TO CRISP PARSLEY.
Wash some branches of young parsley well, drain them from the water, and swing them in a clean cloth until they are quite dry; place them on a sheet of writing paper in a Dutch oven, before a brisk fire, and keep them frequently turned until they are quite crisp. They will become so in from six to eight minutes.
FRIED PARSLEY.
When the parsley has been prepared as for crisping, and is quite dry, throw it into plenty of lard or butter, which is on the point of boiling; take it up with a skimmer the instant it is crisp, and drain it on a cloth spread upon a sieve reversed, and placed before the fire.
MILD MUSTARD.
Mustard for instant use should be mixed with milk, to which a spoonful or two of very thin cream may be added.
MUSTARD THE COMMON WAY.
The great art of mixing mustard is to have it perfectly smooth, and of a proper consistency. The liquid with which it is moistened should be added to it in small quantities, and the mustard should be well rubbed, and beaten with a spoon. Mix half a teaspoonful of salt with two ounces of the flour of mustard, and stir to them by degrees sufficient boiling water to reduce it to the appearance of a thick batter: do not put it into the mustard-glass until it is cold. Some persons like a half-teaspoonful of sugar in the finest powder mixed with it. It ought to be sufficiently diluted always to drop easily from the spoon; and to bring it to this state more than a quarter of a pint, and less than half a pint of liquid will be needed for four ounces of the best Durham mustard.
For Tartar mustard see Chapter [VII].