CRAYFISH SOUP.
Ingredients.—50 crayfish, ¼ lb. of butter, 6 anchovies, the crumb of 1 French roll, a little lobster-spawn, seasoning to taste, 2 quarts of medium stock, or fish stock. Mode.—Shell the crayfish, and put the fish between two plates until they are wanted; pound the shells in a mortar with the butter and anchovies; when well beaten, add a pint of stock, and simmer for ¾ of an hour. Strain it through a hair sieve, put the remainder of the stock to it, with the crumb of the roll; give it one boil, and rub it through a tammy, with the lobster-spawn. Put in the fish, but do not let the soup boil after it has been rubbed through the tammy. If necessary, add seasoning. Time.—1½ hour. Average cost, 2s. 3d. or 1s. 9d. per quart. Sufficient for 8 persons. Seasonable from January to July.
CREAM à la VALOIS.
Ingredients.—4 sponge-cakes, jam, ¾ pint of cream, sugar to taste, the juice of ½ lemon, ¼ glass of sherry, 1¼ oz. of isinglass. Mode.—Cut the sponge-cakes into thin slices, place two together with preserve between them, and pour over them a small quantity of sherry mixed with a little brandy. Sweeten and flavour the cream with the lemon-juice and sherry; add the isinglass, which should be dissolved in a little water, and beat up the cream well. Place a little in an oiled mould; arrange the pieces of cake in the cream, then fill the mould with the remainder, let it cool, and turn it out on a dish. By oiling the mould the cream will have a much smoother appearance, and will turn out more easily than when merely dipped in cold water. Average cost, 3s. 6d. Sufficient to fill a 1½ pint mould. Seasonable at any time.
CREAM CHEESE.
Cream cheese should be served on a d’oyley, and garnished either with water-cresses or parsley; of the former, a plentiful supply should be given, as they add greatly to the appearance of the dish, besides improving the flavour of the cheese.
CREAM, Devonshire.
The milk should stand 24 hours in the winter, half that time when the weather is very warm. The milkpan is then set on a stove, and should there remain until the milk is quite hot; but it must not boil, or there will be a thick skin on the surface. When it is sufficiently done the undulations on the surface look thick, and small rings appear. The time required for scalding cream depends on the size of the pan and the heat of the fire, but the slower it is done the better. The pan should be placed in the dairy when the cream is sufficiently scalded, and skimmed the following day. This cream is so much esteemed that it is sent to the London markets in small square tins, and is exceedingly delicious eaten with fresh fruit. In Devonshire, butter is made from this cream, and is usually very firm.
CREAM, Italian.
Ingredients.—½ pint of milk, ½ pint of cream, sugar to taste, 1 oz. of isinglass, 1 lemon, the yolks of 4 eggs. Mode.—Put the cream and milk into a saucepan, with sugar to sweeten, and the lemon-rind. Boil until the milk is well flavoured, then strain it into a basin and add the beaten yolks of eggs. Put this mixture into a jug, place the jug in a saucepan of boiling water over the fire, and stir the contents until they thicken, but do not allow them to boil. Take the cream off the fire, stir in the lemon-juice and isinglass, which should be melted, and whip well; fill a mould, place it in ice if at hand, and, when set, turn it out on a dish, and garnish as taste may dictate. The mixture may be whipped and drained, and then put into small glasses, when this mode of serving is preferred. Time.—From 5 to 8 minutes to stir the mixture in the jug. Average cost, with the best isinglass, 2s. 6d. Sufficient to fill 1½ pint mould. Seasonable at any time.