Half-a-pound of calf’s liver and as much good ham should be baked in the oven in a covered vessel until perfectly tender. Pound these together in a mortar to a smooth paste. Add a large tablespoonful of finely-powdered herbs—thyme, marjoram, sage, savoury, and tarragon—all these, or as many of them as possible. Add also cayenne pepper, salt, and a few chopped mushrooms. Mix very thoroughly, and place little balls of this and quarters of hard-boiled eggs at intervals with the meat, then put in a little strong gravy, place the top crust on, and bake the pie in a baker’s oven until of a good deep brown. When eaten cold this is uncommonly good.
A breakfast dish met with in Yorkshire, but not, I believe, elsewhere, is a Covered Apple Tart, and very good it is, either hot or cold. The crust would be ordinary short or flaky paste rolled out to about a quarter of an inch thick. On the lower crust a thick layer of stewed, sweetened, and spiced apple is placed, the top crust put on, the edges crimped together, and melted butter brushed over all, then well baked.
Hominy cakes with honey, and oatmeal batter-cakes, are delicious for breakfast also.
We should not omit also to have plenty of roasted apples at all times while they are so good, and the smaller pears and apples will be very good eating indeed if they are baked in a stone jar in a baker’s oven.
A good dinner menu for October would be the following:—
Potato Soup, with Grated Cheese.
Gurnet, Baked and Stuffed.
Roast Loin of Pork. Apple Sauce.
Brocoli and Baked Potatoes.
Wild Duck. Orange Salad. Cranberry Jelly.
Cabinet Pudding.
Cheese. Biscuits. Butter.
Potato Soup.—Peel, boil and mash half-a-dozen potatoes, and slice up a small Spanish onion into a little butter, which should cook while the potatoes are boiling. Put all together, and add a pint of boiling milk, a spoonful of flour mixed smooth with milk, and boil together. Season with pepper and salt, and if not already too thick add a little cream. Serve very hot with grated cheese in a separate dish.
The Gurnet are stuffed with a mixture of chopped shallot, parsley, herbs, breadcrumbs, butter, seasoning, and an egg. Grate breadcrumbs over, and pour on them a little oiled butter, and bake in a fairly quick oven for about twenty minutes or half an hour. Serve in the same dish if it is a nice one.
Wild Duck require very quick roasting and frequent basting. Garnish them with a lemon cut in quarters, and serve any gravy that may have run from them in a tureen.
Orange Salad is made by slicing peeled oranges, freeing them from pips, and covering the slices with a little sugar.