COOKERY RECIPES
Ale to Mull.—Take a pint of good strong ale, and pour it into a saucepan with three cloves and a little nutmeg; sugar to your taste. Set it over the fire, and when it boils take it off to cool. Beat up the yolks of four eggs exceedingly well; mix them first with a little cold ale, then add them to the warm ale, and pour it in and out of the pan several times. Set it over a slow fire, beat it a little, take it off again; do this three times until it is hot, then serve it with dry toast.
Ale, Spiced.—Is made hot, sweetened with sugar and spiced with grated nutmeg, and a hot toast is served in it. This is the wassail drink.
Beef Tea.—Cut a pound of fleshy beef in thin slices; simmer with a quart of water twenty minutes, after it has once boiled and been skimmed. Season if approved.
Beef Tea.—To one pound of lean beef add one and one-half tumblers of cold water; cut the beef in small pieces, cover, and let it boil slowly for ten minutes, and add a little salt after it is boiled. Excellent.
Beef Tea.—Cut lean, tender beef into small pieces, put them into a bottle, cork and set in a pot of cold water, then put on the stove and boil for one hour. Season to taste.
Black Currant Cordial.—To every four quarts of black currants, picked from the stems and lightly bruised, add one gallon of the best whisky; let it remain four months, shaking the jar occasionally, then drain off the liquor and strain. Add three pounds of loaf sugar and a quarter of a pound of best cloves, slightly bruised; bottle well and seal.
Boston Cream (a Summer Drink).—Make a syrup of four pounds of white sugar with four quarts of water; boil; when cold add four ounces of tartaric acid, one and a half ounces of essence of lemon, and the whites of six eggs beaten to a stiff froth; bottle. A wine-glass of the cream to a tumbler of water, with sufficient carbonate of soda to make it effervesce.
Champagne Cup.—One quart bottle of champagne, two bottles of soda-water, one liqueur-glass of brandy, two tablespoons of powdered sugar, a few thin strips of cucumber rind; make this just in time for use, and add a large piece of ice.
Chocolate.—Scrape Cadbury's chocolate fine, mix with a little cold water and the yolks of eggs well beaten; add this to equal parts of milk and water, and boil well, being careful that it does not burn. Sweeten to the taste, and serve hot.
Coffee.—Is a tonic and stimulating beverage, of a wholesome nature. Use the best. For eight cups use nearly eight cups of water; put in coffee as much as you like, boil a minute and take off, and throw in a cup of cold water to throw the grounds to the bottom; in five minutes it will be very clear.
Or, beat one or two eggs, which mix with ground coffee to form a ball; nearly fill the pot with cold water, simmer gently for half an hour, having introduced the ball; do not boil, or you will destroy the aroma.
Coffee.—The following is a delicious dish either for summer breakfast or dessert: Make a strong infusion of Mocha coffee; put it in a porcelain bowl, sugar it properly and add to it an equal portion of boiled milk, or one-third the quantity of rich cream. Surround the bowl with pounded ice.
Currant Wine.—One quart currant juice, three pounds of sugar, sufficient water to make a gallon.
Egg Gruel.—Boil eggs from one to three hours until hard enough to grate; then boil new milk and thicken with the egg, and add a little salt. Excellent in case of nausea.
Lemon Syrup.—Pare off the yellow rind of the lemon, slice the lemon and put a layer of lemon and a thick layer of sugar in a deep plate; cover close with a saucer, and set in a warm place. This is an excellent remedy for a cold.
Lemonade.—Take a quart of boiling water, and add to it five ounces of lump-sugar, the yellow rind of the lemon rubbed off with a bit of sugar, and the juice of three lemons. Stir all together and let it stand till cool. Two ounces of cream of tartar may be used instead of the lemons, water being poured upon it.
Raspberry Vinegar.—Fill a jar with red raspberries picked from the stalks. Pour in as much vinegar as it will hold. Let it stand ten days, then strain it through a sieve. Don't press the berries, just let the juice run through. To every pint add one pound loaf sugar. Boil it like other syrup; skim, and bottle when cold.
Summer Drink.—Boil together for five minutes two ounces of tartaric acid, two pounds white sugar, three lemons sliced, two quarts of water; when nearly cold add the whites of four eggs beaten to a froth, one tablespoonful of flour and half an ounce of wintergreen. Two tablespoonfuls in a glass of water make a pleasant drink; for those who like effervescence add as much soda as a ten-cent piece will hold, stirring it briskly before drinking.
Blackberry Syrup.—To one pint of juice put one pound of white sugar, one-half ounce of powdered cinnamon, one-fourth ounce mace, and two teaspoons cloves; boil all together for a quarter of an hour, then strain the syrup, and add to each pint a glass of French brandy.
Tea.—When the water in the teakettle begins to boil, have ready a tin tea-steeper; pour into the tea-steeper just a very little of the boiling water, and then put in tea, allowing one teaspoon of tea to each person. Pour over this boiling water until the steeper is a little more than half full; cover tightly and let it stand where it will keep hot, but not to boil. Let the tea infuse for ten or fifteen minutes, and then pour into the tea-urn, adding more boiling water, in the proportion of one cup of water for every teaspoon of dry tea which has been infused. Have boiling water in a water-pot, and weaken each cup of tea as desired. Do not use water for tea that has been boiled long. Spring water is best for tea, and filtered water next best.
Iced Tea a la Russe.—To each glass of tea add the juice of half a lemon, fill up the glass with pounded ice, and sweeten.
General Directions for Making Bread.—In the composition of good bread, there are three important requisites: Good flour, good yeast, [and here let us recommend Gillett's Magic Yeast Cakes. They keep good for one year in any climate, and once used you will not do without it. All grocers keep it] and strength to knead it well. Flour should be white and dry, crumbling easily again after it is pressed in the hand.
A very good method of ascertaining the quality of yeast will be to add a little flour to a very small quantity, setting it in a warm place. If in the course of ten or fifteen minutes it raises, it will do to use.
When you make bread, first set the sponge with warm milk or water, keeping it in a warm place until quite light. Then mold this sponge, by adding flour, into one large loaf, kneading it well. Set this to rise again, and then when sufficiently light mold it into smaller loaves, let it rise again, then bake. Care should be taken not to get the dough too stiff with flour; it should be as soft as it can be to knead well. To make bread or biscuits a nice color, wet the dough over top with water just before putting it into the oven. Flour should always be sifted.
Brown Bread, for those who can eat corn-meal: Two cups Indian meal to one cup flour; one-half teacup syrup, 2-1/2 cups milk; 1 teaspoon salt; 3 teaspoons of Gillett's baking powder. Steam an hour and a half. To be eaten hot. It goes very nicely with a corn-beef dinner.
Brown Bread.—Stir together wheat meal and cold water (nothing else, not even salt) to the consistency of a thick batter. Bake in small circular pans, from three to three and a half inches in diameter, (ordinary tin pattypans do very well) in a quick, hot oven. It is quite essential that it be baked in this sized cake, as it is upon this that the raising depends. [In this article there are none of the injurious qualities of either fermented or superfine flour bread; and it is so palpably wholesome food, that it appeals at once to the common sense of all who are interested in the subject.]
Brown Bread—Take part of the sponge that has been prepared for your white bread, warm water can be added, mix it with graham flour (not too stiff).
Boston Brown Bread.—To make one loaf:—Rye meal unsifted, half a pint; Indian meal sifted, one pint; sour milk, one pint; molasses, half a gill. Add a teaspoonful of salt, one teaspoonful of soda dissolved in a little hot water; stir well, put in a greased pan, let it rise one hour, and steam four hours.
Boston Brown Bread.—One and one-half cups of graham flour, two cups of corn meal, one-half cup of molasses, one pint of sweet milk, and one-half a teaspoon of soda; steam three hours.
Corn Bread.—One-half pint of buttermilk, one-half pint of sweet milk; sweeten the sour milk with one-half teaspoon of soda; beat two eggs, whites and yolks together; pour the milk into the eggs, then thicken with about nine tablespoons of sifted corn meal. Put the pan on the stove with a piece of lard the size of an egg; when melted pour it in the batter; this lard by stirring it will grease the pan to bake in; add a teaspoon of salt.
Excellent Bread.—Four potatoes mashed fine, four teaspoons of salt, two quarts of lukewarm milk, one-half cake Gillett's magic yeast dissolved in one-half cup of warm water, flour enough to make a pliable dough; mold with hands well greased with lard; place in pans, and when sufficiently light, it is ready for baking.
French Bread.—With a quarter of a peck of fine flour mix the yolks of three and whites of two eggs, beaten and strained, a little salt, half a pint of good yeast that is not bitter, and as much milk, made a little warm, as will work into a thin light dough. Stir it about, but don't knead it. Have ready three quart wooden dishes, divide the dough among them, set to rise, then turn them out into the oven, which must be quick. Rasp when done.
Graham Bread.—For one loaf, take two cups of white bread sponge, to which add two tablespoons of brown sugar, and graham flour to make a stiff batter; let it rise, after which add graham flour sufficient to knead, but not very stiff; then put it in the pan to rise and bake.
Italian Bread.—Make a stiff dough, with two pounds of fine flour, six of white powdered sugar, three or four eggs, a lemon-peel grated, and two ounces of fresh butter. If the dough is not firm enough, add more flour and sugar. Then turn it out, and work it well with the hand, cut it into round long biscuits, and glaze them with white of egg.
Rice and Wheat Bread.—Simmer a pound of rice in two quarts of water till soft; when it is of a proper warmth, mix it well with four pounds of flour, and yeast, and salt as for other bread; of yeast about four large spoonfuls; knead it well; then set to rise before the fire. Some of the flour should be reserved to make up the loaves. If the rice should require more water, it must be added, as some rice swells more than others.
Sago Bread.—Boil two lbs. of sago in three pints of water until reduced to a quart, then mix with it half a pint of yeast, and pour the mixture into fourteen lbs. of flour. Make into bread in the usual way.
Steamed Bread.—Two cups corn meal; 1 cup graham flour; 1/2 cup N. O. molasses; salt and teaspoonful of soda. Mix soft with sour milk, or make with sweet milk and Gillett's baking powder. Put in tight mold in kettle of water; steam three hours or more. This is as nice as Boston brown bread.
Use this receipt with flour instead of graham; add a cup of beef suet, and it makes a nice pudding in the winter. Eat with syrup or cream.
Biscuits.—Mix a quart of sweet milk with half a cup of melted butter; stir in a pinch of salt, two teaspoonfuls of baking powder and flour enough for a stiff batter. Have the oven at a brisk heat. Drop the batter, a spoonful in a place, on buttered pans. They will bake in fifteen minutes.
Cream Biscuits.—Three heaping tablespoons of sour cream; put in a bowl or vessel containing a quart and fill two-thirds full of sweet milk, two teaspoons cream tartar, one teaspoon of soda, a little salt; pour the cream in the flour, mix soft and bake in a quick oven.
French Biscuits.—Two cups of butter, two cups of sugar, one egg (or the whites of two), half a cup of sour milk, half a teaspoon of soda; flour to roll; sprinkle with sugar.
Rye Biscuits.—Two cups of rye meal, one and a half cups flour, one-third cup molasses, one egg, a little salt, two cups sour milk, two even teaspoons saleratus.
Soda Biscuits.—To each quart of flour add one tablespoon of shortening, one-half teaspoon of salt, and three and a half heaping teaspoons of Gillett's baking powder; mix baking powder thoroughly through the flour, then add other ingredients. Do not knead, and bake quickly. To use cream tartar and soda, take the same proportions without the baking powder, using instead two heaping teaspoons cream tartar and one of soda. If good they will bake in five minutes.
Tea Biscuits.—One cup of hot water, two of milk, three tablespoons of yeast; mix thoroughly; after it is risen, take two-thirds of a cup of butter and a little sugar and mold it; then let it rise, and mold it into small cakes.
Bannocks.—One pint corn meal, pour on it boiling water to thoroughly wet it. Let it stand a few minutes; add salt and one egg and a little sweet cream, or a tablespoon melted butter. Make into balls and fry in hot lard.
Breakfast Cakes.—One cup milk, one pint flour, three eggs, piece butter size of an egg, two teaspoons cream tartar, one teaspoon soda, one tablespoon butter.
Buckwheat Cakes.—One quart buckwheat flour, four tablespoons yeast, one tablespoon salt, one handful Indian meal, two tablespoons molasses, not syrup. Warm water enough to make a thin batter; beat very well and set in a warm place. If the batter is the least sour in the morning, add a little soda.
Quick Buckwheat Cakes.—One quart of buckwheat flour, one-half a teacup of corn meal or wheat flour, a little salt, and two tablespoons of syrup. Wet these with cold or warm water to a thin batter, and add, lastly, four good-tablespoons of Gillett's baking powder.
Spanish Buns.—Five eggs well beaten; cut up in a cup of warm new milk half a pound of good butter, one pound of sifted flour, and a wineglassful of good yeast; stir these well together; set it to rise for an hour, in rather a warm place; when risen, sift in half a pound of white sugar, and half a grated nutmeg; add one wineglass of wine and brandy, mixed, one wineglass of rose-water, and one cupful of currants, which have been cleaned thoroughly. Mix these well, pour it into pans, and set it to rise again for half an hour. Then bake one hour. Icing is a great improvement to their appearance.
Bath Buns.—- Take 1 lb. of flour, put it in a dish, and make a hole in the middle, and pour in a dessert spoonful of good yeast; pour upon the yeast half a cupful of warm milk, mix in one-third of the flour, and let it rise an hour. When it has risen, put in 6 ozs. of cold butter, 4 eggs, and a few caraway seeds; mix all together with the rest of the flour. Put it in a warm place to rise. Flatten it with the hand on a pasteboard. Sift 6 ozs. of loaf sugar, half the size of a pea; sprinkle the particles over the dough; roll together to mix the sugar; let it rise in a warm place about 20 minutes. Make into buns, and lay on buttered tins; put sugar and 9 or 10 comfits on the tops, sprinkle them with water; bake in a pretty hot oven.
Graham Gems.—One quart of sweet milk, one cup syrup, one teaspoon soda, two teaspoons cream tartar, little salt; mix cream tartar in graham flour, soda in milk, and make it as stiff with the flour as will make it drop easily from the spoon into muffin rings.
Brown Griddle Cakes.—Take stale bread, soak in water till soft, drain off water through colander, beat up fine with fork, to one quart of the crumb batter, add one quart each milk and flour, and four eggs well beaten. Mix, bake in a griddle.
Wheat Gems.—One pint milk, two eggs, flour enough to make a batter not very stiff, two large spoons melted butter, yeast to raise them, a little soda and salt. Bake in gem irons.
Johnnie Cake.—- One pint of corn meal, one teacup of flour, two eggs, one pint of sweet milk, one tablespoon of molasses, one tablespoon of melted butter, a little salt, one teaspoon of soda, one teaspoon of cream of tartar; bake in square tins.
Mush.—Indian or oatmeal mush is best made in the following manner: Put fresh water in a kettle over the fire to boil, and put in some salt; when the water boils, stir in handful by handful corn or oatmeal until thick enough for use. In order to have excellent mush, the meal should be allowed to cook well, and long as possible while thin, and before the final handful is added.
Fried Mush.—When desired to be fried for breakfast, turn into an earthen dish and set away to cool. Then cut in slices when you wish to fry; dip each piece in beaten eggs and fry on a hot griddle.
Muffins.—One tablespoonful of butter, two tablespoons sugar, two eggs—stir altogether; add one cup of sweet milk, three teaspoons of baking powder, flour to make a stiff batter. Bake twenty minutes in a quick oven.
English Pancakes.—Make a batter of two teacups of flour, four eggs, and one quart of milk. Add, as a great improvement, one tablespoonful of brandy with a little nutmeg scraped in. Make the size of frying pan. Sprinkle a little granulated sugar over the pancake, roll it up, and send to the table hot.
Pop Overs.—Three cups of milk and three cups flour, three eggs, a little salt, one tablespoon melted butter put in the last thing; two tablespoons to a puff.
Rolls.—To the quantity of light bread-dough that you would take for twelve persons, add the white of one egg well beaten, two tablespoons of white sugar, and two tablespoons of butter; work these thoroughly together; roll out about half an inch thick; cut the size desired, and spread one with melted butter and lay another upon the top of it. Bake delicately when they have risen.
French Rolls.—One quart flour, add two eggs, one half-pint milk, tablespoon of yeast, kneed it well; let rise till morning. Work in one ounce of butter, and mold in small rolls. Bake immediately.
Rusks.—Milk enough with one-half cup of yeast to make a pint; make a sponge and rise, then add one and a half cups of white sugar, three eggs, one-half cup of butter; spice to your taste; mold, then put in pan to rise. When baked, cover the tops with sugar dissolved in milk.
Waffles.—One quart of sweet or sour milk, four eggs, two-thirds of a cup of butter, half a teaspoonful of salt, three teaspoonfuls of baking-powder; flour enough to make a nice batter. If you use sour milk leave out the baking-powder, and use two teaspoons soda. Splendid.
Yeast.—In reference to yeast, we advise the use of Magic Yeast Cakes; it keeps good a year, and works quicker and better than other yeasts.
Suggestions in Making Cake.—It is very desirable that the materials be of the finest quality. Sweet, fresh butter, eggs, and good flour are the first essentials. The process of putting together is also quite an important feature, and where other methods are not given in this work by contributors, it would be well for the young housekeeper to observe the following directions:
Never allow the butter to oil, but soften it by putting in a moderately warm place before you commence other preparations for your cake; then put it into an earthen dish—tin, if not new, will discolor your cake as you stir it—and add your sugar; beat the butter and sugar to a cream, add the yolks of the eggs, then the milk, and lastly the beaten whites of the eggs and flour. Spices and liquors may be added after the yolks of the eggs are put in, and fruit should be put in with the flour.
The oven should be pretty hot for small cakes, and moderate for larger. To ascertain if a large cake is sufficiently baked, pierce it with a broom-straw through the center; if done, the straw will come out free from dough; if not done, dough will adhere to the straw. Take it out of the tin about fifteen minutes after it is taken from the oven (not sooner), and do not turn it over on the top to cool.
Frosting.—One pint granulated sugar, moisten thoroughly with water sufficient to dissolve it when heated; let it boil until it threads from the spoon, stirring often; while the sugar is boiling, beat the whites of two eggs till they are firm; then when thoroughly beaten, turn them into a deep dish, and when the sugar is boiled, turn it over the whites, beating all rapidly together until of the right consistency to spread over the cake. Flavor with lemon, if preferred. This is sufficient for two loaves.
Frosting, for Cake.—One cup frosting-sugar, two tablespoons of water boiled together; take it off the stove, and stir in the white of one egg beaten to a stiff froth; stir all together well, then frost your cake with it, and you will never want a nicer frosting than this.
Chocolate Frosting.—Whites of two eggs, one and one-half cups of fine sugar, six great spoons of grated chocolate, two teaspoons of vanilla; spread rather thickly between layers and on top of cake. Best when freshly made. It should be made like any frosting.
Icing.—The following rules should be observed where boiled icing is not used:
Put the whites of your eggs in a shallow earthern dish, and allow at least a quarter of a pound or sixteen tablespoons of the finest white sugar for each egg. Take part of the sugar at first and sprinkle over the eggs; beat them for about half an hour, stirring in gradually the rest of the sugar; then add the flavor. If you use the juice of a lemon, allow more sugar. Tartaric and lemon-juice whitens icing. It may be shaded a pretty pink with strawberry-juice or cranberry syrup, or colored yellow by putting the juice and rind of a lemon in a thick muslin bag, and squeezing it hard into the egg and sugar.
If cake is well dredged with flour after baking, and then carefully wiped before the icing is put on, it will not run, and can be spread more smoothly. Put frosting on to the cake in large spoonfuls, commencing over the center; then spread it over the cake, using a large knife, dipping it occasionally in cold water. Dry the frosting on the cake in a cool, dry place.
Ice-Cream Icing, for White Cake.—Two cups pulverized white sugar, boiled to a thick syrup; add three teaspoons vanilla; when cold, add the whites of two eggs well beaten, and flavored with two teaspoons of citric acid.
Icing, for Cakes.—Take ten whites of eggs whipped to a stiff froth, with twenty large spoonfuls of orange-flower water. This is to be laid smoothly on the cakes after they are baked. Then return them to the oven for fifteen minutes to harden the icing.
Icing.—One pound pulverized sugar, pour over one tablespoon cold water, beat whites of three eggs a little, not to a stiff froth; add to the sugar and water, put in a deep bowl, place in a vessel of boiling water, and heat. It will become thin and clear, afterward begin to thicken. When it becomes quite thick, remove from the fire and stir while it becomes cool till thick enough to spread with a knife. This will frost several ordinary-sized cakes.
Almond Cake.—Take ten eggs, beaten separately, the yolks from the whites; beat the yolks with half a pound of white sugar; blanch a quarter of a pound of almonds by pouring hot water on them, and remove the skins; pound them in a mortar smooth; add three drops of oil of bitter almonds; and rose-water to prevent the oiling of the almonds. Stir this also into the eggs. Half a pound of sifted flour stirred very slowly into the eggs; lastly, stir in the whites, which must have been whipped to a stiff froth. Pour this into the pans, and bake immediately three-quarters of an hour.
Cocoanut Cake.—Whip the whites of ten eggs, grate two nice cocoanuts, and add them; sift one pound of white sugar into half a pound of sifted flour; stir this well; add a little rose-water to flavor; pour into pans, and bake three-fourths of an hour.
Cocoanut Drops.—One pound each grated cocoanut and sugar; four well beaten eggs; four tablespoonfuls of flour, mix well, drop on pan, and bake.
Cocoanut Jumbles.—Take one cup butter, two cups sugar, three eggs well whipped, one grated cocoanut, stirred in lightly with the flour, which must be sufficient to stiffen to the required consistency. Bake one to know when enough flour is added.
Coffee Cake.—Take three eggs, two cups brown sugar, one cup strong coffee, quarter of cup of butter, three cups flour, one teaspoonful cream tartar, half teaspoonful each soda and ground cinnamon and cloves, half a nutmeg grated, one cup of raisins, stoned; beat butter and sugar to a cream, then add eggs beaten, coffee, flour sifted, and cream tartar, well mixed with it. Spices and raisins, then soda dissolved in sufficient warm water to absorb it. Thoroughly mix, and bake in round tins.
Cookies.—Two cups bright brown sugar, one cup butter, half cup sweet milk, two eggs, one teaspoonful soda, flour enough to roll out.
Composition Cake.—Five eggs, three cups sugar, two cups butter, five cups flour, one wine-glass brandy, one nutmeg grated, half pound each raisins and currants, three teaspoonfuls Gillett's baking powder.
Corn Starch Cake.—Two cups pulverized sugar, one cup butter, cup corn starch, two cups sifted flour, seven eggs (whites beaten very light), one teaspoon soda, two teaspoons cream tartar (or two teaspoons caking powder instead of soda and cream tartar), flavor with lemon. In putting this together, beat butter and sugar to a light cream, dissolve corn starch in a cup of sweet milk, leaving enough of the milk to dissolve the soda if it is used, put cream of tartar or baking powder in the flour, beat the whites of the eggs separate when the butter and sugar are ready, put all the ingredients together first, leaving the eggs and flour to the last.
Cream Cake.—Half pint cream, one tablespoon butter rubbed into one tablespoon flour. Put the cream on the fire. When it boils stir in the butter and flour mixed, add half a tea cup sugar, two eggs very light, flavor with vanilla. Spread between cakes, and frost or sugar top of cake to please fancy.
Cinnamon Cake.—Take two cups of brown sugar, one cup of butter, three-quarters cup of milk, half cup of vinegar, four eggs, large tablespoon of cinnamon, four cups of flour, one teaspoon of soda, two teaspoons cream tartar, mix all but vinegar and soda, then add vinegar, then soda, bake in large tin or patty pans.
Currant Cake.—Take two pounds of flour, half a pound of butter rubbed in the flour, half a pound of moist sugar, a few caraway seeds, three or four tablespoonfuls of yeast, and a pint of milk made a little warm. Mix all together, and let it stand an hour or two at the fire to rise; then beat it up with three eggs and a half pound of Put it into a tin, and bake two hours in a moderate oven.
Cup Cake.—Cream half a cup of butter, and four cups of sugar by beating; stir in five well-beaten eggs; dissolve one teaspoonful of soda in a cup of good milk or cream, and six cups of sifted flour; stir all well together, and bake in tins.
Delicate Cake.—Mix two cups of sugar, four of flour, half cup butter, half cup sweet milk, the whites of seven eggs, two teaspoons cream tartar, one teaspoon soda, rub the cream tartar in the flour and other ingredients, and flavor to suit the taste.
Delicious Swiss Cake.—Beat the yolks of five eggs and one pound of sifted loaf sugar well together; then sift in one pound of best flour, and a large spoonful of anise seed; beat these together for twenty minutes; then whip to a stiff froth the five whites, and add them; beat all well; then roll out the paste an inch thick, and cut them with a molded cutter rather small; set them aside till the next morning to bake. Rub the tins on which they are baked with yellow wax; it is necessary to warm the tins to receive the wax; then let them become cool, wipe them, and lay on the cakes. Bake a light brown.
Doughnuts.—One and a half cup of sugar; half cup sour milk, two teaspoons soda, little nutmeg, four eggs, flour enough to roll out.
Drop Cake.—- To one pint cream, three eggs, one pinch of salt, thicken with rye till a spoon will stand upright in it, then drop on a well buttered iron pan which must be hot in the oven.
Drop Cookies.—Whites of two eggs, one large cup of milk, one cup of sugar, one-half cup of butter, two teaspoonfuls baking-powder, flavor with vanilla, rose, or nutmeg; flour enough for thick batter, beat thoroughly, drop in buttered pans, dust granulated sugar on top, and bake with dispatch.
Fruit Cake.—Take one pint each of sour milk and sugar, two eggs, half pint melted butter, two teaspoons even full of soda, dissolve in milk flour enough to roll out into shape, and fry in hot lard.
Fried Cakes.—Three eggs, one cup of sugar, one pint of new milk, salt, nutmeg, and flour enough to permit the spoon to stand upright in the mixture; add two teaspoonfuls of Gillett's baking powder and beat until very light. Drop by the dessert-spoonful into boiling lard. These will not absorb a bit of fat, and are the least pernicious of the doughnut family.
Fruit Cake.—Take four pounds of brown sugar, four pounds of good butter, beaten to cream; put four pounds of sifted flour into a pan; whip thirty-two eggs to a fine froth, and add to the creamed butter and sugar; then take six pounds of cleaned currants, four pounds of stoned raisins, two pounds of cut citron, one pound of blanched almonds, crushed, but not pounded, to a paste—a large cup of molasses, two large spoonfuls of ground ginger, half an ounce of pounded mace, half an ounce of grated nutmeg, half an ounce of pounded and sifted cloves, and one of cinnamon. Mix these well together, then add four large wineglasses of good French brandy, and lastly, stir in the flour; beat this well, put it all into a stone jar, cover very closely, for twelve hours; then make into six loaves, and bake in iron pans. These cakes will keep a year, if attention is paid to their being put in a tin case, and covered lightly in an airy place. They improve by keeping.
Ginger Drop Cake.—Cup each sugar, molasses, lard and boiling water, one teaspoon soda, half teaspoon cream tartar, stir in flour until it is as thick as cake, add sugar and salt.
Ginger Snaps.—Take one cup each of sugar, molasses, butter, half cup sour milk, two teaspoons cream tartar, one teaspoon soda, flour enough to roll out, cut into size desired and bake.
Ginger Snaps.—Two cups of New Orleans molasses, one cup of sugar, one of butter, one teaspoonful of soda, one of cloves, one of black pepper, and two tablespoons of ginger. These will keep good a month if you wish to keep them.
Graham Cakes.—Half a cup of butter, one-half cup sugar, one egg, one teacup sour milk, one-half teaspoon soda. Make a stiff batter by adding graham flour.
Good Graham Cakes.—Two cups sweet milk, one cup sweet cream, the white of one egg beaten to froth, half a spoonful of salt, dessert spoonful baking powder, stir in stiffened graham flour until quite thick, bake in muffin-rings or gem-tins, until well browned on top.
Indian Breakfast Patties.—To one pint of Indian meal add one egg, and a little salt, pour boiling water upon it, and fry brown immediately in pork fat. Cut open and put butter between, and send to the table hot.
Jumbles.—Stir together till of a light brown color, one pound sugar, one-half pound butter, then add eight eggs beaten to a froth, add flour enough to make them stiff enough to roll out, flavor with lemon, cut in rings half an inch thick, bake in quick oven.
Kisses.—Beat the whites of four eggs to a froth, stir into them half pound powdered white sugar; flavor with lemon, continue to beat it until it will be in a heap; lay the mixture on letter-paper, in the size and shape of half an egg, an inch apart, then lay the paper on hard wood and place in the oven without closing it, when they begin to look yellowish take them out and let them cool three or four minutes, then slip a thin knife carefully under and turn them into your left hand, take another and join the two by the sides next the paper, then lay them in a dish handling them gently. They may be batted a little harder, the soft inside taken out and jelly substituted.
Light Fruit Cake.—Take one cup butter, two cups sugar, four of flour, four eggs, one teaspoon cream tartar, half teaspoon soda, one cup sweet milk, one pound currants, half pound citron.
Marble Cake, Light Part.—One and a half cups white sugar, half cup butter, half cup sweet milk, one teaspoon cream tartar, half teaspoon soda, whites of four eggs, two and half cups flour.
Dark Part.—One cup brown sugar, half cup each molasses, butter and sour milk, one teaspoon cream tartar, one teaspoon soda, two and a half cups flour, yolks four eggs, half teaspoon cloves, allspice and cinnamon.
Molasses Cookies.—Three cups New Orleans molasses, one cup butter, one-half cup lard, one heaped teaspoon soda, one tablespoon ginger, one cup hot water. Roll thick. Better after standing.
Muffins.—Take two cups flour, one cup milk, half cup sugar, four eggs, one-half teaspoon each of soda and cream tartar, one tablespoon butter. Bake in rings.
Graham Muffins.—Mix one pint sweet milk, sift your flour, then take half pound each Graham and wheat flour, five or six spoonfuls melted butter, two half spoons baking powder. Bake in rings in very quick oven.
Nut Cake.—Mix each two tablespoons of butter and sugar, two eggs, one cup milk, three cups flour, one teaspoon cream tartar, half teaspoon soda, pint of nuts or almonds. Nuts may be sliced or not as suits taste.
Oat Cakes.—Mix fine and coarse oatmeal in equal proportions; add sugar, caraway-seeds, a dust of salt to three pounds of meal, a heaping teaspoonful of carbonate of soda; mix all thoroughly together, then add enough boiling water to make the whole a stiff paste; roll out this paste quite thin, and sprinkle meal on a griddle. Lay the cakes on to bake, or toast them quite dry in a Dutch oven in front of the fire; they should not scorch, but gradually dry through.
Orange Cake, the Most Delicate and Delicious Cake there is.—Grated rind of one orange; two cups sugar; whites of four eggs and yolks of five; one cup sweet milk; one cup butter; two large teaspoonfuls baking powder, to be sifted through with the flour; bake quick in jelly tins. Filling: Take white of the one egg that was left; beat to a froth, add a little sugar and the juice of the orange, beat together, and spread between the layers. If oranges are not to be had, lemons will do instead.
Plain Fruit Cake.—One pound each butter beaten to a cream, sifted sugar, sifted flour, twelve eggs, whites and yolks, beaten separately. Two pounds currants, three pounds of stoned raisins chopped, one nutmeg, a little cinnamon and other spices, half pint wine and brandy mixed, one pound citron cut in slices and stuck in the batter after it is in the tin. Bake slowly two to three hours.
Plain Cake.—Flour, three-quarters of a pound; sugar, the same quantity; butter, four ounces; one egg and two tablespoonfuls of milk. Mix all together and bake.
Puffs.—Two eggs beaten very light; one cup of milk, one cup of flour, and a pinch of salt. The gems should be heated while making the puffs, which are then placed in a quick oven.
Plum Cake.—Six eggs well beaten, one pound of sugar, the same of flour, butter and currants, four ounces of candied peel, two tablespoonfuls of mixed spice. When it is all mixed, add one teaspoonful of carbonate of soda, and one of tartaric acid. Beat it all up quickly and bake directly.
Pound Cake.—Take four and a half cups flour, 3 cups each butter and sugar. Ten eggs, yolks and whites beaten separately. Mix.
Pork Cake.—Take one pound salt pork chopped fine, boil a few minutes in half pint water, one cup molasses, two cups sugar, three eggs, two teaspoons soda, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg to taste, one pound raisins chopped fine, flour to make a stiff batter.
Rich Shortbread.—Two pounds of flour, one pound butter, and quarter pound each of the following ingredients:—Candied orange and lemon peel, sifted loaf sugar, blanched sweet almonds and caraway comfits. Cut the peel and almonds into thin slices, and mix them with one pound and a half of flour and the sugar. Melt the butter, and when cool, pour it into the flour, mixing it quickly with a spoon. Then with the hands mix it, working in the remainder of the flour; give it one roll out till it is an inch thick, cut it into the size you wish, and pinch round the edges. Prick the top with a fork, and stick in some caraway comfits; put it on white paper, and bake on tins in a slow oven.
Seed Cake.—Take half a pound of butter and three-fourths of a pound of sugar, creamed; three eggs, beaten lightly, and two tablespoonfuls of picked and bruised caraway seed; dissolve half a teaspoonful of soda in a cup of new milk; mix these well together until they are about the consistency of cream; then sift in two pounds of flour, mix well with a knife, and roll them out into thin cakes, about an inch in thickness. Bake in a quick oven.
Sponge Cake.—Take sixteen eggs; separate the whites from the yolks; beat them very lightly; sift into the yolks one pound of flour, adding a few drops of essence of almond or lemon, to flavor with; then add one pound and a quarter of pulverized loaf sugar; beat this well with a knife; then add the whites whipped to a stiff froth. Have ready the pans, and bake.
Sponge Cake, white.—One and one-third coffee cups of sugar; one coffee cup flour; whites of ten eggs; beat eggs and sugar as if for frosting; add flour by degrees and bake.
Snow Cake.—Take one pound arrow-root, half pound white sugar, half pound butter, the whites of six eggs, flavor with lemon, beat the butter to a cream, stir in the sugar and arrow-root, whisk the whites of the eggs to a stiff froth, beat for twenty minutes. Bake one hour.
Washington Cake.—One cup of sugar; 1/2 cup of butter; 1/2 cup sweet milk; 2 eggs; 2 cups flour; 2 teaspoons baking powder. Bake in layers as jelly cake. Jelly part: One pint of grated apples; 1 egg; 1 cup of sugar; grated rind and juice of one lemon; put in a vessel of some kind, and boil; put it on the cakes hot.
Waffles.—Take one quart milk, two eggs; beat the whites and yolks separately; four tablespoons melted butter, two teaspoons Gillett's baking powder, flour to make a stiff batter. Bake in waffle irons.
Alpine Snow.—Wash cup of rice, cook till tender in a covered dish to keep it white, when nearly done add cup rich milk, salt to taste, stir in the beaten yolks of two eggs, allow it to simmer for a moment, then place in a dish, beat the whites in two tablespoons fine sugar. Put the rice in little heaps upon the tin, intermingling with pieces of red jelly, eat with fine sugar and cream.
Apple Charlotte.—Take two pounds of apples, pare and core and slice them into a pan and add one pound loaf sugar, juice of three lemons and the grated rind of one, let these boil until they become a thick mass. Turn into a mould and serve it cold with thick custard or cream.
Apple Cream.—One cup thick cream, one cup sugar, beat till very smooth; then beat the whites of two eggs and add; stew apples in water till soft; take them from the water with a fork; steam them if you prefer. Pour the cream over the apples when cold.
Apple Custard.—Pare tart apples, core them, put them into a deep dish with a small piece of butter, and one teaspoon of sugar and a little nutmeg, in the opening of each apple, pour in water enough to cook them, when soft cool them and pour over an unbaked custard so as to cover them and bake until the custard is done.
Apple Fancy.—Pare and core apples, stew with sugar and lemon peels, beat four eggs to a froth, add a cupful of grated bread crumbs, a little sugar and nutmeg, lay the apples in the bottom of a dish and cover with the bread crumbs, laying a few pieces of butter over the top, bake in a quick oven, when done turn out upside down on a flat dish, scatter fine sugar over the top of apples, boil potatoes and beat fine with cream, large piece butter and salt, drop on tin, make smooth on top, score with knife, lay a thin slice of butter on top, then put in oven till brown.
Apple Fritters.—One pint milk, three eggs, salt to taste, as much flour as will make a batter, beat yolks and whites of eggs separately, add yolks to milk, stir in the whites when mixing the batter, have tender apples, pare, core, and cut in large thin slices, around the apple, to be fried in hot lard, ladle batter into spider, lay slice of apple in centre of each quantity of batter, fry light brown.
Apple Snow Balls.—Pare six apples, cut them into quarters, remove the cores, reconstruct the position of the apples, introduce into the cavities one clove and a slice of peel, have six small pudding cloths at hand and cover the apples severally in an upright position with rice, tying them up tight, then place them in a large saucepan of scalding water and boil one hour, on taking them up open the top and add a little grated nutmeg with butter and sugar.
Arrow-Root Blanc-Mange.—Put two tablespoonfuls of arrow-root to a quart of milk, and a pinch of salt. Scald the milk, sweeten it, and stir in the arrow-root, which must first be wet up with some of the milk. Boil up once. Orange-water, rose-water or lemon-peel may be used to flavor it. Pour into molds to cool.
Arrow-Root Custard.—Arrow-root, one tablespoonful; milk, 1 pint; sugar, 1 tablespoonful, and 1 egg. Mix the arrow-root with a little of the milk, cold; when the milk boils, stir in the arrow-root, egg and sugar, previously well beaten together. Let it scald, and pour into cups to cool. To flavor it, boil a little ground cinnamon in the milk.
Arrow-Root Jelly.—To a dessert-spoonful of the powder, add as much cold water as will make it into a paste, then pour on half a pint of boiling water, stir briskly and boil it a few minutes, when it will become a clear smooth jelly; a little sugar and sherry wine may be added for debilitated adults; but for infants, a drop or two of essence of caraway seeds or cinnamon is preferable, wine being very liable to become acid in the stomachs of infants, and to disorder the bowels. Fresh milk, either alone or diluted with water, may be substituted for the water.
Baked Apples.—Take a dozen tart apples, pare and core them, place sugar and small lump of butter in centre of each, put them in a pan with half pint of water, bake until tender, basting occasionally with syrup while baking, when done, serve with cream.
Chocolate Cream Custard.—Scrape quarter pound chocolate, pour on it one teacup boiling water, and stand it by fire until dissolved, beat eight eggs light, omitting the whites of two, and stir them by degrees into a quart of milk alternately with the chocolate and three tablespoons of white sugar, put the mixture into cups and bake 10 minutes.
Charlotte Russe.—Whip one quart rich cream to a stiff froth, and drain well on a nice sieve. To one scant pint of milk add six eggs beaten very light; make very sweet; flavor high with vanilla. Cook over hot water till it is a thick custard. Soak one full ounce Coxe's gelatine in a very little water, and warm over hot water. When the custard is very cold, beat in lightly the gelatine and the whipped cream. Line the bottom of your mold with buttered paper, and the sides with sponge cake or ladyfingers fastened together with the white of an egg. Fill with the cream, put in a cold place or in summer on ice. To turn out dip the mold for a moment in hot water. In draining the whipped cream, all that drips through can be re-whipped.
Cocoa Snow.—Grate the white part of a cocoanut and mix it with white sugar, serve with whipped cream, or not, as desired.
Cream and Snow.—Make a rich boiled custard, and put it in the bottom of a dish; take the whites of eight eggs, beat with rose-water, and a spoonful of fine sugar, till it be a strong froth; put some milk and water into a stew-pan; when it boils take the froth off the eggs, and lay it on the milk and water; boil up once; take off carefully and lay it on the custard.
Baked Custards.—Boil a pint of cream with some mace and cinnamon; and when it is cold, take four yolks and two whites of eggs, a little rose and orange-flower water, sack, nutmeg, and sugar to your palate. Mix them well, and bake it in cups.
Or, pour into a deep dish, with or without lining or rim of paste; grate nutmeg and lemon peel over the top, and bake in a slow oven about thirty minutes.
Gooseberry Cream.—Boil them in milk till soft; beat them, and strain the pulp through a coarse sieve. Sweeten cream with sugar to your taste; mix with the pulp; when cold, place in glasses for use.
Imperial Cream.—Boil a quart of cream with the thin rind of a lemon; stir till nearly cold; have ready in a dish to serve in, the juice of three lemons strained with as much sugar as will sweeten the cream; pour it into the dish from a large tea-pot, holding it high, and moving it about to mix with the juice. It should be made from 6 to 12 hours before it is served.
Jumballs.—Flour, 1 lb.; sugar, 1 lb.; make into a light paste with whites of eggs beaten fine; add 1/2 pint of cream; 1/2 lb. of butter, melted; and 1 lb. of blanched almonds, well beaten; knead all together, with a little rose-water; cut into any form; bake in a slow oven. A little butter may be melted with a spoonful of white wine and throw fine sugar over the dish.
Lemon Puffs.—Beat and sift 1 pound of refined sugar; put into a bowl with the juice of two lemons, and mix them together; beat the white of an egg to a high froth; put it into the bowl; put in 3 eggs with two rinds of lemon grated; mix it well up, and throw sugar on the buttered papers; drop on the puffs in small drops, and bake them in a moderately heated oven.
Lemon Tarts.—Pare the rinds of four lemons, and boil tender in two waters, and beat fine. Add to it 4 ounces of blanched almonds, cut thin, 4 ozs. of lump sugar, the juice of the lemons, and a little grated peel. Simmer to a syrup. When cold, turn into a shallow tin tart dish, lined with a rich thin puff paste, and lay bars of the same over, and bake carefully.
Macaroons.—Blanch 4 ozs. of almonds, and pound with 4 spoonfuls of orange-flower water; whisk the whites of four eggs to a froth, then mix it, and 1 lb. of sugar, sifted with the almonds to a paste; and laying a sheet of wafer-paper on a tin, put it on in different little cakes, the shape of macaroons.
Oatmeal Custard.—Take two teaspoons of the finest Scotch oatmeal, beat it up into a sufficiency of cold water in a basin to allow it to run freely. Add to it the yoke of a fresh egg, well worked up; have a pint of scalding new milk on the fire, and pour the oatmeal mixture into it, stirring it round with a spoon so as to incorporate the whole. Add sugar to your taste, and throw in a glass of sherry to the mixture, with a little grated nutmeg. Pour it into a basin, and take it warm in bed. It will be found very grateful and soothing in cases of colds or chills. Some, persons scald a little cinnamon in the milk they use for the occasion.
Orange Crumpets.—Cream, 1 pint; new milk, 1 pint; warm it, and put in it a little rennet or citric acid; when broken, stir it gently; lay it on a cloth to drain all night, and then take the rinds of three oranges, boiled, as for preserving, in three different waters; pound them very fine, and mix them with the curd, and eight eggs in a mortar, a little nutmeg, the juice of a lemon or orange, and sugar to your taste; bake them in buttered tin pans. When baked put a little wine and sugar over them.
Orange Custards.—Boil the rind of half a Seville orange very tender; beat it very fine in a mortar; add a spoonful of the best brandy, the juice of a Seville orange, 4 ozs. loaf sugar, and the yolks of four eggs; beat all together ten minutes; then pour in gradually a pint of boiling cream; keep beating them until they are cold; put them into custard cups, and set them in an earthen dish of hot water; let them stand until they are set, take out, and stick preserved oranges on the top, and serve them hot or cold.
Pommes Au Riz.—Peel a number of apples of a good sort, take out the cores, and let them simmer in a syrup of clarified sugar, with a little lemon peel. Wash and pick some rice, and cook it in milk, moistening it therewith little by little, so that the grains may remain whole. Sweeten it to taste; add a little salt and a taste of lemon-peel. Spread the rice upon a dish, mixing some apple preserve with it, and place the apples upon it, and fill up the vacancies between the apples with some of the rice. Place the dish in the oven until the surface gets brown, and garnish with spoonfuls of bright colored preserve or jelly.
Raspberry Cream.—Mash the fruit gently, and let it drain; then sprinkle a little sugar over, and that will produce more juice; put it through a hair sieve to take out the seeds; then put the juice to some cream, and sweeten it; after which, if you choose to lower it with some milk, it will not curdle; which it would if put to the milk before the cream; but it is best made of raspberry jelly, instead of jam, when the fresh fruit cannot be obtained.
Rice Fritters.—One pint of cooked rice, half cup of sweet milk, two eggs, a tablespoon of flour, and a little salt. Have the lard hot in the skillet, allow a tablespoon to each fritter, fry brown on each side, then turn same as griddle cakes. If you find the rice spatters in the fat, add a very little more flour. You can judge after frying one.
Rice Croquettes.—Make little balls or oblong rolls of cooked rice; season with salt, and pepper if you like; dip in egg; fry in hot lard.
Rice Custards.—Boil 3 pints of new milk with a bit of lemon-peel, cinnamon, and three bay leaves; sweeten; then mix a large spoonful of rice flour into a cup of cold milk, very smooth; mix it with the yolks of four eggs well beaten. Take a basin of the boiling milk, and mix with the cold that has the rice in it; add the remainder of the boiling milk; stir it one way till it boils; pour immediately into a pan; stir till cool, and add a spoonful of brandy, or orange-flower water.
Rice Flummery.—Boil with a pint of new milk, a bit of lemon-peel, and cinnamon; mix with a little cold milk, as much rice flour as will make the whole of a good consistence, sweeten and add a spoonful of peach-water, or a bitter almond beaten; boil it, observing it does not burn; pour it into a shape or a pint basin, taken out the spice. When cold, turn the flummery into a dish, and serve with cream, milk, or custard round; or put a teacupful of cream into half a pint of new milk, a glass of white wine, half a lemon squeezed, and sugar.
Rock Cream.—Boil a teacupful of rice till quite soft in new milk and then sweeten it with sugar, and pile it on a dish, lay on it current jelly or preserved fruit, beat up the whites of five eggs with a little powdered sugar and flour, add to this when beaten very stiff about a tablespoon of rich cream and drop it over the rice.
Strawberry and Apple Souffle.—Stew the apple with a little lemon-peel; sweeten them, then lay them pretty high round the inside of a dish. Make a custard of the yolks of two eggs, a little cinnamon, sugar and milk. Let it thicken over a slow fire, but not boil; when ready, pour it in the inside of the apple. Beat the whites of the eggs to a strong froth, and cover the whole. Throw over it a good deal of pounded sugar, and brown it to a fine brown. Any fruit made of a proper consistence does for the walls, strawberries, when ripe, are delicious.
Strawberry Short-Cake.—First prepare the berries by picking; after they have been well washed—the best way to wash them is to hold the boxes under the faucet and let a gentle stream of water run over and through them, then drain, and pick them into an earthen bowl; now take the potato-masher and bruise them and cover with a thick layer of white sugar; now set them aside till the cake is made. Take a quart of sifted flour; half a cup of sweet butter; one egg, well beaten; three teaspoonfuls of baking-powder, and milk enough to make a rather stiff dough; knead well, and roll with a rolling-pin till about one inch thick; bake till a nice brown, and when done, remove it to the table; turn it out of the pan; with a light, sharp knife, cut it down lengthwise and crossways; now run the knife through it, and lay it open for a few moments, just to let the steam escape (the steam ruins the color of the berries); then set the bottom crust on the platter; cover thickly with the berries, an inch and a half deep; lay the top crust on the fruit; dust thickly with powdered sugar, and if any berry juice is left in the bowl, pour it round the cake, not over it, and you will have a delicious short-cake.
Snow Cream.—To a quart of cream add the whites of three eggs, cut to a stiff froth, add four spoonfuls of sweet wine, sugar to taste, flavor with essence of lemon. Whip all to a froth, and as soon as it forms take it off and serve in glasses.
Stewed Figs.—Take four ounces of fine sugar, the thin rind of a large lemon, and a pint of cold water, when the sugar is dissolved, add one pound turkey figs, and place the stew-pan over a moderate fire where they may heat and swell slowly, and stew gently for two hours, when they are quite tender, add the juice of one lemon, arrange them in a glass dish and serve cold.
Spanish Cream.—Dissolve in 1/2 pint of rose-water, 1 oz. of isinglass cut small; run it through a hair sieve; add the yolks of three or four eggs, beaten and mixed with half a pint of cream, and two sorrel leaves. Pour it into a deep dish, sweeten with loaf sugar powdered. Stir it till cold, and put it into molds. Lay rings round in different colored sweetmeats. Add, if you like, a little sherry, and a lump or two of sugar, rubbed well upon the rind of a lemon to extract the flavor.
Whipped Cream.—To one quart of good cream, put a few drops of bergamot water, a little orange-flower water, and 1/2 lb. of sugar. When it is dissolved, whip the cream to a froth, and take it up with a skimmer; drain on a sieve, and if for icing, let it settle half an hour before you put it into cups or glasses. Use that which drops into the dish under the sieve, to make it froth the better, adding two whites of eggs. Colored powdered sugar may, if you like, be sprinkled on the top of each.
Asparagus Omelet.—Boil a dozen of the largest and finest asparagus heads you can pick; cut off all the green portion, and chop it in thin slices; season with a small teaspoonful of salt, and about one-fourth of that quantity of soluble cayenne. Then beat up six eggs in a sufficient quantity of new milk to make a stiffish batter. Melt in the frying-pan a quarter of a pound of good, clean dripping, and just before you pour on the batter place a small piece of butter in the center of the pan. When the dripping is quite hot, pour on half your batter, and as it begins to set, place on it the asparagus tops, and cover over with the remainder. This omelet is generally served on a round of buttered toast, with the crusts removed. The batter is richer if made of cream.
Buttered Eggs.—Beat four or five eggs, yolks and whites together, put a quarter of a pound of butter in a basin, and then put that in boiling water, stir it till then pour the butter and the eggs into a sauce-pan; keep a basin in your hand, just hold the sauce-pan in the other over a slow part of the fire, shaking it one way, as it begins to warm; pour it into a basin, and back, then hold it again over the fire, stirring it constantly in the saucepan, and pouring it into the basin, more perfectly to mix the egg and butter until they shall be hot without boiling.
Serve on toasted bread; or in a basin, to eat with salt fish, or red herrings.
Corn-Oysters.—Take a half dozen ears of sweet corn (those which are not too old); with a sharp knife split each row of the corn in the center of the kernel lengthwise; scrape out all the pulp; add one egg, well beaten, a little salt, one tablespoonful of sweet milk; flour enough to make a pretty stiff batter. Drop in hot lard, and fry a delicate brown. If the corn is quite young, omit the milk, using as little flour as possible.
Cheese Omelet.—Mix to a smooth batter three tablespoonfuls of fine flour, with half a pint of milk. Beat up well the yolks and whites of four eggs, a little salt, and a quarter of a pound of grated old English cheese. Add these to the flour and milk, and whisk all the ingredients together for half an hour. Put three ounces of butter into a frying-pan, and when it is boiling pour in the above mixture, fry it for a few minutes, and then turn it carefully; when it is sufficiently cooked on the other side, turn it on to a hot dish and serve.
Irish Stew.—Take a loin of mutton, cut it into chops, season it with a very little pepper and salt, put it into a saucepan, just cover it with water, and let it cook half an hour. Boil two dozen of potatoes, peel and mash them, and stir in a cup of cream while they are hot; then line a deep dish with the potatoes, and lay in the cooked mutton chops, and cover them over with the rest of the potatoes; then set it in the oven to bake. Make some gravy of the broth in which the chops were cooked. This is a very nice dish.
Irish Stew.—Cut off the fat of part of a loin of mutton, and cut it into chops. Pare, wash, and slice very thin some potatoes, two onions, and two small carrots; season with pepper and salt. Cover with water in a stew-pan, and stew gently till the meat is tender, and the potatoes are dissolved in the gravy. It may be made of beef-steaks, or mutton and beef mixed.
Macaroni, Dressed Sweet.—Boil 2 ozs. in a pint of milk, with a bit of lemon peel, and a good bit of cinnamon, till the pipes are swelled to their utmost size without breaking. Lay them on a custard-dish, and pour a custard over them hot. Serve cold.
Macaroni, as Usually Served.—Boil it in milk, or a weak veal broth, flavored with salt. When tender, put it into a dish without the liquor, with bits of butter and grated cheese, and over the top grate more, and put a little more butter. Put the dish into a Dutch oven, a quarter of an hour, and do not let the top become hard.
Omelet.—Six eggs beaten separately, beaten hard, two teaspoons of corn starch, two tablespoons milk, whites of eggs, put in slow at last. Fry in butter.
Rumbled Eggs.—This is very convenient for invalids, or a light dish for supper. Beat up three eggs with two ounces of fresh butter, or well-washed salt butter; add a teaspoonful of cream or new milk. Put all in a saucepan and keep stirring it over the fire for nearly five minutes, until it rises up like scuffle, when it should be immediately dished on buttered toast.
Poached Eggs.—Break an egg into a cup, and put it gently into boiling water; and when the white looks quite set, which will be in about three or four minutes, take it up with an egg slice, and lay it on toast and butter, or spinach. Serve them hot; if fresh laid, they will poach well, without breaking.
Savory Potato-Cakes.—Quarter of a pound of grated ham, one pound of mashed potatoes, and a little suet, mixed with the yolks of two eggs, pepper, salt and nutmeg. Roll it into little balls, or cakes, and fry it a light brown. Sweet herbs may be used in place of ham. Plain potato cakes are made with potatoes and eggs only.
Tomato Toast.—Remove the stem and all the seeds from the tomatoes; they must be ripe, mind, not over ripe; stew them to a pulp, season with butter, pepper and salt; toast some bread (not new bread), butter it, and then spread the tomato on each side, and send it up to table, two slices on each dish, the slices cut in two; and the person who helps it must serve with two half-slices, not attempt to lift the top slice, otherwise the appearance of the under slice will be destroyed.
HOW TO COOK FISH
OF DIFFERENT KINDS
How to Choose Anchovies.—They are preserved in barrels, with bay-salt; no other fish has the fine flavor of the anchovy. The best look red and mellow, and the bones moist and oily; the flesh should be high flavored, the liquor reddish, and have a fine smell.
Baked Black Bass.—Eight good-sized onions chopped fine; half that quantity of bread crumbs; butter size of hen's egg; plenty of pepper and salt; mix thoroughly with anchovy sauce until quite red. Stuff your fish with this compound and pour the rest over it, previously sprinkling it with a little red pepper. Shad, pickerel and trout are good the same way. Tomatoes can be used instead of anchovies, and are more economical. If using them, take pork in place of butter, and chop fine.
Boiled White Fish.—Lay the fish open; put it in a dripping pan with the back down; nearly cover with water; to one fish put two tablespoons salt, cover tightly and simmer (not boil) one-half hour; dress with gravy, butter and pepper; garnish with sliced eggs.
For sauce use a piece of butter the size of an egg, one tablespoon of flour, one half pint boiling water; boil a few minutes, and add three hard boiled eggs, sliced.
Fresh Broiled White Fish.—Wash and drain the fish: sprinkle with pepper and lay with the inside down upon the gridiron, and broil over fresh bright coals. When a nice brown, turn for a moment on the other side, then take up and spread with butter. This is a very nice way of broiling all kinds of fish, fresh or salted. A little smoke under the fish adds to its flavor. This may be made by putting two or three cobs under the gridiron.
To Boil Codfish.—If boiled fresh, it is watery; but it is excellent if salted, and hung for a day, to give it firmness. Wash and clean the fish well, and rub salt inside of it; tie it up, and put it on the fire in cold water; throw a handful of salt into the fish-kettle. Boil a small fish 15 minutes; a large one 30 minutes. Serve it without the smallest speck and scum; drain. Garnish it with lemon, horseradish, the milt, roe, and liver. Oyster or shrimp sauce may be used.
Chowder.—Five pounds of codfish cut in squares; fry plenty of salt pork cut in thin slices; put a layer of pork in your kettle, then one of fish; one of potatoes in thick slices, and one of onions in slices; plenty of pepper and repeat as long as your materials last, and finish with a layer of Boston crackers or crusts of bread. Water sufficient to cook with, or milk if you prefer. Cook one-half hour and turn over on your platter, disturbing as little as possible. Clams and eels the same way.
Clam Fritters.—Twelve clams chopped or not, one pint milk, three eggs, add liquor from clams; salt and pepper, and flour enough for thin batter. Fry in hot lard.
Clam Stew.—Lay the clams on a gridiron over hot coals, taking them out of the shell as soon as open, saving the juice; add a little hot water, pepper, a very little salt and butter rolled in flour sufficient for seasoning; cook for five minutes and pour over toast.
Eels, to Stew.—Of the above fish, that of the "silver" kind is preferable to its congener, and, therefore, ought to be procured for all cuisine purposes. Take from three to four pounds of these eels, and let the same be thoroughly cleansed, inside and out, rescinding the heads and tails from the bodies. Cut them into pieces three inches in length each, and lay them down in a stew pan, covering them with a sufficiency of sweet mutton gravy to keep them seething over a slow fire, when introduced into the pan, for twenty minutes. Add to the liquor, before you place your eels into it, a quarter of an ounce of whole black pepper, quarter of an ounce of allspice, with one or two pieces of white ginger. Thicken with a light admixture of flour and butter, stirring it carefully round, adding thereto, at the same time, one gill of good port wine, and half a gill of sweet ketchup. Lemon-peel and salt may be added in accordance with your taste.
How to Keep Fish Sound.—To prevent meat, fish, etc., going bad, put a few pieces of charcoal into the sauce-pan wherein the fish or flesh is to be boiled.
How to Render Boiled Fish Firm.—Add a little saltpetre to the salt in the water in which the fish is to be boiled; a quarter of an ounce to one gallon.
Fish Balls.—Bone, cooked fresh, or salt fish, add double the quantity of mashed potatoes, one beaten egg, a little butter, pepper and salt to taste. Make in cakes or balls; dredge with flour and fry in hot lard.
Potted Fish.—Take out the back-bone of the fish; for one weighing two pounds take a tablespoon of allspice and cloves mixed; these spices should be put into bags of not too thick muslin; put sufficient salt directly upon each fish; then roll in cloth, over which sprinkle a little cayenne pepper; put alternate layers of fish, spice and sago in an earthen jar; cover with the best cider vinegar; cover the jar closely with a plate and over this put a covering of dough, rolled out to twice the thickness of pie crust. Make the edges of paste, to adhere closely to the sides of the jar, so as to make it air-tight. Put the jar into a pot of cold water and let it boil from three to five hours, according to quantity. Ready when cold.
How to Broil or Roast Fresh Herrings.—Scale, gut and wash; cut off the heads; steep them in salt and vinegar ten minutes; dust them with flour, and broil them over or before the fire, or in the oven. Serve with melted butter and parsley.
Herrings are nice jarred, and done in the oven, with pepper, cloves, salt, a little vinegar, a few bay-leaves, and a little butter.
How to Fry Fresh Herrings.—Slice small onions, and lay in the pan with the herrings; add a little butter, and fry them. Perhaps it is better to fry the onions separately with a little parsley, and butter or drip.
How to Pot Herrings.—Clean, cut off the heads, and lay them close in an earthen pot. Strew a little salt between every layer; put in cloves, mace, whole pepper, cayenne and nutmeg; fill up the jar with vinegar, water, and a quarter of a pint of sherry, cover, tie down; bake in an oven, and when cold pot it for use. A few anchovies and bay leaves intermixed will improve the flavor much.
Buttered Lobsters.—Pick the meat out, cut it, and warm with a little brown gravy, nutmeg, salt, pepper and butter, with a little flour. If done white, a little white gravy and cream.
Curry Of Lobster.—Take them from the shells, and lay into a pan, with a small piece of mace, three or four spoonfuls of veal gravy, and four of cream; rub smooth one or two teaspoonfuls of curry-powder, a teaspoonful of flour, and an ounce of butter, simmer an hour; squeeze half a lemon in, and add salt.
Lobster Chowder.—Four or five pounds of lobster, chopped fine; take the green part and add to it four pounded crackers; stir this into one quart of boiling milk; then add the lobster, a piece of butter one-half the size of an egg, a little pepper and salt, and bring it to a boil.
How to Boil Mackerel.—Rub them with vinegar; when the water boils, put them in with a little salt, and boil gently 15 minutes. Serve with fennel and parsley chopped, boil, and put into melted butter, and gooseberry sauce.
Salt Mackerel.—Soak the fish for a few hours in lukewarm water, changing the water several times; then put into cold water loosely tied in cloths, and let the fish come to a boil, turning off the water once, and pouring over the fish hot water from the tea-kettle; let this just come to a boil, then take them out and drain them, lay them on a platter, butter and pepper them, and place them for a few moments in the oven. Serve with sliced lemons, or with any fish sauce.
How to Fry Oysters.—Use the largest and best oysters; lay them in rows upon a clean cloth and press another upon them, to absorb the moisture; have ready several beaten eggs; and in another dish some finely crushed crackers: in the frying pan heat enough butter to entirely cover the oysters; dip the oysters first into the eggs, then into the crackers, rolling it or them over, that they may become well incrusted; drop into the frying pan and fry quickly to a light brown. Serve dry and let the dish be warm. A chafing dish is best.
Oyster Patties.—Make some rich puff paste and bake it in very small tin patty pans; when cool, turn them out upon a large dish; stew some large fresh oysters with a few cloves, and a little mace and nutmeg; then add the yolk of one egg, boiled hard and grated; add a little butter, and as much of the oyster liquor as will cover them. When they have stewed a little while, take them off the pan and set them to cool. When quite cold, lay two or three oysters in each shell of puff paste.
Oysters, Stewed.—In all cases, unless shell oysters, wash and drain; mix half a cup of butter and a tablespoon of corn starch; put with the oysters in a porcelain kettle; stir until they boil; add two cups of cream or milk; salt to taste; do not use the liquor of the oysters in either stewing or escaloping.
Oysters Stewed.—Scald the oysters in their own liquor, then take them out, beard them, and strain the liquor carefully from the grit. Put into a stewpan an ounce of butter, with sufficient flour dredged in to dry it up; add the oyster liquor, and a blade of pounded mace, a little cayenne, and a very little salt to taste; stir it well over a brisk fire with a wooden spoon, and when it comes to the boil, throw in your oysters, say a dozen and a half or a score, and a good tablespoonful of cream, or more, if you have it at hand. Shake the pan over the fire, and let it simmer for one or two minutes, but not any longer, and do not let it boil, or the fish will harden. Serve in a hot dish, garnished with sippets of toasted bread. Some persons think that the flavor is improved by boiling a small piece of lemon-peel with the oyster liquor, taking it out, however, before the cream is added.
Oysters Scolloped.—Beard and trim your oysters, and strain the liquor. Melt in a stewpan, with a dredging of flour sufficient to dry it up, an ounce of butter, and two tablespoonfuls of white stock, and the same of cream; the strained liquor and pepper, and salt to taste. Put in the oysters and gradually heat them through, but be sure not to let them boil. Have your scallop-shells buttered, lay in the oysters, and as much liquid as they will hold; cover them well over with bread-crumbs, over which spread, or drop, some tiny bits of butter. Brown them in the oven, or before the fire, and serve while very hot.
Oysters, To Pickle.—Take two hundred of the plumpest, nicest oysters to be had, open them, saving the liquor, remove the beards, put them, with the liquor, into a stewpan, and let them simmer for twenty minutes over a very gentle fire, taking care to skim them well. Take the stewpan off the fire, take out the oysters, and strain the liquor through a fine cloth, returning the oysters to the stewpan. Add to a pint of the hot liquor half an ounce of mace, and half an ounce of cloves; give it a boil, and put it in with the oysters, stirring the spice well in amongst them. Then put in about a spoonful of salt, three-quarters of a pint of white-wine vinegar, and one ounce of whole pepper, and let the oysters stand until they are quite cold. They will be ready for use in about twelve or twenty-four hours; if to be kept longer they should be put in wide-mouthed bottles, or stone jars, and well drawn down with bladder. It is very important that they should be quite cold before they are put into the bottles, or jars.
Salmon, To Boil.—Clean it carefully, boil it gently with salt and a little horse radish; take it out of the water as soon as done. Let the water be warm if the fish be split. If underdone it is very unwholesome. Serve with shrimp, lobster, or anchovy sauce, and fennel and butter.
Salmon, To Marinate.—Cut the salmon in slices; take off the skin and take out the middle bone; cut each slice asunder; put into a saucepan and season with salt, pepper, 6 cloves, a sliced onion, some whole chives, a little sweet basil, parsley, and a bay leaf; then squeeze in the juice of three lemons, or use vinegar. Let the salmon lie in the marinate for two hours; take it out; dry with a cloth; dredge with flour, and fry brown in clarified butter; then lay a clean napkin in a dish; lay the slices upon it; garnish with fried parsley.
Salt Cod, To Dress.—Soak the cod all night in 2 parts water, and one part vinegar. Boil; and break into flakes on the dish; pour over it boiled parsnips, beaten in a mortar, and then boil up with cream, and a large piece of butter rolled in a bit of flour. It may be served with egg-sauce instead of parsnip, or boiled and served without flaking with the usual sauce.
All Salt Fish may be done in a similar way. Pour egg-sauce over it, or parsnips, boiled and beaten fine with butter and cream.
How to Boil Sturgeon—Water, 2 quarts; vinegar, 1 pint; a stick of horseradish; a little lemon-peel, salt, pepper, a bay leaf. In this boil the fish; when the fish is ready to leave the bones, take it up; melt 1/2 lb. of butter; add an anchovy, some mace, a few shrimps, good mushroom ketchup, and lemon juice; when it boils, put in the dish; serve with the sauce; garnish with fried oysters, horseradish and lemon.
How to Broil Sturgeon.—Cut slices, rub beaten eggs over them, and sprinkle them with crumbs of bread, parsley, pepper and salt; wrap them in white paper, and broil gently. Use for sauce, butter, anchovy and soy.
How to Dress Fresh Sturgeon.—Cut slices, rub egg over them, then sprinkle with crumbs of bread, parsley, pepper, salt; fold them in paper, and broil gently. Sauce; butter, anchovy and soy.
How to Roast Sturgeon.—Put a piece of butter, rolled in flour, into a stewpan with four cloves, a bunch of sweet herbs, two onions, some pepper and salt, half a pint of water and a glass of vinegar. Set it over the fire till hot; then let it become lukewarm, and steep the fish in it an hour or two. Butter a paper well, tie it round, and roast it without letting the spit run through. Serve with sorrel and anchovy sauce.
Trout, a-la-Genevoise—Clean the fish well; put it into the stewpan, adding half champagne and half sherry wine. Season it with pepper, salt, an onion, a few cloves stuck in it, and a small bunch of parsley and thyme; put in it a crust of French bread; set it on a quick fire. When done take the bread out, bruise it and thicken the sauce: add flour and a little butter, and boil it up. Lay the fish on the dish, and pour the sauce over it. Serve it with sliced lemon and fried bread.
How to Broil Trout—Wash, dry, tie it, to cause it to keep its shape; melt butter, add salt, and cover the trout with it. Broil it gradually in a Dutch oven, or in a common oven. Cut an anchovy small, and chop some capers. Melt some butter with a little flour, pepper, salt, nutmeg, and half a spoonful of vinegar. Pour it over the trout and serve it hot.
HOW TO CHOOSE
AND COOK GAME
How to Choose Ducks—A young duck should have supple feet, breast and belly hard and thick. A tame duck has dusky yellow feet. They should be picked dry, and ducklings scalded.
How to Roast Ducks.—Carefully pick, and clean the inside. Boil two or three onions in two waters; chop them very small. Mix the onions with about half the quantity of sage leaves, bread crumbs finely powdered, a spoonful of salt, and a little cayenne paper; beat up the yolk of an egg, and rub the stuffing well together. With a brisk fire roast about 35 minutes. Serve with gravy sauce.
How to Stew Ducks.—Lard two young ducks down each side the breast; dust with flour; brown before the fire; put into a stewpan with a quart of water, a pint of port wine, a spoonful of walnut ketchup, the same of browning, one anchovy, a clove of garlick, sweet herbs and cayenne pepper. Stew till they are tender, about half an hour; skim and strain, and pour over the duck.
How to Hash Partridge.—Cut up the partridges as for eating; slice an onion into rings; roll a little butter in flour; put them into the tossing pan, and shake it over the fire till it boils; put in the partridge with a little port wine and vinegar; and when it is thoroughly hot, lay it on the dish with sippets round it; strain the sauce over the partridge, and lay on the onion in rings.
How to Pot Partridge.—Clean them nicely; and season with mace, allspice, white pepper and salt, in fine powder. Rub every part well; then lay the breast downward in a pan, and pack the birds as closely as you possibly can. Put a good deal of butter on them; then cover the pan with a coarse flour paste and a paper over, tie it close, and bake. When cold, put the birds into pots, and cover with butter.
How to Roast Partridge.—Roast them like a turkey, and when a little under roasted, dredge them with flour, and baste them with butter; let them go to table with a fine froth; put gravy sauce in the dish, and bread sauce on the table.
How to Stew Partridge.—Truss as for roasting; stuff the craws, and lard them down each side of the breast; roll a lump of butter in pepper, salt and beaten mace, and put them inside; sew up the vents; dredge them well and fry a light brown; put them into a stewpan with a quart of good gravy, a spoonful of sherry wine, the same of mushroom ketchup, a teaspoonful of lemon pickle, and a little mushroom powder, one anchovy, half a lemon, a sprig of sweet marjoram; cover the pan close, and stew half an hour; take out, and thicken the gravy; boil a little, and pour it over the partridge, and lay round them artichoke buttons, boiled, and cut in quarters, and the yolks of four hard eggs, if agreeable.
How to Roast Pheasant.—Roast them as turkey; and serve with a fine gravy (into which put a very small bit of garlic) and bread sauce. When cold, they may be made into excellent patties, but their flavor should not be overpowered by lemon.
How to Roast Plovers.—Roast the green ones in the same way as woodcocks and quails, without drawing, and serve on a toast. Grey plovers may be either roasted or stewed with gravy, herbs and spice.
How to Fricassee Quails.—Having tossed them up in a sauce-pan with a little melted butter and mushrooms, put in a slice of ham, well beaten, with salt, pepper, cloves and savory herbs; add good gravy, and a glass of sherry; simmer over a slow fire; when almost done, thicken the ragout with a good cullis, (i. e. a good broth, strained, gelatined, etc.) or with two or three eggs, well beaten up in a little gravy.
How to Roast Quails.—Roast them without drawing and serve on toast. Butter only should be eaten with them, as gravy takes off the fine flavor. The thigh and the back are the most esteemed.
How to Roast Rabbits.—Baste them with butter, and dredge them with flour; half an hour will do them at a brisk fire; and if small, twenty minutes. Take the livers with a bunch of parsley, boil them, and chop them very fine together; melt some butter, and put half the liver and parsley into the butter; pour it into the dish, and garnish the dish with the other half; roast them to a fine light brown.
How to Make Rabbit Taste Like a Hare.—Choose one that is young, but full grown; hang it in the skin three or four days; then skin it, and lay it, without washing, in a seasoning of black pepper and allspice in a very fine powder, a glass of port wine, and the same quantity of vinegar. Baste it occasionally for 40 hours, then stuff it and roast it as a hare, and with the same sauce. Do not wash off the liquor that it was soaked in.
How to Roast Snipes—Do not draw them. Split them; flour them, and baste with butter. Toast a slice of bread brown; place it in the dish under the birds for the trail to drop on. When they are done enough, take up, and lay them on the toast; put good gravy in the dish. Serve with butter, and garnish with orange or lemon.
Snipe Pie—Bone 4 snipes, and truss them. Put in their inside finely chopped bacon, or other forcemeat; put them in the dish with the breast downwards, and put forcemeat balls around them. Add gravy made of butter, and chopped veal and ham, parsley, pepper and shalots. Cover with nice puff paste; close it well to keep in the gravy. When nearly done, pour in more gravy, and a little sherry wine. Bake two or three hours.
How to Fry Venison—Cut the meat into slices, and make a gravy of the bones; fry it of a light brown, and keep it hot before the fire; put butter rolled in flour into the pan, and stir it till thick and brown; add 1/2 lb. of loaf sugar powdered, with the gravy made from the bones, and some port wine. Let it be as thick as cream; squeeze in a lemon; warm the venison in it; put it in the dish, and pour the sauce over it.
HOW TO MAKE ICE CREAMS
WATER-ICE AND JELLIES
To Mold Ices—Fill your mold as quickly as possible with the frozen cream, wrap it up in paper, and bury it in ice and salt, and let it remain for an hour or more to harden. For dishing, have the dish ready, dip the mold in hot water for an instant, wipe it, take off the top and bottom covers, and turn it into the dish. This must be done expeditiously. In molding ices, it is advisable not to have the cream too stifly frozen before putting it into the mold.
Ice Cream—Take two quarts milk, one pint cream, three eggs beaten very light, and two teaspoons of arrowroot; boil in one-half pint milk, strain eggs, arrow-root, and flavor to suit, then freeze.
Ginger Ice Cream—Bruise six ounces of the best preserved ginger in a mortar; add the juice of one lemon, half a pound of sugar, one pint of cream. Mix well; strain through a hair sieve; freeze. One quart.
Italian Ice Cream—Rasp two lemons on some sugar, which, with their juice, add to one pint of cream, one glass of brandy, half a pound of sugar; freeze. One quart.
Lemon Ice Cream—Take one pint of cream, rasp two lemons on sugar; squeeze them, and add the juice with half a pound of sugar. Mix; freeze. One quart.
Pine-Apple Ice Cream—Take one pound of pineapple, when peeled, bruise it in a marble mortar, pass it through a hair sieve, add three-quarters of a pound of powdered sugar, and one pint of cream. Freeze.
Raspberry and Currant Ice Cream—Take one pound of raspberries, half a pound of red currants, three-quarters of a pound of sugar, and one pint of cream. Strain, color and freeze. One quart.
Strawberry Ice Cream—Take two pounds of fresh strawberries, carefully picked, and, with a wooden spoon, rub them through a hair sieve, and about half a pound of powdered sugar, and the juice of one lemon; color with a few drops of prepared cochineal; cream, one pint; then freeze. This will make a reputed quart. When fresh strawberries are not in season take strawberry jam, the juice of two lemons, cream, to one quart. Color, strain, and freeze. Milk may be substituted for cream, and makes good ices. If too much sugar is used, the ices will prove watery, or, perhaps not freeze at all.
Vanilla Ice Cream—Pound one stick of vanilla, or sufficient to flavor it to palate, in a mortar, with half a pound of sugar; strain through a sieve upon the yolks of two eggs, put it into a stewpan, with half a pint of milk; simmer over a slow fire, stirring all the time, the same as custard; when cool add one pint of cream and the juice of one lemon; freeze. One quart.
Cherry Water-Ice—One lb. cherries, bruised in a mortar with the stones; add the juice of two lemons, half a pint of water, one pint of clarified sugar, one glass of noyeau, and a little color; strain; freeze. One quart.
Lemon Water-Ice.—Take two lemons, and rasp them on sugar, the juice of six lemons, the juice of one orange, one pint of clarified sugar, and half a pint of water. Mix; strain through a hair sieve; freeze. One quart.
Melon Water-Ice.—Half a lb. of ripe melon pounded in a mortar, two ounces of orange-flower water, the juice of two lemons, half a pint of water and one pint of clarified sugar; strain; freeze. One quart.
Strawberry or Raspberry Water-Ice.—One pound of scarlet strawberries or raspberries, half a pound currants, half a pint of water, one pint of clarified sugar, and a little color; strain and freeze. One quart.
Apple Jelly.—Cut the apples and boil in water to cover, boil down, then strain, and take a pound of sugar to a pint of juice, then boil fifteen minutes hard.
Apple Jelly.—Cut off all spots and decayed places on the apples; quarter them, but do not pare or core them; put in the peel of as many lemons as you like, about two to six or eight dozen of the apples; fill the preserving-pan, and cover the fruit with spring water; boil them till they are in pulp, then pour them into a jelly-bag; let them strain all night, do not squeeze them. To every pint of juice put one pound of white sugar; put in the juice of the lemons you had before pared, but strain it through muslin. You may also put in about a teaspoonful of essense of lemon; let it boil for at least twenty minutes; it will look redder than at first; skim it well at the time. Put it either in shapes or pots, and cover it the next day. It ought to be quite stiff and very clear.
Apple Jelly.—Prepare twenty golden pippins; boil them in a pint and a half of water from the spring till quite tender; then strain the liquor through a colander. To every pint put a pound of fine sugar; add cinnamon, grated orange or lemon; then boil to a jelly.
Another.—Prepare apples as before, by boiling and straining; have ready half an ounce of isinglass boiled in half a pint of water to a jelly; put this to the apple-water and apple, as strained through a coarse sieve; add sugar, a little lemon-juice and peel; boil all together, and put into a dish. Take out the peel.
Calf's Foot Lemon Jelly—Boil four quarts of water with three calf's feet, or two cow heels, till half wasted; take the jelly from the fat and sediment, mix with it the juice of a Seville orange and twelve lemons, the peels of three ditto, the whites and shells of twelve eggs, sugar to taste, a pint of raisin wine, 1 oz. of coriander seeds, 1/4 oz. of allspice, a bit of cinnamon, and six cloves, all bruised, after having mixed them cold. The jelly should boil fifteen minutes without stirring; then clear it through a flannel bag.
Cherry Jelly.—Cherries, 5 lbs.; stone them; red currants, 2 lbs.; strain them, that the liquor may be clear; add 2 lbs. of sifted loaf sugar, and 2 ozs. of isinglass.
Chocolate Caramel—One pint milk, half pound butter, half pound Cadbury's chocolate, three pounds sugar, two spoons vanilla. Boil slowly until brittle.
Currant Jelly, Red or Black—Strip the fruit, and in a stone jar stew them in a saucepan of water or on the fire; strain off the liquor, and to every pint weigh 1 lb. of loaf sugar; put the latter in large lumps into it, in a stone or China vessel, till nearly dissolved; then put it into a pre-serving-pan; simmer and skim. When it will jelly on a plate put it in small jars or glasses.
Green Gooseberry Jelly—Place the berries in hot water on a slow fire till they rise to the surface; take off; cool with a little water, add also a little vinegar and salt to green them. In two hours drain, and put them in cold water a minute; drain, and mix with an equal weight of sugar; boil slowly 20 minutes; sieve, and put into glasses.
Iceland Moss Jelly—Moss, 1/2 to 1 oz.; water, 1 quart. Simmer down to 1/2 pint. Add fine sugar and a little lemon juice. It may be improved with 1/4 ounce of isinglass. The moss should first be steeped in cold water an hour or two.
Isinglass Jelly—Boil one ounce of isinglass in a quart of water, with 1/4 ounce of Jamaica pepper-corns or cloves, and a crust of bread, till reduced to a pint. Add sugar. It keeps well, and may be taken in wine and water, milk, tea, soup, etc.
Lemon Jelly Cake—Take four eggs, one cup sugar, butter the size of an egg, one and a half cups flour, half cup sweet milk, two teaspoons of baking powder. Jelly.—One grated lemon, one grated apple, one egg, one cup sugar, beat all together, put in a tin and stir till boils.
Lemon Jelly—Take one and a half packages of gelatine, one pint cold water, soak two hours, then add two teacups sugar, one pint boiling water; stir all together, add the juice of two lemons or one wineglass wine, strain through a cloth, and put in a mold.
Orange Jelly—It may be made the same as lemon jelly, which see. Grate the rind of two Seville and of two China oranges, and two lemons; squeeze the juice of three of each, and strain, and add to the juice a quarter of a pound of lump sugar, a quarter of a pint of water, and boil till it almost candies. Have ready a quart of isinglass jelly made with two ounces; put to it the syrup, boil it once up; strain off the jelly, and let it stand to settle as above, before it is put into the mold.
Quince Jelly—Cut in pieces a sufficient quantity of quinces; draw off the juice by boiling them in water, in which they ought only to swim, no more. When fully done drain, and have ready clarified sugar, of which put one spoonful to two of the juice; bring the sugar to the souffle; add the juice, and finish. When it drops from the skimmer it is enough; take it off, and pot it.
Jelly of Siberian Crabs—Take off the stalks, weigh and wash the crabs. To each one and a half pounds, add one pint of water. Boil them gently until broken, but do not allow them to fall to a pulp. Pour the whole through a jelly-bag, and when the juice is quite transparent weigh it; put it into a clean preserving-pan, boil it quickly for ten minutes, then add ten ounces of fine sugar to each pound of juice; boil it from twelve to fifteen minutes, skim it very clean, and pour into molds.
Siberian Crab-Apple Jelly—Mash the crab apples, take off steins and heads, put in pot, cover with water, let them boil to a pulp, then turn them in a flannel bag, and leave all night to strain, then add one pound of sugar to a pint of juice, boil ten to fifteen minutes, skim and put in jelly glasses.
Siberian Crab Jelly—Fill a large flannel bag with crabs. Put the bag in a preserving-pan of spring water, and boil for about seven hours; then take out the bag, and fill it so that all the syrup can run through, and the water that remains in the pan; and to each pint of syrup add one pound of loaf sugar, and boil for about an hour, and it will be a clear, bright red jelly.
Telegraph wires have to be renewed every five or seven years. The Western Union Telegraph Company exchange about one thousand tons of old wire for new every year. The new wire costs from seven to eight cents per pound, and for the old about one-eighth of a cent a pound is allowed.
HOW TO SELECT
AND COOK MEATS
How to Dress Bacon and Beans—When you dress beans and bacon, boil the bacon by itself, and the beans by themselves, for the bacon will spoil the color of the beans. Always throw some salt into the water and some parsley nicely picked. When the beans are done enough, which you will know by their being tender, throw them into a colander to drain. Take up the bacon and skin it; throw some raspings of the bread over the top, and if you have a salamander, make it red hot, and hold it over it to brown the top of the bacon; if you have not one, set it before the fire to brown. Lay the beans in the dish, and the bacon in the middle on the top, and send them to table, with butter in a tureen.
Corned Beef—Make the following pickle: Water, 2 gallons; salt, 2-1/2 lbs.; molasses, 1/2 lb.; sugar, 1 lb.; saltpetre, 1-1/2 ozs.; pearlash, 1/4 oz. Boil all together; skim, and pour the pickle on about 25 lbs. of beef. Let it stay in a few days. Boil in plenty of water when cooked to remove the salt, and eat with it plenty of vegetables. It is nice to eat cold, and makes excellent sandwiches.
Rolled Beef—Hang three ribs three or four days; take out the bones from the whole length, sprinkle it with salt, roll the meat tight and roast it. Nothing can look nicer. The above done with spices, etc., and baked as hunters' beef is excellent.
Beef, Rolled to equal Hare—Take the inside of a large sirloin, soak it in a glass of port wine and a glass of vinegar mixed, for forty-eight hours; have ready a very fine stuffing, and bind it up tight. Roast it on a hanging spit; and baste it with a glass of port wine, the same quantity of vinegar, and a teaspoonful of pounded allspice. Larding it improves the look and flavor; serve with a rich gravy in the dish; currant-jelly and melted butter in tureens.
Round of Beef—Should be carefully salted and wet with the pickle for eight or ten days. The bone should be cut out first, and the beef skewered and tied up to make it quite round. It may be stuffed with parsley, if approved, in which case the holes to admit the parsley must be made with a sharp pointed knife, and the parsley coarsely cut and stuffed in tight. As soon as it boils, it should be skimmed: and afterwards kept boiling very gently.
Beef Steak, Stewed—Peel and chop two Spanish onions, cut into small parts four pickled walnuts, and put them at the bottom of a stewpan; add a teacupful of mushroom ketchup, two teaspoonfuls of walnut ditto, one of shalot, one of Chile vinegar, and a lump of butter. Let the rump-steak be cut about three-quarters of an inch thick, and beat it flat with a rolling-pin, place the meat on the top of the onions, etc., let it stew for one hour and a half, turning it every twenty minutes. Ten minutes before serving up, throw a dozen oysters with the liquor strained.
Beef Steak and Oyster Sauce—Select a good, tender rump-steak, about an inch thick, and broil it carefully. Nothing but experience and attention will serve in broiling a steaks; one thing, however, is always to be remembered, never malt or season broiled meat until cooked. Have the gridiron clean and hot, grease it with either butter, or good lard, before laying on the meat, to prevent its sticking or marking the meat; have clear, bright coals, and turn it frequently. When cooked, cover tightly, and have ready nicely stewed oysters; then lay the steak in a hot dish and pour over some of the oysters. Serve the rest in a tureen. Twenty-five oysters will make a nice sauce for a steak.
Fricassee of Cold Roast Beef—Cut the beef into very thin slices; shred a handful of parsley very small, cut an onion into quarters, and put all together into a stewpan, with a piece of butter, and some strong broth; season with salt and pepper, and simmer very gently a quarter of an hour; then mix into it the yolks of two eggs, a glass of port wine, and a spoonful of vinegar; stir it quickly, rub the dish with shalot, and turn the fricassee into it.
Brawn—Clean a pig's head, and rub it over with salt and a little saltpetre, and let it lie two or three days; then boil it until the bones will leave the meat; season with salt and pepper, and lay the meat hot in a mold, and press and weigh it down for a few hours. Boil another hour, covering. Be sure and cut the tongue, and lay the slices in the middle, as it much improves the flavor.
Calf's Liver and Bacon—Cut the liver into slices, and fry it first, then the bacon; lay the liver in the dish, and the bacon upon it; serve it up with gravy, made in the pan with boiling water, thickened with flour and butter, and lemon juice; and, if agreeable, a little parsley and onion may be chopped into it, or a little boiled parsley strewed over the liver. Garnish with slices of lemon.
Nice Form of Cold Meats—Remains of boiled ham, mutton, roast beef, etc., are good chopped fine with hard boiled eggs, two heads of lettuce, a bit of onion, and seasoned with mustard, oil, vinegar, and, if needed, more salt. Fix it smoothly in a salad dish, and adorn the edges with sprigs of parsley or leaves of curled lettuce. Keep by the ice or in a cool place until wanted.
Fried Ham and Eggs—Cut thin slices, place in the pan, and fry carefully. Do not burn. When done break the eggs into the fat; pepper slightly; keep them whole; do not turn them.
Ham Rushers may be served with spinach and poached eggs.
To Cook Ham—Scrape it clean. Do not put into cold nor boiling water. Let the water become warm; then put the ham in. Simmer or boil lightly for five or six hours; take out, and shave the rind off. Rub granulated sugar into the whole surface of the ham, so long as it can be made to receive it. Place the ham in a baking-dish with a bottle of champagne or prime cider. Baste occasionally with the juice, and let it bake an hour in a gentle heat.
A slice from a nicely cured ham thus cooked is enough to animate the ribs of death.
Or, having taken off the rind, strew bread crumbs or raspings over it, so as to cover it; set it before the fire, or in the oven till the bread is crisp and brown. Garnish with carrots, parsley, etc. The water should simmer all the time, and never boil fast.
Ham and Chicken, in Jelly—This is a nice dish for supper or luncheon. Make with a small knuckle of veal some good white stock. When cold, skim and strain it; melt it, and put a quart of it into a saucepan with the well beaten whites of three eggs; a dessert-spoonful of Chili, or a tablespoonful of tarragon vinegar, and a little salt. Beat the mixture well with a fork till it boils; let it simmer till it is reduced to a little more than a pint; strain it; put half of it into a mold; let it nearly set. Cut the meat of a roast chicken into small thin pieces; arrange it in the jelly with some neat little slices of cold boiled ham, and sprinkle chopped parsley between the slices. When it has got quite cold, pour in the remainder of the jelly, and stand the mold in cold water, or in a cool place, so that it sets speedily. Dip the mold in boiling water to turn it out. Do not let it remain in the water more than a minute, or it will spoil the appearance of the dish. Garnish with a wreath of parsley.
Leg of Lamb—Should be boiled in a cloth to look as white as possible. The loin fried in steaks and served round, garnished with dried or fried parsley; spinach to eat with it; or dressed separately or roasted.
Loin Of Mutton—Take off the skin, separate the joints with the chopper; if a large size, cut the chine-bone with a saw, so as to allow it to be carved in smaller pieces; run a small spit from one extremity to the other, and affix it to a larger spit, and roast it like the haunch. A loin weighing six pounds will take one hour to roast.
Observations on Heat—In all kinds of provisions, the best of the kind goes the farthest; it cuts out with most advantage, and affords most nourishment. Round of beef, fillet of veal, and leg of mutton, are joints of higher price; but as they have more solid meat, they deserve the preference. But those joints which are inferior may be dressed as palatably.
In loins of meat, the long pipe that runs by the bone should be taken out, as it is apt to taint; as also the kernels of beef. Do not purchase joints bruised by the blows of drovers.
Save shank bones of mutton to enrich gravies or soups.
When sirloins of beef, or loins of veal or mutton, come in, part of the suet may be cut off for puddings, or to clarify.
Dripping will baste anything as well as butter; except fowls and game; and for kitchen pies, nothing else should be used.
The fat of a neck or loin of mutton makes a far lighter pudding than suet.
Frosted meat and vegetables should be soaked in cold water two or three hours before using.
If the weather permit, meat eats much better for hanging two or three days before it is salted.
Roast-beef bones, or shank bones of ham, make fine peas-soup; and should be boiled with the peas the day before eaten, that the fat may be taken off.
Boiled Leg of Mutton—Soak well for an hour or two in salt and water; do not use much salt; wipe well and boil in a floured cloth. Boil from two hours to two hours and a half. Serve with caper sauce, potatoes, mashed turnips, greens, oyster sauce, etc.
To preserve the gravy in the leg, do not put it in the water till it boils; for the sudden contact with water causes a slight film over the surface, which prevents the escape of the gravy, which is abundant when carved.
How to Hash Mutton.—Cut thin slices of dressed mutton, fat and lean; flour them; have ready a little onion boiled in two or three spoonfuls of water; add to it a little gravy and the meat seasoned, and make it hot, but not to boil. Serve in a covered dish. Instead of onion, a clove, a spoonful of current jelly, and half a glass of port wine will give an agreeable flavor of venison, if the meat be fine.
Pickled cucumber, or walnut cut small, warm in it for change.
How to Prepare Pig's Cheek for Boiling.—Cut off the snout, and clean the head; divide it, and take out the eyes and the brains; sprinkle the head with salt, and let it drain 24 hours. Salt it with common salt and saltpetre; let it lie nine days if to be dressed without stewing with peas, but less if to be dressed with peas, and it must be washed first, and then simmer till all is tender.
Pig's Feet and Ears.—Clean carefully, and soak some hours, and boil them tender; then take them out; boil some vinegar and a little salt with some of the water, and when cold put it over them. When they are to be dressed, dry them, cut the feet in two, and slice the ears; fry, and serve with butter, mustard and vinegar. They may be either done in batter, or only floured.
Pork, Loin Of.—Score it, and joint it, that the chops may separate easily; and then roast it as a loin of mutton. Or, put it into sufficient water to cover it; simmer till almost enough; then peel off the skin, and coat it with yolk of egg and bread crumbs, and roast for 15 or 20 minutes, till it is done enough.
How to Pickle Pork.—Cut the pork in such pieces as will lie in the pickling tub; rub each piece with saltpetre; then take one part bay salt, and two parts common salt, and rub each piece well; lay them close in the tub, and throw salt over them.
Some use a little sal prunnella, and a little sugar.
Pork Pie, to Eat Cold.—Raise a common boiled crust into either a round or oval form, which you choose, have ready the trimmings and small bits of pork cut off a sweet bone, when the hog is killed, beat it with a rolling-pin, season with pepper and salt, and keep the fat and lean separate, put it in layers quite close to the top, lay on the lid, cut the edge smooth, round, and pinch it; bake in a slow-soaking oven, as the meat is very solid. Observe, put no bone or water in the pork pie; the outside pieces will be hard if they are not cut small and pressed close.
How to Roast a Leg of Pork.—Choose a small leg of fine young pork; cut a slit in the knuckle with a sharp knife; and fill the space with sage and onion chopped, and a little pepper and salt. When half done, score the skin in slices, but don't cut deeper than the outer rind.
Apple sauce and potatoes should be served to eat with it.
Pork, Rolled Neck of.—Bone it; put a forcemeat of chopped sage, a very few crumbs of bread, salt, pepper and two or three berries of allspice over the inside; then roll the meat as tight as you can, and roast it slowly, and at a good distance at first.
Chine of Pork.—Salt three days before cooking. Wash it well; score the skin, and roast with sage and onions finely shred. Serve with apple sauce.—The chine is often sent to the table boiled.
How to Collar Pork.—Bone a breast or spring of pork; season it with plenty of thyme, parsley and sage; roll it hard; put in a cloth, tie both ends, and boil it; then press it; when cold, take it out of the cloth, and keep it in its own liquor.
Pork as Lamb.—Kill a young pig of four or five months old: cut up the forequarter for roasting as you do lamb, and truss the shank close. The other parts will make delicate pickled pork; or steaks, pies, etc.
Pork Sausages.—Take 6 lbs. of young pork, free from gristle, or fat; cut small and beat fine in a mortar. Chop 6 lbs. of beef suet very fine; pick off the leaves of a hand-full of sage, and shred it fine; spread the meat on a clean dresser, and shake the sage over the meat; shred the rind of a lemon very fine, and throw it, with sweet herbs, on the meat; grate two nutmegs, to which put a spoonful of pepper, and a large spoonful of salt: throw the suet over, and mix all well together. Put it down close in the pot; and when you use it, roll it up with as much egg as will make it roll smooth.
Sausage Rolls.—One pound of flour, half a pound of the best lard, quarter of a pound of butter, and the yolks of three eggs well beaten. Put the flour into a dish, make a hole in the middle of it, and rub in about one ounce of the lard, then the yolks of the eggs, and enough water to mix the whole into a smooth paste. Roll it out about an inch thick; flour your paste and board. Put the butter and lard in a lump into the paste, sprinkle it with flour, and turn the paste over it; beat it with a rolling-pin until you have got it flat enough to roll; roll it lightly until very thin; then divide your meat and put it into two layers of paste, and pinch the ends. Sausage rolls are now usually made small. Two pounds of sausage meat will be required for this quantity of paste, and it will make about two and a half dozen of rolls. Whites of the eggs should be beaten a little, and brushed over the rolls to glaze them. They will require from twenty minutes to half an hour to bake, and should be served on a dish covered with a neatly-folded napkin.
Spiced Beef.—Take a round of an ox; or young heifer, from 20 to 40 lbs. Cut it neatly, so that the thin flank end can wrap nearly round. Take from 2 to 4 ounces salpetre, and 1 ounce of coarse sugar, and two handfuls of common salt. Mix them well together and rub it all over. The next day salt it well as for boiling. Let it lie from two to three weeks, turning it every two or three days. Take out of the pickle, and wipe it dry. Then take cloves, mace, well powdered, a spoonful of gravy, and rub it well into the beef. Roll it up as tightly as possible; skewer it, and tie it up tight. Pour in the liquor till the meat is quite saturated, in which state it must be kept.
Stewed Beef.—Take five pounds of buttock, place it in a deep dish; half a pint of white wine vinegar, three bay leaves, two or three cloves, salt and pepper; turn it over twice the first day, and every morning after for a week or ten days. Boil half a pound or a quarter of a pound of butter, and throw in two onions, chopped very small, four cloves, and some pepper-corns; stew five hours till tender and a nice light brown.
How to Boil Tongue.—If the tongue be a dry one, steep in water all night. Boil it three hours. If you prefer it hot, stick it with cloves. Clear off the scum, and add savory herbs when it has boiled two hours; but this is optional. Rub it over with the yolk of an egg; strew over it bread crumbs; baste it with butter; set it before the fire till it is of a light brown. When you dish it up, pour a little brown gravy, or port wine sauce mixed the same way as for venison. Lay slices of currant jelly around it.
How to Fricassee Tripe.—Cut into small square pieces. Put them into the stewpan with as much sherry as will cover them, with pepper, ginger, a blade of mace, sweet herbs and an onion. Stew 15 minutes. Take out the herbs and onion, and put in a little shred of parsley, the juice of a small lemon, half an anchovy cut small, a gill of cream and a little butter, or yolk of an egg. Garnish with lemon.
How to Fry Tripe.—Cut the tripe into small square pieces; dip them in yolks of eggs, and fry them in good dripping, till nicely brown; take out and drain, and serve with plain melted butter.
Veal Cutlets, Maintenon.—Cut slices about three quarters of an inch thick, beat them with a rolling-pin, and wet them on both sides with egg; dip them into a seasoning of bread crumbs, parsley, thyme, knotted marjoram, pepper, salt and a little nutmeg grated; then put them in papers folded over, and broil them; and serve with a boat of melted butter, with a little mushroom ketchup.
Veal Cutlets.—Another way.—Prepare as above, and fry them; lay into a dish, and keep them hot; dredge a little flour, and put a bit of butter into the pan; brown it, then pour some boiling water into it and boil quickly; season with pepper, salt and ketchup and pour over them.
Another Way.—Prepare as before, and dress the cutlets in a dutch oven; pour over them melted butter and mushrooms.
Fillet Of Veal.—Veal requires a good, bright fire for roasting. Before cooking, stuff with a force-meat, composed of 2 ozs. of finely-powdered bread crumbs, half a lemon-peel chopped fine, half a teaspoonful of salt, and the same quantity of mixed mace and cayenne pepper, powdered parsley, and some sweet herbs; break an egg, and mix all well together. Baste your joint with fresh butter, and send it to table well browned. A nice bit of bacon should be served with the fillet of veal, unless ham is provided.
Veal Patties.—Mince some veal that is not quite done with a little parsley, lemon-peel, a scrape of nutmeg, and a bit of salt; add a little cream and gravy just to moisten the meat; and add a little ham. Do not warm it till the patties are baked.
Veal Pie.—Take some of the middle, or scrag, of a small neck; season it; and either put to it, or not, a few slices of lean bacon or ham. If it is wanted of a high relish, add mace, cayenne, and nutmeg, to the salt and pepper; and also force-meat and eggs; and if you choose, add truffles, morels, mushrooms, sweet-bread, cut into small bits, and cocks'-combs blanched, if liked. Have a rich gravy ready, to pour in after baking. It will be very good without any of the latter additions.
Common Veal Pie.—Cut a breast of veal into pieces; season with pepper and salt, and lay them in the dish. Boil hard six or eight yolks of eggs, and put them into different places in the pie; pour in as much water as will nearly fill the dish; put on the lid, and bake. Lamb Pie may be done this way.
Stewed Veal.—Cut the veal as for small cutlets; put into the bottom of a pie-dish a layer of the veal, and sprinkle it with some finely-rubbed sweet basil and chopped parsley, the grated rind of one lemon with the juice, half a nut-meg, grated, a little salt and pepper; and cut into very small pieces a large spoonful of butter; then another layer of slices of veal, with exactly the same seasoning as before; and over this pour one pint of Lisbon wine and half a pint of cold water; then cover it over very thickly with grated stale bread; put this in the oven and bake slowly for three-quarters of an hour, and brown it. Serve it in a pie-dish hot.
Breast of Veal Stuffed—Cut off the gristle of a breast of veal, and raise the meat off the bones, then lay a good force-meat, made of pounded veal, some sausage-meat, parsley, and a few shalots chopped very fine, and well seasoned with pepper, salt, and nutmeg; then roll the veal tightly, and sew it with fine twine to keep it in shape, and prevent the force-meat escaping; lay some slices of fat bacon in a stew-pan, and put the veal roll on it; add some stock, pepper, salt, and a bunch of sweet herbs; let it stew three hours, then cut carefully out the twine, strain the sauce after skimming it well, thicken it with brown flour; let it boil up once, and pour it over the veal garnish with slices of lemon, each cut in four. A fillet of veal first stuffed with force-meat can be dressed in the same manner, but is must first be roasted, so as to brown it a good color; and force-meat balls, highly seasoned, should be served round the veal.
HOW TO MAKE PIES
OF VARIOUS KINDS
Beef-Steak Pie—Prepare the steaks as stated under Beefsteaks, and when seasoned and rolled with fat in each, put them in a dish with puff paste round the edges; put a little water in the dish, and cover it with a good crust.
Chicken Pie—Cut the chicken in pieces, and boil nearly tender. Make a rich crust with an egg or two to make it light and puffy. Season the chicken and slices of ham with pepper, salt, mace, nutmeg, and cayenne. Put them in layers, first the ham, chicken, force-meat balls, and hard eggs in layers. Make a gravy of knuckle of veal, mutton bones, seasoned with herbs, onions, pepper, etc. Pour it over the contents of the pie, and cover with paste. Bake an hour.
Cocoanut Pie—Take a teacup of cocoanut, put it into a coffee-cup, fill it up with sweet milk, and let it soak a few hours. When ready to bake the pie, take two tablespoonfuls of flour, mix with milk, and stir in three-fourths of a cup of milk (or water); place on the stove, and stir until it thickens. Add butter the size of a walnut, while warm. When cool, add a little salt, two eggs, saving out the white of one for the top. Sweeten to taste. Add the cocoanut, beating well. Fill the crust and bake. When done, have the extra white beaten ready to spread over the top. Return to the oven and brown lightly.
Cream Pie—Take eight eggs, eight ounces pounded sugar, eight ounces flour, put all together into a stew-pan with two glasses of milk, stir until it boils, then add quarter pound of butter, and quarter pound of almonds, chopped fine; mix well together, make paste, roll it out half an inch thick, cut out a piece the size of a teaplate, put in a baking tin, spread out on it the cream, and lay strips of paste across each way and a plain broad piece around the edge, egg and sugar the top and bake in a quick oven.
Fish Pie—Pike, perch and carp may be made into very savory pies if cut into fillets, seasoned and baked in paste, sauce made of veal broth, or cream put in before baking.
Game Pie—Divide the birds, if large, into pieces or joints. They may be pheasants, partridges, etc. Add a little bacon or ham. Season well. Cover with puff paste, and bake carefully. Pour into the pie half a cupful of melted butter, the juice of a lemon, and a glass of sherry, when rather more than half baked.
Giblet Pie—Clean the giblets well; stew with a little water, onion, pepper, salt, sweet herbs, till nearly done. Cool, and add beef, veal or mutton steaks. Put the liquor of the stew to the giblets. Cover with paste, and when the pie is baked, pour into it a large teacupful of cream.
Lamb Pasty—Bone the lamb, cut it into square pieces; season with salt, pepper, cloves, mace, nutmeg, and minced thyme; lay in some beef suet, and the lamb upon it, making a high border about it; then turn over the paste close, and bake it. When it is enough, put in some claret, sugar, vinegar, and the yolks of eggs, beaten, together. To have the sauce only savory, and not sweet, let it be gravy only, or the baking of bones in claret.
Salmon Pie.—Grate the rind of one small lemon, or half a large one; beat the yolks of 2 eggs; 4 tablespoons of sugar; beat all together; add to this 1/2 pint of cold water, with 1-1/2 tablespoons of flour in it; rub smooth so there will be no lumps; beat the whites of two eggs to a stiff froth; stir this in your pie-custard before you put it in the pan. Bake with one crust, and bake slowly.
Salmon Pie—Grate the rind of a lemon into the yolks of three fresh eggs; beat for five minutes, adding three heaping tablespoonfuls of granulated sugar; after squeezing in the juice of the lemon add half a teacupful of water; mix all thoroughly, and place in a crust the same as made for custard pie; place in oven and bake slowly. Take the whites of the three eggs, and beat to a stiff froth, adding two tablespoonfuls of pulverized sugar, and juice of half a lemon; after the pie bakes and is cool, place the frosting on top, and put into a hot oven to brown.
Mince-Meat—There are various opinions as to the result of adding meat to the sweet ingredients used in making this favorite dish. Many housewives think it an improvement, and use either the under-cut of a well-roasted surloin of beef or a boiled fresh ox-tongue for the purpose. Either of these meats may be chosen with advantage, and one pound, after it has been cooked, will be found sufficient; this should be freed from fat, and well minced. In making mince-meat, each ingredient should be minced separately and finely before it is added to the others. For a moderate quantity, take two pounds of raisins (stoned), the same quantity of currants, well washed and dried, ditto of beef suet, chopped fine, one pound of American apples, pared and cored, two pounds of moist sugar, half a pound of candied orange-peel, and a quarter of a pound of citron, the grated rinds of three lemons, one grated nutmeg, a little mace, half an ounce of salt, and one teaspoonful of ginger. After having minced the fruit separately, mix all well together with the hand; then add half a pint of French brandy and the same of sherry. Mix well with a spoon, press it down in jars, and cover it with a bladder.
Good Mince Pies.—Six pounds beef; 5 pounds suet; 5 pounds sugar; 2 ounces allspice; 2 ounces cloves; 3/4 pound cinnamon; 1/2 pint molasses; 1-1/4 pounds seedless raisins; 2 pounds currants; 1/2 pound citron chopped fine; 1 pound almonds, chopped fine; 2 oranges; 1 lemon-skin, and all chopped fine; 2 parts chopped apples to one of meat; brandy and cider to taste.
Mock Mince Pies.—One teacup of bread; one of vinegar; one of water; one of raisins; one of sugar; one of molasses; one half-cup of butter; one teaspoon of cloves; one of nutmeg; one of cinnamon. The quantity is sufficient for three pies. They are equally as good as those made in the usual way.
Potato Pasty.—Boil and peel and mash potatoes as fine as possible; mix them with salt, pepper, and a good bit of butter. Make a paste; roll it out thin like a large puff, and put in the potato; fold over one half, pinching the edges. Bake in a moderate oven.
Potato Pie.—Skin some potatoes and cut them in slices; season them; and also some mutton, beef, pork or veal, and a lump of butter. Put layers of them and of the meat. A few eggs boiled and chopped fine improves it.
Veal and Ham Pie.—Cut about one pound and a half of veal into thin slices, as also a quarter of a pound of cooked ham; season the veal rather highly with white pepper and salt, with which cover the bottom of the dish; then lay over a few slices of ham, then the remainder of the veal, finishing with the remainder of the ham; add a wineglassful of water, and cover with a good paste, and bake; a bay-leaf will be an improvement.
Vinegar Pie.—Five tablespoons vinegar, five sugar, two flour, two water, a little nutmeg. Put in dish and bake.
HOW TO MAKE PRESERVES
OF VARIOUS KINDS
Apple Jam.—Fill a wide jar nearly half full of water; cut the apples unpeeled into quarters, take out the core, then fill the jar with the apples; tie a paper over it, and put it into a slow oven. When quite soft and cool, pulp them through a sieve. To each pound of pulp put three-quarters of a pound of crushed sugar, and boil it gently until it will jelly. Put it into large tart dishes or jars. It will keep for five or more years in a cool, dry place. If for present use, or a month hence, half a pound of sugar is enough.
Apple Marmalade.—Scald apples till they will pulp from the core; then take an equal weight of sugar in large lumps, just dip them in water, and boil it till it can be well skimmed, and is a thick syrup, put to it the pulp, and simmer it on a quick fire a quarter of an hour. Grate a little lemon-peel before boiled, but if too much it will be bitter.
Barberry Jam.—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 one pound of fruit allow eighteen ounces well-refined sugar; boil this, with about a 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 four and a half pounds; water a pint and a quarter, boil to candy height; barberries four pounds; six minutes.
How to Preserve Blackcurrants.—Get the currants when they are dry, and pick them; to every 1-1/4 lbs. of currants put 1 lb. of sugar into a preserving pan, with as much juice of currants as will dissolve it; when it boils skim it, and put in the currants, and boil them till they are clear; put them into a jar, lay brandy paper over them, tie them down, and keep in a dry place. A little raspberry juice is an improvement.
Cherry Jam.—Pick and stone 4 lbs. of May-duke cherries; press them through a sieve; then boil together half a pint of red currant or raspberry juice, and 3/4 lb. of white sugar, put the cherries into them while boiling; add 1 lb. of fine white sugar. Boil quickly 35 minutes, jar, and cover well.
Cherry Marmalade.—Take some very ripe cherries; cut off the stalks and take out the stones; crush them and boil them well; put them into a hand sieve, and force them through with a spatula, till the whole is pressed through and nothing remains but the skins; put it again upon the fire to dry; when reduced to half weigh it, and add an equal weight of sugar; boil again; and when it threads between the fingers, it is finished.
How to Preserve Currants for Tarts.—Let the currants be ripe, dry and well picked. To every 1-1/4 lbs. of currants put 1 lb. of sugar into a preserving pan with as much juice of currants as will dissolve it; when it boils skim it, and put in the currants; boil till clear; jar, and put brandy-paper over; tie down; keep in a dry place.
How to Preserve Grapes.—Into an air-tight cask put a layer of bran dried in an oven; upon this place a layer of grapes, well dried, and not quite ripe, and so on alternately till the barrel is filled; end with bran, and close air-tight; they will keep 9 or 10 months. To restore them to their original freshness, cut the end off each bunch stalk, and put into wine, like flowers. Or,
Bunches of grapes may be preserved through winter by inserting the end of the stem into a potato. The bunches should be laid on dry straw, and turned occasionally.
How to Preserve Green Gages.—Choose the largest when they begin to soften; split them without paring; strew upon them part of the sugar. Blanch the kernels with a sharp knife. Next day pour the syrup from the fruit, and boil it with the other sugar six or eight minutes gently; skim and add the plums and kernels. Simmer till clear, taking off the scum; put the fruit singly into small pots, and pour the syrup and kernels to it. To candy it, do not add the syrup, but observe the directions given for candying fruit; some may be done each way.
Green Gage Jam.—Peel and take out the stones. To 1 lb. of pulp put 3/4 lb. loaf sugar; boil half an hour; add lemon juice.
Transparently Beautiful Marmalade.—Take 3 lbs. bitter oranges; pare them as you would potatoes; cut the skin into fine shreds, and put them into a muslin bag; quarter all the oranges; press out the juice. Boil the pulp and shreds in three quarts of water 2-1/2 hours, down to three pints; strain through a hair sieve. Then put six pounds of sugar to the liquid, the juice and the shreds, the outside of two lemons grated, and the insides squeezed in; add three cents worth of isinglass. Simmer altogether slowly for 15 or 20 minutes.
Tomato Marmalade.—Take ripe tomatoes in the height of the season; weigh them, and to every pound of tomatoes add one pound of sugar. Put the tomatoes into a large pan or small tub, and scald them with boiling water, so as to make the skin peel off easily; When you have entirely removed the skin, put the tomatoes (without any water) into a preserving kettle, wash them, and add the sugar, with one ounce of powdered ginger to every three pounds of fruit, and the juice of two lemons, the grated rind of three always to every three pounds of fruit. Stir up the whole together, and set it over a moderate fire. Boil it gently for two or three hours; till the whole becomes a thick, smooth mass, skimming it well, and stirring it to the bottom after every skimming. When done, put it warm into jars, and cover tightly. This will be found a very fine sweetmeat.
How to Preserve Green Peas.—Shell, and put them into a kettle of water when it boils; give them two or three warms only, and pour them in a colander. Drain, and turn them out on a cloth, and then on another to dry perfectly. When dry bottle them in wide mouthed bottles; leaving only room to pour clarified mutton suet upon them an inch thick, and for the cork. Rosin it down; and keep in the cellar, or in the earth, as directed for gooseberries. When they are to be used, boil them till tender, with a bit of butter, a spoonful of sugar, and a bit of mint.
How to Preserve Green Peas for Winter Use.—Carefully shell the peas; then place them in the canister, not too large ones; put in a small piece of alum, about the size of a horse-bean to a pint of peas. When the canister is full of peas, fill up the interstices with water, and solder on the lid perfectly air-tight, and boil the canisters for about twenty minutes; then remove them to a cool place, and by the time of January they will be found but little inferior to fresh, new-gathered peas. Bottling is not so good; at least, we have not found it so; for the air gets in, the liquid turns sour, and the peas acquire a bad taste.
How to Keep Preserves.—Apply the white of an egg, with a brush, to a single thickness of white tissue paper, with which covers the jars, lapping over an inch or two. It will require no tying, as it will become, when dry, inconceivably tight and strong, and impervious to the air.
Quinces for the Tea-table.—Bake ripe quinces thoroughly; when cold, strip off the skins, place them in a glass dish, and sprinkle with white sugar, and serve them with cream. They make a fine looking dish for the tea-table, and a more luscious and inexpensive one than the same fruit made into sweetmeats. Those who once taste the fruit thus prepared, will probably desire to store away a few bushels in the fall to use in the above manner.
Pickled Pears.—Three pounds of sugar to a pint of vinegar, spice in a bag and boil, then cook the pears in the vinegar till done through.
Boiled Pears.—Boil pears in water till soft, then add one pound of sugar to three pounds of fruit.
Pickled Citron.—One quart vinegar, two pounds sugar, cloves and cinnamon each one tablespoon, boil the citron tender in water, take them out and drain, then put them in the syrup and cook till done.
How to Preserve Raspberries.—Take raspberries that are not too ripe, and put them to their weight in sugar, with a little water. Boil softly, and do not break them; when they are clear, take them up, and boil the syrup till it be thick enough; then put them in again, and when they are cold, put them in glasses or jars.
Raspberry Jam.—One pound sugar to four pounds fruit, with a few currants.
Spiced Currants.—Six pounds currants, four pounds sugar, two tablespoons cloves and two of cinnamon, and one pint of vinegar; boil two hours until quite thick.
Stewed Pears—Pare and halve or quarter a dozen pears, according to their size; carefully remove the cores, but leave the sloths on. Place them in a clean baking-jar, with a closely fitting lid; add to them the rind of one lemon, cut in strips, and the juice of half a lemon, six cloves, and whole allspice, according to discretion. Put in just enough water to cover the whole, and allow half a pound of loaf-sugar to every pint. Cover down close, and bake in a very cool oven for five hours, or stew them very gently in a lined saucepan from three to four hours. When done, lift them out on a glass dish without breaking them; boil up the syrup quickly for two or three minutes; let it cool a little, and pour it over the pears. A little cochineal greatly enhances the appearance of the fruit; you may add a few drops of prepared cochineal; and a little port wine is often used, and much improves the flavor.
How to Preserve Whole Strawberries—Take equal weights of the fruit and refined sugar, lay the former in a large dish, and sprinkle half the sugar in fine powder over, give a gentle shake to the dish that the sugar may touch the whole of the fruit; next day make a thin syrup with the remainder of the sugar, and instead of water allow one pint of red currant juice to every pound of strawberries; in this simmer them until sufficiently jellied. Choose the largest scarlets, or others when not dead ripe.
How to Preserve Strawberries in Wine—Put a quantity of the finest large strawberries into a gooseberry-bottle, and strew in three large spoonfuls of fine sugar; fill up with Madeira wine or fine sherry.
Preserved Tomatoes—One pound of sugar to one pound of ripe tomatoes boiled down; flavor with lemon.
HOW TO BOIL, BAKE AND STEAM
PUDDINGS
Amber Pudding—Put a pound of butter into a saucepan, with three quarters of a pound of loaf sugar finely powdered; melt the butter, and mix well with it; then add the yolks of fifteen eggs well beaten, and as much fresh candied orange as will add color and flavor to it, being first beaten to a fine paste. Line the dish with paste for turning out; and when filled with the above, lay a crust over, as you would a pie, and bake in a slow oven. It is as good cold as hot.
Baked Apple Pudding—Pare and quarter four large apples; boil them tender with the rind of a lemon, in so little water, that when done, none may remain; beat them quite fine in a mortar; add the crumbs of a small roll, four ounces of butter melted, the yolks of five, and whites of three eggs, juice of half a lemon, and sugar to taste: beat all together, and lay it in a dish with paste to turn out.
Boiled Apple Pudding—Suet, 5 ozs.; flour, 8 ozs.; chop the suet very fine, and roll it into the flour. Make it into a light paste with water. Roll out. Pare and core 8 good sized apples; slice them; put them on the paste, and scatter upon them 4 lb. of sugar; draw the paste round the apples, and boil two hours or more, in a well floured cloth. Serve with melted butter sweetened.
Swiss Apple Pudding—Butter a deep dish; put into it a layer of bread crumbs; then a layer of finely chopped suet; a thick layer of finely chopped apples, and a thick layer of sugar. Repeat from the first layer till the dish is full, the last layer to be finger biscuits soaked in milk. Cover it till nearly enough; then uncover, till the top is nicely browned. Flavor with cinnamon, nutmeg, etc., as you please. Bake from 30 to 40 minutes.
Apple and Sago Pudding—Boil a cup of sago in boiling water with a little cinnamon, a cup of sugar, lemon flavoring; cut apples in thin slices, mix them with the sago; after it is well boiled add a small piece of butter: pour into a pudding dish and bake half an hour.
Apple Pudding—Pare and stew three pints of apples, mash them, and add four eggs, a quarter of a pound of butter, sugar and nutmeg, or grated lemon. Bake it on a short crust.
Apple Potatoe Pudding.—Six potatoes boiled and mashed fine,add a little salt and piece of butter, size of an egg, roll this out with a little flour, enough to make a good pastry crust which is for the outside of the dumpling, into this put peeled and chopped apples, roll up like any apple dumpling, steam one hour, eat hot with liquid sauce.
Arrow-root Pudding.—Take 2 teacupfuls of arrowroot, and mix it with half a pint of old milk; boil another half pint of milk, flavoring it with cinnamon, nutmeg or lemon peel, stir the arrowroot and milk into the boiling milk. When cold, add the yolks of 3 eggs beaten into 3 ozs. of sugar. Then add the whites beaten to a stiff broth, and bake in a buttered dish an hour. Ornament the tops with sweetmeats, or citron sliced.
Aunt Nelly's Pudding—Half a pound of flour, half pound of treacle, six ounces of chopped suet, the juice and peel of one lemon, 4 tablespoonfuls of cream, two or three eggs. Mix and beat all together. Boil in a basin (previously well buttered) four hours.—For sauce, melted butter, a wine-glassful of sherry, and two or three tablespoonfuls of apricot jam.
Baked Indian Pudding.—Two quarts sweet milk; 1 pint New Orleans molasses; 1 pint Indian meal: 1 tablespoonful butter; nutmeg or cinnamon. Boil the milk; pour it over the meal and molasses; add salt and spice; bake three hours. This is a large family pudding.
Batter, to be used with all Sorts of Roasting Meat.—Melt good butter; put to it three eggs, with the whites well beaten up, and warm them together, stirring them continually. With this you may baste any roasting meat, and then sprinkle bread crumbs thereon; and so continue to make a crust as thick as you please.
Batter, for Frying Fruit, Vegetables, etc.—Cut four ounces of fresh butter into small pieces, pour on it half a pint of barley water, and when dissolved, add a pint of cold water; mix by degrees with a pound of fine dry flour, and a small pinch of salt. Just before it is used, stir into it the whites of two eggs beaten to a solid froth; use quickly, that the batter may be light.
Beef Steak Pudding.—Take some fine rump steaks; roll them with fat between; and if you approve a little shred onion. Lay a paste of suet in a basin, and put in the chopped steaks; cover the basin with a suet paste, and pinch the edges to keep the gravy in. Cover with a cloth tied close, let the pudding boil slowly for two hours.
Baked Beef Steak Pudding.—Make a batter of milk, two eggs and flour, or, which is much better, potatoes boiled and mashed through a colander; lay a little of it at the bottom of the dish; then put in the steaks very well seasoned; pour the remainder of the batter over them, and bake it.
Beef Steak Pudding.—Prepare a good suet crust, and line a cake-tin with it; put in layers of steak with onions, tomatoes, and mushrooms, chopped fine, a seasoning of pepper, salt and cayenne, and half a cup of water before you close it. Bake from an hour and a half to two hours, according to the size of the pudding and serve very hot.
Black Cap Pudding..—Make a batter with milk, flour and eggs; butter a basin; pour in the batter, and 5 or 6 ounces of well-cleaned currants. Cover it with a cloth well floured, and tie the cloth very tight. Boil nearly one hour. The currants will have settled to the bottom; therefore dish it bottom upwards. Serve with sweet sauce and a little rum.
Oswego Blanc Mange.—Four tablespoonfuls or three ounces of Oswego prepared corn to one quart of milk. Dissolve the corn to some of the milk. Put into the remainder of the milk four ounces of sugar, a little salt, apiece of lemon rind, or cinnamon stick, and heat to near boiling. Then add the mixed corn, and boil (stirring it briskly) four minutes; take out the rind, and pour into a mold or cup, and keep until cold. When turned out, pour round it any kind of stewed or preserved fruits, or a sauce of milk and sugar.
Nice Blanc-Mange.—Swell four ounces of rice in water; drain and boil it to a mash in good milk, with sugar, a bit of lemon peel, and a stick of cinnamon. Take care it does not burn, and when quite soft pour it into cups, or into a shape dipped into cold water. When cold turn it out, garnish with currant jelly, or any red preserved fruit. Serve with cream or plain custard.
Boiled Batter Pudding.—Three eggs, one ounce of butter, one pint of milk, three tablespoonfuls of flour, a little salt. Put the flour into a basin, and add sufficient milk to moisten it; carefully rub down all the lumps with a spoon, then pour in the remainder of the milk, and stir in the butter, which should be previously melted; keep beating the mixture, add the eggs and a pinch of salt, and when the batter is quite smooth, put into a well-buttered basin, tie it down very tightly, and put it into boiling water; move the basin about for a few minutes after it is put into the water, to prevent the flour settling in any part, and boil for one hour and a quarter. This pudding may also be boiled in a floured cloth that has been wetted in hot water; it will then take a few minutes less than when boiled in a basin. Send these puddings very quickly to table, and serve with sweet sauce, wine-sauce, stewed fruit, or jam of any kind; when the latter is used, a little of it may be placed round the dish in small quantities, as a garnish.
Bread and Butter Pudding..—Butter a dish well, lay in a few slices of bread and butter, boil one pint of milk, pour out over two eggs well beaten, and then over the bread and butter, bake over half hour.
Simple Bread Pudding.—Take the crumbs of a stale roll, pour over it one pint of boiling milk, and set it by to cool. When quite cold, beat it up very fine with two ounces of butter, sifted sugar sufficient to sweeten it; grate in Haifa nutmeg, and add a pound of well-washed currants, beat up four eggs separately, and then mix them up with the rest, adding, if desired, a few strips of candied orange peel. All the ingredients must be beaten up together for about half an hour, as the lightness of the pudding depends upon that. Tie it up in a cloth, and boil for an hour. When it is dished, pour a little white wine sauce over the top.
Christmas Plum Pudding.—Suet, chopped small, six ounces; raisins, stoned, etc., eight ounces; bread crumbs, six ounces; three eggs, a wine glass of brandy, a little nutmeg and cinnamon pounded as fine as possible, half a teaspoonful of salt, rather less than half pint milk, fine sugar, four ounces; candied lemon, one ounce; citron half an ounce. Beat the eggs and spice well together; mix the milk by degrees, then the rest of the ingredients. Dip a fine, close, linen cloth into boiling water, and put in a sieve (hair), flour it a little, and tie up close. Put the pudding into a saucepan containing six quarts of boiling water; keep a kettle of boiling water alongside, and fill up as it wastes. Be sure to keep it boiling at least six hours. Serve with any sauce; or arrow-root with brandy.
Christmas Pudding.—Suet 1-1/2 lbs., minced small; currants, 1 1/2 lbs., raisins, stoned, 1/4 lb.; sugar, 1 lb.; ten eggs, a grated nutmeg; 2 ozs. citron and lemon peel; 1 oz. of mixed spice, a teaspoonful of grated ginger, 1/2 lb. of bread crumbs, 1/2 lb. of flour, 1 pint of milk, and a wine glassful of brandy. Beat first the eggs, add half the milk, beat all together, and gradually stir in all the milk, then the suet, fruit, etc., and as much milk to mix it very thick. Boil in a cloth six or seven hours.
Cottage Pudding.—One pint sifted flour, three tablespoons melted butter, 2 eggs, one cup sweet milk, two teaspoonfuls cream tartar, one teaspoon soda, mix and bake.
Cream Pudding.—Cream, 1 pint; the yolks of seven eggs, seven tablespoonfuls of flour, 2 tablespoonfuls of sugar, salt, and a small bit of soda. Rub the cream with the eggs and flour; add the rest, the milk last, just before baking, and pour the whole into the pudding dish. Serve with sauce of wine, sugar, butter, flavored as you like.
Crumb Pudding.—The yolks and whites of three eggs, beaten separately, one ounce moist sugar, and sufficient bread crumbs to make it into a thick but not stiff mixture; a little powdered cinnamon. Beat all together for five minutes, and bake in a buttered tin. When baked, turn it out of the tin, pour two glasses of boiling wine over it, and serve. Cherries, either fresh or preserved, are very nice mixed in the pudding.
Damson Pudding.—Four or five tablespoonfuls of flour, three eggs beaten, a pint of milk, made into batter. Stone 1-1/2 lbs., of damsons, put them and 6 ozs. of sugar into the batter, and boil in a buttered basin for one hour and a half.
Egg Pudding.—It is made chiefly of eggs. It is nice made thus:—Beat well seven eggs; mix well with 2 ozs. of flour, pint and a half of milk, a little salt; flavor with nutmeg, lemon juice, and orange-flour water. Boil 1-1/4 hours in a floured cloth. Serve with wine sauce sweetened.
Excellent Family Plum Pudding.—Grate three-quarters of a pound of a stale loaf, leaving out the crusts; chop very fine three-quarters of a pound of firm beef suet (if you wish your pudding less rich, half a pound will do); mix well together with a quarter of a pound of flour; then add a pound of currants, well washed and well dried; half a pound of raisins, stoned, and the peel of a lemon, very finely shred and cut; four ounces of candied peel, either lemon, orange or citron, or all mingled (do not cut your peel too small or its flavor is lost); six ounces of sugar, a small teaspoonful of salt, three eggs, well beaten; mix all thoroughly together with as much milk as suffices to bring the pudding to a proper consistency, grate in a small nutmeg, and again stir the mixture vigorously. If you choose, add a small glass of brandy. Butter your mold or basin, which you must be sure to fill quite full, or the water will get in and spoil your handiwork; have your pudding cloth scrupulously clean and sweet, and of a proper thickness; tie down securely, and boil for seven or even eight hours.
Extra Pudding.—Cut light bread into thin slices. Form into the shape of a pudding in a dish. Then add a layer of any preserve, then a slice of bread, and repeat till the dish is full. Beat four or five eggs, and mix well with a pint of milk; then pour it over the bread and preserve, having previously dusted the same with a coating of rice flour. Boil twenty-five minutes.
Fig Pudding.—Procure one pound of good figs, and chop them very fine, and also a quarter of a pound of suet, likewise chopped as fine as possible; dust them both with a little flour as you proceed—it helps to bind the pudding together; then take one pound of fine bread crumbs, and not quite a quarter of a pound of sugar; beat two eggs in a teacupful of milk, and mix all well together. Boil four hours. If you choose, serve it with wine or brandy sauce, and ornament your pudding with blanched almonds. Simply cooked, however, it is better where there are children, with whom it is generally a favorite. We forgot to say, flavor with a little allspice or nutmeg, as you like; but add the spice before the milk and eggs.
Gelatine Pudding.—Half box gelatine dissolved in a large half pint boiling water, when cold stir in two teacups sugar, the juice of three lemons, the whites of four eggs beaten to a froth, put this in a mold to get stiff, and with the yolks of these four eggs, and a quart of milk make boiled custard, flavor with vanilla, when cold pour the custard round the mold in same dish.
Gooseberry Pudding.—One quart of scalded gooseberries; when cold rub them smooth with the back of a spoon. Take six tablespoonfuls of the pulp, half a pound of sugar, quarter of a pound of melted butter, six eggs, the rind of two lemons, a handful of grated bread, two tablespoonfuls of brandy. Half an hour will bake it.
Ground Rice Pudding.—Boil one pint of milk with a little piece of lemon peel, mix quarter pound of rice, ground, with half pint milk, two ounces sugar, one ounce butter, add these to the boiling milk. Keep stirring, take it off the fire, break in two eggs, keep stirring, butter a pie dish, pour in the mixture and bake until set.
Ice Pudding.—Put one quart of milk in a stew pan with half pound of white sugar, and stick of vanilla, boil it ten minutes, mix the yolks of ten eggs with a gill of cream, pour in the milk, then put it back again into the stew pan, and stir till it thickens (do not let it boil), strain it into a basin and leave it to cool. Take twelve pounds of ice, add two pounds of salt, mix together, cover the bottom of a pail, place the ice pot in it and build it around with the ice and salt, this done pour the cream into the pot, put on the cover, and do not cease turning till the cream is thick, the mold should be cold, pour in the cream, 3 or 4 pieces of white paper, wetted with cold water, are placed on it before the cover is placed on. Cover with ice till wanted, dip in cold water and turn out, fruit may be put in when put in the mold.
Indian Pudding.—Indian meal, a cupful, a little salt, butter, 1 oz.; molasses 3 ozs., 2 teaspoonfuls of ginger, or cinnamon. Put into a quart of boiling milk. Mix a cup of cold water with it; bake in a buttered dish 50 minutes.
Kidney Pudding.—If kidney, split and soak it, and season that or the meat. Make a paste of suet, flour and milk; roll it, and line a basin with some; put the kidney or steak in, cover with paste, and pinch round the edge. Cover with a cloth and boil a considerable time.
Lemon Dumplings.—Two tablespoonfuls of flour; bread crumbs, 1/2 lb.; beef suet, 6 ozs.; the grated rind of a large lemon, sugar, pounded, 4 ozs.; 4 eggs well beaten, and strained, and the juice of three lemons strained. Make into dumplings, and boil in a cloth one hour.
Lemon Pudding.—Three tablespoons powdered crackers, eight tablespoons sugar, six eggs, one quart milk, butter size of an egg, the juice of one lemon and grated rind. Stir it first when put in oven.
Macaroni Pudding.—Take an equal quantity of ham and chicken, mince fine, half the quantity of macaroni which must be boiled tender in broth, two eggs beaten, one ounce butter, cayenne pepper and salt to taste, all these ingredients to be mixed thoroughly together, put in molds and boil two hours.
Marrow Pudding.—Pour a pint of cream boiling hot on the crumbs of a penny loaf, or French roll; cut 1 lb. of beef marrow very thin; beat 4 eggs well; add a glass of brandy, with sugar and nutmeg to taste, and mix all well together. It may be either boiled or baked 40 or 50 minutes; cut 2 ozs. of citron very thin, and stick them all over it when you dish it up.
Another way.—Blanch 1/2 lb. of almonds; put them in cold water all night; next day beat them in a mortar very fine, with orange or rose water. Take the crumbs of a penny loaf, and pour on the whole a pint of boiling cream; while it is cooling, beat the yolks of four eggs, and two whites, 15 minutes; a little sugar and grated nutmeg to your palate. Shred the marrow of the bones, and mix all well together, with a little candied orange cut small; bake, etc.
Meat and Potato Pudding.—Boil some mealy potatoes till ready to crumble to pieces; drain; mash them very smooth. Make them into a thickish batter with an egg or two, and milk, placing a layer of steaks or chops well-seasoned with salt and pepper at the bottom of the baking dish; cover with a layer of batter, and so alternately, till the dish is full, ending with batter at the top. Butter the dish to prevent sticking or burning. Bake of a fine brown color.
Nesselrode Pudding.—Prepare a custard of one pint of cream, half a pint of milk, the yolks of six eggs, half a stick of vanilla, one ounce of sweet almonds, pounded, and half a pound of sugar; put them in a stewpan over a slow fire, and stir until the proper consistence, being careful not to let it boil; when cold, add a wine-glass of brandy; partially freeze, and add two ounces of raisins and half a pound of preserved fruits, cut small. Mix well, and mold. (Basket shape generally used.)
Potato Pudding.—Take 1/2 lb. of boiled potatoes, 2 ozs. of butter, the yolks and whites of two eggs, a quarter of a pint of cream, one spoonful of white wine, a morsel of salt, the juice and rind of a lemon; beat all to a froth; sugar to taste. A crust or not, as you like. Bake it. If wanted richer, put 3 ozs. more butter, sweetmeats and almonds, and another egg.
Prince of Wales Pudding.—Chop four ounces of apples, the same quantity of bread crumbs, suet, and currants, well washed and picked; two ounces of candied lemon, orange, and citron, chopped fine; five ounces pounded loaf sugar; half a nutmeg, grated. Mix all together with four eggs. Butter well and flour a tin, put in the mixture, and place a buttered paper on the top, and a cloth over the paper. If you steam it the paper is sufficient. It will take two hours boiling. When you dish it, stick cut blanched almonds on it, and serve with wine sauce.
Pudding.—One cup sugar, half cup milk, one egg, two tablespoons melted butter, two cups flour, two teaspoons baking powder, a little nutmeg, bake in a dish and when sent to the table, put raspberry jam under same with wine sauce.
Baked Pudding.—Three tablespoonfuls of Oswego Prepared Corn to one quart of milk. Prepare, and cook the same as Blanc-Mange. After it is cool, stir up with it thoroughly two or three eggs well beaten, and bake half an hour. It is very good.
Boiled Pudding.—Three tablespoonfuls of Oswego Prepared Corn to one quart of milk. Dissolve the corn in some of the milk, and mix with it two or three eggs, well beaten, and a little salt. Heat the remainder of the milk to near boiling, add the above preparation, and boil four minutes, stirring it briskly. To be eaten warm with a sauce. It is delicious.
Queen Pudding.—One pint of bread crumbs, one quart milk, one cup sugar, yolks four eggs, a little butter, bake half an hour, then put over the top a layer of fruit, then white of eggs beaten to a froth with sugar; to be eaten cold with cream.
Plain Rice Pudding.—Wash and pick some rice; throw among it some pimento finely pounded, but not much; tie the rice in a cloth and leave plenty of room for it to swell. When done, eat it with butter and sugar, or milk. Put lemon peel if you please.
It is very good without spice, and eaten with salt and butter.
ANOTHER.—Put into a very deep pan half a pound of rice washed and picked; two ounces of butter, four ounces of sugar, a few allspice pounded, and two quarts of milk. Less butter will do, or some suet. Bake in a slow oven.
Rich Rice Pudding—Boil 1/2 lb. of rice in water, with a bit of salt, till quite tender; drain it dry; mix it with the yolks and whites of four eggs, a quarter of a pint of cream, with 2 ozs. of fresh butter melted in the latter; 4 ozs. of beef suet or marrow, or veal suet taken from a fillet of veal, finely shred, 3/4 lb. of currants, two spoonfuls of brandy, one of peach-water, or ratafia, nutmeg, and a grated lemon peel. When well mixed, put a paste round the edge, and fill the dish. Slices of candied orange, lemon, and citron, if approved. Bake in a moderate oven.
Rice Pudding with Fruit—Swell the rice with a very little milk over the fire; then mix fruit of any kind with it (currants, gooseberries, scalded, pared, and quartered apples, raisins, or black currants); put one egg into the rice to bind it; boil it well, and serve with sugar.
Roman Pudding—Oil a plain tin mold, sprinkle it with vermicelli, line it with a thin paste; have some boiled macaroni ready cut in pieces an inch long; weigh it, and take the same weight of Parmesan cheese, grated; boil a rabbit, cut off all the white meat in slices, as thin as paper, season with pepper, salt, and shalot; add cream sufficient to moisten the whole, put it into the mold, and cover it with paste; bake in a moderate oven for an hour, turn the pudding out of the mold, and serve it with a rich brown gravy.
Sago Pudding—Boil 4 ozs. of sago in water a few minutes; strain, and add milk, and boil till tender. Boil lemon peel and cinnamon in a little milk, and strain it to the sago. Put the whole into a basin; break 8 eggs; mix it well together, and sweeten with moist sugar; add a glass of brandy, and some nutmeg; put puff paste round the rim of the dish, and butter the bottom. Bake three quarters of an hour.
Spanish Pudding—To one pint of water, put two ounces of butter, and a little salt, when it boils add as much flour as will make it the consistency of hasty pudding. Keep it well stirred, after it is taken off the fire and has stood till quite cold, beat it up with three eggs, add a little grated lemon peel and nutmeg, drop the butter with a spoon into the frying pan with boiling lard, fry quickly, put sugar over them when sent to the table.
Suet Dumplings—Shred 1 lb. of suet; mix with 1-1/4 lbs. flour, 2 eggs beaten separately, a little salt, and as little milk as will make it. Make it into two small balls. Boil 20 minutes. The fat of loins or necks of mutton finely shred makes a more delicate dumpling than suet.
Suet Pudding—Take six spoonfuls of flour, 1 lb. of suet, shred small, 4 eggs, a spoonful of beaten ginger, a spoonful of salt, and a quart of milk. Mix the eggs and flour with a pint of milk very thick, and with the seasoning, mix in the rest of the milk with the suet. Boil two hours.
Tapioca Pudding.—Put 1/4 lb. of tapioca into a sauce pan of cold water; when it boils, strain it to a pint of new milk; boil till it soaks up all the milk, and put it out to cool. Beat the yolks of four eggs, and the whites of two, a tablespoonful of brandy, sugar, nutmeg, and 2 ounces of butter. Mix all together; put a puff paste round the dish, and send it to the oven. It is very good boiled with melted butter, wine and sugar.
Vermicelli Pudding.—Boil 4 ounces of vermicelli in a pint of new milk till soft, with a stick or two of cinnamon. Then put in half a pint of thick cream, 1/4 lb. of butter, the same of sugar, and the yolks of 4 eggs. Bake without paste in an earthen dish.
Another.—Simmer 2 ounces of vermicelli in a cupful of milk till tender; flavor it with a stick or two of cinnamon or other spice. Beat up three eggs, 1 ounce of sugar, half a pint of milk and a glass of wine. Add to the vermicelli. Bake in a slow oven.
HOW TO PUT UP PICKLES
AND MAKE CATSUPS
How to Pickle Beet Roots.—Beet roots are a very pretty garnish for made dishes, and are thus pickled. Boil the roots till they are tender, then take off the skins, cut them in slices, gimp them in the shape of wheels, or what form you please, and put them into a jar. Take as much vinegar as you think will cover them, and boil it with a a little mace, a race of ginger sliced, and a few slices of horseradish. Pour it hot upon your roots and tie them down.
Chow-Chow.—Two quarts of small white onions, two quarts of gherkins, two quarts of string beans, two small cauliflowers, half a dozen ripe, red peppers, one-half pound mustard seed, one-half pound whole pepper, one pound ground mustard, and, as there is nothing so adulterated as ground mustard, it's better to get it at the druggist's; twenty or thirty bay leaves (not bog leaves, as some one of the ladies facetiously remarked), and two quarts of good cider, or wine vinegar. Peel the onions, halve the cucumbers, string the beans, and cut in pieces the cauliflower. Put all in a wooden tray, and sprinkle well with salt. In the morning wash and drain thoroughly, and put all into the cold vinegar, except the red peppers. Let boil twenty minutes slowly, frequently turning over. Have wax melted in a deepish dish, and, as you fill and cork, dip into the wax. The peppers you can put in to show to the best advantage. If you have over six jars full, it's good to put the rest in a jar and eat from it for every dinner. Some add a little turmeric for the yellow color.
Corn, Green, Pickling.—When the corn is a little past the tenderest roasting ear state, pull it, take off one thickness of the husk, tie the rest of the husk down at the silk end loosely, place the ears in a clean cask compactly together, and put on a brine to cover them of about two-thirds the strength of meat pickle. When ready to use in winter, soak in cold water over night, and if this does not appear sufficient, change the water and freshen still more. Corn, prepared in this way, is excellent, very much resembling fresh corn from the stalk.
Indian Pickle.—One gallon of the best vinegar, quarter of a pound of bruised ginger, quarter of a pound of shalots, quarter of a pound of flour of mustard, quarter of a pound of salt, two ounces of mustard seed, two ounces of turmeric, one ounce of black pepper, ground fine, one ounce of cayenne. Mix all together, and put in cauliflower sprigs, radish pods, French beans, white cabbage, cucumber, onions, or any other vegetable; stir it well two or three days after any fresh vegetable is added, and wipe the vegetable with a dry cloth. The vinegar should not be boiled.
How to Pickle Mushrooms.—Buttons must be rubbed with a bit of flannel and salt; and from the larger take out the red inside, for when they are black they will not do, being too old. Throw a little salt over, and put them into a stewpan with some mace and pepper; as the liquor comes out, shake them well, and keep them over a gentle fire till all of it be dried into them again; then put as much vinegar into the pan as will cover them, give it one warm, and turn all into a glass or stone jar. They will keep two years, and are delicious.
Pickle Sauce.—Slice green tomatoes, onions, cabbage, cucumbers, and green peppers. Let all stand covered with salt over night. Wash, drain and chop fine. Be careful to keep as dry as possible. To two quarts of the hash, add four tablespoons of American mustard seed and two of English; two tablespoonfuls ground allspice, one of ground cloves, two teaspoonfuls of ground black pepper, one teaspoonful of celery seed. Cover with sharp vinegar, and boil slowly an hour. Put away in stone jar, and eat when wanted.
Pickled Eggs.—At the season of the year when eggs are plentiful, boil some four or six dozen in a capacious saucepan, until they become quite hard. Then, after carefully removing the shells, lay them in large-mouthed jars, and pour over them scalding vinegar, well seasoned with whole pepper, allspice, a few races of ginger, and a few cloves or garlic. When cold, bung down closely, and in a month they are fit for use. Where eggs are plentiful, the above pickle is by no means expensive, and is a relishing accompaniment to cold meat.
How to Pickle Red Cabbage.—Slice it into a colander, and sprinkle each layer with salt; let it drain two days, then put it into a jar, with boiling vinegar enough to cover it, and put in a few slices of beet-root. Observe to choose the purple red-cabbage. Those who like the flavor of spice will boil some pepper-corns, mustard-seed, or other spice, whole, with the vinegar. Califlower in branches, and thrown in after being salted, will color a beautiful red.
ANOTHER.—Choose a sound large cabbage; shred it finely, and sprinkle it with salt, and let it stand in a dish a day and night. Then boil vinegar (from a pint) with ginger, cloves, and cayenne popper. Put the cabbage into jars, and pour the liquor upon it when cold.
Spiced Tomatoes.—Eight pounds tomatoes, four pounds of sugar, one quart vinegar, one tablespoon each of cloves, cinnamon and allspice, make a syrup of the sugar and vinegar. Tie the spice in a bag and put, in syrup, take the skins off the tomatoes, and put them in the syrup, when scalded through skim them out and cook away one-half, leave the spices in, then put in your tomatoes again and boil until the syrup is thick.
Tomato Lilly.—Prepare one peck of green tomatoes by slicing and laying them in a jar over night, with a little salt, than chop them and cook in water until you think them sufficiently tender then take them up in a colander and drain nicely, then take two large cabbages, chop and cook same as tomatoes, then chop six green peppers and add one quart vinegar, put all in kettle together and boil a short time; add fresh vinegar and spice with one ounce each cinnamon and cloves, one pound sugar and half pint molasses. Onions can be used instead of cabbage if preferred.
How to Pickle Walnuts.—When a pin will go into them, put a brine of salt and water boiled, and strong enough to bear an egg, being quite cold first. Let them soak six days; then change the brine, let them stand six more; then drain, and pour over them in a jar a pickle of the best vinegar, with plenty of pepper, pimento, ginger, mace, cloves, mustard-seed and horseradish; all boiled together, but cold. To every hundred of walnuts put six spoonfuls of mustard-seed, and two or three heads of garlic or shalot, but the latter is least strong. In this way they will be good for several years, if closely covered. They will not be fit to eat under six months. This pickle makes good ketchup.
A Good Ketchup.—Boil one bushel of tomatoes until soft enough to rub through a sieve. Then add to the liquid a half gallon of vinegar, 1-1/2 pints salt, 2 ounces of cloves, 1/4 pound allspice, 3 ounces good cayenne pepper, five heads of garlic, skinned and separated, 1 pound of sugar. Boil slowly until reduced to one-half. It takes about one day. Set away for a week, boil over once, and, if too thick, thin with vinegar; bottle and seal as for chow-chow.
How to Keep Ketchup Twenty Years.—Take a gallon of strong stale beer, 1 lb. of anchovies, washed from the pickle; 1 lb. of shalots, 1/2 oz. of mace, 1/2 oz. of cloves, 1/4 oz. whole pepper, 1/2 oz. of ginger, 2 quarts of large mushroom flaps, rubbed to pieces; cover all close, and simmer till it is half wasted, strain, cool, then bottle. A spoonful of this ketchup is sufficient for a pint of melted butter.
Mushroom Ketchup.—Sprinkle mushroom flaps, gathered in September, with common salt, stir them occasionally for two or three days; then lightly squeeze out the juice, and add to each gallon bruised cloves and mustard seed, of each, half an ounce; bruised allspice, black pepper, and ginger, of each, one ounce; gently heat to the boiling point in a covered vessel, macerate for fourteen days, and strain; should it exhibit any indication of change in a few weeks, bring it again to the boiling point, with a little more spice.
Oyster Ketchup:—Beard the oysters; boil them up in their liquor; strain, and pound them in a mortar; boil the beards in spring water, and strain it to the first oyster liquor; boil the pounded oysters in the mixed liquors, with beaten mace and pepper. Some add a very little mushroom ketchup, vinegar, or lemon-juice; but the less the natural flavor is overpowered the better; only spice is necessary for its preservation. This oyster ketchup will keep perfectly good longer than oysters are ever out of season.
Tomato Ketchup.—Put them over the fire crushing each one as you drop it into the pot; let them boil five minutes; take them off, strain through a colander, and then through a sieve, get them over the fire again as soon as possible, and boil down two-thirds, when boiled down add to every gallon of this liquid one ounce of cayenne pepper, one ounce of black pepper, one pint vinegar, four ounces each of cinnamon and mace, two spoonfuls salt.
Very Fine Walnut Ketchup.—Boil a gallon of the expressed juice of green tender walnuts, and skim it well; then put in 2 lbs. of anchovies, bones and liquor, 2 lbs. shalots, 1 oz. each of cloves, mace, pepper, and one clove of garlic. Let all simmer till the shalots sink; then put the liquor into a pan till cold; bottle and divide the spice to each. Cork closely, and tie a bladder over. It will keep twenty years, but is not good the first. Be very careful to express the juice at home; for it is rarely unadulterated, if bought.
HOW TO ROAST, BOIL, OR BROIL
POULTRY
How to Roast Chickens.—Pluck carefully, draw and truss them, and put them to a good fire; singe, dust, and baste them with butter. Cover the breast with a sheet of buttered paper; remove it ten minutes before it is enough; that it may brown. A chicken will take 15 to 20 minutes. Serve with butter and parsley.
How to Boil Chickens.—Fasten the wings and legs to the body by threads tied round. Steep them in skim milk two hours. Then put them in cold water, and boil over a slow fire. Skim clean. Serve with white sauce or melted butter sauce, or parsley and butter.—Or melt 1 oz. of butter in a cupful of milk; add to it the yolk of an egg beat up with a little flour and cream; heat over the fire, stirring well.
Geese (a la mode).—Skin and bone the goose; boil and peel a dried tongue, also a fowl; season with pepper, salt and mace, and then roll it round the tongue; season the goose in the same way, and lay the fowl and tongue on the goose, with slices of ham between them. Beef marrow rolled between the fowl and the goose, will greatly enrich it. Put it all together in a pan, with two quarts of beef gravy, the bones of the goose and fowl, sweet herbs and onion; cover close, and stew an hour slowly; take up the goose; skim off the fat, strain, and put in a glassful of good port wine, two tablespoonfuls of ketchup, a veal sweetbread cut small, some mushrooms, a piece of butter rolled in flour, pepper and salt; stew the goose half an hour longer; take up and pour the ragout over it. Garnish with lemon.
How to Roast Pigeons.—Take a little pepper and salt, a piece of butter, and parsley cut small; mix and put the mixture into the bellies of the pigeons, tying the necks tight; take another string; fasten one end of it to their legs and rumps, and the other to a hanging spit, basting them with butter; when done, lay them in a dish, and they will swim with gravy.
How to Boil Pigeons.—Wash clean; chop some parsley small; mix it with crumbs of bread, pepper, salt and a bit of butter; stuff the pigeons, and boil 15 minutes in some mutton broth or gravy. Boil some rice soft in milk; when it begins to thicken, beat the yolks of two or three eggs, with two or three spoonfuls of cream, and a little nutmeg; mix well with a bit of butter rolled in flour.
How to Broil Pigeons.—After cleaning, split the backs, pepper and salt them, and broil them very nicely; pour over them either stewed or pickled mushrooms, in melted butter, and serve as hot as possible.
Scalloped Cold Chickens..—Mince the meat very small, and set it over the fire, with a scrape of nutmeg, a little pepper and salt, and a little cream, for a few minutes, put it into the scallop shells, and fill them with crumbs of bread, over which put some bits of butter, and brown them before the fire. Veal and ham eat well done the same way, and lightly covered with crumbs of bread, or they may be put on in little heaps.
How to Roast Turkey.—The sinews of the legs should be drawn whichever way it is dressed. The head should be twisted under the wing; and in drawing it, take care not to tear the liver, nor let the gall touch it.
Put a stuffing of sausage-meat; or, if sausages are to be served in a dish a bread stuffing. As this makes a large addition to the size of the bird, observe that the heat of the fire is constantly to that part; for the breast is often not done enough. A little strip of paper should be put on the bone to hinder it from scorching while the other parts roast. Baste well and froth it up. Serve with gravy in the dish, and plenty of bread-sauce in a sauce-tureen. Add a few crumbs, and a beaten egg to the stuffing of sausage-meat.
SAUCES FOR MEATS, FISH, ETC.
Anchovy Sauce.—Chop one or two anchovies, without washing, put to them some flour and butter, and a little water; stir it over the fire till it boils once or twice. If the anchovies are good, they will dissolve.
Essence Of Anchovies.—Take two dozen of anchovies, chop them, and without the bone, but with some of their liquor strained, add to them sixteen large spoonfuls of water; boil gently till dissolved, which will be in a few minutes—when cold, strain and bottle it.
Apple Sauce.—Pare, core, and quarter half a dozen good sized apples, and throw them into cold water to preserve their whiteness. Boil them in a saucepan till they are soft enough to mash—it is impossible to specify any particular time, as some apples cook much more speedily than others. When done, bruise them to a pulp, put in a piece of butter as large as a nutmeg, and sweeten them to taste. Put into saucepan only sufficient water to prevent them burning. Some persons put the apples in a stone jar placed in boiling water; there is then no danger of their catching.
Apple Sauce for Goose or Roast Pork.—Pare, core, and slice some apples, and put them in a strong jar, into a pan of water. When sufficiently boiled, bruise to a pulp, adding a little butter, and a little brown sugar.
A Substitute for Cream.—Beat up the whole of a fresh egg in a basin, and then pour boiling tea over it gradually to prevent its curdling; it is difficult from the taste, to distinguish it from rich cream.
Bechamel Sauce.—Put a few slices of ham into a stew-pan, a few mushrooms, two or three shalots, two cloves, also a bay leaf and a bit of butter. Let them stand a few hours. Add a little water, flour and milk or cream; simmer forty minutes. Scalded parsley, very fine may be added.
Bread Sauce.—Break three-quarters of a pound of stale bread into small pieces, carefully excluding any crusty and outside bits, having previously simmered till quite tender, an onion, well peeled and quartered in a pint of milk. Put the crumbs into a very clean saucepan, and, if you like the flavor, a small teaspoonful of sliced onion, chopped, or rather minced, as finely as possible. Pour over the milk, taking away the onion simmered in it, cover it up, and let it stand for an hour to soak. Then, with a fork, beat it quite smooth, and seasoned with a very little powdered mace, cayenne and salt to taste, adding one ounce of butter; give the whole a boil, stirring all the time, and it is ready to serve. A small quantity of cream added at the last moment, makes the sauce richer and smoother. Common white pepper may take the place of cayenne, a few peppercorns may be simmered in the milk, but they should be extracted before sending to table.
Bread Sauce.—Grate some old bread into a basin; pour boiling new milk over it; add an onion with five cloves stuck in it, with pepper and salt to taste. Cover it and simmer in a slow oven. When enough, take out the onion and cloves; beat it well, and add a little melted butter. The addition of cream very much improves this sauce.
Caper Sauce.—Melt some butter, chop the capers fine, boil them with the butter. An ounce of capers will be sufficient for a moderate size sauce-boat. Add, if you like, a little chopped parsley, and a little vinegar. More vinegar, a little cayenne, and essence of anchovy, make it suitable for fish.
As a substitute for capers, some use chopped pickled gherkins.
Essence Of Celery.—Soak the seeds in spirits of wine or brandy; or infuse the root in the same for 24 hours, then take out, squeezing out all the liquor, and infuse more root in the same liquor to make it stronger. A few drops will flavor broth, soup, etc.
Celery Sauce.—Wash well the inside leaves of three heads of celery; cut them into slices quarter inch thick, boil for six minutes, and drain; take a tablespoonful of flour, two ounces of butter, and a teacupful of cream; beat well, and when warm, put in the celery and stir well over the fire about twelve minutes. The sauce is very good for boiled fowl, etc.
Cocoa Sauce.—Scrape a portion of the kernel of a Cocoa nut, adding the juice of three lemons, a teaspoonful of the tincture of cayenne pepper, a teaspoonful of shallot vinegar, and half a cupful of water. Gently simmer for a few hours.
Egg Sauce.—Boil two eggs hard, half chop the whites, put in the yolks, chop them together, but not very fine, put them with 1/4 lb. of good melted butter.
Egg Sauce.—Four eggs boiled twelve minutes, then lay them in fresh water, cold, pull off the shells, chop whites and yolks separately, mix them lightly, half pint melted butter, made in proportion of quarter pound of butter, to a large tablespoon flour, four of milk and hot water, add powdered mace or nutmeg, to be eaten with pork, boiled, or poultry, use chicken gravy or the water the chicken were boiled in.
Horseradish Sauce.—Perhaps a good receipt for horseradish sauce, which is so excellent with both hot and cold beef, but which we do not always see served up with either. Two tablespoonfuls of mustard, the same of vinegar, three tablespoonfuls of cream or milk and one of pounded white sugar, well beaten up together with a small quantity of grated horseradish. This is, of course, to be served up cold.
Mint Sauce.—Pick, mash and chop fine green spearmint, to two tablespoons of the minced leaves, put eight of vinegar, adding a little sugar. Serve cold.
Mint Sauce.—Wash fresh gathered mint; pick the leaves from the stalks; mince them very fine, and put them into a sauce-boat with a teaspoonful of sugar and four tablespoonfuls of vinegar. It may also be made with dried mint or with mint vinegar.
Onion Sauce.—Peel the onions, and boil them tender; squeeze the water from them, then chop them, and add to them butter that has been melted, rich and smooth, as will be hereafter directed, but with a little good milk instead of water; boil it up once, and serve it for boiled rabbits, partridge, scrag, or knuckle of veal, or roast mutton. A turnip boiled with the onions makes them milder.
Quin's Fish Sauce.—Half a pint of mushroom pickle, the same of walnut, six long anchovies pounded, six cloves of garlic, three of them pounded; half a spoonful of cayenne pepper; put them into a bottle, and shake well before using. It is also good with beefsteaks.
Sauce for Cold Partridges, Moor-Game, Etc.—Pound four anchovies and two cloves of garlic in a mortar; add oil and vinegar to the taste. Mince the meat, and put the sauce to it as wanted.
Sauce for Ducks.—Serve a rich gravy in the dish; cut the breast into slices, but don't take them off; cut a lemon, and put pepper and salt on it, then squeeze it on the breast, and pour a spoonful of gravy over before you help.
Sauce for Fowl of any Sort.—Boil some veal gravy, pepper, salt, the juice of a Seville orange and a lemon, and a quarter as much of port wine as of gravy; pour it into the dish or a boat.
Sauce for Hot or Cold Roast Beef.—Grate, or scrape very fine, some horseradish, a little made mustard, some pounded white sugar and four large spoonfuls of vinegar. Serve in a saucer.
Sauce for Salmon.—Boil a bunch of fennel and parsley chop them small, and put into it some good melted butter. Gravy sauce should be served with it; put a little brown gravy into a saucepan, with one anchovy, a teaspoonful of lemon pickle, a tablespoonful of walnut pickle, two spoonfuls of water in which the fish was boiled, a stick of horseradish, a little browning, and salt; boil them four minutes; thicken with flour and a good lump of butter, and strain through a hair sieve.
Sauce for Savoury Pies.—Take some gravy, one anchovy, a sprig of sweet herbs, an onion, and a little mushroom liquor; boil it a little, and thicken it with burnt butter, or a bit of butter rolled in flour; add a little port wine, and open the pie, and put it in. It will serve for lamb, mutton, veal or beef pies.
Sauce for a Turkey.—Open some oysters into a basin, and wash them in their own liquor, and as soon as settled pour into a saucepan; add a little white gravy, a teaspoonful of lemon pickle; thicken with flour and butter; boil it three or four minutes; add a spoonful of thick cream, and then the oysters; shake them over the fire till they are hot, but do not let them boil.
Sauce for Wild Fowl.—Simmer a teacupful of port wine, the same quantity of good meat gravy, a little shalot, a little pepper, salt, a grate of nutmeg and a bit of mace, for ten minutes; put in a bit of butter and flour, give it all one boil, and pour it through the birds. In general they are not stuffed as tame, but may be done so if liked.
French Tomato Sauce.—Cut ten or a dozen tomatoes into quarters, and put them into a saucepan, with four onions, sliced, a little parsley, thyme, a clove, and a quarter of a pound of butter; then set the saucepan on the fire, stirring occasionally for three-quarters of an hour; strain the sauce through a horse-hair sieve, and serve with the directed articles.
Tomato Sauce.—Take 12 tomatoes, very red and ripe; take off the stalks, take out the seeds, and press out the water. Put the expressed tomatoes into a stewpan, with 1-1/2 ozs. of butter, a bay leaf, and a little thyme; put it upon a moderate fire, stir it into a pulp; put into it a good cullis, or the top of broth, which will be better. Rub it through a search, and put it into a stewpan with two spoonfuls of cullis; put in a little salt and cayenne.
ANOTHER.—Proceed as above with the seeds and water. Put them into a stewpan, with salt and cayenne, and three tablespoonfuls of beef gravy. Set them on a slow stove for an hour, or till properly melted. Strain, and add a little good stock; and simmer a few minutes.
White Sauce.—One pound of knuckle of veal, or any veal trimmings, or cold white meat, from which all brown skin has been removed; if meat has been cooked, more will be required. It is best to have a little butcher's meat fresh, even if you have plenty of cold meat in the larder; any chicken bones greatly improve the stock. This should simmer for five hours, together with a little salt, a dozen white peppercorns, one or two small onions stuck with cloves, according to taste, a slice or two of lean ham, and a little shred of celery and a carrot (if in season) in a quart of water. Strain it, and skim off all the fat; then mix one dessert-spoonful of flour in a half pint of cream; or, for economy's sake, half milk and half cream, or even all good new milk; add this to the stock, and if not salt enough, cautiously add more seasoning. Boil all together very gently for ten minutes, stirring all the time, as the sauce easily burns and very quickly spoils. This stock, made in large quantities, makes white soup; for this an old fowl, stewed down, is excellent, and the liquor in which a young turkey has been boiled is as good a foundation as can be desired.
Economical White Sauce.—Cut up fine one carrot, two small onions, and put them into a stewpan with two ounces of butter, and simmer till the butter is nearly absorbed. Then mix a small teacupful of flour in a pint of new milk, boil the whole quietly till it thickens, strain it, season with salt and white pepper or cayenne, and it is ready to serve. Or mix well two ounces of flour with one ounce of butter; with a little nutmeg, pepper and salt; add a pint of milk, and throw in a strip of lemon peel; stir well over the fire till quite thick, and strain.
Wine Sauce.—One and 1/2 cups sugar, three quarters cup of wine, a large spoonful flour, and a large piece of butter.
HOW TO MAKE SOUPS
AND BROTHS
Artichoke Soup.—Take Jerusalem artichokes according to the quantity of soup required to be made, cut them in slices, with a quarter of a pound of butter, two or three onions and turnips, sliced into a stewpan, and stew over a very slow fire till done enough, and thin it with good veal stock. Just before you serve, at the last boil, add a quarter of a pint of good cream. This is an excellent soup. Season to taste with a little salt and cayenne. As it is necessary to vary soups, we shall give you a few to choose from according to season and taste. All brown soups must be clear and thin, with the exception of mock turtle, which must be thickened with flour first browned with butter in a stewpan. If the flour is added without previous browning, it preserves a raw taste that by no means improves the flavor.
Asparagus Soup.—Three or four pounds of veal cut fine, a little salt pork, two or three bunches of asparagus and three quarts of water. Boil one-half of the asparagus with the meat, leaving the rest in water until about twenty minutes before serving; then add the rest of the asparagus and boil just before serving; add one pint of milk; thicken with a little flour, and season. The soup should boil about three hours before adding the last half of the asparagus.
Beef Broth.—Put two pounds of lean beef, one pound of scrag of veal, one pound of scrag of mutton, sweet herbs, and ten peppercorns, into a nice tin saucepan, with five quarts of water; simmer to three quarts, and clear from the fat when cold. Add one onion, if approved.
Soup and broth made of different meats are more supporting, as well as better flavored.
To remove the fat, take it off, when cold, as clean as possible; and if there be still any remaining, lay a bit of clean blotting or cap paper on the broth when in the basin, and it will take up every particle.
Beef Soup.—Cut all the lean off the shank, and with a little beef suet in the bottom of the kettle, fry it to a nice brown; put in the bones and cover with water; cover the kettle closely; let it cook slowly until the meat drops from the bones; strain through a colander and leave it in the dish during the night, which is the only way to get off all the fat. The day it is wanted for the table, fry as brown as possible a carrot, an onion, and a very small turnip sliced thin. Just before taking up, put in half a tablespoonful of sugar, a blade of mace, six cloves, a dozen kernels of allspice, a small tablespoonful of celery seed. With the vegetables this must cook slowly in the soup an hour; then strain again for the table. If you use vermicelli or pearl barley, soak in water.
Dr. Liebig's Beef Tea.—When one pound of lean beef, free from fat, and separated from the bones, in a finely-chopped state in which it is used for mince-meat, or beef-sausages, is uniformly mixed with its own weight of cold water, slowly heated till boiling, and the liquid, after boiling briskly for a minute or two, is strained through the towel from the coagulated albumen and the fibrine, now become hard and horny, we obtain an equal weight of the most aromatic soup, of such strength as cannot be obtained even by boiling for hours from a piece of flesh. When mixed with salt and the other additions by which soup is usually seasoned, and tinged somewhat darker by means of roasted onions, or burnt bread, it forms the very best soup which can, in any way, be prepared from one pound of flesh.
Brown Gravy Soup.—Shred a small plate of onions, put some dripping into a frying-pan and fry the onions till they are of a dark brown; then, having about three pounds of beef cut up in dice, without fat or bone, brown that in a frying-pan. Now get a sauce-pan to contain about a gallon, and put in the onions and meat, with a carrot and a turnip cut small, and a little celery, if you have it; if not, add two seeds of celery; put three quarts, or three and a half quarts of water to this, and stir all together with a little pepper and salt; simmer very slowly, and skim off what rises; in three or four hours the soup will be clear. When served, add a little vermicelli, which should have previously been boiled in water; the liquid should be carefully poured off through a sieve. A large quantity may be made in the same proportions. Of course, the meat and onions must be stirred whilst frying, and constantly turned; they should be of a fine brown, not black, and celery-seed will give a flavor, it is so strong.
Carrot Soup.—Put some beef bones, with four quarts of the liquor in which a leg of mutton or beef has been boiled, two large onions, a turnip, pepper and salt into a sauce-pan, and stew for three hours. Have ready six large carrots, scraped and cut thin, strain the soup on them, and stew them till soft enough to pulp through a hair sieve or coarse cloth, then boil the pulp with the soup, which is to be as thick as pea-soup. Use two wooden spoons to rub the carrots through. Make the soup the day before it is to be used. Add cayenne. Pulp only the red part of the carrot, and not the yellow.
Clam Soup.—Cut salt pork in very small squares and fry light brown; add one large or two small onions cut very fine, and cook about ten minutes; add two quarts water and one quart of raw potatoes, sliced; let it boil; then add one quart of clams. Mix one tablespoonful of flour with water, put it with one pint of milk, and pour into the soup, and let it boil about five minutes. Butter, pepper, salt. Worcestershire sauce to taste.
Croutons.—These are simply pieces of bread fried brown and crisp, to be used in soups.
Game Soups.—Cut in pieces a partridge, pheasant, or rabbit; add slices of veal, ham, onions, carrots, etc. Add a little water, heat a little on slow fire, as gravy is done; then add some good broth, boil the meat gently till it is done. Strain, and stew in the liquor what herbs you please.
Game Soup.—In the season for game, it is easy to have good game soup at very little expense, and very nice. Take the meat from off the bones of any cold game left, pound it in a mortar and break up the bones, and pour on them a quart of any good broth, and boil for an hour and a half. Boil and mash six turnips, and mix with the pounded meat, and then pass them through a sieve. Strain the broth, and stir in the mixture of meat and turnips which has been strained through the sieve; keep the soup-pot near the fire, but do not let it boil. When ready to dish the soup for table, beat the yolks of five eggs very lightly, and mix with them half a pint of good cream. Set the soup on to boil, and, as it boils, stir in the beaten eggs and cream, but be careful that it does not boil after they are stirred in, as the egg will curdle. Serve hot.
Julienne Soup.—Put a piece of butter the size of an egg into the soup-kettle; stir until melted. Cut three young onions small; fry them a nice brown; add three quarts of good clear beef-stock, a little mace, pepper and salt; let it boil an hour; add three young carrots and three turnips cut small, a stalk of celery cut fine, a pint of French beans, a pint of green peas; let this boil two hours; if not a bright, clear color, add a spoonful of soy. This is a nice summer soup.
Lobster Soup.—One large lobster or two small ones; pick all the meat from the shell and chop fine; scald one quart of milk and one pint of water, then add the lobster, one pound of butter, a teaspoonful of flour, and salt and red pepper to taste. Boil ten minutes and serve hot.
Mock Turtle Soup.—One soup-bone, one quart of turtle beans, one large spoonful of powdered cloves, salt and pepper. Soak the beans over night, put them on with the soup-bone in nearly six quarts of water, and cook five or six hours. When half done, add the cloves, salt and pepper; when done, strain through a colander, pressing the pulp of the beans through to make the soup the desired thickness, and serve with a few slices of hard-boiled egg and lemon sliced very thin. The turtle beans are black and can only be obtained from large groce.
Oyster Soup.—Take one quart of water, one teacup of butter, one pint of milk, two teaspoons of salt, four crackers rolled fine, and one teaspoon of pepper; bring to full boiling heat as soon as possible, then add one quart of oysters; let the whole come to boiling heat quickly and remove from the fire.
Oyster Soup.—Pour one quart of boiling water into a skillet; then one quart of good rich milk; stir in one teacup of rolled cracker crumbs; season with pepper and salt to taste. When all come to boil, add one quart of good fresh oysters; stir well, so as to keep from scorching; then add a piece of good sweet butter about the size of an egg; let it boil up once, then remove from the fire immediately; dish up and send to table.
Ox Tail Soup.—Take two ox tails and two whole onions, two carrots, a small turnip, two tablespoonfuls of flour, and a little white pepper; add a gallon of water, let all boil for two hours; then take out the tails and cut the meat into small pieces, return the bones to the pot for a short time, boil for another hour, then strain the soup, and rinse two spoonfuls of arrow-root to add to it with the meat cut from the bones, and let all boil for a quarter of an hour.
Scotch Broth.—Take one-half teacup barley, four quarts cold water; bring this to the boil and skim; now put in a neck of mutton and boil again for half an hour, skim well the sides of the pot also; have ready two carrots, one large onion, a small head of cabbage, one bunch parsley, one sprig of celery top; chop all these fine, add your chopped vegetables, pepper and salt to taste. This soup takes two hours to cook.
Soup and Bouille.—Stew a brisket of beef with some turnips, celery, leeks and onions, all finely cut. Put the pieces of beef into the pot first, then the roots, and half a pint of beef gravy, with a few cloves. Simmer for an hour. Add more beef gravy, and boil gently for half an hour.
Royal Soup.—Take a scrag or knuckle of veal, slices of undressed gammon of bacon, onions, mace, and a small quantity of water; simmer till very strong, and lower it with a good beef broth made the day before, and stewed till the meat is done to rags. Add cream, vermicelli, almonds and a roll.
Various Soups.—Good soups may be made from fried meats, where the fat and gravy are added to the boiled barley; and for that purpose, fat beef steaks, pork steaks, mutton chops, etc. should be preferred, as containing more of the nutritious principle. When nearly done frying, add a little water, which will produce a gravy to be added to the barley broth; a little wheat flour should be dredged in also; a quantity of onions, cut small, should also be fried with the fat, which gives the soup a fine flavor, assisted by seasoning, etc.
Soups may be made from broiled meats. While the fat beef steak is doing before the fire, or mutton chop, etc., save the drippings on a dish, in which a little flour, oatmeal, with cut onions, etc., are put.
Grand Consomme Soup.—Put into a pot two knuckles of veal, a piece of a leg of beef, a fowl, or an old cock, a rabbit, or two old partridges; add a ladleful of soup, and stir it well; when it comes to a jelly, put in a sufficient quantity of stock, and see that it is clear; let it boil, skimming and refreshing it with water; season it as the above; you may add, if you like, a clove of garlic; let it then boil slowly or simmer four or five hours; put it through a towel, and use it for mixing in sauces or clear soups.
Julienne Soup.—Take some carrots and turnips, and turn them riband-like; a few heads of celery, some leeks and onions, and cut them in lozenges, boil them till they are cooked, then put them into clear gravy soup. Brown thickening.—N.B. You may, in summer time, add green peas, asparagus tops, French beans, some lettuce or sorrel.
Soup and Soups.—It is not at all necessary to keep a special fire for five hours every day in order to have at dinner a first course of soup. Nor need a good, savory, nutritious soup for a family of five cost more than 10 cents. There is no use hurling any remarks about "swill-pails." Every housekeeper who knows anything of her kitchen and dining-room affairs, knows there are usually nice clean fragments of roasts and broils left over, and that broth in which lamb, mutton, beef, and fowls have been boiled is in existence, and that twice a week or so there is a bowl of drippings from roasted meats. All these when simmered with rice, macaroni, or well-chosen vegetables, and judiciously seasoned, make good soups, and can be had without a special fire, and without sending to the butcher's for special meats. We name a few of the soups we make, and beg leave to add that they are pretty well received. We make them in small quantities, for nobody with three additional courses before him wants to eat a quart of soup, you know!
1.—One pint of good gravy, three cups boiling water, a slice of turnip, and half an onion cut in small bits, two grated crackers. Simmer half an hour.
2.—On ironing day cut off the narrow ends from two or three sirloin steaks, chop them into morsels and put in a stewpan with a little salt, a tablespoonful of rice and a pint of cold water, and simmer slowly for three hours. Then add water enough to make a quart of soup, a tablespoonful of tomato catsup, and a little browned flour mixed with the yolk of an egg.
3.—Pare and slice very thin four good sized potatoes, pour over them two cups of boiling water, and simmer gently until the potatoes are dissolved. Add salt, a lump of nice butter, and a pint of sweet milk with a dust of pepper. Let it boil up once, and serve. You wouldn't think it, but it is real good, and children cry for it.
4.—One pint meat broth, one pint boiling water, slice in an onion, or a parsnip, or half a turnip—or all three if liked—boil until the vegetables are soft, add a little salt if needed, and a tablespoonful of Halford sauce.
5.—Let green corn, in the time of green corn, be grated, and to a pint of it put a pint of rich milk, a pint of water, a little butter, salt and pepper. Boil gently for fifteen or twenty minutes.
Split Pea Soup.—Take beef bones or any cold meats, and two pounds of corned pork; pour on them a gallon of hot water, and let them simmer three hours, removing all the scum. Boil one quart of split peas two hours, having been previously soaked, as they require much cooking: strain off the meat and mash the peas into the soup; season with black pepper, and let it simmer one hour; fry two or three slices of bread a nice brown, cut into slices and put into the bottom of the tureen, and on them pour the soup.
Tomato Soup.—Boil chicken or beef four hours; then strain; add to the soup one can of tomatoes and boil one hour. This will make four quarts of soup.
Tomato Soup without Meat.—One quart of tomatoes, one quart of water, one quart of milk. Butter, salt and pepper to taste. Cook the tomatoes thoroughly in the water, have the milk scalding (over water to prevent scorching). When the tomatoes are done add a large teaspoonful of salaratus, which will cause a violent effervescence. It is best to set the vessel in a pan before adding it to prevent waste. When the commotion has ceased add the milk and seasoning. When it is possible it is best to use more milk than water, and cream instead of butter. The soup is eaten with crackers and is by some preferred to oyster soup. This recipe is very valuable for those who keep abstinence days.
Turkey Soup.—Take the turkey bones and cook for one hour in water enough to cover them; then stir in a little dressing and a beaten egg. Take from the fire, and when the water has ceased boiling add a little butter with pepper and salt.
Veal Gravy.—Put in the stewpan bits of lard, then a few thin slices of ham, a few bits of butter, then slices of fillet of veal, sliced onions, carrots, parsnips, celery, a few cloves upon the meat, and two spoonfuls of broth; set it on the fire till the veal throws out its juices; then put it on a stronger fire till the meat catches to the bottom of the pan, and is brought to a proper color; then add a sufficient quantity of light broth, and simmer it upon a slow fire till the meat is well done. A little thyme and mushrooms may be added. Skim and sift it clear for use.
Veal Soup.—To a knuckle of veal of 6 pounds, put 7 or 9 quarts of water; boil down one-half; skim it well. This is better to do the day before you prepare the soup for the table. Thicken it by rubbing flour, butter, and water together. Season with salt and mace. When done add one pint new milk; let it just come to a boil; then pour into a soup dish, lined with macaroni well cooked.
Vegetable Soup.—Pare and slice five or six cucumbers; and add to these as many cos lettuces, a sprig or two of mint, two or three onions, some pepper and salt, a pint and a half of young peas and a little parsley. Put these, with half a pound of fresh butter, into a saucepan, to stew in their own liquor, near a gentle fire, half an hour, then pour two quarts of boiling water to the vegetables, and stew them two hours; rub down a little flour into a teacupful of water, boil it with the rest twenty minutes, and serve it.
Vermicelli Soup.—Boil tender 1/2 lb. of vermicelli in a quart of rich gravy; take half of it out, and add to it more gravy; boil till the vermicelli can be pulped through a sieve. To both put a pint of boiling cream, a little salt, and 1/4 lb. of Parmesan cheese. Serve with rasped bread. Add two or three eggs, if you like.
Brown Vermicelli Soup.—Is made in the same manner, leaving out the eggs and cream, and adding one quart of strong beef gravy.