STEWED FRENCH BEANS. Prepare some young beans as for boiling, and boil them in plenty of water, with salt in it, till they are rather more than half done. Drain them in a cullender, beat up the yolks of three eggs with a quarter of a pint of cream, put them into a stewpan with two ounces of fresh butter, and set it over a slow fire. When hot, put in the beans, with a spoonful of vinegar, and simmer them quite tender, stirring the mixture to keep it from curdling or burning. To stew French beans with gravy, pursue the same method, only instead of the eggs and cream, put half a pint of gravy. Use only half the quantity of butter, and add that rolled in flour, to thicken up the whole after the beans are put in. The vinegar should be omitted, and cayenne and salt added if required.
STEWED GIBLETS. After very nicely cleaning goose or duck giblets, and removing the thick membrane from the gizzards, stew them, in a little water. Season them with salt and pepper, and a very small piece of mace. Before serving, give them one boil with a cup of cream, and a piece of butter rubbed in a tea-spoonful of flour.
STEWED GREEN PEAS. To a quart of peas add a quart of gravy, two or three lumps of sugar, with pepper and salt. Stew them gently till the peas are quite tender, and if the gravy is not sufficiently thick, add a piece of butter rolled in flour. If the peas are old, half boil them first in hard water, before they are stewed. Whether for young or old peas, the gravy must be strong. To stew them in a mild way, put a pint of young peas into a stewpan, with very little water, and two young lettuces cut small. Stew them gently till the peas are tender, then add four spoonfuls of cream, a lump of sugar, and the yolks of two eggs. Stir the whole together over the fire for a short time, but do not allow it to boil. A little salt should be added before serving up the stew. Another way is to take a quart of young peas, a small onion sliced, two lettuces cut small, and a sprig or two of mint. Put them into a stewpan, adding some salt, a little pepper and mace, and half a pint of hard water. Stew these gently for twenty minutes, then put in a quarter of a pound of butter rolled in flour, and a spoonful of mushroom ketchup. Keep the stewpan over the fire till the peas are quite tender, shaking it frequently, and never suffering them to boil. Receipts for stewing peas might be multiplied to almost any extent, for there is no one preparation in cookery perhaps more varied than this, though without any very material difference.
STEWED HARE. Take off the legs and shoulders, cut out the backbone, cut into pieces the meat which comes off the sides, and put all into a stewpan. Add three quarters of a pint of small beer, the same of water, a large onion stuck with cloves, some whole pepper, a slice of lemon, and a little salt. Stew it gently for an hour, close covered, and put to it a quart of gravy. Stew it gradually two hours longer, or till it is quite tender. Take out the hare, rub smooth half a spoonful of flour in a little gravy, add it to the sauce, and boil it up. Then add a little salt and cayenne, and put in the hare again. When heated through, serve it up in a tureen or deep dish, adding port wine if approved.
STEWED KNUCKLE OF VEAL. Take a knuckle of veal of about five pounds; wash it clean, and put it into a clean stewpan, with two quarts of water, a faggot of sweet herbs, two blades of mace, an onion stuck with three or four cloves, some whole pepper, and a little salt; put in a crust of the upper part of a loaf, cover it down close, and make it boil, then scum it very clean, and let it just simmer for full two hours. When you take it up, put your veal into the dish first, and strain your broth through a fine sieve over it, then take off all the fat very clean, and put some thin slices of French roll in your dish, and toasted bread cut in dice, in a plate. Serve it up hot. You may boil a quarter of a pound of rice in fair water, till it is very tender; then strain it off; and when you send your veal to table, lay your rice all over it.—Rice is better boiled by itself, for when you boil it with the meat, the scum is apt to discolour it, and make it eat greasy.
STEWED LOBSTER. Pick the meat out of the shell, put it into a dish that has a lamp, and rub it down with a bit of butter. Add two spoonfuls of any sort of gravy, one of soy or walnut ketchup, a little salt and cayenne, and a spoonful of port. A lobster thus stewed will have a very fine relish.
STEWED MUSCLES. Wash your muscles very clean, then put them into a large stewpan over a good fire; put over them a coarse wet cloth doubled: when they begin to boil, take up the cloth; if the shells are open, take them off the fire, and pick out the fish, beard them, and cut off the tongue: when you have picked about a quart, strain half a pint of the liquor to them, roll two ounces of butter in flour, add a glass of white wine, a little beaten mace, and squeeze in a little lemon juice; let them stew till of a proper thickness, put toasted sippets in the dish, pour in the muscles, and send them to table. Cockles may be done the same way.
STEWED MUSHROOMS. The large buttons are best, and the small flaps while the fur is still red. Rub the large buttons with salt and a piece of flannel, cut out the fur, and take off the skin from the others. Sprinkle them with salt, put them into a stewpan, and add some peppercorns. Let it simmer slowly till it is done, then put in a small bit of butter and flour, and two spoonfuls of cream. Give it one boil, and serve up the dish with sippets of bread.
STEWED MUTTON CHOPS. Take some chops of the best end of a loin of mutton, or some slices out of the middle part of a leg. Season them with pepper and salt, lay them into a stewpan with some sliced onion, and cover them with water and a little gravy. When done on one side, turn the steaks on the other, and thicken the gravy at the same time with some butter and flour. A little shalot or ketchup, or both, may be added at pleasure. Twenty or twenty-five minutes will stew them, but long stewing will make them hard.
STEWED ONIONS. Peel six large onions, fry them gently of a fine brown, but do not blacken them. Then put them into a small stewpan, with a little weak gravy, pepper and salt. Cover and stew them gently two hours, and let them be lightly floured at first.