender with less than three times its bulk of liquid.
STUFATO.
(_A Neapolitan Receipt._)
“Take about six pounds of the silver side of the round, and make several
deep incisions in the inside, nearly through to the skin; stuff these
with all kinds of savoury herbs, a good slice of lean ham, and half a
small clove of garlic, all finely minced, and well mingled together;
then bind and tie the meat closely round, so that the stuffing may not
escape. Put four pounds of butter into a stewpan sufficiently large to
contain something more than that quantity, and the beef in addition; so
soon as it boils lay in the meat, let it just simmer for five or six
hours, and turn it every half hour at least, that it may be equally
done. Boil for twenty-five minutes three pounds of pipe maccaroni, drain
it perfectly dry, and mix it with the gravy of the beef, without the
butter, half a pint of very pure salad oil, and a pot of paste tomatas;
mix these to amalgamation, without breaking the maccaroni; before
serving up, sprinkle Parmesan cheese thickly on the maccaroni.”
We insert this receipt exactly as it was given to us by a friend, at
whose table the dish was served with great success to some Italian
diplomatists. From our own slight experience of it, we should suppose
that the excellence of the beef is quite a secondary consideration, as
all its juices are drawn out by the mode of cooking, and appropriated to
the maccaroni, of which we must observe that three pounds would make too
_gigantic_ a dish to enter well, on ordinary occasions, into an English
service.
We have somewhere seen directions for making the _stufato_ with the
upper part of the sirloin, thickly larded with large, well-seasoned
lardoons of bacon, and then stewed in equal parts of rich gravy, and of
red or of white wine.
BROILED EELS WITH SAGE. (ENTRÉE.)
(_German Receipt._) _Good._
Skin, open, and cleanse one fine eel (or more), cut it into
finger-lengths, rub it with a mixed seasoning of salt and white pepper,
and leave it for half an hour. Wipe it dry, wrap each length in sage
leaves, fasten them round it with coarse thread, roll the eel in good
salad oil or clarified butter, lay it on the gridiron, squeeze
lemon-juice over, and broil it gently until it is browned in every part.
Send it to table with a sauce made of two or three ounces of butter, a
tablespoonful of chili, tarragon, or common vinegar, and one of water,
with a little salt; to keep this smooth, proceed as for the Norfolk
sauce of Chapter V. Broiled fish is frequently served without _any_
sauce. A quite simple one may supply the place of that which we have
indicated above: eels being of so rich a nature, require no other.
A SWISS MAYONNAISE.
Beat half a pound of butter to a cream, and then add it very gradually
to the hard-boiled yolks of six fresh eggs which have been cut into
quarters, separated carefully from the whites, and pounded to a perfect
paste; when these are blended into a smooth sauce add, a few drops at a
time, some of the finest salad oil that can be procured, and work the
mixture in the same manner as the _mayonnaise_ of Chapter VI. until no
particle of it remains visible: a small quantity of salt also must be
thrown in, and sufficient good vinegar in very small portions, to give
an agreeable acidity to the preparation. (Fresh lemon-juice might be
substituted in part for this, and a little fine cayenne used with it;
but though we suggest this, we adhere to our original Swiss receipt for
this excellent dish, even when we think it might be slightly improved in
_flavour_.)
Carve very neatly two delicate boiled fowls, and trim the joints into
handsome form. Lay the inferior parts upon a large plate, and spread a
portion of the sauce, which should be very thick, upon them; arrange
them in a flat layer in the dish in which they are to be served; then
sauce in the same way more of the joints, and arrange them symmetrically
over the others. Proceed thus to build a sort of pyramid with the whole;
and decorate it with the whites of the eggs, and the hearts of small
lettuces cut in halves. Place these last round the base alternately with
whole bantams’ or plovers’ eggs, boiled hard, a small slice must be cut
from the large end of each of these to admit of their being placed
upright. A slight branch of parsley, or other foliage, may be stuck in
the tops. Roast chickens divested entirely of the skin, can always be
substituted for boiled ones in a _mayonnaise_: they should all be
separated into single joints with the exception of the wings. The quite
inferior parts need not be used at all.
The same sauce rather highly flavoured with cayenne, and other
condiments, and more or less, to the taste, with essence of anchovies or
anchovy butter, and coloured with lobster-coral, will make an excellent
fish-salad, with alternate slices of lobster,—cut obliquely to increase
their size,—and of cold turbot or large soles. These can be raised into
a high border or chain round a dish when more convenient, and the centre
filled with young fresh salad, sauced at the instant it is sent to
table.
A French _mayonnaise_ does not vary much from the preceding, except in
the composition of the sauce, for which see Chapter VI. It should always
be kept very thick. A little rich cold white sauce is sometimes mixed
with it.
TENDRONS DE VEAU.
The _tendrons_ (or gristles) which lie under the flesh of the brisket of
a breast of veal are much used in foreign countries, and frequently now
in this, to supply a variety of the dishes called _entrées_. When long
stewed they become perfectly tender, and yield a large amount of
gelatine; but they are quite devoid of flavour, and require therefore to
be cooked and served with such additions as shall render them palatable.
With a very sharp knife detach the flesh from them without separating it
from the joint, and turn it back, so as to allow the gristles to be
divided easily from the long bones. Cut away the chine-bone from their
outer edge, and then proceed first to soak them, that they may be very
white, and to boil them gently for several hours,[191] either quite
simply, in good broth, or with additions of bacon, spice, and
vegetables. Foreign cooks _braise_ them somewhat expensively, and then
serve them in many different forms; but as they make, after all, but a
rather unpretending _entrée_, some economy in their preparation would
generally be desirable. They may be divided at the joints, and cut
obliquely into thin slices before they are stewed, when they will
require but four hours simmering; or they may be left entire and
braised, when they will require, while still warm, to be pressed between
two dishes with a heavy weight on the top, to bring them into good shape
before they are divided for table. They are then sometimes dipped into
egg and bread-crumbs, and fried in thin slices of uniform size; or
stewed tender, then well drained, and glazed, dished in a circle, and
served with peas _à la Française_ in the centre, or with a thick _purée_
of tomatas, or of other vegetables. They are also often used to fill
_vol-au-vents_, for which purpose they must be kept very white, and
mixed with a good _béchamel_-sauce. We recommend their being highly
curried, either in conjunction with plenty of vegetables, or with a
portion of other meat, after they have been baked or stewed as tender as
possible.
Footnote 191:
We think that in the pasted jar which we have described in Chapter
IX., in the section of Baking, they might be well and easily cooked,
but we have not tried it.
POITRINE DE VEAU GLACÉE.
(_Breast of Veal Stewed and Glazed._)
When the gristles have been removed from a breast of veal, the joint
will still make an excellent roast, or serve to stew or braise. Take out
the long-bones,[192] beat the veal with the flat side of a cleaver, or
with a cutlet-bat, and when it is quite even, cut it square, and
sprinkle over it a moderate seasoning of fine salt, cayenne, and mace.
Make some forcemeat by either of the receipts Nos. 1, 2, 3, or 7, of
Chapter VIII., but increase the ingredients to three or four times the
quantity, according to the size of the joint. Lay over the veal, or not,
as is most convenient, thin slices of half-boiled bacon, or of ham;
press the forcemeat into the form of a short compact _rouleau_ and lay
it in the centre of one side of the breast; then roll it up and skewer
the ends closely with small skewers, and bind the joint firmly into good
form with tape or twine. When thus prepared, it may be slowly stewed in
very good veal stock until it is tender quite through, and which should
be _hot_ when it is laid in; or embedded in the usual ingredients for
braising (see Chapter IX., page 180), and sent to table glazed, sauced
with an _Espagnole_, or other rich gravy, and garnished with carrots _à
la Windsor_ (see page 335), or with sweetbread cutlets, also glazed.
Footnote 192:
This is very easily done by cutting through the skin down the centre
of each.
BREAST OF VEAL. SIMPLY STEWED.[193]
Footnote 193:
We give here the English receipt of an excellent practical cook for
“Stewed Breast of veal,” as it may be acceptable to some of our
readers, After it has been boned, flattened, and trimmed, season it
well, and let it lie for an hour or two (this, we do not consider
essential); then prepare some good veal forcemeat, to which let a
little minced shalot be added, and spread it over the veal If you have
any cold _tongue_ or lean of ham, cut it in square strips, and lay
them the short way of the meat that they may be shewn when it is
carved. Roll it up very tight, and keep it in good shape; enclose it
in a cloth as you would a jam-pudding, and lace it up well, then lay
it into a braising-pan with three onions, as many large carrots
thickly sliced, some spice, sweet herbs, and sufficient fresh
second-stock or strong veal broth to more than half cover it, and stew
it very gently over a slow fire for three hours: turn it occasionally
without disturbing the _braise_ which surrounds it. Glaze it before it
is sent to table, and serve it with Spanish sauce, or with rich
English brown gravy, flavoured with a glass of sherry; and garnish it
with stewed mushrooms in small heaps, and fried forcemeat balls.
Omit the forcemeat from the preceding receipt, and stew the joint tender
in good veal broth, or shin of beef stock. Drain, and dish it. Pour a
little rich gravy round it, and garnish it with nicely fried balls of
the forcemeat No. 1, Chapter VIII., or with mushroom-forcemeat (No. 7).
Mushroom-sauce is always an excellent accompaniment to a joint of veal.
The liquor in which the breast is stewed or braised is too fat to serve
as sauce until it has been cooled and cleared. The veal can be cooked
without boning, but will have but an indifferent appearance. It should
in that case be slowly brought to boil, and very gently simmered: about
two hours and a half will stew it tender. The sweetbread, after being
scalded, may be stewed with it for half the time, and served upon it.
_Obs._—The breast without the gristles, boned and filled with forcemeat,
makes a superior roast. It may also be boiled on occasion, and served
with balls of oyster-forcemeat in the dish; or with white mushroom-sauce
instead.
COMPOTE DE PIGEONS (STEWED PIGEONS.)
The French in much of their cookery use more bacon than would generally
be suited to a very delicate taste, we think. This bacon, from being
cured without saltpetre, and from not being smoked, rather resembles
salt pork in flavour: we explain this that the reader may, when so
disposed, adapt the receipts we give here to an English table by
omitting it. Cut into dice from half to three quarters of a pound of
streaked bacon, and fry it gently in a large stewpan with a morsel of
butter until it is very lightly browned; lift it out, and put in three
or four young pigeons trussed as for boiling. When they have become
firm, and lightly coloured, lift them out, and stir a large
tablespoonful of flour to the fat. When this thickening (_roux_) is also
slightly browned, add gradually to it a pint, or something more, of
boiling veal-stock or strong broth; put back the birds and the bacon,
with a few small button-onions when their flavour is liked, and stew the
whole very gently for three quarters of an hour. Dish the pigeons neatly
with the bacon and onions laid between them; skim all the fat from the
sauce, reduce it quickly, and strain it over them. The birds should be
laid into the stewpan with the breasts downwards.
The third, or half of a pottle of small mushrooms is sometimes added to
this dish. It may be converted into a _compote aux petits pois_ by
adding to the pigeons when the broth, in which they are laid, first
begins to boil, a pint and a half of young peas. For these, a pint and a
quarter, at the least, of liquid will be required, and a full hour’s
stewing. The economist can substitute water for the broth. When the
birds can be had at little cost, one, two, or more, according to
circumstances, should be stewed down to make broth or sauce for the
others.
_Obs._—Pigeons are excellent filled with the mushrooms _au beurre_, of
page 329, and either roasted or stewed. To broil them proceed as
directed for a partridge (French receipt), page 290.
MAI TRANK (MAY-DRINK).
(_German._)
[Illustration]
Put into a large deep jug one pint of light white wine to two of red,
and dissolve in it sufficient sugar to sweeten it agreeably. Wipe a
sound China orange, cut it in rather thick slices, without paring it,
and add it to the wine; then throw in some small bunches or faggots of
the fragrant little plant called _woodruff_; cover the jug closely to
exclude the air and leave it until the following day. Serve it to all
_May-day visitors_. One orange will be sufficient for three pints of
wine. The woodruff should be washed and well drained before it is thrown
into the jug; and the quantity of it used should not be _very_ large, or
the flavour of the beverage will be rather injured than improved by it.
We have tried this receipt on a small scale with lemon-rind instead of
oranges, and the mixture was very agreeable. Rhenish wine should
properly be used for it; but this is expensive in England. The woodruff
is more odorous when dried gradually in the shade than when it is fresh
gathered, and imparts a pleasant fragrance to linen, as lavender does.
It grows wild in Kent, Surrey, and other parts of England, and
flourishes in many suburban gardens in the neighbourhood of London.
A VIENNESE SOUFFLÉ-PUDDING, CALLED SALZBURGER NOCKERL.
At the moment of going to press, we have received direct from Vienna the
following receipt, which we cannot resist offering to the reader for
trial, as we are assured that the dish is one of the most delicate and
delicious soufflé-puddings that can be made.
(A) Take butter, four ounces; sugar in powder, three ounces; fine flour,
one ounce and a half or two ounces; and the yellow of eight eggs; beat
these together in a convenient sized basin till the mixture gets frothy.
(The butter should probably first be beaten to cream.)
(B) Beat to snow the whites of the eight eggs.
(C) Take three pounds (or pints) of new milk, put it in an open stewpan
over a gentle fire, and let it boil.
(D) Next, prepare a china casserole (enamelled stewpan—a copper one will
do) by greasing its internal surface.
As soon as the milk boils, mix gently A and B together, and with a small
spoon take portions of this shape and size and lay them over the surface
of the boiling milk till it is entirely covered with them. Let them boil
for four or five minutes to cook them; then put them in convenient order
on the ground of the greased _casserole_ (stewpan). Go on putting in the
same manner small portions of the mixture on the surface of the boiling
milk, and when cooked, place a new layer of them in the stewpan over the
first; and continue the same operation until the mixture is all
consumed. Take now the remainder of the milk, and add it to the beaten
yellow (yolks) of two eggs, some sugar, and some powdered vanilla. Pour
this over the cooked pastry in the stewpan, and set it into a gently
heated oven. Leave it there until it gets brown; then powder it with
vanilla-sugar, and send it to the table.
--------------
_Author’s Note._—The preceding directions were written by a physician of
Vienna, at whose table the dish was served. It was turned out of the
casserole, and served with the greatest expedition; but we think it
would perhaps answer more generally here, to bake it in a _soufflé_
dish, and to leave it undisturbed. We would also suggest, that the yolk
of a third egg might sometimes be needed to bind the mixture well
together. A good and experienced cook would easily ascertain the best
mode of ensuring the success of the preparation.
We must observe, that the form of the enamelled _stewpans_ made commonly
in this country prevents their being well adapted for use in the present
receipt: those of copper are better suited to it.
Half the proportion of the ingredients might, by way of experiment, be
prepared and baked in a tart-dish, as our puddings frequently are; or in
a small round cake mould, with a band of writing paper fastened round
the top.
The vanilla sugar is prepared by cutting the bean up small, and pounding
it with some sugar in a mortar, and then passing it through a very fine
sieve.
The “cooked portions” of which the soufflé is principally composed are
the shape, and about half the size of the inside of an egg-spoon. If
somewhat larger, they would _possibly_ answer as well.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
INDEX.
-------
Acton gingerbread, 552
Albert’s, Prince, pudding, 411
Almond, cake, 545
candy, 566
cream, for blamange, 478
macaroons, 544
paste, 367
paste, fairy fancies of, 368
paste, tartlets of, 367
pudding, 425
pudding, Jewish, 608
shamrocks (very good and very pretty), 574
Almonds to blanch, 542
chocolate, 568
to colour for cakes or pastry, 542
in cheese-cakes, 361
to pound, 542
in soups, 21
to reduce to paste, the quickest and easiest way, 542
Alose, or Shad, to cook, 79
American oven, 178
Anchovies, to fillet, 389
fried in batter, 84
potted, 306
curried toasts with, 389
Anchovy, butter, 138
sauce, 115
_Appel krapfen_ (German receipt), 373
Apple cake, 362
calf’s-feet jelly, 464
Charlotte, or _Charlotte de Pommes_, 486
marmalade for _Charlotte de Pommes_, 487
custards, 482
dumplings, fashionable, 420
fritters, 384
hedgehog, or _Suédoise_, 480
jelly, 522
jelly, exceedingly fine, 523
juice, prepared, 456
pudding, 408
pudding, common, 409
sauce, 124
sauce, baked, 124
sauce, brown, 125
soup, 21
snow-balls, 421
tart, 363
young green, tart, 364
creamed tart, 364
Apples, baked _compote_ of (our little lady’s receipt), 572
buttered, or _Pommes au beurre_, 488
Apricots, _compote_ of green, 457
Apricots dried, French receipt for, 517
to dry, a quick and easy method, 517
Apricot blamange, 479
fritters, 384
marmalade, 516
Arabian, or Turkish Piláw, Mr. Lane’s receipt for, 614
Artichokes, Jerusalem, _à la Reine_, 338
to boil, 326
_en salade_, 326
to remove the chokes from, 326
Jerusalem, to boil, 337
Jerusalem, to fry, 338
Jerusalem, mashed, 338
soup of, 19
Asparagus, to boil, 319
to serve cold (observation), 319
points, dressed like peas (_entremets_), 319
_Aspic_, or clear savoury jelly, 104
Arocē Docēe, or sweet rice _à la Portugaise_, 489
Arrow-root, to thicken sauces with, 106
to thicken soup with, 2, 4
Potato, 154
sauce (clear), 403
Bacon, to boil, 259
broiled or fried, 259
Cobbett’s receipt for, 252
dressed rashers of, 259
French, for larding, 254
lardoons of, 181
to pickle cheeks of, 254
genuine Yorkshire receipt for curing, 253
super-excellent, 256
Bain-marie, use of, 105
Baked apple-pudding, or custard, 437
apple-pudding, the lady’s or invalid’s, new, 608
apple-pudding, a common, 409
_compote_ of apples, 572
minced beef, 207
round of spiced beef, 199
beet-root, 339
bread-puddings, 429, 430
calf’s feet and head, 178
custard, 483
haddocks, 73
ham, 258
joints, with potatoes, 179
mackerel, 70
marrow bones, 208
mullet, 76
ox-cheek, 208
pike, 81
potatoes, 312
raisin puddings, 441, 442
salmon, 60, 179
smelts, 78
soles (or _soles au plat_), 66
soup, 178
sucking-pig, 250
whitings, _à la Française_, 68
Baking, directions for, or oven cookery, 178
Banbury cakes, 549
Bantam’s eggs, to boil or poach, 446, 449
Barberries, to pickle,
in bunches, to preserve, 526
stewed, for rice-crust, 459
Barberry jam, a good receipt for, 526
jam, another receipt for, 527
superior jelly and marmalade, 527
and rice pudding,
tart, 364
Barley-sugar, 564
Barley-water, excellent (poor Xury’s receipt), 583
Basket, wire, for frying, 177
Batter, French, for frying meat and vegetables, &c., 130
cod’s sounds fried in, 63
salsify, fried in, 341
spring fruit, fried in, 383
to mix for puddings, 397
_Béchamel_, 108
Beans, French, to boil, 321
_à la Française_, 321
another excellent receipt for, 322
Windsor, to boil, 322
Beef, _à la mode_, 192
_breslaw_ of, 206
cake (very good), 190
to choose, 184
minced collops of, _au naturel_, 201
savoury minced collops of, 201
Scotch minced collops of, 202
richer minced collops of, 202
divisions of, 184
Dutch or hung, 197
extract of, Baron Liebig’s, 6
fillet of, braised, 180
fillet of, roast, 187
hashed, French receipt for, 206
cold, common hash of, 205
cold, excellent hash of, 205
collared, 198
collared, another receipt for, 198
gravy, Baron Liebig’s, 96
Norman hash of, 206
heart, to roast, 204
Jewish (smoked), 606
kidney, to dress, 204
kidney (a plainer way), 205
marrow, clarified for keeping, 208
marrow, to prepare for frying croustades, &c., 388
marrow-bones, to boil, 207
marrow-bones, baked, 208
minced, baked, 207
palates (_Entrée_), 194
palates (Neapolitan mode), 195
Hamburg pickle for, 197
another pickle for, 197
ribs of, to roast, 185
roll, or _canellon de bœuf_, 201
miniature round of, 200
round of, to salt and boil, 196
round of, spiced, 199
round of, roast, 186
rump of, to roast, 186
rump of, to stew, 194
to salt and pickle, various ways, 196
common receipt for salting, 198
saunders of, 207
shin of, to stew, 192
shin of, for stock, 97
sirloin of, to roast, 185
sirloin of, stewed, 193
spiced (good and wholesome), 199
smoked, 606
steak, roast, 187
steak, stewed, 189
steak, stewed in its own gravy, 189
steaks, best and most tender, 185
steaks, broiled, 187
steaks, broiled, sauces appropriate to, 188
steaks, fried, 189
steaks, _à la Française_, 188
steaks, _à la Française_, another receipt for, 189
steak pie, 354
steak puddings, 399, 401
good English stew of, 191
German stew, 190
_Stufato_, 615
Welsh stew of, 191
tongue (Bordyke’s receipt for stewing), 203
tongue potted, 305
tongues (various modes of curing), 202
tongues, to dress, 203
tongues, Suffolk receipt for, 203
Beet-root, to bake, 339
to boil, 339
to stew, 340
Belgrave mould, 469
Bengal currie powders, 615
Bermuda witches, 491
Birthday syllabub, 581
Biscuits, Aunt Charlotte’s, 561
Captain’s, good, 560
Colonel’s, 561
cheap ginger, 560
Threadneedle-street, 560
wine, 560
Bishop, Oxford receipt for, 580
Black-cap pudding, 407
Black-caps _par excellence_, 460
Black cock, and gray hen, to roast, 291
Blamange, or blanc manger, apricot, 479
good common (author’s receipt), 476
calf’s feet, to make, 454
currant, 479
quince (delicious), 478
quince, with almond cream, 478
rich, 477
strawberry (extremely good), 477
strengthening, 476
_Blanc_, a, 169
Blanch, to, meat, vegetables, &c., 182
_Blanquette_, of sucking pig, 250
of veal or lamb with mushrooms, 229
Boil, to, meat, 167
a round of beef, 196
Boiled, calf’s head, 210
chestnuts, 274
custards, 481
eels (German receipt), 83
fowls, 273
leeks, 318
rice, to serve with stewed fruit, &c., 422
rice-pudding, 419, 420
turnip radishes, 318
breast of veal, 218
fillet of veal, 217
knuckle of veal, 221
loin of veal, 218
Boiling, general directions for, 167
scientific, Baron Liebig’s directions for, 168
Bonbons, palace, 567
Bone, to, calf’s head for brawn, 24, 215
calf’s head, the cook’s receipt, 211
calf’s head for mock turtle soup, 24
a fowl or turkey without opening it, 265
a fowl or turkey, another mode, 265
fowls, for fricassees, curries, and pies, 266
a hare, 285
a leg of mutton, 236
a loin of mutton for pies, 355
a breast of veal, 618
a shoulder of veal or mutton, 219
neck of venison for pies, 352
Boning, general directions for, 182
Bottle Jack, 170
Bottled fruits, for winter use,
gooseberries,
tomatas, or tomata-catsup, 151
_Boudin, à la Richelieu_, 288
_Boudinettes_ of lobsters, &c., 92
_Boulettes_, potato, 314
_Bouilli_, French receipt for hashed, 206
_Bouillon_, observations on, 9
Brain cakes, 162
another receipt for, 162
_Braise_, to burn, 180
Braised fillet of beef, 180
leg of mutton, 236
Braising, directions for, 180
Brandy, cherry (Tappington Everard receipt), 579
lemon, for flavouring sweet dishes, 153
peaches preserved in, 571
trifle, or tipsy cake, 274
Brandied morella cherries, 571
_Brawn Brack_, cake (Irish), 546
good, light, 554
Brawn, calf’s head (author’s receipt), 215
Tenbridge, 260
Bread, Bordyke receipt for, 597
to know when baked, 604
Bavarian brown, Liebig’s, 599
brown, English, 599
crumbs, fried, 131
crumbs, to prepare for frying fish, 131
dairy, without yeast, 602
to freshen stale, 603
to fry for garnishing, 131
to fry for soups, 5
with German yeast, 598
home-made, remarks on, 594
household, 596
to keep, 603
partridges served with, 279
patties, 387
potato, 600
puddings, 418, 430
and butter puddings, 428, 429
rules to be observed in making, 596
sauce, 112
sauce with onion, 113
unfermented, 599
to purify yeast for, 595
Bream, sea, to dress, 75
_Brioche_ paste, 349
Brill, to boil, 58
Broccoli, 326
Broiled beef steak, 187
bacon, 259
cutlets, mutton, 241
cutlets, pork, 251
eels with sage (German), 617
fowl, 274
mackerel, 71
red mullet, 76
partridge, 290
partridge (French receipt), 290
Broiling, general directions for, 175
Broil, the Cavalier’s, 240
Broth, or _bouillon_, 6
veal, or mutton, 44
Browned flour for thickening soups and sauces, 131
Browning, with salamander, 183
Brown, rich, English gravy, 99
apple sauce, 125
caper sauce, 121
chestnut sauce, 129
mushroom sauce, 123
onion sauce, 125
rabbit soup, 31
Brown to, with salamander, 183
Brussels sprouts, 340
Buns, light, of different kinds, 559
Exeter, 559
excellent soda, 561
Geneva, 601
Burdwan, an Indian, 612
Burlington Whimsey, 212
Burnt coffee, or _gloria_, 592
Buttered apples, 488
cherries, 490
Butter, anchovy, 138
burnt, or browned, 109
clarified, for storing and for immediate use, 110
to cool for crust, 345
creamed, and otherwise prepared for cakes, 543
lobster, 138
melted, good common, 108
melted, French, 109
melted, rich, 108
melted, rich, without flour, 109
melted, white, 109
loin of lamb stewed in, 246
truffled, 139
Buttermilk, for bread, 602
Cabbage, to boil, 332
stewed, 333
red, to stew (Flemish receipt), 340
red, to pickle, 539
_Café noir_, 592
Cake, fine almond, 545
apple, 362
beef or mutton, 190
breakfast, French, 549
a cheap common, 555
cream cake, 554
thick, light gingerbread, 551
a good light luncheon cake, 554
cheap nursery, 555
a good Madeira, 548
pound, 546
rice, 546
sausage-meat, or _pain de porc frais_, 261
a good soda, 556
a good sponge, 547
a smaller sponge, 547
tipsy, 474
veal, 222
veal, good (Bordyke receipt for), 222
Venetian or Neapolitan (super-excellent), 547
white, 546
Cakes, Banbury, 549
to colour sugar candy for, 542
flead, or fleed, 558
cocoa-nut gingerbread, 552
common gingerbread, 553
richer gingerbread, 553
queen, 556
general remarks on, 540
very good small rich, 558
to prepare butter for rich, 543
to whisk eggs for light rich, 543
small, sugar, various, 558
small Venetian, 548
Calf’s head, _à la Maître d’Hôtel_, 214
boiled, 210
brawn (author’s receipt), 215
to clear the hair from, 210
cutlets of, 213
hashed, 213
a cheap hash of, 213
prepared, the cook’s receipt, 211
soup, 27
The Warder’s way, 211
Calf’s feet jelly (_entremets_), 461
another receipt for, 462
jelly, apple, 464
jelly, orange, 464
modern varieties of, 463
to prepare for stock, 453
stewed, 228
stock, 453
stock, to clarify, 454
Calf’s liver, stoved or stewed, 228
roast, 229
sweetbreads, 227
Cambridge milk punch, 581
Candy, cocoa-nut, 566
ginger, 565
orange-flower, 565
orange-flower (another receipt for), 566
_Canellon de bœuf_, 201
_Canellons_, filled with apricot or peach marmalade, 385
of _brioche_ paste, 385
Caper sauce, 121
sauce for fish, 121
Capillaire in punch, 580
Caramel, to boil sugar to, 563
the quickest way, 563
Carp, to stew, 82
Carrots, _au beurre_, 336
to boil, 335
in their own juice 337
mashed, or buttered (Dutch), 336
in plum pudding, 417
sweet, for second course, 336
the Windsor receipt (_Entrée_), 335
Carrot, soup, common, 20
soup, a finer, 20
_Casserole_ of rice, savoury, 351
of rice, sweet, 438
Catsup, the cook’s, or compound, 149
lemon, 150
mushroom, 146,148
mushroom, double, 148
pontac, for fish, 150
tomato, 151
walnut, 149, 150
Cauliflowers, to boil, 325
French receipt for, 325
_à la Française_, 326
with Parmesan cheese, 325
Cavalier’s, the, broil, 240
Cayenne, vinegar, 153
Celery, boiled, 341
salad, to serve with pheasants, 341
sauce, 128
stewed, 341
Chantilly baskets, 474
_Charlotte de pommes_, or apple Charlotte, 486
_à la Parisienne_, 487
_Chatnies_ (Mauritian), 144, 610
Cheese, damson, 520
in _fondu_, 379
Italian pork, 260
with maccaroni, 392
with maccaroni, _à la Reine_, 393
in ramakins, 375
to serve with white and maccaroni soup, 13
cheese-cakes, cocoa-nut (Jamaica receipt), 371
Madame Werner’s Rosenvik, 372
Cherries, brandied, morella, 571
Cherries, _compote_ of Kentish, 458
_compote_ of morella, 458
morella, to dry, 504
dried with sugar, 502
dried without, 503
dried, superior receipt, 503
to pickle, 532
brandy, 579
cherry, cheese, 504
cherry, paste, 504
Chestnuts, boiled, 574
roasted, 574
stewed, 342
Chestnut forcemeat, No. 15, 162
sauce, brown, 129
sauce, white, 129
soups, 19
Chetney, various ways of making, 144
Chicken, broiled, 274
cutlets, 275, 276
fried, _à la Malabar_, 276
patties (good), 359
potato pasty, 350
Chicken pie (common), 353
modern pie, 353
Chickens, boiled, 273
fricasseed, 275
in soup, 29
China chilo of mutton, 241
Chocolate, almonds, 568
drops, 567
to make, 592
Spanish receipt for making, 592
Chops, lamb or mutton, broiled, 241
mutton, stewed in their own gravy (good), 240
pork, 251
_Chorissa_, or Jewish sausage, with rice, 607
Christopher North’s own sauce for many meats, 119
Cocoa, to make, 593
Cocoa-nut candy, 566
cheese-cakes, 371
in curries, 296
Doce, 490
gingerbread, 553
macaroons, 545
puddings, 424
soup, 19
Cod fish, to boil, 61
slices of, fried, 61
stewed, 62
stewed in brown sauce, 62
Cod’s sounds, to boil, 63
to fry in batter, 63
Coffee, to boil, 591
breakfast, French, 590
burnt, or coffee _à la Militaire_, vulgarly called _Glosia_, 592
to filter, 590
directions for making, 589
strong, clear, to serve after dinner, called _café noir_, 592
remarks on, 587
to roast, 588
roaster, 588
Cold, calf’s head, to re-dress, 214
Cold, fowls, ditto, 276, 277
leg of mutton, ditto, 207
_Maître d’Hôtel_, sauce, 133
meat, excellent sauces to serve with, 133, 134, 136
salmon, to dress, 59
turbot, ditto, 59
Collops minced, _au naturel_, 201
savoury minced, 201
_sauté_-pan for frying, 176
Scotch, 226
Scotch minced, 202
_Compote_ of apples, baked (our little Lady’s receipt), 572
of green apricots, 457
of bullaces, 458
of cherries, 458
of Kentish cherries, 458
of Morella cherries, 458
of green currants, 457
of red currants, 457
of damsons, 458
of figs, 492
of green gooseberries, 457
of magnum bonum, or other large plums, 458
of peaches, 459
of peaches, another receipt, 459
_Compote de pigeons_, 619
_Compote de pigeons aux petits pois_, 619
of Siberian crabs, 458
of spring fruit (rhubarb), 457
Confectionary, 562
Conjurer, a, its uses, 175
_Consommé_, 10
Constantia jelly, 467
Cookery (English), common causes of its failure, 167
Cool cup, a, 582
Corn, Indian green, to boil, 329
Counsellor’s cup, 585
Crab, cold, dressed, 88
hot, 89
Creamed tartlets, 375
spring fruit, or rhubarb trifle, 486
Cream, Chantilly basket filled with, 474
Cream cake, delicious, 554
crust, 347
Devonshire, or clotted, 451
jelly, filled with, 469
lemon, made without cream, 475
_Nesselróde_, 471
remarks on, 450
Swiss, 473
in soups, 19, 22, 29, 30
Creams, lemon (very good), 475
fruit, 475
Italian, 475
_Crême à la Comtesse_, or the Countess’s cream, 272
_Crême, Parisienne_, 479
_patissiere_, 373
Crisped potatoes, or potato-ribbons, to serve with cheese, 313
_Croquettes_ of rice (_entremets_), 385
of rice, filled with preserve,
of rice, savoury, 386
_Croustades_, or Dresden patties, 387
of various kinds, 387
small, dressed in marrow, 388
small, _à la bonne maman_, 389
to prepare marrow for frying, 388
_Croûte aux-champignons_, or mushroom-toast, 330
Crust butter, for puddings, 398
cream, 347
flead, 347
French, for hot or cold meat pies, 347
excellent short, 349
rich short, for tarts, 349
Crust, common suet for pies, 348
very superior suet, for pies, 348
suet, for puddings, 398
Crusts, to serve with cheese, 398
Cucumber (author’s receipt), to dress, 323
soup, 38
vinegar, 152
Cucumbers _à la Crème_, 324
_à la Poulette_, 324
dressed, 323
fried, 324
stewed, 323
Curds and whey, 451
Currants, to clean for puddings and cakes, 397
green, stewed, 457
red, stewed, 457
Currant, blamange, 479
custard, 482
dumplings, 421
jam, red (delicious), 509
jam, white, 510
jelly, fine black, 511
jelly, French, 509
jelly, superlative red, 509
jelly, white, very fine, 510
jelly, tartlets, 375
paste, 510
pudding, 408
syrup, or _sirop de groseilles_, 579
Curried eggs 301
gravy, 302
maccaroni, 300
oysters, 302
toasts, with anchovies, 389
sweetbreads, 301
Currie, Mr. Arnott’s, 297
a Bengal, 298
a dry, 298
common Indian, 299
Currie powder, Mr. Arnott’s, 297
Curries, remarks on, 296
Selim’s (Capt. White’s), 300
Custard, baked, common, 483
a finer 483
currant, 482
the Duke’s, 482
the Queen’s, 481
veal, or a Sefton, 362
Custards, boiled, good, old-fashioned, 481
boiled, rich, 481
chocolate, 483
French, 484
quince, or apple, 482
Cutlets of calf’s head, 213
Chicken, English, 275
of fowls, partridges, or pigeons (_Entrée_), 276
lamb, in their own gravy, stewed, 246
lamb, or mutton, with _Soubise_ sauce, 246
mutton, broiled, 241
of cold mutton, 243
mutton, in their own gravy, stewed, 240
pork, 251
veal _à la Française_, 226
veal _à l’Indienne_, or Indian fashion, 225
veal _à la mode de Londres_, or London fashion, 226
veal, plain, 225
of sweetbreads, 227
Damson, cheese, 520
jam, 519
jelly, 519
solid, 519
pudding, 408
_Des Cerneaux_, or walnut salad, 141
Devonshire junket, 452
Dough nuts, Isle of Wight, receipt for, 556
Dresden patties, or _croustades_, 387
Dried apples, to stew, 572
apricots, French receipt, 517
cherries, with sugar, 502, 503
cherries, without sugar, 503
gooseberries, with and without sugar, 501
mushrooms, 153
plums (_Pruneaux de Tours_), to stew, 573
Dry, to apricots, a quick and easy method, 517
Imperatrice plums, 521
Mogul plums, 515
peaches or nectarines, 518
Duck, stewed, 279
Ducks, to roast, 279
stuffing for, No. 9, 160
wild, to roast, 294
Dumplings, apple (fashionable) 420
currant, light, 421
lemon, 421
Norfolk, 421
Suffolk, or hard, 421
Dutch, or hung beef, 197
custard, 438
flummery, 477
Eels, boiled, German receipt, 83
Cornish receipt, 84
to fry, 83
Egg balls, 162
sauce, for calf’s head, 111
sauce, common, 110
sauce, good, 110
a swan’s, to boil hard, 448
swan’s, _en salade_, 448
Eggs, to boil in the shell, 445
to cook in the shell, without boiling, 445
continental mode of dressing, or _œufs au plat_, 450
Eggs, to dress Guinea fowls or Bantams, 416
to dress turkeys, 417
curried, 301
forced turkey’s or swan’s, 447
forced, for salad, 137
to preserve for many weeks, 444
poached, with gravy, 449
to poach, 449
to whisk, for cakes, 543
Elderberry wine, 584
Elegant, the Economist’s, pudding, 415, 428
lobster salad, 142
English, _brioche_, 349
brown gravy, 99
game pie, 352
puff paste, 346
stew, 191
_Entrées_, beef cake, 190
beef collops, 201
beef palates, 194, 195
beef roll, or _canellon de bœuf_, 201
beef steaks _à la Française_, 188, 189
beef tongues, 202
Bengal currie, 298
_blanquette_ of sucking pig, 250
_blanquette_ of veal or lamb, with mushrooms, 229
broiled mutton cutlets, 241
broiled ox-tail, 195
_boudinettes_ of lobsters, shrimps, &c., 92
calf’s head _à la Maître d’Hôtel_, 214
calf’s head, the Warder’s way, 211
calf’s liver, stewed, 228
_casserole_ of rice, 351
chicken cutlets, 275
chicken patties, 359
_compote de pigeons_, 299
curries, 297, 298, 299, 300, 301, 302, 615
_croquettes_ of savoury, of rice, 386
_croustades_ filled with mince, 387
cutlets of calf’s head, 213
cutlets of fowls, partridges, or pigeons, 275
Dresden patties, 387
fillets of mackerel, 71
fillets of mackerel in wine, 72
fillets of soles, 65
fillets of whitings, 68[194]
fowls, _à la Carlsfors_, 273
_fricandeau_ of veal, 223
fricasseed fowls or chickens, 274
fried chicken _à la Malabar_, 275
hashed fowl, 276
lamb cutlets in their own gravy, 246
lamb or mutton cutlets, with _soubise_ sauce, 246
lobster cutlets, 91
lobsters fricasseed, 89
loin of lamb stewed in butter, 216
minced fowl, 276
minced veal with oysters, 231
mutton cutlets in their own gravy, 210
mutton kidneys _à la Française_, 213
Oxford receipt for mutton kidneys, 214
oyster patties, 359
oyster sausages, 87
patties _à la pontife_ and _à la cardinale_, 360
pork cutlets, 251
_rissoles_, 387
_salmis_ of game, 292, 294
savoury _croquettes_ of rice, 386
savoury _rissoles_, 387
sausages and chestnuts, 262
scallops of fowl _au béchamel_, 277
Sefton, a, or veal custard, 362
small _pain de veau_, or veal cake, 222
spring stew of veal, 224
stewed beef-steak, 189
stewed calf’s feet, 228
stewed duck, 278
stewed leg of lamb, with white sauce, 245
stewed ox-tails, 195
stewed tongue, 203
sweetbread cutlets, 227
sweetbreads, stewed, fricasseed, or roasted, 227
truffled sausages, or _saucisses aux truffles_, 263
veal cutlets, 225
veal cutlets or collops, _à la Française_, 226
veal cutlets _à l’Indienne_, or Indian fashion, 225
veal cutlets _à la mode de Londres_, or London fashion, 226
veal fricasseed, 231
minced, 230
_vol-au-vent_, 357
small _vols-au-vents_, 374
_Entremets_, _apfel krapfen_ (German receipt), 373
apple cake, or German tart, 362
apple calf’s feet jelly, 464
Charlotte, 486
apple custards, 482
apple, peach, or orange fritters, 384
apple hedgehog, or _Suédoise_, 480
apple tarts, 363
apricot blamange, 479
arocē docē, or sweet rice _à la Portugaise_, 489
asparagus points, dressed like peas, 319
barberry tart, 364
Bermuda witches, 491
blamanges (various), 476-479
_Entremets_, Black caps, _par excellence_, 460
boiled custards, 481
_brioche_ fritters, 384
buttered cherries, or _cerises au beurre_, 490
calf’s feet jelly, 461, 463
_canellons_, 385
_canellons_ of _brioche_ paste, 385
cauliflowers _à la Française_, 326
cauliflowers with Parmesan cheese, 325
Chantilly basket, 474
Charlotte _à la Parisienne_, 487
chocolate custard, 483
cocoa-nut cheese cakes, 371
_compote_ of peaches, 459
_compotes_ (various) of fruit, 457, 458
constantia jelly, 467
creamed tartlets, 375
_crême à la Comtesse_, or the Countess’s cream, 472
_croquettes_ of rice, 385
_croquettes_ of rice, finer, 386
_croustades_, or sweet patties _à la minute_, 387
cucumbers _à la crême_, 324
cucumbers, _à la poulette_, 324
currant jelly tartlets or custards, 375
custards (baked), 483
custards (various), 481, 484
dressed maccaroni, 392
fairy fancies, 368
_fanchonettes_, 374
forced eggs, or eggs _en surprise_, 447
French beans _à la Française_, 321
_gâteau_ of mixed fruits, 461
_gâteau de pommes_, 460
_gâteau de riz_, 433
_gâteau de semoule_, 430
_genoises à la Reine_, 366
German puffs, 484
_Gertrude à la crême_, 487
green peas _à la Française_, 320
green peas with cream, 321
imperial gooseberry fool, 480
Italian creams, 475
_jaumange_, or _jaune manger_, 477
Jerusalem artichokes _à la Reine_, 338
lemon calf’s feet jelly, 467
lemon creams, 475
lemon fritters, 384
lemon sandwiches, 374
lemon sponge, 480
lemon tartlets, 372
lobster _au béchamel_, 89
lobster salad, 142
Louise Franks’ citron _soufflé_, 378
Madame Werner’s Rosenvik cheese cakes, 372
_Madeleine_ puddings, 432
_Meringue_ of pears, 486
_Meringues_, 550, 551
mincemeat fritters, 383
mince pies, 369
mince pies royal, 370
monitor’s tart, 370
moulded rice, or sago, and apple-juice, 422
mushroom-toast, 330
mushrooms _au beurre_, 329
_Nesselróde_ pudding, 491
_omlette aux fines herbes_, 380
_omlette soufflée_, 381
orange calf’s feet jelly, 434
orange fritters, 384
orange isinglass jelly, 465
oranges filled with jelly, 466
pancakes, 382
pastry sandwiches, 374
plain common fritters, 381
_pommes au beurre_, or buttered apples, 488
potatoes _à la Maître d’Hôtel_, 315
potato _boulettes_, 314
potato fritters, 384
potato-ribbons, 313
potted meats, 303
prawns, 93
pudding-pies, 371
Queen Mab’s summer pudding,[195] 470
quince blamange, 478
ramakins _à l’Ude_, 375
raspberry puffs, 375
rice _à la Vathek_, 440
salad of lobster, 142
sea-kale, 316
sea-kale stewed in gravy, 316
scooped potatoes, 312
spinach _à l’Anglaise_, 317
spinach (French receipt), 316
stewed celery, 341
strawberry blamange, 477
strawberry isinglass jelly, 468
strawberry tartlets, 375
_suédoise_ of peaches, 488
sweet carrots, 336
sweet _casserole_ of rice, 438
sweet maccaroni, 490
Swiss cream, or trifle, 473
tartlets of almond paste, 367
tipsy cake, or brandy trifle, 474
_tourte meringuée_, 363
trifle (excellent), 473
truffles _à l’Italienne_, 331
truffles _à la serviette_, 331
turnips in white sauce, 334
Venetian fritters, 383
_Vol-au-vent à la crême_, 358
_Vol-au-vent_ of fruit, 358
_Vols-au-vent_, small, _à la Parisienne_, 374
Epicurean sauce, 151
Eschalots, to pickle, 537
to serve with venison, 284
Eschalot sauce, mild, 127
vinegar, 152
wine, 153
_Espagnole_, or Spanish sauce, 100
with wine, 100
Fairy Fancies (_fantaisies de fées_), 368
_Fanchonnettes_ (_entremets_), 374
Fancy jellies, 469
Fermentation of bread, 604
_Feuilletage_, or fine puff paste, 345
Figs, stewed, 492
Fillets of mackerel boiled, 71
of mackerel, fried or broiled, 71
of mackerel stewed in wine, 72
of soles, 65
of whitings, 68
Fillet of mutton, 238
of veal _au béchamel_, with oysters, 215
of veal, boiled, 217
of veal, roast, 216
Finnan haddocks (to dress), 74
Fish, to bake, 55
boiled, to render firm, 54
brine, for boiling, 54
best mode of boiling, 53
to choose, 48
to clean, 50
cooking, mode of, best adapted to different kinds of, 51
fat for frying, 55
to keep, 51
to keep hot for table, 56
to know when cooked, 55
to sweeten when tainted, 51
salt, to boil, 62
salt, _à la Maître d’Hôtel_, 63
salt, in potato-pasty, 350
shell, dishes of, 85
Flead, or fleed crust, 347
Flavouring, for sweet dishes, 456
Flounders, to boil, and fry, 75
Flour, browned, for thickening soups, &c., 131
Flour of potatoes (_fecule de pommes de terre_), 154
of rice, 154
_Fondu_, a, 379
Forced turkeys’ or swans’ eggs, 447
turkey, 268
Forcemeats, general remarks on, 156
Forcemeat balls for mock turtle, No. 11, 161
chestnut, No. 15, 162
Mr. Cooke’s for geese or ducks, No. 10, 161
good common, for veal, turkeys, &c., No. 1, 157
another good common, No. 2, 157
French, an excellent, No. 16, 163
French, called _quenelles_, No. 17, 163
for hare, No. 8, 160
mushroom, No. 7, 159
oyster, No. 5, 159
oyster, finer, No. 6, 159
for raised, and other cold pies, No. 18, 164
common suet, No. 4, 158
superior suet, No. 3, 158
_Fourneau économique_, or portable French furnace, 494, 495
Fowl, a, to bone, without opening it, 265
to bone, another way, 265
Fowl, to bone, for fricassees, &c., 266
to broil, 274
_à la Carlsfors_, 273
fried, _à la Malabar_ (_entrée_), 276
hashed, 276
minced (French and other receipts), 277
minced, French receipt (_entrée_), 276
roast (French receipt), 273
to roast a, 272
scollops of, _au béchamel_, 278
Fowl-Guinea, to roast a, 273
Fowl, wild, 294
_salmi_ of, 294
Fowls _à la mayonnaise_, 278
to bone, for fricassees, curries, and pies, 266
boiled, 274
cutlets of, English (_entrée_), 275
fricasseed, 275
cold, _fritot_ of, 277
cold, _grillade_ of, 278
French batter, for frying fruit, vegetables, &c., 130
melted butter, 109
breakfast cake, or Sally Lunn, 549
crust, for hot or cold pies, 347
receipt for boiling a ham, 258
_Maître d’Hôtel_ sauce, 116, 117
rice pudding, 433
partridges, 290
semoulina pudding, 430
salad, 140
salad dressing, 140
_salmi_, or hash of game, 292
thickening, or _roux_, 106
beans, _à la Française_, 321
beans, an excellent receipt for, 322
beans, to boil, 321
Fresh herrings (Farleigh receipt for), 74
_Fricandeau_ of veal, 223
Fried anchovies in batter, 84
bread-crumbs, 131
bread for garnishing, 131
_canellons_, 385
cod-fish, slices of, 61
Jerusalem artichokes, 338
mackerel, 70
parsnips, 337
potatoes, 313
salsify, 341
soles, 64
Fritters, apple, apricot, orange, or peach, 384
_brioche_, 384
cake, 382
lemon, 384
mincemeat (very good), 383
orange, 384
plain, common, 381
of plum pudding, 382
potato, 384
of spring fruit (rhubarb), 383
Venetian, 383
Fruit, to bottle for winter use, 522
creams, 475
_en chemise_, 570
isinglass jellies, 464-469
to weigh the juice of, 498
directions for preserving, 496
remarks on preserved, 493
stewed, 456-459
tart, with royal icing, 363
Frying, general directions for, 176
_Galantine_ of chicken, 266
_Galette_, 557
Game, to choose, 281
directions for keeping, 281
gravy of, 289
hashes of, 292, 294
Gar-fish, to broil or bake, 77
Garlic, mild ragout of, 126
vinegar, 152
_Gâteau_ of mixed fruits, 461
_de pommes_, 460
_de semoule_, or French semoulina pudding, 430
_de riz_, or French rice pudding, 433
Geneva buns, or rolls, 601
Genevese sauce, 117
_Genoises à la Reine_, or her Majesty’s pastry, 366
German puffs, 484
pudding, 412
pudding sauce (delicious), 413
yeast, observations on, 598
Gertrude _à la Crême_, 487
Gherkins, to pickle, 532
to pickle, French receipt, 533
Ginger biscuits, cheap, 560
bread, 553
bread, Acton, 552
bread, cocoa-nut, 553
bread, thick, light, 551
candy, 565
oven cakes, 552
wine (excellent), 584
Glaze, to make, 104
Glaze, to, pastry, 345
Glazing, directions for, 182
for fine pastry and cakes, 345
Goose, to deprive of its strong odour, Obs: 271
to roast, 271
to roast a green, 271
Gooseberries, to bottle for tarts, 499
dried, with sugar, 499
dried, without sugar, 501
Gooseberry jam, red, 500
jam, very fine, 500
jelly, 500, 501
paste, 501
pudding, 435, 408, 420
sauce for mackerel, 120
Grape jelly, 520
Gravies, to heighten the colour and flavour of, 96
introductory remarks on, 84
shin of beef stock for, 97
Gravy, good beef or veal (English receipt), 99
Baron Liebig’s beef (most excellent), 96
rich brown, 99
Gravy cheap, for a fowl, 101
another cheap, 102
curried, 302
_Espagnole_, highly-flavoured, 100
_Espagnole_ with wine, 100
for a goose, 102
in haste, 101
_jus des rognons_, or kidney gravy, 101
orange, for wild fowl, 102
veal, rich, deep-coloured, 98
veal, rich, pale, or _consommé_, 97
for venison, plain, 99
for haunch of venison, 283
rich, for venison, 100
sweet sauce, or gravy, for venison, 100
soup, or stock, clear, pale, 10
soup, cheap, clear, 11
soup, another receipt for, 10
Gray hen, to roast, 291
Green goose, to roast, 271
mint sauce, 132
mint vinegar, 152
orange plum, preserve of, 514
peas, _à la Française_, 320
peas, with cream, 321
pea-soup, cheap, 40
peas-soup, excellent, 39
peas-soup, without meat, 39
Greengage jam, or marmalade, 515
_Groseillée_, 513
Ground rice puddings, 435
in pudding-pies, 371
Grouse, to roast, 292
_salmi_ of, 292
Guava, English, 520
strawberry jelly, which resembles, 505
Guinea-fowl, to roast, 273
Gurnards, to dress in various ways, 74
Haddocks, baked, 73
to boil, 73
Finnan, to dress, 74
to fry, 73
Ham, to bake a, 258
to boil a, 256
to boil a (French receipt), 253
potted, excellent, 304
Hams, Bordyke receipt for, 256
to garnish and ornament in various ways, 257
to pickle, 254
superior to Westphalia (Monsieur Ude’s receipt), 255
genuine Yorkshire receipt for, 253
Hamburgh pickle, for hams, beef, and tongues, 197
another pickle, for hams, beef, and tongues, 197
Hare, to choose, 282
forcemeat for, No. 8, 160
sweet gravy for, 284
in pie, 352
potted, 307
to roast, 284
to roast, superior receipt, 285
soup, superlative, 32
soup, a less expensive, 32
stewed, 286
_Haricots blancs_, 338
Harrico, Norman 224
Hashed _bouilli_, 206
calf’s head, 213
fowl, 276
venison, 284
Hash, a, of cold beef or mutton (excellent), 205
common, of cold beef or mutton, 205
cheap, of calf’s head, 213
Norman, 206
Haunch of mutton, to roast, 234
of venison, to roast, 282
Herrings, fresh (Farleigh receipt), 74
red, _à la Dauphin_, 84
red, common English mode, 84
Iced pudding, _Nesselrôde_, 491
Ice, advantage of, for jellies, fine paste, &c., 575
Ices, observations on, 575
currant, 576
raspberry, 576
strawberry, 576
Icing, for tarts, &c., 345
white or coloured, for fine pastry, or cakes, 543
Imperatrice plums, to dry, 521
very fine marmalade of, 521
Imperial gooseberry fool, 480
Imperials, 545
Indian _Burdwan_, 612
common currie, 299
curried fish, 615
lobster cutlets, 611
pilaw, 614
corn, to boil, 329
Ingoldsby Christmas pudding, 416
Ingredients, which may all be used in making soups, 1
Invalid’s, the, new baked apple pudding, 608
Irish stew, 242
Isinglass to clarify, 454
jelly, Constantia, 467
jelly, orange, 465
jelly, strawberry, and other fruit, 505-508
Italian creams, 475
jelly, 470
_meringues_, 551
modes of dressing maccaroni, 391-393
pork cheese, 260
Jack-bottle, 170
spring, 170
Jam, apricot, or marmalade, 516
barberry, 526
cherry, 502
currant, best black, 512
currant, black, 511
currant, red, superlative, 509
currant, white, a beautiful preserve, 510
damson, 519
gooseberry, red, 500
gooseberry, very fine, 500
green gooseberry, 499
greengage, 515
of mixed fruits, 483
of Mogul plums, 515
peach (or nectarine), 518
raspberry, 506
raspberry, very good, red or white, 507
raspberry, very rich, 506
rhubarb, 498
strawberry, 504
Jaumange, or jaune manger, called also Dutch flummery, 477
Jellies, calf’s feet stock for, 453
to clarify calf’s feet stock for, 454
to clarify isinglass for, 454
fancy, 469
meat, for pies and sauces, 103
cheaper meat, 103
Jelly apple, 522
apple, exceedingly fine, 523
apple, calf’s feet, 464
barberry, 527
calf’s feet, 461, 462
calf’s feet, modern varieties of, 463
calf’s feet, strawberry, 468
lemon, calf’s feet, 467
orange, calf’s feet, 464
orange isinglass, 465
orange, very fine, 465
orange, Seville, very fine, 530
Constantia, 467
black currant, common, 511
black currant, fine, 511
currant, red, 508
currant, red, French, 509
red currant, superlative (Norman receipt), 509
currant, white, very fine, 510
damson, 519
green gooseberry, 498
ripe gooseberry, 500, 501
red grape, 520
guava, English, 520
to extract the juice of plums for, 497
mussel plum, 516
quince, 525
raspberry, 507, 508
rhubarb isinglass, 468
Siberian crab, 526
tartlets, or custards, 375
strawberry, very fine, 505
John Dories, small, baked (author’s receipt), 58
John Dory, to boil a, 58
Jewish almond pudding, 608
table, general directions for the, 609
cookery, remarks on, 606
sausage, or Chorissa, 607
smoked beef, 606
Julep, mint (American), 582
Jumbles, 556
Kale, sea, to boil, 316
stewed in gravy (_entremets_), 316
Kater’s, Captain, receipt for boiling potatoes, 312
Kedgerse (an Indian breakfast dish), 612
Kentish, receipt for cutting up and curing a
pig, 254
suet pudding, 407
Kidneys, mutton, _à la Française_, 243
mutton, to broil, 244
mutton, Oxford receipt for, 244
Kidney, beef, to dress, 204, 205
Kohl-cannon, or Kale-cannon (Irish receipt), 315
_Lait, du, à Madame_, 451
Lady’s, the, sauce for fish, 117
Lamb, cutlets, in their own gravy, 246
cutlets, with _Soubise_ sauce, 216
cutlets of cold, 246
leg of, with white sauce, 245
roast loin of, 245
loin of, stewed in butter, 246
to roast a quarter of, 244
roast saddle of, 245
sauce for, 132
Landrail, to roast, 291
Lard, to melt, 248
to preserve unmelted, for many months, 248
to, a pheasant, 287
Larding, general directions for, 181
Larding-needles, 181
Lardoons, 181
Leeks, to boil, 318
Lemonade, delicious, milk, 583
excellent, portable, 583
Lemon, calf’s feet jelly, 467
creams, 475
dumplings, 421
fritters, 384
jelly, calf’s feet, 467
pickle, or catsup, 150
pudding, an excellent, 426
sandwiches, 374
sponge, or moulded cream, 480
suet pudding, 427
tartlets, 372
Lemons in mincemeat, 368, 369
to pickle, 534, 538
Lettuces, in _mayonnaise_ of fowls, 278
stewed, 319
in salads, 140, 141
Liebig’s, Baron, directions for boiling, 53
for roasting, 171
beef gravy, 96
extract of beef, 6
Limes, to pickle, 538
Liver, calf’s, to roast, 229
stoved, or stewed, 228
Lobsters, to boil, 88
_boudinettes_ of (author’s receipt), 92
Lobster, or crab, buttered, 89
butter, 138
cutlets (a superior _entrée_), 91
cutlets, Indian, 611
cold dressed, 88
fricasseed, or _au béchamel_, 89
hot, 89
patties, common, 359
patties, superlative, 359
potted, 90
salad, 142
sausages, 91
Luncheon cake, 555
Macaroons, almond, 544
cocoa-nut (very fine), 545
orange-flower, 544
_Macaroncini_, to boil and to choose, 390
Maccaroni, Genoa, to boil, 391
Neapolitan, to boil, 391
ribbon (or _lazanges_), to boil, 391
to choose, and other Italian pastes, 390
to dress _à la Reine_, 393
to dress in various ways, 392
with gravy, 392
ribbon, 391
soup, 13
sweet, 490
Mackerel, to bake, 69
baked (Cinderella’s receipt, good), 70
to boil, 69
broiled whole, 71
fillets of, boiled, 71
fillets of, broiled or fried, 71
fillets of, stewed in wine (excellent), 72
fried (French receipt), 70
stewed with wine, 72
Madeira cake, 548
_Madeleine_ puddings, to serve cold, 432
Magnum bonum plums, to dry or preserve, 515
Mai-Trank (German), 620
_Maître d’Hôtel_ sauce, cold, 133
sauce, French, 116
sauce, _maigre_, 117
sauce, sharp (English receipt for), 116
Majesty’s, her, pastry, 366
pudding, 410
Mandrang, or mandram, West Indian receipt, 323
another receipt for, 323
Mangoes, lemon, 538
peach, 534
Marmalade, apple, for Charlotte, 487
apricot, 516
barberry, 527
Imperatrice plum, 521
orange (Portuguese receipt), 527
clear (author’s receipt), 529
orange, genuine Scotch receipt for, 528
peach, 518
pine-apple, superior (a new receipt), 513
quince, 524
quince and apple, 525
Marrow bones, baked, 208
to boil, 207
Marrow, clarified, to keep, 208
vegetable, to dress in various ways, 327
Mashed, artichokes, Jerusalem, 338
carrots, 336
parsnips (see turnips), 333
potatoes, 313
potatoes, crust of, for pasty, 350
turnips (an excellent receipt for), 333
_Mayonnaise_, a delicious sauce to serve with cold meat, &c., 135, 136
French, 617
Swiss, 617
Mayor’s, the Lord, soup, 17
soup (author’s receipt for), 18
Meat, jellies for, pies, 104
pies, crust for, 347, 348
puddings, 399-401
rolls, excellent, 360
_Mélange_ of fruit for rice-crust, 570
or mixed preserve, 513
Melon, to serve with meat, 325
sweet pickle of, to serve with roast meat (good), 534
Melted butter, 108, 109
_Meringue_ of pears, or other fruit, 486
of rhubarb, or gooseberries, 485
_Meringues_, 550
Italian, 551
Milk, cocoa-nut flavoured, for sweet dishes, 456
lemonade, delicious, 583
remarks on, 450
Mild eschalot sauce, 127
mustard, 130
ragout of garlic, or _l’ail à la Bordelaise_, 126
Minced collops, 201
fowl, 276
veal, 230
veal, with oysters, 231
Mincemeat (author’s receipt), 368
superlative, 369
fritters, 383
Mince pies (_entremets_), 369
royal, 370
Miniature round of beef, 199
Mint julep, 582
sauce, 132
Mock, brawn, 260
turtle soup, 23
turtle soup, good old-fashioned, 26
Modern blanc-mange-mould, 476
cake-mould, 540
chicken pie, 353
jelly-mould, 470
potato pasty, 350
varieties of calf’s feet jelly, 463
Monitor’s tart, or _tourte à la Judd_, 370
Moor game, to roast and hash, 291, 292
Mould for French pies, or casseroles of rice, 344
Mull, to, wine, an excellent receipt (French), 581
Mullagatawny soup, 35
vegetable, 37
Mullet, grey, to boil, 76
red, to bake, broil, or roast, 76
Mushroom catsup, 146
catsup, another receipt for, 148
catsup, double, 148
forcemeat, 159
powder, 154
sauce, brown, 123
sauce, another, 123
sauce, white, 122
Mushrooms, _au beurre_, 329
dried, 153
partridges with, 289
in pigeon pie, 354
pickled, in brine for winter use, 536
to pickle, 535
potted (delicious), 330
toast, or _croûte aux champignons_, 330
Mussel-plums, preserves of, 516
Mustard, to make, 130
mild, 130
Tartar, 155
another Tartar, 155
horseradish vinegar for ditto, 153
Mutton, broth, 44
to choose, 233
cutlets broiled, and _Soubise_ sauce, 243
cutlets, to broil, 241
cutlets of, cold, 243
cutlets, stewed in their own gravy, 240
fillet of, roast or stewed, 238
haunch of, to roast, 234
kidneys _à la Française_ (_entrée_), 243
kidneys, broiled, 244
kidneys, Oxford receipt for, 244
leg of, to boil (an excellent receipt), 237
leg of, boned and forced, 236
leg of, braised, 236
leg of, roast, 235
loin of, roast, 238
loin of, stewed like venison, 239
neck of, roast, 239
pie, common, 355
pie, good, 355
pudding, 401
saddle of, to roast, 235
shoulder of, broiled, 240
shoulder of, to roast, 239
shoulder of, forced, 240
a good family stew of, 242
stock for soup, 16
Nasturtiums, to pickle, 539
_Nesselrôde_ cream, 471
pudding, 491
Norfolk biffins, dried, 572
sauce, 99
Norman harricot, 224
Normandy pippins, 572
_Nougat_, 564
_Nouilles_, to make, 5
_Œufs au plat_, 450
_pochés au jus_, 449
Old-fashioned boiled custard, 481
Oil, to fry salmon and other fish in (Jewish), 607
Olive sauce, 128
Omlette _aux fines herbes_, 380
_soufflée_, 381
Omlets, observations on, 380
Omlet, common, 380
King of Oude’s, 612
Onion sauce, brown, 125
sauce, brown, another receipt for, 125
sauce, white, 125
Onion and sage stuffing for ducks and geese, No. 9, 160
rich white sauce of, or _Soubise_, 126
Onions, to pickle, 537
stewed, 342
Orange, baskets for jelly, 466
calf’s feet jelly, 464
conserve for cheese-cakes, or pudding, 501
fritters, 384
gravy, 102
isinglass jelly, 465
marmalade, 527, 529
plums, preserve of, 514
salad, 571
snow-balls, 420
wine, 585
Orange-flower, candy, 565, 566
Seville, paste, 568
filled with jelly in stripes, 466
Tangerine, 571
Oven, American, 178
management of, 595
objection to iron ones, 595
Oxford receipt for Bishop, 580
for mutton kidneys, 244
punch, 580
Ox-cheek, stuffed and baked, 208
Ox-tail, broiled (_entrée_), 195
stewed, 195
soup, 42
Ox tongue, to pickle, 202
potted, 305
Oyster forcemeat, No. 5, 159;
No. 6, 159
patties, 359
sauce, common, 114
sauce, good, 114
sausages, 87
soup, white, or _à la Reine_, 30
Oysters, curried, 302
to feed, 85
to fry, 80
scalloped, _à la Reine_, 86
to scallop, 86
to stew, 86
to stew, another receipt, 87
_Pain de pore frais_, or sausage-meat cake, 261
_Pain de veau_, or veal cake, 222
_Pain de veau_ (Bordyke receipt), 222
Palace-_bonbons_, 567
Palates, beef, to dress, 194, 195
Panada, 165
Pancakes, 382
to crisp, 130
fried, 130
Parsley green for colouring sauces, 129
Parsneps, to boil, 337
fried, 337
Partridge, broiled (breakfast dish), 290
broiled (French receipt), 290
French, or red-legged, to dress, 290
potted, 305
pudding, 401
soup, 35
Partridges, boiled, 289
with mushrooms, 289
to roast, 288
_salmi_, or rich hash of, 292
_salmi_ of (French), 292
Paste, almond, 367
_brioche_, 349
cherry (French), 504
currant, 510
gooseberry, 501
very good light, 346
English puff, 316
fine puff, or _feuilletage_, 345
quince, 525
Pastry, to colour almonds or sugar-grains for, 542
to glaize or ice, 345
icing for, 345
sugar-icing for, 543
her Majesty’s, 366
general remarks on, 344
sandwiches, 374
Pasty, potato, 350
varieties of, 351
mould for, 351
_Pâte Brisée_, or French crust for hot or cold pies, 347
Patties _à la Pontife_ (_entrées_), 360
good chicken, 359
common lobster, 559
superlative lobster, author’s receipt, 359
oyster (_entrée_), 359
sweet boiled, 422
tartlets, or small _vols-au-vents_, to make, 361
Peach, fritters, 384
jam, or marmalade, 518
mangoes, 534
Peaches, _compote_ of, 459
to dry, an easy and excellent receipt, 518
to pickle, 534
preserved in brandy (Rotterdam receipt), 571
stewed, 459
_Suédoise_ of, 488
_vol-au-vent_ of, 358
Pears, baked, 573
stewed, 573
_meringue_ of, 486
Pearled fruit, 570
Peas, green, to boil, 320
green, with cream, 321
green, soup of, 39, 40
green, stewed, _à la Française_, 320
pudding, 401
soup, common, 41
soup without meat, 42
soup, rich, 41
Perch, to boil, 82
to fry, 83
Pheasant, _boudin_ of, 288
cutlets, 275
to roast, 287
_salmi_ of, 292
soup, 33, 34
Pickle, for beef, tongue, and hams, 197
Hamburgh, for pork, &c., 197
to, beet-root, 537
cherries, 532
eschalots, 532
gherkins, 537
gherkins (French receipt), 533
limes, 538
lemons, 538
lemon mangoes, 538
melon, sweet (foreign receipt), 534
mushrooms in brine, 536
mushrooms (an excellent receipt), 535
nasturtiums, 539
onions, 537
peaches, and peach mangoes, 534
red cabbage, 539
walnuts, 536
Pickles, where to be procured good, 532
general remarks on, 531
Pie, beef-steak, 354
a common chicken, 353
a modern chicken, 353
a good common English game, 352
mutton, common, 355
a good mutton, 355
pigeon, 354
Pies, excellent, cream crust for, 347
French crust for, 347
suet-crust for, 348
meat jelly for, 92
mince, 369
mince royal, 370
pudding (entremets), 371
raised, 356
Pigeons, to boil, 280
to roast, 280
served with cresses, for second course, 280
Pig, divisions of, 247
Kentish mode of cutting up and curing, 254
to bake a sucking, 250
sucking, _en blanquette_ (_entrée_), 250
to roast a sucking, 249
_à la Tartare_ (_entrée_), 250
Pig’s cheeks, to pickle, 254
feet and ears, in brawn, 260
Pike to bake, 81
to bake (superior receipt), 81
to boil, 80
Pilaw, a simple Syrian, 613
Pine-apple marmalade, superior, 513
pudding-sauce, 405
pudding-sauce, very fine, 405
Pintail, or Sea Pheasant, to roast, 294
Pippins, Normandy, to stew, 572
_Piquante sauce_, 118
Plaice, to boil, 75
to fry, 75
Plate, hot, for cooking, 174
Plum-puddings, 416, 417, 441, &c.
Plums, _compote_ of, 458
_Imperatrice_, to dry, 521
_Imperatrice_, marmalade of, 521
_Poêlée_, 169
Poet’s, the, receipt for salad, 135
_Polenta à l’Italienne_, 393
Pontac catsup, 150
Poor author’s pudding, 442
Pork, to choose, 247
cutlets of, to boil or fry, 251
Italian cheese of, 260
different joints of, 247
observations on, 247
to pickle, 254
to roast, 251
to roast a saddle of, 251
sausages of, 261, 263
Portable lemonade, 583
Potage _à la Reine_, 29
_Pot-au-Feu_, or stock pot, 8
fowls, &c., boiled in, 9
Potato-balls (English), or _croquettes_, 314
_boulettes_ (good), 314
bread, 600
fritters, 384
flour, or _fecule de pommes de terre_, 154
pasty (modern), 350
puddings, 436
ribbons, to serve with cheese, 313
_rissoles_, French, 315
soup, 21
Potatoes, _à la crême_, 315
_à la Maître d’Hôtel_, 315
to boil, as in Ireland, 310
to boil (Lancashire receipt), 311
_boulettes_ (_entremets_), 314
to boil (Captain Kater’s receipt), 312
crisped, or potato-ribbons (_entremets_), 313
fried (_entremets_), 313
mashed and moulded in various ways 313
new, in butter, 312
new, to boil, 311
remarks on their properties and importance, 309
to roast or bake, 312
scooped (_entremets_), 312
Potted anchovies, 306
chicken, partridge, or pheasant, 305
ham, 304
hare, 307
meats (various), 303
meat for the second course, moulded, 306
mushrooms, 330
ox-tongue, 305
shrimps, or prawns, 306
Poultry, to bone, 265
to bone, another mode, 265
to bone, for fricassees, &c., 266
to choose, 264
to lard, 181
Powder, mushroom, 154
of savoury herbs, 155
Prawns, to boil, 93
to dish cold, 93
to pot (see shrimps:306)
to shell easily, 93
Prepared apple or quince juice, 456
calf’s head (the cook’s receipt), 211
Preserved fruit, general remarks on the use and value of, 493
Preserve, a fine, of red currants, 509
delicious, of white currants, 510
good common, 512
an excellent, of the green orange, or Stonewood plum, 514
_groseillée_, a mixed, 513
another good _mélange_, or mixed, 513
nursery, 512
Preserve, to, the colour and flavour of fruit-jams and jellies, 497
Preserving-pan, 495
Preserves, French furnace and stewpan convenient for making, 494, 495
general rules and directions for, 496
_Pruneaux de Tours_, or _compote_ of dried plums, 573
Prince Albert’s pudding, 411
Pudding (baked), _à la Paysanne_ (cheap and good), 442
almond, 425
almond, Jewish, 608
apple or custard, 437
apple (the lady’s or invalid’s new), 608
Bakewell, 427
barberry and rice, 406
light batter, 443
good bread, 429, 430
common bread and butter, 429
rich bread and butter, 428
cake and custard, and various inexpensive, 437
curate’s, 442
the good daughter’s mincemeat, 426
Dutch custard, or raspberry, 438
the elegant economist’s, 428
_Gabrielle’s_, or sweet _casserole_ of rice, 438
green gooseberry, 435
good ground rice, 437
a common ground rice, 435
Mrs. Howitt’s (author’s receipt), 426
an excellent lemon, 426
lemon-suet, 427
Normandy, 441
plum, _en moule_, or moulded, 424
poor author’s, 442
(baked) potato, 436
a richer potato, 436
the printers’, 424
the publishers’, 410
Queen Mab’s, 470
a common raisin, 441
a richer raisin, 442
raspberry, or Dutch custard, 438
ratafia, 427
cheap rice, 434
a common rice, 433
a French rice, or _Gâteaux de riz_, 433
rice, _meringué_, 434
richer rice, 434
rice, _à la Vathek_, 440
Saxe-Gotha, or _tourte_, 431
a good semoulina, or _soujee_, 430
a French semoulina (or _Gâteau de semoule_), 430
_soujee_ and semola, 439
sponge cake, 436
vermicelli, 439
welcome guest’s own, 412
common Yorkshire, 440
good Yorkshire, 440
young wife’s (author’s receipt), 425
Pudding (boiled) _à la Scoones_, 416
apple, cherry, currant, or any other fresh fruit, 408
a common apple, 409
the author’s Christmas, 417
common batter, 406
another batter, 406
batter and fruit, 407
beef-steak, or John Bull’s, 399
beef-steak, epicurean receipt for, 400
small beef-steak, 400
a black-cap, 407
Ruth Pinch’s, or beef-steak _à la Dickens_, 401
bread, 418
brown bread, 419
cabinet, 413
a very fine cabinet, 414
common custard, 411
the elegant economist’s, 415
German pudding and sauce, 412
Herodotus’ (a genuine classical receipt), 409
Ingoldsby Christmas, 416
Her Majesty’s, 410
mutton, 401
partridge, 401
peas, 401
small light plum, 416
Prince Albert’s, 411
the publishers’, 410
vegetable plum, 417
a very good raisin, 415
a superior raisin 415
a cheap rice, 420
a good rice, 419
rice and gooseberry, 420
rolled, 418
savoury, 399
Snowdon, 414
Kentish suet, 407
another suet, 408
the welcome guest’s own (author’s receipt), 412
a Kentish well, 417
Baden-Baden, 431
Puddings, general directions for baked, 423
to mix batter for, 397
general directions for boiled, 395
butter crust for, 398
cloths for, to wash, 366
suet-crust for, 398
to clean currants for, 397
Madeleine, to serve cold, 432
sauces for sweet, 402, 406
to steam in common stewpan, 397
Sutherland, or castle, 432
Pudding-pies, 371
a common receipt for, 371
Pudding sauces, sweet, 402-406
Puff-paste, _canellons_ of, 417
English, 346
finest, or _feuilletage_, 345
very good light, 346
Puffs, German, 484
raspberry, or other fruit, 375
Punch, Cambridge milk, 581
Oxford, 580
Punch, Regent’s, or George IV.’s (a genuine receipt), 582
sauce for sweet puddings, 402
_Purée_, fine, of onions, or _Soubise_ sauce, 126
of tomatas, 328
of turnips, 127
of vegetable marrow, 127
_Quenelles_, or French forcemeat, 163
Queen cakes, 556
Queen’s custard, 481
Queen Mab’s pudding, 470
Quince blamange, 478
blamange, with almond cream, 478
custards, 482
jelly, 524
juice, prepared, 456
marmalade, 524
and apple marmalade, 525
paste, 525
Rabbits, to boil, 286
Rabbit, to fry, 287
to roast, 286
soup, _à la Reine_, 31
soup, brown, 31
Radishes, turnip, to boil, 318
Ragout, mild, of garlic, 126
Raisin puddings, 441, 442
wine, which resembles foreign, 583
Ramakins _à l’Ude_, 375
Raspberries, to preserve for creams or ices, without boiling, 506
Raspberry jam, 506
jam, red or white, 506
jelly, for flavouring creams, 507
jelly, another good, 508
vinegar, very fine, 578
Red cabbage, to stew, 340
Regent’s, or George IV.’s punch (genuine), 582
_Remoulade_, 137
Rhubarb, or spring fruit, _compote_ of, 457
Rice, to boil for curries, or mullagatawny soup, 36
boiled, to serve with stewed fruit, &c., 422
cake, 546
_casserole_ of, savoury, 351
_casserole_ of, sweet, 438
_croquettes_ of, 385, 386
savoury _croquettes_ of, 386
puddings, 419, 420, 433-435
soup, 14
soup, white, 15
sweet, _à la Portugaise_, or arocē docē, 489
Rice flour, to make, 154
soup, 15
to thicken soups with, 4
_Risotto à la Milanaise_, 615
_Rissoles_, 387
very savoury, English (_entrée_), 387
Roasting, general directions for, 169
slow method of, 171
Roast beef (see Chapter X.)
chestnuts, 574
game (see Chapter XV.)
lamb (see Chapter XII.)
mutton (see Chapter XII.)
potatoes, 312
pork (see Chapter XIII.)
poultry (see Chapter XIV.)
veal (see Chapter XI.)
Rolled shoulder of mutton, 240
ribs of beef, 198
sirloin of beef, 198
Roll, beef, or _canellon de bœuf_, 201
Rolls, breakfast or dinner, 600
Geneva, 601
excellent meat, 360
_Roux_, or French thickening brown (for sauces), 106
white, 106
Rusks, sweet, 554
Rusks, 602
Sago soup, 14
Salad, to dress (English), 140
forced eggs for garnishing, 137
French, 140
of mixed summer fruits, 570
excellent herring (Swedish receipt), 143
lobster, 142
very elegant lobster, 584
orange, 571
peach, 570
the Poet’s receipt for, 135
Suffolk, 141
walnut, or _des cerneaux_, 141
Yorkshire ploughman’s, 141
dressings and sauces, 140
sorrel, 142
of young vegetables, 141
Salamander to brown with, 183
_Salmi_ of moor fowl, pheasants or partridges, 292
French, or hash of game, 292
of wild fowl, 294
Salmon _à la Genevese_, 59
_à la St. Marcel_, 60
baked over mashed potatoes, 60
to boil, 59
crimped, 60
to fry in oil, 607
pudding (Scotch receipt), 60
Salsify, to boil, 341
to fry in batter, 341
Salt fish, to boil, 62
_à la Maître d’Hôtel_, 63
Salt, to, beef, in various ways, 196
Sandwiches, lemon, 374
pastry, 374
Sand-launce, or Sand-eel, mode of dressing, 77
_Salzburger Nockerl_, 620
Sauce (American), cold, for salads, salt fish, &c., 133
anchovy, 115
baked apple, 124
boiled apple, 124
brown apple, 125
arrow-root, clear, 403
asparagus, for lamb cutlets, 120
_béchamel_, 107
_béchamel maigre_, 108
another common _béchamel_, 108
bread, 112
bread, with onion, 113
caper, 121
brown caper, 121
caper for fish, 121
celery, 128
brown chestnut, 129
white chestnut, 129
Chatney, capsicum, 144
Chatney, sausage, 609
Chatney, shrimp (Mauritian receipt), 144
Chatney, tomato, 609
Chatney (Bengal receipt), 146
Christopher North’s own (for many meats), 119
crab, 114
cream, for fish, 115
common cucumber, 121
another common cucumber, 122
white cucumber, 122
currants, 404
Dutch, 111
cold, Dutch, 133
common egg, 110
egg, for calf’s head, 111
very good egg, 110
English, for salad, cold meat, &c., 134
epicurean, 151
mild eschalot, 127
_Espagnole_, 100
_Espagnole_, with wine, 100
fricassee, 112
fruit, superior, 404
mild garlic, 126
Genevese, or _sauce Genevoise_, 117
German, for fricassees, 107
German cherry, 406
German custard pudding, 403
gooseberry, for mackerel, 120
horseradish, excellent, to serve hot or cold, with roast beef,
118-133
hot horseradish, 119
the lady’s, for fish, 117
common lobster, 113
_Maître d’Hôtel_, or steward’s sauce, 116
cold _Maître d’Hôtel_, 133
_Maître d’Hôtel sauce maigre_, 117
sharp _Maître d’Hôtel_, 116
Imperial _mayonnaise_, 136
_mayonnaise_, red or green, 136
_mayonnaise_ (very fine), to serve with cold meat, fish, or
vegetables, 135
mint, common, 132
mint (superior), for roast lamb, 133
strained, 132
brown mushroom, 123
another mushroom, 123
white mushroom, 122
Norfolk, 109
olive, 128
brown onion, 125
another brown onion, 125
white onion, 125
Oxford brawn, 137
common oyster, 114
good oyster, 114
piquante, 118
common pudding, 402
delicious German pudding, 403
pine-apple pudding, 405
pine-apple syrup, 405
punch, for sweet puddings, 402
sweet pudding, 404
raspberry, 404
_remoulade_, 137
Robert, 118
shrimp, 115
common sorrel, 120
Soubise, 126
Soubise (French receipt), 126
Spanish, 100
sweet, for venison, 100
Tartar, 143
common tomata, 123
a finer tomata, 124
_tournée_, or thickened pale gravy, 105
excellent turnip, 127
very common white, 111
English white, 111
wine sauces, 402
French white, or _béchamel_, 107
vegetable marrow, fine, 127
_velouté_ (obs.), 107
Sauces, to thicken, 105
green, for colouring, 129
_Saucisses aux truffes_, or truffled sausages 263
Saunders, 270
Sausage-meat, cake of, 261
in chicken-pie, 353
Kentish, 261
to make, 261, 262
pounded, very good, 262
boned turkey, filled with, 268
Sausages, boiled, 262
and chestnuts (an excellent dish), 262
common, 261
excellent, 262
truffled, 263
_Sauté_ pan, for frying, 176
Savoury toasts, 390
Scientific roasting, 171
Scotch marmalade, 528
Scottish shortbread, excellent, 557
Sea-kale to boil, 316
stewed in gravy (_entremets_), 316
Sea-pheasant, or pintail, to roast, 294
Sefton, a, or veal custard, 362
Shad, Touraine fashion, 79
Shrimp sauce, 115
Shrimps, to boil, 93
_boudinettes_ of, 92
potted, 306
to shell quickly and easily, 93
Sippets _à la Reine_, 5
fried, 4
Sirloin of beef, to roast, 184
Smelts to bake, 78
to fry, 77
Snipes to roast, 293
Snow-balls, orange, 420
apple, 421
Soles, baked, or _au plat_, 66
baked, a simple receipt, 66
to boil, 64
to choose, 48
fillets of, 65
to fry, 64
stewed in cream, 67
_Solimemne_, a, or rich French breakfast cake, 549
_Soufflé_, Louise Franks’ citron, 378
cheese, 379
_Soufflé_-pan, 377
_Soufflés_, remarks on, 377
Sounds, cods’, to boil, 63
to fry in batter, 63
Soup, apple, 21
artichoke, or Palestine, 19
good calf’s head, not expensive, 27
Buchanan carrot, 46
common carrot, 20
a finer carrot, 20
carrot, _maigre_, 45
chestnut, 19
cocoa-nut, 19
cucumber, 38
fish, cheap, 46
des Galles, 28
clear pale gravy, or _consommé_, 10
another gravy, 10
cheap clear gravy, 11
superlative hare, 32
a less expensive hare, 32
in haste, 43
_à la Julienne_, 38
Mademoiselle Jenny Lind’s (authentic receipt), 16
the Lord Mayor’s, 17
the Lord Mayor’s (author’s receipt for), 18
maccaroni, 13
milk, with vermicelli, 44
mock turtle, 25
old-fashioned mock turtle, 26
mullagatawny, 35
vegetable mullagatawny, 37
mutton stock for soups, 16
ox-tail, 42
white oyster, or oyster-soup _à la Reine_, 30
parsnep, 22
another parsnep, 22
partridge, 35
common peas, 41
peas, without meat, 42
rich peas, 41
cheap green peas, 40
an excellent green peas, 39
green peas, without meat, 39
pheasant, 33
another pheasant, 34
_potage aux nouilles_, or _taillerine soup_, 14
_potage à la Reine_, 29
potato, 21
rabbit, _à la Reine_, 31
brown rabbit, 31
rice, 14
cheap rice, 44
rice flour, 15
white rice, 15
sago, 14
sausage (Swedish receipt), 577
semola and soujee, 13
semoulina, 12
semoulina (or soup _à la Semoule_), 12
a cheap and good stew, 43
spring, 38
_taillerine_, 14
tapioca, 14
economical turkey, 33
common turnip, 21
a quickly made turnip, 21
turtle, mock, 23
mock turtle, old-fashioned, 26
vermicelli (or _potage au vermicelle_), 12
stock for white, 15
Westerfield white, 22
a richer white, 23
Soups, directions to the cook for, 2
to fry bread to serve with, 5
ingredients used for making, 1
_nouilles_ to serve in, 5
mutton stock for, 16
to thicken, 4
time required for boiling down, 4
vegetable vermicelli for, 5
Spanish sauce, or _Espagnole_, 100
sauce, with wine, 100
Spiced beef, 199
Spinach, _à l’Anglaise_, or English fashion, 317
common English modes of dressing, 317
French receipt for, 316
green, for colouring sweet dishes, &c., 455
dandelions dressed like, 318
Sprouts, &c., to boil, 332
Steaming, general directions for, 172
Stewed beef-steak, 189
beef-steak, in its own gravy, 189
beet-root, 340
cabbage, 333
calf’s feet, 228
calf’s liver, 228
carp, 82
celery, 341
cod-fish, 62
cucumber, 323
eels, 84
figs, 492
fillet of mutton, 238
fruits (various), 456-459
hare, 286
lamb cutlets, 246
leg of lamb with white sauce, 243
loin of lamb in butter, 246
lettuces, 319
mackerel, in wine, 72
fillets of mackerel in wine (excellent), 72
mutton cutlets in their own gravy, 240
onions, 342
ox-tails, 195
ox, or beef tongue (Bordyke receipt), 203
oysters, 86
sea-kale in gravy, 316
soles in cream, 67
tomatas, 327
trout, 80
turnips in butter, 334
turnips in gravy, 335
knuckle of veal, with rice or green peas, 221
shoulder of veal, 219
shoulder of venison, 283
Stew, a good English, 191
a good family, 242
a German, 190
an Irish, 242
baked Irish, 243
Spring stew of veal, 224
a Welsh, 191
Stew, to, shin of beef, 192
a rump of beef, 194
Stewing, general directions for, 173
Stewpan, copper, 181
Stock, clear pale, 11
for white soup, 13
mutton, for soups, 14
shin of beef for gravies, 97
pot, 169
Store sauces, 145-155
Strawberries, to preserve, for flavouring creams, &c., 506
Strawberry vinegar, 577
jam, 504
jelly, 505
isinglass jelly, 468
tartlets, 375
vinegar, of delicious flavour, 577
_Stufato_ (a Neapolitan receipt), 615
Stuffing for geese and ducks, No. 9, 160
Cook’s stuffing for geese and ducks, 161
_Suédoise_, or apple hedgehog, 480
_Suédoise_ of peaches, 488
Suet crust, for pies, superior, 348
common, 348
Sugar glazings, and icings, for fine pastry and cakes, 543
barley, 564
grains, to colour, for cakes, &c., 542
to boil, from candy to caramel, 563
to clarify, 562
Swan’s egg, to boil, 448
forced, 447
_en salade_, 448
Sweetbreads, to dress, 227
_à la Maître d’Hôtel_, 227
cutlets, 227
small _entrées_ of, 232
roasted, 215
Sweet, patties _à la minute_, 387
Syllabub, a birthday, 581
Syllabubs, superior whipped, 476
Syrup, fine currant, or _sirop de groseilles_, 579
Tamarinds, acid, in curries, 296
Tapioca soup, 14
Tarragon vinegar, 151
Tart, a good apple, 363
young green apple, 364
barberry, 364
German, 362
the monitor’s, 370
Tartlets, of almond paste, 367
creamed, 375
jelly, or custards, 375
to make, 361
lemon, 372
strawberry, 375
Tarts, to ice, 345
Tench, to fry, 83
Thickening for sauces, French, 106
Tipsy cake, 474
Toasting, directions for, 183
Toffee, Everton, 567
another way, 567
Tomata catsup, 151
sauces, 123, 124
Tomatas, forced, 327
forced (French receipt), 328
_purée_ of, 328
roast, 327
_en salade_, 327
stewed, 327
Tongue, to boil, 203
to stew, 203
Tongues, to pickle, 197
_Tourte, à la châtelaine_, 364
the lady’s, 364
_meringuée_, or with royal icing, 363
Trifle, brandy, or tipsy cake, 474
an excellent, 473
Swiss, very good, 473
Trout, to stew (a good common receipt), 80
in wine, 80
Truffled butter, 139
sausages, 263
Truffles and their uses, 331
_à l’Italienne_, 332
_à la serviette_, 232
to prepare for use, 332
Turbot, to boil, 56
_au béchamel_, 57
cold, with shrimp chatney, 144
_à la crême_, 57
Turkey, to boil, 267
boned and forced, 268
to bone, 265
_à la Flamande_, 270
to roast, 267
poult, to roast, 270
Turkeys’ eggs, to dress, 447
forced (excellent _entremets_) 447
poached, 449
sauce of, 110
Turnip-radishes, to boil, 318
soup, economical, 33
Turnips, to boil, 333
to mash, 333
stewed in butter, 334
in gravy, 335
in white sauce 334
Vanilla in cream, pudding, &c., 410
Veal, _blanquette_ of, with mushrooms, 229
boiled breast of, 218
roast breast of, 219
breast of, simply stewed, 618 (_see note_)
breast of, stewed and glazed, 618
cake, Bordyke, 222
cake, small _pain de veau_, or veal, 222
to choose, 209
Scotch collops of, 226
custard, or Sefton, 362
cutlets, 225
cutlets, or collops, _à la Française_, 226
cutlets, _à l’Indienne_, or Indian fashion, 225
cutlets, _à la mode de Londres_, or London fashion, 226
divisions of, 209
boiled fillet of, 217
roast fillet of, 216
fillet of, _au bechamel_, with oysters, 216
_fricandeau_ of, 223
fricasseed, 231
goose (City of London receipt), 220
Norman harrico of, 224
boiled knuckle of, 221
knuckle of, _en ragout_, 221
knuckle of, with rice or green peas, 221
boiled loin of, 218
roast loin of, 217
stewed loin of, 218
minced, 230
minced, with oysters (or mushrooms), 231
neck of, _à la crême_, 220
neck of, roast, 220
to bone a shoulder of, 219
stewed shoulder of, 219
spring stew of, 224
Sydney, 231
Vegetable marrow, to boil, fry, mash, 327
vermicelli, 6
Vegetables, to boil green, 309
to clear insects from, 309
remarks on, 308
Venetian cake (super excellent), 547
fritters (very good), 383
Venison, to choose, 281
collops and cutlets, 284
to hash, 284
to roast a haunch of, 282
in pie, 352
sauces for, 295
to stew a loin of mutton like, 239
to stew a shoulder of, 283
Vermicelli pudding, 439
soup, 12
Viennese pudding, or _Salzburger Nockerl_, 620
Vinegar, cayenne, 153
celery, 152
cucumber, 152
eschalot, or garlic, 152
horseradish, 153
green mint, 152
raspberry (very fine), 578
strawberry (delicious), 577
tarragon, 151
_Vol-au-vent_, a, 357
_à la crème_, 358
of fruit, 358
_Vols-au-vents, à la Parisienne_, 374
small, to make, 361
Walnut catsup, 149-150
Walnuts, to pickle, 536
salad of, 141
Water Souchy (Greenwich receipt), 78
White bait (Greenwich receipt), 78
Whitings baked, _À la Française_, 68
baked (Cinderella’s receipt), 70
to boil, 68
to fry, 67
fillets of, 68
Wild ducks, to roast, and their season, 294
_salmi_, or hash of, 294
Wild fowl, its season, 294
Wine, elderberry (good), 584
eschalot, 153
ginger, 584
to mull (an excellent French receipt), 581
orange, 585
raisin, which resembles foreign, 583
Wine-vase, antique, 577
Wire lining for frying-pan, 177
Woodcocks, or snipes, to roast, 293
Woodruff, in _Mai Trank_, 620
Yorkshire ploughman’s salad, 315
pudding, common, 441
pudding, good, 440
Regent potatoes, their excellence, 311
[TN: Footnote text is not allowed within the range of the Index.
Footnote 194 is referenced from the entry for “fillets of whitings”.
Footnote 195 is referenced from the entry for “Queen Mab’s summer
pudding”.
Clicking on the footnote numbers below will take you to the index
entries that reference these footnotes.]
Footnote 194:
Though not included in this list, _all_ sweet puddings are served as
_entremets_, except they replace the roasts of the second course.
Footnote 195:
Fish is not usually served as an _entrée_ in a common English dinner;
it is, however, very admissible, either in fillets, or scallops, in a
currie, or in a _vol-au-vent_. Various circumstances must determine
much of the general arrangement of a dinner, the same dishes answering
at times for different parts of the service. For example, a fowl may
be served as the roast for a small company, and for a large one as an
_entrée_. For a plain family dinner, too, many dishes may be served in
a different order to that which is set down.
Woodfall and Kinder, Printers, Milford Lane, Strand, London, W.C.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
APRIL 1885.
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