caught. They should be cleaned, washed, and half a tea cup of salt,
sprinkled on the inside of them, and a little pepper, if they are to be
broiled. Set them in a cool place. When fresh fish are boiled, they
should be put in a strainer, or sewed up in a cloth carefully; put them
in cold water, with the backbone down; with eight or ten pounds of fish,
boil half a tea cup of salt. Many people do not put their fish into the
pot, until the water boils, but it is not a good plan, as the outside
gets cooked too much, before the inside is cooked sufficiently. Fish for
frying, should be wiped dry after being washed, and flour sprinkled on
them. For five or six lbs. of fish, fry three or four slices of pork,
when brown, take them up, and put in the fish, if the pork does not make
sufficient fat, to fry the fish in, add a little lard. For good plain
gravy, mix a tea spoonful or two of flour with a little water, and turn
in, when you have taken up the fish; when well mixed, add a little
butter and pepper, when it boils, turn it on to the fish. Boiled fish,
should be served up with drawn butter, or liver sauce. For a garnish to
boiled fish, boil several eggs five minutes, cool them in water, then
take off the shells, and cut them in slices, and lay them round the
fish; parsly and pepper grass, are also a pretty garnish for boiled
fish. For broiling fish the gridiron should be greased with a little
butter, the inside of the fish should be broiled first.
65. _Fresh Cod_,
Is good boiled, fried, baked, or made into a chowder. It is too dry a
fish to broil.
66. _Halibut_,
Is nice cut in slices, and broiled or fried; the fins and the thick
part, are good boiled.
67. _Striped and Sea Bass_,
Are good fried, boiled, broiled, baked or made into a chowder.
68. _Black Fish._
Black fish are the best fried, or boiled, they will do to broil but are
not so nice as cooked in any other way.
69. _Shad._
Fresh shad are the best bloated and broiled; but they are good boiled or
fried, the spawn and liver are nice fried in lard. Salt shad is good
boiled, without any soaking, if liked quite salt, if not pour on
scalding water, and let them soak in it, half an hour, then drain off
the water, and boil them twenty minutes. Salt shad and mackerel for
broiling, should be soaked twenty four hours, in cold water, the water
should be changed several times. To salt twenty five shad, mix one pound
of sugar, a peck of rock salt, two quarts of fine salt, and quarter of a
pound of salt petre. Put a layer of it at the bottom of the keg, then a
layer of shad, with the skin side down, sprinkle on the mixed salt,
sugar, and salt petre, and so on till you get in all the shad. Lay a
heavy weight on the shad, to keep it under brine. If there is not brine
enough in the course of a week, add a little more sugar, salt, and salt
petre.
70. _Chowder._
Fry three or four slices of pork until brown. Cut each of your fish into
five or six slices, flour and put a layer of them in your pork fat,
sprinkle on pepper and very little salt, cloves, and mace, if you like,
lay on several crackers, previously soaked soft, in cold water, and
several bits of your fried pork, this operation repeat, till you get in
all your fish, then turn on nearly water enough to cover them, put on a
heated bake pan lid. When the fish has stewed about twenty minutes,
take them up, and mix a tea spoonful of flour, with a little water, and
stir it into the gravy, add about an ounce of butter, and cloves. Half a
pint of white wine, and the juice of half a lemon, or a tea cup of
tomato catsup, improve it. Bass and Cod, make the best chowder. Some
people like them made of clams, the hard part should be cut off.
71. _Stuffed and Baked Fish._
Soak bread in cold water, till soft, then squeeze out all the water,
mash it and mix it with a piece of butter, of the size of a hen's egg, a
little salt, pepper, cloves, and mace, a couple of raw eggs, makes the
dressing cut smoother. Fill the fish with this dressing, and sew it up.
Put a tea cup of water in a bake pan, and a small piece of butter, lay
in the fish; bake it about an hour. Fresh cod, bass, and shad, are
suitable fish for baking.
72. _Salt Cod_,
Should be soaked in lukewarm water, till the skin will come off easily.
Scrape it, and change the water, and put it over a moderate fire, where
it will keep warm without boiling, boiling hardens rather than softens
it. It takes three hours to soak it soft. It should be cut into good
square pieces, and served up with drawn butter. Cold codfish is good,
minced up fine, with potatoes, and warmed up with butter, and a little
water.
73. _Fish Cakes._
Cold, boiled, salt, or fresh fish, are nice mixed up fine, with
potatoes, a little butter put in, and moulded up, into small cakes, with
the hand, fry them in pork fat, or butter.
74. _Lobsters and Crabs._
Put them into boiling water, and boil them three quarters of an hour, if
large, if not, half an hour will be long enough. Boil two thirds of a
tea cup of salt, with four or five pounds of lobsters. When cold crack
the shells, take out the meat. Be careful to get out the blue vein, and
what is called the lady, as they are very unhealthy.
Lobsters are good cold, or warmed up, with a little vinegar, pepper,
salt, and butter. A way of dressing them, which looks very prettily, is
to pick out the spawn, and red chord, mash it fine, and rub it through
the sieve, put in a little butter and salt, cut the lobsters into small
squares, and warm it together with the spawn, over a moderate fire. When
hot take it up, and garnish it with parsly. The chord and spawn when
strained, are a handsome garnish for any kind of boiled fish.
75. _Scollops._
Are nice fried, or boiled and pickled like oysters, for frying, they
should be previously boiled, and taken out of the shells, and all but
the hearts thrown away, as the rest is very unhealthy, dip the hearts,
into flour, and fry them till brown in lard. The hearts are also good
stewed with a little water, butter, pepper, and salt.
76. _Eels._
If very large, are best, bloated and broiled, they should be bloated
several hours before cooking them. If not very large fry them in pork
fat; large eels are nice cut into small strips, and laid in a deep dish,
with bits of salt pork and pepper, and baked for half an hour.
77. _Clams._
Wash and boil them, until the shells open, with just water enough to
prevent their burning at the bottom of the pot. When the shells open,
take the clams out of them, and warm them, with a little of the liquor,
they were boiled in, and a little butter, pepper, and salt. Soak a slice
of toasted bread, in the clam liquor, put it in the bottom of a dish and
turn the clams on to it when hot. For clam pancakes, take some of the
clam liquor, and mix with a little flour, to a pint of flour put two
beaten eggs, and a little salt, fry them in lard. Very large long clams
are nice taken out of the shell without boiling and broiled.
78. _Stew Oysters._
Take the oysters out of the liquor with a fork, rinse the bits of shell
from them, and strain the liquor, put the oysters in a stew pan, with
the juice, when scalded through, take them up, turn them on buttered
toast, salt, butter, and pepper them, to your taste, some cooks add a
little catsup or lemon juice.
79. _To Fry Oysters._
Take those that are large, dip them in eggs, and fine bread crumbs, fry
them in lard, till of a light brown. They are a nice garnish for boiled
or fried fish, if fried when first caught with a little salt, and
pepper, sprinkled on them, will keep good several months, provided they
are put into a bottle and corked tight, as soon as cooked. Whenever they
are to be eaten, warm them with a little water.
80. _Oyster Pancakes._
Mix the juice of the oysters, with flour, in the proportion of a pint of
liquor, to a pint of flour, if you have not juice enough, put in a
little milk, or water, add a couple of eggs, and a little salt to each
pint, fry them in lard.
81. _Oyster Pie._
Line a deep dish with pie crust, fill it with dry pieces of bread; make
a nice puff paste, and cover the dish with it, bake till of a light
brown, either in a quick oven or bake pan, have the oysters just stewed,
by the time the crust is done, take off the upper crust, and remove the
pieces of bread, put in the oysters, season them with salt, pepper, and
butter, a little catsup improves the pie, but is not essential, cover it
with the crust.
82. _Scolloped Oysters._
Pound crackers or rusked bread till fine, butter scolloped tins or
shell, sprinkle on the crumbs, then put in a layer of oysters, a small
lump of butter, a little pepper, salt, and juice of the oysters, put on
another layer of crumbs, and oysters, and so on till the shells are
filled, having the bread crumbs on top; bake them until a light brown.
83. _Vegetables.--Potatoes._
The best way to cook potatoes, is to pare and put them in a pot, with
just boiling water enough to prevent their burning, put in a little
salt, and cover them up tight, let them stew till you can stick a fork
through them easily. If there is any water in the pot turn it off, and
put it back on the fire, and let the potatoes steam a few moments
longer. The easiest way to cook them, is to put them in boiling water,
with the skins on, they should boil constantly till done, if you wish to
have them mealy; they are more mealy, to have the water turned off, as
soon as you can stick a fork through them easily, and put in a warm
place, where they will steam, the lid should be off. Cold, mashed, or
whole potatoes are nice cut in slices, and fried in lard or butter.
Sweet potatoes are the best baked. Most potatoes will boil sufficiently
in half an hour, new Irish potatoes will boil in less time.
84. _Turnips._
White turnips require about as much boiling, as potatoes. When tender
take them up, peel and mash them, season them with a little salt and
butter. Yellow turnips require about two hours boiling, if very large,
they should be split in two.
85. _Beets._
Beets should not be cut, or scraped before they are boiled. In summer
they will boil in an hour, in winter it takes three hours to boil them
tender. Boiled beets cut in slices, and put in vinegar, for several
days, are nice.
86. _Parsnips and Carrots._
The best way to cook them, is to scrape and split them in two, put them
in a stew pan with the flat side down, pour on boiling water enough to
cover them, when done take them up, and butter them. Many people boil
parsnips whole, but it is not a good plan, as the outside gets done too
much, before the inside is cooked sufficiently.
87. _Onions._
Peel and put them in boiling milk, water will do to boil them in but is
not as good, when done take them up salt them, and turn a little melted
butter, over them.
88. _Artichokes._
Scrape and put them in boiling water with a table spoonful of salt, to a
couple of dozen, when boiled tender (which will be in about two hours)
take them up and butter them.
89. _Squashes._
If very young boil them whole, if not they should be pared quartered and
the seeds taken out, boil them till very tender, then take them up, put
them in a cloth, and press out the water, mash them in a dish, salt and
butter them to your taste.
90. _Cabbage._
Take off the loose leaves, cut the stalky part in quarters, to the heart
of the cabbage. Boil it an hour, if not boiled with corn beef put a
little salt in the pot. Cauliflowers will boil tender in fifteen or
twenty minutes.
91. _Asparagus._
The tough part should be cut in thin slices, and boiled eight or ten
minutes, before the other part is put in, lay the remainder compactly
together, tie it in small bundles and boil it from fifteen to twenty
minutes, according to its age. Take it up when tender, with a skimmer
lay it on buttered toast, in a deep dish, sprinkle a little salt on it,
melt a little butter, and turn over it.
92. _Peas._
Shell and boil them, from fifteen to thirty minutes, according to their
age, and kind, if very old a tea spoonful of saleratus boiled with
them, makes them better and more healthy. When tender take them up salt
and butter them to your taste.
93. _Beans._
String beans, should have the strings carefully taken off and if old,
the edges should be cut off; if the beans are old put saleratus in the
pot, in the proportion of half a tea spoonful of saleratus, to a peck of
beans it should be put in before the beans. Boil them from twenty five
to thirty minutes, salt and butter them when you take them up. Beans and
all other summer vegetables, should not be picked longer than one day
before being cooked; the fresher green vegetables are the better they
are and more healthy.
94. _Corn_,
Should be put in boiling water with a little salt, and boiled from ten
to twenty minutes, according to its age. It is much sweeter to be boiled
on the cob.
95. _Greens._
White mustard, spinach and the leaves and roots of very small beets, are
the best greens. Boil them with a little salt and saleratus in the
water.
96. _Salads_,
Should be fresh, and put in cold water, for half an hour before they are
eaten. Cucumbers, to be healthy, should not be picked longer than a day
before they are eaten, they should be kept in cold water, and fifteen or
twenty minutes before they are eaten, pare and slice them, into fresh
cold water.
97. _To Stew Mushrooms._
Peel and put them in a sauce pan, with just enough water, to prevent
their burning to the bottom of the pan. Put in a little salt, and shake
them occasionally. When they have stewed about twenty minutes, put in a
little butter, pepper, and salt; a little wine and cloves improve them.
They should be stewed very slowly, and taken up as soon as seasoned,
turn them on buttered toast.
98. _Egg Plant_,
Should be cut in slices, about half an inch thick, between every slice
sprinkle a little salt, let them lay two hours before cooking, then
scrape off the salt and fry them till brown in lard.
99. _Celeriac._
This is an excellent vegetable, but it is but little known. The stalks
of it, can hardly be distinguished from celery, and it is much easier
cultivated. The roots are nice boiled tender, and cut in thin slices and
put in soup, or meat pie, or cooked in the following manner, and eaten
with meat. Scrape and cut them in slices, and boil them, till perfectly
tender, then take them up sprinkle on a little salt and stew them in a
little milk four or five minutes, turn them into a dish, and put in a
little butter.
100. _Salsify or Vegetable Oyster._
The best way too cook it, is to cut it in slices, and dip it into an egg
and fine bread crumbs, fry it in lard. It is very good boiled, and then
stewed a few moments in milk, and a little butter put on it, or cut in
slices, and fried in butter, made like that for oyster pancakes,
substituting milk for the juice of the oyster.
101. _Tomatoes,_
If very ripe will skin easily, if not pour on scalding water, and let
them remain in it four or five minutes. Peel and put them in a stew pan
with a table spoonful of water if not very juicy, if so no water will be
required, put in a little salt, and stew them in tin, for half an hour,
when done turn them into a dish with buttered toast. Another way of
cooking them, which is considered very nice by epicures, is to put them
in a deep dish, with powdered bread crumbs, or crackers, a layer of each
alternately, sprinkle salt, and pepper, on each layer, and put on small
bits of butter, over each layer, some people like a little nutmeg and
sugar. Have a layer of bread crumbs on the top, and bake it, in a bake
pan three quarters of an hour.
102. _Gumb._
Take an equal quantity of young tender okra chopped fine, and ripe
tomatoes skinned, an onion shredded fine, a small lump of butter, a
little salt and pepper, put the whole in a stew pan, with a table
spoonful of water, and stew it till tender.
103. _Southern Manner of Cooking Rice._
Pick over the rice, and wash it in cold water, put it in three quarts of
boiling water with half a tea spoonful of salt, to a pint of the rice.
Boil it seventeen minutes, then turn off the water very close, put it
over a moderate fire with the lid of the pot off, let it steam fifteen
minutes. Rice boiled in this manner is superior to any other; but care
must be taken to be exact in the time of boiling and steaming, as a few
moments variation makes a great deal of difference with it, the water
should boil when it is put in the pot, and not allowed to stop boiling
till done. The water that the rice is cooked in makes nice starch if
boiled a few moments by itself.
104. _To Pickle Peppers._
If you do not like them fiery, take out the seeds, they should be taken
out carefully with a penknife, so as not to mangle the pepper. Soak them
in salt and water, eight or nine days, change the water each day, and
keep them in a warm place. If you like them stuffed, put in cinnamon,
cloves, mace, and nasturtions, lay them in cold spiced vinegar. Tomatoes
when very small, and green, are good pickled with the peppers.
105. _Mangoes._
Procure muskmelons as late in the season as possible, and those that are
very green; if pickled early, they are apt to spoil. Take out the seeds,
and soak them in salt and water, three or four days. Then take them out
of the water, sprinkle powdered cloves, and nutmeg, round on the inside
of the melon, fill them with strips of horseradish, cinnamon, small
string beans, or flag root, nasturtion, and radish tops, fill the
crevices, with American mustard seed; put on the covers, and sew each
one up in a bag. Lay the melons in a stone jar, with the side that the
covers are on up; turn on scalding hot vinegar, with alum, pepper corns,
and salt in it. Pickled barberries are a pretty garnish for them.
106. _To Pickle Butternuts and Walnuts._
The nuts for pickling should be picked as early as the first of July
unless the season is very backward, if a pin will go through them
easily, they are in a right state for pickling. Soak them in salt and
water, a week, then drain, and scrape or rub them, with a cloth,
sprinkle them with ground cloves, and pour on boiling vinegar, spiced
with cloves, pepper corns, allspice, and mace, add a little salt. They
will be fit to eat in the course of a fortnight, or three weeks. The
vinegar they are pickled in, makes a nice catsup, if boiled down to half
the quantity, and a little more spice added.
107. _To Pickle Cabbage, and Cauliflower._
Purple cabbages are the best for pickling. Pull off the loose leaves and
quarter them, sprinkle salt on the flat side of each one, let them lay
several days, then rinse off the salt and drain them; sprinkle on
powdered cloves, mace, salt, and pour on scalding vinegar, with a few
peppers in it, alum and pepper corns. Cauliflowers are pickled in the
same manner as the cabbages. They will be fit to eat in the course of a
fortnight, after being pickled.
108. _To Pickle Onions._
Peel and boil them, in milk and water, a few minutes. Put cloves,
cinnamon, mace, and salt, in vinegar, and heat the vinegar scalding hot
in brass. Take the onions out of the milk and water, drain them, then
turn on the vinegar scalding hot, with two ounces of alum to each
pailful of vinegar. Cover them tight until cold.
109. _To Pickle Artichokes._
Soak the artichokes in salt and water, a week, then drain and rub them,
till you get all the skin off, turn boiling vinegar on them, spiced with
pepper corns and mace, add salt and alum. Let them remain a week, then
turn off the vinegar, scald it, and turn it back, while hot on to the
artichokes. Continue to scald the vinegar, at intervals of a week or ten
days, until the vinegar appears to have entered the artichokes.
110. _To Pickle Cucumbers._
Pour boiling water on them, when first picked; and let them lay in it
eight or ten hours, then put them in cold vinegar, with alum and salt,
in the proportion of quarter of a pound of the first, and a pint of the
last, to every half barrel of pickles. When you have done picking your
cucumbers for pickling, turn the vinegar from them, boil and skim it
till clear, throw in the cucumbers, and let them boil a few moments,
then put them in fresh cold vinegar, with salt and alum; a few peppers
improve them. Whenever any scum rises on any kind of pickles turn off
the vinegar, scald and skim it, turn it back when cold on the pickles.
Pickles of all kinds should be stirred up occasionally, and if there are
any soft ones among them, they should be thrown away, and the vinegar
scalded; if very weak, it should be thrown away and fresh added. The
vinegar when scalded, should not be allowed to cool in brass. Another
method of pickling cucumbers, which is very good, is to put them in salt
and water, as you pick them, change the water once in three days; when
you have done picking your cucumbers, take them out of the salt and
water, and put them in cold vinegar, with alum, salt, and pepper corns
in it.
111. _To Pickle Gherkins._
Put them in strong brine, keep them in a warm place, when they turn
yellow, drain off the brine, and turn hot vinegar on them, let them
remain in it near the fire till they turn green, turn off the vinegar,
and pour on fresh hot vinegar, spiced with pepper corns, mace, cloves,
and cinnamon; add salt and alum in the same proportions as for
cucumbers. These, as well as all other pickles, should not be kept in
glazed earthen jars.
112. _Oysters._
Take the oysters from the liquor, strain and boil it, then put in the
oysters, let them boil one minute, take them out, and to the liquor, put
a few pepper corns, cloves, a little mace, and the same quantity of
vinegar as oyster juice, boil it fifteen minutes; when cold turn it on
to the oysters. Bottle and cork them tight.
113. _Mushrooms._
Peel and stew them, with just water enough, to prevent their sticking to
the bottom of the stew pan, shake them occasionally, to prevent their
burning. When tender take them up, and put them in scalding vinegar,
spiced with mace, cloves, and pepper corns, add a little salt, bottle
and cork them up.
114. _Wheat Bread._
For six common sized loaves of bread, take three pints of boiling water,
and mix with five quarts of flour; when thoroughly mixed, add three
pints of cold water, stir it till the whole of the dough is equally
cold; when lukewarm stir in half a pint of yeast, a table spoonful of
salt, knead in flour till stiff enough to mould up, cover it over and if
the weather is cold set it near the fire to rise. To ascertain when it
is risen, cut it through the middle with a knife, and if full of small
holes like a sponge, it is sufficiently light. If the dough gets sour
before you are ready to bake it, dissolve two or more tea spoonsful of
saleratus (according to the acidity of it,) in a cup of water, and
strain it on the dough, work it in well, mould it up, slash it on the
sides, to prevent its cracking when baked, put it in buttered pans, and
let it stand ten or twelve minutes before you bake it; if you like it
quite brown let it stand in the oven an hour and a half. If the wheat is
grown, use all boiling water, and let it stand till cool before putting
in the yeast. Some people, have an idea that it kills the life of the
flour, to scald it, but it is a mistake, it makes it much sweeter, and
prevents its moulding soon in warm weather; bread made in this manner is
very nearly as good as that which is wet with milk. Care must be taken,
not to put in the yeast when the dough is hot, as it will scald it and
prevent its rising. Bread is much better in the winter, for being made
several days before it is baked, it should be kept in a cool place, and
a little flour knead in every day. Most ovens require heating an hour
and a half for bread, some will heat sufficiently in an hour, a brisk
fire should be kept up, the doors in the room should be kept shut in
cold weather. Pine, and ash, or birch mixed, are the best wood for
heating an oven. To ascertain if your oven is of the right temperature,
when cleared throw in a little flour, if it browns in the course of a
minute, it is hot enough, if it turns black wait several minutes before
you put in your things, if not hot enough, set in a furnace of live
coals, after you have put your things in.
115. _Sponge Bread._
For four loaves of bread, take three quarts of boiling water and turn it
into three quarts of flour. When lukewarm put in a cup of yeast, a table
spoonful of salt, set it in a warm place to rise, when light knead in
flour till stiff enough to mould up, then let it stand till risen again,
before moulding it up.
116. _Rye Bread._