Wash in several waters two pounds of the best Carolina rice; when very clean put it into a stewpan, with two quarts of water, half a pound of butter, two large onions, and half an ounce of salt, set on a fire, and when boiling place it to simmer very gently on a slow fire for one hour; when done it must appear quite dry and tender to the finger, take out the onions and mix the rice well with a wooden spoon; if sufficiently done it will clog together, then put it in a mortar and pound it well till it forms but one mass, butter a baking-sheet, lay the rice upon it and you will be able to form it into any shape you please, but for flancs form it of an oval shape in imitation of a raised pie, (should the rice stick to your fingers dip them in cold water,) when of a proper shape and well elevated cut a piece of carrot or turnip in the form of a wedge, with which make impressions all round according to fancy, melt some butter, and with a paste-brush rub it all over the rice, put it in a very hot oven and bake it a light yellow colour; if well made it will retain its shape, and any design you may have impressed upon it; when well done make an incision with your knife half an inch from the edge all round, and empty it to within half an inch from the bottom; it is then ready to serve with any of the ingredients as directed in the following.
No. 627. Casserole de Riz aux queues d’Agneau.
Procure six house lambs’ tails, blanch them ten minutes in boiling water, then cut them in pieces an inch long; put a quarter of a pound of chopped suet in a stewpan, with two onions, a carrot cut up small, one turnip, three bay-leaves, six cloves, and a little thyme; pass the whole upon a slow fire ten minutes, add two tablespoonfuls of flour (mix well), two quarts of white stock, and a little salt; then add the tails, let simmer gently forty minutes or more till tender, take them out and drain upon a clean cloth, put into another stewpan a quart of white sauce and half a pint of white stock, reduce till rather thick, then add the tails, with twenty heads of mushrooms, a little chopped parsley, pepper, and salt, add the liaison from two yolks of eggs and a gill of cream; shake it over the fire, but do not let it boil, finish with a little lemon-juice, pour it in the casserole and serve.
No. 628. Casserole de Riz au queues de Veau.
Scald and cut four calves’ tails into pieces an inch long, dress them precisely as the lambs’ tails in the previous article, only allowing them longer to stew, terminate and serve as in the last.
No. 629. Casserole de Riz aux pieds d’Agneau.
Procure twelve lambs’ feet, throw them into boiling water for two minutes, extract the long bone by holding the feet in a cloth and moving the bone gently till it leaves the socket; when they are all done proceed as for the lambs’ tails (No. 627), boiling them rather longer, sauce and serve precisely the same.
No. 630. Casserole de Riz au pieds de mouton.
Procure ten small sheeps’ feet, dress them precisely as the lambs’ feet, but of course they will take more time; when tender divide each foot in two lengthwise, sauce and serve as directed for queues d’agneau (No. 627). Sheeps’ feet, commonly called sheeps’ trotters, are seldom used in this country to any real advantage, although in Paris they have made the fortunes of more than one restaurateur; one house was so famed for them, that its proprietor named it Restaurant du Pied de Mouton. About sixteen years ago epicures were seen from all parts of Paris trotting after a dinner of trotters, until the proprietor saved an immense fortune; but they are even now much thought of in Paris, both for their lightness and delicacy, and are always to be had in any of the first houses.
For my part I really think they deserve a better fate than that of being trotted about from bar to bar in palaces certainly containing the choicest spirits, and to be exposed on a cloth (semi-blanche) in a basket, and from thence to the honest, but not very delicate fingers of a London coalheaver or dustman; I must, however, observe that it is not my desire to deprive them of their luxury, but a mere wish to find a resting-place for the unfortunate trotters upon the tables of the affluent in this country, where they would be eaten and admired for their delicacy.