Chop beef suet fine, and to a pint of Indian meal, take a table-spoonful
of the suet and a little salt; pour on boiling water enough to make a
stiff dough, work it well, make into round cakes, and boil in clear
water. These are good when vegetables are scarce, to eat with meat, or
as a dessert with sugar or molasses.
Corn Dumplings.
When you boil corned beef, new bacon, or pork, you can make dumplings,
by taking some grease out of the pot, with some of the water, and
pouring it hot on a quart of Indian meal, mix and work it well, (it will
not require salt,) make it into little round cakes; (they should be
stiff, or they will boil to pieces;) take out the meat when it is done,
and boil the dumplings in the same water for half an hour. They may be
eaten with molasses, and make a good common dessert.
Pan Cakes.
Take five eggs to a quart of milk, make a thin batter with flour, have a
little hot lard in the frying-pan, and pour in enough batter to cover
the bottom; turn and fry the other side; if eggs are scarce, a
tea-spoonful of salaeratus will supply the place of two. Eat them with
wine and sugar.
Water Pan Cakes--a cheap Dessert.
Stir a quart of warm water in sufficient flour to make a batter of
moderate thickness; dissolve a tea-spoonful of salaeratus, with a little
salt, into a tea-cupful of butter-milk, or sour cream; beat it well; put
a little lard in a frying-pan, and when it is hot, fry them. They are
much better to be eaten hot, with sauce, sugar and cream, or any thing
you may fancy. This is a very cheap dessert, and has been thought nearly
equal to pan cakes made with milk and eggs.
Apple Fritters.
Allow four eggs to a quart of milk; make a thick batter with flour, and
beat it well; stir in a quart of apples, chopped fine: have a frying-pan
with hot lard, and drop a spoonful in a place; fry them light brown on
both sides, and eat with sugar and wine, or sweet cider.
Rice Fritters.
To a pint of rice flour add a tea-spoonful of salt and a pint of boiling
water; beat four eggs and stir them in, have hot lard in a frying-pan,
and fry them as other fritters.
Indian Meal Fritters.
Take a quart of butter-milk, (in which dissolve a tea-spoonful of
salaeratus,) stir in meal to make a batter of suitable thickness, a
tea-spoonful of salt and two eggs; beat all well together, and fry in
hot lard, as other fritters. If you like, you can put in chopped apples.
Eat with sugar or molasses.
Snow Fritters.
Take of light new fallen snow, three table-spoonsful for every egg you
would otherwise use--that is, if you would wish the quantity that three
eggs would make in the usual way, take nine table-spoonsful of snow,
and stir in a quart of rich milk that has been setting in a very cold
place, so that it will not melt the snow, and destroy its lightness; put
in a tea-spoonful of salt, and enough wheat flour to make a stiff
batter; have ready a frying-pan with boiling lard, and drop a spoonful
in a place as with other fritters, and set the remainder in a cold place
till the first are done. Eat them with wine sauce, or sugar, butter and
cream, or any thing you fancy.
Rice Flummery.
Rice that is ground coarse, in a hand-mill, is much better for making
flummery than the flour you buy: put three pints of milk to boil, mix
with water two tea-cups of ground rice, and stir it in the milk when it
boils; while the milk is cold, put in it two dozen peach kernels,
blanched, and rolled with a bottle; wet your moulds with cold cream or
water; keep stirring the rice till it is thick, when pour it out in the
moulds; just before dinner turn them out on dishes, have cream, sugar
and nutmeg mixed, to eat with it.
Rice Milk.
Take a tea-cupful of rice, boil it till about half done, and let all
the water be evaporated; then add the milk, and beat an egg with some
flour, and stir in; let it boil n few minutes, and season with sugar
and nutmeg.
Wine Sauce for Puddings.
Mix a spoonful of flour in a tea-cup of water, with two spoonsful of
sugar and one of butter; stir this in half a pint of boiling water; let
it boil a few minutes, when add a glass of wine and some nutmeg.
White Sauce.
Take half a pound of powdered white sugar, and quarter of a pound of
butter, beat them well together with a glass of wine, and grate in half
a nutmeg. A little currant jelly is preferred by some in this sauce
instead of wine.
Cream Sauce.
Boil half a pint of cream, thicken it a very little, and put in a lump
of butter; sweeten it to your taste, and after it gets cold add a glass
of white wine; this is good to eat with boiled rice, plain pudding, or
apple dumplings.
Molasses Sauce.
Put half a pint of molasses to boil in a skillet, with a piece of butter
the size of an egg; when it has boiled a few minutes, pour in a tea-cup
of cream, and grate in half a nutmeg; this is the most economical way of
making sauce.
Egg Sauce.
Take the whites of three eggs and the yelks of two, beat them till
very light, and add a large table-spoonful of butter ready creamed,
with sugar and nutmeg to your taste; boil three glasses of wine, and
pour over the other ingredients, put it over the fire, and let it
boil two minutes, stirring all the time. This is nice sauce for any
kind of pudding.
Cherry Toast.
Stone and stew a quart of ripe cherries, sweeten them, place some slices
of buttered toast in a deep dish, and put the stewed cherries over them.
A little powdered cinnamon or grated nutmeg may be put on the toast.
Apple Custard.
Lay a crust in your pie plates, slice apples thin and half fill the
plates, pour over a custard made of four eggs to a quart of milk,
sweeten and season it; bake it slowly.
Custard baked in Cups.
Beat up five eggs with two heaped spoonsful of sugar, mix these with a
quart of rich milk and a little nutmeg; fill the cups, pour water in the
bottom of a dutch-oven or dripping-pan, and set them in and bake them
till thick.
Boiled Custard.
Put on to boil a quart of new milk; have ready a dozen peach kernels,
scalded, peeled, and rubbed fine with a bottle, beat five or six eggs,
with some sugar, and when the milk boils stir them in with the kernels;
keep stirring till it thickens, but do not let it boil, or it will
curdle; then take it off the fire, pour it in a pitcher, and continue to
stir till it is nearly cold, when pour it into your cups, and grate
nutmeg over the top of each. If you wish to have it flavored with lemon,
boil some peel with the milk. This custard may be put in a glass bowl,
and an island on the top.
Cold Custard.
Sweeten half a gallon of milk, put into it a table-spoonful of rennet
wine, and let it stand in a warm place till it begins to come, when it
should be set in cold water till dinner time; just as you take it to
table, pour some cream on it, and grate nutmeg over the top.
Cream Custard.
To a pint of thin cream, take one egg, and beat and season as other
custard; bake it in a plate with paste; this quantity is sufficient
for one large plate, and is more delicate than custard made in the
usual way.
Ice Custard with Vanilla.
Boil three pints of rich milk with as much vanilla as will give it a
good flavor; sweeten it to your taste; have ready four eggs well beaten,
pour the boiling milk on them, and keep stirring till cool; when put it
to freeze.
Custard with Raisins.
Stone and cut a tea-cup of raisins, put them in a quart of milk; when it
boils stir in five eggs well beaten, with two table-spoonsful of sugar,
and a little lemon peel; keep stirring till it boils again, then take it
off the fire, and stir till nearly cold; when put it in cups, or in a
large bowl; beat the whites of three eggs with sugar, and when quite
cold put them on the top of the custard.
To Boil Custard in Water.
Beat the eggs, sugar and seasoning together, and put it in a pitcher or
nice stone jar; put in the milk and stir it well together; set the
pitcher in a pot of boiling water, and stir till it is cooked, when take
the pitcher out and stir till nearly cool. Custard should never be
boiled or baked two much--a minute too long will sometimes spoil it.
Whips.
Grate the peel of a lemon in a pint of cream, sweeten it with loaf
sugar, and whip it well; beat the whites of three eggs and mix with it;
put apple jelly, seasoned with lemon, in the bottom of your glasses, and
as the froth rises put it on the top of the jelly.
Trifle.
Put slices of sponge cake or Naples biscuit in the bottom of a deep
glass dish; on this put slices of preserved citron, or apples preserved
with lemon; pour over this a boiled custard, and on the top put a whip
made by the foregoing receipt.
Floating Island.
Beat the whites of five eggs till the beater will stand up in them; then
add, a little at a time, four spoonsful of powdered loaf-sugar, and
currant jelly, or preserved syrup of any kind; put rich milk in the
bottom of a glass, or china bowl, and put the island on the top. In
making floating island, you should allow the whites of six eggs to six
persons. You can have very good custards at the same time with the yelks
of the eggs.
Apple Float.
To a quart of apples, slightly stewed and well mashed, put the whites of
three eggs, well beaten, and four table-spoons heaping full of loaf
sugar, heat them together for fifteen minutes, and eat with rich milk
and nutmeg.
Carrageen or Irish Moss Blancmange.
Wash in three waters half an ounce of Carrageen moss; drain and put it
in two quarts of new milk, let it boil for a few minutes, strain it in
a pitcher, wet the moulds, and pour it in while hot; let it stand till
it becomes thick, when it may be eaten with sugar and cream, seasoned
with peach or rose water, or with a lemon rolled in the sugar. Some
prefer seasoning the blancmange before putting it in the moulds. It
will keep in a cool place two days, and is better to be made the day
before it is eaten.
To Keep Suet for several Months.
Chop the suet you wish to preserve until summer as fine as for mince
pies or puddings, then add a table-spoonful of salt to three
table-spoonsful of suet; mix all well together, and put it in jars. Keep
it tied up close, as exposure to the air makes it strong. It should be
soaked an hour before you wish to use it, to remove the salt taste.
Skim Curds.
Put to boil a gallon of sweet milk; when it fairly boils, pour in a
quart of butter-milk; in a few minutes the curd will rise, which skim
off and set by, to cool for dessert; season it as you help to it at
table, with cream and sugar to the taste.
Whey Skim Curds.
Boil the whey, and put in a pint of sour butter-milk; when the curds
rise to the top take them off, and set them in a cold place; they make a
nice dessert to eat with sugar, cream and nutmeg.
Cheese Curds.
Put to boil a gallon of skim milk, stir into it two spoonsful of rennet
wine; when it turns, dip up the curds and set them away to cool; eat
them with sweetened cream and nutmeg.
Rennet Wine for cold Custards or Curds.
Rub the salt from a nicely dried rennet, and cut it up; put it in a
bottle, and fill it up with good wine. If care is taken to keep it
filled up, it will last for several years, to make cold custard and
cheese curds.
To Preserve Milk to use at Sea.
To every quart of new milk put a pound of loaf-sugar; let it boil very
slowly in an iron pot, over clear coals, till it is as thick as thin
cream--stirring it all the time, pour it out in a pitcher, and stir till
it is cold; put in bottles, cork it tight, and put sealing wax over the
corks; it must be shaken before it is used.
SYRUPS, ICES, &c.
Lemon Syrup.
Clarify a pound of loaf or Havana sugar, or if you wish to make a large
quantity, allow half a pint of water to every pound of sugar, and boil
it, skimming it when the scum arises, until it is of the consistency of
honey; then to every pound of sugar, add an ounce of tartaric acid. If
you do not find it sour enough, after it has stood two or three days,
add more of the acid. If you like the taste of oil of lemon, add a few
drops. A small quantity of the syrup prepared in this way, poured into
cold water, makes a refreshing drink in warm weather.
Lemon Syrup for Seasoning.
Pare the lemons very thin, and put the peel to boil in a quart of water;
cover it, to keep in the flavor; put two pounds of loaf sugar to the
peel of a dozen lemons, and boil it till it becomes a rich syrup; keep
it corked up in a bottle, to season ice cream.
Syrup of Lemon Juice.
Dissolve three pounds of loaf-sugar in three quarts of water, squeeze
and strain lemons enough to make a quart of juice; boil it slowly with
the water and sugar, and take off the scum as it rises; when it is quite
clear, strain and bottle it. It will supply the place of fresh lemons
when they cannot be had.
Pine Apple Syrup.
Pare the pine apples, cut them in pieces, and to three pounds of pine
apple put a quart of water; cover it and let it boil till very soft,
when mash and strain it; to a pint of this juice put a pound of sugar,
boil it till it is a rich syrup, and keep it corked up in bottles to
season ice cream.
Almond Cream.
Take a pound of blanched almonds, and roll them fine with a bottle; mix
them with a few drops of rose-water, and stir them into a quart of cream;
sweeten it with loaf-sugar, put it in a pot over the fire, and stir it
till it thickens.
Tincture of Vanilla.
Vanilla beans, well bruised, half an ounce; French brandy, one gill; let
it stand one week, and it will be fit for use. Keep it corked tight.
This article will keep any length of time, and is very convenient for
seasoning ices.
Superior Receipt for Ice Cream.
One gallon of cream, two pounds rolled loaf-sugar, one tea-spoonful of
oil of lemon. If for vanilla cream; use a table-spoonful of tincture
of vanilla, two eggs beaten; mix well and freeze in the usual way. The
seasoning should be well mixed with the sugar, before it is added to
the cream; by this means, it will be all flavored alike. This has been
much admired.
Coloring for ice cream, may be made in this way: take of powdered
cochineal, cream of tartar and powdered alum, each two drachms; of salts
of tartar, ten grains; pour upon the powders half a pint of boiling
water; let it stand for two hours to settle, or filter through paper.
Use as much of this infusion as will give the desired shade. This
produces a brilliant pink color.
Freezing Ice Cream.
Take a bucket of ice and pound it fine; mix with it two quarts of salt;
put your cream in a freezer; cover it close, and immerse it in the
bucket; draw the ice round it, so as to touch every part; after it has
been in a few minutes, put in a spoon, and stir it from the edge to the
centre. When the cream is put in a mould, close it and move it in the
ice, as you cannot use a spoon without waste.
Ice Cream with Lemon.
Roll two fresh lemons, in as much powdered loaf-sugar as will sweeten a
quart of cream; if you wish the juice, you can put some in with more
sugar; freeze it. A good plan is to rub the lemon on a large lump of
sugar, and then use the sugar in sweetening the cream.
Ice Cream with Fruit.
Mix the juice of the fruit with as much sugar as will be wanted before
you add the cream, which need not be very rich.
Pokeberry Juice to Stain Ices.
Mash and strain ripe pokeberries; to each pint of juice put a pound of
sugar; boil them together till it becomes a jelly; when cold put it in
a jar and tie it close; use a small quantity of this to stain ice
cream or jelly.
Isinglass Jelly.
To one ounce of shaved isinglass, put a quart of water; boil it down, to
a pint, and strain it through a flannel bag; add some sugar and wine;
stir it and put it in glasses.
Blancmange.
Shave an ounce of isinglass, and dissolve it in boiling water; then boil
it in a quart of new milk; strain it and sweeten it to your taste;
season as you prefer, with rose water, cinnamon, or vanilla.
Blancmange of Jelly.
To one pint of calf's foot jelly, add a pint of cream, a little mace,
and a quarter of a pound of loaf-sugar; boil it fifteen minutes,
stirring it constantly; strain it through a flannel bag, and when nearly
cold put in n glass of white wine; wet your moulds with cold cream
before putting it in.
Calf's Foot Jelly.
Split the feet, and soak them in cold water, four or five hours; wash
them clean, and put them to boil in six quarts of water; when it has
boiled down to one-half, strain it through a colander, and skim off all
the fat that is on the top; set it away to cool, and when the jelly is
quite stiff, wipe it with a towel, to take off any grease that should
remain; cut it in pieces, and pare of the discolored parts; put it in
your preserving kettle, with half a pint of wine, the juice and peel of
two lemons, mace and sugar to your taste, and the whites and shells of
six eggs; after it has boiled twenty minutes, pour in a little cold
water, to make it settle; if any scum arises, take it off; let it boil
five minutes longer, and take it off the fire; keep it covered for about
an hour, when strain it through a bag that has been dipped in hot water,
and put it in your glasses.
When eggs are used in calf's foot and other jellies, care should be
taken to have the ingredients cool. If the jelly is hot when the eggs
are added, it cannot be clarified so well--they should only cook by
heating the jelly after they have been diffused, by stirring them
through it.
Raisins in Syrup.
Make a syrup of half a pound of sugar to a pint of water, boil and skim
it; put in five bunches of raisins, and let them boil twenty minutes; if
you prefer, you can pick off the stems.
To Blanch Almonds and Peach Kernels.
Pour boiling water on them, which will make them peel easily; either
roll them with a bottle on the cake board or pound in a mortar, with a
little loaf-sugar; they should not be pounded too much or they will be
oily; peach kernels make a fine flavoring for custard, but as they
contain prussic acid, do not use too many.
Snow Cream.
Take the richest cream you can procure, season it with a few drops of
essence of lemon, or syrup of lemon peel, and powdered white sugar, and
if you choose a spoonful of preserve syrup, and just as you send it to
table, stir in light newly fallen snow till it is nearly as stiff as
ice cream.
Kisses.
Beat the whites of eight eggs till they will stand alone; put with them,
a little at a time, a pound of powdered sugar; roll a lemon in some of
the sugar till the flavor is extracted. After it is beaten very well,
drop it in heaps about the size of half an egg on a sheet of paper;
smooth them over with a spoon, and let them be of a regular shape; bake
them in an oven that has been moderately heated, till they are of a pale
brown color; do not have the oven too cool, or they will run together;
take them from the papers carefully, and stick two together.