Two dozen fresh eggs; 1 gallon rich milk; 11⁄2 pounds powdered sugar; 2 pints cognac brandy, or Santa Cruz rum—or 1⁄2 pint cognac and 1⁄2 pint Jamaica, or Santa Cruz rum. Break the eggs carefully, separating the whites from the yolks; add the sugar to the latter, and with a strong spoon beat until very light, adding gradually 2 dessert spoonfuls of powdered mace or nutmeg. Next, add the liquor, pouring in slowly, stirring actively at the same time; after which add the milk in like manner. Meanwhile—having whipped the whites of the eggs with an egg-beater into a light froth—pour the egg-nog into a bowl, add the white froth, and decorate with crimson sugar or nutmeg, and serve. The foregoing proportions will be sufficient to make fourteen pints of very superior egg-nog.
Clayton's Popular Sandwich Paste.
Take 2 pounds of Whittaker's Star ham, in small pieces—2⁄3 lean and 1⁄3 fat—the hock portion of the ham is best for this purpose. Have ready two fresh calves tongues, boiled and skinned nicely, and cut like the ham. Put these in a kettle, along with 2 good-sized onions, and cover with cold water, boiling slowly until quite tender; when add 1 pound of either fresh or canned tomatoes, stirring for half-an-hour, adding a little hot water, if in danger of burning. Add to the mixture, at the same time, these spices: plenty of best mustard, and a little ground cloves, along with Worcestershire or Challenge sauce, allowing the mixture to simmer five minutes. When cool enough, pour into a wooden bowl, and after chopping fine, pound the mixture well, while it is warm, with a potato-masher. After the mass has cooled it will spread like butter. Should additional seasoning be desired, it can be worked in at any desired time. If not rich enough to suit some palates, one-fourth of a pound best butter may be worked in.
The bread used for the sandwiches must be quite cold and perfectly fresh—cutting carefully in thin slices—using for this purpose a long, thin-bladed and quite sharp knife. Take a thin shaving from the bottom of the loaf, then from the top an inch-wide slice, after removing the crust. Care must be taken to cut without either tearing or pressing the bread. Spread on one side of each slice—as if using butter—and after joining the slices, cut the same to suit the taste.
[As the best bread is the only kind to be used in making sandwiches—without wishing to make invidious distinctions—I must say that Engleberg furnishes from his bakery (on Kearney street), the best I have ever used for this purpose, as it cuts without breaking, and does not dry so soon as other breads I have made use of.]
Welsh Rabbit.
To prepare Welsh rabbit, or rare-bit—both names being used to designate this popular and appetizing dish, which has ever been a favorite with gourmands and good livers, both ancient and modern—take one-half pound of best cheese—not, however, over nine months old—Davidson's, Gilroy, California, or White's, Herkimer County, New York, and cut in small pieces. Put over a slow fire, in a porcelain-lined kettle; when it begins to melt pour in three tablespoonfuls rich milk or cream, and a little good mustard. Stir from the time the cheese begins to melt, to prevent scorching. Have ready a quite hot dish; cover the bottom with toast, buttered upon both sides, upon which pour the melted cheese, spreading evenly over. If you prefer, you may use as a condiment a little mustard, pepper or any favorite sauce. This is a dish that must be eaten as soon as taken from the fire.
Delicate Waffles.
Take 1⁄2 pound butter; 1⁄2 pound fine sugar; 9 eggs; 3 pints of milk; 11⁄2 ounces of best baking powder, and 21⁄4 pounds sifted flour. Beat the butter and sugar to a cream; add the yolks of the eggs, the milk, and half the flour; mix well, with the whites of the eggs, beaten to a staunch snow, and add the remainder of the flour. Bake in waffle irons, well greased and heated. When baked, the tops may be dusted well with fine sugar, or with a mixture of sugar and powdered cinnamon.