In making soup, allow yourself plenty of time. Dumplings should be put
in about half an hour before the soup is done, and herbs a quarter of an
hour--vegetables, about an hour,--rice, twenty minutes. If herbs are put
in too soon, the flavor will fly off and be lost.
Chicken Soup.
Cut up the chicken; cut each joint, and let it boil an hour; make
dumplings of a pint of milk, an egg, a little salt and flour, stirred in
till quite stiff; drop this in, a spoonful at a time, while it is
boiling; stir in a little thickening, with enough pepper, salt and
parsley, to season the whole; let it boil a few minutes longer, and take
it up in a tureen. Chopped celery is a great improvement to chicken
soup; and new corn, cut off the cob, and put in when it is half done,
gives it a very nice flavor.
Brown Calf's Head Soup.
Scald and clean the head, and put it to boil with two gallons of water,
a shank of veal, three onions, two carrots, a little bacon, and a bunch
of sweet herbs. When they have boiled half an hour, take out the head
and shank of veal, and cut all the meat off the bones into pieces of two
inches square; let the soup boil half an hour longer, when strain it,
and put in the meat; season it with salt, cayenne and black pepper, and
cloves, if you like; thicken it with butter and browned flour, and let
it boil nearly an hour; put some fried force meat balls in the tureen,
and just before you pour out the soup, stir into it a table-spoonful of
sugar, browned in a frying pan, and half a pint of wine. This resembles
turtle soup.
Beef Shin Soup, Mutton Soup, &c.
Crack the shin in several pieces, and wash it through three waters;
put it in a pot of water four hours before dinner; when it begins to
boil, take off the scum as it risen, and keep it covered; an hour
before it is done, skim off all the fat, and put in potatoes, onions,
turnips, carrots, and cut cabbage, if you like it; either beat up
dumplings with eggs and milk, or roll them out of dough made as pie
crust; a few minutes before it is done, stir in thickening with
parsley, thyme, pepper and salt, and tomatoes, if they are in season;
then dish it for dinner.
A shin will make a good dinner for a large family, and will do to warm
up, if any is left. To eat pickles with it, or pour a little vinegar in
your plate, is an improvement.
Soup made of mutton, veal and lamb, does not require many vegetables;
carrots and potatoes are the most suitable. A shank of veal or mutton
will make a small pot of very good soup. Celery, cut fine, is very nice
seasoning.
Gumbo Soup.
Take two pounds fresh beef; put this in a dinner-pot, with two gallons
of water; after boiling two hours, throw in a quarter of a peck of ocra,
cut into small slices, and about a quart of ripe tomatoes, peeled and
cut up; slice four or five large onions; fry them brown, and dust in
while they are frying from your dredge box, several spoonsful of flour;
add these, with pepper, salt and parsley, or other herbs, to your taste,
about an hour before the soup is finished; it will require six hours
moderate boiling.
Another Way.
Cut up a large fat chicken; boil it in two gallons of water, adding at
the time you put in the chicken the same quantity of ocra, two large
onions cut fine; season with pepper, salt, thyme and parsley; and when
nearly done, drop in dumplings made of one egg, half a pint of rich
milk, and flour sufficient to make them so that they will drop from a
spoon. This soup requires from four to five hours moderate boiling. Just
before serving, take up the chicken, and after taking out all the bones,
return the chicken into the soup, and dish it up.
Pea Soup.
Leave a pint of peas in the pot, with the water they were boiled in;
make a thickening of flour, milk and butter, seasoned with salt, pepper,
parsley and thyme; toast two or three slices of bread; cut it up in the
tureen; and when the soup has boiled about ten minutes, pour it over.
Children are mostly fond of pea soup, and it seldom disagrees with them.
A few slices of fat ham will supply the place of butter.
Soup of Dried White Beans, &c.
Dried beans or peas should be soaked before boiling; they make very good
soup with a small piece of bacon or salt pork boiled with them; put them
to boil in plenty of water, and after they have boiled an hour, pour it
off, and put in cold water--and the meat or bones, and let them boil an
hour longer; stir in a little thickening, with pepper, salt, parsley and
thyme; mix up some dumplings, and drop in half an hour before the soup
is done. Where you have a large family, you should always be provided
with dried beans for winter use.
A Vegetable Soup.
Take an onion, a turnip, two pared potatoes, a carrot, a head of celery;
boil them in three pints of water till the vegetables are cooked; add a
little salt; have a slice of bread toasted and buttered, put it into a
bowl, and pour the soup over it. Tomatoes when in season form an
agreeable addition.
FISH, OYSTERS, &c.
To Bake a Rock Fish.
Rub the fish with salt, black pepper, and a dust of cayenne, inside and
out; prepare a stuffing of bread and butter, seasoned with pepper, salt,
parsley and thyme; mix an egg in it, fill the fish with this, and sew it
up or tie a string round it; put it in a deep pan, or oval oven and bake
it as you would a fowl. To a large fish add half a pint of water; you
can add more for the gravy if necessary; dust flour over and baste it
with butter. Any other fresh fish can be baked in the same way. A large
one will bake slowly in an hour and a half, small ones in half an hour.
To Stew a Rock Fish.
Rub the fish with salt and pepper, and a little cayenne on the inside;
put it in an oval stew-pan. To a fish that weighs six pounds, put a pint
of water; when it is about half done; season it well with salt and
pepper, and a little mace or cloves; rub a quarter of a pound of butter
in a half a tea-cup of flour, with a little parsley and thyme; stir this
in with a pint of oysters. Serve it with the gravy in the dish. A large
fish should be allowed an hour, small ones half an hour.
To Broil Shad.
Soak a salt shad a day or night previous to cooking, it is best to drain
an hour before you put it to the fire; if it hangs long exposed to the
air, it loses its flavor: grease the gridiron to keep it from sticking;
have good coals, and put the inside down first. Fresh shad is better to
be sprinkled with salt, an hour before it is put to broil; put a plate
over the top to keep the heat in. In broiling shad or other fresh fish
you should dust them with corn meal before you put them down.
To Bake a Fresh Shad.
Make a stuffing of bread, butter, salt, pepper and parsley; fill a large
shad with this, and bake it in a stove or oven.
To Fry Fresh Fish.
Have the fish well scalded, washed and drained; cut slits in the sides
of each; season them with salt and pepper, and roll them in corn flour;
have in your frying-pan hot lard or bacon drippings; if the fish have
been kept several days, dip them in egg before rolling them in corn
flour, to keep them from breaking; fry them light brown on both sides.
To Fry Clams.
After opening them as oysters, wash them in their own liquor and drain
then; make a batter of an egg, flour and pepper; dip them in this, and
fry them in butter.
To Stew Clams.
Strain the liquor and stew them in it for about twenty minutes; make a
thickening of flour, water and pepper; stir this in and let it boil
up; have some bread toasted and buttered in a deep dish, and pour the
clams over.
Clam soup may be made by putting an equal quantity of water with the
liquor, and putting in toasted bread, crackers or dumplings.
To Pot Fresh Herring.
Scale and wash them well; cut off the heads and fins, and season them
with salt, pepper and cloves; pack them neatly in a large jar, and pour
on enough cold vinegar to cover them; put a plate over the top of the
jar, and set it in a moderately warm oven, or on the top of a stove, in
a pan of hot water, for five or six hours; they will keep in a cool
place several weeks, and are an excellent relish. The jar or pan should
be of stone ware, or fire-proof yellow ware.
To Boil Salt Cod.
Put your fish to soak over night; change the water in the morning, and
let it stay till you put it on, which should be two hours before dinner;
keep it at scalding heat all the time, but do not let it boil, or it
will get hard; eat it with egg sauce or drawn butter. If you have any
cod fish left from dinner, mix it with mashed potatoes, and enough flour
to stick them together; season with pepper; make it into little cakes,
and fry them in ham drippings.
To Boil Salt Shad, Mackerel Or Herring.
Wash the fish from the pickle; put it in a frying-pan; cover it with
water, and let it boil fifteen minutes; take it up and drain it between
two plates; put a little butter over and send it hot to the table: or,
after boiling, you can flour, and fry it in drippings of any kind.
To Boil Salt Salmon.
Let salmon soak over night, and boil it slowly for two hours; eat it
with drawn butter. To pickle salmon after it has been boiled, heat
vinegar scalding hot, with whole peppers and cloves; cut the fish in
small square pieces; put it in a jar, and pour the vinegar over. Shad
may be done in the same way.
To Boil Fresh Fish.
After being well cleaned, rub the fish with salt, and pin it in a towel;
put it in a pot of boiling water, and keep it boiling fast;--a large
fish will take from half to three-quarters of an hour--a small one, from
fifteen to twenty minutes. A fat shad is very nice boiled, although rock
and bass are preferred generally; when done, take it up on a fish dish,
and cover it with egg sauce or drawn butter and parsley. Pickled
mushrooms and walnuts, and mushroom catsup, are good with boiled fish.
To Stew Terrapins.
Wash four terrapins in warm water; then throw them in a pot of boiling
water, which will kill them instantly; let them boil till the shells
crack; then take them out, and take off the bottom shell; cut each
quarter separate; take the gall from the liver; take out the eggs; put
the pieces in a stew-pan, pour in all the liquor, and cover them with
water; put in salt, cayenne, and black pepper, and a little mace; put in
a lump of butter the size of an egg, and let them stew for half an hour;
make a thickening of flour and water, which stir in a few minutes before
you take it up, with two glasses of wine; serve it in a deep covered
dish; put in the eggs just as you dish it.
Oyster Soup.
Strain the liquor from the oysters, and put it on to boil, with an equal
quantity of water; take off the scum as it rises; put in pepper, salt,
parsley, thyme and butter; stir in a thickening of flour and water;
throw in the oysters, and let them scald. If you have cream, put in half
a pint just before you take them up.
Another Way.
Strain the liquor from a gallon of oysters, and add to it an equal
quantity of water; put it on the fire, and boil and skim it before you
add the seasoning; then put in six large blades of mace, a little
cayenne, and black or white pepper; (the latter, on account of the
color, is preferable, as it is desirable to have the soup as white as
possible;) afterwards, permit all to boil together about five minutes;
then pour in the oysters and a quarter of a pound of butter, into which
a dessert-spoonful of wheat flour has been rubbed fine; keep this at
boiling heat until the oysters begin to look plump--when it is ready for
the table, and must be served up very hot. If you can procure a pint of
good cream, half the amount of butter will answer,--if you believe the
cream to be rather old, even if it seems to be sweet, add before it goes
into the soup, half a small tea-spoonful of soda, well mixed with it;
after you put in the cream, permit it to remain on the fire long enough
to arrive at boiling heat again, when it must be taken up, or it may
curdle; throw into the tureen a little finely cut parsley.
Scolloped Oysters.
Toast several slices of bread quite brown, and butter them on both
sides; take a baking dish, and put the toast around the sides, instead
of a crust.
Pour your oysters into the dish, and season, to your taste, with butter,
pepper and salt, adding mace or cloves.
Crumb bread on the top of the oysters, and bake it with a quick heat
about fifteen minutes.
To Fry Oysters.
Pick out the largest oysters and drain them; sprinkle them with pepper
and salt; beat up an egg, and dip them first in it, and then in pounded
crackers, and fry them in butter. It is a plainer way to dip them in
corn meal.
Oyster Fritters.
Make a thick batter with two eggs, some crumbs of bread and flour, and a
little milk; season this well with pepper and salt; have in a frying-pan
equal parts of lard and butter; drop in a spoonful of the batter and put
into it one large oyster, or two small ones, let them brown slowly, so
as not to burn; turn them carefully. This is a good way to have oysters
at breakfast.
To Stew Oysters.
Open them and throw them in a stew-pan, with a lump of butter; make a
thickening of flour and water, salt and pepper, and stir it in just as
the oysters boil; when they are done, take them up in a deep covered
dish, with buttered toast in the bottom.
A Rich Oyster Pie.
Strain off the liquor from the oysters, and put it on to boil, with some
butter, mace, nutmeg, pepper and salt; just as it boils, stir in a
thickening of milk and flour; put in the oysters, and stir them till
they are sufficiently stewed; then take them off, and put in the yelks
of two eggs, well beaten; do not put this in while it is boiling, or it
will curdle. Line a dish, not very deep, with puff paste; fill it with
white paper, or a clean napkin, to keep the top paste from falling in;
put on a lid of paste, and bake it. When done, take off the lid
carefully; take out the paper or napkin, and pour in the oysters. Send
it hot to table.
A Baltimore Oyster Pie.
Make a crust after the directions given for puff paste; grease the
bottom of a deep dish, cover it with paste; then season two quarts of
raw oysters, (without the liquor,) with spices to your taste, (some
preferring nutmeg, mace, cayenne pepper,--others, black pepper
alone,) add butter and a heaped tea-cup of grated bread; put all
together in the dish; then cover it with your paste, cut in strips,
and crossed, or ornamented as your fancy dictates; a pound of butter
to two quarts of oysters makes a rich pie; if the oysters are fine,
less butter will answer.
A pie of this size will bake in three-quarters of an hour, if the oven
is in good order; if the heat is not quick allow it an hour.
If in baking, the crust is likely to become too brown, put a piece of
paper doubled over it, and the light color will be retained; when taken
from the oven, if it should look dry, pour some of the liquor that was
drained from the oysters in the dish, having previously strained and
boiled it.
As paste always looks more beautiful when just from the oven,
arrange your dinner so that the pie may be placed on the table
immediately it is done.
Plain Oyster Pie.
Take from the shell as many oysters as you want to put in the pie;
strain the liquor, put it with them over the fire and give them one
boil; take off the scum, put in, if you wish to make a small pie, a
quarter of a pound of butter, as much flour mixed in water as will
thicken it when boiled, and mace, pepper, and salt to your taste; lay a
paste in a deep dish, put in the oysters and cover them with paste; cut
a hole in the middle, ornament it any way you please, and bake it. A
shallow pie will bake in three-quarters of an hour.
Oyster Sauce.
Plump the oysters for a few minutes over the fire; take them out and
stir into the liquor some flour and butter mixed together, with a little
mace and whole pepper, and salt to your taste; when it has boiled long
enough, throw in the oysters, and add a glass of white wine, just as you
take it up. This is a suitable sauce for boiled fowls.
To Pickle 100 Oysters.
Drain off the liquor from the oysters, wash them and put to them a
table-spoonful of salt, and a tea-cup of vinegar; let them simmer over
the fire about ten minutes, taking off the scum as it rises; then take
out the oysters, and put to their own liquor a table-spoonful of whole
black pepper, and a tea-spoonful of mace and cloves; let it boil five
minutes, skim, and pour it over the oysters in a jar.
Oysters Pickled another way.
Wash and drain the oysters, and put them in salt and water, that
will bear an egg; let them scald till plump, and put them in a glass
jar, with some cloves and whole peppers, and when cold cover them
with vinegar.
To Brown Oysters in their own Juice.
Take a quart of large oysters, wash them in their own juice, drain and
dip them in the yelk of eggs; heat butter in a frying-pan, and after
seasoning them with pepper and salt, put them in separately; when they
are brown on both sides, draw them to one side of the pan; strain the
liquor, and put it in with a piece of butter and flour enough to
thicken it.
A Dish of Poached Eggs.
Have ready a kettle of boiling water, pour it in a pan or speeder, which
is set on coals; have the eggs at hand; put a little salt in the water,
and break them in, one at a time, till you get all in; let them remain
till the white is set, and take them out with an egg-spoon, and put on a
dish that has buttered toast on it.
Fried Eggs.
Slice and fry any kind of bacon, dish it; have the eggs ready in a
dish, and pour them into the gravy; when done, take them up and lay
them on the meat.
Fried Eggs another way.
Have your lard or butter boiling hot; break in one egg at a time; throw
the hot fat over them with an egg slice, until white on the top; slip
the slice under and take them out whole, and lay them on the dish or
meat without breaking; season with salt.
Omelet.
Beat six or eight eggs, with some chopped parsley and a little salt;
have the pan or speeder nicely washed; put in a quarter of a pound of
butter, when it is hot, pour in the eggs; stir it with a spoon till
it begins to form; when it is of a light-brown on the under side it
is done; turn it out on a plate, and send to table immediately.
Grated bread, soaked in cream, put in the omelet, some think an
improvement. The dripping of a nice ham, some persons use for omelet
instead of butter.
To Boil Eggs.
Have the water boiling, and look at your watch as you put them in; two
minutes and a half will cook them to please most persons; if you want
them very soft, two minutes will be sufficient, or if less soft three
minutes. If you wish them hard, as for lettuce, let them boil ten
minutes. Spoons that have been used in eating eggs should be put in
water immediately, as the egg tarnishes them.