Tourte.—Tart. Fruit pie.
Trousser.—To truss a bird; to put together the body and tie the wings and thighs, in order to round it for roasting or boiling, each being tied then with packthread, to keep it in the required form.
Vol-au-vent.—A rich crust of very fine puff-paste, which may be filled with various delicate ragoûts or fricassees, of fish, flesh, or fowl. Fruit may also be inclosed in a vol-au-vent.
FRITTERS, Indian.
Ingredients.—3 tablespoonfuls of flour, boiling water, the yolks of 4 eggs, the whites of 2, hot lard or clarified dripping, jam. Mode.—Put the flour into a basin, and pour over it sufficient boiling water to make it into a stiff paste, taking care to stir and beat it well, to prevent it getting lumpy. Leave it a little time to cool, and then break into it (without beating them at first) the yolks of 4 eggs and the whites of 2, and stir and beat all well together. Have ready some boiling lard or butter; drop a dessertspoonful of batter in at a time, and fry the fritters of a light brown. They should rise so much as to be almost like balls. Serve on a dish, with a spoonful of preserve or marmalade dropped in between each fritter. This is an excellent dish for a hasty addition to dinner, if a guest unexpectedly arrives, it being so easily and quickly made, and it is always a great favourite. Time.—From 5 to 8 minutes to fry the fritters. Average cost, exclusive of the jam, 5d. Sufficient for 4 or 5 persons. Seasonable at any time.
FRITTERS, Plain.
Ingredients.—3 oz. of flour, 3 eggs, 1/3 pint of milk. Mode.—Mix the flour to a smooth batter with a small quantity of the milk; stir in the eggs, which should be well whisked, and then the remainder of the milk; beat the whole to a perfectly smooth batter, and should it be found not quite thin enough, add two or three tablespoonfuls more milk. Have ready a frying-pan, with plenty of boiling lard in it; drop in rather more than a tablespoonful at a time of the batter and fry the fritters a nice brown, turning them when sufficiently cooked on one side. Drain them well from the greasy moisture by placing them upon a piece of blotting-paper before the fire; dish them on a white d’oyley, sprinkle over them sifted sugar, and send to table with them a cut lemon and plenty of pounded sugar. Time.—From 6 to 8 minutes. Average cost, 4d. Sufficient for 3 or 4 persons. Seasonable at any time.
FRUIT, to Bottle Fresh. (Very useful in Winter.)
Ingredients.—Fresh fruits, such as currants, raspberries, cherries, gooseberries, plums of all kinds, damsons, &c.; wide-mouthed glass bottles, new corks to fit them tightly. Mode.—Let the fruit be full grown, but not too ripe, and gathered in dry weather. Pick it off the stalks without bruising or breaking the skin, and reject any that is at all blemished: if gathered in the damp, or if the skins are cut at all, the fruit will mould. Have ready some perfectly dry glass bottles, and some nice new soft corks or bungs; burn a match in each bottle, to exhaust the air, and quickly place the fruit in to be preserved; gently cork the bottles, and put them in a very cool oven, where let them remain until the fruit has shrunk away a fourth part. Then take the bottles out; do not open them, but immediately beat the corks in tight, cut off the tops, and cover them with melted resin. If kept in a dry place, the fruit will remain good for months; and on this principally depends the success of the preparation; for if stored away in a place that is in the least damp, the fruit will soon spoil. Time.—From 5 to 6 hours in a very slow oven.